OpenXcom Forum

Modding => Released Mods => XPiratez => Topic started by: Dioxine on May 09, 2015, 09:32:31 pm

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on May 09, 2015, 09:32:31 pm
Hail.
Here's latest download link and recent changelongs.
If you're upgrading mid-campaign, make sure to check the 'upgrading saves' thread.

MOD HERE: https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/x-piratez-vn7-flying-tiger-hidden-tentacle-16-dec-2023

Read the install instructions carefully. No joke. Srsly. Then the Bootypedia, to avoid premature death.
Suffering awaits. And boobs.

Video Tutorial: Install X-Piratez by Ivan Dogovich
https://youtu.be/L1WUpX9n7gY?t=54m11s

v.N7 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle 16-Dec-2023
- OXCE update to 7.9.20
- Fix: 'range>5' crashes on geoscape in mid-late game (thanks to Zzrr for diagnosis of the error)
- Fix: Condemnations for special missions now include all (?) the relevant missions
- Merged Triarius submod by Torchwood (it adds Triarius (PEA/SS) and Disruptor (BUG) armors). Author's thx to Brain, Kenshi, WarstalkeR & Zastaver
- Early Game Change: lots of weak enemy ground craft to fight with
- New Missions: Old Earth Metro (4 variants), Mongorn Migration, The Sniper, Archeological Adventure, Sunken Treasure, Demon Bait (1 new variant, research to get them more often), Executive Retreat
- New Enemies: Mongorn, Tentacle Hive, Kobold Huntress, Eurosyndicate Agent, Hell Maggot, Bolshoy Guard
- New Enemy Vessels/Missions: Highwaymen Hoverpod, Sandcrawler, Bandit Wartruck, Bandit Car, Black Talon
- New Crafts: Gunwagon, Angry Bird, Tiger
- New Craft Weapons: Piratin' Cannon (HAND), Minigun (GR), RPG (HAND), GL (HAND), Rotogun (GR), RL (HAND), Harpoons (GR), Hefaistos (AA)
- New Craft Systems: Augmented Engines, Compressed Chem Fuel Tank, Craft Extra Armor
- New Armors: Ironcat (gfx by Brain), Tecnovator variants (Cyberscarabs, Recon Drones), Gnome Standard War Jacket (gfx partially by Brain), Gnome Shielded War Jacket, Gnome TAC7-S Armor, Blood Hound Metal Armor, Camo Paint /Gnome, Rebelstar /SS (gfx by Brain), Cat Witch (gfx mostly by Brain), Gnome Mining Suit
- New Weapons: Sports Rifle, Firestars, Quicksilver Dagger, Hell Shotgun, Hell Knuckles
- New Ammo: Arcane Minnie Bullets, Heavy Birdshot, Black Adder AP Clip, LC-Rend Ammo
- New Equipment: Dust Mask, X-Med Mask
- New Trainings: Art of Trouncing, Judical Education, Abyssal Aspect, Educating Simple Minds, Person Of Culture, Blitzgal, Pet Tentacle Monster, Destructor
- New Recruits: Theban Assault Catgirl, Former Commando, Disciple of Twilight
- New Condemnations: Oldtimer, Professional, Idiot
- New Feature: Crazy Hassan Special Offers
- New maps: 1 for Junk Villages, 1 for Comms Tower, 4 for Caves
- New maps: 'Hell Cruise' map replaced with a cargo liner map (conversion by Solarius Scorch)
- New maps: Alternative maps for Orbital Lab, Refuelling Station and Cold Storage (maps and gfx by Brain)
- New gfx: 24 new Gnome avatars (for a total of 48; +100%! Hairdos 95% by Brain); + some hats added
- New gfx: customized interception screens for Ratmen and Necropirate foot gangs
- New gfx: Ogres have their own flag & rank pictures
- New gfx: customized smartphone touch buttons by Riccardo Gasperi
- New music: Cannon Angel
- Gal salaries raised to $40k (Young Ubers, Warriors, Veterans) and $20k (Freaks). Bugeyes' to $25k.
- Monthly limits added to recruitment: Young Ubers 8, Warriors 4, Veterans 1, Freaks 3
- Buffed Factions versions now appear later
- Zombies no longer immune to Bio
- Establishing new Hideouts now requires researching it
- Bunker facility redone. Now it is no longer impassable to large units, but instead has a defensive 14mm light turret installed (battlescape only). It is no longer blocking the Extractor function. No longer Captain Soreass exclusive, now can be built by anyone with the aspect Pig-headed. Cost increased by the requirement of Necroplane Parts.
- Hotels and Hellerium Plants buffed
- Zeppelin reimagined
- Buffs to VPWR/VSKL min/max/cap for SS, Peasants, Damsels
- Special recruits who will not really benefit from basic trainings have them marked as already undergone
- Buffed SPOT for Gnomes
- Lokk'Naars get basic 65% vs. Bio instead of 100. Buffed SPOT and NV for nude/unarmored like with other races.
- Bugeye Thinman and Thong outfits have inbuilt melee attack now (but slightly less powerful MC)
- Modified Meridian's Special Autogun (now it's a Mind Orb weapon)
- Buffed X-plasma weapons
- Sivalingas useable earlier, via a string of new events
- Puma Siters and Claw events more likely on Cat Path
- Restored the Warriors track
- More lore
- Lots of other stuff
- Ruleset cleanup, related bugfixes (thx to Warstalker for list of errors)
- Minor fixes, rebalances, updates & improvements

v.N6.0.7
- Nightops armor debuffed, moved pre-Workshop
- Minor fixes

v.N6.0.6
- Warning: delete old rulesets when updating
- Fix: Studying the Sword (last?)
- New Weapons: Coach Gun, Jezzail
- New Ammo: Blizzard Jumpmines
- New Civilian: Squatter
- All armors can now be produced from scratch (Streamlined Armor Production mod by Ivan Dogovich no longer needed)
- Dogs have more Stamina
- Condemnations rework:
-- Archer replaced with Amazon, moved thrown weapons and spears there together with bows. Bonus changed slightly.
-- Hammerer renamed to Industrious, now simply counts kills per career
-- New ones: Techbarbarian, Bulwark
-- Increased no. of kills needed to get low ranks of Traditional, Radical & Medieval
-- Patched holes, added missing weapons etc
- More lore
- Minor fixes & improvements, rebalancing
- Triarius submod (by Torchwood) updates: Brain's paperdoll and spritesheet replacements for Triarius armor, Disruptor armor added (repaletted to proper colors by me)

v.N6.0.5
- Fix: Studying the Sword (again)
- New Mission: Drifter Camp
- New Transformations: Beauty Formula (Witch Quest reward), Tiger Tours
- Gfx updates: By Brain: Small Medipack, Space Medipacks, Nano-Surgery Device, Juggernaut suit
- Gfx updates: by Garr Incorporated: Eridian Warchief
- Gfx updates: Smoke Grenade
- New Graphs background
- Buffs to Juggernaut (mainly NV)
- Some lore, minor fixes etc
- Added Triarius Armor submod by Torchwood

v.N6.0.4
- Fix: Studying The Sword and Weapon Lore crashes
- Desert movement more difficult (for walking units)
- Zombies more vulnerable to Concussive damage
- Added extra reward for Nocturne in Red
- Gfx udaptes (paperdolls an pedia), by Mikkoi: Fartbag, Guild Air Sailor, Church Matron
- Minor adjustments/rebalances

v.N6.0.3
- Fix: 'I accidentally deleted the whole thing' critical mission spawning bugs (Pogroms, Ninjas and more) (thanks to Magic Skeleton, Torchwood and Solarius Scorch for the help with fixing it)
- Fix: tech progression when you select Cats 4 Life path
- Fix: Guild secret base crash
- New Events
- Improved gfx: Siren, Reticulan Peon, Reticulan Elder (by Mikkoi)
- Language updates

v.N6.0.2
- Cat path actually works now

v.N6.0.1
- Palette fixes
- Added some missing strings
- Improved Nekomimi Laser sprite (by Brain)

v.N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
- OXCE update to 7.9.10
- Fix: Cydonia mission button launch not appearing
- Fix: Battle Cab added to lists of allowed crafts in various envinros
- Fix: Cat Oni Armor: special attack can be made without VSKL requirement, also added the missing gauntlet
- Fix: Added missing gauntlet attack to Neko Peacemaker Gear (and Termicator bc. they use same built-in wpn.)
- Fix: Region data leaks from the original game files causing Geoscape crashes (hopefully they stop now)
- New Missions: Demon Bait (4 variants), UAC Shelter
- New Enemy: UAC Security Drone
- New Craft: Firefox (by Solarius Scorch)
- New Craft Weapon: Nekomimi Prowler Cannon
- New Craft System: Hellerium Supercell
- New Armor: Flycat (For Catgirls, based on original design of 'Catnapper' armor by Miz Mayhem)
- New Weapons: Nekomimi Marksman Laser (by Solarius Scorch), Cursed Rifle, Mega Ax (Blood Orb, Gold Codex), Hellfist (Blood Orb, Red & Gray Codex)
- New Path: Cats 4 Life.
- New gfx: improved Blood Hound (by Mikkoi)
- New features: Slave Soldiers and Peasants have distinct names and flags based on the place of recruitment (based on expansion by OAK group, implementation made in cooperation with Solarius Scorch).
- Lessened February score hits caused by bandit activity
- Witch Quest frequency increased
- Small rework of Drakkar map. Also Drakkar got its own sprite (by AlexD)
- Statistical bullet saving added to most of the light craft cannons
- Some rebalancing to Beam Laser (buff) and Plasma Beam (bit less range, bit more acc)
- Beast den +5 animals cap (now 30)
- Repentias and Weirdgals enhanced
- Swiftsuit: scouting goggles added
- Car/AGL weapon buffs
- Most ballistic and some other pistols have their long range ACC penalties increased
- Smart Pistol even faster, but has lower Snap range; gfx updated
- 'Mutant Porn' changed to 'Zany Zines' to better fit what kind of resource it's supposed to be
- New music theme for Red Mage events
- GMTACTIC4 replaced
- New city: Marrakesh
- More events
- Tech tree polishing, minor weapon/armor tweaks, other adjustments
- More hidden movement backgrounds
- Minor fixes (maps etc)

v.N5.2.1
- OXCE update to 7.9.8 03-Jul-2023
- New Feature: Monster Pitfighting
- New Facility: Luxury Mess
- New Weapon: Advanced RPG (gfx by Brain)
- New Training: Alpha Protocols
- Technomancer's Crypt map update
- New events and lore added for Gudrun arcs (primarly the Lady)
- Other new events (including some rage inducing ones)
- Buffs to Omnisensor and Integrity Field STCs
- Electric Glove added as melee weapon for Theban Aqua Suit (replacing fists)
- CAMO added to many Catgirl outfits, improved on some.
- Vampy Outfit repurposed: no a novelty outfit for Weirdgals, now it's a Red Codex option to embody Shades.
- Buffed terrain damage of Force Blade and Medical Slicer
- Added dissassembly and ammo production options for Elite Plasma Gun
- Updated Rocket Launcher gfx (by Brain)
- More backgrounds
- Deployment fixes (Star Gods/Frigate, Mohawks assault on Hideout, Crackdowns by weak factions)
- Map fixes (Tunnels of Apocalypse, Large Vaults, others), other minor fixes (special thanks to Osobist)
- Other minor stuff

v.N5.2.0
- Newest OXCE Windows build included (as of 02 Jul 2023)
- Fix: Into the Void mission progress bug
- Fix: HK-117 database spawn
- Fix: Peasant battlesprite hair/skin color mismatches
- Fix: Zombie Embodiment should work properly now
- Fix: Big Pistol Rounds /Slay can actually be used now
- Less govt attacks, more bandit attacks
- Rework of Arch-Witches plot for story consistency (esp. when playing as Saint of Chaos)
- Shades allowed to pilot craft now
- Added extra Star Gods activity after reaching rank 10/11
- All 1x1 flying armors: flying down costs 0 TU now (does not include underwater and 0-g environments)
- Cat guerilla armor +Piercing res
- Dullahan update (added gauntlet, added ThV 50%)
- Doubled Biotank HP bonus
- New Gothic and Crusader shields hand sprites (by Osobist)
- Mini Shotgun update (new gfx by Brain)
- Couple weapon sounds added
- Weapon spawn fix for tribal hunters in catacombs (thx to Meridian)
- Spiderdemon spritesheet fix (by Osobist)
- Added random backgrounds for hidden movement screen
- Other background screen updates
- Language updates/fixes
- Maps/Terrains/Tilesets/Unit Spawns fixes and other small fixes

v.N5.1.2
- Cydonia: Chancellor's mind control less OP; chairmen, scientists and engineers no longer have low VPWR.
- New map for Industrial Slum
- Power Plant now also gives Extractor function.
- Smokey armor buffed but requires more research
- Added some more information to Pedia
- Fixes to necroplane tileset
- Other minor fixes, readjustments

v.N5.1.1
- New Enemy: Buster Zombie
- New Craft System: Chem Fuel Tank
- New Weapon: Homefort Rifle
- New Ammo: Big Pistol Rounds/Slayer
- New Item: Treasure Bag
- New Training: Proud Warrior
- New Feature: Museum
- Shiny Niner accuracy buffs
- Loot added to Jungle Pyramid maps
- More fixes (visible and less so), small improvements

v.N5.0.3
- Fix: Airtruck no longer banned from where it should be able to go
- New Missions: Zombie Outbreak, Bewitched Village
- New Civilian: Knight Errant
- Named dogs Stamina buff: +15 starting / +25 cap
- Weapon buffs: Rosarius (both), Monstermano
- Minor fixes
- Slight tweaks/improvements

v.N5.0.2
- Fix: codex multiple treasures / messed events issue
- Fix: unfucked Island Resort terrain
- Fix: Airtruck deployment map
- Fix: Xenforcer' Zortrium armor VDEF
- Fix: Adjusted Poisoner HP recovery formulas
- New: Ability to revive Sleeping Beauties without them having the Condemnation (higher tech required).
- Added some backdrops for pedia articles and created some missing ammo research articles
- Surgery Room gets 2 Animal Cages
- Minor grammar/text fixes (thx to Flyte for combing)

v.N5.0.1
- New Condemnation: Against All Odds
- Crawling movement added to Tanks, Wolverin Suits, XECs, Xenforcers, Loaders, Testudos, Eridians, Lamias, Oozes, Silacoids, Sectopods
- Forest and Farm tilesets modified to be easier on Crawling type of movement
- Offline Xpedia (by Baturinsky) updated to 2.1
- Fixes: Padlock to Fear Gate, medikit/minimap interface glitches
- Minor adjustments, language updates

v.N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
- OXCE upgrade to 7.9.6, 21-May-2023
- New Arc Progress: Red Mage (major update; crossovers with Dr. X arc (minor) and Mystery Patron arc (minimal))
- New Non-Arc Progress: Guild and Academy warships carry better crews after 2-3 years of game; influences their related missions.
- New Missions: Gate of Fear, Plunge Into Deadzone, Deadzone Delve, Sewers of Death, Fountain of Youth, Bad Company, Endless Necropolis, Mysterious Tower II (harder version for later game)
- New Enemy Missions: Dreadknight Adventuring, Red Lilly Game, Govt Enmity
- New Enemy Shipping: Dread Fighter (gfx by Brain)
- New Enemies: Wraith Elite Guard, Wraith Tormentress, Dreadknight (gfx improved by Brain), Awakened Dead, Dead Resident, Dead Cop, Gun Runner, Golden Boy, Marsec Exoguard, Academy Pioneer
- New Facilities: Luxury Condo (sprite by Brain), Living Capsules (Pure Captain + Faith only), Black Tower, Rubble, Body Farm (Green Codex)
- New Craft: Airtruck
- New Craft Weapons: Twin Machinegun (GR), Gecko SAM (GR)
- New Craft Equipment: BTX Dodger
- New Armors: Tactical /Dog (merged mod by JDCollie), Tactical /Peasant (merged mod by JDCollie), Slimegal /Shade, Masterblaster (Ogre & Gnome versions, paperdoll by Brain), Biotank (Green Codex, Peasants & Gnomes only, battlesprite by RSSWizard), Medispider Suit (normal & SEA, gfx by Brain), Glittergnome (normal & SHA), Glittergirl (normal & SHA), Avenger (SHA version added), Martyr (proper SHA version made), Red Shield (Dogs & Hounds), Slime Graft (Blood Hounds, normal & SEA), Xenforcer Zortrium Shell (normal & SEA, gfx by Brain)
- New Weapons: Grav Cannon (Gold only), Memorial weapons (x3), Realm of Fear weapons (x2), Thunderstriker (Orb, Gray only), Blood Vine Whip (gfx by Brain), Gnome Autogun (no Codex only), Bane Blade (Orb, Red Only), Cupid Gun (Orb, Green or Gold only), Shadowforge Plasmagun (gfx by Brain), MP N-Lascannon (gfx by Brain)
- New Ammo: Atomic Cannonball, Autogun /ETAP
- New Trainings/Augmentations: Fusion Arts, Perfect Beauty (Green Codex), Syn Acceptance, Boot Camp (Soreass Captain), Sun Martial Rituals (Male Path)
- New Condemnations: Serial Widow, Unmaker, Medieval
- New Events
- New Feature: All small buildings, when destroyed, turn into Rubble now instead (keeping Hideout's connectivity). 4 tiles of Rubble added to starting base.
- New Feature: Ninja Love
- New Feature: Body Swapping (Green Codex only); contains several new possibilities
- New maps (by Solar and Brain)
- New gfx: +8 Ogre paperdolls (gfx by Brain); minimap & medikit interfaces (by Osobist); Deep One Berserker corpses/inventory (by AlexD), some Pedia backgrounds (adv. ammo types schematics, by Brain), Giant Cockroach paperdoll (by Mikkoi), Plasma Sub (by RSSWizard), Auto Rifle (by RSSWizard & Brain), Bullpup Rifle (based on RSSWizard, help by Brain), UAC Carbine (by Brain), projectile sprite updates (gfx by RSSWizard), Laser & Gauss defense sprites (by me), other minor stuff (by Brain & RSSWizard)
- Rework (Story): The hull/drill/codex sequence reworked to be more cinematic, also some intro changes
- Rebalance: Difficulty rules fine tuning. More -score needed to lose, enemy craft ROF bonus changed from flat to % (ponderous ships more murderous on high diff, quick firing ones less murderous), more granular/flattened ratio of enemies facing player craft.
- Rebalance: Reduced Ninja scoring from Fortresses and Firebases. Increased from HQ.
- Rebalance: global living quarters & training rooms capacity buff
- Dr. X duel mission less trivial now (updated from before-Condemnations version), incl. update of Ring-Dang-Doo.
- Magical Girls now auto-surrender after 3 turns
- Large barracks can be built over now
- Damaged barracks have less capacity penalty
- Cloning Centre no longer requires Surgery to be built
- Great Library buff (scroll needed to research, not to build; harder research, provides VooDoo training & Summoning service)
- Deliverator restored to its previous stats, but +1 LSX added.
- Faust map reworked
- Avalanches can now be used earlier after being found and researched (manufacturing still requires higher tech)
- Added extra shield damage to Plasma Beams, Plasma Spitters, Avalanches and Obliterator Cannons
- Peasants/Damsels: increased FRS caps by +10
- Bugeyes: now all get SENSE (default 3, less on some armors)
- Catgirls: Increased Energy Regen by 20% on all armors (again); increased min STA by 10 and STA cap by 15 (to 135); decreased FRS cap by 30 (to 60).
- Syns: Less resistant to Fire, more resistant to Chem.
- The research 'Soldier: Bugeye' unlocks VooDoo now
- Gals' lifeforce focusing reworked (no penalties, diff. bonuses, can use on all Gal types)
- Removed unnamed Dogs and Blood Hounds (sell or name your dogs before upgrading)
- Aggressor Armor can now be manufactured (Red Codex only, ofc)
- Admiral Armor: shields added
- Braine & Explorer outfits now yield Personal Databases
- Fairy outfit now viable for Shadowrealms
- Cat tactical armor takes much less material, slightly better Piercing/Concussive resistances
- Lessened TU penalties on most powered armors
- Tank accuracy formula changed to a bit less gnome-centric
- Gnomediscs are now equipped with Purple Shields
- Vehicles armors, their chassis and medikits no loger require monthly maintenance, but take extra storage space instead.
- Buffs to several old Orb wpns (Hellgun, Phantom Whip, Biofresh Gun; Masochist Outfit needs only 1 Orb now)
- Canteens restore a bit Energy now, as well
- Succubus and Arouser condemnations rebalance
- Slave changes: Super Maids -> Uber Maids, available to all, but a bit weaker. Gladiatrices generate less space, more income.
- Added Sniper/Spotter info to enemy examinations
- Minor gfx replacements/improvements (thanks to Brain, RSSWizard, Mikkoi and others)
- Minor fixes/polishing/improving (A LOT)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 09, 2015, 10:11:15 pm
Looking forward to it bro :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Roxis231 on May 09, 2015, 10:47:35 pm
Extended just replaces the EXE, right.  No other modifications to Open-Xcom are needed?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 09, 2015, 11:24:32 pm
It doesn't even replace the OXCom exe, you just dump it alongside. If you don't start the game using the custom .exe, it will just work as normal. No modifications at all.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 10, 2015, 01:41:29 am
Oh! I have been looking forward to that! Count on me to give it a try as soon as you push something. Hopefully I will finish my current game too though..

I'm guessing you consider the latest Piratez release to be as "feature complete" as possible in OpenXCom?

Just the idea of multiple craft slots for customization and power ups fits really well with pirates! This is exciting!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Phoenix7786 on May 10, 2015, 03:17:03 am
And so, I'm starting to work on it, and this will be the developement thread. Any further expansion of vanilla Piratez is cancelled, effective today.

Understood. I'll be looking forward to it!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 10, 2015, 08:22:27 am
Oh! I have been looking forward to that! Count on me to give it a try as soon as you push something. Hopefully I will finish my current game too though..

I'm guessing you consider the latest Piratez release to be as "feature complete" as possible in OpenXCom?

Just the idea of multiple craft slots for customization and power ups fits really well with pirates! This is exciting!

Well, complete enough to be fully playable & enjoyable. It has everything it has to have, but I'm not saying there won't be new factions/weapons etc. in the future :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: robin on May 10, 2015, 10:13:53 am
good, good!

unravel all those features,
so when it's my turn I'll just have to copy-paste from your ruleset

 ;D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 01:18:38 pm
So I've started to build new melee weapon balance and boy it is a complex problem now :)

Here's a table with what I have so far, thoughts on that are welcome (keep in mind that damage is only a single factor: accuracy and TU cost varies, plus every attack will cost Stamina, equal to weapon's weight):

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 11, 2015, 02:45:33 pm
I think the stamina cost is too high, as it will make the current Hammer unplayable.  I guess an "extended" hammer could be lighter.  Or you could boost the stamina range of the Pirates. 

Creating stamina costs is not bad, it will just make the already very difficult early game, almost impossible?  At least much more bloody. I think the player would suffer many more casualties this way.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 11, 2015, 02:59:15 pm
I think the stamina cost is too high, as it will make the current Hammer unplayable.  I guess an "extended" hammer could be lighter.  Or you could boost the stamina range of the Pirates. 

Creating stamina costs is not bad, it will just make the already very difficult early game, almost impossible?  At least much more bloody. I think the player would suffer many more casualties this way.

Y m2. It already gets bad with certain soldiers having useless stats when you hire em and they will be unable to effectively use melee weapons. This complecates things even further, when used in conjunction with the constant draw of stamina from moving you will be running in situations where, run or fight will not be an option since you wont be able to do anything of the two.

Personally I find it to a be an unnessary complication, but thats me. Especially since the gals are starting with terrible accuracy almost always.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 03:30:32 pm
Maybe the full weight cost is too much for melee weapons; 2/3rds might be better. I will also put a Stamina cost on throwing, about 2x the weight of an item (capped at about 16 or so).

Anyway, this will curb the over-reliance on melee and thrown weapons in damage dealing; Ivan's LP shows clearly that you practically don't need to use guns, which is definitely a bad sign.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 11, 2015, 04:00:18 pm
It may be true that in the early game you can play without guns, in fact its probably the only way to survive.   Early guns are just too horrible to bother with.  You will almost always face enemies that will just laugh at them.   

My point is that if you nerf melee and grenades, you may make the early game so difficult that there may be no way to get past it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 11, 2015, 04:02:17 pm
Yup, I agree too. The reason for not using guns is that they can't penetrate armor. Melee and explosives are the obvious (and only) answer to that.

A pirate would be crazy to engage a trader security guard in a firefight until quite late in the game (I've got heavy armor now but still nothing to shoot him with reliably). You don't have a gun that can hurt him and you don't have armor that can resist his gun. It's a losing proposition and the answer is black powder bombs and melee rush.

Then you get the unarmoured ones (GOs, hostesses and especially engineers), which are often worth thousands as hostages (which you also only catch in melee) but nothing dead. I've used the harpoon gun relatively successfully for that but it's the only gun I use much.

I have smgs and scoped/sniper rifles for support gals but they can't take out armor so I only use them for reaction shots or if I end up badly positioned. They are basically there for training as it is pointless to have 18 melee gals,  the slower ones get left behind anyways. They might as well have a gun amd carry medikits. Even then, with a tac vest or better I'll often face tank a pistol/shotgun/rifle and punch the GOs in the face next turn for the ransom. Melee is also much better in small spaces.

In pogroms I actually use explosives (rpgs too, if that counts as a gun) more because I value saving civilians more than taking hostages. But you still meet power armor dudes that need melee and a few valuable targets that make good hostages or interrogation fodder. Explosives are too expensive to use in shipping crashes though so I use black powder bombs a lot.

The only time I'll happily use guns is on raiders. They are unarmoured so the guns work and they are worth nothing to ransom. They are actually a bit refreshing because of that.

We use guns irl because they hurt people at a distance well enough to take them out and it is obviously safer because you can duck back instead of rushing forward. In Piratez conventional guns can't really hurt the dangerous types so you are more in a middle ages situation. I believe that when lasers (and other advanced guns) become available, it will change the game.

In fact, I think of your mod as a kind of late middle ages situation where melee dominates because of armor, then you invent guns that bypass it and it becomes more balanced. Which works really well to represent a primitive gang starting up as pirates then coming into modern warfare as they make progress. It is something that adds to your storytelling and that I think is great in Piratez.

It takes a while to get to guns that actually do something (or have enough cash that rpg and grenade launchers can be used regularly) but that's ok. It gives the game a different feel and makes the guns welcome when they show up and it works with the narrative.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 04:42:07 pm
Fair points, guys. I will certainly not impose these ideas upon people without serious prior testing. Maybe it's just my playstyle: I know that personal-armored guys can be brought down with continuous barage of Str 30+ firearms, and using a grenade is basically an easy way out. I usually keep 60% ranged, 40% melee+ranged squad; true I don't want to force this playstyle upon people, but guns seem to be under-appreciated. Like I said, I will test this new melee formula out and see how really it does hamper the melee combat; I think the debuff will be rather slight. Plus there will be new advantages and ways to handle the enemy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 11, 2015, 04:55:07 pm
I trust you. You've managed to develop what is essentially a whole new game and glue me to my computer.

It might have to do with experience as well.. new Piratez players fire a few times at the armored guy and think it doesn't work, so decide to use melee mostly (and black powder bombs, man those are awesome!). I am actually slowly increasing my ratio of gals with guns (up to 8 dedicated gunners now, everyone else also has some form of side arm) so it might not be too far from balanced.

The problem is those low damage guns (but I'll have to revisit some shotguns too for the solid slug ammo) and also the logistics of ammo. I've just started to use the Confederate Eagles I have now in late April because before I had no source of ammo for them. Same with the Black March SMG (can't remember how I got that ammo actually...). The guns that would be good to use are the ones which are hard to supply so they end up not used.

I expect there's a part of knowing the tech tree as well.. to know how to get the right stuff. I still can't get more boarding guns (haven't had time to research it) or hand cannons.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 11, 2015, 05:36:16 pm
It might have to do with experience as well.. new Piratez players fire a few times at the armored guy and think it doesn't work..... <snip>

That is basically my situation.  If you nerf the melee (which I know works), then make flint locks and muskets able to deal with personal armor.  Like Arthanor said, the personal armor guys are the hardest thing to deal with in early game.  Un-armored you want to knock out, and power armor, you may just want to run from.  But personal armor...  if you can just neutralize these guys, the other targets are juicy.  So make something for early game that can handle them and you can move the early game away from melee and grenades if that is your desire.

One final comment.  I really thought that this was the intent of PirateZ.  To cause the classic Xcom player to go through a change of mentality, where all their previous tactics no longer worked, and they had to learn how to use melee ( which most Xcom players normally avoid).  I thought it was in keeping with the Pirate theme to have the melee be a critical aspect to the game.  I now understand that this wasn't your intent, and instead you are trying to get a more balanced game.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 05:42:44 pm
Critical, yes. OP, no :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Bloax on May 11, 2015, 06:24:35 pm
I think the most important thing here would be implementing something that was available and good even in Doom:
Pain sounds.

So that even if the enemy doesn't die - which they usually do after 1-3 shots in vanilla XCOM - you'll know that they're taking damage.
Which would serve to not demotivate you from keeping up the hailstorm of firearms, since sooner or later they are bound to fall.

Especially fearsome critters could also have no pain sound just to make them scarier.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 07:23:51 pm
Simple and great solution, I love it. One can only hope Yankes will find time to implement that :) Of course I thought that doing simple math (researching personal armoy guy gives you the stats of his armor) would suffice, but this solution both adds immersion and is a valuable tactical information, not only an encouragement. Alternatively there could be some blood splatters or something :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 11, 2015, 11:11:50 pm
Fair points, guys. I will certainly not impose these ideas upon people without serious prior testing. Maybe it's just my playstyle: I know that personal-armored guys can be brought down with continuous barage of Str 30+ firearms, and using a grenade is basically an easy way out. I usually keep 60% ranged, 40% melee+ranged squad; true I don't want to force this playstyle upon people, but guns seem to be under-appreciated. Like I said, I will test this new melee formula out and see how really it does hamper the melee combat; I think the debuff will be rather slight. Plus there will be new advantages and ways to handle the enemy.

Actually no guns are not underappreciated. There comes a time when you desperately need ranged weaponry after a while.

For me my to go options (preference) were these:
My to go ranged weapons: 6 Blunderbuss with HE, 10 Military shotguns with Heat ammo, 2 Sniper rifles of the best I could build (right now home made plasma rifles) one gal with a lascannon in loader suit, one gal with a tornado in loader suit and a one gal with a vulcan in loader suit. All have rum, grenades tech blades electro fists or maces. Before I ended up in here I was using mainly scavenged gauss rifles and heat heavy cannons and an assortment of melee with the indispencable (till the mace came around) hammers. 

Ranged is not useless or doesnt fall behind, its just that the game forces you to use melee most because the gals need a ton of missions before their stats reach a point where they can do work with ranged weapons. Plus there is an overabundance of armor and most early weapons are not gonna pierce through. The problem that you cant replicate stuff also is a big factor. By the time you get to build lazer clips for example, the specialised ammo are doing a better job than lazer weapons.

TLDR: If anything is to be rework, IMHO is the approach the stats on the game increase (And i think extended can do that right?) not the approach to melee/ranged. This is good IMHO. In fact I believe certain....later stage ranged weapons could use a boost to damage (I look at you
gauss assaults
)

That is basically my situation.  If you nerf the melee (which I know works), then make flint locks and muskets able to deal with personal armor.

They already do, you are basically a breath away of making them do yourself ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2015, 11:39:12 pm
You will have the opprotunity to test the new melee system by yourselves once it is released and decide if it sucks or not. Hope it won't, certainly the main point - damage - isn't going to be nerfed that much (if at all - in some cases it will even increase for Swabbie-level soldiers), except high-end damage dealt by Str 100 killing machines.

One thing I've found out when exploring today - it will be finally possible to make gas grenades! (works like smoke, but deals damage like acid. Or drains morale - halucinogenic gas! Or... possibilities are a legion). The Problem: there won't be no way to distinguish what kind of gas is dispersed where by visuals. Sounds like fun, and a memory-training exercise :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 12, 2015, 12:28:15 am
To be honest as I said, I am more concearned about the stamina requirements to use melee, rather than any damage nerfs. But thats a concearn only, without seeing the impact there can be no accurate opinion on the matter.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 12, 2015, 04:51:20 am
I very much trust that Dioxine will deliver a fun experience with the next level of Piratez.

However, the crux of Ivan and my worry is much earlier stage of the game than this:

Actually no guns are not underappreciated. There comes a time when you desperately need ranged weaponry after a while.

For me my to go options (preference) were these:
My to go ranged weapons: 6 Blunderbuss with HE, 10 Military shotguns with Heat ammo, 2 Sniper rifles of the best I could build (right now home made plasma rifles) one gal with a lascannon in loader suit, one gal with a tornado in loader suit and a one gal with a vulcan in loader suit. All have rum, grenades tech blades electro fists or maces. Before I ended up in here I was using mainly scavenged gauss rifles and heat heavy cannons and an assortment of melee with the indispencable (till the mace came around) hammers. 

Flintlocks and starting rifles are just not worth spending the TUs shooting at a security guard. I researched the guy and looked at my guns: 20-30 average damage -> 0-40 (useless unless you get him in the back, maybe?) to 0-60 (1/6 chance to do 1-10 damage that's a lot of shots when factoring starting gals' lacking firing accuracy). And the guns with 30 damage are the rare ones. One gun that is good and easy to get (I strongly suggest you use 'em Ivan) are flamethrowers. Because they can deal with armour and the multiple hits are incredible to train accuracy. Heavy flamers are even better! (I use two!)

As soon as you get alternative ammo (I just got acid), LACC, heavy cannons, machine guns, or even sniper rifles, you are starting to get something useable. The gun problem is not with the mid game onwards, but before that, which is what is featured in Ivan's LP and most of what I experienced so far. The only solution is to run up with an axe or hammer and deal with the problem! There is just no viable alternative except explosives (bombs included).

Maybe in Piratez Extended, guns can gain a varying amount of damage based on firing accuracy to represent targeting weak spots? Then there would be a point to giving a 60+ accuracy a sniper rifle: She could shoot that personal armoured guy in his unarmoured face! And that might well be all that's needed to make starting guns get the little extra bit of damage to be worth it. Currently, a starting gal with 55+ accuracy (above average starting stats) is unimpressive, but with 75+ melee (above average starting melee), you get an axe, maybe smoke ops gear or a tac vest and you're in business!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 12, 2015, 03:33:31 pm
I very much trust that Dioxine will deliver a fun experience with the next level of Piratez.

However, the crux of Ivan and my worry is much earlier stage of the game than this:

Flintlocks and starting rifles are just not worth spending the TUs shooting at a security guard. I researched the guy and looked at my guns: 20-30 average damage -> 0-40 (useless unless you get him in the back, maybe?) to 0-60 (1/6 chance to do 1-10 damage that's a lot of shots when factoring starting gals' lacking firing accuracy). And the guns with 30 damage are the rare ones. One gun that is good and easy to get (I strongly suggest you use 'em Ivan) are flamethrowers. Because they can deal with armour and the multiple hits are incredible to train accuracy. Heavy flamers are even better! (I use two!)

As soon as you get alternative ammo (I just got acid), LACC, heavy cannons, machine guns, or even sniper rifles**, you are starting to get something useable. The gun problem is not with the mid game onwards, but before that, which is what is featured in Ivan's LP and most of what I experienced so far. The only solution is to run up with an axe or hammer and deal with the problem! There is just no viable alternative except explosives (bombs included).

Maybe in Piratez Extended, guns can gain a varying amount of damage based on firing accuracy to represent targeting weak spots? Then there would be a point to giving a 60+ accuracy a sniper rifle: She could shoot that personal armoured guy in his unarmoured face! And that might well be all that's needed to make starting guns get the little extra bit of damage to be worth it. Currently, a starting gal with 55+ accuracy (above average starting stats) is unimpressive, but with 75+ melee (above average starting melee), you get an axe, maybe smoke ops gear or a tac vest and you're in business!

Depends on what you did with your research priorities. I did research bullets, acids and cooking by the book as almost my first things, so I had no real problems. It might not be x-com but its pretty similar. If you lag your researchoutput by researching things that are not immediately usefull* you will get outgunned. And that means upgrading your current arsenal. And the security guys are a problem as long as you dont have explosives or armor. Once you get HE shells on the blunderbuss the LACC and  the custom sniper rifle your pretty much set. Your only threat from then on are the mercenaries and everything up. What you speak IMHO is a "probelm" of following an alternate research path than didnt unlock you usable munitions fast. Shotguns come by the dozen. Same for rifles. Same for pistols.Sniper Rifles and blunderbusses you can manufacture. If you get strong galls, you can tot around boarding guns as well which punch through. Comparing IVans game and my experience for example, I was already totting anti armor munitions comparing the dates and had metal armor. OFC RNG makes its magics, but still he dalayed (because OFC he didnt knew) what I consider critical reasearch. There are a ton of unlockable munitions once those are researched. Lots of solutions for the early game as long as you make them a priority in research. Your only problem be accuracy. Even a basic assault rifle with plasta steel munitions can take down a sec guy with 3-4 shots and a snipper with 2 usually.

*I was forced to abadnon for example my first run because I made the mistake of rushing up tech and wasted resources to build up aircraft guns and interceptors, and as a result not only I understood that the game doesnt want you to have reasonable chances of interception untill you are pretty far into it, but actually researching the damn documentation, the sailors and the engineers is something that should be done as fast as possible (except if you want to ask here that is) and use that knowledge to attack only landed craft. This might seem a bit out of the discussion but let me ask you this: Why would you assault a landed heavy gunship for example (assuming you know what crews them and the profits)?

**In all honesty, I used the LACC and the rest of these types of gun (excluding the heavy cannon and sniper rifle OFC) only with the customised munitions. The standard you get with looting the piece are not going to help you with the sec guys any more than a standard rifle will.

In the end, I consider these kinds of discussions to be usefull because we can portay our different play styles and multiple solutions to a problem. What works for me though, might not work for you and vice versa.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 12, 2015, 03:54:51 pm
Somehow I hope that the game is as forgiving as it is brutal. ;)

Feels a bit more like a "Let's Fail PirateZ with Ivan" :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 12, 2015, 04:03:49 pm
Somehow I hope that the game is as forgiving as it is brutal. ;)

Feels a bit more like a "Let's Fail PirateZ with Ivan" :P

M8 you started a run on a game (because it might be similar but it aint the same) you had only the knowledge of X-Com. You are doing fine trust me. A little tweek here and there a bit more cautious play and you are set. You dont need to deal with everything in the game. Pick your battles. I had to play three test runs with save scummin up to a certain point (havent finished) just to get the hang of it
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 12, 2015, 04:33:23 pm
Somehow I hope that the game is as forgiving as it is brutal. ;)

Oh don't be so shy, you have survived so far, expanded the operation, got some veterans trained, and ended all months with a good score. It's not that you're failing, it's that in Piratez, you have to redefine what you constitute as a success and what is a fail. You don't need "A" grade. You need "Not-Dead" grade. It's still XCom, so it is forgiving (especially since the enemy force escalation is much less pronounced than in vanilla XCom - eg. enemy weapon loadouts stay the same no matter how long you play), forgiving with ocassional bouts of brutal rage, that is :) You don't have to worry about killed Swabbies so much (they're cheap), and... In general, you have to let go of unrealistic expectations that the original has taught you (an implacable, if bloody march to victory with millions of $$$ and tech raining from the sky, and 8 bases by May) and cherish your modest successes!

Nobody said it's gonna be fluffy kittens and rainbows, and Piratez WILL deal you painful blows from time to time, just accept it and move on. Especially since your mindset seems to be just perfect - optimistic, cautious, smart. But sometimes you also need to indulge in pure aggression. I'm usually putting a pretty low priority on live capture, I'm getting less money and tech that way, but that allows me to keep more soldiers alive. Live capture is what I am doing in the final stage of the mission, first 2-3 turns is just "kill everything in sight" mode (unless there is a very good opportunity to catch a very juicy target, that is). That way I am able to often break the enemy morale by turn 3 and once that happens, it's just mopping up, with an occassional run-in with a suicide bomber.

As for the tech tree, I'm trying to make every path viable - but once you select a single path, keep on it. Ivan prioritized melee so he's right to go melee, with Metal Armor finally in the fold and the Tech Blade quite possibly coming soon, he'd be able to take on most normal enemies in melee. So it's only natural he tends towards heavy-melee loadouts. Rushing munitions is another path that allows you to be pretty set up for firefights by early March (delays oftentimes due to the lack of proper loot to research). Both approaches need some support too, naturally - explosives and armor. Tac Suit will protect you from small grenades and small firearms, and the Metal Armor will protect you from small lasers. Choose wisely :)

Sure there will be Stamina cost now (realistically, melee combat SHOULD be tiring just as running is), but you will also get more melee-supporting tech and alternate combat techniques (attacks against enemy Morale, for example - you will still have to make the kill with a blade, but there will be new ways to make that more safely - so the general direction is less wild swinging, more carefully executed plans when a few melee strikes will be enough). Bows will be back with vengeance too (not as OP as they were in the old days, but once again quite powerful on hi-stat soldiers).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 12, 2015, 04:46:13 pm
Well,  I don't do test runs to learn the tech tree. I like discovering things as I play through. In general, armor is my main priority as that keeps the gals alive and that means they improve and become killing machines. Then other stuff, with guns pretty high in the priorities (but now craft weapons too..). My game has been "make the gals survive and get to the enemy, they'll run 'em through with a blade once they get there". They can tank rather well.

I am now in June with a crew of monster gals (haven't lost one yet..!? Though many spent a long time in the infirmary) and starting to get decent guns.

Of course if you know the tree, the game is entirely different and you can have set priorities knowing what unlocks what, but then the game becomes "rush the tech tree and bypass lasers to get plasma" vanilla, which gets boring. The main reason I picked Piratez is because I had no idea what it's tree was and it was the most different game out there.

My experience has been similar to Ivan's although my lab is working at full capacity funded by a wave of freighters, so I've been lucky with that. I would say in the early game (when you have what you start with) melee is better than guns which is neat as it makes you feel like the primitive gang of mutants you are. As soon as you progress a bit (the timing of which will vary depending on how well you know the tech tree and what your priorities are) guns are fine. I think this is quite successful as you can go armor heavy, guns first or melee/explosives heavy (me/pilot/Ivan) and still make it through.

I guess I was afraid that the change to melee was to make a firing squad of muskets the best solution to security guards ;P that would be a harsh early game.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 12, 2015, 04:51:22 pm
I guess I was afraid that the change to melee was to make a firing squad of muskets the best solution to security guards ;P that would be a harsh early game.

No no no, most certainly not :) Although I am planning an early Super-Musket tech that will maybe add some usefulness to the never-produced Flintlock Balls, this would be just a fun side tech (and a half decent gun that can be grabbed with 2-3 researches).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 12, 2015, 04:57:55 pm
Of course if you know the tree, the game is entirely different and you can have set priorities knowing what unlocks what, but then the game becomes "rush the tech tree and bypass lasers to get plasma" vanilla, which gets boring. The main reason I picked Piratez is because I had no idea what it's tree was and it was the most different game out there.


I havent done that either. But after failing three times in a row I came here asking Dioxine what the hell do I need to do to make craft weapons. I made test runs to get to that point though, and lets say I was sorely dissapointed with the results till I resumed my normal game and understood what I must do.

I dont know how to explain it either, its more of a play style. To me what works most is optimising what I already have on hand. If I get a research topic to improve my weapons I do so. If I get one to improve my armor I do so. I dont think that the topics as presented here are too obscure you pretty much understand what you will get most of the time. And there is no such thing as rushing lazers here. The requirements to maintain advanced weapons are not something you can do something about unless their time comes. Expanding your own arsenal through research though, thats something you can do and in my playstyle is a priority that seems to work here.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 12, 2015, 07:50:19 pm
@Dioxine: Thanks for reassuring me :D

@Pilot: There's a few things you can prioritize to improve your guns, the easiest of which is probably Primitive Weapons -> Poisons -> Acidic Munitions (I think it probably needs a few other things you will research any ways, like rifle bullets manufacturing). That already changes the basic submachine gun into a pretty good gun (and one handed to boot so you can still carry your sword!).

My early game choices gun-wise were based on the belief that I could get larger calibre weapons like heavy and auto-cannons and/or make RPG rockets (to save moneys!) "quickly", since those are basic XCom tech or already buyable. It turned out not to be the case. Similarly researching the laser guns I grabbed from pogroms didn't help me make clips (even with nuclear fuel and ship engines to try to understand energy production). I spent a lot of brainer time researching gun related stuff that did not actually improve my guns. Researching primitive weapons for the barbed dagger and then poisons actually would have been better, and whatever the path to explosive & plastasteel munitions is (just got the explosive one, haven't seen the plastasteel one yet). Not complaining, just saying that although it is possible to get early good guns, it is not obvious.

Armour wise I went the personal armour parts route, thinking at some point I'd get an XCom like personal armour. Also turned out not to be the case. You're probably better off rushing for trader booty -> leather -> metal armour, instead of the tac armors (which are great, but more for already advanced soldiers given the cost in TU/Stam/Reactions, while metal would be great at the beginning). And then there's all the "high tech" stuff like nuclear fuel, ship engine, slave AI (and all the interrogation stuff), most of which does not translate in immediate benefits in the early game but looks "shiny" to new players too.

All that to say: If you know the tech tree and know what is good for you, you can get the improvements much earlier than Ivan or I have, but it is "playing the game" instead of discovering it. I expect starting pirates to be overwhelmed by all the loot they can research but that's fine. In general the stuff you get allows you to at least get by, if not totally dominate (my tac armors/heavy armors gal now laugh at traders and raiders).

My only comment would be on the "Powered Tools" research. When I saw it I expected it would be something to improve my facilities/craft building capabilities (since the runts would get powered tools to build stuff with), but instead I got a chainsaw on steroids for the gals. It might lead to more construction stuff later, I don't know. But if the point of the research is a weapon, maybe "Powered Weapons" would be more accurate?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 12, 2015, 08:42:15 pm
My only comment would be on the "Powered Tools" research. When I saw it I expected it would be something to improve my facilities/craft building capabilities (since the runts would get powered tools to build stuff with), but instead I got a chainsaw on steroids for the gals. It might lead to more construction stuff later, I don't know. But if the point of the research is a weapon, maybe "Powered Weapons" would be more accurate?

The point is to get the powered tools, which unlock further researches into construction stuff. The weapon is just a byproduct. But if you have a bunch of (invisible) powered tools laying around, and no idea what to do with them because you thought EDUKAYSHUN IZ 4 PUSSIEZ... well, you can always weaponize them at least :) ...Actually, it seems the point of research depends on who's researching. For your gals indeed it was the weapon, but not for everyone it'll be :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 12, 2015, 10:32:13 pm
Oh, perfect then!

It is sometimes hard to tell because most projects have multiple dependencies so often you finish a project that doesn't unlock further research, so it leaves you uncertain as to what actually was achieved.. In my case Powered Tools showed me the crazy weapon, so I assumed that was the outcome. I would normally suggest more UFOPedia articles, but there are already a lot in Piratez.

If the runts also got power tools to do more stuff (once we find a project worthy of powered tools!), then the name sounds fine. Too bad the engine doesn't support research reducing manufacturing time or something to represent the their' new toys.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 12, 2015, 11:38:59 pm

@Pilot: There's a few things you can prioritize to improve your guns, the easiest of which is probably Primitive Weapons -> Poisons -> Acidic Munitions (I think it probably needs a few other things you will research any ways, like rifle bullets manufacturing). That already changes the basic submachine gun into a pretty good gun (and one handed to boot so you can still carry your sword!).

My early game choices gun-wise were based on the belief that I could get larger calibre weapons like heavy and auto-cannons and/or make RPG rockets (to save moneys!) "quickly", since those are basic XCom tech or already buyable. It turned out not to be the case. Similarly researching the laser guns I grabbed from pogroms didn't help me make clips (even with nuclear fuel and ship engines to try to understand energy production). I spent a lot of brainer time researching gun related stuff that did not actually improve my guns. Researching primitive weapons for the barbed dagger and then poisons actually would have been better, and whatever the path to explosive & plastasteel munitions is (just got the explosive one, haven't seen the plastasteel one yet). Not complaining, just saying that although it is possible to get early good guns, it is not obvious.

Yeah I agree. I dont play smart guy here, I just run into it by a hunch. But the thing is, it is doable. Yes it requires luck but come to thing about it in retrospect, if you immerse yourself in the world of the game it makes perfect sense. I mean you are a rag tag crew what chances are there to get a hold of powefull guns?
And if you do what chances are there you will have enough ammo? Your brainers (amply named me thinks) propose you with stop gap solutions: Primitive guns and poisons to turn your outfit into a querilla warfare. So I was thinking like that. If I were a leader of a rag tag militia what I would do? I dont posses the infrastracture to reverse engineer anything so what can I do? My smart people tell me they can build me poisons and stuff that require no ammo, so lets go through with it. After that the b&!@*s tell you they can make bullets for the small guns. So lets do it, from using cross bows and trying to fling grenades now we will have some range whatever inefective it might be its still range. And then BAM. A+B+C(if you remove cooking by the book, because honestly I thought it was completely irrelevant from munitions) = new munitions for our peeshooters.
The (not so) funny thing? If you progress through the game, some discoveries tell you why your gals are doing this process thinking...
So its not an alien process so to speak and honeslty if I run into it, just by immersing, I believe someone else can run on it too. Researching high end stuff in x-com worked because: You knew you could put them to use immediately, most of the time you could build them and last but not least you had scientists aplenty.
Now you have to move from the small to the big to the huge. If you do it the other way around its gonna stall you.


Armour wise I went the personal armour parts route, thinking at some point I'd get an XCom like personal armour. Also turned out not to be the case.


Same here, I had the girls running in tac vests, and then felt like an idiot when I found out metal. Good thing the vests are....I am talking too much XD.


You're probably better off rushing for trader booty -> leather -> metal armour, instead of the tac armors (which are great, but more for already advanced soldiers given the cost in TU/Stam/Reactions, while metal would be great at the beginning). And then there's all the "high tech" stuff like nuclear fuel, ship engine, slave AI (and all the interrogation stuff), most of which does not translate in immediate benefits in the early game but looks "shiny" to new players too.

And thats the 'trap' laid out by the original game, the sirens are calling XD.

All that to say: If you know the tech tree and know what is good for you, you can get the improvements much earlier than Ivan or I have, but it is "playing the game" instead of discovering it. I expect starting pirates to be overwhelmed by all the loot they can research but that's fine. In general the stuff you get allows you to at least get by, if not totally dominate (my tac armors/heavy armors gal now laugh at traders and raiders).

See my first responce for that. I believe that the whole point is to make the traders your cash cow till you stabalise your feet. With a few researches each month and a 5-6 raid ufo missions you are set on your possitive scores. The whole game actually starts when freighters start to show up.

DISCLAIMER: I dont play the smart guy, the X-com godplayer or the like, I am a casual player and those are my observations. I am known to nag about mechanics and am too eager to find bad implementations, but in this case there is a path to follow. It is a bit obscure yes and it requires to immerse yourself contrary to what your logic says but its there. Maybe the RPG fan in me made it a bit easier on me to perceive it but....IDK it seems there for me. Cheers.

The point is to get the powered tools, which unlock further researches into construction stuff. The weapon is just a byproduct. But if you have a bunch of (invisible) powered tools laying around, and no idea what to do with them because you thought EDUKAYSHUN IZ 4 PUSSIEZ... well, you can always weaponize them at least :) ...Actually, it seems the point of research depends on who's researching. For your gals indeed it was the weapon, but not for everyone it'll be :)

The engineering gals are x10 more smexy, that the fighty gals in the artwork. So it might be for PUSSIEZ but at least....Ok I am shuting up now.


If the runts also got power tools to do more stuff (once we find a project worthy of powered tools!), then the name sounds fine. Too bad the engine doesn't support research reducing manufacturing time or something to represent the their' new toys.

There is an article on it already me thinks Ill double check. It tells you its a stepgap for building moar stuff. Plus in our world drills and stuff like that are called power tools too.

EDIT: I might have been wrong on the booty entry, but I cant remember weather it poped the industrial tools entry or it wanted a research on its own.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on May 13, 2015, 12:19:09 am
Dioxine there is another way to made snipe rifle in OXCE, simple made it suck at accuracy on low level of skill.
Instead of linear relation between skill and accuracy you can made square relation. After that only skilled solders are capable of using it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: VodkaBear on May 13, 2015, 02:40:10 pm
Oh, what a great news! That thing, I expected long time ago, as with later versions(80-90+) game obviously stucked in some point, while no any new ways of fight and gameplay at all were added, but new content only(like guns and armor variations). And now, finaly, something new. Great work, It's always cool to see how one person continue his work no matter how much time passed from very start of it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2015, 08:55:48 pm
Dioxine there is another way to made snipe rifle in OXCE, simple made it suck at accuracy on low level of skill.
Instead of linear relation between skill and accuracy you can made square relation. After that only skilled solders are capable of using it.

I am weighing my options with this. I'll probably make them less accurate but with dmg bonus dependant on skill. We'll see. As for the squared bonus, it's awesome there's an option for this, but you got to be careful with exponential growth; plus very complex functions might look very nice but they're very hard both to balance and to de-code (so there's this function, now how do my stats translate...? Uhhhmmmm...).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 13, 2015, 10:00:13 pm
How are these functions communicated to the players? Piratez is doing a pretty good job with adding information in the flavour text, but for quadratic functions it is not easy! It would be funny to see:

Sniper Rifle
A weapon for the Hawkeye'd gals, this is better used as a club unless you're already a great shot. With the right hands, you can blow the brains out of those security guards who forgot their helmets!
Snap: 0.45*FAcc+0.005*FAcc^2
Aimed: 1.3*FAcc-0.001*FAcc^2
Damage: 30+0.6*Acc-0.002*Acc^2

Better get a spreadsheet going to tell what this does! ( I actually used matlab and made the plot below if you want to look at the functions, now get that into the Bootypedia and the players will feel like they got "Back to School" too! )

Those actually looks pretty good as a first guess for quadratic functions for a sniper rifle type weapon. Bad at low accuracy but with good decent stats in the 60+ range. Snap = Aimed at 140, which means the best marksman possible can shoot twice as fast. In general your snap shot is about as good as an aimed shot from a soldier ~20 Accuracy lower. 30 damage base, with great improvement with skill at the beginning, and diminishing returns making it reach 65 damage at 80 and slowly level off to 75 by 140 accuracy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on May 13, 2015, 10:09:49 pm
I must mention one limitation, accuracy from stats is same for all firing modes.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2015, 11:55:49 pm
As cool as this graph looks, forcing players to solve quadratic functions it's not what I really want to do :) Low accuracy sniper rifle also is counter-intuitive... I'll probably leave Accuracy linear as it is (Snap nowadays takes almost as long as Aimed anyway), but make the damage governed by diminishing returns. With your example, it'd probably say something like, Bonus Damage for Accuracy (15-45).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 02:41:10 am
haha yeah, it is more of a thought experiment! Especially since there is no way to convey the information easily.

I think low accuracy can make sense if you take into account the time cost. If two guys spend the same time (same TU%) aiming, one with lower accuracy should get a much worse result. Otherwise the better shot gets nothing accuracy wise (since 140% to hit doesn't seem to hit much more than 99% to hit).

Factoring in min range and snap range (140% - 40% for firing too close is much better than 99%-40%) helps. Having the damage bonus will make a big difference and probably work better: They both are likely to hit, but the low accuracy guys hits somewhere whereas the high accuracy one gets a shot in a weak spot.

I am very much looking forward to what you do with the ranged weapons. The melee ones are already interesting and very diverse for how few variables there are.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 02:45:35 am
The current thing on the list is adding massive Morale damage to all incendiaries (people set on fire shouldn't really be able to do much). However I was caught up with upgrading to the new mod format, and it doesn't seem to be working properly (can't really handle over 1000 objects), which makes progress impossible before this issue is resolved.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 02:52:33 am
The incendiary thing is a great idea, and would make molotovs a lot more useful (and flamethrowers rather scary!).

Is morale damage affected by resistance to incendiary? It would be weird for a guy in power armour to panic because you threw him a molotov that can't damage his fireproof suit.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 03:07:22 am
Oh it's actually a good system, the Morale loss is directly proportional to HP damage caused, so those with high resistance will be less affected, and those immune to fire (as well as those who have Bravery 110) won't be affected at all. Currently I've made it so the Personal Armor guys can take a single flame hit without panicking... but barely so. GO's are a dead meat. Flamers will be scary indeed, as they are in the real life (their shortcomings are quite a steep price to pay for this). There is a downside - the pirate gals rarely have Bravery on the level of standard enemies (70-80) so they could easily go from 100 to 0 Morale in a single hit.

Also, now finally Yankes added option for the medical objects to be used on oneself. We'll be able to actually down a beer or vodka!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 03:21:24 am
That is a really good system! Nicely done Yankes!

I thought you said "beer and vodka" first, and I was gonna say this should be a new tier of item. Looking for a beer cocktails, the first hit was a "Depth Charge", surprisingly piratical, isn't it? Looking forward to that too!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 03:27:51 am
That's not the first time someone asks me "how about cocktails?", the idea is rad but frankly speaking I can't think what would they do in game terms (just massive healing seems a bit... boring and would remove the current healing items balance...)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 05:29:57 am
I meant I am looking forward to the gals being able to down their own drink! ;)

Regarding cocktails, one thing that is missing before you discover rum is a stimulant. The beer is sorta does it, but it doesn't heal stun damage which would be really valuable in Piratez. I think a Depth Charge type drink (unlocked after researching the vodka? requires 1 beer + 1 vodka) could fit in. Then it would be:

Startup:
Beer: The only stim..
Vodka: remove wounds without healing = good for captives
Bandage: The surgery is too heavy and expensive

Bit Later:
Depth Charge: Heal non-valuables + Recover from smoke/exhaustion
Field Surgery kit: The real healer

Finally:
Rum: Pretty much the best
Combat drugs: If you are willing to sink that low/can get 'em.

That might be too many tiers in what is still the "early" part of the game, but honestly I never bothered with beer. Early on, the gals just can't afford to carry much and beer is not worth the weight, later it is replaced by other drinks. Having a Beer+Vodka cocktail would actually make beer useful as an ingredient at least.

Vodka remains valuable to keep captives alive without healing them (so they don't wake up from the healing!). The cocktail gives an early stim which helps with smoke, and since it's cheaper than rum might remain in use a bit. Rum isn't replaced because it's awesome (and the most piratey drink!), combat drugs remain the sought after stim.

Just a suggestion, of course ;) I still have a modder's tendency but I enjoy playing Piratez too much, so you get to be bothered by all my suggestions and overlong posts.. Your fault for making such an enjoyable mod!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 07:02:07 am
But the beer does heal stun damage, and more than anything but Combat Drugs at that...??? The only downside being it has only a single shot. But it weighs only 2 units.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 07:37:19 am
Uh? :o Well that changes things!

My "flavour text" reads:
Quote
Tastes like piss but possesses a pretty solid kick. Quickly downing it heals 1 Wound and 1 HP, or restores 15 Energy. 1 use per battle each.

Rum and Grog both say that they heal 12 stun + 25 Energy, combat drugs 30 stun + 50 energy. Since the beer didn't say anything about stun, I assumed it did not heal any and never tried it.

Time to buy the gals a round of beer! :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 08:38:18 am
Damn it, the Pedia description is wrong, my fault. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 14, 2015, 03:08:56 pm
Regarding communicating the accuracy to the player: wouldn't it be OK to make a tiny change to the code to show basic to-hit stat in the inventory?

(https://i.imgur.com/AggHdAu.jpg)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 14, 2015, 04:11:01 pm
Damn it, the Pedia description is wrong, my fault. :)
Damn it dude! I trusted you! I trusted you!!

*recovers from the panic caused by potential errors in the Pedia*

Just joking :D I think Piratez has a very different experience for first time players compared to once you "know" it. Discovering which craft will blow you up, which will land so you don't need to destroy them, which way to research to get relevant things instead of things that are just good in the future, which armour to go for, etc. All things that veteran pirates know but that are totally entirely new if it's your first time and make the experience rather different.

I love being in the dark and trying to figure it out though (found the 50mm ammo now! :D). It reminds me of playing the original as a 13 year old trying to make sense of it all while translating the english to french. And now Piratez will be new for everyone again once it moves to Extended!

@Solarius: That might work, but you'd need to say what shot that is too. 57 Autoshot is great, 57 on an aimed shot.. meh.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2015, 11:21:52 pm
Regarding communicating the accuracy to the player: wouldn't it be OK to make a tiny change to the code to show basic to-hit stat in the inventory?

Well, breaking news: weapons often have more than 1 firing mode. :) Honestly I fail to see any advantage of this.

About the Pedia: I understand your concerns. Thankfully I have a perfect solution: I will introduce a new article on the 1st page, with big words DON'T PANIC on it :) Honestly though, the text is generally very well edited and often re-checked.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 15, 2015, 01:03:29 am
It's not really a concern though. I was joking ;)

I've found the work you've done relating what is a LOT of information to be great. I have never been unable to find information I was looking for. Telling even the weight and effect of items (ex.: how much is healed per wound) is going beyond what vanilla did and it's awesome, especially in a formatted, consistent way.

I love the occasional reference drops, very much enjoyed a project I obtained after researching academician booty. Having "Don't panic!" somewhere would be rather fitting!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Vesparco on May 16, 2015, 01:47:31 pm
Bringing the topic of translations. Have you any aid or offer to translate the mod? I can do it to spanish if you like.

BTW I apologize to all for the lack of progress on the leaders mod. I've just moved to another country for work and I am quite messed up with the relocation and the paperwork :S.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 16, 2015, 04:03:27 pm
You're the first person coming with any translation proposition. Sure, I'd be honored! Since I'm in the middle of overhauling the Pedia, though (for the Extended version), I'd like to send you the file once it's more or less done (today or tomorrow).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 16, 2015, 08:12:55 pm
Currently I am working on complex melee weapons systems (looks like for some people, just plain old won't do, so it's actually more complex than I've first anticipated, no quadratic functions, though). Here's a sneak peek on how the Poisoned Dagger works now - it has been changed to Piercing, as it works due to piercing armor. It causes much lower damage now, but the poison has been represented by the fact that armor is partially ignored, and any damage inflicted causes some pretty solid Morale losses, and increased Stun damage (as compared to normal weapons).
There are more general infos too, which will vary depending on melee weapon:
Skill used (this is based on Melee, but it can be based, ex. on 50+Melee/2, Throwing, Throwing*1.5 - 25 etc.
Power bonus: bonus to weapon's power; here you get +1 per every 10 Melee Skill you have. With cutlass, you'd get +50% Strength and +20% Meleee Skill in bonus Power. This can also be Bravery or Throwing for very special weapons.
Let me know what do you think of this system.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 16, 2015, 08:35:59 pm
 :o

Wow.
Very complex.  My analysis tables are going to get crazy.

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 16, 2015, 09:01:13 pm
That looks cool. Looks like all the info is there, but what's "Pain [5]"?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 16, 2015, 10:47:46 pm
That looks cool. Looks like all the info is there, but what's "Pain [5]"?

That's Morale damage. It is displayed in this vague manner since it's impossible to measure precisely - a lot of factors can influence this, like Bravery. This means that "the base extra morale damage (not counting normal morale loss from being wounded) is 5*hp damage".
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 18, 2015, 08:45:10 pm
Will anyone miss the WP grenade being a proxy? I plan to make it a throwable again, but thanks to the Extended mechanics, it can now actually do a lot of damage instantly, in addition to setting people on fire (but probably I'll make it a researchable). Or is a fire trap needed? Actually it is possible to add fire effect to any explosives if desired... I've tried that on a HE pack and it set everything on fire inside the blast radius, including trees and other undamaged terrain features...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 18, 2015, 10:12:31 pm
Incendiary explosives sounds nice. It might be a good thing to have for some special explosives. I feel like the HE Pack migth produce too much of a blast to set stuff on fire? Maybe for some thermite/phosphor higher tech explosives? (I am yet to research Advanced Chemistry, but it sounds like maybe it could unlock some of those fiery explosives?)

As for the WP grenade, I am yet to discover it.. I'll let you know once I have tried it!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 18, 2015, 10:43:40 pm
As for the WP grenade, I am yet to discover it.. I'll let you know once I have tried it!

Oh for the time being, it's basically a store-available fire-damage Proxy grenade.

I'm thinking COV mught be doing that (explosive + fire) to be more FUN, and - certainly the FAE launcher-grenade, available through Adv. Chemistry. Maybe the Baby Nuke as well, and the Nuclear Demo Charge... Chinese Dragon doesn't really need that :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 19, 2015, 12:35:14 am
Oh.. I didn't make the connection. Honestly, I looked at the bootypedia and did not pay much attention to it. HE/Frag Grenades, Satchel charge, Prox, WP and IED are all things I glanced at and dismissed.

HE/Frag are either easy enough to replace with a black powder bomb (seeing the effect immediately is really strong compared to waiting and risking your target surviving and blowing you up on their turn, plus being manufacturable for cheap), and the HE can be looted easily (I have more than I know what to do with, since I still mostly use BPB. I am switching now, since a pre-primed HE is faster to use, I have lots and I am starting to know the enemy better).

Satchel, proxies and IED fall in the too expensive again (HE and then dynamite are good enough to blow cyberdiscs or tanks).

WP.. I'm not sure.. If I use a trap, I'd rather something that kills/maim so hopefully the enemy is taken out or hurt enough to not be too dangerous. Explosives (proxies/IED are sure to explode at ground zero by the very way they work) are likely to do that, setting on fire doesn't. Once you add morale damage to the WP's fire damage (and maybe some instant damage from the pyrotechnics?) it will become interesting, since setting something on fire is likely to panic them = take them out of the fight.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 12:46:55 am
So... did I miss sumthin in the Bootypedia?  WP and IEDs are motion sensitive? 
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 19, 2015, 12:53:59 am
They both say they have a "proximity fuse" or something, which kinda gives it away. And the IED.. It's in the name man! Well, not really, but when I think IED, I think of the buried traps that blow people up..

Thinking a bit more about the WP, we already have the molotov which is ranged instant delivery of incendiary. I think keeping the WP as a trap might be nice. By making it "throwable", do you mean like a regular grenade or like a black powder bomb? I think it could be nice as a "incendiary+explosive" grenade, but as a bomb it risks making both the BPB and the molotov obsolete.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 01:02:37 am
Yeah, I meant a quite powerful grenade-type, and researchable at that. I might add a buyable, primitive fire-trap too (not too powerful, yeah, but cheap and damages morale).

I think grenades aren't fully replaced by instant explosives, a grenade has a range advantage, plus you can play "hot potato" with it. But indeed for direct-damage house storming BPB's are the way to go.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 01:17:10 am
<snip> And the IED.. It's in the name man! Well, not really, but when I think IED, I think of the buried traps that blow people up..

Heh. I spent too much time in Iraq.  IED is a buried 155 mm artillery shell to me, or a ton of explosives buried in the road that can crack an M1A1 Tank.  99% of them required an trigger man to overwatch them and set them off. 

I totally missed that in the bootypedia.  I am a big fan of proxies.  I'll have to give these another look. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 19, 2015, 02:09:01 am
Will anyone miss the WP grenade being a proxy? I plan to make it a throwable again, but thanks to the Extended mechanics, it can now actually do a lot of damage instantly, in addition to setting people on fire (but probably I'll make it a researchable). Or is a fire trap needed? Actually it is possible to add fire effect to any explosives if desired... I've tried that on a HE pack and it set everything on fire inside the blast radius, including trees and other undamaged terrain features...

Between manufacturing molotovs and their less weight, I have personally not used it at all. So if it becomes better it might entice me.

Maybe for some thermite/phosphor higher tech explosives? (I am yet to research Advanced Chemistry, but it sounds like maybe it could unlock some of those fiery explosives?)


Arthanor might be into something here. It would be better indeed to have the fusion explosives do inc damage as a plus, than adding it to everything nilly willy. After all they already are powerfull enough as it is (Explosives in general).

Speaking of throwables, is it possible from an engine perspective to mod the acid flask to have a tiny bit of splash? I was thinking something akin to two/three tile coverage nothing huge. I would even argue it should have a small persistent effect of armor reduction or dot but that might be pushing it.

So... did I miss sumthin in the Bootypedia?  WP and IEDs are motion sensitive?

IDEs for sure. I hadnt noticed it too till I used it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 02:35:24 am
Speaking of throwables, is it possible from an engine perspective to mod the acid flask to have a tiny bit of splash? I was thinking something akin to two/three tile coverage nothing huge. I would even argue it should have a small persistent effect of armor reduction or dot but that might be pushing it.

Armor reduction is not a problem, I was going to add it to some acidic weapons for sure. Splash effect is doable too, I think, but it might make the weapon too powerful... Not sure about that. I'd have to reduce the power by 10 at least.

IED is gone anyway. Proxy Grenade is moved up the research tree (and buffed), and instead of those, you have a pretty cheap (as in, a few thousand) Landmine as the only buyable proxy now (with the middle-ground power of around 90).

I wasn't going to add extra fire to everything, just 3 things I've mentioned - underused CoV, unfun FAE grenade, and underpowered Baby Nuke. Not sure if adding this blanket-style to ALL fusion explosives is such a great idea - nuclear demo charge I've mentioned is going to re-use the IED sprite, and it's sort of a middle ground in between Elerium explosives and Fusion explosives. But if you guys think Fusion weapons are so cool they demand extra fire damage, I might do that as well, after all, we're talking about the ultimate weapon tier here.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 19, 2015, 03:50:18 am
Heh. I spent too much time in Iraq.  IED is a buried 155 mm artillery shell to me, or a ton of explosives buried in the road that can crack an M1A1 Tank.  99% of them required an trigger man to overwatch them and set them off. 

Oh, I didn't realize they were triggered remotely. I thought they had some kind of trigger from weight or vibration or something. I guess it's better to hand trigger them so you can hit what you want. No such mechanic in XCom though, but it'd be interesting. Plant the explosive and on a reaction "action" you can chose to trigger it..?

Armor reduction is not a problem, I was going to add it to some acidic weapons for sure. Splash effect is doable too, I think, but it might make the weapon too powerful... Not sure about that. I'd have to reduce the power by 10 at least.

I think it works as a direct damage item for close range throwing. Unless it is volatile, there is little reason for a flask to make much of a splash.. Reducing armor would be cool.

Quote
IED is gone anyway. Proxy Grenade is moved up the research tree (and buffed), and instead of those, you have a pretty cheap (as in, a few thousand) Landmine as the only buyable proxy now (with the middle-ground power of around 90).
90 is quite respectable, sounds like something nice for keeping watch on some corner. And if nothing happens you just recover it at the end of the mission which is also nice.

Quote
I wasn't going to add extra fire to everything, just 3 things I've mentioned - underused CoV, unfun FAE grenade, and underpowered Baby Nuke. Not sure if adding this blanket-style to ALL fusion explosives is such a great idea - nuclear demo charge I've mentioned is going to re-use the IED sprite, and it's sort of a middle ground in between Elerium explosives and Fusion explosives. But if you guys think Fusion weapons are so cool they demand extra fire damage, I might do that as well, after all, we're talking about the ultimate weapon tier here.
I actually don't have anything but the explosives you get through cooking by the book! Dynamite and RPG AT rockets are my most advanced ones.. So no idea about Elerium or Fusion ones ;)

What I meant is that it would be interesting as a feature for some explosives, to differentiate them. Maybe for the "middle ground" explosives, where it is an interesting change from the starting ones and the endgame explosives are so powerful they "blow out" the fire. Depending on how that fits with the fluff of each, since I have not discovered it yet.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 19, 2015, 01:27:11 pm
I wasn't going to add extra fire to everything, just 3 things I've mentioned - underused CoV, unfun FAE grenade, and underpowered Baby Nuke. Not sure if adding this blanket-style to ALL fusion explosives is such a great idea - nuclear demo charge I've mentioned is going to re-use the IED sprite, and it's sort of a middle ground in between Elerium explosives and Fusion explosives. But if you guys think Fusion weapons are so cool they demand extra fire damage, I might do that as well, after all, we're talking about the ultimate weapon tier here.

My suggestion to add fire to all fusion weapons short of came as a reply to your suggestion to add fire to all explosives, which would make all explosives too much IMHO. But if you feel like fusion would become too powerfull well, either dont add the fire element or tweek them.


I think it works as a direct damage item for close range throwing. Unless it is volatile, there is little reason for a flask to make much of a splash.. Reducing armor would be cool.

If you throw corrossive acids in a vial and the vial breaks it will splash by default and since there is no other way to emulate it can be simulated as a one-two tiles acid type explosition (provided the engine can do this).


I actually don't have anything but the explosives you get through cooking by the book! Dynamite and RPG AT rockets are my most advanced ones.. So no idea about Elerium or Fusion ones ;)

Consider the fact, that right now you get a grenade that does more damage than a high explosive pack and an outrageous tornado shell.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 19, 2015, 04:02:51 pm
If you throw corrossive acids in a vial and the vial breaks it will splash by default and since there is no other way to emulate it can be simulated as a one-two tiles acid type explosition (provided the engine can do this).

I don't know.. even a whole waterballoon doesn't splash that much.. The problem with splash damage is that a near miss is almost as good as a direct hit. I think Yankes has a way to make damage dropoff faster though? It might work well to keep the same damage for a direct hit, but reduce damage to half in neighbour tiles, then it could affect a 3x3 area without being OP (since most of the splash would be absorbed by armor)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 05:49:09 pm
I've finally decided against the splash, at least for now - the armor damaging effect is simply too awesome in its own right, and I'm afraid of buggy behaviour. Might return to this problem later on, in the balancing phase.

Solarius also gave a controversial idea that EVERY plasma/laser weapon should be setting targets on fire with a powerful enough hit :)

Finally being more or less happy with the item upgrades, moving to armors. Two major changes upcoming:
1. getting rid of many instances of Melee Res, and replacing it with MeleeDodge (the attacker's chance to hit in melee is reduced by this value)
2. and this is a major thing, differentiating Night Vision ranges! The base values I think of are 9 for an unaided human, and 12 for an unaided pirate/raider. Naturally this will be tricky as hell, since to take an advantage of this invisibility to humans you'll have to disable Personal Lighting and either use a CRT monitor or play in relative darkness :) I'll see if I could hammer out some sort of muzzle-flash mechanics with Yankes later, which would be even more awesome (firing gives away your position!)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 05:54:47 pm
I thought that personal lighting was only cosmetic for the player and had no bearing on enemy LOS

Edit:  also; Muzzle flashes should only count for fire arms if those get coded in.  So it needs to be a setting that can be tuned per weapon.  X-bow won't flash, nor hammer for that matter. ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 06:00:35 pm
1. No my friend, personal lighting produces real light - and it has to since doing otherwise would require building alternate game physics. Think of it as a flashlight carried by every soldier (you can toggle it by pressing the L key). :) It is actually irrelevant to actual vision range - a human can see up to 9 tiles in complete darkness.

2. By all means, muzzleflash defaulted to none, defined on a weapon-to-weapon basis (ex. no muzzleflash with bows, but also I think with lasers). ...Suddenly, a niche for 'silenced' weapons appears :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 06:09:49 pm
1. No my friend, personal lighting produces real light ... It is actually irrelevant to actual vision range - a human can see up to 9 tiles in complete darkness.

Its not the humans... its the aliens/ AI /Enemy that I'm curious about.  If personal lighting is off, is there any way that I am harder to spot?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 06:26:07 pm
Normally not, since for aliens, their Day Vision (how far away they can see a lit-up target) is equal to Night Vision (how far away they can see a target in complete darkness). But if their Night Vision was lower than Day Vision, it would certainly matter, you'd be harder to spot.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 06:46:19 pm
Ah... so humans have  a difference in their day/night vision, but aliens can't see past a dark spot into a light one, because its all the same to them.  So... personal lighting makes no difference in this regard? It doesn't make the player easier to spot.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on May 19, 2015, 07:04:24 pm
1. No my friend, personal lighting produces real light - and it has to since doing otherwise would require building alternate game physics. Think of it as a flashlight carried by every soldier (you can toggle it by pressing the L key). :) It is actually irrelevant to actual vision range - a human can see up to 9 tiles in complete darkness.

2. By all means, muzzleflash defaulted to none, defined on a weapon-to-weapon basis (ex. no muzzleflash with bows, but also I think with lasers). ...Suddenly, a niche for 'silenced' weapons appears :)
Dynamic light sources will be hard to do, but I see big potential in that. If I could add muzzleflash then adding explosion and bullet lights will be easy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 19, 2015, 07:32:50 pm
@Ivan: Personal lightning indeed makes a difference, but as Dioxine says, only for your soldiers since they have a difference between day and night vision. AI always sees 20 tiles so it is like perpetual daylight for them (unless you are in the OXCE, where vision ranges can be set).

You can see the impact of personal lightning in current night vision with your soldiers. For example, walk a soldier up to an enemy enough to light it up, and suddenly other soldiers behind (but within 20 tiles) will report seeing the enemy even though they did not before. It is semi-useful in allowing those soldiers behind to take a reaction shot that they otherwise would have been unable to take because they wouldn't see the target.

In OXCE, fighting a human trader with human vision range, you could have a soldier at.. say.. 17 tiles, which would be invisible to a human (past the 9 tiles of night vision), but if you turn on personal lightning, you are within the 20 tiles of day vision so you become visible.

Having variations for the AI would be really interesting and probably make you play with personal lightning off for most night missions. It also makes walking to a flare, fire or street lamp a risky thing since you would be exposing yourself, whereas right now light doesn't matter. Night fighting would be a different style of play where you stick to the shadows, instead of now where you just get shot up more.

I'm a bit worried about traders though.. They are already relatively easy preys since they "only" have ballistic weapons. If they can't see in the dark as well as the pirates, they'd become really easy pickings, especially since they can't throw flares like us. If they could throw flares, that would be neat though!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2015, 07:41:06 pm
No worries about the Traders, all Personal Armor guys and better WILL have Night Vision (not neccesarily full 20, but certainly better than unaided mutants).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2015, 07:46:23 pm
I think the biggest problem that I have ... is my night fighting with Jagged Alliance 2.  XD  Trying to figure out what OXC doesn't do, kinda melts my brain.  That said, I doubt that the goal should be to replicated JA2 night ops.   OXC is an older game and the limitations are its charm (sort of).  And I trust Yankes and Dioxine to allow for some nicely creative environments.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 19, 2015, 11:20:25 pm
I don't know.. even a whole waterballoon doesn't splash that much.. The problem with splash damage is that a near miss is almost as good as a direct hit. I think Yankes has a way to make damage dropoff faster though? It might work well to keep the same damage for a direct hit, but reduce damage to half in neighbour tiles, then it could affect a 3x3 area without being OP (since most of the splash would be absorbed by armor)

Yep that makes sense.


Solarius also gave a controversial idea that EVERY plasma/laser weapon should be setting targets on fire with a powerful enough hit :)


I think this is too much. I mean The actual heat produced might be enough to litteraly cook the portion of the body been hit, but to set it on fire? I dont think so. It would require costant repeated hits in synch to do that. An increased chance to do crtitical wounds I can see, but fire setting?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 21, 2015, 12:31:30 am
So the first build is ready (list of changes below). I might post it soon, yet I'm getting persistent terrain crashes on:
- Railyard
- Urban
- Civilian's Expanded Farm

Not sure what's going on with this, maybe the engine is more prone to crash than it once was (Exanded Farm crashes are something new). I might also try to fix these terrains, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to identify the problem, and this will definitely derail the production process anyway. I don't know anything about map scripting, for example. I'm quite sure the terrain is the culprit here, as vessel recovery missions seem to go flawlessly on other terrains.

From my testing, the "melee & throwing costs stamina" system isn't a big burden, it seems to be softly curbing some exploits, if anything.

0.91
- Updated to the new mod format
- (Extended Feature) Melee attack and throws with two-handed objects suffer Accuracy penalty if the other hand isn't empty
- Crafts can carry up to 4 weapons now (most do). Not every weapon fits every slot, though.
- Craft weapons have been broken into three main types: 0: cannon, 1: heavy gun, 2: missile.
- Spike Rockets and 105mm rockets +5 km range
- Landing lights removed from craft not to interfere with the new system of night operations
- New Craft Weapon: Seagull Missiles
- New Weapon/Research: Nuclear Demo Charge
- Melee & Primitive weapons overhaul, welcome to a more complex system
- Incendiary weapons cause massive Morale damage (proportional to HP damage caused)
- Primitive weapons (melee, bows, etc.) now use up Stamina on all attacks
- Bows & Fuso Knives governed by Throwing skill for accuracy & damage
- Many weapons like Blowpipe or Molotovs etc. use Throwing skill instead of Firing for accuracy
- Throwing stuff uses up Stamina
- Using of VooDoo rod costs Stamina and causes Stun damage. VooDoo rod has a limited range (16).
- Demonic weapons cause some fun effects, are governed by VooDoo
- Sawed-Off has faster reloads
- LACC is more accurate
- EP munitions cause increased Stun effects
- Canister Gun and Acid Flask have less power but eat away armor even without a penetrating hit.
- WP Grenade no longer a proxy, causes a lot of damage now
- The IED replaced with a much more affordable good ol' Landmine
- Proxy Grenade more powerful, requires research
- Baby Nuke & COV are much more spectacular with extra fire damage
- Stun Grenade has a larger blast radius, suppresses enemy ability to Reaction Fire (if any damage is dealt).
- Molotovs -10% Accuracy
- Panzerfaust & Satchel Charge bit cheaper
- Beverages can be used on oneself (healing another has a priority, so just face away).
- Demonic Essence hit anim/sound fix
- Stun Grenade anim fix
- Imps & Hell Barons are immune to Bleeding
- Added melee dodge to Pirate & enemy armors (usually replacing most or all Melee Res)
- Night Vision values depend on the type of armor/enemy now (most enemies can't see in the dark as well as UFO's aliens).
- Attempted fix for those who use Psi Str increase (should not increase above 50 now [new soldiers can have 25-60], so if you use this option, you can make everyone a decent psyker but you won't be able to "cheat". Hopefully.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 21, 2015, 12:55:05 am
Man that sounds cool! I especially like the flashbang stun grenade! I gotta hurry and finish my game so I can start over once you release this!

- Beverages can be used on oneself (healing another has a priority, so just face away).
Gals! No drinking in the face of thirsty people! Show some decency when chugging down the rum!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 21, 2015, 01:54:39 pm

- Attempted fix for those who use Psi Str increase (should not increase above 50 now [new soldiers can have 25-60], so if you use this option, you can make everyone a decent psyker but you won't be able to "cheat". Hopefully.)

Fun fact: If you try this in the current version, you get above 50. After you turn it off, it settles back to 50 :P

Overall very promissing and interesting update. Cant wait to finish my run and get my claws on it.
Title: Due Praise
Post by: Zharkov on May 22, 2015, 12:47:32 pm
This morning, I thought how cool it would be, if the Humanist’s bases were in the old xcom style. Somehow, I imagined the Humanist faction as an xcom remnant, still bitter they failed to protect humanity. Then, I woke up and went to work. Well, Dioxine, you made it into my dreams.

The naming of the Humanist faction embodies the combination of creativity and sarcasm I absolutely love in your work. I cannot wait to see, how you will make use of all the new modding options. Please keep it up!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: GrandSirThebus on May 22, 2015, 04:28:27 pm
I lessened the saturation on my weapon sprites. They maybe be more suitable for the Piratez mod now.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3650.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3650.0.html)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 22, 2015, 06:00:41 pm
This morning, I thought how cool it would be, if the Humanist’s bases were in the old xcom style. Somehow, I imagined the Humanist faction as an xcom remnant, still bitter they failed to protect humanity. Then, I woke up and went to work. Well, Dioxine, you made it into my dreams.

The naming of the Humanist faction embodies the combination of creativity and sarcasm I absolutely love in your work. I cannot wait to see, how you will make use of all the new modding options. Please keep it up!

Hehe, a good idea! Indeed - they could've started out as a good guys, but now have been reduced to radical, miserable people, clinging to a dead idea of protecting a humanity that no longer exists (since they won't ever accept mutants as people)  - and their lack of resources forces them to pillage. Sadly I cannot tie the type of a base to a race, but I can make the bases to have a randomly chosen architecture (Alien Base, X-Com Base, Pirate Base or Military Base), and I was planning to do so anyway. But I will certainly put your idea about Humanist's origins in some researchable fluff article.

I lessened the saturation on my weapon sprites. They maybe be more suitable for the Piratez mod now.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3650.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3650.0.html)

Well that's cool man, but my mod is simply not demanding such weapons ATM, and adding new weapons is not planned now - I'm developing different things. Also - frankly speaking - I don't want to criticize, I'm not a very good artist myself, but you obviously want a 100% honest and blunt answer - So here it goes. While I like the less-saturated handles, I think you should decide if the barrels of your weapons are supposed to be alloy-colored or gray, or some artsy mish-mash of the 2, now they're a chaotic mess of these 2 colors. Next, I don't particularly like green sights on blue weapons - try orange or red. And try to make them look like sights not some odd pixels. Also the glowing elements could use some real pixel art around them, conversion just won't do with such detail. Also, the barrels look very flat, like the weapons had square cross-sections - maybe this is what you wanted, but for Piratez, sleek hi-tec weapons are supposed to be.. well, sleek and somewhat rounded. Surely my old conversion of your rail rifle is even worse, but the improvement isn't obvious enough to cause me to switch (and there are some elements I like in my version). I could try to upgrade, probably would eventually, but this requires time and is really low on my priority list ATM - I don't think it makes to the top 50 on my list. Sorry if that hurts, but I think you deserve to be answered fully and truthfully.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on May 22, 2015, 06:53:19 pm
Hehe, a good idea! Indeed - they could've started out as a good guys, but now have been reduced to radical, miserable people, clinging to a dead idea of protecting a humanity that no longer exists (since they won't ever accept mutants as people)  - and their lack of resources forces them to pillage. Sadly I cannot tie the type of a base to a race, but I can make the bases to have a randomly chosen architecture (Alien Base, X-Com Base, Pirate Base or Military Base), and I was planning to do so anyway. But I will certainly put your idea about Humanist's origins in some researchable fluff article.
But I can, and hardest thing will be adding new property to ruleset :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 22, 2015, 07:02:33 pm
But I can, and hardest thing will be adding new property to ruleset :)

Jeeze... You have to make it so hard! ;P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 22, 2015, 10:34:33 pm
Well I know I will be "that guy" but honestly I wouldnt like to see X-Com become a travesty of itself :(
X-Com is love, X-Com is life. Perhaps these dudes found out about X-Com and been the radicals they are, sort of wore the mantle?

Plus if they were the remnants of X-Com they would have some more advanced tech eh?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 22, 2015, 10:59:01 pm
Nah, certainly not literal remnants of XCom, it was so outlandish I didn't even notice it. These guys have never even heard of XCom.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: GrandSirThebus on May 23, 2015, 08:20:28 am
Different artistic visions I suppose. It's fine, no harm done.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Zharkov on May 23, 2015, 10:30:27 am
Well I know I will be "that guy" but honestly I wouldnt like to see X-Com become a travesty of itself :(
X-Com is love, X-Com is life.

Are we talking about the same mod here? Earth is ruled by the Star Gods with an iron ...errr... ethereal appendage?

Perhaps these dudes found out about X-Com and been the radicals they are, sort of wore the mantle?

I like that idea!

Plus if they were the remnants of X-Com they would have some more advanced tech eh?

As xcom fucked up badly, not necessarily.

Nah, certainly not literal remnants of XCom, it was so outlandish I didn't even notice it. These guys have never even heard of XCom.

And there was me thinking Piratez Extended was the place for outlandish ideas!  ::)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2015, 01:38:36 pm
Hmm... I have an idea on how to handle this. No matter the fate of X-Com, there was a resistance. If you go on murdering and impoverishing people, there always is. But these guys had to have something special to thrive and grow into a meaningful force. This could be one of 2 things - either they got some stash of old tech, like an old base with automated industrial capacities - allowing them to manufacture ships, and stuff to cover their bills - or they're being financed by someone who's in power. Or both. This could have been a well hidden, abandoned X-Com base. Perhaps half-abandoned only, maybe after the last stand, there were survivors. Someone to become a symbol of a heroic pureblood human, fighting the scum of the universe. But it's been over half a millenium since the last of these people died, and the Humanist leaders, while certainly interested in having heroes, wouldn't probably find much use to myth of a secret organization - other than their own, and with different ideals and means. So the real XCom might have been forgotten out of convenience, even if they sort of took their mantle. That's how I see it.

Also, outlandish, yes, but logic and general adherence to the laws of nature must be maintained, it's not Eragon :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 23, 2015, 01:58:28 pm
Are we talking about the same mod here? Earth is ruled by the Star Gods with an iron ...errr... ethereal appendage?

We are on the Piratez discussion thread arent we?


Are we talking about the same mod here? Earth is ruled by the Star Gods with an iron ...errr... ethereal appendage?

As xcom fucked up badly, not necessarily.

Fucked up badly might be an exageration. I havent found the fabled "Russian files" so far but I doubt the defeat was X-Coms fault entirely. From what I read through the various old files about the aftermath of the invasion, 
the planet is in the shit it is, because the rulling elites (see Rich and politicaly powerfull), litterally selled their souls to the aliens.
Yeah X-Com probably didnt its job perfect this time around but I would bet my chips, our dear loving "council" had more to do with it than X-Com failling.

That is ofc speculation on my part.

Hmm... I have an idea on how to handle this. No matter the fate of X-Com, there was a resistance. If you go on murdering and impoverishing people, there always is. But these guys had to have something special to thrive and grow into a meaningful force. This could be one of 2 things - either they got some stash of old tech, like an old base with automated industrial capacities - allowing them to manufacture ships, and stuff to cover their bills - or they're being financed by someone who's in power. Or both. This could have been a well hidden, abandoned X-Com base. Perhaps half-abandoned only, maybe after the last stand, there were survivors. Someone to become a symbol of a heroic pureblood human, fighting the scum of the universe. But it's been over half a millenium since the last of these people died, and the Humanist leaders, while certainly interested in having heroes, wouldn't probably find much use to myth of a secret organization - other than their own, and with different ideals and means. So the real XCom might have been forgotten out of convenience, even if they sort of took their mantle. That's how I see it.

Also, outlandish, yes, but logic and general adherence to the laws of nature must be maintained, it's not Eragon :)

Given the symbols these guys use and the style they follow, we all know they already have been arround (in fact they are around even now) however powerless they might be/were. We can immagine that as resistance escalated, mutations starting to show up, could easily shift their ideology a bit and target mutants specifically. As Russia is getting desperate as the last remnant of human resistance, they might have turned out equiping the shods, even going as far as giving them a defaunct  X-Com base built in Russian soil(see shut down) in order to entise pro human sentiment and earn more troops for their fight,. After the nuclear war and Russia turning into the shod state of the Eurassia autonomy, they could simply have kept whatever equipment they had and started their own buissness.

Alliences like that are born out of desperation in real life, a good example like that would be how the British and the US, planned to use the remnants of Nazi devisions after the war, had the Soviets pushed beyond Eastern Berlin.

Or we might just be giving too much credit to a faction that is meant as satire.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2015, 02:11:25 pm
The fate of the real last stand, the Russian base, was different, its story is already established in the tech tree, if not fully explored. But in essence this could have happened in any of the countries that didn't sell out.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 23, 2015, 02:12:48 pm
The fate of the real last stand, the Russian base, was different, its story is already established in the tech tree, if not fully explored. But in essence this could have happened in any of the countries that didn't sell out.

As I said I havent read the files.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2015, 02:19:10 pm
You will get to that tech eventually... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 23, 2015, 02:35:21 pm
You will get to that tech eventually... :)

Assuming Arthanor in his kindness identifies the problem I have with the traders :( It busts my balls that I cant raid their ships to the point of sapping my will to play.

Dioxine tell me something about the
shoulder mounted launcher:
You intentend this to be used like the originals from 40k in the days of yore, before they were just decorations for the models?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2015, 05:38:18 pm
Truth be told I was more inspired by Predator's shoulder-mounted plasma cannon.

I will look into the Trader problem as well, but putting up the first Extended version is still far away...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 23, 2015, 06:13:28 pm
I can't comment much on the lore as I haven't unlocked much, but it sounds really interesting. I didn't any spoilers either, but I think the idea of humans stubbornly resisting the aliens and trying to keep the race pure really works, and ties in rather well with XCom. XCom is not a fan of hybrids either, and as far as I know, mutants are the product of alien meddling.

I agree that 1999 XCom is a very positive organization, but in the Piratez setting, defending pureblood humanity does make you rather close to a humanist and an enemy of the gals.

I'll let you know if I get anywhere with debugging.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 23, 2015, 06:24:13 pm
Truth be told I was more inspired by Predator's shoulder-mounted plasma cannon.

It might look like an interesting mechanic, having it been mountable on the two shoulder slots on specific armors (loader for example) and allow grenade saturation with low TU cost.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2015, 06:51:51 pm
HA! That'd require a major change in the interface :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 24, 2015, 05:05:23 pm
Yeah, I can guess, but is it theoritically possible?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 24, 2015, 07:19:14 pm
Anything is possible, but is it worth it to turn the whole battlescape system upside down just to get a gimmick? Also, no matter how many weapons you have, you can only fire a single one at once anyway.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 24, 2015, 11:31:19 pm
Anything is possible, but is it worth it to turn the whole battlescape system upside down just to get a gimmick? Also, no matter how many weapons you have, you can only fire a single one at once anyway.

Might be might be not its on you, I just asked a question to satisfy my curiosity. I might have no idea on code/modding but I am a currious little (well not really) guy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Phoenix7786 on May 25, 2015, 12:01:05 am
XCom is not a fan of hybrids either, and as far as I know, mutants are the product of alien meddling.

X-com Apocalypse has the Human-Mutant Alliance faction which can supply you with human-Sectoid hybrids. Of course, Apocalypse is set in like 2040's at least while this is still a 1999 dystopia. I do think there are still idealists who would be accepting of the mutant pirate gals. Perhaps they can be convinced, or coerced into service. They'd be better with guns but very squishy compared to the pirate gals, who are mutants.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 25, 2015, 12:25:05 am
Apocalypse is set in the 2080s, so I guess there has been a bit of time for philosophies to change.. In 1999 vanilla xcom, the few references to hybrids are presented as bad things, kind of revolting alien experiments. And being the aliens' creation, they are considered aliens (and by extension, enemies).

I originally though that Piratez was set after a defeat in Enemy Unknown. My answer was based on what I consider 1999 xcom's view of hybrids. I now realize that this is not the case and
TftD actually happened in Piratez (not sure of the outcome? Haven't seen any Apocalypse reference but I also haven't played that, so I might have missed them..).

As for whether there are any XCom descendants/remnants, and what XCom's view was shortly after the aliens took over (post Apocalypse hybrid friendly or something else), or what it has evolved into.. only G.. I mean only Dioxine knows ;) And I am very much looking forward to finding out more through the in game lore.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 25, 2015, 01:55:03 am
Yeah, though this is a different world. The original timeline had the hybrids (if you consider Interceptor cannon) found in the 60's. There is no mention of surviving hybrids after the war, except the Mutant alliance ufopedia, about them been the results of both aliens and human scientist hybridisation efforts. That said the mutant alliance of Piratez is both the same and a different organisation than the Apocalypse one. Plus mega Primous had them living in its confines, but they were denied the right to procreate in the city's procreation parks, and they were suffering extreme discrimination.

I can only speculate on the level of hostility a pureblood would see them with, into the much worse world that Piratez is, but I bet it would be high.
They are mentioned as "bug eyes" in the lore though and seem to be one of the stable strains so, we can assume they have a sizable population.

I also dont think recruiting them (or any other mutant for that matter) should be a thing. Read the following spoiler only if you have completed a certain medical research topic:

It is made clear that the girls are part of the "uber" human strain (and therefore I speculate) the conclusion of the experimental cycle on earth. They have infinete growth patterns (both mental and physical) under stress and surpass every other custom tailored strains. That is why we see them starting as silly gals who can only jury rig the basics of guns together, and then develop to be capable to build starships and understand containment field physics. Their only weakness seems to be psi, but I havent progressed enough to know if they ever understand this, but if they dont why would they recruit seemingly genetically inferior stock? And if they understand that their psi is genetically limited, then they understand that this was done on purpose. Recruiting sectohums on an organisation that becomes more dangerous day by day to the Etherials, as in force them to directly intervene, is like a giant middle finger that would guarentee a massive reprisal IMHO
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2015, 04:08:44 am
TFTD didn't happen in this storyline. The diverging point is around 1999-20xx, depending on when the invasion happened. The human civilization didn't grind to halt overnight, too, it took several generations, the Empire wasn't in a haste, hence things like UAC weapons. However, the TFTD aliens have awakened, stirred by long and heavy rain of hyperwave chatter that began after the invasion. When? Nobody's sure, they didn't act hastily. The massive Deep One (I know they're called Gillmen, but I've decided for the original Lovecraftian name) invasion is comparatively recent, maybe a 100 years back or less.

The earth of 2600 has maybe a couple tens of millions purebloods left, and at least 10-20 times more mutants. A large lot of them is near-baseline though and generally accepted by most humans - but not by the Humanists who are extremists. But then again, whole Piratez Earth is what we would call a "revolting alien experiment", and for a good reason. But then again, it was the Star Gods who raised the man from the ape, according to XCom lore..

The Uber strain is indeed psi-weaker than Ethereals, but on the other hand, never as weak as some humans are. 10-15% of wild humans were psi-stronger than (probably) any Ethereal... But those humans are basically long dead, targeted by Ethereal bio-weapons and hunted down almost to the last. 2600's Humans Psi Str caps at about 65 (with very rare exceptions), and ALL their physical stats are inferior to the Uber strain. Sure, a very-well trained human would be superior to most of your starting recruits, but - basically no further advancement.

The Pirate gals also do not employ Sectoid hybrids, as even the strongest of bug-eyes would be only somewhat stronger than the strongest of the uber strain, while being pathetic physically. Sectoids cannot match Ethereals, their hybrids neither, they learn psi very fast but I think their capacity would be capped at around 70 Psi Str/70 Skill. They do face discrimination, because the psi comes natural to them - they do not need any lessons to have Psi Skill, they don't need Psi Amps to use their powers either, and these things scare people - not only purebloods, but most non-psionic mutants as well. And fear leads to aggression. The ubers thus might like bug-eyes as their fellow mutant brethren... but only from afar. Ubers are prideful and as prone to chauvinism as the pureblood humans are - after all, they have named themselves "the Ubers" :)

As for the Sectoids and their own hybrid line - wait till this part of the story is introduced... There will be Sectoids (and Aquatoids).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 25, 2015, 04:25:01 am
*Squee!!*
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Bobwolf on May 25, 2015, 09:13:01 pm
Any chance to get this mod updated to the new openxcom folder system ?

I really enjoyed playing it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 25, 2015, 09:53:57 pm
As far as I know, Piratez needs an old nightly to run (which is linked to in the first post). It would be pointless to update it for a nightly it can't run on ;)

I think Dioxine is concentrating his efforts on the Piratez Extended conversion, which likely will take a while as it's quite ambitious.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 26, 2015, 01:52:42 am
I think Dioxine is concentrating his efforts on the Piratez Extended conversion, which likely will take a while as it's quite ambitious.

Yes, and more stable, too... however real life keeps interfering, and this makes the whole process longer (...extensive testing make it even longer...)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on May 26, 2015, 04:23:52 am
I can wait! I'm nowhere near done with my current playthrough, and I think after that I might want to go back to the XAE for a little, at least to publish an updated version for the nightly..

I'm sure Piratez Extended will be awesome  8)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 30, 2015, 02:53:39 pm
Any news on the progress Dioxine?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 30, 2015, 09:30:37 pm
I still need to produce several graphic assets - night ops armor, a couple of guns, targetting system and forcefield for craft, and most of all, the pedia pics for slave researches as they were requested.

Second priority is adding two other new outfits - bikini-style barbarian outfit (you get extra throwing, bravery, voodoo and melee but at a major cost in carrying capacity), and workout outfit (extra stamina & stamina regen but again at the price of capacity and probably some combat ability). Also the training room, it seems inevitable that it has to be added (not early, but as a mid-game upgrade, though - after all, normal workout is not enough and the facility is currently pretty powerful, as you get a chance of a +1 increase on any stat every midnight).

Tertiary priority is some utility weapons - like flashbang grenade, nerve gas grenade, hallucinogen grenade, as well as maybe some sprite-enhancements for the pirate sprites to look cooler - but these can be omitted from this release.

Also probably I finally need to add pedia/inventory pics for the fatman, guild hostess and air sailor which are still missing, it's a bit of a sore spot that went unresolved for so long. Testing-wise, everything is coming together just fine so far other than my crew got stunted by an unexpected effect of trying to curb the super-psi-strength training cheat - and I don't have anyone with Psi Str of above 50. Curiously enough, 50, with close-to-max skill and witch outfit is still enough to MC most enemies - at close range ofc since the VooDoo rod is now capped at Range 13 :)

Oh yeah and if you have any cool pictures for Ship Targetting System (+15% acc on all weapons) and Forcefield (adds damage resistance, probably), I wouldn't mind getting my hands on them, else - I'll just use their analogues from XCom: Apocalypse, after all, what's a better source of graphic resources than another X-Com game? After all, we love them all (well except the 2012 edition which never existed).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 30, 2015, 10:38:28 pm
Quote
...night ops armor...

How about the gear that XOPs has his soldier's wearing?

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=6850;type=avatar)
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2913.0;attach=10822;image)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 30, 2015, 11:01:41 pm
Well, I love these, but the paperdoll simply won't fit - the gals are larger than humans (but it can be just perfect for Spartan officers) :) Alas, the combat sprite of that blue armor looks sooo cool!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on May 30, 2015, 11:18:38 pm
well, yeah, the blue combat armor is something else...

I do have a copy of XOPs image templates (.psd file), and he has the uppers and lowers of the soldier model in them with the "night vision goggles"  - at least something that looks like them.  Maybe you can use the heads from that to merge with your Night Ops Armor Sprite?  maybe on a metal or leather armor base?

Just some ideas. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: XOps on May 30, 2015, 11:55:32 pm
Dioxine, if you need the original photoshop files for any of my armors (or any other of my graphics for that matter), just ask. They all have the original full colors before the XCom limited color palettes eviscerates it. I have everything layered even if it isn't very neat and organized. Also, i know you can't use the paper dolls, but consider checking out the Nerve Suit in Xeno Ops (Sprites XCOM44 through XCOM49 in the armor folder). They have a really nice NV goggle graphic for the battlescape view.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on May 31, 2015, 03:16:48 pm
Great stuff! For the gals I actually have something much more primitive in mind, but I'll definitely let you know if I'd like some of this great stuff of yours (already using a bunch). Actually I am also thinking of rebuilding your black/white lasers into a custom Gauss weapons line. :) Not sure if having the source files would be of much help to me - I love the designs, but to make them smooooove enough for my tastes some old fashioned pixel art love is needed :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Edrick on May 31, 2015, 10:34:21 pm
By the way, any news on Sectoid and Spartans development?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on May 31, 2015, 11:58:34 pm
Great stuff! For the gals I actually have something much more primitive in mind

Leopar, powered bikinis? woooooot!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: b.o.s domestic disputes on June 01, 2015, 01:56:11 am
Hello dioxine I wanted to ask if you knew about a glitch that crashes the game at the end of every month.  recently updated and I was wondering if that was why. I even made a new game but it still happened. i don't get monthly pogroms either if they are monthly in this mod.  so any help how be appreciated. thanks for reading this if you can't help me
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 01, 2015, 02:33:54 am
Hello dioxine I wanted to ask if you knew about a glitch that crashes the game at the end of every month.  recently updated and I was wondering if that was why. I even made a new game but it still happened. i don't get monthly pogroms either if they are monthly in this mod.  so any help how be appreciated. thanks for reading this if you can't help me

You might want to ensure that you are using the correct nightly.  Its linked in the first post of the PirateZ mod thread here:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,1898.0.html
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 01, 2015, 06:47:52 am
By the way, any news on Sectoid and Spartans development?

Not on the next release, but they're being developed and scheduled to appear pretty soon after that.

Hello dioxine I wanted to ask if you knew about a glitch that crashes the game at the end of every month.  recently updated and I was wondering if that was why. I even made a new game but it still happened. i don't get monthly pogroms either if they are monthly in this mod.  so any help how be appreciated. thanks for reading this if you can't help me

Like Ivan said; this looks like a wrong Nightly build.

Leopar, powered bikinis? woooooot!

That too, but I meant a more primitive NVGs model :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 01, 2015, 02:58:43 pm
That too, but I meant a more primitive NVGs model :)

(https://www.cavetexas.org/photos/tsa200804/images/fralia/20080406-036_1024x768.jpg)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 02, 2015, 03:14:31 am
A little picture to show that work is being done :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 02, 2015, 10:29:48 am
Nice! Night ninja gear :) I'm sure the gals will welcome the additions to their wardrobe :D

One comment on the craft, besides that it looks awesome: Wouldn't it be better to have the weapons on the top row, left and right (since XCom teaches you that there is a weapon system per wing and that's how the range lines are drawn), with the auxiliary systems at the bottom?

Guns first, toys second? ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 02, 2015, 11:00:35 am
Would make sense except these toys go into weapon slots, so you'll have to choose :)

A standard fighter setup has 2 Missiles OR Thrusters and 2 Cannons OR Targeters in any combination. Ditching missiles for thrusters makes your ship faster and increases dodge (2 thrusters increase overall survivability by around 75%). Ditching cannons for targeters increases accuracy and radar range; since the missiles are super-accurate anyway, this setup is less powerful (as intended - missiles are powerful in their own right), but would be much more powerful on a craft that has 2 cannons & 2 heavy guns (like the Bonaventura).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on June 02, 2015, 04:50:21 pm
Can I ask if will u be able to use saves from the 2015-04-30 build in pirates extended or will u have to start a new game?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 02, 2015, 06:00:15 pm
Can I ask if will u be able to use saves from the 2015-04-30 build in pirates extended or will u have to start a new game?

Yes, with a little bit of doctoring - you'll have to add the "master mod name" or something to the old save file else the game will ignore it. But there's a good possibility the mod will be supporting Commendations so you'll have a good incentive to start over anyway :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on June 02, 2015, 06:57:44 pm
btw Dioxine you know that you can set ammo to zero for not-weapons weapons? This will hide it on intercept and patrol screen (but there only ammo count).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 02, 2015, 07:09:30 pm
Thanks for the info!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 03, 2015, 04:54:10 am
Yes, with a little bit of doctoring - you'll have to add the "master mod name" or something to the old save file else the game will ignore it. But there's a good possibility the mod will be supporting Commendations so you'll have a good incentive to start over anyway :)

NEIN, NON, OXI, NIET, NO! I just fixed the damn thing, I wont start over. At least this campaign. Comendations be damned ill finish it. You and your sirens.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 03, 2015, 01:56:26 pm
About the damned time I've made those...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 03, 2015, 03:24:16 pm
I just want a pic and a text for the fat guy. Its been my dream since I captuered one.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 03, 2015, 03:26:07 pm
Yeah that one is done too.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 03, 2015, 09:34:36 pm
Yeah that one is done too.

Is it possible to upload it seperately so I can check it out? I already have one researched. Or will it cause problems you think?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 03, 2015, 10:15:22 pm
Is it possible to upload it seperately so I can check it out? I already have one researched. Or will it cause problems you think?

Problems, no, I'd just have to prepare a separate rul file with separate sprite declarations etc... I just don't feel like wasting my time on it :) Picture you can find in Airtight Hangar, the text goes:

These rich guys are slow and very easy to catch. They should lose some weight since it's not even fun. The only 'weapons' they normally carry are booze and cash.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: new_civilian on June 04, 2015, 11:23:29 am
Was trying the 9j version with the lates (25 may) nightly and some of the ufopedia/inventory icons where mixed/messed up. I dioscovered that when using the debug mode.

Just one thing: This mod is so incredibly huge... Wow.  :o :o Alone going through the ufopedia took me longer than some games i played  :)

Really great work, you are a truly creative and productive person!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 04, 2015, 04:30:38 pm
Thank you sir, and as for the misplaced graphics, YOU CANNOT USE ANY OTHER NIGHTLIES THAN 30th APRIL AS I HAVE SAID SO MANY TIMES BEFORE. :) Thank you :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 04, 2015, 07:08:44 pm
Was trying the 9j version with the lates (25 may) nightly and some of the ufopedia/inventory icons where mixed/messed up. I dioscovered that when using the debug mode.

Just one thing: This mod is so incredibly huge... Wow.  :o :o Alone going through the ufopedia took me longer than some games i played  :)

Really great work, you are a truly creative and productive person!

Simply put download the nightly from the first post in this thread:

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=post;topic=3626.135;last_msg=46159
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 06, 2015, 03:09:56 am
I've decided against including Soldier Diaries just yet - the build is a bit unstable yet, plus the medals would have to be converted to the Pirate theme, which is a huge amount of work. However, almost everything I've wanted to add is already added, so I think Wendesday is a quite likely release date.

Apart from a ton of Extended options, the new version will include various new toys, Zharkov's Superslave (& related stuff), and more.

Not sure if the Training Room will make it before the next ed, but there is at least a Gym Suit: :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 06, 2015, 03:52:24 am
Do you think the saves will translate from one ed to the next or will there be major hick ups and we will need to start over?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Roxis231 on June 06, 2015, 04:02:27 am
Dioxine

Is the Resolution still 320X200 for extended?

If so I might be able to have my personailsations of the Inventory images for both versions.

Also, do you mind if I 'borrow' the sounds and graphics from the Pirates Acid/Molotov throwables for a Mod I'm working on?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 06, 2015, 06:22:37 am
@Pilot: yes the saves will translate, with some minor save-doctoring (I will put instructions here).

@Roxis: why should I change the resolution? :) Graphics assets are pretty much unchanged. As for the borrowing - any asset is free to take, naturally, no need to even ask, but always remember to check the credits before you credit me for another person's work :) (I think these are 100% mine, though - except for flask sprites naturally, which are stolen and modified Diablo 1 sprites. Any new Sounds are likely from Alien Shooter 2: Vengeance, go and play this awesome and cheap game :) ).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Roxis231 on June 06, 2015, 07:14:04 am
@Roxis: why should I change the resolution? :) Graphics assets are pretty much unchanged. As for the borrowing - any asset is free to take, naturally, no need to even ask, but always remember to check the credits before you credit me for another person's work :) (I think these are 100% mine, though - except for flask sprites naturally, which are stolen and modified Diablo 1 sprites. Any new Sounds are likely from Alien Shooter 2: Vengeance, go and play this awesome and cheap game :) ).

Great - Now, to just to deside how to add the Images - Ruleset or manual?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 06, 2015, 08:46:38 am
Ruleset is much more convenient IMO - you can switch the armors forth and back at your leisure.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Roxis231 on June 06, 2015, 09:24:57 am
Ruleset then.  I'll just have to wait for the first release, to see how to fit it in then. Also it will give me time to work on which variants to create.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 06, 2015, 11:31:18 pm
Managed to add a couple of facilities, including the training facility. Below is the second one - the still. It will be required for production of alcoholic beverages at a hideout. Everything seems to be working fine.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 07, 2015, 12:24:38 am
<snip> Below is the second one - the still. It will be required for production of alcoholic beverages at a hideout. <snip>

Knowing Dioxine, it only costs $1,000,000 to build, requires a Star God Captive (in the hideout) and has upkeep of $799,000/mo.  :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 07, 2015, 01:29:29 am
Knowing Dioxine, it only costs $1,000,000 to build

Nah just $900k. And the first one is for free :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 07, 2015, 04:40:26 pm
Knowing Dioxine, it only costs $1,000,000 to build, requires a Star God Captive (in the hideout) and has upkeep of $799,000/mo.  :P

Cant expect less.

Nah just $900k. And the first one is for free :)

See? At least he leaves open a window so that you have a forlorn hope of building multiples. :P I hope that at least it doesnt take manufacturing space from the workshop. Not that it matters much.

Am I Seeing a ridesinged boarding gun too or its a new weapon?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Edrick on June 07, 2015, 09:02:19 pm
I'll risk getting hate from everyone and suggest:
If such a thing is possible, why not adding the option of "executing" prisoners (and making sure the footage reaches faction hands or the opressed population) for monthly rating points and reminding everyone who's in charge here?*
*any similarity with real people, events or entities is purely fictional. Totally not ISIS style here


On an entirely different topic, could we get corridors and security stations as base facilities (just like in the Xeno Ops mod)?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 07, 2015, 11:22:59 pm
I don't think it is possible for manufacture to grant points, just research.. Unless you let the brainers do the execution because they have a better sense of theatrics. But still.. I don't know if it fits.

Sort of related: Would it be possible for interrogations to pop a research message with a name? It always pops an empty message and it's hard sometimes to know what just happened (especially when you don't get a ufopedia article from whatever the interrogation granted).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 07, 2015, 11:25:27 pm
I'll risk getting hate from everyone

This a game forum not a political discussion forum. Why should anyone hate you for it?


Sort of related: Would it be possible for interrogations to pop a research message with a name? It always pops an empty message and it's hard sometimes to know

Doesnt it pop the ufopedia article for you? It does for me. Strange.

EDIT: Oh wait mean when you research the first individual, not the broken ones right?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 08, 2015, 06:58:12 pm
I get the messages for broken captives, what I'm talking about is the research popup. At midnight when an interrogation finishes, I get "research completed" but nothing where the name of the project should be.

That's for interrogations of non-broken captives. You then have to guess what just completed. It is even more difficult to guess when you interrogated a captive you have already interrogated (ie your 2nd trader engineer) and get no report because you got some unknown prerequisite for something without an actual UFOpedia page.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 08, 2015, 08:36:17 pm
Cant expect less.

See? At least he leaves open a window so that you have a forlorn hope of building multiples. :P I hope that at least it doesnt take manufacturing space from the workshop. Not that it matters much.

Am I Seeing a ridesinged boarding gun too or its a new weapon?

It actually adds +10 workspace.

And what you're seeing is an upgraded Boarding Gun, a new weapon you can research.

I'll risk getting hate from everyone and suggest:
If such a thing is possible, why not adding the option of "executing" prisoners (and making sure the footage reaches faction hands or the opressed population) for monthly rating points and reminding everyone who's in charge here?*

That'd make little sense. The Traders etc. really cannot hate you more, and staging such stunts would undermine the source of your money - the Govts pay you because think you're useful (since you're a pain in Traders' etc. asses) and because they're lobbied by the Mutant Alliance who are useful as allies (to keep order) and who, in turn, think you're useful (for keeping mutants a little safer and for intimidating their opponents). Staging executions would alienate some of that power base, so would actually result in a lower score. The Mutant Alliance is known to be affiliated with various insurgents, but they would never tarnish their reputation by supporting people who stage executions of random people.

I get the messages for broken captives, what I'm talking about is the research popup. At midnight when an interrogation finishes, I get "research completed" but nothing where the name of the project should be.

That's for interrogations of non-broken captives. You then have to guess what just completed. It is even more difficult to guess when you interrogated a captive you have already interrogated (ie your 2nd trader engineer) and get no report because you got some unknown prerequisite for something without an actual UFOpedia page.

1. I can't do anything about this, this is how researching 'aliens' works in OXCom - no popup on what you have completed. You only get a popup with the further tech that got unlocked (ex. a Mission lore entry or a Vessel entry).
2. There is nothing of consequence which lacks an UFOpedia page, afaik. If you think there is, you might be right (errors happen) but you have to be more specific - whom you have interrogated etc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 09, 2015, 04:34:57 pm
1. I can't do anything about this, this is how researching 'aliens' works in OXCom - no popup on what you have completed. You only get a popup with the further tech that got unlocked (ex. a Mission lore entry or a Vessel entry).
2. There is nothing of consequence which lacks an UFOpedia page, afaik. If you think there is, you might be right (errors happen) but you have to be more specific - whom you have interrogated etc.

Hum.. I'll have to play vanilla again! I could have sworn it said "Research completed: Sectoid Soldier" and the like. As far as I know, live captives only show up in research if they have something to tell you, right? I've researched a bunch who apparently didn't give anything but I didn't check my save to see what they actually had given. I assumed it was "nameless pre-requisite 11" for something and that it didn't warrant an article. I'll try to check next time.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 12:23:31 am
I assumed it was "nameless pre-requisite 11" for something and that it didn't warrant an article.

Well, interesting theory, but there is no empty research in Piratez. Eg. Engineers provide you with either a vessel, a gun, Vodka, Crack or Old Earth Books tech, all of which have articles.

EDIT. The release is almost ready, there were some delays as the Nurse outfit took me a huge amount of time to complete. God I hate making unit sprites. I just need to pull Zharkov's Green Lighter, finish some odds & ends and do some testing. Meanwhile, another teaser pic:

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: FudgeDragon on June 10, 2015, 10:59:57 am
EDIT. The release is almost ready, there were some delays as the Nurse outfit took me a huge amount of time to complete. God I hate making unit sprites. I just need to pull Zharkov's Green Lighter, finish some odds & ends and do some testing. Meanwhile, another teaser

Looking forward to it. How do these new facilities work? Are we limited to only 10 runts working on product per building? or can we use workshop space as well, providing we've got at least one?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 11:39:20 am
You just need to have 1 building of this type on the Hideout to unlock production of certain goods (so far there are 2 types: Still and Mint). These 10 runts are just extras, you can use your full workshop space available. BUT if you have no workshop/factory, just such a building, almost none of the standard items can be produced. Oh and the second item is for Zharkov's Green Lighter :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: FudgeDragon on June 10, 2015, 11:42:44 am
Heh, good to know, sounds an interesting mechanic.

Hmm, Are we still starting with a workshop? or is the still replacing it? ???
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 10, 2015, 11:43:35 am
or is the still replacing it? ???

God I hope not. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 12:53:37 pm
No, no :) You get a Still at the stating base in addition to all the old facilities (but no initial knowledge on how to build more of them). Oh yeah and the $10k monthly bill is deduced from the initial cash reserve, naturally - but you get that little extra workspace at least :)

God I hope not. :P

Like you were playing this mod dude :P

Also, a Question to dear audiences. Here's our Green Lighter (redux). He's sporting an area effect medical device - hope Zharkov likes it! Now - I don't know what should be his 2nd weapon yet. I was thinking of a lighter (teeny-weeny one-shot-at-a-time flamer, with a range of 3 and useful mainly for its devastating morale effect if someone is set on fire), but since Slaves are psi-rods, I'm afraid of giving him a weapon that can seriously hurt a pirate gal. Otoh the medical device is quite good, and things like fists or thrown rocks seem boring. Any ideas?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Edrick on June 10, 2015, 01:04:54 pm
It looks beyond awesome!
I'm personally perfectly fine with the lighter (hey, is it possible to make it spew green fire?). If he's a psi-rod, any secondary weapon will either be quite useless or make him a potential danger for the gals (IMHO)

Maybe a "less dangerous" weapon would be a longer-range flamer (15 tile?) but deals extremely little damage, to the point of setting only a single tile on fire. Main (and pretty only) use is visibility on night missions?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 01:08:45 pm
Yeah true but Superslave & Green Lighter are fun units and aren't supposed to be super-useful (unless you're really creative), and they have atrocious combat skills, so a quite useless (but imaginative) weapon is perfectly fine :) It is possible to make the fire explosion green, but the spawned fire itself will look normal.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 10, 2015, 01:36:59 pm
Like you were playing this mod dude :P

Hey, I speak for the masses! :P

Anyway, I think a micro-flamer would be good. It wouldn't really be that damaging, but the panic potential is hilarious.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2015, 02:38:56 pm
Well, interesting theory, but there is no empty research in Piratez. Eg. Engineers provide you with either a vessel, a gun, Vodka, Crack or Old Earth Books tech, all of which have articles.

That's really weird.. I've had plenty of interrogations that didn't yield any report.. I guess they sneaked something in my UFOPaedia then. I'll definitely check next time!

New stuff looks great! $10k for 10 extra spaces is a steal, considering how expensive a workshop is for "only" 30 spaces.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 10, 2015, 05:32:53 pm
No, no :) You get a Still at the stating base in addition to all the old facilities (but no initial knowledge on how to build more of them). Oh yeah and the $10k monthly bill is deduced from the initial cash reserve, naturally - but you get that little extra workspace at least :)

Like you were playing this mod dude :P

Also, a Question to dear audiences. Here's our Green Lighter (redux). He's sporting an area effect medical device - hope Zharkov likes it! Now - I don't know what should be his 2nd weapon yet. I was thinking of a lighter (teeny-weeny one-shot-at-a-time flamer, with a range of 3 and useful mainly for its devastating morale effect if someone is set on fire), but since Slaves are psi-rods, I'm afraid of giving him a weapon that can seriously hurt a pirate gal. Otoh the medical device is quite good, and things like fists or thrown rocks seem boring. Any ideas?

I am still curious how are they going to be tied in the lore. Did you made them functionable i.e. viable tools/assets or more of a fun addition for giggles?

Yeah true but Superslave & Green Lighter are fun units and aren't supposed to be super-useful (unless you're really creative), and they have atrocious combat skills, so a quite useless (but imaginative) weapon is perfectly fine :) It is possible to make the fire explosion green, but the spawned fire itself will look normal.

NvM I read that ^

I would add a small stun gas attack. A 3x3 cloud with medium stun damage. No more than 2-3 uses per battle.
Perhaps the equivalent of a stun grenade.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Zharkov on June 10, 2015, 05:55:05 pm
Also, a Question to dear audiences. Here's our Green Lighter (redux). He's sporting an area effect medical device - hope Zharkov likes it! Now - I don't know what should be his 2nd weapon yet. I was thinking of a lighter (teeny-weeny one-shot-at-a-time flamer, with a range of 3 and useful mainly for its devastating morale effect if someone is set on fire), but since Slaves are psi-rods, I'm afraid of giving him a weapon that can seriously hurt a pirate gal. Otoh the medical device is quite good, and things like fists or thrown rocks seem boring. Any ideas?

Well, I wouldn't give him a real weapon at all, but I think I understand why this might be necessary for balancing. Therefore, I vote for the flamer - he needs something to heat up that bong anyways.

I would add a small stun gas attack. A 3x3 cloud with medium stun damage. No more than 2-3 uses per battle.
Perhaps the equivalent of a stun grenade.

I'd advice against this, because (1) the next "superhero" will be a slave (i.e., gladiatrix) that can be used to catch more slaves, which is boring enough on its own and (2) it would make the green lighter far too usefull.
As it is, the time giver and explosion might be too much (e.g., you could send a gal in close combat, then send gl after her, giving her tu, use these to get her out of there. Then the enemy shoots gl. Boom.).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Ridаn on June 10, 2015, 06:14:45 pm
Can a Mind Probe with LOS requirement be done with OXE functionality? I was thinking about a Spyglass item, which would function as smaller Mind Probe and has a fixed or lower TU cost.
Dropping a couple of those into starting inventory might be a great help for new players.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 06:20:49 pm
Well, I wouldn't give him a real weapon at all, but I think I understand why this might be necessary for balancing. Therefore, I vote for the flamer - he needs something to heat up that bong anyways.

I just don't want him to have an empty hand, plus I have an opportunity to add some silly weapons here, so it's for s**t and giggles. Smoke cloud + smoke cloud is rather a very boring akimbo. Lighter it will be, then. Chances of him using it offensively are next to none anyway.

Can a Mind Probe with LOS requirement be done with OXE functionality? I was thinking about a Spyglass item, which would function as smaller Mind Probe and has a fixed or lower TU cost.
Dropping a couple of those into starting inventory might be a great help for new players.

I don't think it is possible.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2015, 06:25:15 pm
That's actually a pretty cool idea! A mind probe with LoS requirement can be done in even regular OpenXCom, that's what the psi line of sight mod does (as well as doing it on psi-amps and on the alien psi-weapon). Not much of a spy glass though, as it would require to be within 20 tiles, but I guess you're really using it to look at your target in details, instead of seeing them from far away.

Another thing that could help new players: A bit of foreshadowing on assault rifles? Something like: "Not all parts of this gun are made equal. With the right combination, we could put some wicked gun together." I sold all the assault rifles I found in the early game because they weren't useful at he time. Now I sorely regret it! It feels like a trap for newbies, since one is sure to remember for a later playthrough.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2015, 06:43:22 pm
That's actually a pretty cool idea! A mind probe with LoS requirement can be done in even regular OpenXCom, that's what the psi line of sight mod does (as well as doing it on psi-amps and on the alien psi-weapon). Not much of a spy glass though, as it would require to be within 20 tiles, but I guess you're really using it to look at your target in details, instead of seeing them from far away.

Hmm I didn't know that. Still, seeing your enemy's stats, name and rank seems a bit hardcore for just a spyglass... A Mind Probe costs a small fortune precisely because it is so powerful, unlimited range or not.

Another thing that could help new players: A bit of foreshadowing on assault rifles? Something like: "Not all parts of this gun are made equal. With the right combination, we could put some wicked gun together." I sold all the assault rifles I found in the early game because they weren't useful at he time. Now I sorely regret it! It feels like a trap for newbies, since one is sure to remember for a later playthrough.

Let's not be overtly dramatic, afair you need a couple of them for some guns that can easily be replaced with other guns. The thing the mod isn't lacking is a variety of guns. Can't have that one? Well too bad, use some other. Besides assault rifles are pretty easy to get. If you really want to point out the things that make you cry if you weren't a hoarder, I'd suggest Revenant Armor or VooDoo stuff :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2015, 07:26:52 pm
Hmm I didn't know that. Still, seeing your enemy's stats, name and rank seems a bit hardcore for just a spyglass... A Mind Probe costs a small fortune precisely because it is so powerful, unlimited range or not.
Too bad you can't restrict the information you get. Although name and rank are much less of an issue in Piratez since they all look different any ways. After encountering your first few of anything, you quickly learn what they are (and I encountered mercenaries last night, I can say those were what I encountered in my first game. Just confused the black ones with TftD armor because my first encounters were in pitch black darkness).

Quote
Let's not be overtly dramatic, afair you need a couple of them for some guns that can easily be replaced with other guns. The thing the mod isn't lacking is a variety of guns. Can't have that one? Well too bad, use some other. Besides assault rifles are pretty easy to get. If you really want to point out the things that make you cry if you weren't a hoarder, I'd suggest Revenant Armor or VooDoo stuff :)
Well, it looks like a wicked gun, and I don't like newbie traps :P I'm researching some fancy guns I have no idea about now, we'll see if they replace it! Been using heavy and auto-cannons for now. Eventually I'll make some progress towards laser/gauss, but firearms seem ok for now.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on June 10, 2015, 07:52:04 pm
Can a Mind Probe with LOS requirement be done with OXE functionality? I was thinking about a Spyglass item, which would function as smaller Mind Probe and has a fixed or lower TU cost.
Dropping a couple of those into starting inventory might be a great help for new players.
This is already done. "LOSRequired" is what you want. Even more you can do it in vanilla version :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 10, 2015, 11:03:57 pm
Well, I wouldn't give him a real weapon at all, but I think I understand why this might be necessary for balancing. Therefore, I vote for the flamer - he needs something to heat up that bong anyways.

I'd advice against this, because (1) the next "superhero" will be a slave (i.e., gladiatrix) that can be used to catch more slaves, which is boring enough on its own and (2) it would make the green lighter far too usefull.
As it is, the time giver and explosion might be too much (e.g., you could send a gal in close combat, then send gl after her, giving her tu, use these to get her out of there. Then the enemy shoots gl. Boom.).

Given the fact that he will have 3 uses of 30-40 stun damage its pretty much useless for more than a single slave and that is regular human nothing more fancy. But I can get behind the boring part.

EDIT: Hoho, I found a silly idea. Have him throw flares, no more than 3 though.

This is already done. "LOSRequired" is what you want. Even more you can do it in vanilla version :D

Yeh, but its a double edged sword, you gut all psi in the process.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2015, 11:33:48 pm
Yeh, but its a double edged sword, you gut all psi in the process.

You do if you set it to true for everything. But it is an item property you can set for each and every item you have.

I have made a psi-mod (yet unreleased) where there are two versions of the psi-amp. One is easy to get but requires LoS, the other is much harder but doesn't. If I remember well, OXCE also allows you to set different "alien psi-weapons" so you could have certain races that can only do psi in LoS while others don't require it, or have aliens "upgrade" their psi-capabilities as time goes by.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 10, 2015, 11:37:05 pm
I'd like a "Spy Scope" - Telescope tool, that will help me ID enemies so I have half a clue what faction they are etc.  Having to play 3-5 missions against a faction to be able to kindof figure it out feels a little grindy. 
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on June 11, 2015, 12:10:32 am
You do if you set it to true for everything. But it is an item property you can set for each and every item you have.

I have made a psi-mod (yet unreleased) where there are two versions of the psi-amp. One is easy to get but requires LoS, the other is much harder but doesn't. If I remember well, OXCE also allows you to set different "alien psi-weapons" so you could have certain races that can only do psi in LoS while others don't require it, or have aliens "upgrade" their psi-capabilities as time goes by.
Exactly, overall in OXCE you can have lot of different  flavors of psi-amp e.g. only panic, only mc, different power/range etc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 12:18:25 am
I'd like a "Spy Scope" - Telescope tool, that will help me ID enemies so I have half a clue what faction they are etc.  Having to play 3-5 missions against a faction to be able to kindof figure it out feels a little grindy.

What would be the point of capturing and researching them if everything was given on a silver plate? Two words: NO TUTORIAL. I hate tutorials. After finishing the tutorial, there is often little left to actually play.

Given the fact that he will have 3 uses of 30-40 stun damage its pretty much useless for more than a single slave and that is regular human nothing more fancy. But I can get behind the boring part.

EDIT: Hoho, I found a silly idea. Have him throw flares, no more than 3 though.


1. I'm not keen on limited ammo for HWP units. If you have to limit the ammo, your HWP weapon is probably too powerful.
2. I gave him 2 weapons exactly to make it impossible for him to throw anything.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 11, 2015, 12:19:38 am
Exactly, overall in OXCE you can have lot of different  flavors of psi-amp e.g. only panic, only mc, different power/range etc.
And since aliens get their items by rank, presumably you could have different psi-weapons for different aliens, allowing scary sectoid commanders but weaker sectoid leaders and the like (not sure about Piratez specifically, only encountered a little bit of voodoo stuff...)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 12:24:43 am
And since aliens get their items by rank, presumably you could have different psi-weapons for different aliens, allowing scary sectoid commanders but weaker sectoid leaders and the like (not sure about Piratez specifically, only encountered a little bit of voodoo stuff...)

Quite pointless to give them psi items because they can have build-in psi capability, leaving both of their hands free to do conventional harm :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 11, 2015, 12:35:30 am

1. I'm not keen on limited ammo for HWP units. If you have to limit the ammo, your HWP weapon is probably too powerful.
2. I gave him 2 weapons exactly to make it impossible for him to throw anything.

Flare gun, not throwable.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 12:39:12 am
He has a "flare gun" already - a tiny flamethrower :). Literal flare ammo, which stays on the ground and gives off light is impossible to make atm.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 11, 2015, 12:49:23 am
I hadn't seen this post before:
What would be the point of capturing and researching them if everything was given on a silver plate? Two words: NO TUTORIAL. I hate tutorials. After finishing the tutorial, there is often little left to actually play.
Well, although that's true, there is a huge difference in replay value for Piratez. Playing through the first time is like a really long tutorial where you learn the factions, ships and tech, and the second playthrough is very different. The first playthrough actually feels a lot like a tutorial..

Quite pointless to give them psi items because they can have build-in psi capability, leaving both of their hands free to do conventional harm :P
I mean you can set which "alien psi-weapon" they will use. Although the ability is built in, it still calls on a certain item (which you can see modified in the psi-LOS mod).

Removing that item makes the game crash as soon as an alien tries to use it (since it is calling on an item that doesn't exist). To get no psi, you set the TU cost to 999. OXC only uses one psi-weapon, which means any tweak you do will affect all psi-aliens. But OXCE allows you to set which item is referenced by which alien in the armor section so you can actually change which they use.

That would allow a tweaking of psi-capabilities for different aliens, changing the TU cost (and thus ability to use certain powers) of different enemies. You could have certain "intimidating" enemies be able to use panic only, and only in LoS (and maybe with a big range malus, so they are really scary up close but not so much from afar). Weaker psi-enemies who can only affect you in LoS while stronger ones don't need LoS, etc. The only thing I'm not sure is if the AI can use the "special attack" of psi-items to actually deal damage like the player can.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 12:57:56 am
I hadn't seen this post before:Well, although that's true, there is a huge difference in replay value for Piratez. Playing through the first time is like a really long tutorial where you learn the factions, ships and tech, and the second playthrough is very different. The first playthrough actually feels a lot like a tutorial..

That was unexpected. Most people think that the difficulty is high enough, or even too high... But I can ramp it up more if it really feels too much like a tutorial.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 11, 2015, 03:36:45 am
I'll just say that if I were to do this again, I'd never try LPing PirateZ blind.  There is way to much of the "I don't know what the heck is going on, and what my objectives should be" in this environment.   If not from tips and comments from other experienced players, I probably would have thrown in the towel a while ago.   

Just to go back to my "spy glass" (that will never happen), I don't feel at all like it would be handing the game on a platter.  It would just give the race and rank.  Right now, I still have no clue between an Academician and an Academy Medic.  Until I research them, I won't.  But it would be nice to have the option of having a rare item, like a spy glass, on one trooper in the crew be able to help me get a clue with what I'm dealing with.... if they have TUs... and a line of sight to the enemy.  That way, it could help figure out armor level.  I can't figure out when they are wearing armor and when they aren't.  It might just help figure out if its suicidal or not trying to thump someone or if they are worth the effort.  I don't think its OP, but I doubt that matters.

I think the only way to have success in PirateZ is to play it through once as far as you can.  Then go break down the ruleset and analyze all the goodies.  Figure out what works and what doesn't.   Then start a game where you know what you are doing.  Just my two cents. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: FudgeDragon on June 11, 2015, 07:45:10 am
I hadn't seen this post before:Well, although that's true, there is a huge difference in replay value for Piratez. Playing through the first time is like a really long tutorial where you learn the factions, ships and tech, and the second playthrough is very different. The first playthrough actually feels a lot like a tutorial..

That was unexpected. Most people think that the difficulty is high enough, or even too high... But I can ramp it up more if it really feels too much like a tutorial.

I don't think he means that it's like a tutorial because it's easy. I think he means that the first playthrough is a continuous learning experience. A second playthrough is less... overwhelming. You've already read a lot of the BootyPedia articles, you have a better idea of an optimal tech path, who to capture to progress to good techs, which enemies are the most dangerous, which of the starting weapons are helpful and which should be avoided early on.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 11, 2015, 12:26:22 pm
I don't think that the spy glass item would change too much, so it would be okay to have it.

However... if it's a spy glass, then it should have a range of 1. Try exploiting it now! 8)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 12:33:35 pm
Yeah, now I understand - I was drunk last evening :) The gist of this - there was a time when it was normal to fail a campaign during first playthrough. I'm following this Dark Souls -style old-school philosophy. The player is expected to lose, but not due to extreme difficulty, but due to lack of knowledge. The player is supposed to get angry. This is called learning curve. There are few more rewarding things in games, in my opinion, than the feeling when you're getting better at a game and it is working. But you can't have that feeling if there is a tutorial that tells you how to play. You can't have that feeling when the game is unrewarding, but also when it is too simple.

@Solar: Hah! Good idea with the range of 1. Although it is not called a Spyglass, it is called a Magnifying Glass then :) BUT it is possible to grab a Mind Probe in January... Wait my brain is connecting the dots. Contacting the Mutant Alliance would mean you have an access to general knowledge, so it could be opening up a buy option for such an item...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: VodkaBear on June 11, 2015, 01:08:44 pm
Hi Dioxine! Great thing you still keep developing (I lost number of times I've already said this), and there few things about balance I wanted to mention (yeah, it's already been mentioned before by someone else):
1. Totaly op melee - only disadvantage is get hit from "overwatch" enemy what actual only for mercs (in case you got your troops more or less experienced) and even this easy avoided by smoke and using numerous obstacles (~100 TU more than enough to kill 1-2 mercs with hammer while jumping-out from tree 50 feets away from them), and with advanced melee make thins even easier.
2. Useless ak-47, tompsons, etc compared by damage guns. Actually, if you wanna play only firearms in begining - your only solution is give boarding cannon and hancannon to best marksmans while using others ppl as scouts and molotov-throwers. Not much fun, boring, repetative.
Yeah, I know you resolved this problems by adding flamethrowers, special ammo (still enjoying all this variety of acid/conclussive/etc damage types), but there still a problem for me to play firearms squad at first part of the game. And I hope there be more enemies vulnerable only to one type of damage, so, for example, acid weapons not only temporary solution to increase firepower until you increase it with lasers and so on, but only way to deal with type of enemy. In short it'll be cool if someone like boomsaur will have 95% resistant to all bullets types, 75-85% to explosion and only 5% to acid. It'll make research of captures/killed enemies more vital for survival and make this "magnifying glass" you speaking about totaly suitable for gameplay. Yeah, I see the problem "how should I pass this terror mission full of boomsaurs and my lonely pistol-rifle squad" but it can be solved by calculating when new types of enemies will appear and when average player get tech to resist them.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Ridаn on June 11, 2015, 01:14:07 pm
On my 2nd playthrough I got first Mind Probe in 2603 or 2604, I was all like - where the hell is my Annihilator and Assault Suit research?!
I might have sold (or blew up) one from 1st mission though.  ::)
And it doesnt really prove anything, as every playthrough is meant to be different.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 04:04:17 pm
Well bollocks, mind-probe items don't adhere to maxRange rules, so I've just wasted 30 minutes of work. No Spyglass then.

As for the balance things:
- Many of the weaker guns are there just to arm the enemies.
- 100% gun setup will never be the way to go.
- Melee gets a nerf in the new version - all melee attacks are going to cost Stamina. Relative to weapon's weight. So forget crazy raids with a Hammer :) Plus the damage is no longer scaling 1:1 with Strength so while the low-end damage on melee stays the same, the high-end is less crazy.
- As for the enemies, well. I'm not doing major overhauls. If such enemies appear naturally through further developement, they will appear. The look and feel has a superior priority to the mechanics when new factions/enemies are introduced. Also notice that enemies who are susceptible to just a single type of damage are a big "fuck you" to those who don't have that type of weapon, not only the newbies. Imagine the moaning and whining such an enemy would cause if it appeared on a regular basis! Even now, with most enemies being killable my most types of damage, people are whining :) I am not ruling out such enemies but only on rare missions.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 11, 2015, 05:19:29 pm
He has a "flare gun" already - a tiny flamethrower :). Literal flare ammo, which stays on the ground and gives off light is impossible to make atm.

Missed that.

That was unexpected. Most people think that the difficulty is high enough, or even too high... But I can ramp it up more if it really feels too much like a tutorial.

He didnt mean to say its easy I reckon, what he did mean to say is that durring the first time you barge forward blindly, making a mess of things due to utter knowledge of what to expect. And in the follow up plays you have a certain way of doing things that you wont (most likely) end up doing huge mistakes. Like me having keeping a record of who I broke and still I missed the Rep. Ending up having reached the end game (conqueror ready to launch. anihilators and plasma destroyers) and I didnt have lazers...


- Many of the weaker guns are there just to arm the enemies.


An unexpected parameter you might not have thought of or expected, is that such weapons which come mainly from loot can be used against the weak factions and crews later in the game, when you need to conserve materials and money. I happened to have a cache of shotguns, blunderbushes and ak47 stocked up with looted only ammo, and I was using them against trader crews to ramp up experience for my rookies, while convserving matterials by using the low powered looted ammo (and in rare cases manufacture the special munitions). There is no point of attacking a trader or humanist vessel (even when it is a cruiser), by using anything with costs resources and can be deployed against heavily armed and armored enemies IMHO. OFC one can argue that such considerations are trivial with the advent of your own lazer tech, but not everything can go according to plan. Also such low powered weapons can be used against power armored, mind controlled enemies, for target practice.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 11, 2015, 05:29:24 pm
all melee attacks are going to cost Stamina. Relative to weapon's weight. So forget crazy raids with a Hammer :)

Wrecking Miley doesn't care!!!

(https://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/mix108.com/files/2013/09/hammer006.gif)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 11, 2015, 05:34:27 pm
Sorry my comment didn't go through the right way at first. I just thought of it this morning and realized it could convey the complete opposite of what I meant.

I indeed meant that one's first playthrough of Piratez is more of a learning experience than actually playing through. Filled with "well, that was a stupid idea.." moments and bad decisions. It is like a tutorial in that it is teaching you about the game. You do it the hard way: letting people jump off cliff to figure out if they can fly instead of holding their hand and telling them they can't.

Certain UFOs will blow you up if you don't know, or gvt ones sink your score but you don't know they're gvt until you encounter one, the different enemy types which are hard to tell apart at first but easy after and the awesome research monster tree that also let's you waste a lot of time if you just research what sounds cool are all examples of things you'll screw up on a first game but never again.

I guess it's different philosophy indeed. I like a game that challenges my thinking abilities, not my endurance or wiki/rules/web research (those are qualities I associate with work).

Piratez has been awesome for that by requiring a lot of thinking. Making melee relevant (a must in one's primitive start but fine after. I mostly use guns now because it's safer to shoot than to charge). By presenting different enemies (high armor, high hp, high value and high mobility), different armors (my squad uses 7 types of armors!) and a huge variety of weapons, you create the need and the tools to make all 22 of my crew relevant and different. Radar coverage changes to zeppelin and tough UFOs  have made the geoscape interesting. Different facility sizes even add challenge to base building! Those are the strengths of Piratez for me, along with the innovative post-apocalyptic story that very much is a reward.

Getting crafts blown up by UFOs, score sunk by a gvt mission or getting owned on the ground by an unknown faction because I didn't know about them from a previous game or reading the ruleset (a big spoiler sin as far as I am concerned) makes it feel the game is tripping me so I spend longer playing it instead of keeping me hooked. A bit of foreshadowing and "general knowledge" and a thing like Ivan's spyglass would help in removing those traps.

About the spyglass, what about starting with one, having it require LoS (losRequired or something is a true false flag, not a range. It will make an item require direct sight of the target so max 20 tiles and unobstructed view.  Ivan used a LoS Required mind probe in his UpClose LP). It could require really high tech from academy, especially explorers, to make more. That seems hardly abusive for something you know for free as soon as you start your 2nd playthrough.

Or better even: a special hwp slave you can make with academy explorers + spyglass (requires fancy academy tech and can't be used by the gals) that has the spyglass (and a.. flare gun? Medikit?) as a built-in weapon. Start with one in your first hideout. You want to spy? Bring the pet lookout. Got it killed? You suck... wait a long time until you can make another.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: ivandogovich on June 11, 2015, 06:01:24 pm
About the Spy Glass.   

As far as I can see in OXE, it isn't possible right now.  It would require Yankes to externalize the returns from the Mind Probe, and allow you to specify what you can see. 

If we are still pipe dreamin:

1. Spy Glass: Range 15-20, LOS only.  One in the starting base. Only gives race and rank.

2. Somewhere between start and Mind Probe,  a Thermal imager could be made available.  Requires significant Academy loot (scope from Sniper Gauss?, etc), but shows you Race, Rank, and Armor Values Only.  Could be two handed. Unlimited Range, LOS only.

OK.  I'm done now. Back to getting killed by Academy and squandering all this gauss ammo on easy targets.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 11, 2015, 06:40:47 pm
Yeah, you can't control which stats are displayed. It's gotta be everything. Both armor (at least a qualitative no/light/medium/heavy armor) and health (hurt or not) would be visible from looking. And the idea of tying it to an explorer slave is also that the slave himself would recognize what he is looking at, giving you the race and rank.

Nothing says that the spy glass isn't more than it looks either. Could be a high tech gadget that just happens to look like a spyglass ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on June 11, 2015, 07:40:00 pm
I hadn't seen this post before:Well, although that's true, there is a huge difference in replay value for Piratez. Playing through the first time is like a really long tutorial where you learn the factions, ships and tech, and the second playthrough is very different. The first playthrough actually feels a lot like a tutorial..
I mean you can set which "alien psi-weapon" they will use. Although the ability is built in, it still calls on a certain item (which you can see modified in the psi-LOS mod).

Removing that item makes the game crash as soon as an alien tries to use it (since it is calling on an item that doesn't exist). To get no psi, you set the TU cost to 999. OXC only uses one psi-weapon, which means any tweak you do will affect all psi-aliens. But OXCE allows you to set which item is referenced by which alien in the armor section so you can actually change which they use.

That would allow a tweaking of psi-capabilities for different aliens, changing the TU cost (and thus ability to use certain powers) of different enemies. You could have certain "intimidating" enemies be able to use panic only, and only in LoS (and maybe with a big range malus, so they are really scary up close but not so much from afar). Weaker psi-enemies who can only affect you in LoS while stronger ones don't need LoS, etc. The only thing I'm not sure is if the AI can use the "special attack" of psi-items to actually deal damage like the player can.
One correction, TU should be set to 0 if you want turn off weapon (Each attack can be turn on/off). Second AI can use special psi-attacks., this was basic feature that I wanted to add.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2015, 07:58:26 pm
About the spyglass, what about starting with one, having it require LoS (losRequired or something is a true false flag, not a range. It will make an item require direct sight of the target so max 20 tiles and unobstructed view.  Ivan used a LoS Required mind probe in his UpClose LP). It could require really high tech from academy, especially explorers, to make more. That seems hardly abusive for something you know for free as soon as you start your 2nd playthrough.

Or better even: a special hwp slave you can make with academy explorers + spyglass (requires fancy academy tech and can't be used by the gals) that has the spyglass (and a.. flare gun? Medikit?) as a built-in weapon. Start with one in your first hideout. You want to spy? Bring the pet lookout. Got it killed? You suck... wait a long time until you can make another.

Hmm if I can't limit the range to below 20, I'm probably going to use the slave route. It's enough of a burden. Not sure if a player should be starting with one, but I'll make it easy to research so it can be grabbed as soon as January-March. A handheld item of such potency would require getting Aye-Phone first, at least.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 11, 2015, 08:08:11 pm
WOOOOOOOOOT!Victory dance! I blew dem aliens to kingdom come :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0eSW7lqbk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0eSW7lqbk)

EDIT: I forgot in happy time, to thank you Dioxine for the awesome experience. Whatever small flaws the game has pale in comparison to the experience. An awesome mod for an awesome game.

I would urge you to work a bit on the victory text if you find the time though, and the final mission seemed a bit of breeze. Other than that, well talk about it when the new version is out.

Thanks again.


Wrecking Miley doesn't care!!!

Get that b*^*# back in engineering, we need the hammers dry not moist dammit.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 11, 2015, 10:12:37 pm
Hmm if I can't limit the range to below 20, I'm probably going to use the slave route. It's enough of a burden. Not sure if a player should be starting with one, but I'll make it easy to research so it can be grabbed as soon as January-March. A handheld item of such potency would require getting Aye-Phone first, at least.

Well, range 20 is already pretty inconvenient, considering that it's mostly for information an experienced player would know (armor/rank/title). I like the explorer slave + spyglass avenue though, as it gives slavery an interesting use. Taking various enemies and enslaving them for specific battlefield roles could be a good addition (which is kind of what you are doing with the super-heroes, although that's too cheeky for me). In general, smoke, motion detectors and mind probes are things that work well for slaves since they can be balanced exactly (TU cost + mobility, reach of smoke using maxRange, etc.). They are not actions that give experience any ways, so might as well have a slave do them and let the gals do the thumping!

Maybe we could have the slave early and the handheld item useable by gals come later, as a more high tech item (since the gals themselves aren't well educated enough to immediately ID people, let alone their armor) and require an Aye-Phone to hold the database?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 12, 2015, 12:31:12 am
Yeah basically, slave first, handheld after the Aye-Phone (+HWD?), but I'll rather use generic slave maid than specifically an explorer - I had a game where I have seen none of those till September...

Another idea of a flying detector is a parrot. Or a bat. A bat sprite I have. Anyone has any good parrot sprite source?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 12, 2015, 02:59:52 am
hum.. if Yankes does bring the branch for animated sprites, you could even have a parrot flapping its wings while "hovering".. That'd be pretty cool. Although why a parrot would give you info is beyond me, or is this just as a scout?

Having a dog equivalent scout slave could be interesting too.. Maybe no cc attack (not loyal enough.. or maybe a low-damage stun one to represent a punch). but able to run around and be more expendable that the gals, plus the ability to carry stuff? Like.. Strength 1 (to not throw things? In case you don't think it should) but -30-40 weight.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 12, 2015, 10:52:36 am
hum.. if Yankes does bring the branch for animated sprites, you could even have a parrot flapping its wings while "hovering"..

Isn't it possible already? *Looks at a Hovertank*
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 12, 2015, 02:17:29 pm
Biodrone actually if you want this for 1x1 unit. Nothing new is needed code-wise.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: pilot00 on June 12, 2015, 03:14:33 pm
That'd be pretty cool. Although why a parrot would give you info is beyond me, or is this just as a scout?

Why would a slave turn into a superhero by the same reasoning? :P

Its just cool and funny.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Yankes on June 12, 2015, 08:01:04 pm
hum.. if Yankes does bring the branch for animated sprites, you could even have a parrot flapping its wings while "hovering".. That'd be pretty cool. Although why a parrot would give you info is beyond me, or is this just as a scout?
Right now I only achieved color animation in my old branch :> If you was very determined you could made simple shape change but it would be very painful to do because you would need squeeze two or more graphic in one sprite. In future I could made proper animations to unit and option for overriding unit parts drawing (like what torso use, or maybe have peg-leg).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Arthanor on June 12, 2015, 08:46:00 pm
Biodrone actually if you want this for 1x1 unit. Nothing new is needed code-wise.
Well.. that animation doesn't work for a parrot though.. You'd need to draw only the parrot body and the beating wings as the animation, but as soon as you rotate the parrot into whichever orientation, the wings are going to be wrong.

Unless you can specify which animation frames to use depending on orientation, but the hovertank/cyberdisc/biodrone drip the same anti-grav goop no matter which way they look, so that doesn't seem possible.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Edrick on June 14, 2015, 01:28:24 pm
Any news on release date? I'm really really looking forward to it!
Couple things that came to my mind: noticeable lack of robot-y and cyborg-y stuff. As in, we only have Academy Drones, Cyberdisks, tanks (with their hover variants) and Sectopods. And what is a sci-fi game without these?
We urgently need these :D
And Shadow Warrior's gatling shotgun. Please?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended
Post by: Dioxine on June 14, 2015, 05:03:03 pm
Any news on release date? I'm really really looking forward to it!

About... now. >:]

And Shadow Warrior's gatling shotgun. Please?

Robots, yeah, a total lack of that sort of stuff, eh? There will be more, in time. As for shotguns, not sure man, this game has about 8 types so far, 3 of them automatic, most never used :) Try Arena Flak Cannon - if you want something else still, we can do something about it...

@enemy identifier: not added yet, but not scrapped either.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 14, 2015, 06:19:09 pm
I...something is wrong, the gals have all strange names. Maybe I made a mistake while installing this?!  :o
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 14, 2015, 06:50:31 pm
Like I said, read the install instructions carefully, it's very different than it used to be :) The whole game + mod is provided, minus original ufo files. But if you want to install it the old way (unadvised), make sure to delete the common/soldiername directory. I couldn't get the switchable soldiername functionality to work, Warboy made it too smart for me :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Edrick on June 14, 2015, 08:00:50 pm
X-Piratez is awesome, far more than vanilla Piratez (if that's possible).
Being the grammar nazi I am (and with a liberal use of debug mode to read the bootypaedia) I have noticed some minor few mistakes:
- Superslave entry using "und"
- Apple entry saying "udergoes"
- Medicine entry saying "amptly" (not sure about this one. Should it read "aptly" or is it correct and I am a dunce?)
- Mutant Alliance Contact saying "caease"
- Stellar Empire Report 2 saying "telepahically"
Plus, couple questions and requests:
- What do X-section and NV mean?
- Where do you get the awesome bootypaedia pictures (those obviously uncredited and coming from non-XCOM sources)?
Could you elaborate on the Stellar Empire Report 001? As in, do "Old-type baselines" refer to pureblood humans? Are "Sanctioned" and "Wild" strains referring to controlled and uncontrolled mutant strains? And, if I got it right, are you telling me there are over 13,000 million Deep Ones in the globe? HOLY COW

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Yankes on June 14, 2015, 08:03:40 pm
BTW to avoid unneeded coping of ufo folder you can rename "UFO" directory in mod, then I will try find it in your system user folder.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 14, 2015, 08:24:27 pm
X-Piratez is awesome, far more than vanilla Piratez (if that's possible).
Being the grammar nazi I am I have noticed some minor few mistakes:
- Superslave entry using "und"
- Apple entry saying "udergoes"
- Medicine entry saying "amptly" (not sure about this one. Should it read "aptly" or is it correct and I am a dunce?)
- Mutant Alliance Contact saying "caease"
- Stellar Empire Report 2 saying "telepahically"
Plus, couple questions and requests:
- What do X-section and NV mean?
- Where do you get the awesome bootypaedia pictures (those obviously uncredited and coming from non-XCOM sources)?

Thanks for the word check! Correcting those. Except: Und is intentional. Not amptly or aptly, but the correct word was AMPLY :)

X-Section is Cross-section, how big of a target you are. Maybe not too smartly named. NV means Night Vision but this is explained in the "Our Abilities" article. The amount of space below the armor paperdoll in the Pedia entry is so tiny, either you use this garbled machine code or the full description won't fit...

As for your question, I can answer you openly. Yes, you assume logically, but I won't elaborate - you have this transmission, you don't know how they are thinking or what the hell they mean. They are who they are. The numbers are correct but notice that they do not differentiate by exact race - they could be talking about the whole sentient population of that place, not just that single species.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Edrick on June 14, 2015, 08:30:25 pm
As for your question, I can answer you openly. Yes, you assume logically, but I won't elaborate - you have this transmission, you don't know how they are thinking or what the hell they mean. They are who they are. The numbers are correct but notice that they do not differentiate by exact race - they could be talking about the whole sentient population of that place, not just that single species.

Does that mean TFTD Piratez? :D A campaign in the year 2615, in which the Supreme Cap'n of the Solar System, after destroying the Solar Governor and sitting in unimaginable wealth and resources is hellbent in exterminating the almost 14.000 million deep-sea dwellers? Returning to the old days of military tech and research methods, as most weapons are not designed for underwater use ("plasma weapons make at first fuzzy sounds when shot underwater and have a tendency to blow up", for example)  With moar piratey jargon and tech than ever? :)

Oh, and could we get flavour bootypaedia pics for the different countries? (maybe in separate entries, as the text would cover the whole page?).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 14, 2015, 10:30:37 pm
There might be a flaw in the research tree. I just researched minecraft (good pedia entry btw) and than I was enabled to build hatchets. Which I can then rsearch. Is this intentional?

Oh, my, I shouldn't pay this game drunk - it is bad for the gals' field survivability...

[edit: I noticed the typo, but it is funny!]
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 14, 2015, 10:51:19 pm
Fully intentional. You need these hatchets for some research, and they're hard to come by - the Minecraft route seemed a logical backup. Plus it's not an empty tech that way - stone hatchets might be marginally useful, especially for those who have abnormally high Throwing skill.

As for the backgroud pictures - well yeah, they're from the internets and my own private libraries, authors too many to even count and mostly unknown to me, I'm not storing this info while downloading. But after butchering their work to 320x200x256 it doesn't even remotely look like their original work.

As for the flavour pics for countries - hmm a very interesting idea, but I don't know if it makes much sense since the text would obstruct a lot, plus I might have trouble finding suitable pictures for every country... Definitely doable, though...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: FudgeDragon on June 14, 2015, 11:10:28 pm
Like I said, read the install instructions carefully, it's very different than it used to be :) The whole game + mod is provided, minus original ufo files. But if you want to install it the old way (unadvised), make sure to delete the common/soldiername directory. I couldn't get the switchable soldiername functionality to work, Warboy made it too smart for me :)

In an effort to avoid having more than 1 UFO directory sitting around my computer (and being unwilling to resort to symlinks) I had a look into this myself tonight, and got it working. I beat my head agaist the wall that was YAML-CPP error output and then took a look at the code.

I still don't entirely understand how the rulesets work, but the bottom of soldiers: - type: XCOM now looks like this and it works!

Code: [Select]
    soldierNames:
      - delete
      - SoldierName/Pirate.nam
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 14, 2015, 11:29:39 pm
Fully intentional.

Okay.

I had just an ctd, of course there was nothing remotely usefull in the logfile, but there were some entries like:
requested file not found: UFOGRAPH/MAN_36M0.SPK
Sometimes with other numbers, though. I did not miss anything and it seems unrelated to the ctd.

CTD was on a Terror Mission with the following map thingies:
Code: [Select]
  mapdatasets:
    - BLANKS
    - DAWNROADS
    - DAWNURBITS
    - DAWNURBAN
    - DAWNFRNITURE
    - DAWNDECOR
    - BLANKS
    - AVENGER_GR
    - LIGHTNIN_GR
    - XBASE1
Is it still the broken pathfinding? I am sorry, I never know how to make useful bug reports for ctds for this game.

Btw, this light on, light off - is it cosmetic or are the gals really harder to see?

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 15, 2015, 01:51:17 am
I had just an ctd, of course there was nothing remotely usefull in the logfile, but there were some entries like:
requested file not found: UFOGRAPH/MAN_36M0.SPK
Sometimes with other numbers, though. I did not miss anything and it seems unrelated to the ctd.

Are you sure you have the original XCOM installed where it belongs now? Man you really need to read install instructions :)

Btw, this light on, light off - is it cosmetic or are the gals really harder to see?

Bootypedia never lies. With the lights on, they're visible from 20 tiles away. With light off, in full darkness, they're only visible up to enemies' Night Vision range which is usually less.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on June 15, 2015, 05:27:46 am
Any chance on getting some guidance for converting saves from 0.9j?  Or should it be automatic?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 15, 2015, 10:37:50 am
Any chance on getting some guidance for converting saves from 0.9j?  Or should it be automatic?

I'm fairly sure some doctoring will be necessary, because of stuff like craft weapon slots (now there's up to 4 of them and each can only accept certain weapons, so it's likely that your Bonny will have wrong weapons installed, or on wrong slots). I can't remember how exactly it works though, so Dioxine's help will be necessary.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 15, 2015, 10:50:40 am
Are you sure you have the original XCOM installed where it belongs now? Man you really need to read install instructions :)


Yes, I am sure. I am really sure I did something wrong...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on June 15, 2015, 01:25:29 pm
I'm fairly sure some doctoring will be necessary, because of stuff like craft weapon slots (now there's up to 4 of them and each can only accept certain weapons, so it's likely that your Bonny will have wrong weapons installed, or on wrong slots). I can't remember how exactly it works though, so Dioxine's help will be necessary.

Regarding this specifically, a good idea might be simply putting them in storage and create a new save, then move to the extended and load them again. Just to be on the safe side I'd do the same with every type of equipment.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on June 15, 2015, 03:41:56 pm
I tried something like that as my current piratez game is running off Soldier Diaries Legacy 2015 04 30 0620+win32 by FudgeDragon. My current game is into mid October and I assume it's just not as straight forward as moving your .sav file from that build into Piratez Extended. On a test run yesterday this is what I tried but when I went into the extended version the game save was no where to be found.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 15, 2015, 03:48:49 pm
I think you need to add a label to your save, saying that it's a save for a certain master mod, probably this (replacing your old mods label):

Code: [Select]
mods:
  - piratez

And while going through the make-sure process like pilot00 suggests might not be neccessary, the research tree has changed, facility dependencies have appeared and it can lead to some trouble with continuing (unless you can soak up things like $900k for a new Still that you get for free in Xtended). I suggest starting a new campaign.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on June 15, 2015, 04:14:23 pm
Yes I think I'll do that as apart from the problem of converting any .sav files there are 4 piratez .rul files on the 2015 04 30 build and it would probably pull up "missing contents" when I would load any old save on the extended version which could lead to problems. However I'll finish my current game first as it's getting very good at the minute. I still haven't got "psionic" ability in mid October but that's a blessing in a sense as I tend to abuse psionics a lot. Have just got the more powerful gauss weapons but still trying to work out how to get the laboratory research topic started.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: eatthepath on June 15, 2015, 07:22:57 pm
Yessss it's out time for some fuuuun!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 15, 2015, 10:35:43 pm
I still haven't got "psionic" ability in mid October but that's a blessing in a sense as I tend to abuse psionics a lot.

No worries. With Piratez Extended, psionics abuse is a thing of the past. Not meaning it got less poweful. Just much more limited, especially in range.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on June 16, 2015, 01:09:00 am
Dioxine - Just a note - You've used the old Helmetless images in the variant folder, not the new ones I sent to you the other day.

I'll attach the correct ones here.  Just unzip and replace.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 16, 2015, 07:22:45 am
Dioxine - Just a note - You've used the old Helmetless images in the variant folder, not the new ones I sent to you the other day.

I'll attach the correct ones here.  Just unzip and replace.

I've attached the stock version, not the best one. Please feel free to publish it as your own mod on the modsite.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 16, 2015, 11:07:51 pm
Wow, I think that's my first error message since I played openxcom - I had plenty ctds, but never a proper error message. I have no idea what it is about, though...

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on June 17, 2015, 02:41:49 am
So I don't spoil it for anyone else can you tell me about this one?

I've just noticed in my playthrough of piratez 0.9j and it's the same in piratez extended the blast radius of the chinese dragon rocket for the quad launcher = 59. Is this right as upon testing it in battlemode it obliterates most of the entire battlescape and at 600 damage not much is going to survive? Is this an error or is this a suicide type of ammo ie if I'm going down the aliens are too?  (ftp://ftp:https://I've just noticed in my playthrough of piratez 0.9j and it's the same in piratez extended the blast radius of the chinese dragon rocket for the quad launcher = 59. Is this right as upon testing it in battlemode it obliterates most of the entire battlescape and at 600 damage not much is going to survive? Is this an error or is this a suicide type of ammo ie if I'm going down the aliens are too?)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on June 17, 2015, 02:44:05 am
Its working as designed, Simon. ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 17, 2015, 11:46:03 am
What's with your obsession with suicide bombing? :) I've never thought about using this weapon for such a purpose (unless by an error), but whatever floats your boat :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: new_civilian on June 17, 2015, 01:01:33 pm
Can't wait to finish my current campaign, just to start a Piratez one!  :)

Btw, is the new exe "only" the v1.9 of the Extended Exe or is it something else? If it is the first one, can I safely update to 2.2?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: VodkaBear on June 17, 2015, 01:55:31 pm
Last time I forgot to ask: what about fragmentation weapons (mean frag grenades/shells), because in real life most of game analogs not H. EAs I see, if most of grenades/mortar shells will be unable to destroy enviroment such easy as it now, it'll bring more difference between classes of weapons and they munitions (for example, mortal will be unable to broke anything, except small and weak objects) and you'll need to use weapons with ammo which has HE capability (like RPG, etc), to breach a wall. Also, frags fly further and deal more damage at "border" of normal explosion.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 17, 2015, 02:07:20 pm
Last time I forgot to ask: what about fragmentation weapons (mean frag grenades/shells), because in real life most of game analogs not H. EAs I see, if most of grenades/mortar shells will be unable to destroy enviroment such easy as it now, it'll bring more difference between classes of weapons and they munitions (for example, mortal will be unable to broke anything, except small and weak objects) and you'll need to use weapons with ammo which has HE capability (like RPG, etc), to breach a wall. Also, frags fly further and deal more damage at "border" of normal explosion.

Please elaborate on how exactly you'd see that implemented. The walls are pretty hard to breach as they are, IMO. Indeed hand grenades shouldn't be able to bring down brick walls, but isn't it too much complexity? Also there are many types of brick walls with wildly varied armor values....

Btw, is the new exe "only" the v1.9 of the Extended Exe or is it something else? If it is the first one, can I safely update to 2.2?

It is unchanged but still, at your own risk. The .exe is a standalone, but it does depend on the Nightly rulesets. Should work as there were no major changes to those, but I can't give any guarantees. Also AFAIK the extended .exe included in the package is 2.1A, not 1.9 (unless I'm on drugs :) ).

Meanwhile, I've managed to repair the soldier names (thanks to myk002 and FudgeDragon!) and also added a "mindprobing" unit, as requested. He can be bought at the Mutant Alliance, but losing him imposes a major score hit.

Also this question is for Zharkov: I'm considering breaking up the batglad unit into a male and a female version with slightly different capabilities, since all slaves have a set gender now (male would need Slave Lasher while the female - Slave Gladiatrix).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Meridian on June 17, 2015, 02:11:36 pm
Small question:
- Why is the big font different than in vanilla? By design or by accident?
- If by design... can I revert to original font somehow? I really dislike the new one...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: FudgeDragon on June 17, 2015, 02:16:42 pm
Small question:
- Why is the big font different than in vanilla? By design or by accident?
- If by design... can I revert to original font somehow? I really dislike the new one...

I don't mind it myself, and I cant comment on Dioxine's decision to include it, but...

If you open the Piratesz/Ruleset directory, theres a AmigaFont.rul. I beleive just removing that should revert the change.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 17, 2015, 02:17:33 pm
Small question:
- Why is the big font different than in vanilla? By design or by accident?
- If by design... can I revert to original font somehow? I really dislike the new one...

Really not by an accident, it's an Amiga font :) Few things happen by accident in this mod, and even that only due to its sheer size :) I've used it to make Piratez more distinct from vanilla, also because I like how it looks - well it could look better, has a good shape but it is flat. Still, the original PC font is a bit too techy for this mod, I prefer something with more flair. De gustibus non disputandum, I guess. To get rid of this, simply delete AmigaFont.rul.

An ideal solution would be a sexied-up, non-flat amiga font, but that's beyond my current plans.

EDIT: I'm also expanding the lore. I think there should be some sort of Council of Earth, gathering the Traders, Academy and Church as decisive members, and Provincial Govts as second-grade general assembly members with little real power. This Council would also need a military arm - an Imperial Guard? Earth Guard? Earth Defense Force? True the 3 Factions have their own militaries but there is still space for a dedicated military force.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: VodkaBear on June 17, 2015, 04:36:40 pm
Please elaborate on how exactly you'd see that implemented. The walls are pretty hard to breach as they are, IMO. Indeed hand grenades shouldn't be able to bring down brick walls, but isn't it too much complexity? Also there are many types of brick walls with wildly varied armor values....

Ok, quick how-i-see-it:
At start only HE types available to player will be something like dynomite and rpg-7 rocket. All other explosive stuff(like hand grenades, mortar shells, 40mm grenades - all frags).
How it works: small explosion( depending on size, 1-3 radius for hand grenade and 40mm, 3-4 for mortar shell and rpg-7 frag rocket (or other similar type of munitions, I dont remember all of them in piratez) + numerous frags, which quanity, fly distance and damage depends on  size too, they fly really further then other specialized HE stuff radius (like simple hand grenade have 25 radius for frags, while best HE mine or smthing have a blast radius max 10-11).
What it brings: you cant more spam explosions here and there, you should thing about being not hited by own frags, which can fly really far (for corresponding stuff), thats why you can use mortar from closed position and cannot more throw grenades in lonely window 3-4 tiles from your squad and dont care, what will be with soldiers if only one of them miss and hit wall, instead of window. It'll bring more diversity and you no more skip grenades, while one of them 25dmg and other 35. I'm not sure if it possible to code on current engine, but anyway.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 17, 2015, 04:59:53 pm
Realism-wise, distinctnion betwee demolitions and frags makes sense. But from the mechanics point of view... it is possible to lower the grenade damage and increase their radius considerably while decreasing the damage dropoff per tile, but then they'd lack the oomph needed to kill a guy who just got a grenade thrown under his feet...

Meanwhile I've made a mockup pic with several Spartan types, let me know which ones look better. Spartans are supposed to be mostly unarmored, except for higher ranks.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: hellrazor on June 17, 2015, 05:38:12 pm
Small question:
- Why is the big font different than in vanilla? By design or by accident?
- If by design... can I revert to original font somehow? I really dislike the new one...

Looks like the Amiga Fonts. I tried them out also and uaaah they are Eye Cancer.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Edrick on June 17, 2015, 06:18:11 pm
I'd go with the tank top scout, beret-less rifleman, heavy with ammo belt across chest and goggle-thingy official.
I'm ecstatic on finally getting mindprobey unit, but would it be possible, in the same way, to get some early-game (if really expensive, not that strong and physically very squishy) psi unit (panic + mind control). I'd really like that!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Meridian on June 17, 2015, 06:42:11 pm
;-) I would take almost exactly the opposite:
- scout model 2
- rifleman model 2
- heavy model 2
- officer model 1
But all of them are very nice (well, maybe except the goggles guy), so it doesn't matter too much.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on June 17, 2015, 06:44:29 pm
This Council would also need a military arm - an Imperial Guard? Earth Guard? Earth Defense Force? True the 3 Factions have their own militaries but there is still space for a dedicated military force.

Would the Etherials allow this though? Not that it would pose any threat to them in the sense, but maintaining a standing army outside the mercs which as far as I understand is an empirial instituition, would give the factions some measure of power to disrupt the power of the goverments.

Plus there is already a high chace that you wont meet/capture them all in the time frame of your play as is, due to their seer numbers (I finished the game without ever having several of them) and adding more factions would clutter the game a bit.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 17, 2015, 07:02:16 pm
Would the Etherials allow this though? Not that it would pose any threat to them in the sense, but maintaining a standing army outside the mercs which as far as I understand is an empirial instituition, would give the factions some measure of power to disrupt the power of the goverments.

Plus there is already a high chace that you wont meet/capture them all in the time frame of your play as is, due to their seer numbers (I finished the game without ever having several of them) and adding more factions would clutter the game a bit.

1. Yeah that's a caveat, even if this force would be technically subservient to the Solar Governor. Otoh it means that the power is divided between 4, not 3 major factions, so all the better as longs as they don't unite (looks like the Guard would need special arrangements with the Governor to keep the others jealous...)

2. That's not a problem, you're not required to meet everyone during a single playthrough.

On the other topic, I'm personally leaning towards the same choices as Meridian, except the last three guys aren't exclusive - the guy #2 was supposed to be some sort of special forces. I'm not yet done with designing (stealing & remaking :) ) the high-level spartan specialists.

Aside from Rifleman, Scout, Heavy and Officer, there will be a Commando (not sure if armored, but with high stats and night vision), General (power-armored) and 2 as of yet undetermined units.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 17, 2015, 10:53:42 pm
Also this question is for Zharkov: I'm considering breaking up the batglad unit into a male and a female version with slightly different capabilities, since all slaves have a set gender now (male would need Slave Lasher while the female - Slave Gladiatrix).

I see no problem there, however, I would stay with the Batman SM theme concerning Equipment. Just say the word if you need additional flavour text for this one.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 18, 2015, 12:04:29 am
I see no problem there, however, I would stay with the Batman SM theme concerning Equipment. Just say the word if you need additional flavour text for this one.

SM? You mean Stun Melee, right? Nothing untowards? :)
Yeah I was thinking so. The female unit would be more advanced (her suit looks more 1990s Batman than 1970s Batman, after all), would have a batarang as a stun weapon, not sure about melee option... maybe a kick? :) The male unit shouldn't be useless in comparison, either, so it ain't easy to balance that out (maybe he would have better melee?).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Geneoce on June 18, 2015, 04:21:46 am
Hey Dioxine.

Just installed Piratez Extended and it seems somethings gone wrong. Near everything starts with STR_, like STR_DAMAGE_STUN for the cattle prods damage. Maybe the language file is broken? Would you know how to fix this?

Cheers.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on June 18, 2015, 04:42:41 am
Hey Dioxine.

Just installed Piratez Extended and it seems somethings gone wrong. Near everything starts with STR_, like STR_DAMAGE_STUN for the cattle prods damage. Maybe the language file is broken? Would you know how to fix this?

Cheers.

Set the language to en-us
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Geneoce on June 18, 2015, 06:32:16 am
Set the language to en-us

Yeah, that did it. Thanks Ivan.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 18, 2015, 04:43:35 pm
Trying to include more-or-less finished facility dependencies tree for the next release, so the developement tree isn't missing any major focal points, hope I'll be able to include the Spartans as well.

I'm expanding the line of specialized workshops, to make the manufacture of top weapons more difficult. Here's the latest one, the Industrial Printer. It is a 2x2 workshop for 100 Runts, so less space effective, but more cost effective. It is also needed for nuclear laser ammo, plasma weapons & ammo, and three of the best armor suits.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: XOps on June 19, 2015, 05:47:05 pm
Trying to include more-or-less finished facility dependencies tree for the next release, so the developement tree isn't missing any major focal points, hope I'll be able to include the Spartans as well.

I'm expanding the line of specialized workshops, to make the manufacture of top weapons more difficult.

This is a big temptation for me. Mostly because it's finally a way to control all of the manufacturing screen clutter. Also, congrats for finally getting this out the door. I will be watching, ready to pirate your code should I ever jump ship to Extended.  :) Also the Spartans look cool. Makes me want to redo my cammo patterns on my paper dolls.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 20, 2015, 10:42:21 pm
The camo uniform was taken from here: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/combat-uniform-armors
although I think it needed some repairs...

EDIT:
Today I've made 2 new base facilities and placed an awful lot of damned apples on Native Urban terrain. Phew.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Edrick on June 21, 2015, 12:38:26 pm
Any news on that Pirate Queen Bridge/Palace you were planning? (if my memory noes not fail me)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 21, 2015, 12:46:35 pm
Any news on that Pirate Queen Bridge/Palace you were planning? (if my memory noes not fail me)

It's noted down, but I'm not tackling this anytime soon. Still not sure what would you need it for, mechanics-wise.

EDIT: Spartans are coming together. There is still a lot to finish up but the major part of the work is done - they're alive.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Edrick on June 22, 2015, 01:52:35 am
Aaaaawesome! And with a shiny new bazooka!
Can't wait for it   ;D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 22, 2015, 11:17:38 pm
Working on Spartan-based armor... the WIP below, still could be better IMO.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on June 23, 2015, 12:07:25 am
Looks good except the pouches above the waist. Shouldn't they hang from the belt? I find tying anything around my lower torso (not to say belly :P) to be very uncomfortable and restrictive breathing wise.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: nuttycompany on June 23, 2015, 06:13:41 am
I tried this mod 4 days ago and cannot stop playing ;D.

But I have a problem dealing with power armor dude.
2nd or 3rd month base defend always end my game, I can deal with most foe but there always be that one guy in power armor who refuse to die no matter what I try.

Other troble I run into is, if you don't find the trader early, that mean no decent early game armor to use :(
Which lead me to use my "death or glory malee charge" tactic a lot, which I must admit is quite fun to do anyway :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: VodkaBear on June 23, 2015, 11:28:47 am
But I have a problem dealing with power armor dude.
2nd or 3rd month base defend always end my game, I can deal with most foe but there always be that one guy in power armor who refuse to die no matter what I try.

Since I still not tried extended version and my experience may be outdated - best weapon against them was a simple hammer+strong soldier, just flank him and hit from the back 1-2 times, should be enough. If it was nerfed - you can try cannon or boarding gun shooting in his back.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 23, 2015, 01:49:07 pm
Nerfed, yes, but a hammer or an axe are still very effective for that purpose. Easier to kill them with explosives, but you have to shell out some hard cash which is in short supply in early game.

As for the armor, I was trying to recreate the modern military gear fashion which puts a lot of pouches on soldier's chest an belly, whatever sense it has :) I will probably reconfigure this.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Wheezematic on June 23, 2015, 02:23:10 pm
I'm not sure if this has been pointed out before, but in the latest version, the plasma mace doesn't seem to work correctly. Even the stun attack kills enemies dead. Also, the lethal attack (the "snap shot" one) only works orthogonally, is that working as intended?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Yankes on June 23, 2015, 03:18:18 pm
This probably "undocumented changes" of extended version. Melee hit of range weapons have "Melee" damage type not "Stun".
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 23, 2015, 03:48:40 pm
This probably "undocumented changes" of extended version. Melee hit of range weapons have "Melee" damage type not "Stun".

Thanks for the info. I was never a big fan of "gun melee" but it is there as a temporary solution. Unsurprisingly, the Mace is the ONLY weapon in Piratez which is using this mechanic. I will probably redesign the mace for some sort of "less than totally lethal" single mode of attack or something. I don't know yet. Is it even possible to edit the "gun melee" damage in Extended by Damage Alter and Damage Bonus? Or is it only working with the standard attack?

As for the lack of diagonal attack - well that's how Range 1 works for a ranged weapon. That's how the engine works. For a diagonal attack to be possible, you need Range 2, but that'd allow attacking 2 tiles orthogonally (or VERTICALLY). All in all while this might be counter-intuitive, it is welcome on my part - Range 1 weapons allow you to attack vertically, while melee weapons allow to attack diagonally. The main reason why I have introduced Range 1 weapons is because Melee weapons cannot destroy terrain. The main problem with ranged weapons - you cannot miss from 1 tile away, which is kind of stupid (actually it is difficult to hit a living, dodging and fighting target with a firearm in close-contact - all he has to do is to keep deflecting/dodging the barrel of your gun - that's why military martial arts teach to momentarily disable the enemy with a melee attack before shooting him).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.91 - 14 Jun
Post by: Yankes on June 23, 2015, 05:04:55 pm
Is it even possible to edit the "gun melee" damage in Extended by Damage Alter and Damage Bonus? Or is it only working with the standard attack?
Right it's not possible but it's easy to add.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 25, 2015, 09:31:24 pm
0.92 is out, with Spartans, greatly developed facility interdependencies, tons of new stuff and improvements, and a few requests granted. Enjoy.

The next step: quite possibly Sectoids, as they're important to the story. Then a major overhaul of pirate paperdolls (Extended allows for 128 variations of gals - so far we only have 8!). I'm also tempted to work on terrain, or maybe new Passengers... Something along these lines.

If your request wasn't explicitly denied, be patient. I have pulled Zharkov's Batman (any ideas on new guys, or female versions?), as for Roxis231's alternate sprites, no upgrade this time, I want to do this in one go (ideally when the major work on extra paperdolls is finished).

No upgrade to the latest Nightly/Extended either, as I haven't touched upon what they have to offer, and all the tests suggest everything is working fine. I will upgrade only when it becomes unwise not to. As for Hobbes' terrain, it takes me a lot of work to upgrade, so I will do so only when he reaches a major milestone (lots of new maps & fixes)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on June 25, 2015, 09:46:56 pm
Then a major overhaul of pirate paperdolls (Extended allows for 128 variations of gals - so far we only have 8!). I'm also tempted to work on terrain, or maybe new Passengers... Something along these lines.

128! Damm - Lot of work incomeing for me!

Will you be sticking to just 2 skin colours and Multiple heads? or something else?  And it may help with the alternate sprites if I can get a copy ahead of time please?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 25, 2015, 10:17:25 pm
128! Damm - Lot of work incomeing for me!

Will you be sticking to just 2 skin colours and Multiple heads? or something else?  And it may help with the alternate sprites if I can get a copy ahead of time please?

Not sure, I might introduce varied body shapes too - namely, a smaller one in addition to the current. Maybe also a bigger one. But you will get them in advance. If it's just heads, there won't be that much work, though. As for new skin tones... hell no. To get the current ones to look good took so much time already :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on June 25, 2015, 10:41:51 pm
I might introduce varied body shapes too - namely, a smaller one in addition to the current. Maybe also a bigger one.

Personally I think that would be FAR to much work to do for 128 Paperdolls in anything short of several (8 or 9) months, as you would have to create three variants for Each of the 50+ Armours - and most of those from scrach at that (useing a resize function from a graphics program will take much more work to get them to match IMO.) Also see the third quote.

If it's just heads, there won't be that much work

I concur with this.

As for new skin tones... hell no. To get the current ones to look good took so much time already :)

Definetly - I think this would take LONGER than the varied body shapes to impliment.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: nuttycompany on June 26, 2015, 03:42:17 am
Yea I new version (I think I will wait till my current game end, which will probably be 2 hr, max :P)

A question, what role will the sectoid have?
Are they part of mutant aliance or thrall of star god?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 26, 2015, 01:04:34 pm
A question, what role will the sectoid have?
Are they part of mutant aliance or thrall of star god?

It's more complex than that. You'll see.

Speaking about game ending, I still haven't decided... should the final mission be made epicly difficult, or leave it be, as it is... One thing will definitely change, I'll remove the Chryssalids, Celatids and Silacoids from Cydonia as in this setting, there is little sense for them being there (Silacoids will be redeployed to somewhere else). Also I will add space suits for the Martian mission - although I cannot enforce using them :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on June 26, 2015, 03:23:15 pm
Arghh....Moar hoarding to be done  8)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 26, 2015, 04:32:51 pm
There seem to be some orphaned strings in 0.92
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 26, 2015, 05:16:28 pm
There seem to be some orphaned strings in 0.92

That's an upgrade problem, not an inherent problem. Normally these strings would be invisible since they're 0 research cost, no-report techs and would be researched automatically and instantly on the moment of meeting prerequisites.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on June 26, 2015, 08:46:34 pm
Just dropping here to build on something you mentioned in Meridian's FMP LP.

Did you change the IED in Piratez Extended? You mentioned making a more powerful and cheaper per bang alternative, which I assumed to be the IED (It's an improvised device afterall).

But comparing it to high explosives, it's 25% more expensive (10k vs 8k) and a bit less than 20% more bang (130 vs 110). That extra 20 damage might be worth it against power armoured enemies, but in general, knowing that your 110 damage HE Pack will explode now (no standing still and shooting) was worth it, and in the financially difficult early stage, 8k is already expensive.

If you had something cheaper than a HE pack, with similar (maybe a bit lower?) damage, I'd have gone for that. It would be cool too as an early game "best choice", because it would add to the primitive vibe of the starting pirates to rely on traps.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 26, 2015, 09:45:35 pm
IED's gone in Extended. New deal of the day is Landmine (90 HE proxy for 4k). Not sure if it's cheap enough, as compared to Frag Grenade (2250 for 65 HE). Maybe the latter is simply too expensive, with Bombs etc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on June 27, 2015, 05:23:20 am
Ah! Good to know! I still haven't upgraded yet. I think it looks about right but the grenade looks a bit expensive, assuming there are still black powder bombs which are cheap and instant (even better than 100% end of turn).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 28, 2015, 12:32:11 pm
And here we go, the pinnacle of the SuperSlave research line: The Gals' very own Ironman (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2870.0.html) armor for Piratez 0.92!

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on June 28, 2015, 09:33:19 pm
What type of feedback are you looking for from playtesters, if any?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on June 28, 2015, 11:42:38 pm
Well, you're free to criticize anything and I am free to discard or include your suggestions, that's all there's to it :) I can only guarantee that every opinion will be heard and considered.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: XOps on June 29, 2015, 05:17:45 am
Well, you're free to criticize anything and I am free to discard or include your suggestions, that's all there's to it :) I can only guarantee that every opinion will be heard and considered.

Spoken like a true artist.  :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on June 29, 2015, 04:48:46 pm
Ax the "advances" or change to "advanced", I think, but I am drunk.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on June 30, 2015, 11:27:37 pm
Some initial feedback:

Edit: As an aside, in my first playthrough I have been repeatedly stuck with Govt "ships" and little raider/Academy/Trader/whathaveyou activity. The AI gets "points" for these Govt missions, but if I respond I lose (nearly lose-lose situation, but loot/hostages mitigates some). Feeling a bit of Catch-22... so attacking the government does not increase "terror" points, but decreases them; which I am assuming is because the assorted powers-that-be (Star Gods and all) begin "cracking" down on crime/piracy with increased patrols/military/etc, making the countries/cities feel "safe" instead of terrorized by scantily-clad Gals. Is this rationale correct? Also, what do the points from Govt ships/missions produce in the long run? Or is it safe to assume all "alien" points (Academy/Trader/Raider/etc) are counted against the Gals, and getting consistent Govt spawns is just a "That's XPiratez, baby!" ?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 01, 2015, 01:17:18 am
Thanks for pointing out the language errors. As for the other stuff:

- Fistycuffs: Fair points, but I'm trying not to go under 3 weight because of the throwing formula. Only the lightest ammo clips weigh 2 units, but I can't think of a way a player could abuse throwing these. It would be a bad idea to give fistycuffs to a weak gal, anyway - the damage strongly scales up with Strength, with the base damage being far too low for a Stunning item to be effective. Better give 'em a dagger or a handle.

- Tac Vest: The basic Piratez formula is that you lose 5% Laser Res per 5 points of armor, if everything else stays the same. Considering frontal armor, 90% is almost overtly generous, but on the other hand, you can't guarantee you'll be hit in the frontal plate... I'll increase it to 85%, should average off just fine.

- Sound issues: I haven't noticed this problem myself. I am also completely unskilled at that kind of things, but I will add this to 'issues' list - maybe someone, at some point, will decide to fix this.

- Old world city names: well, yeah, they're still named as they once were. So are the continents, for example. Not everything changes.

- Govt spawning: Well, randomness! The spawning of Govt missions is very rare, you just got unlucky.

As for the negative score: yeah this can be interpreted as you did. It can also be interpreted that piracy is a neccessary evil for the Govts - it hurts the big players (Traders etc.); also the Govts are forced to cooperate with the Mutant Alliance, and the Mutant Alliance uses affiliated pirates and bandits as a stick (the obedience of mutant populations being the carrot) in negotiations with the Govts. However, when said pirates start to hurt a Govt directly, the equation changes. The language that the "govts are scared of you" should be taken with a big grain of salt ("official truth"); in reality they have absolutely no reason to be (unless the Mutant Alliance would hire you to assassinate a high-level official, that is, but they'd have to be desperate to do such a thing...), they pay you some pocket money as a political convenience... while always being able to deny any collusion.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 01, 2015, 03:23:01 am
Fistycuffs - If throwing fistycuffs at enemies did some type of damage, I could see that being abused. But since it doesnt, does the weight matter? The reason I put 'em on my Runties is for couple reasons: knocking out units that "wake" up behind my main line, when I need to swarm a target with stuns, and lastly it's a great way to train skills on armored units then kill them if they don't go down. (Kind of like in Ironman Impossible nuXCOM where you let rookies take low shots first, but ensure you have explosives or veterans able to put the target down if it survives or trainees miss.)

Player could repeatedly throw objects to train throwing accuracy, especially as there are items in Piratez that utilizes throwing accuracy skills. In X-COM, throwing accuracy did not affect secondary stat growth, but not sure if that was changed in openXCOM, or if it was changed in Piratez. Totally forgot to test that out.

Tac Vest - I haven't bothered using it honestly, I couldn't justify the $$$ for it and unlocked the manufacture waaaay after Smokey Ops Gear & Warrior Armor. I doubt I'll use it even if Laser Res was set to 80%; as again, takes too long to research, costs a hefty price Black Market or rare Personal Armor parts (rare in my playthrough anyway), and Smokey Ops feels like a better upgrade as it spreads armor around, eliminates smoke vulnerability (nothing like throwing out smoke nades and Gals swarming out of the smoke into the blind enemy), only affects stamina, cutting/acid res, and NV 9 (not sure if this truly works on this armor as "Our Abilities" entry states Gals have inherent NV 12?).

To see myself using it, perhaps having it as a downgrade of Guerrilla armor; +accuracies, another Resistance; to make it a viable early-game alternative to smokey ops.


Sidenote: Do personal flashlights (from Our Abilities Bootypedia, default hotkey: L) actually affect the AI in any way? I've replayed the same missions with lights ON or OFF the entire time, on Day and Night missions, and haven't noticed any difference. (E.g., Mission 1a: Day, Lights On. Mission 1b: Day, Lights Off. Mission 2a: Night, Lights On. Mission 2b: Night, Lights Off.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 01, 2015, 07:33:59 am
Well, the fact you're not using a particular armor doesn't mean it's useless - it depends on priorities, personal taste and playthrough specifics. Maybe you're right but I'd rather avoid any knee-jerk reactions. I will think about these issues, though.

Throwing items repeatedly doesn't work in OpenXcom. Throwing is trained, AFAIK, only when you damage someone with a grenade-type weapon. As for the secondary stat growth, it's pointless - one melee/ranged/grenade/psionic hit is enough to trigger it, and you won't get a bigger growth no matter what else you do. However, hitting people multiple times to get a bigger melee skill increase is naturally beneficial.

As for the night vision (yes, smoke ops does reduce night vision range), it does work, but not exactly like one would expect. For one, it protects you from reaction fire, but the inability to visual-ident enemies makes that hard to predict. On the other hand, once you've been spotted, the AI units don't need to see you to know where you are (unless you run and hide for a few turns) - they only need to see you to attack you - so they will simply close-in until you're within their vision range. Lastly, Bonaventura is ill-suited for night ops tactics. Even the slightest light will make you visible from 20 tiles away, and that includes the glow of Bonaventura's engines. Plus a massed assault is also bad for stealth. Night ops work best with small ships and small teams.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 01, 2015, 07:29:49 pm
Unless things changed significantly in the Extended version, I'd say the vest is pretty close to fine. A little boost in resistance won't hurt but I don't really take it to resist lasers. Your odds of surviving meaningful laser hits with what little armor it provides aren't really worth it any ways. The best way to survive lasers is to not get shot at :P Which might be possible with the mobility a tac vest allows (light, low TU/Stam cost).

I liked the tac vest as an early breacher armor. It allows the gals to face tank a few shotgun/rifle/pistol shots when in close quarters against traders. Well worth it if it keeps them alive (or reduces their recovery times) and the only source of 35 front until metal armor. Keeping soldiers alive is always my #1 priority and front armor matters a lot for that in small spaces. Surviving soldiers means they improve and become monsters.

Even the heavy price tag didn't prevent me from buying a few at the beginning of the game (2, I think? For my best breachers), a few more later on, then when I wanted some tac armor/tac suit/heavy suit, I bought a bunch more since money is easier to get than personal armor parts.

Overall, I've used smokey, metal and tac vest/armor/suit/heavy armors and now the advanced tac ones (still haven't gotten enough powered armor parts to do anything) and enjoyed all of them. Leather is ok, as a quick spammable light armor that's better than pirate and cheaper than smokey (and I don't tend to linger in smoke as I consider smoke dancing lame). The fact that it can be upgraded to metal when resources allow also makes it not a waste to mass produce.

Warrior/Basic armor is the one that really doesn't seem to have a use. You can get it really early, sure, but leather isn't much harder to get (and can be upgraded to metal later, which is better). Better protection, but so heavy and slow for 5 more armor points.

I think you said it was for shooty gals, which makes sense since TU and Stam don't really matter for shooting. Maybe reduce the weight of it though? I get that it's supposed to be heavy, but if we consider the "handy storage = extra carrying capacity" that runt armor has, all those pockets and the bandolier could justify being able to carry the same amount despite the armor being heavy (ie no/small weight penalty instead of a large one). That would allow shooty gals to wear it and take a medium gun which actually can hurt dangerous things. They'd become slow and dangerous mid-field gals, while the armor would still be bad for melee because of the TU and Stam (representing the stiffness and heavy weight of it).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: nuttycompany on July 01, 2015, 07:37:22 pm
Well if you happen to be in my situation Basic armor is god sent.

In my 5 game so far, I never see any trader ship. All I have is that damn useless academian 24/7.
Having some poor man tank who can stand in the open and absorb all the fire is a plus in my opinion.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 01, 2015, 07:56:10 pm
I guess we get to the "depends on playthrough" thing that Dioxine mentioned.

Academician security have personal armor parts, which could give you much better armors, and are about as common as the trader security (or even a bit more) for a given UFO.

I spend a few months encountering raiders. Potential for lots of vibroblades and grav harnesses.. but not much more.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 01, 2015, 08:31:08 pm
Yes, as my first playthrough has been heavy Govt/Academy. And I don't mind smoke screen bombs; used to the long drawn out fighting from I/I XCOM. Also, I went very slow in breaches; open door, throw smoke, wait turn or two and then open door to see if I can bumrush any stragglers.

I haven't experienced any big ships yet, but by then, I doubt I'd need a Tac Vest. Back to my previous argument, cost is very high ($ can be spent better elsewhere, tbh. and parts can be scarce or best used for other armors.). I haven't had any issues with Warrior/Basic Armor, frankly. I use them as my frontline tanks (military shotguns) with melee pirates behind to bandage/nade/melee targets. I don't mind if they are slow; I'm not trying to rush through skirmishes and lose Gals. I go for the slow n steady and prioritize capturing targets to interrogate/sell (still learning tech tree and interrogations hasn't seemed too useful yet, except Academy).

I haven't unlocked/discovered Leather yet so can't offer much there. But Smokey Ops works amazing for my tactics, however that doesn't mean everyone wants to play that way.

Sidenote: Fistycuffs doesn't scale as well as I had thought, but I don't know what the cap on stats is in Piratez.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 01, 2015, 10:20:38 pm
I/I XCom?

By the time I had seen my first big ships, I had better than Tac Vests, sure, but those armors required Tac Vests to be made (Tac Vests + Parts, actually). Since I was low on parts, buying the Tac Vests to upgrade them was better than trying to build things from scratch. With the bigger ships, even with a big increase in storage (and hiring all 15 brainers), I still had a decent enough budget that buying a few armors wasn't too much of an expense.

Since Extended modifies melee weapons, it is quite possible that the basic armor becomes more useful simply through melee becoming more exhausting, thus leaving more space to shooting. That would be an interesting mean of achieving balance.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 01, 2015, 11:52:00 pm
I/I XCom?

Ironman Impossible from XCOM 2012; see Beaglerush Youtube and such.

Although Long War mod is a bit more difficult than I/I in more ways than one... Eh. Anyway.


Dioxine, is it safe to assume Hammer/Chainsaw rely on Melee Accuracy? Further, X-Bow relies on Firing Accuracy or Throwing? Other than special cases, firearms generally rely on Firing Accuracy?

Also, couldn't find it anywhere but is it possible to clarify some of the special effects? (Extra Damage (Lethal), Stun +X%, Extra Pain (X), Armor -X%, Reaction Disrupt, etc) Possibly a Bootypedia entry in the Back to School line could be useful?

Assumptions: Extra Damage (Lethal) - X of stun damage is also applied as health damage
Stun - X of Y type damage is also applied as stun damage (e.g., 50 Concussive, 25 Stun) (Assault Cannon - minimum damage is 40 Concussive [per Bootypedia entry], so Stun damage would be 20?)
Extra Pain - Stun or morale damage? Assuming stun as it pain is more likely to cause unconsciousness than losing morale?
Armor - Ignores X amount of armor, kind of like fire damage (flamethrowers) ?
Reaction Disrupt - Reaction trumps enemy action or soldier action prevents X reactions?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 02, 2015, 02:54:09 am
Just loaded up Piratez yesterday. It's really fun, but I agree with Draco that it takes a little effort to parse the Bootypedia entries. I spent about two hours cross checking the statistics of the various weapons and looking up what you said on the forum about the formatting, for example. I still don't really understand how Molotovs work.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 02, 2015, 03:48:39 am
Just loaded up Piratez yesterday. It's really fun, but I agree with Draco that it takes a little effort to parse the Bootypedia entries. I spent about two hours cross checking the statistics of the various weapons and looking up what you said on the forum about the formatting, for example. I still don't really understand how Molotovs work.

Yeah, I did the same thing too.  Made a spreadsheet then a cheat sheet.  The Cheatsheet indicated who the weapon would be good for.  ie. High melee, high strength, etc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: VodkaBear on July 02, 2015, 11:32:25 am
@Dioxine

With new vessels armanent system it's seems that even bonadventure litteraly oblitirate every ship I've met in first 4 months, are enemy vessels been tweaked too or there old versions of them?

@DracoGriffin

I've thought a little, and diceded to hide it under spoiler - there just small things, but maybe you prefer learn it yourself.
I don't actually understand your problem, as simple tac vest more then enough to play in beggining with your tactics described, and as you said - you played that artifical difficulty longwar mod, so you have to be familiar with high personal rotation from mission to mission. Even small scout landed ship will provide you with 1 engine (200k $) and bunch of other stuff, which more then enough to equip your squad after 1 succesfully mission, so gals wouldn't die even with stupidiest mistakes done. Don't be afraid of selling things, there be lot of them in midgame, also don't forget alcohol manufacturing. And you mentioned "Big ship". Forget it, there no big -> strong, little sizes ships can beat shit from you, while large can be simple cargo freighter with single poor 25mm cannon. You keeping parts for better armors, but here small spoiler - improved armor require it's previous version( leather and metal at least).

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 02, 2015, 01:18:18 pm
Assumptions: Extra Damage (Lethal) - X of stun damage is also applied as health damage
Stun - X of Y type damage is also applied as stun damage (e.g., 50 Concussive, 25 Stun) (Assault Cannon - minimum damage is 40 Concussive [per Bootypedia entry], so Stun damage would be 20?)
Extra Pain - Stun or morale damage? Assuming stun as it pain is more likely to cause unconsciousness than losing morale?
Armor - Ignores X amount of armor, kind of like fire damage (flamethrowers) ?
Reaction Disrupt - Reaction trumps enemy action or soldier action prevents X reactions?

- Extra damage is applied only if any damage was dealt. So you still need to penetrate armor with the initial damage.
- Extra stun works a bit more differently than all other types of extra damage. Lethal weapons deal Stun when you inflict Fatal Wounds, this attribute multiplies that Stun damage. That also means that those immune to Fatal Wounds are immune to extra stun.
- Pain is morale damage, since Stun Damage is named Stun Damage :) Although it is imprecise, since Morale Damage is named Morale Damage elsewhere... I might make pain as Stun+Morale damage
- Armor: yes, it's pretty self-explanatory
- Reaction Disrupt: it just means TU drain, proportional to damage dealt.
- Demolition: extra damage to terrain.

Indeed a Pedia article explaining this should perhaps be added.

Hammer/Chainsaw should rely one melee acc now (unless this was a change added past 0.92 release), but this is cosmetic. You basically cannot miss with these weapons, as a ranged attack from 1 tile away cannot ever miss.

As for the interceptions, reload times were also changed. Not sure how the new balance works yet. Are the enemy ships indeed so easy kill now?

Also, $25k is hardly expensive. If you think it is expensive, you're still in the very early game... ex. advanced armors often have their costs in $100ks or even millions, not even counting the parts and manufacture time.

As for the Bootypedia - so the complaint is too much or too little info because mixed signals here :)

Also Draco I haven't really understood what's wrong, in your opinion, with armor entry formatting?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Yankes on July 02, 2015, 01:44:09 pm
Dioxine didn't you mistaken "stun damage" with "pain damage" in case of fatal wounds? Only "damage" that is done after inflicted fatal wounds is morale lose.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: VodkaBear on July 02, 2015, 02:24:32 pm
As for the interceptions, reload times were also changed. Not sure how the new balance works yet. Are the enemy ships indeed so easy kill now?

I don't have decoder, but as I can judge ships I've shot were scouts and small fighters, with standard loadout for bonadventura which with game was started. I'll play a little more, and give advanced feedback comparing to older versions. But for sure if you don't increased total HP for ships, it obviously at least twice easier to shot down (2 50mm cannons+ 2 stingray launchers instead only 2 from "vanilla" piratez).

And few ideas:
1. Is it possible to implement "armor" for ships in game? So you can variate vessels weapons not only by damage and range but by armor piercing too, and combinate weapons not just to deal more damage, but be universal or specialized. For example - cool avalanche missiles, long distance, such impact - but little armor on enemie's ship and they got they damaged reduced to funny values. And visa versa - plasteel rotatory aircannon with only little damage but incredible AP, you'll die until you shot down freighter with tons of raw HP, but destroy some little fighters, which weight all gone for armor instead of structure.
2. "Shoc" ammo, which impact action points, so you can immobilize enemies (and they can immobilize your close-fighters). But AI weak and this can be too much exploitable.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 02, 2015, 02:52:00 pm
As for the interceptions, reload times were also changed. Not sure how the new balance works yet. Are the enemy ships indeed so easy kill now?

No, they are not. At first, I thought they might, but it really depends on how you play the game. Chances are quite good, that you win a fight with your starting vessel against a fighter. Before 0.91 this was almost certain death. So, if you reload the game, when you lose your Bonny, there is less reloading to be done. If you play without reloads you just cannot take such a risk, because your reign of plunder could be over in a heartbeat. (Well, at least I have decided for me not to take such a risk as I had to start over two times since 0.91 because of a tiny fighter...)
If anything, the outcomes of interceptions are more uncertain than before.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 02, 2015, 05:50:34 pm
I don't have decoder, but as I can judge ships I've shot were scouts and small fighters, with standard loadout for bonadventura which with game was started. I'll play a little more, and give advanced feedback comparing to older versions. But for sure if you don't increased total HP for ships, it obviously at least twice easier to shot down (2 50mm cannons+ 2 stingray launchers instead only 2 from "vanilla" piratez).

That gives you an increased incentive to build a fighter, since Ventura's 2 cannons + 2 spike launchers are nowhere as effective and very expensive. Also, if you have 2 Stingrays, those 2 cannons on Fighter do not make such a big difference imo. That's why you can further augment fighters either for missile or cannon combat :)

1. Is it possible to implement "armor" for ships in game? So you can variate vessels weapons not only by damage and range but by armor piercing too, and combinate weapons not just to deal more damage, but be universal or specialized. For example - cool avalanche missiles, long distance, such impact - but little armor on enemie's ship and they got they damaged reduced to funny values. And visa versa - plasteel rotatory aircannon with only little damage but incredible AP, you'll die until you shot down freighter with tons of raw HP, but destroy some little fighters, which weight all gone for armor instead of structure.

Well armor is possible, but AP weapons are not possible, and the armor cannot be % res - it is a DR (damage res). Avalanche does immense damage so it'd pretty much ignore such armor. So it'd work the other way around - heavy & powerful missiles vs. armored fighters that are immune to cannons, and huge-HP freighters that are best pelted with cannons. Not sure if this is such a great idea... It'd be possible to add dodge to fighters, but this, again, would work against cannons which have low accuracy, while not affecting the missiles very much (as missiles have high acc).

2. "Shoc" ammo, which impact action points, so you can immobilize enemies (and they can immobilize your close-fighters). But AI weak and this can be too much exploitable.

Will be implemented although in a very limited fashion (an armor that is pre-equipped with immobilizing weapon AND another non-lethal, non-stun special weapon, probably anti-morale). For AI, this wouldn't make much sense, since such powers can only burn the TU you've reserved for opportunity fire. A player can exploit this by hitting positioned enemies to disable their reactions and then kill them with impunity. A powerful skill so I will make sure it cannot be spammed too much.

Dioxine didn't you mistaken "stun damage" with "pain damage" in case of fatal wounds? Only "damage" that is done after inflicted fatal wounds is morale lose.

No; what I meant that lethal weapons only inflict Stun damage if they inflict Fatal Wounds. Thus I can only increase/decrease this damage. As for extra modded morale damage, it seems to simply depend on the overall damage inflicted.

If anything, the outcomes of interceptions are more uncertain than before.

Perfect.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 02, 2015, 09:06:08 pm
- Extra damage is applied only if any damage was dealt. So you still need to penetrate armor with the initial damage.
- Extra stun works a bit more differently than all other types of extra damage. Lethal weapons deal Stun when you inflict Fatal Wounds, this attribute multiplies that Stun damage. That also means that those immune to Fatal Wounds are immune to extra stun.
- Pain is morale damage, since Stun Damage is named Stun Damage :) Although it is imprecise, since Morale Damage is named Morale Damage elsewhere... I might make pain as Stun+Morale damage
- Armor: yes, it's pretty self-explanatory
- Reaction Disrupt: it just means TU drain, proportional to damage dealt.
- Demolition: extra damage to terrain.

Indeed a Pedia article explaining this should perhaps be added.

Wow, Reaction Disrupt is way more powerful than I thought. I need to start trying that against stronger enemies so they won't be able to attack while I mop up the weaker enemies. So does "Reaction Disrupt (x4)" mean it drains TU by (X damage)*4?

Quote
Hammer/Chainsaw should rely one melee acc now (unless this was a change added past 0.92 release), but this is cosmetic. You basically cannot miss with these weapons, as a ranged attack from 1 tile away cannot ever miss.
Ah, I did not realize this. I was making a spreadsheet of the weapons/mechanics so I could determine the optimal weapon for inputted soldier stats and wasn't sure what to enter in the skill section. Does Chainsaw count as 5 different attacks for experience training or just one attack?

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As for the interceptions, reload times were also changed. Not sure how the new balance works yet. Are the enemy ships indeed so easy kill now?
  No idea about the reload and such, but I have found engaging is a real crapshoot. Encountered a very small or small ship and it nearly destroyed my Bonaventura. I didn't realize what the lights meant on UFOs until a few months later when I researched the right things.

But as such, some big ships are easy prey, but not all... and small ships can be a EXTREMELY misleading in strength. If you were shooting for uncertainty prior to decoder, you've managed it very well.

Quote
Also, $25k is hardly expensive. If you think it is expensive, you're still in the very early game... ex. advanced armors often have their costs in $100ks or even millions, not even counting the parts and manufacture time.
Well, playing blind lends to this as I'm not sure what to sell or what to prioritize researching, etc. I am only in May in my 1st playthrough. Given what I know now though, the price is still awfully high for minimal armor gain that is highly situational, depending on soldier facing and direction of enemy attack. As mentioned earlier, breaching is best use but that's a high investment when you could just spam smoke grenades instead.

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As for the Bootypedia - so the complaint is too much or too little info because mixed signals here :)
Not sure what you mean? I don't think there is too much info in the Bootypedia; could always use more! If anything, it's just hard to know what to research to unlock the informative entries. (After I set up my main base, the second thing I did was scour through the Bootypedia, and Combat 101 was somewhat helpful). Perhaps an initial Bootypedia entry (like Combat 101) with like a "Brainer Report" that gives vague beginner insight to some of the first techs.

Code: [Select]
Oi Cap'n, welcome ta our labratory. We been lookin' around and came up with some ideas for ya.

*Spring Cleaning - Lotsa dis stuff in here doesn't make sense and covered up in debris. Might as well clean it up real nice and see what stuff we can find.

*Our Abilities - We know us Gals are better than purebloods, but don't know much specifics. We could uhh... "interrogate" some of da Gals to learn more. Best not to watch. Or do, if'n ya like, Cap'n.

*Basic Bullet Manufacturing - Bein' piratez don't mean we ain't competi... competa... capable, us Brainers can show them Runts how to make bullets for some weapons you 'n da Gals "acquire" from ya plunders.

*Flintlocks & Bombs - If'n bullets ain't enough, Cap'n, we could figure out how ta cobble some bombs and flint guns together so ya don't have ta scour the Black Market for 'em all the time.

*Primitive Weapons - Da Gals don't always need guns, Cap'n, sometimes ya need a good smash or stab. We got some ideas for the Runts to make, if ya think makin' our own melee weapons be a fine choice.

*Basic Armor - More armor is more better. We can salvage parts of armor from yer heists and let our Gals wear somethin' stronger than cloth or skin.

*Smoke-Ops Gear - We may be mutants, Cap'n, but we choke on smoke just like purebloods do. Makin' some special masks for our Gals will let 'em live in smoke, so ya can seize da booty easier.

*Nuclear Fuel - Not a big priority, but stuff's important, as ya main ship wouldn't get far without it, Cap'n. Lettin' us Brainers mess with some could be useful, 'specially if'n ya get your hands on some smart purebloods for us to "talk to". No, Cap'n, we wouldn't really talk with 'em, that's why I was movin' my fingers.

Quote
Also Draco I haven't really understood what's wrong, in your opinion, with armor entry formatting?

Unarmored - Running around without any armor on has its perks - like being unburdened. Or not having to pay for armor. Or having the greatest potential for creating a fine-looking corpse. Our mutant's skin is almost as tough as body armor anyway!. X-Section: 2. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.4.

Pirate - Wearing true pirate clothing will increase your soldier's bravery, while protecting their modesty and their skipper's prudence! Wt: 4. X-Section: 2. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.5.

Runt - This outfit, equipped with many pouches and straps, allows for easy carrying of large loads (carrying capacity +10), however it is somewhat constricting in combat. Best suited for medics, ammo runts and the like. X-Section: 2. Energy Recovery Penalty.

Smokey - Protects eyes and lungs against smoke, allowing for much more prolonged abuse of smoke-screens. The sexy look and armor come at a cost of decreased carrying capacity, though (effective Wt = 9). X-Section: 2. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.3. NV: 9.

Night Ops - A simple vision enchancement device gives us superior night sight, while the reinforced material allows to blend into the darkness, but the loss of peripheral vision stunts the combat ability a bit. Wt: 3. X-Section: 2. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.2. NV: 20.

Warrior - Coupled with mutant's inherent toughness, this armor allows to soak up quite a lot of small arms fire, but requires good strength and stamina, and even then, mobility loss is unavoidable. Wt: 12. X-Section: 3. Energy Recovery Penalty.

Guerrila - This combat outfit utilizes the newly discovered camouflage concept, as well as Spartan materials to create a suit that provides an edge in battle while being very practical (eff. weight = 3). However it does incur a mobility loss. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.3. X-Section: 2.

Tac Vest - This lightweight (Wt: 5), flexible vest made of highly resistant fibres hardly restricts movement, yet easily defeats even repeated hits with low-powered projectiles. X-Section: 2. Melee Dodge %: REACTIONS*0.4.

Although I just now noticed there is no weight comment for the Runt Bootypedia entry either. But as you can see in the spoiler, Guerrila has the "X-Section:" at the end, whereas all other armor entries have it before the Melee Dodge/Other Status Effects. It's totally superficial but just letting you know.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Searmay on July 02, 2015, 09:22:37 pm
I'm happy to have found this mod - for something with such silly flavour, the actual game is pretty well balanced. In that spirit I have a few comments

There  are a hell of a lot of items. Particularly weapons. Which isn't necessarily bad, but is bewildering at first. Even with the numbers available it's hard to tell what's actually likely to work well. Bootypedia should probably list item weights and stamina costs to make it a bit easier. And there's no way to know what can get upgraded with better ammo and the like later.

Research is just weird in places. Apart from the vast number of items the dependencies are complicated enough that it's really hard to tell what they are even after satisfying them. And the way you can make and use grog from the start, but it takes research to find out what it does. Or the stone axe, which you learn to make but doesn't get a bootypedia entry.

Manufacture has the annoyance of needing readily available metal, chemicals, and wire. While this makes sense, it's kind of meaningless given that they're only a 24 hour order away. Why not get rid of that management task and just add to the manufacture cost? Limited resources are worth managing, but those aren't. I also have no idea why extracting craft weapon rounds from magazines is a workshop task rather than a transparent part of re-arming the craft.

On craft weapons, I have no idea what I can use where. It's certainly not anything anywhere, but nothing seems to tell me what the limitations are.

Specific weapons: bows are probably too powerful. Ammo-free 90% throwing accuracy indirect fire at 25 tiles, with damage in the 40s for a skilled swabbie? That just seems unfair, if super fun. They seem to train firing accuracy though, which is rather bizarre. Poisoned dagger is frustratingly inaccurate compared to other daggers.

Night vision is a neat idea, giving you the choice between the safety of playing in darkness or the convenience of lights. Except playing in the dark seems pretty much impossible and switching lights is free, so I end up switching them off and on all the time. Which is just daft.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 02, 2015, 10:31:58 pm
Yeah, I did the same thing too.  Made a spreadsheet then a cheat sheet.  The Cheatsheet indicated who the weapon would be good for.  ie. High melee, high strength, etc.

Have  you posted said spreadsheet and cheatsheet? If so, where can an aspiring pirate find said sheets? It would be such a nice quality of life improvement not to have to make my own. Thanks!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 02, 2015, 10:44:11 pm
I'm happy to have found this mod - for something with such silly flavour, the actual game is pretty well balanced. In that spirit I have a few comments

There  are a hell of a lot of items. Particularly weapons. Which isn't necessarily bad, but is bewildering at first. Even with the numbers available it's hard to tell what's actually likely to work well. Bootypedia should probably list item weights and stamina costs to make it a bit easier. And there's no way to know what can get upgraded with better ammo and the like later.
Yeah, I ended up making a spreadsheet, which is asking a lot of (new) players, but the differences aren't really that significant that I've found.

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Research is just weird in places. Apart from the vast number of items the dependencies are complicated enough that it's really hard to tell what they are even after satisfying them. And the way you can make and use grog from the start, but it takes research to find out what it does. Or the stone axe, which you learn to make but doesn't get a bootypedia entry.
Yeah, some things are weird but the tone of the mod makes it believable in most cases (you ARE supposed to be a ragtag band of mutant pirates that discovered a laboratory; building from that). Haven't gotten Stone Axe, but that sounds like a bug. It is very overwhelming for new players.

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Manufacture has the annoyance of needing readily available metal, chemicals, and wire. While this makes sense, it's kind of meaningless given that they're only a 24 hour order away. Why not get rid of that management task and just add to the manufacture cost? Limited resources are worth managing, but those aren't. I also have no idea why extracting craft weapon rounds from magazines is a workshop task rather than a transparent part of re-arming the craft.
I am on the fence here. First couple months space was really tight, so I only bought scrap, chemicals, etc when I had to for manufactures. Maybe an early unlock to manufacture your own scraps/chems/etc to circumvent need to buy from Black Market, but moving towards self-sustaining feels against the spirit of the mod. Pretty sure you had to research to unlock those manufactures, which makes sense why you have to extract.

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On craft weapons, I have no idea what I can use where. It's certainly not anything anywhere, but nothing seems to tell me what the limitations are.
Bootypedia solves this. Aircraft state weapon slots: "YxLT, ZxHV, AxMS"; and armament entries state their size: "Class: Light, Class: Heavy, Class: Missile". Only thing I didn't get was why Spike Rockets are "Heavy" and Seagulls are "Missile", but why wouldn't Spike Rockets be able to fulfill a Missile slot?

Quote
Specific weapons: bows are probably too powerful. Ammo-free 90% throwing accuracy indirect fire at 25 tiles, with damage in the 40s for a skilled swabbie? That just seems unfair, if super fun. They seem to train firing accuracy though, which is rather bizarre. Poisoned dagger is frustratingly inaccurate compared to other daggers.
Yeah. X-Bow gets outclassed quickly. Spear is the melee version of the bow, super high accuracy, and very good damage. Although not as great as Bows, Fuso Knives are really underrated. Accuracy/damage scale even better than Bows.

Quote
Night vision is a neat idea, giving you the choice between the safety of playing in darkness or the convenience of lights. Except playing in the dark seems pretty much impossible and switching lights is free, so I end up switching them off and on all the time. Which is just daft.
Yeah. I had some questions about that and still do. From my experience, playing with lights off (especially on Night missions) is an effort in futility of constantly switching on/off to see where I'm moving, terrain, etc, but never noticed any real difference. Sneaky AI on - still somehow stays away from player, Sneaky AI off - still somehow knows where my units are. Although the NV modifier does work (letting my Night Ops scouts to see enemy to pick off with my snipers) but the light mechanism doesn't seem to do anything.

Easiest way to test is through the Battle Mode - 4 tests: 2 Night missions (with Sneaky AI on, other off), 2 Day Missions (Sneaky AI on, other off). And generally if you keep the map settings same, enemy should spawn in similar locations.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 03, 2015, 02:00:18 am
Have  you posted said spreadsheet and cheatsheet? If so, where can an aspiring pirate find said sheets? It would be such a nice quality of life improvement not to have to make my own. Thanks!

I can post the one I have, but its out of date now, as I never upgraded to extended.  Let me know if you'd like it. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 03, 2015, 08:02:40 am
Yeah, I ended up making a spreadsheet, which is asking a lot of (new) players, but the differences aren't really that significant that I've found.
Yeah, some things are weird but the tone of the mod makes it believable in most cases (you ARE supposed to be a ragtag band of mutant pirates that discovered a laboratory; building from that). Haven't gotten Stone Axe, but that sounds like a bug. It is very overwhelming for new players.
I am on the fence here. First couple months space was really tight, so I only bought scrap, chemicals, etc when I had to for manufactures. Maybe an early unlock to manufacture your own scraps/chems/etc to circumvent need to buy from Black Market, but moving towards self-sustaining feels against the spirit of the mod. Pretty sure you had to research to unlock those manufactures, which makes sense why you have to extract.
 Bootypedia solves this. Aircraft state weapon slots: "YxLT, ZxHV, AxMS"; and armament entries state their size: "Class: Light, Class: Heavy, Class: Missile". Only thing I didn't get was why Spike Rockets are "Heavy" and Seagulls are "Missile", but why wouldn't Spike Rockets be able to fulfill a Missile slot?
Yeah. X-Bow gets outclassed quickly. Spear is the melee version of the bow, super high accuracy, and very good damage. Although not as great as Bows, Fuso Knives are really underrated. Accuracy/damage scale even better than Bows.
 Yeah. I had some questions about that and still do. From my experience, playing with lights off (especially on Night missions) is an effort in futility of constantly switching on/off to see where I'm moving, terrain, etc, but never noticed any real difference. Sneaky AI on - still somehow stays away from player, Sneaky AI off - still somehow knows where my units are. Although the NV modifier does work (letting my Night Ops scouts to see enemy to pick off with my snipers) but the light mechanism doesn't seem to do anything.

Easiest way to test is through the Battle Mode - 4 tests: 2 Night missions (with Sneaky AI on, other off), 2 Day Missions (Sneaky AI on, other off). And generally if you keep the map settings same, enemy should spawn in similar locations.

If you keep flipping your lights on, the AI should know your location at all times. Even when you turn your lights back off, the AI should know your location perfectly for the following number of turns dictated by their intelligence value. They can, for example, grenade you through the darkness if you gave away your position by flicking your lights on and off. Or should be able to.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 03, 2015, 08:04:23 am
I can post the one I have, but its out of date now, as I never upgraded to extended.  Let me know if you'd like it. :)


Would still be interested. Be interested in seeing how you formatted it for the least.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 03, 2015, 10:26:07 am
And there's no way to know what can get upgraded with better ammo and the like later. Research is just weird in places. Apart from the vast number of items the dependencies are complicated enough that it's really hard to tell what they are even after satisfying them.

That's half the fun.


And the way you can make and use grog from the start, but it takes research to find out what it does. Or the stone axe, which you learn to make but doesn't get a bootypedia entry.

You can use and even manufacture many items before researching them. Yes. But it doesn't mean researching them is pointless. Sometimes it's an engine limitation, as with the stone axe (and more importantly, Dynamite): it cannot be made so that you can research an item while finding it, while at the same time that item being unlocked through another research (unless through 'give 1 random advance from the list... which is the case with interrogations). Hence you have to manufacture -> research.

Manufacture has the annoyance of needing readily available metal, chemicals, and wire. While this makes sense, it's kind of meaningless given that they're only a 24 hour order away. Why not get rid of that management task and just add to the manufacture cost? Limited resources are worth managing, but those aren't.

Because you can loot them from enemy or get them through disassembly. Also it puts a solid limitation on those who don't use the storage limits. Thirdly, it's simply realistic. Ever ran any kind of enterprise? Sure flour is readily available on the market but you still need to order it to make bread. It forces you to focus while requiring a minimal amount of effort, while rewarding those who focus. My only regret is that the prices are flat, non-fluctuating.

I also have no idea why extracting craft weapon rounds from magazines is a workshop task rather than a transparent part of re-arming the craft.

Because research. But this indeed might be a bit overcomplicated. Then again, it provides you with a greater hands-on feeling; you don't get info on that trophy on the debrief screen, you can at least enjoy the trophy through the workshop.

They seem to train firing accuracy though, which is rather bizarre.

Because I can't do anything about that. Ranged weapons train Firing, explosives train Throwing.

They can, for example, grenade you through the darkness if you gave away your position by flicking your lights on and off. Or should be able to.

This was deemed 2 hardcore for OXCom; enemies cannot attack from beyond their LoS. Still, it holds true in the sense they will walk up to their LoS range and THEN grenade you. You're indeed giving your positions  away by flipping the lights.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 03, 2015, 07:36:16 pm
Would still be interested. Be interested in seeing how you formatted it for the least.

@NuclearStudent:
I posted my old cheatsheets in the old version thread here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,1898.msg47447.html#msg47447

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 03, 2015, 09:28:38 pm
If you keep flipping your lights on, the AI should know your location at all times. Even when you turn your lights back off, the AI should know your location perfectly for the following number of turns dictated by their intelligence value. They can, for example, grenade you through the darkness if you gave away your position by flicking your lights on and off. Or should be able to.

Yeah, I wasn't explaining myself clearly. This is how I've tested the personal flashlights after noticing it wasn't seeming to do anything during regular gameplay.

Start oXCOM; set Sneaky AI to on/off based on test; restart oXCOM; set up mission and perform test.

Mission Settings used for each test, Sneaky AI setting was switched then oXCOM restarted ("just in case"):
Mission: Cutter
Vessel: Bonaventura
Darkness at full (slider all the way right)
Terrain: farm
Difficulty: Jack Sparrow
Race: The Academy
Tech Level: (doesn't work for me, so I didn't touch it)
Soldiers: Default, didn't change anything.

Test #1 -> Battle Mode -> Day -> Sneaky AI on, flash lights on. (Mostly to learn positions of enemies)
Test #2 -> Battle Mode -> Day -> Sneaky AI off, flash lights on. (Just to note any differences, enemies more "confronting")
Test #3 -> Battle Mode -> Day -> Sneaky AI on, flash lights off. (didn't seem to make a difference, as expected (kind of like a control for experiment)
Test #4 -> Battle Mode -> Day -> Sneaky AI off, flash lights off. (another control, results very similar to test #2, as expected)
Test #5 -> Battle Mode -> Night -> Sneaky AI on, flash lights off. (Using tests #1-4 as basis for knowing the map/terrain comfortably and enemy positions well enough, results are awfully similar to test #1,3. Flash lights were immediately turned off, and never flipped on/off at any time. Highly recommend screenshots or 2nd openXCOM with same settings with light on to be able to actually know where you are going.)
Test #6 -> Battle Mode -> Night -> Sneaky AI off, flash lights off. (Results similar to test #2,4 - AI didn't seem affected by lights off. NV DOES work [allowing Gals with NV > 9 to spot enemies father, but those NV =< 9 could trigger reactions.)
Test #7 -> Battle Mode -> Night -> Sneaky AI on, flash lights on. (Just for posterity, results similar to tests #1,3,5.)
Test #8 -> Battle Mode -> Night -> Sneaky AI off, flash lights off. (Again for posterity, results similar to tests #2,4,6.)

Night Vision mechanism works great, but perhaps I am just totally misunderstanding the personal flashlights thing. It doesn't seem to "do" anything other than purely aesthetic/cosmetic/visual means and/or overthinking what the flashlights are supposed to be doing.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 03, 2015, 10:17:09 pm
A couple of answers for the stuff I've missed...

Wow, Reaction Disrupt is way more powerful than I thought. I need to start trying that against stronger enemies so they won't be able to attack while I mop up the weaker enemies. So does "Reaction Disrupt (x4)" mean it drains TU by (X damage)*4?

Yes, exactly. Not as powerful as it was intended, since retaliation to melee attacks has been disabled by the dev team. And you still need to hurt them (although the spear should be able to pierce a power armor from behind).

But as such, some big ships are easy prey, but not all... and small ships can be a EXTREMELY misleading in strength. If you were shooting for uncertainty prior to decoder, you've managed it very well.

Or he just set interception speed to low and immediately disengaged when started to get heavy fire. With this tactic, it is very hard to lose a ship unless you really push it.

Perhaps an initial Bootypedia entry (like Combat 101) with like a "Brainer Report" that gives vague beginner insight to some of the first techs.

I'll think about it, and I will base it on your text if it gets into the mod :) I'll add Grog and Plastasteel to the list too, possibly also Slave AI and Ship Engine, so the player isn't suddenly trapped in expensive research... or organize it somehow else, ex. you can research these for cheap but to get further tech you need to finish a follow up project (with a forewarning that it is expensive; both together would add up to the current singular cost). Especially important for HWD as it can be unlocked early and costs hell of a lot to research. But this would mean less reason to celebrate if you hit the Ship Engine using a data disc...

As for the chainsaw, I'm not sure. Depends if you get xp for each hit in autoshot mode; if you do, you will get them for chainsaw attacks too.

Also I'm removing the confusing X-section from armor descriptions. Any armor with X-Section different than 2 is described as small/large/x-large/huge target.

Also a question: should I replace the current Chemicals barrel with this one? It will look worse as floorob I think, though.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 04, 2015, 12:25:02 am
@NuclearStudent:
I posted my old cheatsheets in the old version thread here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,1898.msg47447.html#msg47447

Cheers, Ivan :D

Thanks! Out of date indeed but got me thinking. On a related note, do you or anybody have a list of squad loadouts/fireteam organizations you like to use?

An idea I'm toying with is making a list like this (NuXCOM build list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1REN2q21hLugBeoVfthNapQE7qp58IztZekdT8hnsdfw/edit#gid=83878175). But with a further level of subdivision of CREW-->SQUAD--> FIRETEAMS--> Individual troopers.

Basically, bringing discipline to messy pirate crews. Plan as follows.



Divide the crew into SQUADS. Alpha SQUAD walks out the front. Bravo SQUAD drops down the hatch. Each team should be self sufficient in terms of antiarmor capability, ranged fighting capability, mid-range grenadiers, etc..


Each personnel is labelled and classified according to their capabilities. Common sense stuff.

 A STR is a stormtrooper. Heavy armor, does scouting, digs in and holds ground, leads in to take reaction fire. We all have something like them. High health is a must. I like to have the frontline tanks strong and with heavy anti-armor weapons (eg. hammers) with various explosives so they engage in mid-range frontline combat and skirmishes. 


 A CAV for me is a cavalry type unit. They go in with rapiers or whatever and charge in after reaction fire is taken. May carry sidearms (eg. sawed off shotgun) to clean up hard.

A FLA deals with shitty situations. She has the flamethrower as well as the highest casualty rate in my squad. She doesn't have good armor because I'm poor and choose to put the armor on the midrange skirmishing stormtroopers.

A NJA uses the Fuso knives. High throwing accuracy and reactions. In Extended, the Fuso knives do 60% of throwing accuracy in damage. And accuracy is almost perfect. Guaranteed 60-something damage hits from range are a godsend. Absolutely lethal in close quarter combat and smoke ops. Cleans up targets, executes soft humans, and serves as anti-armor troopers (hence reactions).

A BD is Backline Designation. For my bowmen, my assault cannonaders, and musketmen. Yes, I use musketmen. What else do I do with a rookie that can't hit, throw, or evade reaction fire, but has a good eye for shooting?

The five classifications above make up the real combat effective fireteams.  I have more but they don't matter as much.

The Alpha-Bravo team separation breaks up almost immediately. The Alpha-Bravo team separation only lasts long enough for the disembarkment to be secure.

Fireteams generally consist of CAValry, NiJnAs, and a specialized class (eg. a grenade-spec medic) following the lead of a SToRmtrooper.  When necessary, the CAV detach from the team to go clean up dangerous threats that arrive. Often, the specialists in each fireteam detach and form a special team (often special anti-armor teams, or EVAC body carriers)

I'm sure there's something important I'm not doing-(hence why I'm looking at spreadsheets.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 04, 2015, 12:59:22 am
The only squad I'd add to that is the Support Squad.  This is your long range fire-team.  Snipers from the roof of the bonny in SmokeOps gear, smoked in, with the heaviest rigs they can support, and one or two loaders who keep them supplied with rounds.   This could be "Charlie" in your designation.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 04, 2015, 01:00:04 am
@Dioxine, what's the other version look like? Not sure what to compare it to, but it's not... bad, but not great either. Would that be for maps or Bootypedia or both?

edit: Anyone know how to make a neat-o X-Piratez version of the Country Zones for the World Map like this that's accurate? https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/c/ca/WorldMap_CountryZones_Ufo.png
Obviously instead of Russia, Brazil, etc... it would be Death Realms, Fuso, Hidden Expanse, etc.
I wish it was as simple as just renaming the countries but pretty sure Dioxine has totally different country boundaries.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 04, 2015, 05:43:24 am
@Dioxine, what's the other version look like? Not sure what to compare it to, but it's not... bad, but not great either. Would that be for maps or Bootypedia or both?

edit: Anyone know how to make a neat-o X-Piratez version of the Country Zones for the World Map like this that's accurate? https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/c/ca/WorldMap_CountryZones_Ufo.png
Obviously instead of Russia, Brazil, etc... it would be Death Realms, Fuso, Hidden Expanse, etc.
I wish it was as simple as just renaming the countries but pretty sure Dioxine has totally different country boundaries.

1. Chemicals in Pedia entry. Not sure if both ground and bigob.

2. Push ctrl+D while on Geoscape with enabled Debug Mode. I think the first push reveals zones or sth, but after some ctrl+D's you'll see countries. My map could be bugged, too (not sure if all of the old territories are properly deleted, ex. Alaska), but all the new countries are good (there are more countries than in vanilla).

As for the combat setup - wow, someone is actually using knives :) In general though, I follow similar squad breakdown, if simpler - artillery, riflemen, skirmishers, scouts. Scouts are useless troops with light firearms. First order of battle is melee. If impossible/risky (which is very often), use molotov/black powder sandwich. If too far/too tough, use dynamite. Before that, pelt them with small arms fire - some enemies will die, all pirates will train accuracy. Artillery is kept for especially resistant cases (artillery = snipers, RPG, Grenade Launcher, heavy automatic weapons). Once these actions enable melee, go for it. If not, keep shooting.

The roles aren't set - everyone's got some sort of gun. It is not uncommon for skirmishers to stand and pelt the enemy with their pistols if charging is too risky and explosives unneeded. Troopers help artillery with aimed shots if they can't do anything better. The basic order is - never fire if the enemy can fire back. Usual breakdown - the more experienced the squad, the less riflemen & scouts, the more artillery and skirmishers (who also carry enough stuff to be versatile).

But this is actually one of many possible solutions. Sometimes I'm reinforcing the first line with low-range, high-acc hard hitters, like CAWS or Flamer. Those are very useful during boarding actions.

As for the squads, I'm usually scouring the field with 3-4 people squads, definitely with varied weapons so they can deal with anything. Letting a single soldier to go anywhere is plain suicide. So is late-turn scouting.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 04, 2015, 10:15:08 am
Dioxine, your combat doctrine interests me. Particularly because nobody seems to play as intended ;D

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 04, 2015, 11:39:22 am
Dioxine, your combat doctrine interests me. Particularly because nobody seems to play as intended ;D

Intended? :)
"No, Mr. Bond, I intend you to die!" :)
Title: Liber Occultis?
Post by: Zharkov on July 04, 2015, 05:46:47 pm
I have been thinking about the liber occultis. Is it a typo? Shouldn't occultus be in nominativ or genetiv? Futhermore, it doesn't do anything and isn't even researchable... this cannot be right, right?
Title: Re: Liber Occultis?
Post by: Dioxine on July 04, 2015, 06:10:36 pm
I have been thinking about the liber occultis. Is it a typo? Shouldn't occultus be in nominativ or genetiv? Futhermore, it doesn't do anything and isn't even researchable... this cannot be right, right?

I don't know Latin and that's how Lovecraft named such books... It was meant to be researchable but I have no idea yet what exactly to do with it (probably has something to do with the Dark Ones?) - I don't want to waste it for a mere easter egg, I want something cool. Any good, or at least awesome, ideas would be appreciated :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 04, 2015, 10:28:57 pm
Here are some more reports (spoilered for length and ... spoilers, also entries with * are from Debug Mode review/testing):

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Items
       
      • Seagull Missiles - Purchase Price - very expensive; 300k for 6, and Hunter-Killer can hold up to 12 (if both missile slots are Seagull Launchers). Without missiles, Hunter-Killer plays a weaker interceptor role to the Bonaventura (if able to catch target speed). In addition, high risk of damage (due to short range of early game cannons, lack of mid-/long-range LT weapon mounts) and risk of being destroyed (from re-deploying mid-repair) from constant engagements (randomness factor considering). Booty from downed shippings isn't always enough to offset the cost of expended missiles (considering if Slave AIs, Nuclear Fuel, Ship Engines, live captures, etc., were salvaged). Suggestion: Lower to 35k a unit (210k for 6), which is still more than double the cost of Spike Rockets [16k a unit].

    • Mechanics
       
      • Govt Shippings - Shipping Interception - Some Govt shippings do not use the "special" red/blue light identification in the View Shipping screen during Shipping Interception [dogfighting pop-up]. Somewhat annoying to engage ship (wasting armament munitions, nuclear fuel, risk of damage/repairs), perform crash recovery and discover Govt units. However, could be considered part of the "experience". Can't remember if pre-placed dead Govt units count against player score or not if Retreat [Dust Off] is performed prior to player killing/stunning any Govt units. Are unmarked Govt shippings intended? See screenshot: UndercoverGovtShip - EDIT: Changed name to LookItsAShip so doesn't spoiler for other players.
           
        • Further: It appears in limited testing that downing Govt shippings increases player score (maybe only specific Govt shippings?) but performing crash recovery then decreases said score (especially noticeable if player does not kill/stun Govt units by Retreating [Dust Off] upon arrival. Similar to landing at a Mutant Pogrom site but Retreating on Turn 1 to offset the negative score of ignoring a Mutant Pogrom completely.) Intended?

      • Slavery - Govt Agents, Military Police & Pilots are unable to be enslaved. Assuming from the SLAVE Bootypedia entry, are "Govt Agents" to be considered "high government officials"? However, military police should be able to become SLAVEs, if not SLAVE LASHERs. Pilots should qualify for SLAVE MAID, perhaps even SLAVE SPECIALIST/TASKMASTER based on their Bootypedia entry.

  • Spelling
     
    • * Ancient Log 1785-72 - Bootypedia entry - “... threat to planet's true masters.” -> should be “... threat to the planet's true masters.”
       
    • Autogun - Bootypedia entry - “... A blend between a rifle and a machinegun, allows to take Snap and Aimed shots as well, but isn't very good at this.” Disjarring. Suggestion: “Selective fire allows for single shots, but the complex mechanics involved reduce the expected accuracy.”
       
    • * Baracuda - Bootypedia entry - “... two integral maneuvring engines ...” -> should be “two integral maneuvering engines ...”. Also, Baracuda name should be spelled Barracuda, unless intentional?
       
    • Bonaventura - Bootypedia entry - "If it's done for, so you are." -> should be "If it's done for, so are you." Constantly mentally read it as "so are you" before realizing it was read as "so you are".
       
    • * Brave Whaler - Bootypedia entry - “... to ensure a kill .” -> should be “... to ensure a kill.” Simply has an extra space between kill and period.
       
    • Chainsaw Good - Research Topic - Placeholder name for research project? Unlocks "Ripper" item. Suggestion: Chainsaw Dagger/Mini[aturized] Chainsaw. See Chainsaw Good Manufacture below.
       
    • * Crab - Bootypedia entry - "Equipped with the outer, ablative hull it can take heavy punishment, while the modular design ensures the easiness of repair." Disjarring. Suggestion: “The outer, ablative hull can tolerate heavy punishment, and the modular design allows for effortless repair.”
       
    • * Dragon - Bootypedia entry - "... vessel tougher than that which still could fit our hangars." Disjarring. Suggestion: “... vessel tougher and still manage to fit within our hangars.”
       
    • Life Support System - Bootypedia entry - "... towards enviro-sealed suits and vessels" -> should be "... towards enviro-sealed suits and vessels." Simply it's missing a period at the end of the sentence.
       
    • SLAVE - Bootypedia entry - "... civilians or high goverment officials, ..." -> should be "... civilians or high government officials, ...". Suggestion: "... civilians or high-level government officials, ...".
       
    • Spitfire - Bootypedia entry - "A two-barreled area supression ..." -> should be "A two-barreled area suppression ...". Suggestion: "A double-barrelled area suppression ...".

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • 25mm Rounds (x50) - Multiple - listed incorrectly (not under 25mm Cannon) on Vaults/Fencing screens, but listed correctly (under 25mm Cannon) on Black Market screen.
       
    • AR / BR Clips - Manufacture - Unspecific mechanism unlocked these manufacturables. Never received the Manufacture "We can now produce:" information pop-up.
       
      • Further: Looks like it unlocked after I had finished interrogating Spartan Rifleman, for the "free" Bootypedia weapon unlocks. Rifle Bullet Manufacturing had been researched prior. Researching Assault Rifle/Battle Rifle topics will prompt the Manufacture "We can now produce:" information pop-up, but only if researched directly as interrogation weapon unlocks do not seem to prompt the Manufacture "We can now produce:" information pop-up.
        • If aforementioned weapon is an active (regardless of assigned Brainers) research topic, it can be researched which will not prompt the Bootypedia weapon entry, but will prompt the Manufacture "We can now produce:" information pop-up, despite being able to manufacture prior to the specific weapon research topic. Untested: not sure if points are received in this method, or if even X-Piratez grants points via completed research projects like oXCOM/vanilla XCOM.
        • However, if the weapon was an inactive research topic (e.g., listed in the New Project screen, not on the Current Research screen) prior to unlock through interrogation, it will no longer be in the New Project list; thus, no Manufacture "We can now produce:" information pop-up will ever notify the player. Untested: whether the weapon is "returned" [as researching an item will "consume" one unit initially] through this method.
        • Savefile available upon request.
       
    • Bonaventura Ramp - Pathing/Map - Ramp broken on jungle map; soldiers were not able to move onto tile. See screenshot: BrokenRamp. (Sorry, overwrote the savefile before I was able to back it up for bug report purposes.) [note: you can see soldier going long way, as the tile northwest of cursor [phonebooth] was not able to be selected for movement for soldiers.]
       
    • Chainsaw Good Manufacture - Manufacture - Does not prompt Manufacture pop-up stating able to produce "Rippers"; does prompt Bootypedia weapon entry. See Chainsaw Good above.
       
    • Flamethrower - Line of Fire - Unable to use "Override Line of Fire" mechanism. Simply will not perform action (does not use TUs, ammo, energy, etc.). Untested: other weapons using similar firing mechanic like Flamethrow may have similar issue. May be "unfixable" from engine restrictions?
       
    • Negative scores - Charts - Sufficient negative score begins to distort future month scores. May be "unfixable" from engine restrictions? See screenshots: ChartGlitch_InvalidScore, ChartGlitch_ActualScore.
Title: Re: Liber Occultis?
Post by: Zharkov on July 04, 2015, 10:41:14 pm
I don't know Latin and that's how Lovecraft named such books... It was meant to be researchable but I have no idea yet what exactly to do with it (probably has something to do with the Dark Ones?) - I don't want to waste it for a mere easter egg, I want something cool. Any good, or at least awesome, ideas would be appreciated :)

The good news is, it worked - the first thing I thought of, when I found the book, was the Necronomicon. Still, I would rename it to Liber Occulti, Liber Occultorum, or Liber Occultus - and I should know, because I had to cheat myself throughout years of latin classes! Liber Occultis would mean book for secret or something; doesn't make any sense.

I was thinking about making it an ingredient for having the runts summon your very own demon hwp - the other ingredients being slaves, of course.


Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Searmay on July 04, 2015, 10:52:39 pm
Quote
Aircraft state weapon slots: "YxLT, ZxHV, AxMS"; and armament entries state their size: "Class: Light, Class: Heavy, Class: Missile".
Oh, thanks. I didn't notice that at all.

Quote
Spear is the melee version of the bow,
Is it significantly better than the rapier or cutlass? It's more accurate, but once you go over 100% that doesn't help. Armour penetration and reaction distruption are useful, but taking nearly twice as long to use is less so.

Quote
Hence you have to manufacture -> research.
That's really not obvious. Maybe hint that's actually possible somewhere? Because I was never likely to build a stone axe otherwise.

Quote
Thirdly, it's simply realistic.
I don't know about involking realism when you're lumping together most of your raw materials as "scrap metal" and "chemicals". Besides, realistically I'd want to delegate menial tasks like that. The extra hassle without storage limits hadn't occured to me, but as it is it's never felt like a meaningful limitation, just a frustration.

Quote
Ranged weapons train Firing, explosives train Throwing.
Pity. Though I wonder - does a black powder bomb work like an instant grenade, or a one-shot HE round? It's described as an "aimed shot" after all. Likewise chainsaw and friends are short "ranged" weapons as far as the game is concerned, aren't they?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 04, 2015, 11:41:30 pm
Is it significantly better than the rapier or cutlass? It's more accurate, but once you go over 100% that doesn't help. Armour penetration and reaction distruption are useful, but taking nearly twice as long to use is less so.

Using Max Gal Stats (ignoring armor modifications, injuries, etc):
Rapier - 20 base damage (cutting), 100% accuracy modifier, 9 TUs, MELEE*0.4 Power bonus - Estimated Hit % = 140, Est. Average Damage = 76
Cutlass - 30 base dmg (cutting), 90% acc. mod., 10 TUs, STR*0.5+MELEE*0.2 Pwr bonus - Est. Hit % = 126, Est. Avg. Dmg = 98
Spear - 30 base dmg (piercing), 120% acc. mod., 16 TUs, MELEE*0.2+THROW*0.2 Pwr bonus - Est. Hit % = 168, Est. Avg. Dmg = 84

Assuming all equations are correct.

I believe cutting tends to be a more common resistance for enemies, whereas inversely most have either no resistance or may have a vulnerability to piercing. (By no resistance, I mean 100% aka "normal" modifier.)
Spear is two-handed, so if other hand is occupied the hit % will be lower, but due to the high acc % nature, it generally is still very high.
Also keep in mind that rapiers/cutlasses have to overcome armor and if target isn't dead, deal with retaliation (or reactions if Dioxine alters reactions with extended oXCOM option to allow other actions to trigger reactions, notably melee. Currently, once in melee range, melee attacks should not trigger reactions. The extended oXCOM reactions change would allow melee attacks to trigger reactions, allowing for much riskier melee engagements with targets, as well as "swashbuckling" - trading melee attacks sounds cool!).
Spear may actually result in "more" damage (that is, consistently), as it can ignore 20% of a target's armor, not to mention helpful for rookie training with the 120% accuracy modifier, as well as draining target's TUs for reactions (not sure if it affects TUs on enemy turn at all?).

In the end, each is HIGHLY dependent on the Gal's stats. If anything, Spear should not be given to low TU Gals due to the non-scaling attack cost.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 05, 2015, 07:06:27 pm
I believe cutting tends to be a more common resistance for enemies, whereas inversely most have either no resistance or may have a vulnerability to piercing. (By no resistance, I mean 100% aka "normal" modifier.)

It is the other way around. Piercing res is quite common (ex. Mercs, light personal armors), cutting res is uncommon (mostly tanks).

As for your equations, natural Strength can go up to 80, but you can get up to +35 from armor and up to +20 (I think?) Melee Acc from armor too.

That's really not obvious. Maybe hint that's actually possible somewhere? Because I was never likely to build a stone axe otherwise.
I don't know about involking realism when you're lumping together most of your raw materials as "scrap metal" and "chemicals". Besides, realistically I'd want to delegate menial tasks like that. The extra hassle without storage limits hadn't occured to me, but as it is it's never felt like a meaningful limitation, just a frustration.

1. This is actually a help for experienced players - stone axe is a preq to something, it can be found early, but it might not be. Hence you can at some point simply manufacture it.

2. This is not a "limitation". Never meant to be. This is giving the player better immersion, feeling of control, and things to do (if you run a business like a ship's captain, you expect you'll be buying stuff by direct order - this fulfills this expectation). Streamlining might lead to boredom. Might be a hassle but sometimes, better hassle than blandness. Plus like I said, if it was just money, loot would be just money as well, which would be bland as hell. Naturally, your mileage may vary - I've never said I'm making a mod for everyone. The main aim is providing basically the same game as XCom, but a fresh experience at the same time.

@Draco: I will adress these issues you've listed once I have the time (most are valid, but a couple of them are engine limitations, or shortcuts; the score charts require investigation). Many thanks for your hard work!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Searmay on July 05, 2015, 08:01:53 pm
Quote
This is actually a help for experienced players
I see it the other way around, as a "gotcha" for new players. Who I'd have thought are more in need of extra help than veterans.

Quote
This is giving the player better immersion, feeling of control, and things to do
All I can tell you is that it doesn't work for me at all.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on July 05, 2015, 08:38:44 pm
Dioxine, can you tell me regarding the tanks in piratez, if they reaction fire is it always from their primary gun or can you have them like troops choose which weapon is showing in their hand(s) and hence reaction fire from that one. It's just I noticed my crocodile tank seems to always reaction fire the flamethrower and I would rather have it reaction fire with the HMG.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 05, 2015, 09:04:15 pm
I see it the other way around, as a "gotcha" for new players. Who I'd have thought are more in need of extra help than veterans.

I think you two are different wavelengths. I believe Dioxine is trying to explain that Stone Hatchet can be "found early" on [certain] enemies (as "loot"), which would allow the player to research the Stone Hatchet (without needing the pre-reqs) for the next unlock (if Primitive Weapons/Minecraft hasn't already been researched).

However, for you as a player, you haven't encountered these enemies so it's strange to be able to manufacture an item that you still have to research to get its Bootypedia entry.

And with the way research tends to work (to my knowledge, someone can totally correct me here), getting the Bootypedia entry without researching Stone Hatchet would already unlock the next step without requiring researching Stone Hatchet, maybe?

But I could be totally wrong about all of the above.

Quote
All I can tell you is that it doesn't work for me at all.
I'm on the fence; one hand is really annoying to play blind (not ruleset diving or mod editing experience, etc) and not knowing what's "vendor loot" and what's important. However, as a admirer of the X-COM genre, it's fun of "should I really sell this or hoard it for later?" As a completionist and hoarder, it's a horrible feeling of trying to balance vault space/money/research.

Yes, it's going to feel overwhelming, some things I feel would be nice to have some idea to keep around
(I'm looking at you, Tac Vest - bane of my existence... wish there was a line in the Bootypedia entry that was along the lines of "Cap'n, could be useful to keep a few around... Brainers always need stuff ta tinker with for bettah armor, and could teach dem Runts to improve it".)

Lastly, finding out a lot of the stuff I was selling earlier was things I wish I would have kept a few more units of... my practice now is try to keep one of everything (at least for a first "blind" playthrough) and there are a few ways to handle space (bases aren't as expensive as you might think, especially maintenance costs / and a certain mechanism is research unlocked that can be used to improve space as well ).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 05, 2015, 09:15:16 pm
Dioxine, can you tell me regarding the tanks in piratez, if they reaction fire is it always from their primary gun or can you have them like troops choose which weapon is showing in their hand(s) and hence reaction fire from that one. It's just I noticed my crocodile tank seems to always reaction fire the flamethrower and I would rather have it reaction fire with the HMG.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2179.msg21670.html#msg21670

Not sure if that still holds true, but searching in other threads seems to be the same. Basically: reaction fire should be using the weapon with the lowest TU cost for Snap Shot. Fixes could be: increase TU for flamethrower/decrease TU for HMG/change Crocodile tank flamethrower to a different firing mode?

Note: not sure if the weapon displaying actually works, as per the link above by Warboy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 05, 2015, 09:57:28 pm
I see it the other way around, as a "gotcha" for new players. Who I'd have thought are more in need of extra help than veterans.

You've gotcha'ed yourself. 'Gotcha' implies a player's loss. There is no loss here. There is loss in not knowing the research tree, but discovering it is half the fun, and I'm making it as branched out as possible so there are no useless paths. Although on a related topic I might add some info on stuff that might be realistically expected to be needed later. Maybe disassembly for the firearms, so instead of a huge gun collection, you'd only have to keep some generic parts (like "rifle barrel" or sth). But indeed, how there could be a learning curve without bad decisions? There is no holding your hand in this game, and never will be. The game hates you and wants you to lose. Because that's how *I* like my games.

All I can tell you is that it doesn't work for me at all.

Existence of such players has been anticipated by the Alien Brain. I respect your position, but my position on this matter is non-negotiable.

And with the way research tends to work (to my knowledge, someone can totally correct me here), getting the Bootypedia entry without researching Stone Hatchet would already unlock the next step without requiring researching Stone Hatchet, maybe?

I could make it so both Minecraft and the Hatchet itself unlock the entry, but then again, why would anyone research the hatchet later, already having the entry? A 100% empty research? Basically I have 2 choices:
1. Hatchet is useless and you would only research it to get the info on an enemy weapon;
2. Hatchet leads to something, but that something should be accessible pretty early - either through certain encounters, lucky disc/interrog find, or, if all else fails, through some manufacture prior to researching. Yeah I could kill the project altogether but I don't want to.

@Tanks: yes lowest TU cost Snap Shot seems to be prioritized.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on July 05, 2015, 10:10:04 pm
Thanks for all the information folks but as silly me just noticed the auxulliary weapon, when it's a HMG, only has autoshot so the situation doesn't apply. I should have checked this first before bothering the forum but sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Searmay on July 06, 2015, 12:38:03 pm
Quote
There is no loss here.
But there is! Not knowing that I have to build a stone hatchet before researching it, and having no other reason to build one, means I won't be able to research it. Unless I stumble across one and see it in my research list before selling it off. And as I've yet to see anyone else using primitive weapons, that doesn't look likely to happen fast.

I don't object to the huge number of weapons and research options. It's not what I'd prefer, but not everything has to be. But having to build an axe to research it is counter to how the rest of the game works, and without any hints that it's the case I consider it a "gotcha".

On another note, the following oddities in manufacturing are presumably bugs:


Also Piratez.rul has a mix of DOS and Unix line endings. Which doesn't actually cause any problems, but is rather bizarre.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on July 06, 2015, 01:47:15 pm
I know that piratez is a much longer run through than other openxcom conversions but being in the middle of December, there still aren't any "alien bases" up yet. Am I being too successful in shooting down ufos, should I just be patient or is it something else? Using version 0.9j on Soldier Diaries Legacy 2015 04 30 0620+win32 build. Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2015, 01:59:23 pm
But there is! Not knowing that I have to build a stone hatchet before researching it, and having no other reason to build one, means I won't be able to research it. Unless I stumble across one and see it in my research list before selling it off. And as I've yet to see anyone else using primitive weapons, that doesn't look likely to happen fast.

I don't object to the huge number of weapons and research options. It's not what I'd prefer, but not everything has to be. But having to build an axe to research it is counter to how the rest of the game works, and without any hints that it's the case I consider it a "gotcha".

Well it is unavoidable in this case precisely because how the engine works (minecraft cannot unlock stone hatchet tech/research because that'd make the hatchet unresearchable as a found item)... but I understand it's a bit confusing. A bit confusing is not a loss, however - and there will be a hint that such behaviour is possible in the next version, because you're right that you can't hit people in the face with such things if everything else does work differently (I am surprised you aren't criticizing the Dynamite, which *sometimes*, dependant on gameplay, can also be produced and THEN researched).

On another note, the following oddities in manufacturing are presumably bugs:

  • Harpoon Stun Clip is the only thing in the "Ammunition" category rather than any of the sub-categories.
  • Several items can be produced without a workshop. Might be intended for prisoner processing, but probably not for 30mm cannon rounds, amazon outfit, smartrifle clip, or molotov.

Also Piratez.rul has a mix of DOS and Unix line endings. Which doesn't actually cause any problems, but is rather bizarre.

Thanks for those. Prisoners, Molotovs and Amazon Outfit are intended, the rest were bugs. Anything else suspicious?

No idea about these DOS/Unix discrepancies and how they got there.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Meridian on July 06, 2015, 02:18:07 pm
@Dioxine: You have probably explained this somewhere in this thread, maybe even multiple times, but it's hard to find stuff when everything is discussed in one huge thread. Can I please ask 2 questions:

1. What exactly is it with ths Hatchet resp. Dynamite? Why can you produce items without researching them first? And why do you need to research them afterwards? Please give me/us one specific example (not just generic explanation).

2. You mention that something is not possible in the current engine... what is it exactly? Maybe it can be easily added (even more so in OXCE) and we wouldn't have to go through the torture of "illogical/counter-intuitive game mechanics".
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 06, 2015, 03:30:41 pm
Sometimes the research required to make something is not the research that comes from that thing. Ok, didn't help. Let's take an example:

Vanilla:
I want to use a plasma rifle!
*Pick up plasma rifle and research it*
I can make and use a plasma rifle! *pew pew*

Some stuff in Piratez:
I want to make explosives!
*Brainers research how to cook explosives*
Runts: Cool work brainers. We think we can make this boomy stuff now. We call it dynamite!
Brainers: Dyna-what? Give us a sample!
*Brainers research dynamite*
Brainers: That dynamite is awesome! Here's the Bootypedia article and a few ideas we got on how to use such boomy stuff! (ie you got the dynamite research project for dependencies of other research)

OR
Gals: We found some boomy stuff!
*Brainers research it*
Brainers: That's called dynamite gals, it blows up exactly this much!
Runts: How do we make it?
Brainers: Euh.. Dunno..
*Some time passes, brainers eventually research the proper thing*
Runts: Ah AH! That's how you make dynamite!

Dioxine wants dynamite and stone hatchets to be researchable if you find the items. This research represents the Brainers testing it and giving you the bootypedia entry + getting ideas of what they could do with it, but not how to make it. Much like researching most guns gives the article but doesn't actually allow you to make them.

A different research project (let's call it Explosive Making) is needed to unlock the manufacturing project. If you happen to research "Explosive Making" first, you'll get a popup that you can make dynamite. But you won't know what dynamite is. So you make one, give it to the brainers and they'll research it to give you the bootypedia and project as a dependency for other projects.

On the other hand, you can find those items from certain enemies. If you bring back dynamite in your latest pile of loot, your brainers can research it, but you still won't know how to make it because you need "Explosive Making" to make dynamite, not the "Dynamite" research project.

It would be stupid to require Explosive Making in order to research Dynamite. If you have dynamite right in front of you, it's not alien tech and the gals can use it so the brainers should be able to test it. Similarly, it would be really harsh to require the Dynamite research project in order to discover Explosive Making since you might not loot it for a while, thus preventing you from making explosives for a long time.

Dioxine, how about putting a "unlocks" or "getOneFree" in the Explosive Making research to immediately grant the dynamite research project when you complet Explosive Making? And similarly for he stone hatchet research being given by the primitive weapons research.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2015, 03:35:27 pm
@Dioxine: You have probably explained this somewhere in this thread, maybe even multiple times, but it's hard to find stuff when everything is discussed in one huge thread. Can I please ask 2 questions:

1. What exactly is it with ths Hatchet resp. Dynamite? Why can you produce items without researching them first? And why do you need to research them afterwards? Please give me/us one specific example (not just generic explanation).

2. You mention that something is not possible in the current engine... what is it exactly? Maybe it can be easily added (even more so in OXCE) and we wouldn't have to go through the torture of "illogical/counter-intuitive game mechanics".

Well, a good example will be the Dynamite. You can get Dynamite (technology) from 4 sources:
1) Physically finding and researching it;
2) As a random tech gained from a Data Disc;
3) As a random tech gained through interrogation of certain enemies;
4) Developing Cooking by the Book, manufacturing Dynamite, then researching it.

And the proposition here is:
5) Developing Cooking by the Book gives Dynamite instantly (and vice versa, perhaps).

In OXCom, you can have either 1, 2, 3 & 4, or 2, 3 & 5, but you CANNOT have 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.

You need both Dynamite and Cooking by the Book for Explosive Munitions tech, which lets you to manufacture a variety of HE and I ammo. Further complication: Cooking by the Book can be unlocked either by finding and researching (or getting through interrogation) either Old Earth Books or Dynamite.

Now, The problem/limitation is: If the Dynamite is to be possible to research as a physical object found on the field, you need to lock it as NeedItem: true (else it would be researchable from the start, as it has no other prerequisites). However, doing so makes it impossible to research dynamite WITHOUT the item (ex. said Cooking by the Book unlocking Dynamite topic for research, or researching it instantly), because NeedItem: true makes it impossible to do so (it has also another effect, but that later). It would be still possible to get it through interrogations/data disc random tech, since they use GetOneFree mechanic, which instantly gives a single random tech from a prepared list. However, this mechanic cannot be used with Cooking by the Book, because of 2 limitations: one is soft (GetOneFree can be forced to give a predetermined tech if the list is only 1 item long), one is hard: IF Cooking by the Book has a GetOneFree list, the engine makes it researchable from the start, ie. ignores any prerequisites for this tech (except NeedItem). There is a workaround - use LookUp function - but if the Cooking had Lookup: Dynamite, both techs would indeed be researched, but the Cooking research report wouldn't be displayed - instead of it, Dynamite entry would be displayed.

So in short: either the item is locked out by the need of a specific item in stores (NeedItem: true), or by normal tech tree prerequisites (but NeedItem: true makes them null and void). Those two mechanics cannot be mixed. Similarly, GetOneFree mechanic makes all normal tech tree prerequisites null and void (yes if a research topic A has a GetOneFree list, research topic's A own prerequisites are made null and void, however silly it might sound). So this mechanic cannot be mixed with normal tree-based research as well.

Yes it is convoluted but I hope I made myself clear enough?

As for the rationale, Arthanor summed it up pretty well. Because of schizotech, and generally not very sound approach to science, sometimes you have instructions/ideas HOW TO make stuff - or simply have a facility which enables you to manufacture it - sort of a machine with a red button and instructions. You have a general idea what the item is, but then you need field testing to get a detailed report (researching a manufactured item).

@Edric:
Supercomputer is planned but complex to introduce (many changes to the base balance & research tree needed), flare gun is planned, bear trap is plausible but both slated for later because of low importance.

@SIMON:
The "Alien Base" mission is quite rare in Piratez, that's all there's to it. Just your luck :) Similarly "infiltration" (coutry betrayal) is rare. First one because how immensely profitable it is, second one because how uncool and damaging it is, especially in a long game.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 06, 2015, 03:44:29 pm
getOneFree removing dependencies on a research project is a really weird one.. Is there an actual reason it's like that?

I understand that the only getOneFree research in vanilla are interrogations, but they don't require this feature..

It could work equally well if projects that need no dependencies just had no dependencies, while other projects could use both dependencies and getOneFree.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2015, 03:49:20 pm
It could work equally well if projects that need no dependencies just had no dependencies, while other projects could use both dependencies and getOneFree.

I suspect it is done that way because cutting corners (would take extra code to check both cases, easier to code if only a single check is needed).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Searmay on July 06, 2015, 04:19:32 pm
On dynamite, I didn't know it had the same issue - I found plenty of it on raiders.

Quote
yes if a research topic A has a GetOneFree list, research topic's A own prerequisites are made null and void
Is that not considered a bug? Has it been reported as such? Likewise with NeedItem.

Quote
The "Alien Base" mission is quite rare in Piratez, [...] Similarly "infiltration" (coutry betrayal) is rare.
After a year I've had plenty of both. Just lucky, I guess ...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Meridian on July 06, 2015, 05:05:51 pm
IF Cooking by the Book has a GetOneFree list, the engine makes it researchable from the start, ie. ignores any prerequisites for this tech (except NeedItem).

That seems like a bug (or at least an "unwanted side effect") to me... worth reporting.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2015, 05:06:58 pm
You can report it (my own sight is not welcome there) but the answer probably will be, "Irrelevant To Vanilla". It's really hard to condemn such a rationale too, as the devs must make choices, their stick to their priorities, and their first priority is re-creating vanilla XCom, modding being only a second priority... Otoh if someone submitted code that repairs the bug and breaks nothing, I can see no reason it wouldn't be included (other than catiousness - often it's really hard to say if new code really doesn't break anything).

On a lighter note, I think I've heard that the devs consider research engine and enemy AI "dark jungles of OXCom" where no sane man goes unless there is absolutely no other choice :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 06, 2015, 08:24:59 pm
Say, Dioxine, you are using Robin's Anthropod (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/anthropod-alien) recolored, but do you have plans for the spitter, too? Looks a bit like Yhashtur, doesn't it?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Yankes on July 06, 2015, 08:58:39 pm
Have no fear, Extended is there! (at least when I finish things I currently have in plans :D )

I could add new property "OptionalItem" that could skip requirements if you have that item.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Edrick on July 06, 2015, 09:19:17 pm
Couple things:
- TK Projector page says "demolotion" instead of "demolition"
- Small silly suggestions, like a bear trap (cheaper Landmine with Piercing damage and 1-tile range), a flare gun (in order to set things on fire at long-range by using Firing Acc instead of Throwing + Str) and a Supercomputer facility, which requires Power Station, provides Brainer space and is necessary for higher-end aircraft, especially the Conqueror?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2015, 09:19:41 pm
Say, Dioxine, you are using Robin's Anthropod (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/anthropod-alien) recolored, but do you have plans for the spitter, too? Looks a bit like Yhashtur, doesn't it?

Definitely looks promising, but no place for him yet. Otoh as long as I can compose a meaningful race (in the story sense), I don't have to make my own graphical assets, which are the most work-heavy part of everything. Right now I am thinking about making Gazer a living weapon (it's a gaze, so probably laser, not uber-powerful but armor-stripping :) ). Gazers with lasguns are simply silly.

Have no fear, Extended is there! (at least when I finish things I currently have in plans :D )

I could add new property "OptionalItem" that could skip requirements if you have that item.

That'd be really helpful, and end these quarrels :) Would it be possible to make it so dynamite gives Cooking and Cooking gives dynamite at the same time with these mechanics? I like the idea of field testing but really this is counterintuitive... I might still leave manufacture -> research function, but not for any of the current items (researches labeled ex. 'Prototype Something', so you need to research, manufacture, then research again to find out what techs are you missing to get a finished product.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 06, 2015, 11:10:08 pm
After some consideration, I have nerfed the Super Energy Armor (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg47255.html#msg47255) a bit. And added nothing else - especially no hints of forbidden knowledge.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2015, 03:13:19 am
After some consideration, I have nerfed the Super Energy Armor (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg47255.html#msg47255) a bit. And added nothing else - especially no hints of forbidden knowledge.

This armor is actually very weak for a powered armor, but this is irrelevant anyway unless I find/make/receive proper gfx :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 07, 2015, 12:55:20 pm
This armor is actually very weak for a powered armor, [...]

Given the importance of stamina in piratez, I was afraid it was too strong. Should it be uparmored or maybe replace the power armor component with something else?

[...] but this is irrelevant anyway unless I find/make/receive proper gfx :)

Yeah, and I felt so happy, finding this inventory gfx at all, but it just hasn't the right size and I cannot do art assets. I'd only make it worse, believe me...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2015, 02:45:28 pm
IMO it feels like a waste of power armor parts to get tinfoil armor, even if you get such a good Stamina boost. It is a much thinner Revenant with less boosts and similar preqs. As for the gfx... Well I might appropriate something at some point (the battle sprite itself is good, I'd only need to make inventory pics).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 07, 2015, 04:44:04 pm
IMO it feels like a waste of power armor parts to get tinfoil armor, even if you get such a good Stamina boost. It is a much thinner Revenant with less boosts and similar preqs. As for the gfx... Well I might appropriate something at some point (the battle sprite itself is good, I'd only need to make inventory pics).

Right, I changed the required items to build this thing. Armor parts makes more sense than power armor parts and academics' booty for the electronics regulating the armor rigidity instead of traders' booty.

Some of these in hindsight questionable design decisions came about, because I was planning it as an upgradable armor. However, there is no inventory gfx for the grey version at all, therefore I didn't follow through.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 08, 2015, 10:54:14 am
Here are a few more reports:

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Items
       
      • Aircraft Armaments - Loot Rate - Aircraft magazines seem to generate less than aircraft weapon parts, player ends up with more aircraft weapons than ammunition for any of them. Suggestion: Increase rate of looting aircraft ammunition magazines slightly.
           
      • Sniper Rifle - TU Cost - Snap Shot costs 70% TUs for 85% accuracy, and Aimed Shot costs 75% TUs for 155% accuracy (and unlimited range, I believe). Snap Shot seems awfully high considering the 5% TU increase, accuracy range drop-off (unlike Aimed Shot; also considering if UFO Extender Accuracy is set to "on"), nearly half the accuracy percentage of an Aimed Shot. Suggestion: Lower Snap Shot TU cost to 40-45% range, otherwise Snap Shot is redundant to have on the Sniper Rifle.
           
        • Reference: Hunting Rifle - Snap Shot costs 33% TUs for 70% accuracy, whereas Aimed Shot costs 70% TUs for 125% accuracy.

    • Mechanics
       
      • Aircraft Maintenance - Order of Maintenance – Currently aircraft follow this maintenance order: Repair, Refuel, Rearm [EDIT: Looks like it's actually Repair, Rearm, Refuel in X-Piratez v0.92]. Due to the “suggested” option of “Force Aircraft Launch” (which I totally agree with), repairs can be extremely lengthy and with limited aircraft, engagements are becoming extremely difficult due to super-micromanaging aircraft ammunition for future interceptions.  Suggestion: Alter order to Rearm → Refuel → Repair. Rearm is generally the quickest of the three, and nearly the most important as it is difficult to down a Shipping with low or no ammo. Repair & Refuel are tricky to prioritize; no reason for repair if sending heavily damaged troop transport to a crashed shipping target, but can't launch because fuel is so low it will just auto-return. On the other hand, don't need much fuel when trying to engage local [re: very close] targets, but definitely need repairs to survive encounter.
           
        • Further: Rearm → Refuel → Repair order gives players the option to continue intercepting targets at increased risk of losing craft, instead of a fully repaired ship unable to fire its weapons. Refuel is a good second option as it isn't a very lengthy process either, and gives the player the option to dispatch a damaged troop transport (e.g., Bonaventura) to reach a crashed or landed shipping site. In addition, the player also has the “option” of skipping the Rearm phase in this order by simply unequipping all weapon mounts (thus maintenance will “skip” Rearm as there is “nothing” to Rearm!); effectively changing the maintenance order to Refuel → Repair.
        • Note: The current order Repair → Refuel → Rearm is unaffected if a craft is removed of all its weapon mounts; it will still continue repairing or refueling until complete.
        • Example: Bonaventura with 12% damage, estimated 1 day/13 hours to fully repair, with 9% fuel and Pogrom site pops up farther than 9% fuel but close enough for 34% fuel to reach. Repairing is totally useless at this point, but unable to launch as ship is stuck repairing. Pogroms last less than 24 hours (not sure of exact length) before “disappearing”.
        • Further: Craft Charger Laser is given “free” at start; to allow player to be able to continue game instead of forced to restart. However, due to current maintenance order and despite the Bootypedia text (infinite “ammo”/free recharge), it will only be rearmed AFTER vessel is fully repaired and fueled, somewhat limiting its usefulness. Suggestion: Swapping Rearm to be the first priority would alleviate this issue and allow player to choose whether engaging a target is worth launching a damaged craft or to simply ignore and allow repairs to complete.

  • Spelling
     
    • EuroSyndicate - Bootypedia entry - “While the Europe bore the brunt ...” → should be “While Europe bore the brunt ...”.
       
      • Further: “... surrounded by their famous genengineered servants ...”. Suggestion: “... surrounded by their famous [gene-altered/gene-cloned/gen-engineered/gene-modded/gen-mod/vitro-modded] servants ...”.

    • Hidden Expanse - Bootypedia entry - “... tribes and drawn in all kinds of freaks ...”. Suggestion: “... tribes and attracted all kinds of freaks ...”.
       
      • Further: “... worship Deep One's gods ...” → is this meant as worshipping the Deep Ones as gods [hence the Star Gods reference] or individuals are worshipping the gods of the Deep Ones? (First example: Dioxine is a god! Second example: Dioxine believes in Zeus, so I will worship Zeus too!”) If first example, suggestion: “... worship the Deep Ones as gods ...”. If second example, suggestion: “... worship the Deep Ones' gods ...”.

    • Manufacture Slaves - Name discrepancies - Traders are listed as “Trd. Hostess”, “Trd. Sailor”, “Trd. GO”, “Trd. Engineer”, “Trd. Rep” yet the “item required” are listed as “Guild Hostess”, “Guild Air Sailor”, “G.O.”, “Guild Engineer”, “Guild Rep”. Suggestion: Choose either “[Trd/Trader] <name>” or “Guild <name>” for both.
       
    • Medicine - Bootypedia entry - “... are the amply named Fatal Wounds.” → should be “... are the aptly named Fatal Wounds.” Intentional? (Amply = plentiful, sufficient / Aptly = appropriate, likely)
       
    • Pickaxe - Bootypedia entry - “... Hammer but neither as cumbersome.” Disjarring. Suggestion: “... Hammer but not as cumbersome.” Also, “Demolotion +100%” → should be “Demolition +100%” unless explosive lotion is a hidden research. ;)
       
    • Prisoners Interrogation - Name - Redundant as researching hostages already acts as an “interrogation”, and given the Bootypedia entry, the name doesn't quite fit. Suggestion: “[Pirate Straits Syndrome/Prisoner Defilement/Prisoner Desecration/Torture Techniques/Steel Pact Syndrome]”; Pirate Straits/Steel Pact “Syndrome” are a reference to Stockholm Syndrome but with Piratez theme.
       
    • Ship Engine - Bootypedia entry - Reads awfully like X-COM, instead of a Piratez tone.
       
    • Tommy - Name - Weapon is called “Tommy”, yet the ammunition is called “Tommygun Drum (50x10)”. Suggestion: Rename “Tommy” to “Tommygun” or “Tommygun Drum” to “Tommy Drum”.
       
    • Trader Guild Hostess - Bootypedia entry - “... her relatively-important duties and the weapon training she received and thus ...”. Disjarring. Suggestion: “... her relatively-important duties and Guild-[required/sponsored] weapons training, [thusly/therefore] ...”.
       
      • Further: “Don't have more regrets shooting these than about any other corporate slaves.” Disjarring. Suggestion: “They're like any other corporate slave, so don't be ashamed for shooting them. Given their experience though, they could be useful … maids if captured, at least that's what the Gals are sayin'.”

    • Trader Rep - Bootypedia entry - “This lady is a not a small fish ...”, “Trader Reps like are few and only present when they are needed, ...”. Suggestion: “This lady ain't no small fish ...”, “Trader Reps are few and far between, and only found on special ships on vital missions, ...”. See Trader Rep - Miscellaneous below.

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • Alliance Advisor - Black Market Unlocks - Appears in Black Market screen without being indicated anywhere. Most likely unlocked after completing research on "Contacts: The Mutant Alliance"; which designates "Attack Dog" & "Medical Supplies" are unlocked in Black Market, but no mention of Alliance Advisor.
       
    • Back to School - Bootypedia - Background is very bright; difficult to read text and eye-straining. Also, no background objects like other “story” entries have. Suggestion: Darken background; perhaps themed post-apocalypse as other entries are.
       
    • City Block [Movie Theatre] Terror Map - Pathing Issues - There is a “hole” in a “closet” where the floor should be (appears to be a closet). See screenshot: MaybeItsAFiremanPole.
       
      • Further: The building with the shopping center (clothing shop, butcher shop, etc) has a glitched staircase. Clicking the top of the staircase/roof results in a weird back-tracking path. However, if clicked anywhere else on the roof (e.g., like where the “7” is), different TU cost results. See screenshot: GalsBreakThroughAllCeilings.

    • Courier - Battlescape - Landed courier (as per editing battlescape.sav) has glitched walls. See screenshot: ImproperUFOWalls.
       
    • Cyclops Corpse - No use after researching topic. Suggestion: Utilize for butchery (parts for cuisines and/or armor crafting).  See Cyclops Guard.
       
      • Further: Sell prices are extremely low ($200) for Cyclops corpse; no factions are interested in secretly procuring corpses for research?

    • Cyclops Guard - No use after researching topic. Suggestion: Utilize for butchery (parts for cuisines and/or armor crafting) and/or enslavement (parts for armor crafting). Per Bootypedia entry, use of live Cyclops may be limited, but salvage for “better”/more items than corpses, especially considering the amount of "work" to live capture. See Cyclops Corpse.
       
      • Further: Sell prices are extremely low ($15k) for live Cyclops Guards, especially considering they are only useful for "vendoring” as of version 0.92.

    • Flamethrower - Accuracy Experience - Dedicated two Gals with basic flamethrowers as "main" weapon (only Fistycuffs and/or Handles were also used; no other weapon, not even grenades) and they still have their original firing accuracy. Per this link (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg44666.html#msg44666), flamethrowers supposedly increase accuracy rapidly (although which type of accuracy is unspecified), but referenced to pre-Extended. Only melee accuracy has increased (notably because they have used Fistycuffs and/or Handles).
       
      • Reference: Gal A - 40 Firing Accuracy, 92 TUs, 130 Stamina, 78 Health, 75 Strength.
      • Reference: Gal B - 45 Firing Accuracy, 100 TUs, 123 Stamina, 76 Health, 65 Strength.
      • Further: What type of accuracy is intended to be increased?

    • Humanists - Bootypedia - Entry did not pop-up after interrogating Humanist Soldier, yet Humanist Soldier Bootypedia entry did pop-up.
       
    • Minecraft - Research Unlocks - Stone Hatchet needs to be further researched but no Bootypedia entry, yet Pickaxe doesn't need to be researched and gives a Bootypedia entry. Inconsistent; intentional?
       
    • Radar Range - Geoscape - Radar range is shown in black circles; is it possible to color each for easier “readability”? The black circles are fine for vanilla oXCOM (as Hyper-wave Decoder has the longest range and best detection), but for Piratez, that isn't the case. Hyper-wave Decoder isn't the biggest circle and trying to plan bases can get “muddy” (especially when you already have placed bases and Spy Zeppelins, hard to see the “true” radar ranges). Suggestion: White circle for Outpost, Yellow circle for Hi-Res Radar, Red circle for Long-Range Radar, and Purple circle for Hyper-wave Decoder. Not sure if there are more radars, but Orange/Black could be used for any others (or in future versions). See link (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFO_Detection) for possible example.
       
    • Reaper - Research Unlocks - Does not indicate new research "Tamed Reapers" upon completion. Does indicate "Xeno Hides Recovery", however.
       
    • Stat Tracker - Mod Support - "Official" integration into X-Piratez would be great without having to deal with any "wonkiness". It doubles as a useful reporting tool; tracking kills/stuns for statistic growth, as well as monitoring kill types for unusual weapons like Flamethrower/Chainsaw.
       
    • Stick Grenade - Research - Appears in Manufacture screen but no pop-up to indicate it. Not sure when this unlocked.
       
      • Further: Ruleset diving looks like it unlocks for free after interrogating Humanist Soldier, despite not requiring to be researched or notifying the player via the Manufacture “We can now produce:” screen.

    • Trader G.O. - Bootypedia - Upon completion of interrogation, Bootypedia entry did not pop-up for G.O. The Bootypedia entry for Crack did pop-up, however. The Traders Bootypedia entry had already been unlocked previously when interrogating Trader Guild Security.
       
    • Trader Rep - Bootypedia - Upon completion of interrogation, Bootypedia entry did not pop-up for Trader Rep. The Traders Bootypedia entry had already been unlocked previously when interrogating Trader Guild Security. However, the Manufacture popped-up “We are now able to manufacture: $: Trd. Rep (0/2/0)”. See Trader Rep - Bootypedia entry above.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 09, 2015, 09:35:36 am
Couple of answers:

- Sniper Rifle - Snap Shot isn't useless. Think Reaction Fire. Sniper Rifles with high ROF would obsolete all other firearms.

- Repair/Refuel/Rearm order - I cannot modify such things. But if player had a free choice here, the flexibility would perhaps be too great (ie. I've never encountered the problems you're describing in my playthroughs, since I've tried not to abuse Bonaventura so much, and most importantly, to never get damaged when low on fuel).

- Maps: I've checked that ship map in mapview and everything seems to be in order. Engine limitation? As for terrain map errors, it's Hobbes' terrains, not mine, so please contact him (mine are only ships and Pirate Hideout).

- Cyclops - they're simply unfinished.

- Flamethrowers - various people say various things but I am not sure if they train accuracy - I'm not sure if arcing shot weapons can train accuracy at all.

- Stone hatchet - would you please stop beating this dead horse? :)

- Radar Range extravaganzas - no I can't mod that.

- Stat tracker - it is an .exe modifier. I'm already using an .exe modifier. I'm not learning how to compile code out of sudden now.

- Research/manufacture Popups - I don't understand how they work and when they appear, and when they refuse to and why. Although I can assure you you DO GET everything intended. If there's no popup, looks like I'm not doing this the proper way. But oftentimes doing it the proper way would make it impossible to do it my way (ie. to give the player the exact things I want).



Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 09, 2015, 09:48:58 pm
Ow, just trying to give feedback.

In the spirit of constructive conversation:

- Sniper Rifle - Snap Shot isn't useless. Think Reaction Fire. Sniper Rifles with high ROF would obsolete all other firearms.
Difference between reserving Aimed/Snap Shot is usually like 1 or 2 tile moves. Reaction Fire still depends on TUs/Firing Accuracy/Reactions -> as Aimed Shot reserves more TUs, more likely to to react against enemy. And Sniper Rifle isn't particularly damaging (in my experience), the best use for it is the unlimited range on Aimed Shot. If I want a sniper to move, I give them Hunting Rifle instead (which should be a downgrade in all aspects to Sniper Rifle) but it's actually an "improvement" in terms of mobility as the Snap Shot cost of Hunting Rifle is about half the TU cost of its TU; which is why I suggested Sniper Rifle to have similar TU costs (but slightly higher than Hunting Rifle's, so they aren't exactly the same).

Quote
- Repair/Refuel/Rearm order - I cannot modify such things. But if player had a free choice here, the flexibility would perhaps be too great (ie. I've never encountered the problems you're describing in my playthroughs, since I've tried not to abuse Bonaventura so much, and most importantly, to never get damaged when low on fuel).

I had found some info here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=3088.0), but otherwise, I could forward the suggestion to Yankes as a possible option in Extended?

Quote
- Maps: I've checked that ship map in mapview and everything seems to be in order. Engine limitation? As for terrain map errors, it's Hobbes' terrains, not mine, so please contact him (mine are only ships and Pirate Hideout).

Will do!

Quote
- Flamethrowers - various people say various things but I am not sure if they train accuracy - I'm not sure if arcing shot weapons can train accuracy at all.

Ok, I'll try some more controlled testing to see what pops up.

Quote
- Stone hatchet - would you please stop beating this dead horse? :)

Sorry, that was in my "bug reports" file before that whole thing earlier happened. Just kept it in for record-keeping.

Quote
- Radar Range extravaganzas - no I can't mod that.

Ah, okay. Figured you'd have a good idea if it was possible or not considering what you've accomplished with Piratez. Figured I'd ask!

Quote
- Stat tracker - it is an .exe modifier. I'm already using an .exe modifier. I'm not learning how to compile code out of sudden now.

I'll see if Shoes or Fudge would be open to the idea.

Quote
- Research/manufacture Popups - I don't understand how they work and when they appear, and when they refuse to and why. Although I can assure you you DO GET everything intended. If there's no popup, looks like I'm not doing this the proper way. But oftentimes doing it the proper way would make it impossible to do it my way (ie. to give the player the exact things I want).

I can stop reporting that if you want; just thought you'd like to know.

Thanks for the response; was in suspense if any of it even worth reporting!

[edit: spoilered cuz long]
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 09, 2015, 10:02:47 pm
Sure it was worth reporting, I've killed several bugs (I've commented only on things I didn't agree with).

- Sniper Rifle part deux - you can't Reaction with an Aimed Shot :) A weapon must have Snap Shot or you cannot reaction-fire with it. Sniper Rifles are powerful and very accurate; the limitation there is "Aimed Shot Only", with a sort-of-crappy Snap Shot added basically just for reactions. It is possible that Hunting/Commando Rifle are too good in comparison, but as far as raw damage goes, it IS weaker... I'll think about rebalancing, possibly adding extra damage dependant on Accuracy for Sniper Rifles.

- Popups - yeah it'll be good to keep the track on those, you're right. Maybe some of it could be repaired.

- Custom exe - we'll see on that. You can always ask Yankes, if he adds it, I might (or might not :) use it. Or make it optional, since it'd be an easy mode... As for the Stat Tracker, I've been using a version that enables it (Ivan is using it), but it won't probably work with the current Extended build...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 09, 2015, 10:16:21 pm
Re: Sniper Rifle
In Piratez, there is rarely a "best" weapon, and usually a variety of weapons which you apply to a variety of jobs. A sniper rifle is not only more precise than a hunting rifle. It is also a lot more cumbersome. That's why it doesn't just eclipse the hunting rifle at everything. It is better for long range aimed shot, worse for short range quick shots.

More sniper stuff spoilered because Dioxine replied:
The sniper rifle initially had no snap shot at all. Dioxine had intended it as a weapon you had to aim with, useless for taking quick shots (ie snap/reaction shots). Players wanted reaction fire, so Dioxine added a snap shot possibility. It is not intended to be as good as an aimed shot, which represents taking your time to sight the target properly. It is not intended to represent running about and shooting either.

As it is, the snap shot gives your sniper the possibility to fire if something happens in his sight while he is waiting for the long range aimed shot. It has a high TU cost to prevent it from making snipers into mobile offensive soldiers, it's more of an already set-up opportunity shot. Mobile fire support is instead intended to come from hunting/scoped rifles (and many, many other medium range weapons).

The choices of weapons, and the effort to keep many relevant, is something that takes a while to get used to in Piratez. We are very used to modern simplified gameplay where you upgrade to the next tier that's 100% better. I very much like that that's not the case in Piratez. That said, adding bonus damage based on Accuracy to precision weapons could be an interesting way to keep them relevant in the face of high power weapons. Especially since after you get 100% to hit, any improvement is currently useless.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on July 10, 2015, 12:33:43 am
I did request a Snap Shot for Sniper rifles (Python, Custom Sniping gun and Sniper Rifle) because it was inconstistent with laser sniper rifle and gauss sniper rifle, and because it made sense from a simulationist point of view - if a sniper gal with high reaction spends a turn staring down a scope, and there is a hostile - why wouldnt she shoot?
Title: Re: Liber Occultis?
Post by: pilot00 on July 10, 2015, 02:10:40 am
I don't know Latin and that's how Lovecraft named such books... It was meant to be researchable but I have no idea yet what exactly to do with it (probably has something to do with the Dark Ones?) - I don't want to waste it for a mere easter egg, I want something cool. Any good, or at least awesome, ideas would be appreciated :)

You can use it to flesh out the lore of the Deep Ones. After all they are the Cthulite faction. Perhaps an insight as to what happened to Tleth and why the buggers regressed to the point of using axes?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 10, 2015, 07:56:38 am
Re: Sniper Rifle
In Piratez, there is rarely a "best" weapon, and usually a variety of weapons which you apply to a variety of jobs. A sniper rifle is not only more precise than a hunting rifle. It is also a lot more cumbersome. That's why it doesn't just eclipse the hunting rifle at everything. It is better for long range aimed shot, worse for short range quick shots.

More sniper stuff spoilered because Dioxine replied:
The sniper rifle initially had no snap shot at all. Dioxine had intended it as a weapon you had to aim with, useless for taking quick shots (ie snap/reaction shots). Players wanted reaction fire, so Dioxine added a snap shot possibility. It is not intended to be as good as an aimed shot, which represents taking your time to sight the target properly. It is not intended to represent running about and shooting either.

As it is, the snap shot gives your sniper the possibility to fire if something happens in his sight while he is waiting for the long range aimed shot. It has a high TU cost to prevent it from making snipers into mobile offensive soldiers, it's more of an already set-up opportunity shot. Mobile fire support is instead intended to come from hunting/scoped rifles (and many, many other medium range weapons).

The choices of weapons, and the effort to keep many relevant, is something that takes a while to get used to in Piratez. We are very used to modern simplified gameplay where you upgrade to the next tier that's 100% better. I very much like that that's not the case in Piratez. That said, adding bonus damage based on Accuracy to precision weapons could be an interesting way to keep them relevant in the face of high power weapons. Especially since after you get 100% to hit, any improvement is currently useless.

Some weapons are 100% upgrades; that's one of the reasons why we research for better weapons and armor, so we don't have to keep using regular ammo clips with blunderbusses and cannon balls for assault cannons. :P

And as a sidenote, I've just been using Sniper Rifles as either A: to soften up armored targets for stunning or B: kill a target that somehow hasn't been knocked out by Cattle Prod/Handle/Fistycuffs. If I really need a target dead, I use explosives via grenades or rockets/bombs. The whole remark was just from a standpoint of "What change would make me use this weapon OR more likely to try this weapon?" Just as I had remarked about Tac Vests; still haven't used them in the early-game.

But appreciate all the feedback!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 10, 2015, 12:28:04 pm
If you're rich enough to use explosives for all the killing and good enough to handle the rest with notoriously unreliable stun weapons, I can only congratulate ;) I'm not using Tac Vests either, but in part as a challenge, in part to keep the budget as tight as possible. The very fact that there is an easily accessible armor and only some players use it, is, I think, an achievement in so-called "balance". In general, I fully expect that an average player won't ever use 2/3rds of available options; but no option should be useless to everyone. If you don't think Sniper Rifle fits well within your tactics, beefing it up to the point where you would use it, will unbalance it - since it would become an uber-weapon in the hands of those who already use it.

I'm using explosives mostly as an emergency, or to kill otherwise hard-to-reach enemies. Others can be safely killed with firearms if I take some time. Assaults are usually based on melee weapons.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 10, 2015, 08:37:11 pm
If you're rich enough to use explosives for all the killing and good enough to handle the rest with notoriously unreliable stun weapons, I can only congratulate ;) I'm not using Tac Vests either, but in part as a challenge, in part to keep the budget as tight as possible. The very fact that there is an easily accessible armor and only some players use it, is, I think, an achievement in so-called "balance". In general, I fully expect that an average player won't ever use 2/3rds of available options; but no option should be useless to everyone. If you don't think Sniper Rifle fits well within your tactics, beefing it up to the point where you would use it, will unbalance it - since it would become an uber-weapon in the hands of those who already use it.
Expensive from Black Market; but a balance of Runts for Grog/Black Powder Bombs/Molotovs is a good plan.

In terms of balance, looking at the huge options in Long War mod for new XCOM, some of the stuff isn't the best choice (in terms of the power players aka min/maxers) and items/armors/soldier perks/etc become situational at best. But really boils down to intent behind the design; did X item accomplish design or are other Y, Z items making it moot? (e.g., smoke grenade spam/Smokey Ops lessens the value in breaching with Tac Vest frontline soldiers; exception is not everyone wants to play like that or aiming for night missions with either 12 NV or 20 NV from certain armors (e.g., Night Ops) and using one or two scouts to spot enemies for soldiers to kill from distance and just spamming End Turn for enemy to walk into reaction firing squad).

But above is just really Devil's Advocate; as my 2nd playthrough is going to focus on the primitive tree to unlock Bows/Spear/Amazon as those are extremely strong; especially the stat boost from Amazon is very strong early game, low manufacture cost, no item requirements. Past early-game, other armor begins to eclipse. Bows/Spears low manufacture cost, no item requirements, high damage, etc. However, remains to be seen for now, but on paper seems great! :P


Quote
I'm using explosives mostly as an emergency, or to kill otherwise hard-to-reach enemies. Others can be safely killed with firearms if I take some time. Assaults are usually based on melee weapons.
Exactly, I am using mostly smoke screens and take my time to wait for AI to come to me if I can help it. Sounds like our play style is similar. :P

That's why I've only suggested few and (in my perspective) minor "balance" changes; first playthroughs are not good controls for balance changes. Maybe on my third or fourth once I know the enemies/weapons/tech tree much better would I presume to offer actual balance suggestions. My focus has been mostly on the easier things to find: bugs & spelling. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 10, 2015, 09:31:48 pm
Exactly, I am using mostly smoke screens and take my time to wait for AI to come to me if I can help it. Sounds like our play style is similar. :P

Similar to a degree - I like to shoot from afar, but I don't like to wait, so I usually break up troops between fast-map-clearing teams and second line support (with guns and explosives) :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 11, 2015, 12:32:05 am
Similar to a degree - I like to shoot from afar, but I don't like to wait, so I usually break up troops between fast-map-clearing teams and second line support (with guns and explosives) :)

And here I am, taking one hundred and twenty three turns to finish a terror mission. ???

(not that I'm completely patient. Impatience has killed so many of my troopers I don't even know the number)

I actually surprised that Piratez is balanced with impatience in mind. It's still fun and fast paced if you mostly disregard how log each individual mission will take.
Title: It's a trap!
Post by: Zharkov on July 11, 2015, 03:28:45 pm
It's a trap!

Duh!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 11, 2015, 09:00:38 pm
I don't quite understand why smoke doesn't seems to be as effective in some circumstances.

For example, in my latest save, (night), enemy units keep shooting me from six or seven tiles away in full smoke cover.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 11, 2015, 09:47:52 pm
It's hard to say judging from a Geoscape save, dood :)

Remember that the smoke doesn't propagate vertically very well. If the enemy is above/below the smoked level, his vision won't be hampered that much.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on July 11, 2015, 09:58:15 pm
^That and I think somebody said once, that the AI is aware of your position for 2-3 turns after spotting you.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 11, 2015, 10:05:22 pm
Actually the number of turns dependant on the Intelligence score which in Piratez ranges from 3 (eg. GOs, raider grunts) to 7 or more (eg. Academy Espers)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 11, 2015, 10:50:39 pm
Perfect time to Ctrl-Move (for Run, if you have it enabled in Advanced) backwards and drop smoke. Let the enemy come to you and prepare proximity stuff and/or throwables.

Only time I've had to do that so far is against a clown car of Cyclops. Thought more were in the UFO but... neeeeewp, suckers came around corner of building and that was a "oh poo--" moment. Thank goodness for Rum; had a Gal end up in Med-Bay for like 49 days. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 12, 2015, 04:21:58 am
Sorry, I posted the wrong save. I'll try to replicate the scenario I had.

Here, a gal can been seen by and be shot by a trader guard guy. However, there's quite a few tiles of apparently solid smoke between him and her.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on July 12, 2015, 02:57:13 pm
Sorry, I posted the wrong save. I'll try to replicate the scenario I had.

Here, a gal can been seen by and be shot by a trader guard guy. However, there's quite a few tiles of apparently solid smoke between him and her.

The question is: Has anyone of them seen her prior to the smoke screen?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 12, 2015, 09:37:28 pm
The question is: Has anyone of them seen her prior to the smoke screen?


I don't believe so.  But the trader saw her that turn through the smoke screen.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2015, 04:10:21 am
Well they do mutually see each other from that particular position, even through 7 tiles of smoke. A bit strange, but the AI unit isn't favored in any way. Also, she's been seen by him, so she counts as seen, so more Academicians can approach and shoot her when in LOS, possibly.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: NuclearStudent on July 13, 2015, 04:24:10 am
Well they do mutually see each other from that particular position, even through 7 tiles of smoke. A bit strange, but the AI unit isn't favored in any way. Also, she's been seen by him, so she counts as seen, so more Academicians can approach and shoot her when in LOS, possibly.

Is there any reason that the smoke is less effective; as in, smoke decays in strength over time or something.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2015, 04:51:24 am
No idea, I haven't wrote the engine :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Sagefox on July 14, 2015, 07:02:22 pm
Well I hate to the the first one to have a problem, but I've a problem that I don't know how to fix. When I try play the mod it pops up saying that it can't find GEOData/world.dat. So any help would be great.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2015, 10:43:55 am
Protip: read the install instructions. Good day.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Sagefox on July 15, 2015, 01:04:52 pm
Protip: read the install instructions. Good day.
But that's the thing I followed the instructions step by step and it's still giving me problems.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2015, 01:56:21 pm
Why I have to do this?

1. Dump the archive contents onto any drive.
2. Install your original UFO files into the created folder (see install instructions or OXCom documentation as to where exactly)
3. fire up with OXComEx (big red icon)
4. enable mod.

I think it can't get ANY easier than that.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Meridian on July 15, 2015, 04:31:48 pm
Take it easy Dioxine... if he's completely new (it looks like he is), it's absolutely normal not being able to follow installation instructions to the letter. I deal with that almost every day.

@Sagefox: I will create a video how to do it and upload it on YouTube today... if it doesn't help, you'll need to send us some more info. If it helps, we'd like to hear what you did wrong afterwards, so that we can make installation instructions even more foolproof (sorry for the expression, nothing personal)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Meridian on July 15, 2015, 09:19:48 pm
Here's the promised video: https://youtu.be/fRgA8rDRJGw

Let us know if it helped.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Mr. Quiet on July 16, 2015, 03:12:41 am
Damn this looks great. I'm no beta tester as I say to everyone everywhere I go, is this worth playing now? What else is needing to add? I'm just about to jump in, I'm really tempted but I don't want to let some missing features ruin everything for me :)

Also hope to see the new gameplay mechanics in play. Thanks Dioxine.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 16, 2015, 03:58:20 am
More reports; spoilered for length and ... spoilers :P

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Items
       
      • TK Projector - Usage - Gals are able to use the item without having unlocked VooDoo, enrolled in VooDoo School, and/or hidden VooDoo statistics.
           
      • Poisoned Dagger – Multiple – Extremely low damage, lower hit chance than Dagger and Barbed Dagger, Stun doesn't seem to make sense as target would die before stunned, Stamina Drain isn't nearly as useful as Reaction Disrupt (which drains TUs, correct?) as enemy will still be able to reaction fire/shoot next turn as firing weapons don't require stamina/energy.

    • Mechanics
       
      • Manufacture - Profitability - Plasma ammunition items [MPG Clip (32x10)/Kruger Plasma Can (8x10)] have a larger net profit production than X-Grog and Finely Distilled Rum, even taking into account purchasing required items (if available) from the Black Market. Using 100 Runts, purchasing required items from Black Market (ignoring salvage from missions), and results are in thousands:
           
        • MPG Clip (6 Superconductive Wires) -> 2,621 Net/Mo.
        • Finely Distilled Rum (1 Apple [requires certain maps and/or faction units, unavailable on Black Market]) -> 1,610 Net/Mo.
        • Kruger Plasma Can (1 Plastasteel, 1 Superconductive Wire) -> 1,479 Net/Mo.
        • X-Grog (no requirements) -> 1,122 Net/Mo.

      • Slavery - None of the Smuggler faction are able to be enslaved. Bugbears, Catgirls, Public Enemy are understandably not available, but Goons and Captains should be acceptable for slavery.

  • Spelling
     
    • #004 – Bootypedia entry - “And there is more fun way: combat.” → should be “And there is a more fun way: combat.”
       
    • 30mm Cannon Rounds(x50) – Multiple – No space between “Rounds” and “(x50)”; all other similar item names have a space (e.g., “50mm Shells (x20)”). Suggestion: “30mm Cannon Rounds (x50)”; simply adding the space if length allows? See 30mm Cannon Rounds(x50) Production.
       
    • Craft Missiles – Bootypedia entry - “... commonly found on junkyards ...” → should be “... commonly found in junkyards ...”.
       
      • Further: “... simple as gutting Slave AI's systems.” → should be “... simple as gutting Slave AI systems.”.

    • Dark Dominion – Bootypedia entry - “... numbering in over 70 millions, ...” → should be “... numbering over 70 million, ...”.
       
      • Further: “... number of taboos (like the ban on motorized vehicles breaking taboos is naturally punished by a painful death),” seems to be missing something. Review of the .rul file, apparently the “-” is mostly cut off. May need a “{NEWLINE}”? See screenshot: DarkDomHighFun.

    • Explosive Munitions – Bootypedia entry - “... a hard and pebbly road, so why not to celebrate some.” → Suggestion: “... a hard and [rocky/troublesome] road, so why not celebrate!”.
       
      • Further: “Everyone likes fireworks, right?” → Suggestion: “[We can combine killing people with fireworks for a win-win, right Cap'n?/Our gals enjoy fireworks and killing people, so why not combine 'em? Win-win, eh Cap'n?]”

    • Military Target – Bootypedia entry - “... really extravagant onbard, but still, ...” → should be “really extravagant onboard, but still, ...”. Simply missing the “o”.
       
    • Pest Control Manager – Bootypedia entry - “These especially mean and rugged ...” → should be “Those especially mean and rugged ...”. Suggestion: “The more cruel and rugged types ...”.
       
    • R-Rifle Shell (x5) – Manufacture – should be “R-Rifle Shells (x5)”; all other ammunitions that use shells are called “X Shells (xY)”.
       
    • Smuggler Captain – Bootypedia entry - “... a lot to survive Smuggler's life, and even more so as their leader.” → should be “... a lot to survive as a Smuggler, even more so being a leader.”
       
    • Spartan Lieutnant – Name – Should be “Lieutenant”. Simply missing the second “e”.
       
    • The Confederation – Bootypedia entry - “... Cowyotes, Tenctacle Vines or ...” → should be “Cowyotes, Tentacle Vines or ...”, unless the “c” is intentional?
       
      • Further: “... agree over a glass of finest moonshine, ...” → should be “... agree over a glass of the finest moonshine, ...”.
      • Further: “... than a loose board of wealthiest plantators, ...” → should be “... than a loose board of the wealthiest planters, ...”. Suggestion: “... than a loose board of the wealthiest [grandees/plantation owners/planters], ...”.
      • Further: “... importantly, each of Confederation's neighbors ...” → should be “... importantly, each of the Confederation's neighbors ...”.

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • 30mm Cannon Rounds(x50) Production – Manufacture – Bases with a Still, but without a Workshop, can manufacture 30mm Cannon Rounds (x50). See 30mm Cannon Rounds(x50).
       
    • BatGlad KIA – Research Unlocks – BatGlad wasn't killed in combat (was knocked out, however) and popped BatGlad KIA, but for Superslave KIA and Green Lighter KIA, they actually required death. (The other two weren't ever knocked out before, but surviving a mission did not prompt the respective X KIA research topic.)
       
    • E: 50mm Rnds/Magazine (20) – Multiple – Listed as “50mm Rounds” here, but in manufacture/fencing screens, listed as “50mm Shells”. Suggestion: “E: 50mm Shls/Magazine (20)”.
       
    • Harpoon Stun Clip (3x5) – Manufacture – Category is listed as “Ammunition”, instead of “Ammunition: [Special/Standard]” or potentially “Ammunition: Stun”.
       
    • Humanist Leader – Manufacture – Should be able to enslave or interrogate, as Humanist Soldier/Storm-troopers can be enslaved, unless Humanist Leaders are considered high-level government officials, per SLAVE Bootypedia entry?
       
    • Slave Heroes – After finishing the three live and dead projects, tech tree does not seem to provide a “pay-off” for research time and item requirements.
       
      • Suggestion: After the [Superslave/Green Lighter/BatGlad] projects and the [Superslave/Green Lighter/BatGlad] KIA projects are all completed, an armor could be researched that is an amalgamation of Gym Suit (the relatively low weight, energy recovery boost), Amazon (statistics boost), and Nurse Outfit (instead of the built-in med kit, a built-in [smoke/stun] grenade that acts like Green Lighter's “bong”) that can act as an upgrade for Runt armor. Statistics boost from the “confidence” of wearing a superhero outfit, no armor increase (to keep weight low),  moderate item requirements (X [smoke/stun] grenades, Smokey Ops Gear, Gym Suit (superheroes wear underwear on outside!), Grav Harness (Brainerz/Runts didn't tell the Gals about the grav units they installed), X Superconductive Wires, X chemicals, perhaps others [like the various Faction Booty]), make for a decent mid/late-game upgrade to Runt armor for weak hands or new recruits.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 16, 2015, 01:02:37 pm
Slavery - None of the Smuggler faction are able to be enslaved. Bugbears, Catgirls, Public Enemy are understandably not available, but Goons and Captains should be acceptable for slavery.

What do you mean, catgirls are unsuitable for slavery?!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: nadir-1648 on July 16, 2015, 01:15:31 pm
What do you mean, catgirls are unsuitable for slavery?!
Them claws could do some damage o.o;
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 16, 2015, 03:31:13 pm
They're all more trouble than it's worth...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 16, 2015, 04:54:54 pm
Damn this looks great. I'm no beta tester as I say to everyone everywhere I go, is this worth playing now? What else is needing to add? I'm just about to jump in, I'm really tempted but I don't want to let some missing features ruin everything for me :)

Also hope to see the new gameplay mechanics in play. Thanks Dioxine.

The game is extremely playable.  However, if you are a perfectionist and only want to play "finished" products, you may have to wait a considerable time.  Dioxine's vision only seems to grow. :)  I wouldn't wait.  I'd jump right in.  This mod has a steep enough learning curve imo that you need to play it once before you understand it.  Therefore, jump in.  Puzzle with it.  Try to figure out what works and what doesn't.  There are lots of styles of play that work.  I've even heard ranged fire is viable early but I haven't tried it.  I just beat and slash everything into submission.  After your first run, come back to it again, for a completely different experience.  You will know alot more, but there is also so much content in the game, that (by design) you will never get all of it in one game.  My guess is that your second game will even be more fun than the first.  It will also have the benefit of all the cool improvements that Dioxine adds has he continues development.  ~ Cheers!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 16, 2015, 06:00:52 pm
Can I play this game through dropbox turbo android app?

This need win 7-8 or it can run in dos?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: nadir-1648 on July 16, 2015, 06:05:45 pm
This version needs Windows, but the non-extended version will run in regular OpenXcom, which has an Android port.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 16, 2015, 06:22:37 pm
This version needs Windows, but the non-extended version will run in regular OpenXcom, which has an Android port.
Sorry if I am fool but can you link me the non extended version of the game what works with 1.0?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: nadir-1648 on July 16, 2015, 06:27:19 pm
I'd suggest upgrading to the latest nightly, since the newer versions use it. Probably.
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/piratez
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 16, 2015, 06:49:27 pm
Just read the readme, that's what it's for you need.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 16, 2015, 07:06:17 pm
They're all more trouble than it's worth...

Maybe some Carbonite instead, eh?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 17, 2015, 01:54:16 pm
Ok I had find the latest android update the simple piratez works well. Some picture is missing for weapons. It is great mod.

Can I play pirate x on this new android build?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 17, 2015, 03:55:39 pm
1. You WILL have messed up sprites with the newest nightly. You need 20th April Nightly or somesuch for proper work (dig normal Piratez thread for details)
2. Maybe but I don't know how. You'd need to install the x-Piratez first, then install a new OXCom build + corresponding Extended build.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 17, 2015, 07:57:31 pm
1. You WILL have messed up sprites with the newest nightly. You need 20th April Nightly or somesuch for proper work (dig normal Piratez thread for details)
2. Maybe but I don't know how. You'd need to install the x-Piratez first, then install a new OXCom build + corresponding Extended build.
Ok I had finally understand the things better.

Now the x piratez work well. Just this is wierd:
(https://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07/17/3cd8194898ef95e68f278c6dae35ddbf.jpg)

My installation :
Latest android build
OpenXcom-1.0-g9bc2050.apk

Then I had move the common, standard, TFTD files and owerrite te original installation.

The piratez mod I had put into the mods.

Everything looks good

Is it good? :)

(not working crash after I had smash an armored enemy soldier with hammer...)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 17, 2015, 08:54:34 pm
Which device are you using to play the Android build?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 17, 2015, 08:55:43 pm
Which device are you using to play the Android build?
Samsung Galaxy tab s 10.5 lollipop 5.0.2
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 18, 2015, 10:25:06 am
Huh, the font is all f*cked up. I wonder why... Probably some Android thing.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 18, 2015, 12:24:53 pm
Huh, the font is all f*cked up. I wonder why... Probably some Android thing.
I would be glad if the modders would make a zip for the easy installation for the android build. Simple to put it into the mod map without the extra change of the game.

Anyway if you put the x piratez mappe from the user/mod mappe it works and you don't need to rewrite the common, standard and TFTD mappe
Is it ok?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 18, 2015, 12:33:15 pm
I can't do that because I'm not a soft developer, I don't know how to compile and no means to check if it works even if I did (I don't have any Android device). I have Windows so I write for Windows. Sorry man.

As for the installation, yes, that's what you have to do when you acquire the right [insert non-windows system here] build.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: EuchreJack on July 20, 2015, 04:39:48 am
I just had a crash on a mutant pogrom at the end of my first turn. On checking with debug my guess and with a lot of testing/editing of the save file is there's some problem with enemy soldiers (03,12,13,14,17 and 29) as that is when the screen freezes and I have to shut openxcom down. Attached is saves (before and after editing), config file and openxcom log. Thanks in advance for any help in this massive and wholly enjoyable full conversion. In test one A save I've changed the status of the 6 culprits to 7 and given them 200 stun. Could it possibly be where these soldiers spawn?

Possible map issue. I'm not fixing it since basic Piratez mod is discontinued - all developement goes to the Extended version.

I've encountered a similar problem in the Extended version.  Posting in both Basic and Extended forums, although I only play the Extended version.

Actually, I believe it has to do with
The Academy
, as I get a CTD whenever I run an open battle Pogrom.  Not normal crash sites with them, just the Pogroms.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 20, 2015, 05:48:53 am
Strange; which map specifically (for the open battle Pogrom)?

I've had Academy Pogroms and I haven't encountered any crashes yet.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 20, 2015, 09:55:09 am
Map issue. Re-start mission. Send me the crashing save so I know which terrain is bugged. Can't do much about that anyway as I am not the author of extra Pogrom terrains but any data on this is important.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: EuchreJack on July 21, 2015, 12:47:12 am
Strange; which map specifically (for the open battle Pogrom)?

I've had Academy Pogroms and I haven't encountered any crashes yet.
Map issue. Re-start mission. Send me the crashing save so I know which terrain is bugged. Can't do much about that anyway as I am not the author of extra Pogrom terrains but any data on this is important.
It apparently depends on the map setup, as I've experimented with the New Battle feature and gotten some that work.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: begri on July 21, 2015, 02:31:40 pm
If I remove the amiga font, then on android everything is ok with the fonts

The description of the dog and the alien advisor is missing from the ufopedia.

The android can't handle this font good, or I don't know

I think I had repair it because anyway the short code had a bug.
Compare the original font file, even some character is missing as well.

Is this amiga font important???
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 21, 2015, 04:02:23 pm
It is not THAT important, and it looks horrible on your screenshot. It is not supposed to look like that. Looks like the Amiga Font works well only for the PC master race :)

The descriptions of dog and advisor aren't missing.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 22, 2015, 11:53:18 am
Hiya, new here so not sure if I'm posting this in the right place.

I have encountered a few issues (I think, for all I know it could be intended, but it could be amiss). I recently watched Ivan's LP of this mod and it kinda inspired me to give it a bash. Here are my issues, I can upload save files if you need them (I do, however, have a nasty habit of under-saving, so a lot of mine are either close together in missions that I've never experienced or just before I close the game.) I'll put each "bug" in a spoiler box as they're about what I feel like is late game stuff, might not be, but better safe than sorry.

1.
I think I broke my research tree. Currently I have nothing to research. However I have not researched a bunch of items in my inventory that aren't in my Bootypedia. Also I unlocked the Vodka research from a Govt Papers and did not pop the Finely Distilled Rum research even though I have had some in my inventory. Other stuff that I have that I'm unsure about includes : A bunch of stuff that I got from disassembling plasmas, gauss and laser weaponry. Some broken batteries I got from a landed probe on the Atrium of Anguish mission. Assembled plasma weapons that I got from a base defense.

2.
Im not sure if this is a bug or intended, but I recently took on a smuggler mission and went up against some enemies that looked like Succubi and the Na'vi from Avatar, but my soldiers could only see them on a diagonal and not if  they were directly next to them. Meaning I couldn't use my hammer or chainsaw on them (and when I tried the shots flew halfway across the map and at one point hit and killed a guy a good 20 tiles away) and I couldn't optimally try to stun them because I had to leave enough TUs to get out of the way for the next gal to come in to stun.

3.
Also on the smuggler mission I encountered an alien that looked like a recolour of Robin's anthropod alien in brown to look almost Wookie-like and it in addition to the Na'vi like aliens left corpses on the battlefield but on mission complete I couldn't find them in my inventory. I've had a few other items go missing like this too. Crates, for example, vanish once mission is complete, I feel like I should have to research and then "manufacture" opened crates to get at goodies inside.

Let me know if you need any save files and I'll try and find some near to where the "bugs" occurred.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on July 22, 2015, 12:02:10 pm

2.
Im not sure if this is a bug or intended, but I recently took on a smuggler mission and went up against some enemies that looked like Succubi and the Na'vi from Avatar, but my soldiers could only see them on a diagonal and not if  they were directly next to them. Meaning I couldn't use my hammer or chainsaw on them (and when I tried the shots flew halfway across the map and at one point hit and killed a guy a good 20 tiles away) and I couldn't optimally try to stun them because I had to leave enough TUs to get out of the way for the next gal to come in to stun.

They are stealthy - it is not a bug, only a pain in the errr... somewhere.

3.
Also on the smuggler mission I encountered an alien that looked like a recolour of Robin's anthropod alien in brown to look almost Wookie-like and it in addition to the Na'vi like aliens left corpses on the battlefield but on mission complete I couldn't find them in my inventory. I've had a few other items go missing like this too. Crates, for example, vanish once mission is complete, I feel like I should have to research and then "manufacture" opened crates to get at goodies inside.

You need to catch them alive for research.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 22, 2015, 12:10:32 pm
They are stealthy - it is not a bug, only a pain in the errr... somewhere.
Dang, its a nuisance when you can clearly see them with other soldiers but aren't allowed to melee them from the sides because "there's nobody there"

You need to catch them alive for research.
Ah okay, I figured they'd be like some of the other things I've fought that leave researchable corpses and prisoners

Thanks, just the first one I need help with then :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2015, 01:45:30 pm
Last thing about the crates - they're there just for aesthetics. Breaking them up in workshop would be fun but it is impossible to code-in a random production result...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 22, 2015, 02:17:19 pm
What about my first question with the research tree not popping properly?  Or am I just missing some pieces of a puzzle or can you not help without a save file?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2015, 03:02:07 pm
Yeah I cannot help you without a save file :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 22, 2015, 04:42:22 pm
Okay - Here is a Rar file with the 3 saves that I figured would be most useful.

Pre Vodka Bug is very early before the Vodka Research popped from something else (interrogation, data disk of govt papers)
Closest to post vodka bug is the closest save I have from just after vodka was unlocked from something else
Empty Research Tree is my latest save file

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdhx6v7xgyjhtop/Piratez%20Saves.rar?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdhx6v7xgyjhtop/Piratez%20Saves.rar?dl=0)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2015, 07:07:19 pm
I don't see any bugs related to vodka...

As for the research tree - keep interrogating people and looking for new ship components.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 22, 2015, 07:28:16 pm
Isnt the Vodka meant to unlock finely distilled rum as a research and then manufacturing option? 
Or has that been changed so you can't make it any more? 

I currently can't research rum even when I have some in my inventory
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2015, 07:47:43 pm
No, Rum needs another prerequisite now.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 24, 2015, 02:04:00 pm
Hi, Dioxine! Any news on progress? I even registered to ask ^___^
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 24, 2015, 04:19:36 pm
Just one major hurdle before the next release - a tileset for Sectoid ships. Then it's just odds and ends, maybe 3-4 workdays if I could devote full time. But I can't say when it'll be done, since I am quite busy with other stuff than modding, plus it's hot like hell so any work goes slowly.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 24, 2015, 07:41:06 pm
Hey, sorry to keep asking questions but I just unlocked the surgery room and discovered that I cannot place or build it or the still  I double checked manufacturing to see if I had to make something but I couldn't see it there


EDIT: Here's the save file https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lsltf7flz5akqu/Can%27t%20Build%20Still%20or%20Surgery%20Room_.sav?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lsltf7flz5akqu/Can%27t%20Build%20Still%20or%20Surgery%20Room_.sav?dl=0)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 24, 2015, 07:53:00 pm
I don't know what you mean. Fired up your save, started building a Surgery Room no problem (in the 2nd base).
As for the Still, you don't have the tech (probably missing X-Grog research, dw X-Grog research is going to be scrapped next version).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 24, 2015, 09:15:59 pm
How odd they don't appear in my expand option.

Edit : They do appear in my expand option but only in my Second base. Not the other 2
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 24, 2015, 09:29:09 pm
Naturally, the 2nd base is the only one that meets prerequisites.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 24, 2015, 09:47:06 pm
Gosh I feel so inept. Im not used to having prerequisites for facilities once I've unlocked them.  I'll tty figure out what they are couldn't see it in the bootypedia entry but I'm a notorious skim reader
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 25, 2015, 10:40:42 pm
 Dioxine, why Church nophyte and reverred are impossible to enslave? Just curious. Contrabandists too, but i read your answer about them. I think also Deep One warriors culd be nice slaves, there is plenty of those sometimes. "alien slave" class of slaves or something like that.  Sorry for english, im not good in it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Highsenburg on July 26, 2015, 06:05:58 pm
First off I love this mod and thank you very much to the maker of this fine product. lol

But I have a question?  Anyone know how to produce the lower tier of laser ammo? I know its says that I can produce it but I can't find any wheres to produce them.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 26, 2015, 08:48:48 pm
First off I love this mod and thank you very much to the maker of this fine product. lol

But I have a question?  Anyone know how to produce the lower tier of laser ammo? I know its says that I can produce it but I can't find any wheres to produce them.

Needs power station. read bootypedia cearfully.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Highsenburg on July 26, 2015, 09:32:59 pm
Where would one get a power station?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on July 26, 2015, 09:58:19 pm
Where would one get a power station?

Not sure what unlocks it in the research tree exactly, but its not too difficult to come by. I got it way before I got laser ammo manufacturing. Research stuff that you think might lead to it. Experimenting with new research options is half the fun.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2015, 01:48:40 pm
Starting to experiment with Sectoid vessels... I want them to have a different, "scavenger" look. First tries:
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on July 27, 2015, 03:19:32 pm
I was expecting something more like Raider ship interior (love that one) or some kind of assymetric multi level labyrinth.
Those guys are feral abandoned Sectiods, right?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2015, 03:48:36 pm
Yeah and chaotic labirynth sounds cool. I just need to make various furniture to make this less boring...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 28, 2015, 12:12:23 am
Maybe a "dirtier" version of some smuggler ship interiors to invoke that feral alien vibe.

The dark tone looks good but feels a bit clean for wild sectoids.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 28, 2015, 12:45:50 pm
Maybe a "dirtier" version of some smuggler ship interiors to invoke that feral alien vibe.

The dark tone looks good but feels a bit clean for wild sectoids.

Well, I don't know about this. Raiders are just random individuals coming from various mutant backgrounds who do their best to get money, sex and drugs fast while not murdering each other too much. Sectoids, on the other hand, are a cohesive culture with hundreds of years of history; they are born, grow up, live and die in these ships and settlements. Plus they are not very strong/resilient physically, and they seem to be organized by nature.

What I'm trying to say is that they probably wouldn't be ones to allow trash around their ships. It would be unhealthy, lazy and unprofessional to do it on the daily basis. Sectoids do not seem exactly feral to me, they're more like badass Jawas Zone Stalkers, and they need to uphold their image. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 01:05:11 pm
Yeah they're not really "wild" or "feral", more like abandoned castaways who almost got wiped out due to tech supplies being cut off and imminent crisis linked to their reliance on tech for feeding and reproduction. Otoh they became inependent, and they DO have big brains. I don't want to spoil too much, though.

About the slavery - who can be enslaved and who cannot is my arbitrary choice. I have no time to write a separate story on why this or that of a couple dozens enemies who cannot be enslaved, cannot be enslaved.
Deep ones, for one, would make shitty slaves - they're alien, they are religious fanatics, they hate all land dwellers, they don't like to work (unless inspired by their Gods), they're stupid, they're hard to communicate with.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 28, 2015, 01:18:21 pm
"Cap'n, this one still be breathin'. Shall we put'em to some work?"
"Nah, they be stupid and lazy. Finish'em all, gals."

suchgrimdark.jpg
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on July 28, 2015, 01:22:30 pm
In my vision those year 2600 Sectoids are remnants of Sectoid race abandoned by Star Gods after Earth was conqered.
Star Empire just didnt need Sectoids after the plan was complete - there may be various reasons:
 it may have been too hard to transport them all elsewhere.
 or may be they were too specialized and adapted only to Earh conditions. Like, built specifically to conquer Earth, Sectoids werent needed on other battle fronts of Star Empire.
 or Star Empire considered benefits of having a loyal population of Sectoids on Earth, to quell rebellions (or put a stop to growth of particular Piratez Enterprize in this particular situation) and sow terror and chaos in general population. But didnt really bother to support them with weapons or really anything until a need for Sectoids would arise again.

As a genengineered race those Sectoids need special machinery to survive (to produce alien food and to reproduce at least), so their ships are built and rebuilt (600 years of maintenance) around this machinery. By year 2600 most of the machinery was destroyed or just didnt stand the test of time, so every single one is a prized possession of one of feral Sectoid clans or ship communities. They might even fight over a machinery, or, in case of some communities, build a religious cult around it.

edit: got a reply while I was writing that.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 01:30:38 pm
In my vision those year 2600 Sectoids are remnants of Sectoid race abandoned by Star Gods after Earth was conqered.
Star Empire just didnt need Sectoids after the plan was complete - there may be various reasons:
 it may have been too hard to transport them all elsewhere.

IMO that was the main reason - it was cheaper to breed new Sectoids on other fronts of the galactic war than to relocate the Earth ones there. Star Gods just threw them away and assumed they're going to die off anyway, and even if not, they won't be any problem to the Empire (which is the case). So nowadays Sectoids are just another people trying to survive in the cesspool of Earth. They lack strategic weapons or industry to be dangerous. They are too independent and resentful to be useful.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 28, 2015, 02:24:47 pm
Yeah they're not really "wild" or "feral", more like abandoned castaways who almost got wiped out due to tech supplies being cut off and imminent crisis linked to their reliance on tech for feeding and reproduction. Otoh they became inependent, and they DO have big brains. I don't want to spoil too much, though.

About the slavery - who can be enslaved and who cannot is my arbitrary choice. I have no time to write a separate story on why this or that of a couple dozens enemies who cannot be enslaved, cannot be enslaved.
Deep ones, for one, would make shitty slaves - they're alien, they are religious fanatics, they hate all land dwellers, they don't like to work (unless inspired by their Gods), they're stupid, they're hard to communicate with.

Ok, understand! As I thought, neophytes and reverred in church a true fanatics (maybe even too brainwashed fanatics), so would be dangerous as slaves. And zealots are simple hired goons would be in that case, i believe.

I also wonder, who is manufacturing those stealth devices... someones with big brains, maybe... 

Dioxine, is there many data stuff from encrypted discs? Like old logs and similar... My playing session is about 4 game years and i feel that that's not all pedia articles i found. 

Almost a year i cant find church base... any advice from veterans?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 03:20:18 pm
I also wonder, who is manufacturing those stealth devices... someones with big brains, maybe... 

Dioxine, is there many data stuff from encrypted discs? Like old logs and similar... My playing session is about 4 game years and i feel that that's not all pedia articles i found. 

Lol right, I like the idea :)

Anyway, how can I answer you? There is a bunch of these logs, yeah, plus a small heap of "pinups" :)

Progress on the basic Sectoid ship ("Sektrak"), still not sure if good enough but at least it has some furnishings now (planned lootable loot, like eg. Cloaking Device, wink, wink) (4th is an alternate coloring for some furnishings):

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 28, 2015, 03:50:35 pm
Lol right, I like the idea :)

Anyway, how can I answer you? There is a bunch of these logs, yeah, plus a small heap of "pinups" :)

Progress on the basic Sectoid ship ("Sektrak"), still not sure if good enough but at least it has some furnishings now (planned lootable loot, like eg. Cloaking Device, wink, wink) (4th is an alternate coloring for some furnishings):

Nice design! Hmm...  is it will be hard to detect ships with stealth devices like on gals craft?

Is it possible to make disks drop more often? Or, better, find more than 1 on cracked bases? just an idea, not a demand.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 04:35:30 pm
Is it possible to make disks drop more often? Or, better, find more than 1 on cracked bases? just an idea, not a demand.

You're just unlucky. You can sometimes heist 2 disks from a Cutter. I will look into base disk deployments, though. But the general idea is that no matter the mission, you shouldn't be able to heist more than 2-3 from a single one, because that'd destroy the feeling of uniqueness about every disc. You shouldn't be finding them faster than you can research them.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 28, 2015, 06:01:25 pm
You're just unlucky. You can sometimes heist 2 disks from a Cutter. I will look into base disk deployments, though. But the general idea is that no matter the mission, you shouldn't be able to heist more than 2-3 from a single one, because that'd destroy the feeling of uniqueness about every disc. You shouldn't be finding them faster than you can research them.

Yes, i understand that! A bit more of them on bases woudnt hurt, i think ^___^.
How about, lets say... finding an old fighter hulls in missions? Maybe desert ones. As rare finding, though, on the big maps maybe. more as part of atmospere.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 06:13:22 pm
I like it, it's such a romantic vision! However I'd need DAMNED GFX for a wrecked hull first! :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 28, 2015, 06:25:26 pm
I like it, it's such a romantic vision! However I'd need DAMNED GFX for a wrecked hull first! :)

I think it can be placed to "to do" list with low or very low proirity ^_____^

Hmm... about the star gods... why operatives ransom is higher than guardians? isnt guardians higher rank or something like that? And, maybe gals can cook godly brain from guardians too? Same spieces, why not?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: ivandogovich on July 28, 2015, 06:29:21 pm
I like it, it's such a romantic vision! However I'd need DAMNED GFX for a wrecked hull first! :)

Seems like I remember a plane wreck map from TftD that might be a good starting point.  Just saying. ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 28, 2015, 06:40:19 pm
Seems like I remember a plane wreck map from TftD that might be a good starting point.  Just saying. ;)

OR we can take actual model of hunter-killer or other fighter of ours and.... well.... WRECK it ^___________^
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2015, 11:25:06 pm
The experimental ship is working as intended. Now with the tileset mostly done, I can make more of them. Here's a screenshon - without the Sectoids yet :)

Also Star God Guardians rank lower than Operatives. Read their Pedia entry.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 29, 2015, 01:26:02 am
That looks pretty cool, however I can't help but think it's kind of reversed:

- Human factions that allied themselves with the aliens fly alien UFOs
- Sectoids, who at the very least used to be with the aliens, fly crafts that are more in line with the avenger/bonaventura.

Wouldn't it make more sense if the sectoids flew in UFOs and the human factions flew in ships that share hulls/looks with the avenger/bonaventura?

From this, it seems like Traders/Mercs/Church/Academy are closer to the aliens than sectoids are, who themselves are aliens. If that's intended, then.. everything is working as intended I guess ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2015, 02:15:13 am
Humans usually fly ships made on Stellar Empire's plans and built by the Traders. Sectoids or pirates... not so much. You can say that Raiders shouldn't be either... well yes, I am considering remaking their ships as well :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on July 29, 2015, 02:45:25 am
Ok! Then all makes sense as I expected ;)

It would be cool if Raiders flew similar ships than pirates, with weapons similar to what you would expect a pirate of that tier to put on those ships. And then you can retrieve Old Fighter Hulls from raiders!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2015, 11:07:59 pm
Almost done with the basic Sectoid types... Peon, Technician (badass sniper), Siren and Sectogre. As for gfx left to do, just 1-2 more weapons (Spore Launcher plus some melee option for Sectogres). Then it'll be lots of coding, and the Sectoids will be ready to debut in the new version - to be expanded upon later (more ships, more types including leaders).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: LexThorn on July 30, 2015, 05:41:50 am
Almost done with the basic Sectoid types... Peon, Technician (badass sniper), Siren and Sectogre. As for gfx left to do, just 1-2 more weapons (Spore Launcher plus some melee option for Sectogres). Then it'll be lots of coding, and the Sectoids will be ready to debut in the new version - to be expanded upon later (more ships, more types including leaders).

Nice!! Idea: "Contacts" card for sectoids. They, maybe, will buy regeneration chambers (i see that it isnt used in recipies by the way) from gals for a higher price (as i consider they a VERY intrested in those). And, maybe, some goodies from them to buy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 30, 2015, 07:43:21 am
Dat Siren booty.

Are they planned to be Hostile (Raiders) or more like Mercenaries/Govt?



Also, reports have been slow as I still haven't faced all factions (no Deep Ones or Church or secret missions yet, not sure who else I'm missing) and research has slowed as I am trying to research everything (without jumping too high in tiers), but life has happened and playing progress has been minimal. :(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on July 30, 2015, 10:14:04 am
Hostile when you're trying to kill them but they don't do Pogroms. You do get some positive score for them.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on August 01, 2015, 08:57:31 pm
On the topic of raiders it would be cool if their ships could be made from a variety of ship tile sets. Like they've literally raided crash sites for parts and cobbled together ships with the bits they can find. Possibly have them travel a little more slowly, but still faster than the Bonnaventura (or however it's spelled)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 02, 2015, 07:20:57 am
Short report:

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Items
       
      • Assault Grenade Launcher – Multiple – Impression of weapon is a downgrade to the standard grenade launcher, especially as Black Market access requires three research unlocks ("Who is Who?", "PIRATE STRAITS", "Contacts: Dr. Wang's Death Emporium"). Lower accuracy (albeit lower TU % cost for Snap Shot, allowing for three instead of two Snap Shots per turn), lower damage, lower Aimed Shot accuracy %, and shorter Aimed Shot Accurate Range Cap (20 for Assault GL, 25 for standard GL). Suggestion: Swap the weapon properties (making the standard grenade launcher "weaker" than the assault grenade launcher) or increase the properties of the assault grenade launcher to justify the increased purchase cost and research tree.
           
      • Assault SMG Clip /HVAP – Manufacture Cost – Item requirements are steeper than other Nuclear Munitions, especially considering Assault SMG rate of ammunition expenditure. Suggestion: Lower Plastasteel and Nuclear Fuel to 1 instead of 2. Current cost to manufacture: -5,344 (2 Nuclear Fuel, 2 Plastasteel) per month in thousands. Suggested cost to manufacture: -1,989 (1 Nuclear Fuel, 1 Plastasteel) per month in thousands.

    • Mechanics
       
      • Manufacture - Profitability - Snubby HVAP Drum (6x10) sells for more than cost; net profit (in thousands per month) is only +349 (when purchasing requirements from Black Market [1 Nuclear Fuel, 1 Plastasteel]), compared to X-Grog's +1,122. However, if player has stable supply of item requirements (Nuclear Fuel, Plastasteel), net profit (in thousands per month) jumps to +4,823, compared to MPG Clip (32x10)'s +2,621.
         
        • Further: Nuclear Munitions appear to have viable profitability given the requirements on Nuclear Fuel and/or Plastasteel, which are both Black Market items as well as commonly found as salvage. Suggestion: Require an additional item for manufacturing Nuclear Munitions (to slow down productivity); whether exclusive Black Market good [Munition Jacket/Depleted Core] or low costSell pre-requisite manufacturable [Reinforced Casing (requires X Plastasteel/Y Scrap Metal)/Elerium-tipped Jacket (requires X Nuclear Fuel/Y Scrap Metal)]
        • Further: OR adjust the cost per unit/sell price. (e.g., Snubby HVAP Drum (6x10) only costs $1,250 per unit to produce [sans item requirements] but generates ten items that each sell for $3,600, or $36,000 for all ten.)

    • Units
       
      • Attack Dog – Night Vision – Currently have night vision value of 12; compared to Gals' night vision value of 12. Suggestion: Increase Attack Dog night vision value to 13 or 14, in order to increase viability for utilizing as scouts (smell could be “lore” reason to have better night “vision”).
           
      • Mutated Reaper – Armor – Considering the “rare”ness (highly dependent on faction "roulette" and faction missions) of Reapers and capturing, and requiring a Tamed Reaper, the “upgrade” from Tamed Reaper to Mutated Reaper isn't very rewarding (considering 2x2 size is more easily targeted/killed). Suggestion: Increase armor (front/left/right/rear) to 32/36, considering Tamed Boomosaurus has 40 armor and Cyberdisc has 34 armor. The increase could be explained by the mutations; developing an exoskeleton/hardening into a carapace/”beefed” up epidermis.

  • Spelling
     
    • #051 – Bootypedia entry - “You can use up to 4 craft in a combat.” → should be “You can use up to 4 craft in combat.” Suggestion: “You can use up to 4 craft for [hijackings/interceptions].”
       
    • Mercenary's Stuff – Bootypedia entry - “Having an access to advanced surgical ...” → should be “Having access to advanced surgical ...”.
       
    • Pirate Straits – Bootypedia entry - “... trust of most powerful criminal ...” → should be “... trust of the most powerful criminal ...”.
       
    • Red Revolution – Bootypedia entry - “The Church of the Red Revolution revers a prophetous figure ...” → should be “The Church of the Red Revolution reveres a prophetic figure ...”.
       
      • Further: “... creative cruelty) and  frantically ...” → should be “... creative cruelty) and frantically ...”. Simply, there is an extra space between “and” and “frantically”.

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • Beasts/Cyberdisc - Manufacture Category – Currently listed as “Combat Units”; perhaps switch to Tanks, as Tank Ammunition has “Boomosaurus Rockets (x8)”. Also, “Beasts/Cyberdiscs” reads better as “Tanks” than as “Combat Units”. See “Superheroes”.
       
    • Handcannon HE Rounds – Manufacture – Produces “Handcannon HE-Bolts”; should be Handcannon HE Rounds in item screen or “Handcannon HE-Bolts” in manufacture screen.
       
    • Slugthrower Shells (5x10) – Manufacture – Item is listed under Blunderbuss instead of Heavy Slugthrower. See screenshot: SlugBussMisSort.
       
    • “Superheroes” - Manufacture Category – Currently listed as “Tanks”; perhaps switch to Combat Units, as Tank Ammunition has “Boomosaurus Rockets (x8)”. Also, “Superheroes” reads better as “Combat Units” than “Tanks”. See Beasts/Cyberdisc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 02, 2015, 11:55:49 pm
Thanks for the report! I've fixed the errors for the next ed. About some things I think explanation is needed:

- Dogs
They're highly effective and sough-after as they are now. Buffing them wouldn't be good.
- Mutated Reaper
It was never meant to be competitive with tanks. It also gets a host of nice resistances (AP, HE, Plasma) that are undocumented in the HWP entry, and a huge health pool, so it isn't as fragile as you'd think.
- AGL
Yeah, it is a bit underpowered. I'll increase Snap accuracy and decrease Aimed TU cost a bit, so you could squeeze off Aimed + Snap in a single turn. Should be enough, although it gets all thrown out the window once you get upgraded GL ammo anyway... :)

Oh as for the 0.93... I've finished arming my Sectoids (with a nasty spore-based weapon), but finishing strokes have to wait as modding got derailed by real life again :) I think the minimum variant is enough (1 more ship, for now) but I still have a large library of various improvements to be added that got accumulated over the last month, in large part various fixes on request of the posters here. Big thanks to you all :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on August 03, 2015, 03:18:16 am
Some of these in hindsight questionable design decisions came about, because I was planning it as an upgradable armor. However, there is no inventory gfx for the grey version at all, therefore I didn't follow through.

Zharkov, while my muse has taken a bit of a break in regards to my own work on customised inventory images, (also real life got in the way,) I've been working on an Image for your Energy armour, (incomplete version below) If you and Dioxine like it I'll send you the finished Image. (when its done)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2015, 03:37:06 am
Looks good already, kudos for stretching it to fit the paperdoll :) Looks kinda flat though, meaning it misses three things: more contrasting dark red / dark orange shades, and, uhm, modified chest plate :) Not sure about face plate - maybe it should have an opened visor?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on August 03, 2015, 03:43:30 am
Still work in progress, original image was found on Google, (attached) really just made it as a prototype/template.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2015, 03:54:14 pm
And the 2nd Sectoid ship is ready. Not sure about the frontal window - it lets people in/out so might be actually making boarding too easy... And maybe doesn't look good enough either...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Zharkov on August 03, 2015, 09:54:49 pm

I like the proportions in your design better than in the original! But - also I shouldn't talk when it comes to gfx design - I think it could use more contrast, too. It is a bit too bland.

Nevertheless, I would be very happy to incorporate your final version, and if you make a greyish version, too, to continue the work and add the armor upgrade!


Zharkov, while my muse has taken a bit of a break in regards to my own work on customised inventory images, (also real life got in the way,) I've been working on an Image for your Energy armour, (incomplete version below) If you and Dioxine like it I'll send you the finished Image. (when its done)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 04, 2015, 12:28:38 am
Might be due to the ronin gasa but anyway... :P

Yeah, the window looks unusual; doesn't seem uniform, or rather, it doesn't look like it's actually part of the ship. The idea seems cool though.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 04, 2015, 04:05:02 am
@Dioxine;

Dumb idea I got from reading that Perks thread;

Is it possible (currently, anyway) to make the Spear have a throwable Auto Shot option (like Molotovs/Black Powder Bombs/etc), that can drop another spear upon "explosion" (as Molotovs are "expended" like ammo via Auto Shot, but produces a floorObj "death item" Spear, to mimic "reusing" the same Spear)? Obviously shortish range (3-7ish?).

Probably wouldn't be terribly useful but could be neat in those "last resort" type of things; or at least a proof of concept for else.

Wish I had more time to try it out myself.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Samscale1 on August 04, 2015, 04:30:20 pm
“You can use up to 4 craft in a combat.” → should be “You can use up to 4 craft in combat.” Suggestion: “You can use up to 4 craft for [hijackings/interceptions].”


There's nothing wrong with the original here. "You can use up to 4 craft in a combat" is perfectly acceptable use of grammar. It intones that you can only use 4 craft in any one instance of combat. Which is what it's trying to say. Saying "You can use up to 4 craft in combat" or " You can use up to 4 craft for hijacking/interceptions" suggests that you can only use 4 anywhere on the globe at any time.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2015, 05:42:28 pm
@Dioxine;

Dumb idea I got from reading that Perks thread;

Is it possible (currently, anyway) to make the Spear have a throwable Auto Shot option (like Molotovs/Black Powder Bombs/etc), that can drop another spear upon "explosion" (as Molotovs are "expended" like ammo via Auto Shot, but produces a floorObj "death item" Spear, to mimic "reusing" the same Spear)? Obviously shortish range (3-7ish?).

Not dumb, just quite impossible ATM. Weapons cannot spawn items.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 05, 2015, 03:43:29 am
There's nothing wrong with the original here. "You can use up to 4 craft in a combat" is perfectly acceptable use of grammar. It intones that you can only use 4 craft in any one instance of combat. Which is what it's trying to say. Saying "You can use up to 4 craft in combat" or " You can use up to 4 craft for hijacking/interceptions" suggests that you can only use 4 anywhere on the globe at any time.

Kinda weird to have others double-checking the reports but uh ok.

Anyway, X-COM manual (https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/7760/manuals/x-com%20ufo%20defense%20manual.pdf?t=1415300566) (page 78 in manual, page 79 in .pdf reader):
Quote
Note: You can also use the Minimize Window icon to give other Interception Craft
orders to attack the UFO. There can be up to four Interception Craft attacking a
UFO simultaneously, maximizing the chances of success against the larger UFOs

So, yes the original can technically work but it reads abruptly; removing the 'a' makes the text read more clearly. In addition, what is "a combat"? It's mostly understandable but again, it's not 100% clear. It could also be misunderstood as being able to use 4 transporters for a single BattleScape; instead of just interceptions.

Lastly, considering the entirety of the entry is:
Quote
Warships should be attacked by multiple craft.{NEWLINE}You can use up to 4 craft in a combat.
I can understand your point about misunderstanding that only 4 can be used at a time [anywhere, on the globe, anytime]; but as the entry suggests attacking larger ships with multiple craft, it's a far reach. However, translations in other languages could alter that sentence structure to fit your logic.

I would have suggested "..., simultaneously." like in the X-COM manual excerpt above, but not trying to recommend huge sweeping changes; just small tweaks for readability. The [hijackings/interceptions] bit is editorial shorthand instead of having to write: "You can use up to 4 craft for hijackings." & "You can use up to 4 craft for interceptions." Also, to offer a "flavor" suggestion and a "standardized" suggestion.

Anyway... it's all up to Dioxine, they are only suggestions.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 08, 2015, 05:46:38 pm
I have a fear that i installed the normal piratez mod,does the red backround on bootypedia mean that i got the right one?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Arthanor on August 08, 2015, 06:04:21 pm
I don't know if the background image changed, but can you build a still? There were only few new buildings in the regular Piratez, but I think there are a lot in X-Piratez, the still being the first one encountered.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 08, 2015, 06:14:27 pm
I can build so i have the right version.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: kikimoristan on August 08, 2015, 07:04:17 pm
im only here for the rum





jk
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: kikimoristan on August 08, 2015, 07:08:59 pm
yo also i wanna test something out. i wanna see what happens if i place an openxcomEx total conv game like this and try to use regular openxcom to load it up crash or simply features unavailable aka broken gameplay. i'll let you know .just an experiment.

openxcom extended has so many insane features like custom psi, custom soldier training and training facilities, attaching psi weapons on armors and tons of insane stuff should be exciting i think is deff a better direction for a total conversion type mod.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2015, 07:39:39 pm
Moved from the old thread.

well we can forget about the still and just make xgrog a short research or go back to vodka being the only requirement for rum

Nah the Grog needs to be manufacturable from the start, else it'd be too punishing. Making it a research would make that research mandatory, and mandatory researches aren't fun (basically aking to an empty tech). As for the Rum, the thing is more complicated...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 08, 2015, 08:28:27 pm
What do you think would be the best way to balance or if there is any need for balance?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 08, 2015, 09:00:34 pm
Im 9 months in and i yet to see a raider,i got spartans some star gods and their pet cyclops and of course the traders and academy but not raiders
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2015, 10:01:01 pm
I think the balance regarding alcohol is fine - you get a working Still, but you need to research it if you want to start business in another base... And building the second base won't be happening quickly. As for the raiders - it's a lottery, that's what makes every playthrough different.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 08, 2015, 10:16:04 pm
Should i be playing in tftd damage calculation or vanila?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 08, 2015, 10:31:00 pm
Should i be playing in tftd damage calculation or vanila?

I don't think either way is strongly enforced by the mod, but it's balanced for the vanilla damage.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 09, 2015, 12:37:06 am
TFTD/UFO damage is set on weapon-per-weapon basis. Forcing TFTD = easy mode.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: kikimoristan on August 09, 2015, 02:04:57 am
i just tried piratez mods in regular openxcom. works fine . i think the engine ignores everything that is openxcomExtended 

oh and those strings STR_SKYRANGER, STR_MIXED ... are still there :) you forgot to delete them from the game haha.

[edit] hahah im s dumb. yur pirate english is different than regular english it works on extended version. is just when i plop it into regular the strings go missing .nvm
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 09, 2015, 12:30:25 pm
I really would like someone to complete the piramid of pain with melee only
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DrkPaladin on August 09, 2015, 07:03:12 pm
I haven't posted before, but I just had to create an account to say that this mod is absolutely amazing.  Been playing a ton the last few weeks, and I love the non-linear nature of this mod.  After getting through the challenging early game, and into to the late game (4 years in).  Still occasionally finding new topics to research, and just waiting/hunting for the last couple interrogations.  Just when it seemed to be looking all downhill, the swaying local government missions have really ramped up (I assume in response to me taking on the larger craft and bases).  I'm not sure if I should respond by laying off and waiting for the right targets or by ramping up my own air game, but fun either way.

small bug report with minor spoilers
As far as bugs go, I assume that most of the mod is working as intended.  The only small bug I feel I've found is specifically in regards to the Recoiless Rifle.  After crafting my first batch of 2 or 3, I found that they disappeared from the manufacturing window.  This might have been a bug related to Extended rather than the mod though.  Luckily the ammo was still available for crafting so I was still able to put them to some use until other weapon technology surpassed them, although I only have one left due to some losses over large numbers of missions.  I'm not sure if this would happen every playthrough, but I'll make sure to craft a large batch on my next playthrough just in case. 
The very rare crash to desktops or unloadable level have all been easy to work around by reloading and checking or unchecking the 'savescum' option in the mod menu to change the seeds.
Someone else did mention small numbers of encrypted data disks, and this does seem to be my experience as well now that I'm pretty much just dealing with large craft and bases. 

Anyways, keep up the great work.  I'm looking forward to a second playthrough as soon and I finish up this first one.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 10, 2015, 04:36:31 am
Thanks for the praise! Strange glitch with that weapon - it was never meant to be mannufactureable, and certainly isn't now...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 11, 2015, 04:26:43 pm
I researched broken academy medic and engineer but I can't make laser yet,do I need a broken guild mechanic too?Because I have all lasers researched by the way
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 11, 2015, 09:04:19 pm
Slowly finishing the update. Added new tier 3 armor - thanks to Robin for plated arm/leg armor - I'm not insane enough to draw such things :)

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 11, 2015, 09:33:08 pm
I found the heavy laser when i thought i researhed all lasers and academy engineer.Actualy how many laser weapons exist?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 12, 2015, 01:55:33 am
Six basic types, but you only need to research 3 of them. Whate else is needed to make them? You need to go back to school ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 12, 2015, 11:32:06 am
Six basic types, but you only need to research 3 of them. Whate else is needed to make them? You need to go back to school ;)
Well i guess i should be making a library soon :'(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: pilot00 on August 14, 2015, 01:46:33 am
Need to find the time and courage to restart this and see the changes for myself. Gargh...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DrkPaladin on August 15, 2015, 09:56:57 pm
Spoilery question regarding the end-endgame.  Very Spoilery  Seriously, don't read if you don't want spoilers.

(back story)  I've been mostly surviving by the skin of my teeth, shooting down as many sway-government missions as possible (though i've lost about half of my countries in the last couple years).  Since I've been going for so long (year 6 maybe?), I have multiple Ethereal bases across the globe and they are very very active.  So active, that missions from other factions are less common.  I interrogated two of the leaders of the major factions, except for the church.  I was pretty convinced that I would unlock the final mission after capturing the Church leader and doing an interrogation. 

I never spotted a church leader in all those in-game years, none survived the few crashes I was able to cause from larger ships and none landed, so my plan was to survive as long as possible and hope that the Church would sway a government (which I would allow) and create a base that I could raid a couple times.... this seems to have been a viable strategy... even though it took years to implement (end back story)

Anyways, to cut to the question.  After finally capturing a church leader and researching him, I unlocked the Dragon and Tesla Coil.  I didn't get an option to start crafting the interrogation of the next leader I capture.  Does the church leader work differently than the other two, is it something I will need to research multiple times instead of through interrogating?  Is there a rank above Cardinal that I somehow missed, or could I have missed a mid level interrogation from a different faction somehow?  Is this stage of the game not yet implemented?

I did also capture and research a few Guardians and Operatives, I'm not sure if there is a Rank above Operative. Or if this would also be needed. I can (with substantial losses) destroy their bases, and I definitely have enough bases to try and raid.

Anywho, awesome mod!  I might start over on a higher difficulty soon, even if I can't beat it.  I would try lots of things differently.   :) 
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on August 15, 2015, 11:00:43 pm
Spoilery question regarding the end-endgame.  Very Spoilery  Seriously, don't read if you don't want spoilers.

(back story)  I've been mostly surviving by the skin of my teeth, shooting down as many sway-government missions as possible (though i've lost about half of my countries in the last couple years).  Since I've been going for so long (year 6 maybe?), I have multiple Ethereal bases across the globe and they are very very active.  So active, that missions from other factions are less common.  I interrogated two of the leaders of the major factions, except for the church.  I was pretty convinced that I would unlock the final mission after capturing the Church leader and doing an interrogation. 

I never spotted a church leader in all those in-game years, none survived the few crashes I was able to cause from larger ships and none landed, so my plan was to survive as long as possible and hope that the Church would sway a government (which I would allow) and create a base that I could raid a couple times.... this seems to have been a viable strategy... even though it took years to implement (end back story)

Anyways, to cut to the question.  After finally capturing a church leader and researching him, I unlocked the Dragon and Tesla Coil.  I didn't get an option to start crafting the interrogation of the next leader I capture.  Does the church leader work differently than the other two, is it something I will need to research multiple times instead of through interrogating?  Is there a rank above Cardinal that I somehow missed, or could I have missed a mid level interrogation from a different faction somehow?  Is this stage of the game not yet implemented?

I did also capture and research a few Guardians and Operatives, I'm not sure if there is a Rank above Operative. Or if this would also be needed. I can (with substantial losses) destroy their bases, and I definitely have enough bases to try and raid.

Anywho, awesome mod!  I might start over on a higher difficulty soon, even if I can't beat it.  I would try lots of things differently.   :)

Looks like you need Star God Coordinator, there is usually one per base or battleship. And Cardinals indeed cannot be broken/interrogated, so you are perfectly fine on that front.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DrkPaladin on August 15, 2015, 11:31:25 pm
Looks like you need Star God Coordinator, there is usually one per base or battleship. And Cardinals indeed cannot be broken/interrogated, so you are perfectly fine on that front.


Thanks! I will give that a try.  I'll get my Suicide squad equipped and harden my heart for the missions ahead. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 15, 2015, 11:36:42 pm
Congratulations, you're almost there :) You should finish just about when the new version is released, with bugfixes, bayoneted AKs, Sectoids and other stuff :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 16, 2015, 12:01:36 am
I like the reference to the Russia not getting inlfritrated in one of the govt pappers
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 17, 2015, 08:50:29 pm
So i just lost 6 gals from a single public enemy just because he was 1 tile away from me and had the tu to kill them

Fun
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 17, 2015, 11:22:00 pm
Hey Dioxine, I just unlocked research topic #055
Code: [Select]
Even melee weapons that do not use Melee skill count towards Melee training. and was wondering if you could provide a list what constitutes "melee weapon" or what I need to search in the rulesets to perform some testing.

Reason I ask is for melee weapons like "Electro-Whip"; gray area for melee/ranged fighting. Or the multiple attack melee weapons like the Chainsaws.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on August 17, 2015, 11:40:56 pm
Hey Dioxine, I just unlocked research topic #055
Code: [Select]
Even melee weapons that do not use Melee skill count towards Melee training. and was wondering if you could provide a list what constitutes "melee weapon" or what I need to search in the rulesets to perform some testing.

Reason I ask is for melee weapons like "Electro-Whip"; gray area for melee/ranged fighting. Or the multiple attack melee weapons like the Chainsaws.

I think it is a leftover from non-extended version of Piratez, it just meant that melee weapons with fixed accuracy, like Bat or Pipe, still count toward melee skill training on scoring hits, even though those weapons do not benefit from skill at all.

edit: by the way, Dioxine, may be add a melee attack to Hammers?
Like, leave ranged attack as unscaleable/worse tactical option (with power enough to break walls) and add a scaleable melee "Hit" option. Might be nice, even if just to train melee acc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 18, 2015, 12:05:55 am
I think it is a leftover from non-extended version of Piratez, it just meant that melee weapons with fixed accuracy, like Bat or Pipe, still count toward melee skill training on scoring hits, even though those weapons do not benefit from skill at all.

Bat and Pipe do use Melee skill... Per Bootypedia entry (for both, coincidentally):
Code: [Select]
Skill: MELEE/4 + 75
Couple of things that don't: Hammer, Pickaxe, Chainsaw. There are more, but not without spoilering other melee stuff.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Ridаn on August 18, 2015, 12:43:11 am
Bat and Pipe do use Melee skill... Per Bootypedia entry (for both, coincidentally):
Code: [Select]
Skill: MELEE/4 + 75
Couple of things that don't: Hammer, Pickaxe, Chainsaw. There are more, but not without spoilering other melee stuff.

I meant that Bat, Pipe, Handle, Shovel and a lot of other melee weapons didnt benefit from melee skill at all in pre-Extended version of Piratez, but hitting people using those weapons still counted towards Melee skill training - so thats what this data disc entry is about.
Hammers and Chainsaws mechanically arent melee weapons at all, so hitting people with them doesnt count for Melee skill increase, but does so for Ranged accuracy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: kikimoristan on August 18, 2015, 12:06:37 pm
new openxcom extended seems to give yaml cpp error bad file 0 0
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 18, 2015, 12:20:03 pm
new openxcom extended seems to give yaml cpp error bad file 0 0

Is this the same as the one bundled with the mod?

Because you're supposed to use the one bundled with the mod.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: doctor medic on August 18, 2015, 02:23:15 pm
Try to do a clean install dont even put it in the same place where openxcom is,just make a brand new folder and put it in
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: kikimoristan on August 18, 2015, 06:17:05 pm
the bundld one is ok
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: MarhaCz on August 18, 2015, 08:42:57 pm
Ok so i have runned out of ideas so i will ask here directly.
!!MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!!
Ok so iam bassicaly stuck on same tech level for maybe 8 months. I have attacked everyting, captured everyting, build everything yet iam not able to do that governon mission. So i digged into rulesets and found out that for last mission i need ultimate craft. By searching dependencies i found out that the firsth missing link is STR_BARACUDA_INTERCEPTOR, by try and error metod i found out that iam missing tech called STR_PILOT_PLUS, this tech is unlocked by researching STR_FLOATER_PILOT (Guild Air sailor) or STR_GOVT_PILOT or maybe both, of course i have researched both, yet in my save file i cannont find STR_PILOT_PLUS under discovered: tag. I tried to add it manually but it get deleted everytime. Iam on edge of insanity right now, any help? -.- Also sorry for diging in your files like that :)

EDIT: Ok so i have added this line of code into piratez.rul under research: ->   
  - name: STR_PILOT_PLUS
    cost: 0
    needItem: false
and i can continue with research -.-
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2015, 01:24:55 pm
Sorry for not answering sooner, my internet provider got thunderstruck... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM

I think it is a leftover from non-extended version of Piratez, it just meant that melee weapons with fixed accuracy, like Bat or Pipe, still count toward melee skill training on scoring hits, even though those weapons do not benefit from skill at all.

Yeah it was a leftover. Deleted.

edit: by the way, Dioxine, may be add a melee attack to Hammers?
Like, leave ranged attack as unscaleable/worse tactical option (with power enough to break walls) and add a scaleable melee "Hit" option. Might be nice, even if just to train melee acc.

Hammer is scaleable - you get better damage for higher melee & strength. Adding an extra "true melee" option would be too much of a boogaloo, let's better wait till Extended externalizes skill training :)

EDIT: Ok so i have added this line of code into piratez.rul under research: ->   
Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_PILOT_PLUS
    cost: 0
    needItem: false
and i can continue with research -.-

Yeah it's indeed a bug, forgot to add that research topic. Thanks for hunting this one down. The actual fix should add the following:

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_PILOT_PLUS
    cost: 0
    dependencies:
      - STR_FLOATER_PILOT
      - STR_GOVT_PILOT

Oh yeah, and 0.93 uploaded https://www.openxcom.com/mods , have fun :) Off to working on something extra cool for the next release... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on August 19, 2015, 03:38:21 pm
Hello,

First of all, thank you for making such an awesome mod. I halted a XCom 2012 campaign to make a LP at the bay12 forums (link (https://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=151935.0)).

Is it safe to move saves from 0.92 to 0.93? I see that some research has been moved but I am eager to go after the reticulans.

Thanks again.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 19, 2015, 04:19:55 pm
Hello,

First of all, thank you for making such an awesome mod. I halted a XCom 2012 campaign to make a LP at the bay12 forums (link (https://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=151935.0)).

Is it save to move saves from 0.92 to 0.93? I see that some research has been moved but I am eager to go after the reticulans.

Thanks again.

Wow, that was unexpected. Not only a new Let's Play, but one not from a regular member of this community - which is a good thing, because it means fresh perspective. I'll certainly watch your episodes.

As for migration, I'm not the mod's author, but I predict no trouble here.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2015, 04:35:38 pm
Fully safe, although you will get some harmless research gibberish (most of them are normally non-displayed 0 cost items, so you can do away with all of them in a single day, just put 1 scientist on those, if the progress is "excellent" it means the thing will be researched by midnight), and there might be some research time lost - or gained.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on August 19, 2015, 04:43:30 pm
Alright, thank you. By the way, is that intended that the amazon outfit weights 20 (or rather 15 after the strength bonus)? I had trouble in a pogrom because I gave the outfit to weak rookies and they could not even hold a knife.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2015, 05:46:54 pm
Dear Dioxine,

Probably i may have suggested this in the past but agai, for the next 0.94 version may we get the Laser Reskin mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2533.0) incorporated into piratez extended, replzcing the actual laser weapons? The mod provides very cool laser guns design, a mod by user tentaculant soup, so full credit  goes to him.
 As for clip i try to make them, in fact i made raw sprites, but poorly failed implementation in the game, see the thread. It'a pity, because i think it's the most cool laser gin mod ever made in the openxcom community, why nobody used it ever? :, ( eventually clips may be renamed to batteries, or laser batteries

Edit: some specifications :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: ivandogovich on August 19, 2015, 06:27:13 pm
@Boltgun:  Thanks a ton for posting the link to your LP!  Cant wait to read up on it!
Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2015, 07:31:53 pm
Alright, thank you. By the way, is that intended that the amazon outfit weights 20 (or rather 15 after the strength bonus)? I had trouble in a pogrom because I gave the outfit to weak rookies and they could not even hold a knife.

I think the description hints that you really need to look good (read: beefy) to wear it without ashaming yourself... :) It's for elites, not swabbies.
Btw great LP and it's probably you whom I have to thank for basically doubling the download rate of my mod :) You're going to like the next update (read: moar semi-NSFW material) :)

Probably i may have suggested this in the past but agai, for the next 0.94 version may we get the Laser Reskin mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2533.0) incorporated into piratez extended, replzcing the actual laser weapons? The mod provides very cool laser guns design, a mod by user tentaculant soup, so full credit  goes to him.

Reskinned by Yrizoud to make them pretty, then reskinned again by myself to make them less pretty, and incorporated into the mod. Ages ago. ("Industrial Laser").
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2015, 09:54:38 pm
I think the description hints that you really need to look good (read: beefy) to wear it without ashaming yourself... :) It's for elites, not swabbies.
Btw great LP and it's probably you whom I have to thank for basically doubling the download rate of my mod :) You're going to like the next update (read: moar semi-NSFW material) :)

Reskinned by Yrizoud to make them pretty, then reskinned again by myself to make them less pretty, and incorporated into the mod. Ages ago. ("Industrial Laser").

Ah..actually i like laser reskin..but if thst means no and are no futher chanches, even for other projectsmof yours i'll have to resign...*sob*..
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: kikimoristan on August 20, 2015, 01:49:03 am
openxcom ex + piratez does wonders . nice weapon selection.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on August 20, 2015, 11:11:52 am
I think the description hints that you really need to look good (read: beefy) to wear it without ashaming yourself... :) It's for elites, not swabbies.
Btw great LP and it's probably you whom I have to thank for basically doubling the download rate of my mod :) You're going to like the next update (read: moar semi-NSFW material) :)

Aw, I went back to smokey/gym for swabbies until they can the strength and TU for better protection. Swabbies with strength higher than 35 are rare.

Also yay for NSFW.

That said I hated micromanaging stats and inventory in the original game and yet here you embraced it and made it fun.

Also moving the save towards the new version caused no problem, however...

The nuclear powered gear research (cannot remember the exact name, I'm at work) led me to a screen with the message 'it make life better', perhaps I was supposed to unlock stuff I already done at this point.

Also I understand that you lose the monsters you captured (even if it was weird to lose my 'tame reaper') when you research them but do slaves die from being looked at? Perhaps it would be possible that the research give the slave back?

Also I did not find what the stats displayed on the screen like 'workshop code' means, did I miss a bootypedia entry?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2015, 12:53:14 pm
Well, average Swabbie strength is 30, it's not uncommon to end up with half of the starting crew with 40+ Strength... easily the most important stat. The thing you're not going to like is that Throwing skill for swabbies is now 20-60 instead of 40-90; otoh bombs and molotovs are more accurate now to re-balance, so the old crew is going to reap the benefits.

It's strange to hear about micromanagement issues from a Dwarf Fortress modder :) Maybe it's not about micromanagement but meaningful micromanagement... Micromanagement isn't fun unless there is something to really manage imo... btw, I've played your Succubus mod for the DF a while ago, it's really cool, even though DF is a nightmare to play (not because FUN, FUN is good, but the interface is beyond horrible). Kudos for trying to add something new and different to the one-colored world of DF (the color being red) :)

About the research... the tech you've mentioned comes from breaking up Ship Engine research into 3 separate subjects, it normally unlocks power suit (which you already have) and something else, more advanced (in due time).

As for the slave-return - the general mechanic is that any object you research is lost. I could cheat that by making a slave a "living alien" ("slave" object -> research kill -> corpse defined as "slave" object), but it'd mean slaves would take up prison space - they'd have to be way more useful than they are now to go that way, also the whole prison system would have to be redesigned...

The "code" such as $ or S^ is visible in the workshop before the name of a prisoner you're about to enslave, thus indicating what type of slave will be produced.

Another thought, seems that interceptions got too easy with the dodge feature... a single Predator shouldn't really be able to take out a Gunship with starting weaponry :) There will be no knee-jerk reactions though, air combat needs more testing.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on August 20, 2015, 01:33:44 pm
I'm glad that you liked the succubus mod. I got both praises and complaints for making something new that is not without the DF cannon (if DF even have one) but as a whole I like contributing into masterwork Dwarf Fortress and the community in general.

Micromanagement is great when it is rewarding, in xcom I spent hours micromanaging and the end result was everyone wearing flying armor and heavy plasma, the diversity of Piratez really enhanced the game, in the sense that it shows how good and complex it can be.

Anyway, I guess I was unlucky with my swabbies. I have a few with 16 strength and they make my cattle prod suicide squad. Thankfully it grows fast. As for losing the slaves, it's a case where the solution is worse that the problem so I guess I should start producing harpoon clips and bring more captives.

I admit that the predator surprised me. In the last update of the LP you can see that i shot down a gunship, then right after it was mentioned that gunships are too hard for a lone interceptor. :P The predators are really tough thanks to their dodging but at the same time since they only take seagull missiles and those cost an arm so I guess it balances out.

And yes DF's interface is, well... let's say that I stay away from the military screen as much as possible.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on August 20, 2015, 04:43:58 pm

Another thought, seems that interceptions got too easy with the dodge feature... a single Predator shouldn't really be able to take out a Gunship with starting weaponry :) There will be no knee-jerk reactions though, air combat needs more testing.

+1
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2015, 08:06:01 pm
To show off what I've been working on lately... Expanded random portrait list. Currently from 8 to 32. Also cleaning up and improving old paperdolls while I'm at it...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 20, 2015, 08:13:27 pm
Looks really good!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on August 20, 2015, 10:41:45 pm
Looks really good!

sure! Hey taht screenshot reminds mo of good ol'1995 jagged alloance xd
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on August 20, 2015, 10:43:33 pm
Im stuck with a rocket tank inside my base and i went throught 100 turns trying to find but no no avail,i got around 13 of them and i fear most of them are hiding afk inside 1x1 doors.Is there a way to code so i can see them in the map without line of sight or maybe code in some mercenaries to look inside the doors before the cruiser comes in?Im too tired of looking inside my huge base and i dont have any intentions of losing it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 20, 2015, 11:07:45 pm
Im stuck with a rocket tank inside my base and i went throught 100 turns trying to find but no no avail,i got around 13 of them and i fear most of them are hiding afk inside 1x1 doors.Is there a way to code so i can see them in the map without line of sight or maybe code in some mercenaries to look inside the doors before the cruiser comes in?Im too tired of looking inside my huge base and i dont have any intentions of losing it.

You can enable the Debug mode by changing "debug: false" to "debug: true" in your options.cfg file, and then in the game pressing Ctrl+D.

Or you can open the save in a text editor, find all enemy units and give each living one 20 Fatal Wounds. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on August 21, 2015, 12:31:45 am
I don't think the 20 turn works when there is only a tank in the base here.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on August 21, 2015, 12:19:28 pm
I found out that some GO was on the top of a facility and was idle even after the 20 turn mechanic
which means that dioxine has some fixing to do
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 21, 2015, 12:52:52 pm
Pics or it didn't happen. A save would do as well.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on August 21, 2015, 08:26:55 pm
Ah, more an observation than a suggestion, don't know if the point may be of some approval:

1) think that  flintlock weapons should be the default startin firearms, and ready for production since it might be a basic pirate knowledge, so no need to research, instead of the assault handcannon and the boardin gun, that may need to be researched first before are being produced.Assault cannon (wich may be manufacturable since start) is fine as it is now. That might make the game a bit more interesting. But since flintlock stuff is pretty useless against any armored enemy (these deal less than 30 damage)...

...2) make that almost no armored enemies are to be encountered in the early game, let'say for 5-7 months. Flintlocks, as well, as some old fireaarms (spray gun) are virtually useless against them (in that case weapons that deal at least 40 and up damage may be effective), and good only for unarmored enemies. Think that this may also balance game a bitt, making a bit less harder in the beginning.

ok, i think this time is reeeeeeally i have - concerning ideas - for ext. piratex. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on August 22, 2015, 12:10:30 am
Pics or it didn't happen. A save would do as well.
                                                                                                                                                  Sorry I use 1 save for battlescape and I overwrites it but can you test it yourself?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.92 - 25 Jun
Post by: Roxis231 on August 22, 2015, 01:21:34 am
Nevertheless, I would be very happy to incorporate your final version, and if you make a greyish version, too, to continue the work and add the armor upgrade!

Zharkov, I've finished the Images, but haven't made the Inventory Pix yet, I want to see if you or Dioxine have any last moment requests.

Pix are included below
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 22, 2015, 03:53:38 am
Those armors seem very oriented for... Piratez.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: kikimoristan on August 22, 2015, 03:55:46 am
dioxine,
any advice what to manufacture 4 money? i was making some next level barbed daggers but are not that profitable.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 22, 2015, 05:05:44 am
dioxine,
any advice what to manufacture 4 money? i was making some next level barbed daggers but are not that profitable.

X-Grog is the standard go-to... if you have the requirements, make Finely Distilled Rum. If you have a ton of Plastasteel & Nuclear Fuel (from salvage, DON'T BUY FROM BLACK MARKET to do this), you can make Snubby HVAP Drums for a huge profit.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Roxis231 on August 22, 2015, 05:16:57 am
Those armors seem very oriented for... Piratez.

Yes, that was the request from both Zharkov and Dioxine.  They requested some thing based in a female Iron Man.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 22, 2015, 09:28:04 am
                                                                                                                      Sorry I use 1 save for battlescape and I overwrites it but can you test it yourself?

Test what, exactly? Base defence in general? Did that dozens of times, never stumbled upon the situation you've described. The super-vagueness of your description doesn't help.

Yes, that was the request from both Zharkov and Dioxine.  They requested some thing based in a female Iron Man.

Looks good. I'll add it to the new version :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 22, 2015, 04:08:51 pm
Just to let you know, I posted an RPG rulebook for the Piratez setting: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3907.0.html
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Roxis231 on August 23, 2015, 04:00:37 am
Looks good. I'll add it to the new version :)

Ok, I'll email you the finished versions tomorrow.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 24, 2015, 07:02:53 pm
Report for v0.92; don't believe anything was affected by v0.93 changes.

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Mechanics
       
      • Manufacture - Profitability - Heavy Flamer Clip (5x5) – Can be sold at a profit with a net profit, in thousands per month, of +6,734 compared to X-Grog's +1,122.
         
        • Further: Produces “Heavy Flamer Tank”; should be Heavy Flamer Clip in item screen or “Heavy Flamer Tank (5x5)” in manufacture screen.

      • Manufacture - Profitability - Smartrifle Clip (50x10) - Can be sold at a profit with a net profit, in thousands per month, of +3,593 compared to X-Grog's +1,122.

  • Spelling
     
    • Advanced Firearms – Bootypedia entry - “Time for big game hunting is on.” → should be “The time for big game hunting is on.”
       
    • Boom Gun – Bootypedia entry - “... has an awesome destructive power, ...” → should be “... has awesome destructive power, ...”.
       
    • Celatid Examination – Bootypedia entry - “They spit acid at us and it hurts as hell.” → should be “They spit acid at us and it hurts like hell.” Suggestion: “They spit acid at us and it [burns] like hell.”
       
    • Chryssalid Examination – Bootypedia entry - “Given monster's extremely ...” → should be “Given the monster's extremely ...”.
       
    • Clergy's Stuff – Bootypedia entry - “They can be used to such tricks as...” → should be “They can be used for tricks such as...”.
       
    • Electro-Pulse Munitions – Bootypedia entry - “... hold a potent energy charge inside bullet's tip, ...” → should be “... hold a potent energy charge inside a bullet's tip, ...”.
       
      • Further: “... electrical burns and much more easily defeat conventional armor.” → should be “... electrical burns and are much more capable of defeating conventional armor.”

    • Explorer – Bootypedia entry - “... the Explorers are sent into dangerous missions, ...” → should be “... the Explorers are sent on dangerous missions, ...”. Suggestion: “... the Explorers are sent into dangerous territories, ...”.
       
    • MAG Munitions – Bootypedia entry - “... magnetic munitions than can be ...” → should be “... magnetic munitions that can be ...”.
       
      • Further: “As the ammo needs power source and magnetic coils, …” → should be “As the ammo needs a power source and magnetic coils, ...”.

    • Mono-Claws - Bootypedia entry - “... stay sharp; they're ever getting sharper.” → should be “... stay sharp; they're getting ever sharper.”
       
    • Smartpistol – Bootypedia entry - “... aiming allows to marry ...” → should be “... aiming marries the ...”.
       
    • Xeno – Bootypedia entry - “Hard Cryssalid exoskeleton ...” → should be “Hard Chryssalid exoskeleton ...”.

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • Academy Provost – Bootypedia – Bootypedia entry did not prompt after completion of research interrogation. However, manufacture screen did prompt with “$: Acd. Provost (1/3/6), I: Acd. Provost (1/3/6)”.
       
      • Further: “Provosts are cappi di tutti cappi in the Academy, ...” → should be “Provosts are capo di tutti capi in the Academy, ...”. However, I do not know Italian, but considering the Mafia reference, it is easily found as “capo di tutti capi” as “cappi di tutti cappi” is not proper.

    • BFG – Bootypedia – Appeared in Bootypedia; no prompts or research associated. No BFG in inventory either. Placeholder? See BFG Battery.
       
    • BFG Battery – Manufacture – Appeared in Manufacture screen; no prompts or research associated. No Broken BFG Battery in inventory either. Placeholder? See BFG.
       
    • Church Beastmaster – Multiple – Research interrogation “Church Beastmaster” does prompts Armored Church Beastmaster, but not Church Beastmaster (however, both Bootypedia entries are unlocked). In addition, manufacture prompt only states “S^: CoS Beastmaster (0/1/0)”, but not “Remove Beastmaster's Armor[1/1]”. To be expected for the “wonkiness” of having two units as “one” (Armored Beastmasters becoming “Unarmored” Beastmasters if damaged correctly?).
       
    • Church Neophyte – Bootypedia – Bootypedia entry did not prompt after completion of research interrogation.
       
    • Church Reverend – Bootypedia – Bootypedia entry did not prompt after completion of research interrogation.
       
    • Dark One – Multiple – Research interrogation “Dark One” (not sure which; as there are three but ruleset dictates same trigger) does not prompt any faction entry; simply unlocks Demonic Essence. Most likely intended/placeholder.
       
    • Harpoon Tranquilizers – Manufacture – Missing clip amount/size like all other ammunition have. “Harpoon Tranquilizers” → should be “Harpoon Tranquilizer [3x1]”, as it only produces one clip with three shots, similar to “Minigun Ammo Pack [250x1]”.
       
      • Further: Can be sold at a profit once Medical Supplies are Black Market unlocked, with a net profit, in thousands per month, of +1,000 compared to X-Grog's +1,122.

    • UAC Plasmagun – Bootypedia – Appeared in Bootypedia; no prompts or research associated. No UAC Plasmagun in inventory either. Placeholder? See UAC Plasmagun Battery.
       
    • UAC Plasmagun Battery – Manufacture – Appeared in Manufacture screen; no prompts or research associated. Broken UAC Battery was in inventory. Placeholder? See UAC Plasmagun.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 25, 2015, 06:42:42 pm
I have no idea why the Pedia doesn't display the proper enemy articles after interrogation, everything seems to be correct ruleset-wise... It was always like that, though.

From the current developement news, I'm deep, deep into paperdoll upgrades. With 37 old armors to upgrade, and 32 character variants, I have 1184 paperdolls to make :) Here's one of them - upgraded look of the Metal Armor (Armor 8 ), Character 12, Female Version:
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 25, 2015, 09:21:30 pm
I have no idea why the Pedia doesn't display the proper enemy articles after interrogation, everything seems to be correct ruleset-wise... It was always like that, though.

From the current developement news, I'm deep, deep into paperdoll upgrades. With 37 old armors to upgrade, and 32 character variants, I have 1184 paperdolls to make :) Here's one of them - upgraded look of the Metal Armor (Armor 8 ), Character 12, Female Version:

Yeah, some trigger; some don't. We talked about it before and you had stated to keep track of them "just in case"; so mainly ignore them for now?

But oh man, amazing work on the paperdolls. Molto bene!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 25, 2015, 10:01:51 pm
Yeah, some trigger; some don't. We talked about it before and you had stated to keep track of them "just in case"; so mainly ignore them for now?

But oh man, amazing work on the paperdolls. Molto bene!

Thanks! It seems I have undervalued the amount of work, as I have to upgrade Roxis' alt armors as well, that's another 4x32, plus the new Energy armor, plus probably some new outfit I'll add to this update... :)

As for the Pedia articles on enemies: the question is, which enemies currently DO prompt their respective Pedia entries after interrogation? Is it that only Church/Academy/Traders/Mercs/Star Gods don't? The Pedia behaviour was being fixed by the devs in the recent months, so I don't have much in the way of up-to-date playtesting...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 26, 2015, 01:58:24 am
As for the Pedia articles on enemies: the question is, which enemies currently DO prompt their respective Pedia entries after interrogation? Is it that only Church/Academy/Traders/Mercs/Star Gods don't? The Pedia behaviour was being fixed by the devs in the recent months, so I don't have much in the way of up-to-date playtesting...

I'd say 90% of the ones I don't/haven't report SHOULD be working currently. I try to track the UFOpedia updates really closely after each research (especially interrogations) but there's always bound to have something overlooked or missed.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Roxis231 on August 27, 2015, 01:16:02 am
Thanks! It seems I have undervalued the amount of work, as I have to upgrade Roxis' alt armors as well, that's another 4x32, plus the new Energy armor, plus probably some new outfit I'll add to this update... :)

Right, I should have the held helmet version done in a few days - I'll send it when its done.

Though at the moment, I'm have to balance between my Job, Life, Interviews and a birthday party for my 5 year old neice in three days, (guess what comes first!) so it might be a week or two.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on August 28, 2015, 01:59:00 pm
Hey Dioxine, would you be interested in a ruleset to allow you to take a pic like the one below with all of Piratez's units? Be warned it can take some time to get everyone on the same spot though ;)

(https://www.openxcom.com/content/modimages/BSXGBTNU082720150320.png)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 28, 2015, 02:48:10 pm
Wow, how did you do that? :) You didn't get everyone, but you've brought some extras too, so it's fine :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on August 28, 2015, 02:53:11 pm
Wow, how did you do that? :) You didn't get everyone, but you've brought some extras too, so it's fine :)

This pic is from Redux, not Piratez. I created a special alienRace and alienDeployment and then hit CTRL+D during the mission and moved all the aliens around on their turn (the Waspite apparently doesn't like pics and ran away).

If you're interested I can post a ruleset that you can simply drop on the folder containing Piratez rulesets. You'll need to define the units you want displayed and then move all to single location on debug mode.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 28, 2015, 04:55:01 pm
(the Waspite apparently doesn't like pics and ran away).

The Waspite took the photo.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 28, 2015, 05:48:44 pm
If you're interested I can post a ruleset that you can simply drop on the folder containing Piratez rulesets. You'll need to define the units you want displayed and then move all to single location on debug mode.

Yeah why not... Is it simply a humongous alienRace? I thought they were limited to 8 units... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on August 28, 2015, 10:59:37 pm
Yeah why not... Is it simply a humongous alienRace? I thought they were limited to 8 units... :)

Yup, it is a huge alien race of 59 units. And as of yesterday, when Warboy added a safety, it is entirely possible to have deployments of more than 8 units.

I can't get the ruleset to work on its own but you can simply copy paste the relevant sections to your rulesets. You'll need to adjust the 'STR_GROUP_PICTURE"  alienRace with the units from your mod, and then set the equivalent number of alien ranks in the correspondent alienDeployment  entry.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 28, 2015, 11:15:04 pm
Yup, it is a huge alien race of 59 units. And as of yesterday, when Warboy added a safety, it is entirely possible to have deployments of more than 8 units.

I can't get the ruleset to work on its own but you can simply copy paste the relevant sections to your rulesets. You'll need to adjust the 'STR_GROUP_PICTURE"  alienRace with the units from your mod, and then set the equivalent number of alien ranks in the correspondent alienDeployment  entry.

Instead of group pictures, I can only foresee Dioxine filling UFOs to the brim now.

So many hostiles. The scantily clad mutantity!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on August 28, 2015, 11:28:43 pm
Instead of group pictures, I can only foresee Dioxine filling UFOs to the brim now.

So many hostiles. The scantily clad mutantity!

While it can also increase quantity a bit, this also adds for a lot more variety, while retaining quantity. If you have a total of 24 enemy units, divided through 8 ranks, you can now have 24 ranks and customize individually the name, appearance, stats and weapons/items of each unit.

The main question is really how much work you want to spend doing this, and how to properly set up and use the correspondent alienDeployment entry. Because that entry will always require a 24 rank alienRace to work, otherwise the game will crash.

@Dioxine, could you do me a favor and identify the units which you are the author? I'm starting to have problems remembering all of the contributions to add to the credits list and I've reused a lot of material from Piratez. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 29, 2015, 01:04:32 am
While it can also increase quantity a bit, this also adds for a lot more variety, while retaining quantity. If you have a total of 24 enemy units, divided through 8 ranks, you can now have 24 ranks and customize individually the name, appearance, stats and weapons/items of each unit.

The main question is really how much work you want to spend doing this, and how to properly set up and use the correspondent alienDeployment entry. Because that entry will always require a 24 rank alienRace to work, otherwise the game will crash.

Nah I consider 8 ranks more than enough for normal deployments, besides adding huge races to normal missions would mean not only a lot of work, but also a possibility of collisions... eg. if I add just single 20-units race, I'll have to rework all retal mission craft deployments... Also don't mistake the number of ranks with quantity of aliens - I have deployments up to 33 units, but most of my races usually only have 4-6 types of units. Going in the direction of customization (eg. 4 types of basic enemy soldier mean 20 instead of 5 weapon loadout variants), this could be consider , but a huge pain to actually impelement :)

@Dioxine, could you do me a favor and identify the units which you are the author? I'm starting to have problems remembering all of the contributions to add to the credits list and I've reused a lot of material from Piratez. :)

Yeah have a picture :) I think they're all units where I've added some significant contribution, either if they're often modified TFTD or Warboy's/Luke83's/wherever they got them from - sprites.
Oh yeah, and Piratez currently stand at 84 types of new enemy & civilian units (counting by spritesheets), plus most of vanilla units (Sectoid, Cyberdisc, Reaper, Chryssalid, Celatid, Ethereal, Sectopod, X-Com unarmored/Personal Armor/Power Suit, Civilians).

EDIT: took the liberty to update the Iron Man armor for release...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: moriarty on August 29, 2015, 07:40:51 pm
wouldn't that technically be an IronWoman armor? just sayin'...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 29, 2015, 07:53:07 pm
Not sure, I'm not an expert on American comics :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Roxis231 on August 29, 2015, 08:52:13 pm
Got a new version of the Iron(wo)man armour right here.

A test version and two templates, (one holding the helm on the left and one on the right.)

These might look better.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Alex_D on August 30, 2015, 10:16:22 am
After a long hiatus I started playing Piratez  again :) this time as Extended.
So I started a campaign. One question comes to my mind: The stone hatchet. I kind of researched something that allowed me to fabricate it. But I couldn't see anything on the Bootypedia. Just for kicks I made one, very cheap, then the research screen for this item came up. Is it normal.


Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 30, 2015, 10:18:55 am
After a long hiatus I started playing Piratez  again :) this time as Extended.
So I started a campaign. One question comes to my mind: The stone hatchet. I kind of researched something that allowed me to fabricate it. But I couldn't see anything on the Bootypedia. Just for kicks I made one, very cheap, then the research screen for this item came up. Is it normal.

Yes, this is exactly how it was designed, because reasons. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 30, 2015, 11:38:03 am
I've made a choice for the final version of the armor - sorry if it feels unfair, since some work was wasted but I have to make the choices, being ultimatively responsible for everything. Example attached.

@Hatchet: aliens did it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on August 30, 2015, 07:49:15 pm
So the armors will show hairstyles? Is that what you meant?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on August 31, 2015, 12:32:43 am
I mean I'll be using this version I've made, based on Roxis' older work, with no-helmet, faceplate-on. Hard to really choose, mix and match with how many paperdolls I have to make now... Customization simply takes too much work.

Also, some eye candy...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 01, 2015, 08:51:04 am
Nice, it's much more detailed, is that a new design for the gym suit or a new thing?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: LexThorn on September 01, 2015, 09:31:05 am
I mean I'll be using this version I've made, based on Roxis' older work, with no-helmet, faceplate-on. Hard to really choose, mix and match with how many paperdolls I have to make now... Customization simply takes too much work.

Also, some eye candy...

Very-very nice!

A question: what do you think about specialized pistol holster slot for gal`s inventory(with low asses TU costs)? It will free a bit space on belt (or not ^__^). I saw somewhere here mod, successfully implementing tose.

upd: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/quick-draw-hip-slot there, found it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 03, 2015, 06:09:48 pm
Nice, it's much more detailed, is that a new design for the gym suit or a new thing?

It's an upgrade of the Gym Suit: higher tech, better buffs, more embarrassing :)

A question: what do you think about specialized pistol holster slot for gal`s inventory(with low asses TU costs)? It will free a bit space on belt (or not ^__^). I saw somewhere here mod, successfully implementing tose.

I have mixed feelings about this, but there is much popular support, so I'll probably do that.

In other news: what happens when you hit 7 consecutive Excavators... This is after 2.5 MONTHS of smelting the iron ore :) Also, Wolf Nazis.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: LexThorn on September 04, 2015, 03:45:37 pm
It's an upgrade of the Gym Suit: higher tech, better buffs, more embarrassing :)

Hmm....... Are we getting new line of "embarrassing" armors that will end with some sort of triple-forcefielded flying micro-bikini? ^____________^
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 04, 2015, 04:11:06 pm
1. These outfits increase Stamina, energy recovery, and (slightly) things like VooDoo or Bravery, but will never give you ANY protection. Oh yeah they do give resistance to the 'secret damage type', eg. the one Cyclops are using to destroy armor :). As for actual armors, you already have Force Belt which is standard short-on-clothing, adequate-on-pockets'n'holsters outfit + Force belt, and the advanced, flying Blitz armor, which is somewhat skimpy but does add chest, abdomen and face protection beneath the forcefield.
2. Yeah the next level after the swimsuit will be a bikini, but why stop there? :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on September 04, 2015, 05:38:58 pm
Also, some eye candy...

More bikini civilians! Let's hope the rookies don't get too distracted by them :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: LexThorn on September 04, 2015, 06:24:00 pm
1. These outfits increase Stamina, energy recovery, and (slightly) things like VooDoo or Bravery, but will never give you ANY protection. Oh yeah they do give resistance to the 'secret damage type', eg. the one Cyclops are using to destroy armor :). As for actual armors, you already have Force Belt which is standard short-on-clothing, adequate-on-pockets'n'holsters outfit + Force belt, and the advanced, flying Blitz armor, which is somewhat skimpy but does add chest, abdomen and face protection beneath the forcefield.
2. Yeah the next level after the swimsuit will be a bikini, but why stop there? :)

Wow! I will wait with impatience. It seems that we are waiting for a few more of pixel eroticism from Dioxine-sama ^__^
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Soyden on September 05, 2015, 03:30:18 am
Hi, I made an account for here to tell you how much I enjoy this mod. Its been one those rides where every time I think its time to fire the brainers because I'm outta stuff to research, I end up running into a new faction to knock down and loot, getting more information that shows what is going on in the world. Its really cool how the world you created for this mod fits so well with the X-com mechanics.
Thanks for the awesome new way to play X-com.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 06, 2015, 07:23:55 pm
Thank you, I'm very happy to hear that :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 06, 2015, 11:05:14 pm
Hi, I am one of those that started playing because of Boltguns AAR. And I have to say it is great, I am having a lot of fun, I like the humor and the world building. (among other things)

Now I ran into a problem: I startet a new Iron Man game in the current version, and in a Terror Mission the game just closes during the 1st enemy turn. I tried moving my gals differently, even left the ship on the 1st turn. But the 2nd or 3rd enemy seems to cause the crash.


I attached the save and the log file, hope it helps.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 07, 2015, 10:27:25 am
Did you using a unpatched version of UFO enemy defense by any chance?

I first tried to use a fully patched version and I crashed all the time. I had to use a completely vanilla and bug ridden version.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 07, 2015, 11:36:45 am
This is a map problem. Very rarely, a random Pogrom map may cause crashes due to enemy units trying to do something forbidden. All of these maps are authored by Hobbes, so I can reccomend updating all maps to his newest edition ( https://www.openxcom.com/mod/ufo-redux - a very good mod too, a little in the Conspiracy Theory vein); however, this may cause other errors.

As for the situation at hand, well, I won't try to sugarcoat it. Since you're Ironman, you're f**ked. You can try doctoring the save by adding stun level to enemy units until the culprit is disabled and cannot cause trouble. This is the only way out afaik (except escaping the battle). You might also try to kill the culprit, but he's too far and too well holed-up for it to be possible with your weapons (red building behind the petrol station, if that's indeed him - maybe if you've opened the way with a couple of Panzerfausts, and finished him off with the GL...).

In my experience, Pogrom crash of that kind happens maybe once in 50 Pogroms, but I still recommend self-enforced Ironman, saving just before every landing - just in case of a map crash. If a crash happens, reload and land again (have Savescumming enabled so a random seed is used and a different map is generated - both to avoid crash and to play fair :) )

Also I'll take the liberty to present the new inventory system, using one of your fine warriors as an example :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 07, 2015, 01:12:23 pm
Thanks for the reply. I'll try to doctor the save. Or is there a way to open some kind of debug mode? What program do I need to open the save? If that won't work I'll just withdraw.

Self enforced ironman...unfortunately I am to weakwilled to do that, if one of my favourites dies I'd be too tempted to reload. :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 07, 2015, 01:30:41 pm
The Debug mode is activated by pressing ctrl+d, but you need to have debug enabled in the config file.
As for doctoring the saves, any text editor would do.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 07, 2015, 01:52:04 pm
Yep, it worked. More prisoners than usual, but that's what they get for crashing my game.

Thanks again.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 07, 2015, 10:03:27 pm
Just for the note, it's also possible to add Fatal Wounds instead of Stun levels to disable a unit. Just give them 100 Fatal Wounds and they'll die before they get to act. Perhaps it's more fair than stunning them.

EDIT:

Not sure if you people care, but today I have expanded the Piratez article on TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Piratez). It contains some spoilers, but nothing major, and some are hidden.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 08, 2015, 03:38:50 am
Hello, lovingthe mod, but i wonder i can use the save game i made from the not extended version of the mod?, i really would like to keep my progress
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 08, 2015, 05:45:34 am
Your soldiers, craft, bases and weapons will be unharmed, but you might end up in a real pinch tech and money-wise. Plus it'll be a steep learning curve to experience the reality of Extended's battlefield. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Roxis231 on September 08, 2015, 05:49:16 am
Plus it'll be a steep learning curve to experience the reality of Extended's battlefield.

I agree with Dioxine, you could do it, but Piratez Extended is totaly diffrent in its experiance.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 08, 2015, 11:03:13 pm
I agree with Dioxine, you could do it, but Piratez Extended is totaly diffrent in its experiance.

if you say so....it will be a drag though, starting again with crap guns and meele what it's almost impossible to use, i wonder if there a guide for starters
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 09, 2015, 11:08:53 am
Guide: use blackpowder bombs
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 09, 2015, 12:47:23 pm
Frankly, muskets & co. aren't that bad. The main problem is that your swabbies lack the stats to use them effectively. Combined with lack of good armour and equipment, this makes early game somewhat hard - you just need to be careful and avoid battles which are too costly.

If I were you jmf, I'd start a new game as normal and then copy the soldiers and equipment you have in your old game, as well as the research. (Just be sure to take off all armours before the transfer.) This will of course make your early game easier, but given Piratez nature, it shouldn't really matter that much.

Besides, early game should get a bit easier with the next release. We'll see if it really is. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 09, 2015, 03:37:00 pm
Guide: use blackpowder bombs

Cutlasses and axes cut through power armors too.

Also you should use 'alternate movement method' so you can ctrl+click for sprinting (trades energy for TU). On gals who have enough energy, you will be able to walk around the enemy to hit him in the back.

The blunderbuss is also great at close range, I did not bother with the other starter guns because either they lack autonomy, precision or weight a ton.

What I did early on is to give melee weapons and have the gals loot guns from the dead security guards. You can also buy either a rpg or a couple of panzer to kill cyberdisks on the first terror missions.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 09, 2015, 03:50:44 pm
Frankly, muskets & co. aren't that bad. The main problem is that your swabbies lack the stats to use them effectively. Combined with lack of good armour and equipment, this makes early game somewhat hard - you just need to be careful and avoid battles which are too costly.

If I were you jmf, I'd start a new game as normal and then copy the soldiers and equipment you have in your old game, as well as the research. (Just be sure to take off all armours before the transfer.) This will of course make your early game easier, but given Piratez nature, it shouldn't really matter that much.

Besides, early game should get a bit easier with the next release. We'll see if it really is. :)
Sorry to say but: how do i copy my soldiers & gear? (i'm a noob)
also  Rince Wind was right, bombs are good, but since gals are weak i still have to get bit closer to use them, oh well  spamming SMG has worked fine to me (i use a lot ot ammo but at least i can gather more stuff)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 09, 2015, 07:43:48 pm
Sorry to say but: how do i copy my soldiers & gear? (i'm a noob)

1. First, remove all armour from all soldiers in a base (I assume you only have one base), unload all equipment from planes and sell all planes to make sure nothing goes wrong; save and quit.
2. Start a new game in Piratez Extended. Complete one research to make sure you have the section, save and quit.
3. Then open both .sav files in any half-decent text editor, like EditPad or Notepad++ (after making a backup of both, of course). Replace the relevant sections of the Piratez Extended save with content from the old save. It would be:
Code: [Select]
bases:
  - soldiers:
...
...
...
    items:
...
...
...
discovered:
...
...
...

Make sure that you keep the same number of spaces in indentations, because YAML is very fragile in this regard.
4. Load the doctored save in Piratez to see if it works.
5. Don't panic when it crashes, just fix your errors. :P

also  Rince Wind was right, bombs are good, but since gals are weak i still have to get bit closer to use them, oh well  spamming SMG has worked fine to me (i use a lot ot ammo but at least i can gather more stuff)

That's interesting, I haven't really thought of SMGs as default weapons, though I do use them. That's yet another proof of how many tactics are viable in this mod. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 09, 2015, 08:14:29 pm
If you want to copy not only the soldiers, but also gear & research, it's better to simply load your save into Extended; copying non-existant research might cause trouble. It is advised to have a lot of cash at hand, though (eg. you'd need to build a Still to manufacture any alcohol) :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 09, 2015, 08:23:23 pm
Molotovs for unarmoured types for quick morale kills (panics/berserks) and Black Powder Bombs for armoured. Usually use stronger gals to snipe/flank armoured units, and weak/fast gals for melee unarmoured (to loot their guns for free pewpews). The runtiest of gals I use to collect gear/bodies and/or toss ammo/bombs to frontline gals to maintain pressure.

If I ever ran into trouble, I usually had a primed smoke grenade and just drop it and try to run gal out of sight.

However, tactics change once I get Smokey Suits; then I just take my time and smoke everything and swarm targets with Fistycuffs/Cattle Prods.

Another fun tactic is I usually put my high reaction gals in armour with high NV and let them take potshots at enemies wandering in the dark.

Strategy layer: Heavily depends on what factions you get; the earlier you get Church, the better. Mercs is good too but they can be a huge struggle early-game. I seem to switch research trees between better ships (especially craft weapons!) or better armour; you can always rely on salvaged weapons/utilizing weapons from dead enemies. However, any of the "custom" weapons are generally really good research topics. 3-5 Brainers per topic, depending on the space.

edit: This is all mostly from v0.92 X-PirateZ. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 10, 2015, 04:00:34 am
1. First, remove all armour from all soldiers in a base (I assume you only have one base), unload all equipment from planes and sell all planes to make sure nothing goes wrong; save and quit.
2. Start a new game in Piratez Extended. Complete one research to make sure you have the section, save and quit.
3. Then open both .sav files in any half-decent text editor, like EditPad or Notepad++ (after making a backup of both, of course). Replace the relevant sections of the Piratez Extended save with content from the old save. It would be:
Code: [Select]
bases:
  - soldiers:
...
...
...
    items:
...
...
...
discovered:
...
...
...

Make sure that you keep the same number of spaces in indentations, because YAML is very fragile in this regard.
4. Load the doctored save in Piratez to see if it works.
5. Don't panic when it crashes, just fix your errors. :P

That's interesting, I haven't really thought of SMGs as default weapons, though I do use them. That's yet another proof of how many tactics are viable in this mod. :)
i will try, i hope it works in my my game with 4 months into in extended
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Zharkov on September 10, 2015, 03:08:19 pm
I am still alive. Got a new job, then got an even newer job. Now I am going to buy a new car. ^^

I've made a choice for the final version of the armor - sorry if it feels unfair, since some work was wasted but I have to make the choices, being ultimatively responsible for everything. Example attached.

It might be to late for this, but would be a touch of gold/yellow be more fitting with the sprites?

Zharkov, I've finished the Images, but haven't made the Inventory Pix yet, I want to see if you or Dioxine have any last moment requests.

Well, on the greyish version, the boobs look a bit like holes to me! Would you change that before making an inv pic?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2015, 03:17:17 pm
Good thing to hear that you're doing well, man :)

About the gold accents - I've wanted to do that, but decided against it - too much work. And then I've moved to other pastures - so many things to make in this mod :) At least the battlefield sprite is properly gold/red, it required some pixel-by-pixel fixes since it was getting recolored by skin/hair recoloring routine... If someone modifies the armor after my release, I might include it.

Here's a new idea I'm playing with, born from the discussion with Hellrazor on a random topic:

farming tactics make me wonder if I shouldn't put a pre-primed 'nuclear bomb' on each UFO engine. Loiter around past Turn 20, you'll get vaporized :) Wouldn't be a problem for myself since my UFO raids seldomly take over 10 turns.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 10, 2015, 03:34:46 pm
I am still alive. Got a new job, then got an even newer job. Now I am going to buy a new car. ^^

According to the member map (yeah, I'm stalking people) you live in Antarctica. Does your new car have tracks or sleighs? :)

Here's a new idea I'm playing with, born from the discussion with Hellrazor on a random topic:

farming tactics make me wonder if I shouldn't put a pre-primed 'nuclear bomb' on each UFO engine. Loiter around past Turn 20, you'll get vaporized :) Wouldn't be a problem for myself since my UFO raids seldomly take over 10 turns.

I think it's a bit extreme; even if it would be rare to see such long missions, a time limit is a time limit and nobody likes them, especially in large quantities. I'm just unsure if it would be taken well. How about making a pilot test by only adding it on some special mission, or a type of mission, so that it wouldn't overwhelm the whole game but allowed to get some feedback? But I know it would be technically difficult.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 10, 2015, 05:29:03 pm
And what would happen to those engines that are already destroyed when the UFO crashes?
I also think it is too much, especially the big UFO can take longer, and you make one playstyle impossible. Haven't tried the harder difficulties, but on those it probably take more time to whittle the enemy down as well. Maybe it would be an idea for special missions? Like you follow a probe to a UFO with valuable cargo that will explode soon, out if it is possible, you get a notification that a spike in nuclear energy is detected somewhere, most nations probably would not have the equipment to do that anymore.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Zharkov on September 10, 2015, 06:22:58 pm
Here's a new idea I'm playing with, born from the discussion with Hellrazor on a random topic:

farming tactics make me wonder if I shouldn't put a pre-primed 'nuclear bomb' on each UFO engine. Loiter around past Turn 20, you'll get vaporized :) Wouldn't be a problem for myself since my UFO raids seldomly take over 10 turns.

Ah, you are still mean! Good!

I thought about that problem, too. In a recent game, I took out one academy cruiser after another with very low losses, resulting in lots of resources. I did not think about it as farming, but felt an imbalance in the game and it was beginning to become tedious. Maybe there is an other solution to this problem, than blowing up everyone and everything (compelling as it might be...).
How about a counter, of how many ships of a certain type a faction fields in a given time. No sane being would sent the same type of ship on the same type of mission indefinitely, when it is captured by pirates every time.
Then, maybe a new mission type could be implemented that yields a high reward and stops a faction's activity for some time (e.g., raiding the academy's hq would certainly slow them down), thus making farming a bad (i.e., inefficient) choice.
Would any of this be feasible?

According to the member map (yeah, I'm stalking people) you live in Antarctica. Does your new car have tracks or sleighs? :)

Yeah, you got me on this one! Actually, it's not about a new car, but about a new dog sleigh -  I just said car, because that does not need further explanation.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2015, 06:40:10 pm
Yeah I'm thinking about these 'counters' but this requires huge amount of work - both code-wise (mission scripts) and gfx-wise (new ships, new enemies...)

Blowing ships up is more straighforward; not all of them, naturally, just some (probably, for starters, Supply Ships and Cruisers, maybe also Heavy Gunships and Frigates).

Naturally, I have no idea what'll happen if the power core is destroyed by an interceptor. Time for experiments.

(https://cdn.instructables.com/FBF/8WUB/GUR6ILMT/FBF8WUBGUR6ILMT.LARGE.jpg)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 10, 2015, 06:47:02 pm
You could have fire spreading from the ufo, and the remaining engines could explode over time. In the end a lot of money worth of booty would be lost if we turtle too much.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2015, 07:26:17 pm
Preliminary fire explosions that warn that the core breach is imminent. I like it!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 10, 2015, 08:09:46 pm
This doesn't sound great; maybe for the special Imperial Probe missions or Star Governor missions... but for rank-and-file missions? It'd make most missions even more tedious and unrewarding; might as well just crash ships and not risk anything at all; better to just wait it for the next ship.

Honestly, why punish if people want to take their time? That's their time to waste; it shouldn't be used to disincentivize players into playing a certain way. If the "turtling" tactic is an issue, it's not going to fix much because savescumming will replace it so as to finish the mission within the "time limit" or unmodding it through ruleset editing.

Not to mention sometimes you NEED that extra time when you've lost a few Hands and it takes time to regroup your gals for a breach into the UFO or as you secure floors (like in a Cruiser). Especially against factions like Star Gods or Mercenaries, those extra turns can be the difference between victory or "well screw this, why even bother?".

If the goal is to reduce the amount of salvage for players (due to turtling for X turns), then reduce the amount of salvage from ships; increase Crackdown waves, or have a faction start fielding "military-grade" ships sooner for Retaliations in response to fewer downed ships. Push the player into "cherry-picking" targets until research/tech is at end-game, rather than punishing time-consuming tactical methods.

Just my two cents.

As an aside per Dev Changes/player strategies: Long War mod is great and all for XCOM2012, but if played on Classic/Impossible (like Beaglerush does), having to play an EXACT way everytime is EXTREMELY fatiguing (https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/3k5epx/cmdr_beaglerush_is_taking_a_month_break_from_xcom/cuv5v0c). His experience may be a bit long-winded, but there's some core ideas there to consider.
Quote from: Beaglerush
Eventually, after fifteen versions and more than a couple changes that expressly targeted tactics and strategies I favoured, I think it finally feels to me like there's nothing more to iterate on. The space for ingenuity or inventiveness feels lost to me.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2015, 08:57:39 pm
It's not about the salvage; it's about AI weakness. A slow-played mission is always beneficial to the attacker, as a prolonged siege can be put up. Why securing floors, risking your skin, if you can always just mine all entrances and wait for a hundred turns. Why act quickly, if you can just smoke everything and slowly proceed with hammers and stun rods? Why give a damn if an armor slows me down, if I have all the time in the world? Or you can idulge in reaction shooting training on disarmed people. This is not in the interest of discouraging good tactics; it's in the name of more variability. But it might not be the best solution.
However, this won't be an out-of the blue explosion; there will be a "plasma vent" which warns you that only 2-8 turns remain to the core breach. If you clear the ship by 10-20 tiles, you will be safe (no total annihilation, just within 20 tiles of the power core).
Still, people do hate time limits, including myself. Even more I hate games with enemies who blow themselves up. For now, I'm consigning this behaviour to Supply Ships only, as a special situation. Your solutions are better, naturally, just much, much more difficult to add (which doesn't mean I won't be working on them) :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Yankes on September 10, 2015, 09:43:16 pm
I think better would be "soft" limit. e.g. each power core will explode in range 15 - 25 of turns. Some will explode at 15 some at 25.
Another thing could be mines plated by crew in case your assault. Until you reach it and disarm it can explode and destroy all cargo.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 11, 2015, 07:11:42 am
It's not about the salvage; it's about AI weakness. A slow-played mission is always beneficial to the attacker, as a prolonged siege can be put up. Why securing floors, risking your skin, if you can always just mine all entrances and wait for a hundred turns. Why act quickly, if you can just smoke everything and slowly proceed with hammers and stun rods? Why give a damn if an armor slows me down, if I have all the time in the world? Or you can idulge in reaction shooting training on disarmed people.

That's my point: if people want to play that way and take however long it takes or however many quicksave/quickloads, why try to punish the "normal" players in an effort to punish the "problem" players?

A (weak, tbh) comparison would be like game piracy: the only true victims are the customers who buy the product and suffer through DRM, CD-Keys, etc... while the pirates use cracks to get around the "obstacles".

As an aside, this is why I hardly ever suggested any gameplay changes. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: LexThorn on September 11, 2015, 10:09:23 am
It's not about the salvage; it's about AI weakness. A slow-played mission is always beneficial to the attacker, as a prolonged siege can be put up. Why securing floors, risking your skin, if you can always just mine all entrances and wait for a hundred turns. Why act quickly, if you can just smoke everything and slowly proceed with hammers and stun rods? Why give a damn if an armor slows me down, if I have all the time in the world? Or you can idulge in reaction shooting training on disarmed people. This is not in the interest of discouraging good tactics; it's in the name of more variability. But it might not be the best solution.
However, this won't be an out-of the blue explosion; there will be a "plasma vent" which warns you that only 2-8 turns remain to the core breach. If you clear the ship by 10-20 tiles, you will be safe (no total annihilation, just within 20 tiles of the power core).
Still, people do hate time limits, including myself. Even more I hate games with enemies who blow themselves up. For now, I'm consigning this behaviour to Supply Ships only, as a special situation. Your solutions are better, naturally, just much, much more difficult to add (which doesn't mean I won't be working on them) :)

And i think that it should be no more than option, that player can disable if he wish. Personally i hate any time limits and using slow, relaxing style of playing, with maximum profit, of corse. 
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 11, 2015, 10:50:16 am
This reminded me that the AI weaknesses sometimes drag out combat for longer than intended. From memory it is set to either move forward, shoot or pull back and it may randomly decide to pull back a lot. I had to spend many turns chasing "that guy" to the corners of the map sometimes.

But an alternative would be to use primed bombs in addition to fire to add to the danger. You have a gal pick up the "damaged power core" as in "I succeed my assault and defused the situation" to prevent its explosion, then have the rest of the team finish the job. The core weighting 99, you have one less gal on your team in exchange of this.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 11, 2015, 11:30:38 am
But an alternative would be to use primed bombs in addition to fire to add to the danger. You have a gal pick up the "damaged power core" as in "I succeed my assault and defused the situation" to prevent its explosion, then have the rest of the team finish the job. The core weighting 99, you have one less gal on your team in exchange of this.

Now... that is genius. This is a great idea; I'd even take it further to have one gal "work" on the power core, another on a "computer" and some other stations to simulate them working control panels to avoid self-destruct sequence or meltdown or some kind of "dead man switch" thingy. Bigger ships, more things to "defuse" (like a cooling system); like Cruisers with 4 Power Cores: any not destroyed by interceptors would need "defusal", UFO Navigation pieces for working control panels (re-routing power or reversing security codes, etc), and even those Red Pods (explode when damaged, not sure what they are referenced as; mainly on Cruisers/Terror Ships; I think they may be "Fuel Pods") could be like... cooling units or something?

You might even have to commit a bodyguard or two if an enemy pops up out of nowhere or one of the stunned enemies comes back. Especially because primed explosives don't go off if they are carried; essentially halting the countdown sequence, and the higher the weight, the less TUs the Gal carrying it will have for the next turn so they'd basically be unable to defend themselves (easy way to test this is to pick up a Guild Bodyguard or Mercenaries with a low Strength soldier).

Boltgun... I like you, buddy. I like you a lot, and I liked you back when you made Succubi whip goblins and summon demons in Dwarf Fortress. Right after Kobold Camp... bam, Succubus Dungeon.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 11, 2015, 03:15:40 pm
Hmm, this might be a good idea, at least for some ships. Naturally, there would be nothing stopping the player from dropping all the "self-destruct switches" onto a single gal... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 11, 2015, 07:20:42 pm
Hmm, this might be a good idea, at least for some ships. Naturally, there would be nothing stopping the player from dropping all the "self-destruct switches" onto a single gal... :)

Well given enough weight, it'd make for a REALLY prolonged maneuver; can't be thrown (maybe 1 tile?) due to excessive weight; can't moved very far in the first turn (if not dropped before ending turn) as the excessive weight would drain the holding Gal's TUs next turn (that'd actually make for some interesting !!!SCIENCING!!! to see how much TUs would be left being that overencumbered...). Considering a ship like the generic Cruiser, I could see it taking 3-5 turns at least.

Plus if it's a primed explosive and dropped to avoid the TU loss, then it'd go BOOM eventually during these maneuvers. And trying to rush to "defuse" all things in such a manner could be seen as the mechanic for Meld timers in XCOM: Enemy Within; you risk exposing your troops and puts a pressure on the player to attack quickly. At least there'd be a mechanic to "pause" the explosion, rather than a "hard" deadline of 18-25 turns of "oh you didn't move fast enough, too bad" or "oops, time to Benny Hill this enemy as he runs away from you for a few turns".

Just that ounce of "control" makes it more tactically enjoyable, rather than resorting to savescumming or just skipping "those missions".
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 11, 2015, 08:23:14 pm
It's coming together. I'll think I'll add it in this form, but still, only for those extra-juicy ships (exploding freighters would make little sense). I've even made some bigob that can be used for this... has to be 3x2 for difficulty of handling.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: LexThorn on September 11, 2015, 09:09:35 pm
It's coming together. I'll think I'll add it in this form, but still, only for those extra-juicy ships (exploding freighters would make little sense). I've even made some bigob that can be used for this... has to be 3x2 for difficulty of handling.

Would you be so kind to make this officially optional feature? Maybe, even enabled by defolt?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 11, 2015, 10:02:32 pm
I'll put it on hold for now. Except the Supply Ships. You want to farm the Supply Ships, you know the risk.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Boltgun on September 11, 2015, 11:28:41 pm
Looking good, giving specific mechanics to ships will make their documentation worthwhile to figure their puzzles out.

Also I just hit a star god pogrom, and... well... it did not end well.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 12, 2015, 01:59:42 am
Well, so far it's the first defeat of your best soldiers, you've made very far into the game before suffering it :) But don't worry, the Star Gods All Stars crew never raids your bases... unless you shot down one of their Terror ships, that is :) You really need psionic screening to overcome that obstacle... It's impossible to get total immunity to Star Gods' Panic attacks, but it's definitely possible to be 95% immune to their Mind Control. Also there are 'psi-rods'...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 12, 2015, 02:07:00 am
I already use bravery screening, of they have less than 40 (30 when I am desperate) they can go right home. Oh well, now my graphics card died, so I won't be playing anytime soon.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 12, 2015, 05:24:31 am
Bravery is irrelevant against MC attacks... And panic attacks are much less painful. Well, unless someone berserks. Although there are few armors that give extra Psi Def based on Bravery :)
The only non-psi screening I do is based on Reactions (60+ is good), but screening is too expensive until 6-10 months into the game... (earlier on lower difficulty).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Rince Wind on September 12, 2015, 12:29:39 pm
Damn, I always thought bravery would help.
 :D

Oh well, good to know.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on September 12, 2015, 02:50:36 pm
Im upgrading from 9.1 to 9.3,what did i miss and will i have problems from skiping 9.2?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 12, 2015, 08:18:15 pm
No real problems with upgrades, except for some rogue research topics - minor setbacks. As for upgrades, Sectoids and Spartans are the highlights, plus a ton of new stuff and many fixes. You might want to hold on a couple of days since 0.94 is almost ready, though... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Meridian on September 12, 2015, 09:01:37 pm
No real problems with upgrades, except for some rogue research topics - minor setbacks. As for upgrades, Sectoids and Spartans are the highlights, plus a ton of new stuff and many fixes. You might want to hold on a couple of days since 0.94 is almost ready, though... :)

Isn't it time for 1.0 already?  ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 12, 2015, 09:38:07 pm
Not reeeeally, but I think I see the light in the end of the tunnel - I should reach the planned 1.0 completeness with next 5 or so average upgrades, the last one dedicated to beautifying the whole thing. Half a year, give or take :) The mod is already satisfying my aims, I just want some more stuff in it.
Major things to add - 4 or so minor factions (for circa 20 units total), 20 or so new units for major factions, 2 full weapon lines (X-Gauss, Ion).
I'll probably keep adding some stuff past 1.0, but less frequently and in smaller packages.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Meridian on September 12, 2015, 09:47:25 pm
OK, thanks.

It looks like (based on voting) that I will start playing your mod in about 1-2 months. It would be cool to have version 1.0 before the series ends :) If we count 120 episodes, 3 a week, gives us 40 weeks, so almost a year... yeah, looks promising :D

Also, from your description it looks like there won't be any totally game breaking updates anymore... which is also very nice. Already looking forward to it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 12, 2015, 09:59:34 pm
Hello i was wasndering if it will be possible to manufacture starting weapons such as the hand cannon and boarding gun?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 12, 2015, 10:12:09 pm
Also, from your description it looks like there won't be any totally game breaking updates anymore... which is also very nice. Already looking forward to it.

No, there won't be any such drastic changes anymore, I think. I'm looking forward to it as well :)

Hello i was wasndering if it will be possible to manufacture starting weapons such as the hand cannon and boarding gun?

It is possible, and quite early on the research tree, too. Boarding Gun manufacturing is crucial to firearms progress, and Handcannon is just a bit higher up.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: niculinux on September 12, 2015, 10:25:57 pm
OK, thanks.

It looks like (based on voting) that I will start playing your mod in about 1-2 months. It would be cool to have version 1.0 before the series ends :) If we count 120 episodes, 3 a week, gives us 40 weeks, so almost a year... yeah, looks promising :D

Also, from your description it looks like there won't be any totally game breaking updates anymore... which is also very nice. Already looking forward to it.

I'd wait the 1.0 for a serie, the ultimate one on youtube!!! :P :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: jmf on September 12, 2015, 10:30:48 pm
No, there won't be any such drastic changes anymore, I think. I'm looking forward to it as well :)

It is possible, and quite early on the research tree, too. Boarding Gun manufacturing is crucial to firearms progress, and Handcannon is just a bit higher up.

really? , already in game?  them maybe i'm just dumb
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2015, 01:45:36 am
Dropping in after coming back from my holiday and thinking I'd like a new game of Piratez. Two things to say:

1- I really like the idea of self-destruct ships. Making the timer depend on the ship (high powered engines blow up faster when set to self-destruct) could help mitigate things for people who aren't into the idea. Potentially, putting two items in the engine room, one that is an incendiary and the other that's an actual explosive could work. I'd say limit the radius to include all the ship and its surrounding, but not all the map. Blowing up the whole map is a bit harsh.

2- Would it be possible to publish the mod by itself, instead of packaged with the Windows version of OpenXCom extended (maybe moving the OXCE download to a support link on the mod page)? I just finished compiling OXCE for Linux with added features (manufacturing profit, for one thing), so the Windows executable is useless. Whenever you update, we'll have to redownload OXCE for little to no gain even if using the old version of OXCE could be fine.

Just to check, is the entirety of xPiratez contained in the user folder of your Windows installation or did you change stuff in other places?

Thanks again for this mod! I'm really looking forward to my next game.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2015, 08:56:30 am
1- I really like the idea of self-destruct ships. Making the timer depend on the ship (high powered engines blow up faster when set to self-destruct) could help mitigate things for people who aren't into the idea. Potentially, putting two items in the engine room, one that is an incendiary and the other that's an actual explosive could work. I'd say limit the radius to include all the ship and its surrounding, but not all the map. Blowing up the whole map is a bit harsh.

Yeah I've said that already, limited radius, big ships only, disarm-able. But the feature is on hold - not sure if I like it myself. I mean it wouldn't be of any consequence to my own playing, as I never linger that long with a mission - unless hunting for That One Last Guy, but in such cases, the ship is long-secured. But it would put everyone on a timer, which is unfair to many playstyles, and would also imply the enemy is fanatical, which is not always the case.

2- Would it be possible to publish the mod by itself, instead of packaged with the Windows version of OpenXCom extended (maybe moving the OXCE download to a support link on the mod page)? I just finished compiling OXCE for Linux with added features (manufacturing profit, for one thing), so the Windows executable is useless. Whenever you update, we'll have to redownload OXCE for little to no gain even if using the old version of OXCE could be fine.

Just to check, is the entirety of xPiratez contained in the user folder of your Windows installation or did you change stuff in other places?

You forget about OXCom distribution (as in, folder structure, resources, rulesets). Without the correct exact Nightly, both the OXCE executable AND the mod are useless :) This also means, if your compiled build is based on a wrong nightly, the mod will fail. That's what the package contains, beside the mod itself. But yeah, the mod is fully contained within the User directory.
Also come on, it's just a couple of megabytes, few seconds even on a slowish 8 MBit connection I have :) User-end compiling is good, but I'd rather have a bigger download than half the players having no clue why the mod doesn't work/works like crap (due to possible triple incompatibility mod <> OXCE <> OXCom Nightly :) The player saves few seconds on download, and loses maybe an hour looking for / compiling the right version of everything... That'd make me a thief :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 02:41:55 pm
So...when will  9.4 be released?

Also i can make power stations which is a 9.2 addition in 9,1.Does it not show the version name properly or did i do something wrong because in 9,3 cyclops dont bleed which they do in my version but i can also make industrial printers.Im confused
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2015, 05:24:29 pm
So...when will  9.4 be released?

Also i can make power stations which is a 9.2 addition in 9,1.Does it not show the version name properly or did i do something wrong because in 9,3 cyclops dont bleed which they do in my version but i can also make industrial printers.Im confused

0.92's greeting screen was erroneously displaying 0.91 as the version or whatever, I don't remember. About the Cyclops - yeah they no longer bleed, and are more resistant to fire in 0.94, it's called updates :)

The 0.94 update - it's been up for 5 minutes already. What has changed? The major aim of the update was improving the look of the paperdolls, not only by increasing the number of faces from 8 to 32 (only Yankes makes that possible!) but also redrawing all the old and ugly armors to meet my current standards.

But it wasn't the only upgrade, naturally. Along with a few badly needed research tree (and other) fixes, there's a ton of new stuff, as usual - weapons, armors, gizmos, enemies.

Also mechanics have been changed here and there - first thing you're going to notice is the updated Inventory screen, with a Quickdraw slot and 2x2 belt bag, second - Accuracy-based damage bonus for sniper-type weapons. And lots and lots of balancing.

But wait, there's more. The boring Pogrom mission has been redesigned. The old "laser pogroms" will still happen, but a new pogrom type has appeared - with no less than 7 minor factions doing them, armed with a plethora of (usually weaker) weapons. These new Pogroms are especially prevalent in the early game. Which means, early Pogroms got easier (even if the new enemies are usually more numerous), but they're also less profitable - and impossible to stop.

Enjoy!

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Boltgun on September 14, 2015, 06:03:39 pm
Congrats for the release! I'll update before attacking year 2.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.93 - 19 Aug - Sectoids!
Post by: Hobbes on September 14, 2015, 07:03:37 pm
But it wasn't the only upgrade, naturally. Along with a few badly needed research tree (and other) fixes, there's a ton of new stuff, as usual - weapons, armors, gizmos, enemies.

Dioxine, have a look at Redux's sprites - I created several additional units based on your Spartans that you might be interested for Piratez, plus a ton of civilian in suits. There's no paper dolls or BigObs for them but they aren't completely necessary.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 07:14:39 pm
Should i start from scratch or go on with my save?I have researched factory and armors untill the loader and assault,i have yet to do higher studies or craft shield or even the 2 new transports.

Also i managed to mind controll a friendly gall out of the star god's graps and safely get her out of the way of the sectopod,then i realised that the psi icon for mind controlled psi user's popped up on the top right corner when i had her selected,this lasted even after the turn of turn.Was that a bug or intentional design to use mind controll from any range?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: LexThorn on September 14, 2015, 07:34:38 pm
Seems something is wrong with download: starting a new game, placing the base, going to inventory screen - no new paperdoll variants or holster slot. Very strange.  looks like older version was uploaded instead of new. Somebody, check please. Or maybe just i am dumb or blind or something.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 07:46:54 pm
Try to make a clean install,delete everything on the old folder and replace everything with the new
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: LexThorn on September 14, 2015, 07:52:12 pm
Try to make a clean install,delete everything on the old folder and replace everything with the new

Always making clean install. Created one more.   Checked - no changes.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 14, 2015, 08:31:54 pm
Seems something is wrong with download: starting a new game, placing the base, going to inventory screen - no new paperdoll variants or holster slot. Very strange.  looks like older version was uploaded instead of new. Somebody, check please. Or maybe just i am dumb or blind or something.

You are correct; looks like Dioxine re-uploaded v0.92 as v0.94 as all the v0.93 changes are missing and the rulesets between v0.92 and v0.94 are identical.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2015, 08:37:53 pm
Oh the terrible shame! What a disaster!  :'( Re-uploading now.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: LexThorn on September 14, 2015, 08:40:57 pm
Oh the terrible shame! What a disaster!  :'( Re-uploading now.

I was planning to start new run after update, so that was surprise)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Meridian on September 14, 2015, 08:42:36 pm
Oh the terrible shame! What a disaster!  :'( Re-uploading now.

No worries, punk still not dead  :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 09:59:39 pm
Well damn,time to re download


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Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2015, 10:13:59 pm
Argh, how many times I'll have to do this. This time it was modsite's fault, and its characteristically avant-guarde and chevalier ways of coding :) Re-uploading again, hope this works.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: niculinux on September 14, 2015, 10:32:37 pm
Hey Dioxine, though i downloaded the 0.94 version the readme still says 0.91, see the 'shot!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 10:37:53 pm
Hey Dioxine, though i downloaded the 0.94 version the readme still says 0.91, see the 'shot!
Its just the 91 readme with some addition from the newer ones,the 91 stayed because he was bored
Atleast i hope so,please dont tell me we are downloading 9.1
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2015, 10:40:05 pm
I'm getting the proper version when I try to download now. You should see 0.94 in the title screen. Filesize 27MB. Maybe the site needed time to process the file.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 14, 2015, 10:48:28 pm
Well i got this now

ERROR:UFOGRAPH/SPICONS.DAT not found

Did you get the wrong daily?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Boltgun on September 14, 2015, 11:36:40 pm
Oh the terrible shame! What a disaster!  :'( Re-uploading now.

Hahaha, I was scratching my head wondering where the shinies went!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: niculinux on September 15, 2015, 12:00:43 am
I'm getting the proper version when I try to download now. You should see 0.94 in the title screen. Filesize 27MB. Maybe the site needed time to process the file.

Yep i get the real 0.94 version but the readme in the .zip archive was not updated i'm afraid :,(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2015, 12:06:56 am
Well i got this now

ERROR:UFOGRAPH/SPICONS.DAT not found

Did you get the wrong daily?

You need to install the original UFO Defense files in the /UFO directory, my archive doesn't contain them because they're copyrighted :P


Yep i get the real 0.94 version but the readme in the .zip archive was not updated i'm afraid :,(

Whoops, forgot about that. NVMD, all is in the opening post on this thread.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Arthanor on September 15, 2015, 06:19:41 am
The update sounds great! Where did you get "inspiration" for the medieval screenshot? That shield reminds me of something..

And: At least xPiratez is contained to the user folder, that's good news to me! Having to hunt resources all over the archive was my main worry. I'll deal with the rest if you don't want to change your ways.

*Off to download a useless copy of OXCE again because xPiratez looks too good to pass on.*

You forget about OXCom distribution (as in, folder structure, resources, rulesets). Without the correct exact Nightly, both the OXCE executable AND the mod are useless :) This also means, if your compiled build is based on a wrong nightly, the mod will fail. That's what the package contains, beside the mod itself. But yeah, the mod is fully contained within the User directory.
Also come on, it's just a couple of megabytes, few seconds even on a slowish 8 MBit connection I have :) User-end compiling is good, but I'd rather have a bigger download than half the players having no clue why the mod doesn't work/works like crap (due to possible triple incompatibility mod <> OXCE <> OXCom Nightly :) The player saves few seconds on download, and loses maybe an hour looking for / compiling the right version of everything... That'd make me a thief :)
I didn't forget that, no worries ;). I did make sure I compiled the right one (which is made easier by Yankes releasing fewer versions of OXCE than there are of OXC  :P). What I was suggesting is that you could link to the required, pre-compiled, OXCE Windows version for those who want the Windows-EzWays, and provide the mod file with just the mod ready to put into the user folder for everyone. Windows instructions barely change from:

1- Download and unzip archive

to:

1- Download and unzip OXCE archive
2- Download and unzip Mod in the user folder created by the OXCE the archive (this step they should know from installing every other mod into regular OXC)

This, in turn, would allow everybody to just download the mod and overwrite the old one whenever you update xPiratez while OXCE doesn't change. It would be similar to other megamods which require (and link to) a specific nightly. With the advantage that non-windows users (me! 8) and a few others) wouldn't have to sort through the windows install to get the mod.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Boltgun on September 15, 2015, 11:27:40 am

1- Download and unzip archive

to:

1- Download and unzip OXCE archive
2- Download and unzip Mod in the user folder created by the OXCE the archive (this step they should know from installing every other mod into regular OXC)

And yet you lose half your downloads by making the installation a two step for windows users. I know this from experience.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2015, 11:41:03 am
Well, link to - where, exactly? Windows users rarely read instructions, and the modsite doesn't allow for easy, selectable multiple-file download. I'd have to put up the OXCE+Nightly on Mediafire or something like that, since OXCE is distributed w/o the required Nightly, and the Nightly in question is long gone from this site and accessible only through Git Hub.
I'll add install instructions for Linux, least I can do.

On to more pleasurable topics... The shield & sword are converted from Diablo (and you can totally shield bash!), as are several weapons, although the plate mail is 100% my own pixel art :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 15, 2015, 11:59:54 am
whoops i forgot ufographs.That explains it

As for me time to re do this adventure of throwing nuclear charges at sectopods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP1Meszo0Ys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP1Meszo0Ys)
Did excavators supposed to have people running around with stun harpoons?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2015, 12:06:48 pm
Did excavators supposed to have people running around with stun harpoons?

They do not pack any Stun ammo, no Sir... They pack killy harpoons to represent nail guns and other dangerous & workplace accident -prone equipment :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 15, 2015, 12:13:45 pm
They do not pack any Stun ammo, no Sir... They pack killy harpoons to represent nail guns and other dangerous & workplace accident -prone equipment :)
Suprisingly no satchel charges or mining lasers are here.What kind of excavation is this?For excavating ant hills?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2015, 01:04:09 pm
The corporate HQ is cutting the costs, you know well how damned expensive the satchel charges and mining lasers are, not even mentioning how much you have to pay for a trained mining laser operator :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Yankes on September 15, 2015, 08:08:47 pm
btw if someone want correct data form nightly for extended version then is possible to grab it form github:
https://github.com/Yankes/OpenXcom/tree/OpenXcomExtended/bin (last version)
or
https://github.com/Yankes/OpenXcom/tree/{{Copy and paste Extended commit number form readme}}/bin
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: VSx86 on September 16, 2015, 12:52:22 am
Hi Dioxine.

My game freezes in geoscape mode on both 0.94 and previous version.

What to do?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: ivandogovich on September 16, 2015, 04:46:21 am
Just peeking back in after vacation... the progress looks awesome!  Nice work Dioxine!! 
Can't wait for Meridian's series!! :)
Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 16, 2015, 05:32:44 am
Well, having a negative value for Vaults doesn't break anything from what I've seen. Took me awhile to get to this legitimately. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2015, 08:14:59 am
Hi Dioxine.

My game freezes in geoscape mode on both 0.94 and previous version.

What to do?

Doctored / cheat mode games are not supported... For obvious reasons - I have no idea what you've done.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: niculinux on September 16, 2015, 09:22:29 am
Hey Dioxin, playes for some time the  0.94 and please may you double check the researh because i get only scoped rifles but i'm not able to have the scoped rifle clip :(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: moriarty on September 16, 2015, 09:25:26 am
I may be wrong, but I think the scoped rifle uses the hunting rifle ammo.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: niculinux on September 16, 2015, 09:44:50 am
I may be wrong, but I think the scoped rifle uses the hunting rifle ammo.

Yes , not sure to remember, but with research along wiht it you should get the "scoped rifle clip (1x10)" that player is able to manufacture. May someone confirm or i'm worng?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2015, 10:00:29 am
Being a hunting rifle upgrade, it uses the hunting rifle clip, which can be bought in any quantity at the Black Market.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 16, 2015, 12:07:16 pm
Yes , not sure to remember, but with research along wiht it you should get the "scoped rifle clip (1x10)" that player is able to manufacture. May someone confirm or i'm worng?
Some weapons in the game use the same ammo type like flintlock rifles and pistols
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: niculinux on September 16, 2015, 12:48:25 pm
Some weapons in the game use the same ammo type like flintlock rifles and pistols

Ok, actually would make a bit more sense if these may be manufactured, in a form of 6-7 round magazine; balance is that you may buy it, spending some money, but with a bit less quantity, since in the black market every clips has 5 rounds ;) maybe for next 0.95....:)

Edit: wish the aforementioned may be a general balancing criteria for all weapons that use black market ammo ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2015, 01:16:28 pm
Ok, actually would make a bit more sense if these may be manufactured, in a form of 6-7 round magazine

It won't fit, dude. The hunting rifle is using an internal 5-round magazine.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Rince Wind on September 16, 2015, 05:28:38 pm
Is there a plassteel version?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Ridаn on September 16, 2015, 06:24:50 pm
Yes, there are plasteel hunting rifle clips. Those are manufacturable.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 17, 2015, 03:27:45 am
Another short report!

  • Gameplay Balance
     
    • Craft
       
      • CRAB – Craft Weapons – Craft has an extra weapon hardpoint (Total: 1xLT, 1xHV), despite Bootypedia entry stating “GUNS: 1xHV”. Intended?

    • Mechanics
       
      • Manufacture - Profitability - Blossom Clip/HVAP (40x10) - Can be sold at a profit with a net profit, in thousands per month, of +2,739 compared to X-Grog's +1,122.
           
      • Manufacture - Profitability - Manstopper Clip/EPulse – Sell value is identical to Manstopper Clip; $55. Sell value for Niner Clip/EPulse is $500 (compared to Niner Clip's $42). Intentional? Suggestion: increase sell value to $550.

  • Spelling
     
    • Ancient Log 1785-72 – Bootypedia entry - “Their goal was never to exterminate the humanity.” → should be “Their goal was never to exterminate humanity.”
       
      • Further: “... but stable mutations have developed over time and ...” → should be “... but stable mutations developed over time and...”.
      • Further: “... plagues of the first century of Stars Gods rule have receded.” → should be “... plagues during the first century of Star Gods' rule receded.”
      • Further: “Tyrants and warlords ruled over the devastated territories, remnants of Old Earth military technology never being a threat to planet's true masters.” → should be “Tyrants and warlords ruled over the devastated territories with remnants of Old Earth military technology, never presenting a threat to the planet's true masters.”
      • Suggestion: “Their goal was never to exterminate humanity, but to subjugate the planet and its inhabitants. Majority of the planet was annihilated, land and life alike, but mutated lifeforms stabilized as plagues faded during the first century under the Star Gods' rule. Tyrants and warlords rose up among the ashes of civilization using Old Earth military technology, but none were ever a threat to the planet's new masters.”

    • Higher Studies – Bootypedia entry - “From the dirties pits of hell...” → should be “From the dirtiest pits of hell...”.
       
    • VooDoo Classes – Soldiers Screen – States “Remaining Psi-lab capacity>”. Intended?

  • Miscellaneous
     
    • Blossom Clip (40x10) – Manufacture – Listed under category “Ammunition: Special” instead of “Ammunition: Standard”. Intended?
       
    • Power Mace – Multiple – Appeared in Bootypedia/Manufacture screens without any prompts. Ruleset delving states unlocks after completing research on Forcefields. Intended?
       
    • Star God Operative – Bootypedia – Bootypedia entry did not prompt after completion of research interrogation.
       
    • Toxigun Clip (5x5) - Manufacture – Produces “Toxin Tank”; should be Toxigun Clip in item screen or “Toxin Tank (5x5)” in manufacture screen.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 18, 2015, 02:17:46 pm
I have a few questions.Is a shotgun with 50x8 deal 50 damage for each of the 8 shots?

How are the #.# calculated?What are they supposed to represent?

I see some #/## numbers in that fashion.What are they?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 18, 2015, 05:42:12 pm
I have a few questions.Is a shotgun with 50x8 deal 50 damage for each of the 8 shots?

How are the #.# calculated?What are they supposed to represent?

I see some #/## numbers in that fashion.What are they?

Ammunition clips (Item Stores, Manufacture screens, etc) represent the number of shots in a clip/magazine and how many clips/magazines are produced. (YxZ Clips means "Y" number of shots in a single clip, "Z" the number of clips produced)

Weapons that "spray" like Shotguns (not all Shotguns do) that have a YxZ damage type in the Bootypedia means each pellet does "Y" damage and there are "Z" pellets; 50x2 means 50 dmg, 2 pellets - an upgrade would be 50x4 (more chances to hit with a pellet) or 60x2 (more damage per pellet). These types of weapons, understandably, deal a much higher amount of damage upclose than from afar.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 18, 2015, 08:25:09 pm
I have also see some weapon calculations that confuse me

specificaly the strenght 0.5

and one another that had something like 4/25

i dont remember the latter but i think it was something like that

These appear in the bootypedia at the weapon page
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 18, 2015, 09:18:12 pm
I have also see some weapon calculations that confuse me

specificaly the strenght 0.5

and one another that had something like 4/25

i dont remember the latter but i think it was something like that

These appear in the bootypedia at the weapon page

Some weapons have bonuses to Hit % and/or Damage Increase.

Those that say "Skill:" use that particular attribute equation to boost the Hit %.
Examples:
Machete - Base Accuracy: 80%, Skill: Melee/2+50 means whatever the Soldier's Melee Skill is (say, 80) divided by 2, plus 50 for a total of 90 times the weapon's base Accuracy 80% for a boosted Hit % of 96%.
Dagger - Base Accuracy: 75%, Skill: Melee means whatever the Soldier's Melee Skill is (again, 80) for a total of 80 times the weapon's base accuracy 75% for a Hit % of 60%.

So essentially, the Machete is better for low Melee Skill soldiers than Dagger, but high Melee Skill soldiers are better using Dagger.

For POWER bonuses, particular attributes are equated to boost the damage of a weapon.
Examples:
Machete - Base Damage: 20, POWER Bonus: Strength*0.2+Melee*0.1 means Soldier's Strength (say, 55) multiplied by 0.2 plus Soldier's Melee Skill (again, 80) multiplied by 0.1 and the sum of these two is added to the Base Damage (20) for a total of 39 damage.
Dagger - Base Damage: 20, POWER Bonus: Strength*0.2+Melee*0.2 means Soldier's Strength (again, 55) multiplied by 0.2 plus Soldier's Melee Skill (again, 80) multiplied by 0.2 and the sum of these two is added to the Base Damage (20) for a total of 47 damage.

So again, Machete is better suited for low Strength/Melee Skill Soldiers, as Daggers are better for high Strength/Melee Skill Soldiers.

Formula functions are great as they can be made to do them automatically (with like Excel, Calc), but generally weapons with high base accuracy and limited Power bonuses are best for unskilled soldiers, but best to find the highest attribute(s) of a Soldier and try to find a weapon(s) that fits best.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Alex_D on September 19, 2015, 06:01:59 am
(my apologies if this question has been asked before)

In OXC/OXCE, is it true combat units (examples: tanks, dogs, etc.) still cannot be used for manufacturing other items ?

By the way the Tank Autocannon is perhaps the best early game unit one can have :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 19, 2015, 12:55:06 pm
Sure they can, they always could. They're not named, after all.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 19, 2015, 01:51:37 pm
I found out that the quick switch item slot may cause unlimited TUs
https://imgur.com/edit?album_id=OfidU
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 19, 2015, 02:17:14 pm
Okay how did you cause that, step by step?

Edit:
NVMD, found the bug. QD slot -> belt TU cost was not defined.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 19, 2015, 04:17:53 pm
The game crashed after the second turn of the doom demon faction.The invisible pinky was the last to move before the crash
I also fired a baby nuke killing some enemies while in the second turn some demons blow some barrels and killed themselves
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: DracoGriffin on September 19, 2015, 05:37:23 pm
I found out that the quick switch item slot may cause unlimited TUs
https://imgur.com/edit?album_id=OfidU

That's funny. Throw on Spear or Cattle Prod and win first turn. :D

The game crashed after the second turn of the doom demon faction.The invisible pinky was the last to move before the crash
I also fired a baby nuke killing some enemies while in the second turn some demons blow some barrels and killed themselves

Always make sure to attach saves if you want Dioxine to be able to research instances like this bug/crash.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 19, 2015, 05:47:07 pm
How do i publish my save here?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Alex_D on September 19, 2015, 08:02:33 pm
Sure they can, they always could. They're not named, after all.

I was thinking if it is within your plans, given the proper research, to implement something like this:

Transform the tank wreck into a tank chassis, build it from scratch, add a disassemble for combat tanks so they can be re-purposed into a different class, in case someone starts to run short of tank wrecks. I know, I just did it  :P

I suppose a similar feature can be added to the Slaves. Like "prepping" them ("chained", suspended animation) for transport  from base to base, like the superslave (which could be demoted). The list can go on and on, like adding sensors to dogs or stunt functions.

Ok, I should not let myself be carried away :)

I'm advancing my game, waiting for the last two top tier enemies for interrogation.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 19, 2015, 08:39:57 pm
Im in a terror mission and im sick off breaking apartment walls to find a enemy stuck inside a room,where do i find the enemies in the save so i can give them fatal wounds.Im fighting the doom demons faction.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 21, 2015, 02:16:10 pm
I was thinking if it is within your plans, given the proper research, to implement something like this:

Transform the tank wreck into a tank chassis, build it from scratch, add a disassemble for combat tanks so they can be re-purposed into a different class, in case someone starts to run short of tank wrecks. I know, I just did it  :P

I suppose a similar feature can be added to the Slaves. Like "prepping" them ("chained", suspended animation) for transport  from base to base, like the superslave (which could be demoted). The list can go on and on, like adding sensors to dogs or stunt functions.

Ok, I should not let myself be carried away :)

The tanks are supposed to work like this at some point, yeah, so you can upgrade your old tanks with new turrets or switch turrets, eg. Battlecannon to Mortar and back, depending on a whim.

The rest of the ideas isn't that wild either, but slave transport won't be that easy for gameplay reasons - probably will require some sort of "spedition" building.

@doctor medic: if you're having trouble with crashing missions, re-load the game from before the mission (with savescumming on) and land again. Pogrom crashes are due to map problems, and they happen very rarely, maybe once in 50 Pogroms, depending on map generation.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 23, 2015, 01:47:47 pm
Does incidienery and cutting damage types ignore armor?I always wondered how a cutlass can kill a power armor that easily
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 23, 2015, 01:58:59 pm
Incendiary does ignore armor (also Smoke does). Cutting does not. Melee weapons simply cause tons of damage - a cutlass wielded by a strong warrior inflicts 60-80 average damage.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 23, 2015, 04:39:55 pm
So if i wanted to go throught the front armor of a sectopod what weapon would do the work apart from the laser sword?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 23, 2015, 04:57:48 pm
The Man-Portable Lascannon - the ultimate can-opener. The Heavy Laser is insufficient unless you fire in the back. Sectopods are also riduclously vulnerable to fire (like all 2x2 units, they take quad damage from area-effect weapons, and have no fire-res), which will be corrected in the next version...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 23, 2015, 08:16:57 pm
You would think that a sectopod would be immune to fire,atleast tanks have resistance to it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Dioxine on September 23, 2015, 09:21:30 pm
Perhaps it should be, but it would mean death sentence to those who have no access to other ways of dealing with it...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: doctor medic on September 23, 2015, 09:40:28 pm
By that time they should have nuclear charges.also the last thing people would do is to use fire
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 23, 2015, 11:11:05 pm
By that time they should have nuclear charges.also the last thing people would do is to use fire

Why? I like fire. :) But maybe it's just me. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Zharkov on September 23, 2015, 11:31:54 pm
-
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 24, 2015, 01:30:28 am
Exactly, Zharkov. All scenarios that make it ineffective are just bullshit. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Boltgun on September 24, 2015, 11:43:01 am
Sectopods are also riduclously vulnerable to fire (like all 2x2 units, they take quad damage from area-effect weapons, and have no fire-res)

But, but, but...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.94 - 14 Sep - New Faces
Post by: Alex_D on September 25, 2015, 06:59:27 am
Speaking of fire... favorite gun: the Hellgun :D
Too bad I got only one made.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 27, 2015, 10:51:53 pm
0.95 is up! Bugfixes, changes, new stuff, and speaking of changes, something that'll probably freak some people out, but it adds a 'soft limit' on battle length, favoring the bold, while not overtly punishing those who prefer to take things slower. We'll see how it'll work out...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Alex_D on September 28, 2015, 01:01:52 am
0.95 is up! Bugfixes, changes, new stuff, and speaking of changes, something that'll probably freak some people out, but it adds a 'soft limit' on battle length, favoring the bold, while not overtly punishing those who prefer to take things slower. We'll see how it'll work out...

Thanks for the new version. I have a late game going on, my take so far:
Like: Annihilator suits, heavy plasma, electro-whip, mind control, for all gals on the main base, dominating the game. It appears to be still the case.
No Like: The Counterfeit part requiring some real chips to start with. I have to demolish nearly all my mints and build stills instead to make grog again. :)
Edit: The trick, so it appears, is to get a silver chip then mint purple and then blue chips without selling. Only sell the red chips.
Question: The steady moral loss, applies to all battles, I suppose? Because, it may be not good on a Hideout defense where one has to hide.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 02:01:15 am
The morale loss applies to all battles. But I will think about adding some ways to combat it, especially suited for defensive missions. Like masseurs :)

About the chips - yeah you can't build them from nothing but the net gain has been increased. Maybe I'll add some extra secondary function for the Mint (10 work space isn't enough I think...).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 28, 2015, 10:24:22 am
I'm not sure how to feel about combat stress because I lose controls of my gals very quickly already.  Yesterday, I fought one star god and half my squad was running in circles. We'll see how it goes.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 11:01:07 am
You're able to shrug off most of their Psi Attacks if you come prepared - with psi screening and psi-buffing gear. If you don't, there WILL be trouble. That's why the Star Gods proper will never attack your hideouts unless provoked, it'd often amount to instant game over.
In normal missions, the impact of combat stress is unnoticeable for me - there's additional pressure but no real problems. Also there are many outfits that decrease the rate of combat stress, Bravery is also a major factor (you lose 14 Morale each turn with Bravery 10, and only 7 with Bravery 80). This was done to add human frailty element into the game, and to slightly punish campers (with the right gear and high-Bravery gals, you can decrease the combat stress to almost 0 - it just forces the campers to prepare more thoroughly. However before you get the hi-end gear, you're paying with armor protection). It also forces those who rely on 'superfast' gear to actually act swiftly. Said gear was buffed a bit TU, Stamina and Reaction-wise to compensate.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on September 28, 2015, 11:10:48 am
I, for one, am glad to see this.
Bravery is a completely useless stat in vanilla, now there's finally a difference between having cowards or heroes in your team.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 28, 2015, 11:24:56 am
You're able to shrug off most of their Psi Attacks if you come prepared - with psi screening and psi-buffing gear. If you don't, there WILL be trouble. That's why the Star Gods proper will never attack your hideouts unless provoked, it'd often amount to instant game over.
In normal missions, the impact of combat stress is unnoticeable for me - there's additional pressure but no real problems. Also there are many outfits that decrease the rate of combat stress, Bravery is also a major factor (you lose 14 Morale each turn with Bravery 10, and only 7 with Bravery 80). This was done to add human frailty element into the game, and to slightly punish campers (with the right gear and high-Bravery gals, you can decrease the combat stress to almost 0 - it just forces the campers to prepare more thoroughly. However before you get the hi-end gear, you're paying with armor protection). It also forces those who rely on 'superfast' gear to actually act swiftly. Said gear was buffed a bit TU, Stamina and Reaction-wise to compensate.

Ah okay, so I will be able to avoid having my sniper falling in fetal position at turn 5. Then that should work.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 11:28:31 am
Everyone in the squad gets +10 Morale per each enemy kill (I think?). Kill at least 1 enemy each turn and you'll be perfectly fine :) Also - she IS a coward, isn't she? :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: alinare on September 28, 2015, 01:47:41 pm
Hello Dioxine:

I'm trying to figure out, what is the instruction to reduce the fighting morale by each passing day, to simulate a state of stress, but I can not give the specific line shift. Would you be so kind as to lay that out, if possible?
Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 02:29:33 pm
I have no idea what you're talking about, sorry. The morale deteriorates in combat, not in geoscape. If you're asking if it's possible to tweak Morale in geoscape, then, no, there is no such function.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: doctor medic on September 28, 2015, 03:09:30 pm
Finaly,vodka and rum willl finaly have their pain killer's used

I dont see too many research changes so i think its safe enough to install without my save's being blown up
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 28, 2015, 03:32:18 pm
Everyone in the squad gets +10 Morale per each enemy kill (I think?). Kill at least 1 enemy each turn and you'll be perfectly fine :) Also - she IS a coward, isn't she? :)

Rince Wind with 10 bravery, and probably high voodoo power because the star gods did not gave her a try. Very fitting.

By the way, the quick draw slot put a few grenades in limbo in the inventory screen. Nothing I cannot sort with some save editing but it is worth the warning.

I do have a question, does the surgery room has an effect besides unlocking manufacturing?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 03:44:25 pm
By the way, the quick draw slot put a few grenades in limbo in the inventory screen. Nothing I cannot sort with some save editing but it is worth the warning.

Use the "clear inventory" button, dude (lower-right corner) :3

I do have a question, does the surgery room has an effect besides unlocking manufacturing?

It is required to manufacture some stuff, and to build some facilities. Don't worry every item/facility that needs it has that in its description (or should have...) :) Quicker healing hasn't been implemented in OXCom yet, if that's what you're asking...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: doctor medic on September 28, 2015, 03:44:30 pm
I found 2 bugs,When you dont have enough energy to open a door it will say you dont have enough TU
When i right click the laboratory it opens the storage screen instead of the research screen,probably had to do with it increasing storage
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 03:48:03 pm
I found 2 bugs,When you dont have enough energy to open a door it will say you dont have enough TU
When i right click the laboratory it opens the storage screen instead of the research screen,probably had to do with it increasing storage

OXCom bugs. We'll see if they're fixed when I update to the newer Nightly. Might be worth reporting on the bugtracker too. I didn't even know opening the door costed any Energy...???
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: alinare on September 28, 2015, 07:29:18 pm
Hello Dioxine:

 misspoke. I was referring to the stress suffered during combat by hands, not in the geosphere. I had a little lapse. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2015, 07:35:15 pm
Then it's all laid out in the Pedia article screenshot I've posted.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Rince Wind on September 28, 2015, 07:57:23 pm
Rince Wind with 10 bravery, and probably high voodoo power because the star gods did not gave her a try. Very fitting.

By the way, the quick draw slot put a few grenades in limbo in the inventory screen. Nothing I cannot sort with some save editing but it is worth the warning.

I do have a question, does the surgery room has an effect besides unlocking manufacturing?

That is insulting. I am not a coward! I repeat, I am not a cowa...omg, is he carrying a gun? Tell me he is not carrying a fun.. SAVE ME! He is carrying aa goddam gun!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 28, 2015, 08:02:09 pm
Unsurprisingly, the morale decay turned out to be quite controversial, to the point of eclipsing all the other changes and additions (those Destroyers... D: ). Therefore, I'd like to give my two cents on it after playing a couple missions.
My impression: while it is a bit disconcerting to see the morale bar not full before you even start, the difference in actual gameplay between this system and vanilla is approximately zero.
It could be argued that my missions were of the faster type, being mostly against Hoppers and an Escort. Nevertheless, after 2 turns there are typically at least two or three dead enemies, which more than makes up for how much morale you could lose. Since it would require four or five turns of not killing anyone for your most weak-willed girls to start losing it, the decay is almost solely a psychological trick to put the player under pressure rather than actually change the mechanics.
Of course one can think of situations where this is not accurate, for example when you can't find enemies. These situations are rare though and can be remedied with... well, nothing special at the moment, but I believe it'll change. For now, just:

(https://i.imgur.com/7IEIPyu.png)

If you actually have any trouble concerning morale decay, please don't hold me responsible - I've only played for one evening, which is hardly a comprehensive test. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: doctor medic on September 28, 2015, 08:34:17 pm
Are the enemies affected by this too?They seem to be panicking more quickly than last time.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: moriarty on September 28, 2015, 09:05:10 pm
I have to admit that I haven't gotten around to playing the newest build yet, but I like the idea of Combat Stress very much. It got me thinking though: do you think this could be taken even further, like instant-morale-losses for seeing especially fearsome enemies? perhaps then alleviated by having them researched?

For example, I would think that the gals would panick when facing powerful enemies (especially the terror units), but they wouldn't panick as much once they have a full autopsy of it... "if it bleeds, we can kill it"
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: niculinux on September 28, 2015, 10:14:00 pm
Hey, nice idea the stress! But i tend to face battles at a slower pace so i'm not very enthusiast!  :-[ Weel, on one hand women are prone to stress and :) but remember the gals in the game are mutants, so things should be quite difference..hence i'd slow the morale loss, and make it start after 40 turns or more...or maybe tie it to certain conditions, still don't know :(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: ivandogovich on September 28, 2015, 11:21:35 pm
I'll chip in on the stress conversation and say that it freaks me the heck out. 

I feel like it is designed to negate a certain playstyle (Camping).   As such, its really an arbitrary decision to force an aggressive playstyle on the player. 

I realize it will have little to no impact on some players, but others (like myself) were blown away at how devastatingly hard the mod could be even before extended and the new combat stress mechanic.  Its really a matter of playstyles.  I had to adapt/change mine to gain any ground, and even with my adaptations, I think that I would still have squad panics with this new mechanic.   So by forcing playstyles, it kind of feels to me like you are narrowing the game down into only certain solutions.... more like a puzzle game.  Once you figure out the solution, the game gets easy, but you are punished otherwise.  That goes against what I appreciate about many well designed games (OpenXcom, Jagged Alliance 2, Civ, etc) that allow you multiple paths to success.   

Anyway, thats just my two cents on Game Design.

And yeah, if morale is going to be that much bigger of a factor, ensure that the antidotes are readilly available... booze, etc, and maybe quicker to use.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Hobbes on September 28, 2015, 11:39:23 pm
Weel, on one hand women are prone to stress

Some may see this association as insulting to women, and there are actually a few of them on these forums. I'm sure you meant no offense though :)

Just to chip in the issue of the automatic morale loss: what's the need of such a system?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Yankes on September 29, 2015, 12:35:24 am
To recreate https://www.darkestdungeon.com/ in OXC? :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Soyden on September 29, 2015, 02:28:26 am
My own experience with combat stress in game so far today is its bad for mind puppet heavy strategies that focus on live capture. I'm using a save from the last version that I've been continually sliding over since before .94. Its on the easiest difficultly because I wanted to learn the mod first before really cranking it up. I've been running very aggressive capture operations using voodoo. My squad is composed of 5 witches and the rest are in blitz armor. It lasted around 7-8 turns I think and 3 of the blitz armor girls stared freaking out on turn 6 but the witches were still in the low seventies on morale. I was running this as a capture operation, meaning I only shot and killed one enemy who was to far to bother catching with voodoo. I do wonder if this was the lower difficulty making things tougher. Higher difficulties mean increases in the numbers of hostiles, yes? I did notice the +2 stress on the blitz armor description does that mean its more stressful to wear? I was assaulting a trader cruiser that I had shot down if that's important.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Soyden on September 29, 2015, 05:30:40 am
I hadn't realized the plasma destroyers changed too. It was very surprising to see the UFO corridor suddenly bathed in fire like that but also very cool. I do wonder what it would be like if the heavy plasma guns or the star god plasma attack had a similar but smaller effect like a energy blast of 1 or 2?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: LexThorn on September 29, 2015, 12:18:05 pm
Played few missions with battle stress. Discovered that this mecanic not fitting with my playstyle (maximum live captives). I suggest to make this mecanic optonal or swichable or difficulty-level-dependent. It would be nice, if such time-restricting mecanics (battle stress and ships self destruction) will be optional. Maybe it is not difficult to separate them as couple costom rulsets that can be disabled?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on September 29, 2015, 12:33:34 pm
Maybe it is not difficult to separate them as couple custom rulesets that can be disabled?

That's a good idea, I support it...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 29, 2015, 01:09:37 pm
Played few missions with battle stress. Discovered that this mecanic not fitting with my playstyle (maximum live captives). I suggest to make this mecanic optonal or swichable or difficulty-level-dependent. It would be nice, if such time-restricting mecanics (battle stress and ships self destruction) will be optional. Maybe it is not difficult to separate them as couple costom rulsets that can be disabled?

The best is to tune them until acceptable values and give ways to combat it.

In higher difficulties there is more enemies and so more morale to gain. Also I'd get that hitting 40 or so will train them and over time, making them more resistant to psy panics.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: doctor medic on September 29, 2015, 01:39:05 pm
An option to counter the extreme wealth which some people may not like?Sure

A forced game mechanic that somewhat hinders the capture mechanic?Should have been thought better.

And dont remind me of the moments when a stuned enemy is awaken and i have to search all the map,especialy if it is night and/or a terror mission.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: LexThorn on September 29, 2015, 01:49:33 pm
An option to counter the extreme wealth which some people may not like?Sure

A forced game mechanic that somewhat hinders the capture mechanic?Should have been thought better.

And dont remind me of the moments when a stuned enemy is awaken and i have to search all the map,especialy if it is night and/or a terror mission.

One more thing: every one of us plays his own story in his head, when watchin those sprites. It often feels uncomfortable when time limitations comes in, disrupts stories wariants i like.  I agree that this is good mecanics. And i am shure than many will want to use them.  But if it will be optional - that would be the best solution!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Ajaxial on September 29, 2015, 02:35:10 pm
One more thing: every one of us plays his own story in his head, when watchin those sprites. It often feels uncomfortable when time limitations comes in, disrupts stories wariants i like.  I agree that this is good mecanics. And i am shure than many will want to use them.  But if it will be optional - that would be the best solution!

Agreed. Reminds me of UFO Two Sides. (Before it got shut down) The singleplayer of it reduced your mission score for each turn taken. I was able to take out an entire base with no losses, using only rookies and basic rifles with no armour.

But because I took it super slow and careful. The game ended up giving me a -400 score. Completely ruined the fun, and wasted a massive portion of my time.

I really like the idea of combat stress and morale fatigue. However the execution seems to leave me wanting. Perhaps a less steep stress curve or just a different implementation of its working entirely.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 29, 2015, 04:24:38 pm
An option to counter the extreme wealth which some people may not like?Sure

A forced game mechanic that somewhat hinders the capture mechanic?Should have been thought better.

And dont remind me of the moments when a stuned enemy is awaken and i have to search all the map,especialy if it is night and/or a terror mission.

That's why I have swabbies staying to guard the stunned. This makes a lot of sense. Also enemy bleeding already hinder capture (otherwise I'd have captured at least one of each enemy), which is why I use vodka on them.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2015, 04:36:59 pm
Well... I am sorry this disrupts the most profitable approach of maximum live captives, and the easiest approach of sitting and sniping. And somewhat punishes sloppy players who can't control the map and have their captives running (protip: dump unconscious patients into smoke - you have literally dozens of turns before they wake up after the smoke has dispersed, well except for rare smoke-immune captives).

I agree with the storytelling part; I'm adding the element of impeding danger to these stories. It's no picnic; a super-long mission increases the chance of something going bad, like the raiding party being ambushed by enemy reinforcements. Pirates are superstisious like that. It can be also interpreted of them going bored.

Whining is easy. Using the ways to counteract provided by the game is a bit harder (bravery-boosting & stress-lessening armors; sure they're usually worse in other ways). Is the curve too steep? In my playtesting I haven't even noticed the morale problem. At all. So I don't think it's steep. If it was a long-haul capture mission... yeah there could be a moment where people are missing half their turns due to going bananas. So what? Equipped with brass knuckles they're, you know, rather unlikely to shoot their comrades. You can even holster said knuckles to avoid dropping them. Plus, they train Bravery... which is naturally an easy abuse which has me more worried about the whole thing...

About making this more complex - nah, I simply can't. It's a simple morale drain, dependant on Bravery and outfit. Not much else can be done. Some fine-tuning might be in order (slower/faster loss rate, means to actively combat the morale loss), but that requires more experience.

In any case, this is a test run, not 1.0, and nobody is forcing anybody here... if the mechanic turns out to suck, it will be taken down at some point. I wanted to add some ticking clock mechanics, and the exploding ships were a bad idea. So this is instead of exploding ships (except the Supply Ship, Supply Ship farmers ought to know what kind of game they're playing...). We'll see how it goes. So far there were only few actual combat experiences posted here; but it wasn't clear if these people tried to adjust their teams to better fit their slow-approach playstyles, or just played as if nothing has changed (without paying attention to Bravery and imminent panic at all).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: ivandogovich on September 29, 2015, 05:47:32 pm
Ok. "Whining."

Hmm...  well, my intent was not to whine, but to discuss game design and to argue for more options for playstyle instead of narrowing them down.

But... well, it feels like that type of discussion isn't welcome.  I'm not sure if that is the intent or not.  I'll keep quiet in the future if you prefer, Dioxine.

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Ajaxial on September 29, 2015, 06:06:44 pm
Well... I am sorry this disrupts the most profitable approach of maximum live captives, and the easiest approach of sitting and sniping. And somewhat punishes sloppy players who can't control the map and have their captives running

I honestly can't tell if you are being sarcastic and somewhat aggresive in regards to less than veteran players. Or if you are genuine in sincerity?

Whining is easy.

Uhhh, it's called feedback, not whining...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 29, 2015, 06:19:53 pm
I played a couple more missions, including two base defences, and I still haven't noticed any problem. The only single time someone panicked was when she was on fire, and I believe morale decay was a minor factor here (she was okay in the end). So I really can't see a problem.
Sure, it can be said that it's a matter of playstyle. But I don't think my playstyle is ultra fast or anything. I honestly can't imagine anyone going much slower when playing seriously.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2015, 06:29:52 pm
Whining - as in painting disastrous scenarios disconnected from the reality. Sure it does seem like forcing players to act fast, but does it actually - in combat experience - force them to act fast, or does it give enough alternatives? Is it possible to prepare to alleviate these problems, or not? If indeed this mechanic forces 'the only true approach', I agree it is bad and it will be changed or taken down. It wasn't my aim to discourage discussion. I might be unnecesarily blunt, in part because I've foreseen such a response (though I didn't specify who, if anyone, was actually whining), but it's also a bit unfair implying that I don't listen to what people say, as dozens and dozens of changes were made based on suggestions from this thread.

But let's make one thing clear - this mod is intended for veteran players. It is intended to be challenging. Making it casual was never my aim. The flip side of the 'combat stress' coin is massively decreased difficulty level on early Pogroms since 0.94 (read: the mission an unexperienced player will find the most abundant).

Yes I am sarcastic, but not in regards to weak players personally; I'm sarcastic about the notion that something which disrupts the most profitable strategies and punishes weak play is somehow bad in itself. It would only be bad if it, indeed, changed the game into some kind of one-true-way logic puzzle. Something I want to avoid.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on September 29, 2015, 06:33:50 pm
Registered to chip in.

While I'm certainly nowhere near "experienced user" of this mod (picked it up only a week ago), I'm getting the feeling that morale drain provides frustration for no good reason. While in theory its meaning of preventing camping sounds reasonable, in practice it all goes to "everything is circumstantial". The combat is HUGELY circumstantial in the early game (and to an inexperienced player), where your resources are quite limited and you are likely to make quite a few suboptimal moves due to lack of deep knowledge on how it all works together, you don't know which weaknesses your enemies have, and so on.

And eventually, morale drain leaves you in a lose-lose situation: you either risk and press on, only to (likely) overextend and get a hand killed (which will ALSO drain morale), or you sit out, only to someone lose it, panic, and run towards enemies (and get killed, and incur more morale drain).

In my particular example, I had a very first pogrom in a fresh 0.95 game (veteran difficulty), where map was laid out in such a way so that a huge enemy cluster occupied two two-story buildings in corner surrounded by open areas. So I employed smoke and run through to avoid snipers. Well okay, but there were quite a few close-combat guys around as well, and so they happily killed two of my hands, which, combined with natural morale drain, was exactly enough to send all my surviving crew in panic (apart from 80 bravery medic with terrible stats except for bravery). Eventually, the panic spiral led to me aborting mission with two survivors.

Not like I object to the fact that I couldn't beat the mission, I object to the fact that my loss was based almost entirely on "random circumstances" - map layout/enemy spawns, and the fact that my initial hands mostly had lower than average bravery (some 10s, a lot of 20-30s, one 50, one 80).

But as I played further, I also saw that it's also quite abusable for purposes of bravery training, where (after eventually making a high-bravery core crew) I could pick a 10-bravery person, put her through a couple of "training missions" (which mostly revolved around scouting general enemy dispositions and then doing nothing until weak-willed start panicking), and end up with respectable 40 or 50 bravery.


My impressions as a whole - while morale drain may have reached the target audience (I don't know, I tend to play fairly aggressively with or without morale drain) - it also creates a bunch of early-game situations where you lose "just because the game says so", not because you made lots of terrible mistakes or got yourself in a fight that's way above your current tech level. And as you progress through the game - it also becomes self-defeating, because morale drain also allows you to quickly train people to be resistant to it (though lame gamey exploitation of stat gain rules).

In the end, I opted to edit the rules, and remove all the morale drain from armors.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: LexThorn on September 29, 2015, 06:36:07 pm
Was just trying to give feedback and some suggestions, not wining.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2015, 06:58:04 pm
There are several solutions I see here...
1. Making this an optional mod to the mod, just like the helmetless armors;
2. Reducing the problems by reducing the drain (or making it disproportionately visible for low Bravery?) and/or adding some helping mechanics (like an option to drop a whole turn for an instant morale gain);
3. Replacing the stress mechanic with something else that gives similar effect but less frustration/abuse. No idea what it'd be, yet.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: LexThorn on September 29, 2015, 07:15:33 pm
There are several solutions I see here...
1. Making this an optional mod to the mod, just like the helmetless armors;
2. Reducing the problems by reducing the drain (or making it disproportionately visible for low Bravery?) and/or adding some helping mechanics (like an option to drop a whole turn for an instant morale gain);
3. Replacing the stress mechanic with something else that gives similar effect but less frustration/abuse. No idea what it'd be, yet.

I think it can be 1 and 2 way together, so we wont loose mecanic and it will be possable to tune it until acceptable form.  Optionality is VERY good idea. Is it difficult tecnically?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on September 29, 2015, 07:18:06 pm
In fact, I wouldn't mind some mechanic for "giving a push" to players, similar to what's seen in various roguelites (FTL, Bedlam, Darkest Dungeon), but basing such a mechanic on morale seems like a bad idea - due to spiraling effects of bad morale, and due to player's inability to do anything with affected troops until they stop panicking/berserking (short of killing or stunning them).

Although I understand that adding something like, say, "uneventful turn limit counter" (and if you run out, your team just pack and leave) is beyond current modding capacity of openxcom, extender or not.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 29, 2015, 07:21:42 pm
Speaking of Darkness Dungeons, their devs also have to handle similar problems with two game mechanics that I find totally okay. So I'll give more feedback once I have a few missions behind me.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on September 29, 2015, 07:27:56 pm
Speaking of Darkness Dungeons, their devs also have to handle similar problems with two game mechanics that I find totally okay.
There are two very important differences in DD:
1) You can give up any time while not in combat, and you can attempt to give up any time while in combat. "Any time" is crucial, in XCOM you can give up only when most of your team is back in the craft, otherwise you incur heavy losses.
2) The player is given active counters on resource drain (food/heal for hp, stress heal/torch for stress - and also passive random virtues for stress).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: CSam on September 29, 2015, 07:52:59 pm
Hello, I've been playing X-Piratez since v0.92, and decided to start a new game on v0.95 to try some of the changes which looked interesting. I would like to provide some feedback on the changes I have noticed, since the author seems to appreciate this.

Since the combat stress mechanic seems to be a point of discussion, I will first give my opinion on this. After having started a new game, I found the combat stress to be negligible when recovering UFOs. Even when acting fairly cautiously, I was able to keep morale high with a kill per turn or so. During the two terror missions I have encountered so far, however, I have noticed a much greater impact. The first 2/3 of the mission proceeds normally, but when trying to mop up the spread out survivors who are usually concealed I was unable to keep morale up. I was unable to retreat my panicking soldiers to the Bonaventura before the 20-turn rule kicked in and the straggling enemy spartans finally emerged to pick off my helpless soldiers.

I like the idea of the combat stress mechanics, but I believe that the current implementation is a bit too harsh on larger maps. I play pretty recklessly, but on terror mission maps, especially ones with very dense structures such as those 5-story apartment buildings (sometimes 2 or 3 of these buildings per map even) the enemies are too spread out for me to adhere to a time limit reasonably. Maybe I just need to learn to use the motion scanners more in such situations. I suspect other large map events, such as cruiser UFOs and alien base assaults experience a similar issue.

I think that part of the problem some people might be experiencing with the combat stress is that it seems at a glance that knocking out enemies does not grant morale recovery like killing them does. If a player were to rely heavily on nonlethal weapons and attempt to take many enemies prisoner, they would succumb to stress much faster. I have not tested this directly, but I think I will use the debug mode to check it out.

If possible, it might be a good idea to reduce the stress factor on larger maps. The nature of the game simply makes it overly difficult to clear some maps quickly. Some terror maps are relatively friendly, open areas, but it's those dense city blocks with bunches of hotels, movie theaters, and apartment buildings that make it tough to deal with. Another possibility is to increase the amount of morale recovered after  panicking. Regaining ~30 morale after a panic would help a lot towards keeping your units at least partially in play, rather than being mostly disabled.


I like the stamina regeneration change. I don't know the actual formula, but I feel like my more veteran soldiers with decent stats are more able to keep their stamina up than they used to be. At the very least, they no longer rely on a less visible stat that can't be changed.

The junk piles in the base are flavorful and useful, as is the increased base storage, since the 75 standard vault was usually filled in the first mission if you recovered an engine with fuel. It would be neat if the junk piles could have a few random bonus items like assault rifles or data disks or such but I don't think random crafting is currently possible in the engine.

The nerf to throwing skill hurts a bit, I had been using fuso knives a lot in my early game to extreme effect. They're still a pretty good lightweight ranged attack, though. Less accuracy for grenades is less noticeable, since usually a slight deviation doesn't make the difference between a hit or not, especially with 3D explosions.

The change to sniper weapons provides an interesting diversity to weapons, although I already miss the super-accuracy. It seems that I can still attain perfect accuracy pretty easily compared to other weapons, and the damage scaling means that more shooting skill is not wasted on them like it used to be.

I'm enjoying the mortar accuracy buff, although I haven't gotten to try any of the new shell types yet. I usually have a gal or two plugging away with mortars or grenade launchers on top of the Bonaventura.  The indirect fire lets them pop random wanderers outside of UFO's and tear open/down building that enemies have garrisoned.

Overall, I'm a big fan of the mod, and the changes so far are very interesting and do a lot within the limitations of the engine. I look forward to future updates and encountering new content in my v0.95 game. Thanks to the author and contributors for your efforts, I know a lot of work goes into even the smallest changes.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2015, 08:55:15 pm
I think it can be 1 and 2 way together, so we wont loose mecanic and it will be possable to tune it until acceptable form.  Optionality is VERY good idea. Is it difficult tecnically?

Nah just requires hours of work, but this is nothing new. I'm starting to be convinced this is the best way to go; someone from somewhere else even suggested that 'cheat' that removes the morale drain should also nerf outfits that are either superfast or provide high resistance to morale drain. Also, while I cannot add "give up at any time" option, I'll think of some items to buff Morale directly - it is possible but yet unused function, because there was no need.

Sorry if I've offended anyone, I was prepared for the outrage and thus overreacted in defense of my ideas. Sometimes it's hard to keep calm if you invest so much of your energy and time into a project... (quite probably well over a 1000 of work hours) My fault. I will post 0.95A with revised Stress mechanics within a week or so, once more people's opinions accumulate and once the upgrades are ready. Then we'll see how it works out.

@CSam: yeah random crafting is something I sorely miss :)

EDIT: one idea to reduce the effect of the "morale spiral" would be making the drain proportional to actual Morale - so the lower the Morale, the lower the drain - maybe even going into positives at very low Morale values. It'd also make "morale training" abuses a bit harder.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Hobbes on September 29, 2015, 10:00:31 pm
Sometimes it's hard to keep calm if you invest so much of your energy and time into a project... (quite probably well over a 1000 of work hours)

Your combat stress seems to work better than advertised: besides the units it seems to have affected you as well ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2015, 10:29:23 pm
Yeah I got dragged into the Tantrum Spiral myself :) I'm testing experimental revised mechanics now, based on an equilibrium: if your Morale is higher than your Bravery, you'll be losing it each turn. If it's lower, you'll be gaining it. The rate of loss/gain is directly proportional to the difference between the current Morale and Bravery.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: liberation on September 29, 2015, 10:31:28 pm
In my opinion Dioxine, people make mods/tc's for themselves to enjoy, if others like them then that's a bonus. So unless you can see maybe you have gone to far or you think to your self "ok this sucks, wtf am I doing this isn't fun" then don't worry about people whining about shit, its your project, its your ideas!  8)

If people don't like stuff, then they can mod it out.

Edit: That's not a flame to anyone, I'm not trying to be an asshole, just my opinion 
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Soyden on September 30, 2015, 12:29:12 am
I don't have a strong opinion on the combat stress mechanic I just wanted to chip in on feedback. It would be neat if xcom had something like a "captured" state that could occur in combat and counted for morale boosting but I'm betting that is a engine limitation. I'm in late game (I think) so my assaults are all deliberately picked for high profit low risk (star gods are left alone for now) which means mostly hitting the academy and traders. I hit the church faction only sometimes, getting surprised by their terror unit is still scary. In my later battles after the one I reported I didn't notice any morale problems other than me giggling at plasma destroyer explosions. Oh I think the rat men are genuinely creepy, good job there.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on September 30, 2015, 04:32:45 am
Your combat stress seems to work better than advertised: besides the units it seems to have affected you as well ;)
Actually, I'd say besides affecting the gals, it also affected the players :P Dioxine might have been a bit harsh, but it is true indeed that this is most detrimental if you play the "slow and steady, bag everyone" game, which otherwise is hugely advantageous in terms of interrogation material and ransoms for money. I think that gameplay deserves to be nerfed so that Piratez has a bit more incentive for killing and looting. Otherwise, it might as well be "Kidnapperz" (I know that might be a bit harsh, but watching Ivan's LP and my own game, there is an obvious tendency to capture and interrogate/ransom everything, which is a bit too strong compared to that for killing).

I have to say I love the idea of combat stress. Especially in the "where is that last f*cker?!? BEHIND YOU!!!" sort of scenarios. The gals are not professional soldiers, they're pirates and them losing morale faster sounds great. They're in it for the quick cash. If it's not quick they want to get out. They don't have the indoctrination to fight or the leadership of trained officers to keep them in.

BUT, it would be good to have a way to restore morale so that soldiers can counteract that, at the cost of not doing something else. Dioxine, what about a FLAG? Range 1 explosion weapon with 0 damage and +X morale, which represents the gal waving the flag about, inspiring the others to keep in the fight. And a bullhorn (upgrades to a loudspeaker) which allows a gal to inspire one further away. The amount of morale restored could be made a function of the user's morale and bravery using OXCE's functionality.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Soyden on September 30, 2015, 05:30:59 am
That sounds neat, maybe make it like a Idol or rock star girl that keeps everyone's spirits up during combat?.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 30, 2015, 07:57:29 am
That sounds neat, maybe make it like a Idol or rock star girl that keeps everyone's spirits up during combat?.

Or a cheerleader! :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on September 30, 2015, 11:32:09 am
Hi Dioxine, (or anyone,)

I have returned to creating a tech tree for piratez (I will probably fail), but I see a lot of things in the ruleset, which are really confusing me. (I've seen the same on vanilla and in FMP, but less often.)

Let's say tech A unlocks tech C and tech B also unlocks tech C... why does tech C then also have dependencies on both techs A and B?? Isn't that redundant? Why are the dependencies there? You don't need both A and B to get C, right? One of them is enough... Would it still work if the dependencies were empty? Or if there was a dummy dependency on STR_TROLLIUM or something?

Example:
  - name: STR_HELMET
    dependencies:
      - STR_ACADEMY_HAZMAT_SUIT
      - STR_FLOATER_EXTERMINATOR
      - STR_GOVT_ELITE
      - STR_NAZI_STORMTROOPER
      - STR_BANDIT_GHOUL

  - name: STR_ACADEMY_HAZMAT_SUIT
    unlocks:
      - STR_HELMET

  - name: STR_FLOATER_EXTERMINATOR
    unlocks:
      - STR_ALIEN_ORIGINS
      - STR_FLOATER
      - STR_HELMET

  - name: STR_NAZI_STORMTROOPER
    unlocks:
      - STR_ALIEN_ORIGINS
      - STR_NAZIS
      - STR_HELMET

  - name: STR_BANDIT_GHOUL
    unlocks:
      - STR_BANDIT
      - STR_HELMET

  - name: STR_GOVT_ELITE
    unlocks:
      - STR_ALIEN_ORIGINS
      - STR_HELMET
      - STR_GOVT
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: LexThorn on September 30, 2015, 12:08:14 pm
Or a cheerleader! :)


rock band on the truck(bonaventura ^__^), like in Mad Max))
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Sanbella on September 30, 2015, 12:55:56 pm
Do the enemies also take Combat Stress? If not, then why not?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on September 30, 2015, 01:40:07 pm
Do the enemies also take Combat Stress? If not, then why not?

Would you enjoy playing against crippled and after several turns completely impotent enemies? If yes, then why yes?

PS: the answer is of course no; actually they lose even less morale than in vanilla OpenXcom (which is a feature of OpenXcom Extended, not PirateZ)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 30, 2015, 03:12:40 pm
Do the enemies also take Combat Stress? If not, then why not?

They do, from dead comrades. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 30, 2015, 05:14:22 pm
I have to say I love the idea of combat stress. Especially in the "where is that last f*cker?!? BEHIND YOU!!!" sort of scenarios. The gals are not professional soldiers, they're pirates and them losing morale faster sounds great. They're in it for the quick cash. If it's not quick they want to get out. They don't have the indoctrination to fight or the leadership of trained officers to keep them in.

BUT, it would be good to have a way to restore morale so that soldiers can counteract that, at the cost of not doing something else. Dioxine, what about a FLAG? Range 1 explosion weapon with 0 damage and +X morale, which represents the gal waving the flag about, inspiring the others to keep in the fight. And a bullhorn (upgrades to a loudspeaker) which allows a gal to inspire one further away. The amount of morale restored could be made a function of the user's morale and bravery using OXCE's functionality.

And there you have it, the moment I've decided I went overboard (lol) and trying to make the game harder, ruined the fun, defenders of the Combat Stress arose. Well... the new revised system is much less hardcore - there's an equilibrium point equal to gal's Bravery, and Morale always increases/decreases to hit this target. So only gals with Morale 40 or less will panic on their own now... but there's much less Morale buffer for everyone else, so even losing a single hand can send others panicking. Otoh, high-Bravery gals now recover from very low Morale (eg. caused by psi attacks) really quickly. And you can't train your Bravery over 50 by abusing game mechanics. We'll see how it works, I like it, but it's more like improved, more pronounced Morale mechanics than Combat Stress...
I really like the idea of morale-restoring, upgrade-able battle standard, I'm considering either standalone item, or my own idea - "Commissar's Armor" which has a similar item built-in (and gives massive Bravery boost to the wearer). But I'm not sure if it's even needed anymore. In any case, it would be a large, heavy item with >90% TUs use cost.

I have returned to creating a tech tree for piratez (I will probably fail), but I see a lot of things in the ruleset, which are really confusing me. (I've seen the same on vanilla and in FMP, but less often.)

Let's say tech A unlocks tech C and tech B also unlocks tech C... why does tech C then also have dependencies on both techs A and B?? Isn't that redundant? Why are the dependencies there? You don't need both A and B to get C, right? One of them is enough... Would it still work if the dependencies were empty? Or if there was a dummy dependency on STR_TROLLIUM or something?

Well, it seems that if techs A, B, C all unlock tech X (as in the example - you need to interrogate just one of 5 guys to get a hidden, cost=0 tech, which is one of prerequisites for a better armor), tech X needs 'dependencies' on techs A, B & C. This is copied straight from vanilla's Alien Origins tech, which work exactly that way (has dependencies on any and all alien interrogations). If the dependencies were empty, I guess unlocking wouldn't work? My understanding of 'dependencies' is "allow to research the tech if all dependencies are satisfied, OR if any one unlocks the tech'.

Do the enemies also take Combat Stress? If not, then why not?

I think Meridian sufficiently replied, why not. I was actually considering giving them slow & steady Morale regen (for years I thought the game actually works like this, lol), to reward fast & aggresive player action, but there are players who enjoy picking them off one-by-one, and it takes time, and they would be kinda sad if their ninja methods would not result in enemies panicking. AFAIK the enemies in OXCom take less Morale damage than in vanilla, if they're in high numbers (which makes sense). Small enemy crews should take as much Morale damage as in vanilla.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on September 30, 2015, 07:53:22 pm
haha sorry Dioxine, I've been stupidly busy these days and not looking enough at the boards (and not playing at all  :'( )

The new morale system is interesting and I guess the "lose morale until morale = bravery" part of it can still be considered to be combat stress. The effect is quite different though. Previously it was favouring fast action because you're losing morale every turn and need to finish things quickly/kill stuff to get the boost. Now, after you have reached the "stable point", it favours really slow and careful action since losing a gal is much more of a risk to cause mass panicking. I guess it will depend on how fast you lose morale compared to how fast you gain it by killing enemies.

I'm not 100% convinced by the "gain morale when below bravery" but my guess is that it is a needed side effect of implementing the changes? Maybe "Lose morale if above bravery" without the "gain morale when below" could be a good enough "nerf" of the initial combat stress. I'm not sure we need gals to recover faster when panicking.

I'm glad you like the idea of the standard :) I think pirate flags are a big part of the imagery that's still somehow missing from the mod. Commissar armour sounds interesting too, provided it comes with a gun that does damage to the gals but boosts morale a lot ;) and provokes reaction fire from the gals getting shot at :P

Regarding research, you indeed do need the dependencies, otherwise the project would be available at the start. I am not 100% sure if you need all of them, or if they could all be replaced by a STR_HAS_TO_BE_UNLOCKED fake project, but I also always have listed all unlocking projects in dependencies. If anything, it makes the information more available!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 30, 2015, 09:05:31 pm
The new morale system is interesting and I guess the "lose morale until morale = bravery" part of it can still be considered to be combat stress. The effect is quite different though. Previously it was favouring fast action because you're losing morale every turn and need to finish things quickly/kill stuff to get the boost. Now, after you have reached the "stable point", it favours really slow and careful action since losing a gal is much more of a risk to cause mass panicking. I guess it will depend on how fast you lose morale compared to how fast you gain it by killing enemies.

I'm not 100% convinced by the "gain morale when below bravery" but my guess is that it is a needed side effect of implementing the changes? Maybe "Lose morale if above bravery" without the "gain morale when below" could be a good enough "nerf" of the initial combat stress. I'm not sure we need gals to recover faster when panicking.

From my limited experience, it rather creates 2 ways of fighting - first, go in with guns blazing and be immune to mass panic through keeping the morale very high; second, if you play carefully from the start, you can still do so, but you need to be even more careful than you were before. Naturally, your low Bravery gals (40 or less, although 40 takes a LOT of time to panic, at least 10 turns) will eventually panic none the less.

About the faster recovery - the formula is as follows:
Morale Change = Bravery * 0.2 - Current Morale * 0.2
So eg. a gal with Bravery 80, reduced to 20 Morale, would regain 15 Morale before panic tests are taken. A gal with 50 Bravery, reduced to 30 Morale (a common border case IMO), would regain 4 Morale before the test, so it wouldn't change that much.

Not sure if it's possible to block (at least partially) the auto-recovery of Morale - I'd need to really get into what's possible with square and cubic powers and roots Yankes' code allows. Amateur mathematicians help is welcome - I'm not math idiot, but I've gotten rusty :)

...Going back to Sanbella's question, this mechanic can be added to all enemies as well - it would be somewhat detrimental to the player, since bog-standard enemies have Bravery of 80, and the biggest cowards - 60. It'd be a bit easier to break them, but they'd pretty quickly stop panicking.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Yankes on September 30, 2015, 09:20:28 pm
I think one way of restoring morale could be bat, It could do very low damage but will add big morale and stamina boost. And weapon attack sound would be "Move!" or "Attack!" :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on September 30, 2015, 09:37:53 pm
Hehehe, morale restoring, Orky-style. I could add a morale buff to every hit with a Handle... the weapon has fallen into some disfavor. And make the damage dependant on Bravery. This could also be used to kill 2 birds with one stone - make the Handle a bit less lethal, and a bit more powerful. Incidents of killing captives by the use of the more effective stun weapon - knuckles - can, alternatively, be made more often... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Sanbella on September 30, 2015, 10:22:24 pm
Would you enjoy playing against crippled and after several turns completely impotent enemies? If yes, then why yes?

PS: the answer is of course no; actually they lose even less morale than in vanilla OpenXcom (which is a feature of OpenXcom Extended, not PirateZ)

Because it's a game rule? Why is it okay for mutant pirates to panic for taking too long to finish a mission but the same should not be applied to the enemy? From a in-lore point of view, it would make sense that the rather frail and non-war minded Academicians castes, along with other low-ranking enemy units like Humanists Activists or Raiders. They also would prefer to live to see the next day like the pirates would prefer to live to get the next day's booty.

Your ship was just shutdown by criminals mutants, who want to kill you and take your treasure or take the treasure AND you back to whatever hell-hole they crawled from.

Or your are in a raiding/pogrom party, killing (and looting) civilians (and mutants) when out of nowhere an ship lands and from it a sizable enemy force disembarks, intent in stopping and killing you. You have no way to escape as quickly as the new enemy reinforces arrived. Why not panic? The mission has gone Awry for you.

And when the last standing enemy is hiding, running around in the shadows while a force of +10 Pirates are searching for him. How is he keeping himself calm?

I would rather not have to try and herd a force that's going to end up crippled and several turns later become completely impotent unless the AI is also playing by the same rules.


There's an equilibrium point equal to gal's Bravery, and Morale always increases/decreases to hit this target. So only gals with Morale 40 or less will panic on their own now... but there's much less Morale buffer for everyone else, so even losing a single hand can send others panicking. Otoh, high-Bravery gals now recover from very low Morale (eg. caused by psi attacks) really quickly.

This sounds quite balanced and a lot more stable ground for a soldier's morale. This seems more like Combat Stress, your more constantly going up and down during the battle, doubts and hope coming quickly as they fade.

From my limited experience, it rather creates 2 ways of fighting - first, go in with guns blazing and be immune to mass panic through keeping the morale very high; second, if you play carefully from the start, you can still do so, but you need to be even more careful than you were before. Naturally, your low Bravery gals (40 or less, although 40 takes a LOT of time to panic, at least 10 turns) will eventually panic none the less.

[...]

...Going back to Sanbella's question, this mechanic can be added to all enemies as well - it would be somewhat detrimental to the player, since bog-standard enemies have Bravery of 80, and the biggest cowards - 60. It'd be a bit easier to break them, but they'd pretty quickly stop panicking.

And this adds a good tension to the game, it becomes a game about hunting the hunter. I really enjoy how Combat Stress seems to works now. ETA for a new download?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on September 30, 2015, 10:45:55 pm
@Dioxine: When time becomes a bit more plentiful on my side (and assuming I don't spend it killing and looting), I might take a look into more advanced formulas if you are interested. Just let me know what kind of behaviour you are interested in and there should be a way to (on average) get it.

Because it's a game rule? Why is it okay for mutant pirates to panic for taking too long to finish a mission but the same should not be applied to the enemy?
Because there are a lot of limitations and/or predictability that is forced on the AI through spawn points (why does the enemy always spawn all over the place, to be picked off by the player?), routes (why do they wander off and stupidly step out of their craft/building instead of ambushing the player? Why do they stand in front of windows at the end of turn?) and other necessities imposed by it being an AI, all of which are already a huge disadvantage for the AI.

Quote
From a in-lore point of view, it would make sense that the rather frail and non-war minded Academicians castes, along with other low-ranking enemy units like Humanists Activists or Raiders. They also would prefer to live to see the next day like the pirates would prefer to live to get the next day's booty.
Raiders come from a bigger gang than you (but are probably the one faction where it is most sensible to see panic), Humanists are fanatics, Mercs are pros. Academicians and even traders have professional security troopers to take care of them, know that they are part of one of the main factions of the world, that they are worth a lot of money to whoever is coming which their wealthy faction will be willing to pay and most of all, they can expect a rescue.

Time is totally playing in their favour. The longer they survive, the more likely someone will come get them, which is exactly why the gals get panicky after a while: the longer they take, the more likely it is that that gunship full of power armor troops and cyberdiscs is gonna get here. You can make whichever in lore story you feel like but, in the end, the only one that matters is Dioxine's story as he is the creator of the lore.

Quote
Your ship was just shutdown by criminals mutants, who want to kill you and take your treasure or take the treasure AND you back to whatever hell-hole they crawled from.

Or your are in a raiding/pogrom party, killing (and looting) civilians (and mutants) when out of nowhere an ship lands and from it a sizable enemy force disembarks, intent in stopping and killing you. You have no way to escape as quickly as the new enemy reinforces arrived. Why not panic? The mission has gone Awry for you.
But they do panic (as you kill more and more of them), but not because of time, as time is in their favour. Time cannot be against both sides. With this system, it looks like Dioxine has decided that time is not on the gals side, so it must be on the gals' victims' side.

Quote
And when the last standing enemy is hiding, running around in the shadows while a force of +10 Pirates are searching for him. How is he keeping himself calm?
But he isn't.. enemies lose morale every time you kill one of them, and they panic pretty quickly when there's even only a handful of them, let alone one.

Quote
I would rather not have to try and herd a force that's going to end up crippled and several turns later become completely impotent unless the AI is also playing by the same rules.
But the AI is not playing by the same rules.. They have crappy predictable routes and a list of if-statements dictating what they are going to do. Warboy did a great job making the AI as good as it is, but it is still not another player. Could you imagine if the other side was played by a human? You wouldn't last nearly as long, especially in Piratez against the more advanced factions.

Quote
This sounds quite balanced and a lot more stable ground for a soldier's morale. This seems more like Combat Stress, your more constantly going up and down during the battle, doubts and hope coming quickly as they fade.

And this adds a good tension to the game, it becomes a game about hunting the hunter. I really enjoy how Combat Stress seems to works now. ETA for a new download?
All that said, I'm glad you're looking forward to the new system.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on September 30, 2015, 10:52:43 pm
From my limited experience, it rather creates 2 ways of fighting - first, go in with guns blazing and be immune to mass panic through keeping the morale very high; second, if you play carefully from the start, you can still do so, but you need to be even more careful than you were before. Naturally, your low Bravery gals (40 or less, although 40 takes a LOT of time to panic, at least 10 turns) will eventually panic none the less.

About the faster recovery - the formula is as follows:
Morale Change = Bravery * 0.2 - Current Morale * 0.2
So eg. a gal with Bravery 80, reduced to 20 Morale, would regain 15 Morale before panic tests are taken. A gal with 50 Bravery, reduced to 30 Morale (a common border case IMO), would regain 4 Morale before the test, so it wouldn't change that much.

Not sure if it's possible to block (at least partially) the auto-recovery of Morale - I'd need to really get into what's possible with square and cubic powers and roots Yankes' code allows. Amateur mathematicians help is welcome - I'm not math idiot, but I've gotten rusty :)

...Going back to Sanbella's question, this mechanic can be added to all enemies as well - it would be somewhat detrimental to the player, since bog-standard enemies have Bravery of 80, and the biggest cowards - 60. It'd be a bit easier to break them, but they'd pretty quickly stop panicking.

I just finished a simple ship attack and I really like the idea, it reinforce the feeling that you are making a heist. The problem is that you do not gain anything for stunning enemies and this battle was a simple scout ship, so a situation where you'd rather take out the harpoon gun to get some ransom money. I had no panic but I finished with most of my gals under 40 morale.

That new formula you are suggesting sound better so all the gals under 50 have to be trained (I wouldn't sell this abuse at this point, bravery is hard to raise). Then there could be morale raising abilities.

And we do not want this mechanic on enemies, not with the current formula. They'll drop their weapon and move all the way to the other end of the map and we'll end with both sides disabled.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on September 30, 2015, 11:11:14 pm
Because it's a game rule?

1. I can use the same argument... it is a game rule that you suffer battle stress and they don't. Btw. they actually lose morale... even more(!) than you... because you are killing them! The average expected result for an average battle for even a below-average player... is victory with 100% losses on alien side and not more than 30% losses on Xcom side. After killing just a few of the aliens and a few turns... it would be basically instant victory for Xcom with all remaining aliens panicking in the corners.

2. This will sound harsh, but it is really the only thing I am able to say... if you want them to panic all the time, maybe you should try playing Solitaire instead and let us have fun. I don't want Xcom to become Solitaire... please for the love of Cthulhu, have mercy.

And when the last standing enemy is hiding, running around in the shadows while a force of +10 Pirates are searching for him. How is he keeping himself calm?

That's exactly the point, he's not calm! He already has 0 morale... which he lost when you killed all the others.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Sanbella on October 01, 2015, 12:29:27 am
1. I can use the same argument... it is a game rule that you suffer battle stress and they don't. Btw. they actually lose morale... even more(!) than you... because you are killing them! The average expected result for an average battle for even a below-average player... is victory with 100% losses on alien side and not more than 30% losses on Xcom side. After killing just a few of the aliens and a few turns... it would be basically instant victory for Xcom with all remaining aliens panicking in the corners.

Talking about humans and mutants that make sense to here, like people not really trained for war like The KKK Humanists, Academicians, Engineers, that sort of people, not the aliens, boy.


2. This will sound harsh, but it is really the only thing I am able to say... if you want them to panic all the time, maybe you should try playing Solitaire instead and let us have fun. I don't want Xcom to become Solitaire... please for the love of Cthulhu, have mercy.

Wow, calm your fingers down and relax. I'm not going to hack into your PC and github and change all the files and rulesets so that all the versions of xcom you have is "Solitaire". Take some time to breath, there's no need to get this agitated over my comments or my opinion. Forcing other people to play something the way you want it is a silly thing to do, right?

That new formula you are suggesting sound better so all the gals under 50 have to be trained (I wouldn't sell this abuse at this point, bravery is hard to raise). Then there could be morale raising abilities.

And we do not want this mechanic on enemies, not with the current formula. They'll drop their weapon and move all the way to the other end of the map and we'll end with both sides disabled.

God, no. The new formula sounds better by mileages, it's something I'm looking forwards to. Just saying, having the enemy also suffer from it would add in a certain balance and "filling" to the mod, a rather nice touch I'd say.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on October 01, 2015, 12:30:11 am
@Meridian: Well now! Solitaire is hard. What's your win ratio at Solitaire? Mine's much worse than at XCom.. (considering every battle a "game", or even every campaign a "game", but that reduces the numbers significantly).

Joking aside, I agree, especially since Dioxine stated that he did not consider Piratez an entry mod, but rather something for veterans. I think the introduction of new challenges (like actually needing melee and lots of captives, or starting with enemies in personal armour who take a lot more to wound than puny sectoids) is one of the key components of Piratez and what makes it so interesting. New content is easy to add, just add new stuff. Adding new challenges though, that's hard but that's also something that Dioxine is great at and the reason I value Piratez so much even though I am not usually a big fan of pirates (I usually am more of a good guy than a bad gal type..).

I think beginner level Piratez is plenty approachable, even though it is harder than beginner XCom. Soon, there will be Meridian's LP to guide people who have issues (as I am certain Meridian will be able to deal with his issues, in Superhuman), and even Ivan's LP is not a bad start to see how he got through the early part of Piratez.

Talking about humans and mutants that make sense to here, like people not really trained for war like The KKK Humanists, Academicians, Engineers, that sort of people, not the aliens, boy.
Boy? Anyhow.. the humanists are fanatics (and soldiers trained to at least some extent) and regarding the Academy, Traders and Raiders, as I said above, time is on their side. They are not unlikely to get a rescue force coming since they are of major world factions, compared to the gals who are getting stressed because of the likelihood of said rescue force coming in. The Academy and Traders also have professional soldiers to take care of them, and the knowledge that their ransom will be paid.

Quote
Wow, calm your fingers down and relax. I'm not going to hack into your PC and github and change all the files and rulesets so that all the versions of xcom you have is "Solitaire". Take some time to breath, there's no need to get this agitated over my comments or my opinion. Forcing other people to play something the way you want it is a silly thing to do, right?
So very right, and so very ironic. It is indeed a very silly thing to do. Especially trying to change the way a mod someone else writes plays so it plays more the way you want it. Again, I agree with Meridian and would let Dioxine play around and cook all the challenges he can into Piratez, as that's what I really enjoy from this mod.

[/quote]God, no. The new formula sounds better by mileages, it's something I'm looking forwards to. Just saying, having the enemy also suffer from it would add in a certain balance and "filling" to the mod, a rather nice touch I'd say.[/quote]And others say it'd be a rather bad touch. Enemies already suffer much more heavily than the player's force from morale.

Maybe it was said a bit harshly, but given we were late to the Combat Stress party and others have already made Dioxine reconsider his work (which we liked), I think it's understandable we are making a bit more noise now to balance things out.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 01, 2015, 12:52:13 am
Yeah I can add this new Morale handling to enemies as well, for the sake of general consistency, just warning: this is going to make them to persistently panic much harder, as there are no enemies with Bravery below 60; Guild Bodyguards will be basically guaranteed to never panic with their Bravery 90 (it was almost impossible to make them panic before, maybe when a Bodyguard was one of the last few remaining enemies). Naturally I can also reshuffle the Bravery of enemies from 60-100 to 50-100 scale... But this is more work.

As for the release, couple of days I think. Depending on my time and energy, I want to add some other stuff as well.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on October 01, 2015, 01:03:11 am
How will that interact with incendiary weapons fire damage? Did enemies take morale damage only on hit? It'd be rather sad that a bodyguard who panics because he is set on fire, then recovers because of his high bravery even though the fire is actually killing him. Or maybe he's just that brave...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Sanbella on October 01, 2015, 01:09:36 am
I'm no longer talking about the timed decay of morale Combat Stress, I'm talking about the newer one. The way it waves back and forth adds a certain realism that picks my interest up and I would love to see it added to the enemies that make sense. A soldier is a soldier, he's not going to start panicking easily, but his non-battle buddy? He will have a harder time, he was never trained for war like the soldier was, he's a mook, a rookie.

And while one could expect to be ransomed for money, how they know that's what is actually going to happen? And the Guild's pilot, in the lore it says how well they take care of their ships, since losing the ships could make you a Debt-Slave to the guild. I would be jumpy if I were on his shoes.

On the Raider's case, they are as much outlaw organizations as we are, and are Fractured. Raider is the catchall term here for all the groups that go around pillaging and attacking people, reinforces from another Raider Sub-Faction is not likely. The local Gov't would strike back sooner or later with how they keep going after their civilian zones (which is why we don't go around striking random civilian zones and carefully shot down their ships every once and while) and with us in the battlefield means more time spent on said war-zone then getting out with the loot. Of course, our gals would be jumpy too if the Gov't thought WE were the actual raiders.

Yeah I can add this new Morale handling to enemies as well, for the sake of general consistency, just warning: this is going to make them to persistently panic much harder, as there are no enemies with Bravery below 60; Guild Bodyguards will be basically guaranteed to never panic with their Bravery 90 (it was almost impossible to make them panic before, maybe when a Bodyguard was one of the last few remaining enemies). Naturally I can also reshuffle the Bravery of enemies from 60-100 to 50-100 scale... But this is more work.

As for the release, couple of days I think. Depending on my time and energy, I want to add some other stuff as well.

Could you give me some insight in what the work you need to do would be like? Not just with the current subject but in general too, but no need to put too much information on it, just the bullet points.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Meridian on October 01, 2015, 01:26:19 am
Boy, eh? Why do I even try...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 01, 2015, 06:12:53 am
Could you give me some insight in what the work you need to do would be like? Not just with the current subject but in general too, but no need to put too much information on it, just the bullet points.

I don't work like that. It really depends on what catches my fancy. Current candidates to pick from are:
- 'Invisibility' outfit - akin to the Catgirls.
- X-Gauss weapons - six or so are planned, so probably not all of them
- Battle Standard, nuff said. Pixellating from scratch is the bummer.
- Gal-piloted Mini-Mecha to replace X-Sectopods. Probably too much work for now, but, who knows...
- Defensive facilities (Gas Chamber and Fire Pit), for those who don't want to sweat.

After this, on to 0.96, which will expand the Bandit faction into 3 separate factions: fallout-style Bandits, creepy Mutants and dumb Beastmen.

How will that interact with incendiary weapons fire damage? Did enemies take morale damage only on hit? It'd be rather sad that a bodyguard who panics because he is set on fire, then recovers because of his high bravery even though the fire is actually killing him. Or maybe he's just that brave...

Bodyguards? Fire damage? Puhleezzz.... Powered Armor is immune to puny weapons like that. Although the Morale impact of fire weapons will be slightly lessened, yeah. Not by much though, the Morale damage is scaled to damage taken, and if someone takes serious fire damage, he's losing like 50 or more Morale.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 01, 2015, 08:11:17 am
Please don't make the Handle give morale. I'm using it a lot and wouldn't like to see enemies regaining their battle readiness because I'm trying to stun them. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Boltgun on October 01, 2015, 10:34:06 am
Please don't make the Handle give morale. I'm using it a lot and wouldn't like to see enemies regaining their battle readiness because I'm trying to stun them. :)

I think it's meant to give moral to the gal using it no? For the joy of hitting with a stick.

I'm fine with enemies regaining morale faster, panic hit them harder than you because they never pick up their weapon again so this balances things out. (I hope this is fixed one day)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on October 01, 2015, 01:35:23 pm
Another thing of the mod that could use some redesign - is the night vision.
It's great that my gals can see well in the dark (extremely so with night-ops gear), but the problem is - I, as a player, can't see anything at all on screen. And it's only half of a problem that I can't see well where to put my troops, but I also can't see enemy moves even if the game showing them (because it's friggin' dark).
So even if I go on a mission packing night-ops gear, after some initial turns I end up never even bothering to turn off the lights even for enemy turns (much less for my own) - it's much more important to actually see where enemies are popping up, rather than to be safer due to staying in darkness.

It's not really a mod's problem, rather it's the way openxcom draws darkness (without any means to reduce it) - but in the original game, there's absolutely no reason to turn off the lights (aliens will see you anyway) or to stay in darkness; so the problem was not noticeable there.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 01, 2015, 02:57:10 pm
I think it's meant to give moral to the gal using it no? For the joy of hitting with a stick.

Oh... oh. I get it now.

I'm fine with enemies regaining morale faster, panic hit them harder than you because they never pick up their weapon again so this balances things out. (I hope this is fixed one day)

In theory they should, but the system is shaky at best.

Another thing of the mod that could use some redesign - is the night vision.
It's great that my gals can see well in the dark (extremely so with night-ops gear), but the problem is - I, as a player, can't see anything at all on screen. And it's only half of a problem that I can't see well where to put my troops, but I also can't see enemy moves even if the game showing them (because it's friggin' dark).
So even if I go on a mission packing night-ops gear, after some initial turns I end up never even bothering to turn off the lights even for enemy turns (much less for my own) - it's much more important to actually see where enemies are popping up, rather than to be safer due to staying in darkness.

Yeah, I actually play in the dark, but it's not very comfortable. But I still do! :)

It's not really a mod's problem, rather it's the way openxcom draws darkness (without any means to reduce it) - but in the original game, there's absolutely no reason to turn off the lights (aliens will see you anyway) or to stay in darkness; so the problem was not noticeable there.

It's not as much a software problem as a hardware problem: LCD monitors suck. Back in the day of the original game it was much easier to adjust the screen to see what you wanted to see, but LCDs are much worse in this department (in any department actually except for weight and size), and there's not much we can do about it. I know it's not a solution, but I wanted to rant.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on October 01, 2015, 05:20:29 pm
Bodyguards? Fire damage? Puhleezzz.... Powered Armor is immune to puny weapons like that. Although the Morale impact of fire weapons will be slightly lessened, yeah. Not by much though, the Morale damage is scaled to damage taken, and if someone takes serious fire damage, he's losing like 50 or more Morale.

Sorry, I meant the guys in personal armor. I guess they're security guards? I used flamethrowers a lot to kill these guys, but was looking forward to using molotovs to panic them too. So the morale damage is on hit, not for the continuous damage that being on fire does?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: iciclefox on October 01, 2015, 05:49:54 pm
Decided to register just to give my opinions on the mod so far and the recent controversy


first and foremost. i have been burning alot of my time with 0.94. the overall array of options you have is quite daunting but overall i quite enjoying the game quite nicely.

considering i am the type of player who restarts his game because im a dumb perfectionist when playing games. ill just say some opinions about the early game.  i played with the reccomended advanced options on difficulty 3 mostly

during the early game. you are basically forced to buy a barracks first and foremost just because your living space is completely full without the possibility of getting a full ship there really is not much variety of choice there. just feels like a newbie trap for no reason. this very same reason is also why the first pogrom will be REALLY hard and is usually better to just skip(another newbie trap) generally put. before the pogrom you generally get to do 1 small ship. which more than likely wounded some of your folk. forcing the first pogrom to be unmanned generally.

base attacks can also end your game really fast if the player is not prepared to face a full plasma weapons and some insanely strong enemies that guns and black powder bombs won't work on.

i almost feel you should provide the the player with 2-3 panzerfausts right at the beginning. possibly dropping the starting money because of this. why panzerfausts? because they are consumable so they won't get abused as hard as something like rpg would with black market bought ammo. it obviously won't help the people that waste em right off the bat. but it will at least give the player a hint on what they shoiuld possibly use to face to stronger opponents.



now for some lack of info to the player

first comes in on the ship interceptions. although mainly because of vanilla. i did not attempt to even try facing large ships first few times because of fear of losing that VERY important ship. then later i found out that cargo ships can be fairly easily taken down with stock weapons.... lets just say that the first few attempts felt so much harder because of this. might have just been my fault considering i read the bootypedia fairly lightly(mostly weapon info to determine loadouts and buildings)

 some Hostages are FAR too rewarding right now. i feel there is something wrong when i believe i should go full stun weapons on a crashed small and just go ham without caring about casualties that much. (1 academian is worth 4 rookies in cash after all) you need to drop the value on some of the easier to catch targets by i think. this could be somewhat compensated by increasing the price for more dangerous targets like the securities.

now on the new stress system..

i feel in its current state its very detrimental to the game. i see it only as an arbitary time limit which can turn some mission VERY frustrating(love those mass 3 story apartment maps already...)
 this kind of system can also cause frustration by causing random factor which unlike the other things randomized in xcom is not in a very controllable example: i can just decide to not take the risk shot and back off. this is not an option with the stress system considering how heavy the penalty is for ignoring it.


so how should this be fixed?

 easiest solution. removing it entirely. in its current state it adds nothing and turns a good game into a frustrating experience for many. but i think you are probably not the type to just take away a hard worked system you made

so how to possibly fix this? you must find ways to make it interactive with the player. 1 of the reasons that can cause frustration ( and in more serious non game cases serious depression) is when player does not have enough control on things. earlier i did see the battle banner mentioning.  you could possibly make a a completely different role of xcom soldier if you truly go all out with this system. soo.. some ideas..

battle banner:

aimed shot(or melee however you want to balance it)  if used on a friendly. provides em a boost in morale. if used on enemy. decreases their morale.

as you can look above. this system could be expanded on enemies too. as an example-.. an enemy which is fairly strong overall but has a fairly low morale. aka you could make certain enemies weak to this type of attack.( although also need to make sure to balance it for capturing)

one step further would be to also create enemies which are focused on controlling the morale of battle. things like morale bombs or just Voodoo attacks unaffected by the usual Voodoo resistances.

it definately would be interesting to see a whole new set of weapons/items wholly based on morale control with em generally getting power from bravery

overall. you need to make the player feel they can control the morale through their actions and choices.. and not feel like they are slaves to it like the current feels right now.


for now i will be playing 0.94 thank you.

feel free to ask more opinions from me. i may not have beaten the game but i probably started like 7-8 games so my early game info is fairly extensive with my current game on sep 1st 2601 with an enemy base destroyed and a landed heavy gunship beaten.  im  at the point that i feel i should just make another game on higher diff because its feeling too easy now.



Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Rince Wind on October 01, 2015, 06:39:42 pm
Security types being worth more would be quite gamey. They are grunts, mostly. They are probably just bought back because it is more complicated to train a new one and maybe for morale (so they don't defect as easily because they know their employer cares for them. A little.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 01, 2015, 07:49:06 pm
Decided to register just to give my opinions on the mod so far and the recent controversy

If anything, this controversy has indeed drawn several lurkers to the light. :) Welcome to the forums, Iciclefox!

first and foremost. i have been burning alot of my time with 0.94. the overall array of options you have is quite daunting but overall i quite enjoying the game quite nicely.

considering i am the type of player who restarts his game because im a dumb perfectionist when playing games. ill just say some opinions about the early game.  i played with the reccomended advanced options on difficulty 3 mostly

Ouch. This is a tough game to be a perfectionist. :) Which doesn't mean I criticize it or anything.

during the early game. you are basically forced to buy a barracks first and foremost just because your living space is completely full without the possibility of getting a full ship there really is not much variety of choice there. just feels like a newbie trap for no reason.

Yeah, I agree actually. It never bothered me because it's the same in vanilla with Alien Containment, but it's less punishing if you don't build one AC straight away.

this very same reason is also why the first pogrom will be REALLY hard and is usually better to just skip(another newbie trap) generally put.

Not necessarily, it depends on luck, and you may also want to go there and steal a few good guns before bailing out. But early pogrom stuff has becomes easier lately, and it'll probably get easier yet in the next release (not telling anything further!).

before the pogrom you generally get to do 1 small ship. which more than likely wounded some of your folk. forcing the first pogrom to be unmanned generally.

Well, yeah... Most of the time anyway.

base attacks can also end your game really fast if the player is not prepared to face a full plasma weapons and some insanely strong enemies that guns and black powder bombs won't work on.

Well, it's similar to vanilla. A bit harder, since you don't have tanks and probably few heavy weapons, plus some enemies are always really tough, but your soldiers are better and you have good melee options. Overall I'd say Piratez is harder in this regard, but not impossible.

i almost feel you should provide the the player with 2-3 panzerfausts right at the beginning. possibly dropping the starting money because of this. why panzerfausts? because they are consumable so they won't get abused as hard as something like rpg would with black market bought ammo. it obviously won't help the people that waste em right off the bat. but it will at least give the player a hint on what they shoiuld possibly use to face to stronger opponents.

I am not opposed to this idea.

now for some lack of info to the player

first comes in on the ship interceptions. although mainly because of vanilla. i did not attempt to even try facing large ships first few times because of fear of losing that VERY important ship. then later i found out that cargo ships can be fairly easily taken down with stock weapons.... lets just say that the first few attempts felt so much harder because of this. might have just been my fault considering i read the bootypedia fairly lightly(mostly weapon info to determine loadouts and buildings)

I understand, but I think it's as designed. This game is supposed to have a steep learning curve (well, relatively to vanilla X-Com; there are much harder games out there). Anything more is risky of giving the player the impression of being spoonfed, and that would be very bad. :)

some Hostages are FAR too rewarding right now. i feel there is something wrong when i believe i should go full stun weapons on a crashed small and just go ham without caring about casualties that much. (1 academian is worth 4 rookies in cash after all) you need to drop the value on some of the easier to catch targets by i think. this could be somewhat compensated by increasing the price for more dangerous targets like the securities.

I agree with Rince Wind here, and would like to add that prisoners are already really valuable. I think the current prices are reasonable.

As for the stress issue, I don't want to comment, because I've already written a lot and I don't really feel experienced enough to say anything else. I like it so far, but I haven't experienced some of the extreme situations people describe (like the big maze buildings), so I'll abstain from any strong opinions.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 01, 2015, 08:20:32 pm
I think it's meant to give moral to the gal using it no? For the joy of hitting with a stick.

I'm fine with enemies regaining morale faster, panic hit them harder than you because they never pick up their weapon again so this balances things out. (I hope this is fixed one day)

You obviously didn't understand. Someone starts to freak out, hit them with the stick to calm them down :) Besides, it's impossible to give anything on successful attack; damage of any kind can only be inflicted/recovered on being hit or on using item.

Also, enemies do pick up their weapons, I've seen that happening on several occasions. Even if they have to walk several tiles to do that.

during the early game. you are basically forced to buy a barracks first and foremost just because your living space is completely full without the possibility of getting a full ship there really is not much variety of choice there. just feels like a newbie trap for no reason.

>No free living space
>Not expanding living space

If it's a trap, it's a very obvious one... :) This is basically to reduce the crew size on the first few missions, and give the player an easy reward in the form of quickly growing capabilities between January 1st - March 1st, from utter dumpster to an efficient (if still underequipped) crew. You need to immediately build new Barracks, but how many? One? Two? Three? :) It's more of a penalty for those players who don't spend time considering their options before even starting the clock.

this very same reason is also why the first pogrom will be REALLY hard and is usually better to just skip(another newbie trap) generally put. before the pogrom you generally get to do 1 small ship. which more than likely wounded some of your folk. forcing the first pogrom to be unmanned generally.

Yeah, it was mean to be that hard to give you first taste of blood in your mouth. Sorry but this mod was supposed to be hard. At least the Pogroms are not as hard as they used to be. Plus, if you build Barracks straight away, you will have full crew no problem. As for base attacks - yeah you shoot them down, they retaliate. Attack only landed ships to avoid that. This also is to teach the player that he's a boss... not.

i almost feel you should provide the the player with 2-3 panzerfausts right at the beginning. possibly dropping the starting money because of this.

Maybe.

some Hostages are FAR too rewarding right now. i feel there is something wrong when i believe i should go full stun weapons on a crashed small and just go ham without caring about casualties that much. (1 academian is worth 4 rookies in cash after all) you need to drop the value on some of the easier to catch targets by i think. this could be somewhat compensated by increasing the price for more dangerous targets like the securities.

Maybe the GOs and Academicians are a bit too valuable, lore-wise. But game-wise, $40k is pocket money considering the extra risk, and the guaranteed haul of almost $500k on engines, fuel and plastasteel alone, on a small ship. Also the hostages were always meant to be very rewarding. Otherwise why would you even consider catching them in any greater number than a couple guys for interrogation? Just kill 'em all and take their stuff. This would make you more of Exterminators than Pirates.

Also @molotovs vs Security - they do, and will, work in making them panic - albeit unreliably so. They are losing only about 22-45 Morale on a hit, due to their fire resistance.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: iciclefox on October 01, 2015, 08:57:58 pm
yay  replies! sorry for the shit grammar on the wall of text. i noticed alot of mistakes  now that i read it afterwards..

ok....

on the barracks..

my main issue with it was that it was basically a must have every game first and foremost. kinda turning into a mundane task with no variety.(i like having multiple options).. but after seeing the reasoning behind it i cannot really argue against it that much.

although i still  don't like how the first pogrom is overly hard compared to the 2nd one(you will have the barracks done). just feels like a bit too unfair and artificial to my tastes imo. there is a fine line between hard and just unfair sometimes, although its really not that bad here considering you can just skip it.


and yeah. i consider GO and academicians are a bit too valuable definitely imo. the others i consider fine actually considering the risk/reward.  after thinking dropping em both by 10k would make me quite satisfied with the hostage pricing considering the other fairlyvaluable ones are more dangerous  while some other easy capture targets are far less valuable than these 2 considering they are workers or some unknown no social status creature like ratmen(fuck these guys. always making me disapointed on pogroms).

the other solution to the above would be increasing the value of hands like 15k a gal a little bit to make brainless suicidal rush capture missions less rewarding,although i guess that is a playstyle too and increasing the value of hands might cause bigger problems to the game..
i consider the hostage value mainly an early game problem when a little bit more money is valuable and  encountering academicians and Go's are common


overall though. after hearing the reasonings on all of these things. i can understand why you made the specific choice. and i would def accept no changes to any of the mentioned now too. considering they are just minor nitpicks coming from my own game philosophy(otherwise i would not be enjoying it as much as i am)





Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on October 01, 2015, 09:15:06 pm
First pogrom difficulty is highly dependent on enemies. Humanists can be deadly (early instructor(s) with laser pistols together with armored mil. police? ohhhh boy...), spartans have high potential to be deadly (one heavy weapon guy walking on your team can do a killing spree in a single turn), but on the other hand, early bandits are a joke, since they are equipped even worse than you and their early units all have bad stats.

As for academicians' captures - well, someone has to be the sectoids of Piratez, and at the moment it's academicians. Although they quickly become much more deadly (but not tougher), so it somewhat mitigates the issue of very easy raids.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: doctor medic on October 01, 2015, 10:09:58 pm
Also academician's stun launcer's are extremely hard to find.Found 2 which means i can make a shoulder launcer but that was around the first or second month and im at the fourth and i havent found any.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 02, 2015, 12:23:23 am
Yes it was mean to be very hard to find, because it's such a potent stun weapon - plus you can manufacture ammo at some point.
I was thinking, should I really add some low amounts of high-powered ammo to starting base? To tackle these first Cyberdiscs? I am not sure, since it would be a bit too gamey IMO - even more of a 'noob trap' or for veterans, 'weapon too awesome to use'. Player is supposed to run when he sees Cyberdiscs, or tackle them if he's hardcore; he's supposed to slowly attain parity with such an enemy, not destroy them with a limited supply of magical missiles. Besides, there is no early enemy who cannot be stopped with the use of starting weapons - Cyberdiscs are hardcore in Pogroms, but can be destroyed with fire or mines in base defence...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: ivandogovich on October 02, 2015, 12:36:38 am
I have no qualms with Running from a Fight that is too tough.  To me, PirateZ just screams for that.  That said, I'm neither perfectionist nor a great player.  So imo, a few silver bullets at the base may not be the right solution.  Because even with them, as a brand new player, I still wouldn't know what they were worth using on or not.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Rince Wind on October 02, 2015, 12:39:36 am
I think it is fine as it is. Now you have do decide if you want those barracks asap, or more dakka. I always went for the dakka and brought some Panzerfausts. Being able to do everything at once would make the early less tense, and also less interesting.

I can't play at the moment, but I really think it shouldn't get too easy. It is a harsh world, setbacks should occur, and sometimes the odds are just stacked against you and you loose the campaign. Then the star gods win again, probably without ever noticing you. On to the next try!
For everything else, there is savescumming.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 02, 2015, 01:04:48 am
Yeah that's pretty much what I think as well, guys. 'Just' 12 crew is not a problem, if they're well armed and get combat experience. Hell, sometimes I've even sold the Ventura right away and bought Pachyderm, which is only 8 crew. Most people will indeed build barracks straight away, but the starting Grog income isn't that stellar either, so maybe invest in better guns and only start building up when you get some serious loot?

As for the setbacks, if they kill you in the first-second month, you haven't lost that much time. If you survive for longer, you can be proud of yourself (and also game over is much, much less likely after these first 2-3 months). Yeah base defences are hard, but if there was no danger, there would be no tension - just easy cash from plasma guns. Myfacewhen I consciously disregarded base defences and then got hit by a Boarding Torpedo - a vessel that can be shot down with a single Flak Cannon... And then lost 3 veterans in that defence.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on October 02, 2015, 01:22:31 am
I haven't had a base defence in Piratez yet, but in general, base defenses are rather exploitable unless you are REALLY ill prepared. Trying to prepare the player with starting gear seems misguided to me. Personally, I don't use one shot wonders and having starting funds decreased because I got some weapons I am unlikely to use put in my storage seems weird.

If a player wants those weapons, they can buy it on day 1 and have them before they matter. If they die "because" they didn't buy weapons on day 1, then they can't have lasted very long so they haven't lost much, so they can buy them on their next new game.

Starting equipment should be about having enough to cover the minimums and enough funds/flexibility to enable the player to set things up to fit whichever style they prefer. Since there are multiple ways to deal with the more threatening enemies (hammers, axes, stun rods, flamethrowers, explosives and rockets), letting the player chose seems appropriate, especially as all will be delivered before they are really needed any ways.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: iciclefox on October 02, 2015, 02:07:25 am
the reason why i brought up the whole Panzerfaust was mainly to both give a hint to a beginner on what might work against the really tough enemies and also a way for unprepared newbie to have a chance with the generally VERY strong enemy in base defenses that either requires melee suicide runs to kill or long range explosives.

however i can also see the point of letting the player figure this out by himself. thus rewarding experiementing and actually reading the bootypedia.. its was mainly a suggestion to possibly avoid a situation which a beginner to piratez can see as an unfair situation. at least i struggled dealing with the white armored academician on 2 diff games... was it esper? until i simply just went F it and bought a set of loaded RPG's at the first minute of the game in order not face that hell of a situation again.




my starting setup after multiple attempts turned into getting barracks asap alongside either some rpgs or panzerfausts in order to deal with these nasty situations 3-4 cattle sticks depending on what the rookie stats were. as trivia i split my starting troops into 4 categories. which are melee, ranged, thrower and stickman(aka garbage). after i get the barracks i immediately proceed to get hands in order to reach a 25-30 hand crew depending on what my current situation is in order to keep a full 18 man crew going on majority of the missions.

on research i have been fairly split. which im finding amazing considering i have been experiementing with it for a while now.

flintlocks and bombs are an ASAP research in order to replenish the amazing black powder bomb supply.

after that i generally pick the research depending on what i feel i need in the near future

overall i have not found a truly the best research path. which i have to give a hats down for.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Arthanor on October 02, 2015, 03:07:04 am
On Panzerfausts: Is it really worth it to give a few tools to a rookie who may not even know what to do with them, at the cost of reducing the options of everyone else? I don't think so. I remember Dioxine saying he intended people to make multiple playthroughs and learn things and making sure you have the tools to deal with all kinds of bad guys is a lesson one should learn early (as you did). It would be much more frustrating to get by on luck only to fail later, after you have invested a lot more time into your game.

Regarding starting game, that sounds about right, for starting priorities. I try to get a full crew (and some more to step up and replace wounded gals) asap. I however don't buy RPGs and other ranged explosives, the gals' aim is too bad to rely on that. They get the job done by throwing explosives, firing bombs, setting them on fire, or when all of that fails, hitting things with a hammer. Until you can make your own ammo for RPG, it is just too expensive for the unreliable effect.

I also focus on researching armor techs unless I feel I am really falling behind weapons wise (which usually isn't a problem at the beginning as the melee weapons + black powder bombs get the job done). Having good armor is key to getting gals to survive, which is means they are racking up experience instead of dying. If you can keep your gals for a long time (by being "careful" with team tactics and dog scouts) you can get really monstrous gals. I have had a few 60+ reactions, 100+ firing accuracy ones, high Str and TUs gals who could be depended on to do just about anything.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Alex_D on October 02, 2015, 07:11:07 am
Question: There are items that need the Industrial Printer to be manufactured, but can't be made with a Factory.
The latter appears to be a expanded version of the IP and looks like it can do the same but with more capacity.
Is supposed to be like this?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: Dioxine on October 02, 2015, 07:20:33 am
Yes it is. Factory allows for huge amounts of Runts, but gives no special capabilities (as of now), while Industrial Printer has relatively low capacity but is required to manufacture some stuff.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on October 02, 2015, 08:10:46 am
on research i have been fairly split. which im finding amazing considering i have been experiementing with it for a while now.
After a few experiments, my early research priority is always ammo production + acid. Acid blunderbuss ammo (which, with some expedience, are always available in 3 months at the latest) is a thing to tear down absolutely everything that's not highly resistant to acid. Blunderbuss in general has monstrous point-blank range damage output at a low-ish AP cost, and using acid ammo with them is enough to kill tanks, armored guys, and generally just about anything except people with hazmat protection.

And beyond that, as already was said, armor research is the key to (eventually) get highly-trained troops that can do just about anything.

PS: I'm playing Piratez with a self-imposed restriction "never use a gun until it's been researched", and after you get some experience - it's not really problematic to be prepared to an early base defense. Though generally I prefer not to attack early ships too much, as this seems to greatly lessen the chances of having a base defense in the first place.

PPS: On the note of more and less useful weapons: can we have a redesign of Stun Grenades? With 40 stun damage, they are UTTERLY useless in about every situation imaginable. Damage this low means that unless the enemy is completely unarmored, it's not going to do anything noticeable unless target is extremely weakened though repeated shots or acid. The standard grenade mechanism means that you'll need lots of TU to throw them. All together, it results in them being absolutely useless to harpoon gun (same AP, more ranged stun damage per turn, you just need a bit of accuracy) or to cattle prod (which will actually work against armored targets, unlike stun grenade).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95 - 27 Sep - Combat Stress
Post by: just_dont on October 02, 2015, 11:51:49 am
That's some... neat base-building they have there. Would be a shame if something happens to it.
(https://i.imgur.com/5RgQv3Q.png)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 04:25:39 am
Update is ready. Revised Morale mechanics, as planned, plus a few additions. One that is bound to enrage many players is that Star Gods are far more cheaty now (although their armor ratings were decreased). New means to fight them will appear in the future as well, for now there is one - Piratez' own version of 'invisible' armor. Check the changelog for full changelog.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Soyden on October 03, 2015, 06:20:37 am
Anybody manage to fire a heavy plasma pistol successfully? I crash to desktop whenever the projectile makes contact with its target. So far I've fired it the ground and a door in a alien base and crashed both times. I've been sliding my saves between versions so it may be just my game getting unstable.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 03, 2015, 07:06:30 am
Thanks for the update Dioxine!

Let's see:

Changelog:
0.95A
- Update: VooDoo Rod is no longer a separate item; now appears only in conjunction with Witch Armor; VooDoo tech tree adjusted
:( for a new game. I started to use the VD rod as a secondary "weapon" for my gals. But
for my current game, at least the gals that often do MC, now have their VD rod permanently attached to their hand. They have Annihilator Armor. I also have some Witch armors left. I changed their armor and now both hands have VD rods! If I press X to drop the equipment the VD rod drops too. Or if I equip Annihilator armors after the Witch armor has been assigned and confirmed in the equipment screen, the rods stay with the gal. Or if I have another gal with a VD rod (from before mod update) I can copy her equipment VR rod included.
I suppose this is a glitch from a transition between mod versions (EDIT: as suspected the "excess" VD rods disappeared after a battle). I have to research the items and see what happens.

- Star Gods de-armored, they're invisible & bleed-immune instead; their weapon is much less powerful but ignores most armor & destroys morale

I have to wait a few in-game months (or years?) until the proper Star God guy can be captured. All kinds of walks of life show up but not them. Pretty much all I have when I down one of their ships are those purple spitting one-eyed monsters that are very annoying to kill.
I suppose, the Cydonia assault with SGs would be interesting. Nothing that a barrage of Blaster bombs cannot cure :) Else it would end in massacre.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: LexThorn on October 03, 2015, 07:42:35 am
Update is ready. Revised Morale mechanics, as planned, plus a few additions. One that is bound to enrage many players is that Star Gods are far more cheaty now (although their armor ratings were decreased). New means to fight them will appear in the future as well, for now there is one - Piratez' own version of 'invisible' armor. Check the changelog for full changelog.

Are there will be whole VooDoo armors line? Hmm...

Another question: how about some sort of more si-fy looking power armor? Annihilator is good but its look is not so sy-fy (IMHO!!).  Or some sort of mobile suit (like in Gundam franshise) as craft(with nessesary gal pilot or two)? Just ideas.

P.S. Gundam-like units seems more like idea for whole separate mod than for x-piratez.

P.P.S. if VooDoo rod is part of Witch armor it is logicall to replace it with some sort of "VooDoo Emitter" imbedded into more advenced (and more tecnological) versions of armor. 

I smell WH40k bibliary armour... or something like that.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 12:21:09 pm
Anybody manage to fire a heavy plasma pistol successfully? I crash to desktop whenever the projectile makes contact with its target. So far I've fired it the ground and a door in a alien base and crashed both times. I've been sliding my saves between versions so it may be just my game getting unstable.

God damn it, Murphy's law...
>check dozens of weapons, no errors
>don't check a single one, it's bugged
I'm afraid it'll be unuseable till next release, unless you replace the code (STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_LT_CLIP):
Code: [Select]
    hitSound: 19
    hitAnimation: 76

with:
Code: [Select]
    explosionHitSound: 111
    hitAnimation: 104


Another question: how about some sort of more si-fy looking power armor? Annihilator is good but its look is not so sy-fy (IMHO!!).  Or some sort of mobile suit (like in Gundam franshise) as craft(with nessesary gal pilot or two)? Just ideas.

No offense, but Gundam looks more like plastic toys than real SF to me... Although yeah, offense, since you've just offended me by saying my beautiful Annihilator is not SF... yeah certainly it'd be totally easy to build such a suit with 2015 tech :P

P.P.S. if VooDoo rod is part of Witch armor it is logicall to replace it with some sort of "VooDoo Emitter" imbedded into more advenced (and more tecnological) versions of armor. 
I smell WH40k bibliary armour... or something like that.

Not a f*cking chance. That was the precise goal of removing separate VooDoo Rod, so you can't have mages flying around in power armor. Now if you want to be a wizard, you gotta wear wizards' clothes. And die from just any weapon.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 12:30:01 pm
Dioxine it seems you really hated people winning in vanila with psi only?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 12:36:23 pm
I hate how the MC was instant winmode and dominated the game (in a BORING way; as much as I detest Blaster spam, at least Blaster spam all day every day is fun; too bad OXCom makes Blaster spam even more broken by removing the only Blaster limitation vanilla had - the limitation on the number of waypoints) unless someone was consciously avoiding abusing it. But I didn't want to remove it since it's really cool. So I'm trying to strike balance between how powerful it is, and what is the price to pay for such power. In other words, stop it from being a game-breaker.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 12:40:20 pm
So can we atleast see the weapon of the star gods so we can atleast see where they shot from and throw a stun grenade?

Also where is the code for the heavy plasma pistol to fix it?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 12:52:29 pm
So can we atleast see the weapon of the star gods so we can atleast see where they shot from and throw a stun grenade?

Also where is the code for the heavy plasma pistol to fix it?

Yeah their beams are visible. Even better, you can USE the same weapon, which is embedded into the new invisible outfit - so there is some parity :) They're not totally invisible - just normal loftemps abuse as with the Catgirls. Granted Catgirls do not fly neither they have nasty powers...
The code is in the piratez.rul file, under STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_LT_CLIP
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: LexThorn on October 03, 2015, 12:53:01 pm


No offense, but Gundam looks more like plastic toys than real SF to me... Although yeah, offense, since you've just offended me by saying my beautiful Annihilator is not SF... yeah certainly it'd be totally easy to build such a suit with 2015 tech :P

Not a f*cking chance. That was the precise goal of removing separate VooDoo Rod, so you can't have mages flying around in power armor. Now if you want to be a wizard, you gotta wear wizards' clothes. And die from just any weapon.

Annihilator: i  am not about recepe, just about art, how it looks. And it was just IMHO. Not criticism.

About VooDoo Rod: i like it way you made it. was talking about new look(art) for such built in devices in possible  future psi-armors. i think we need at least one, more closed type, not well protected but fit for mars surface use (wink wink).

My english is still not very good.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 12:57:15 pm
There are psi-armors planned, yeah, but they will have different functions than Mind Control. The Mind Control line will be concluded by an upgrade to Witch Armor which will also have the Rod build-in, and will probably allow you to fly since the Star Gods are doing it.
There will be 3 general categories of new psi: first, high-energy psi, pyrokinesis, that sort of stuff; probably least interesting since you have weapons to do that. Second, speed/stun psi, basically advancing along the line of Blitz/Crystalisk/Seductress armors; Third, endurance psi, dependant on Reticulans, which will be the best counter to Star Gods' powers, but it will force you to sacrifice speed & reactions, and will have weakness to melee.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 12:58:24 pm
Yeah their beams are visible. Even better, you can USE the same weapon, which is embedded into the new invisible outfit - so there is some parity :) They're not totally invisible - just normal loftemps abuse as with the Catgirls. Granted Catgirls do not fly neither they have nasty powers...
The code is in the piratez.rul file, under STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_LT_CLIP
I replaced the previous code with the new one you gave us.
also the delete personal armor having trollium type is a little concerning
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: LexThorn on October 03, 2015, 01:03:02 pm
There are psi-armors planned, yeah, but they will have different functions than Mind Control. The Mind Control line will be concluded by an upgrade to Witch Armor which will also have the Rod build-in, and will probably allow you to fly since the Star Gods are doing it.

At least final version of each must be with life-support systems(helmeted or something like that)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 01:07:40 pm
Agreed but this will be handled with Star Gods' cheaty magic in this case (the Ghost armor is already halfway there, with its resistance to smoke); I might need to write some lore around that, so the player will know that the Star Gods employ magic to survive in vaccuum (or on MARS, which concerns us the most), and that more advanced VooDoo armors are doing that as well. Ghost armor has some sort of breathing mask, but this is visible only when a gal is killed or stunned and the field breaks.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 01:08:32 pm
I got an error about the game not being able to load the ruleset of x-piratez.Dioxine can you confirm that the code you told us to replace
was right?

EDIT:i placed the code on both the right spot and in another spot,i removed the wrong one so i hope im right on this.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2015, 01:12:19 pm
I got an error about the game not being able to load the ruleset of x-piratez.Dioxine can you confirm that the code you told us to replace was right?

YAML language is a real beast. The code is good, straight from my own file here and tested, but pasting it in proper way is tricky - you need to religiously observe the number of spaces. I'll better just paste the modified .rul here.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: LexThorn on October 03, 2015, 01:13:22 pm
Agreed but this will be handled with Star Gods' cheaty magic in this case (the Ghost armor is already halfway there, with its resistance to smoke); I might need to write some lore around that, so the player will know that the Star Gods employ magic to survive in vaccuum (or on MARS, which concerns us the most), and that more advanced VooDoo armors are doing that as well. Ghost armor has some sort of breathing mask, but this is visible only when a gal is killed or stunned and the field breaks.

Or like that. Fully agree.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 01:16:51 pm
So if i got it right morale will be droped when its over 50 and regained when over 50?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 03, 2015, 01:21:08 pm
So if i got it right morale will be droped when its over 50 and regained when over 50?

Yeah, for a person who has Bravery 50.
This is of course in addition to the morale gained normally by killing enemies and lost by losing comrades.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: iciclefox on October 03, 2015, 05:01:25 pm
guess its time to start yet another game just to test how the changes to the morale system now feels. ill give an opinion at some point
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 08:17:47 pm
I actualy havent started a new game and im contiuing it from the last version.I was scared for a second that i didnt get nuclear lasers until i realised that i havent goten a library...woops.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 03, 2015, 09:52:10 pm
I'm starting a new game too. Was hard to abandon the gal in Piratez, but X-Piratez looks so good. Keeping a log of my lootin' and pillagin' (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3990.msg52125.html#new) as well.

I can't do a LP, but that should give a faster overview of the experience.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2015, 11:15:17 pm
Ok im scared,i did the back to school research and then made a library but i have still to see anything about industrial printer or the ability to make nuclear lasers
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2015, 03:58:19 am
You need to find & research an Industrial Scanner first (ship component), or get it from interrogation or Data Disc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 04, 2015, 12:23:13 pm
Seems like when you first complete a govt personal code on research it will open the bootypedia screen when it completes but when you click ok or the arrows the game crashes,after that it works fine

Did the piratez ruleset you gave me change any of the research?Was it made with a new game in mind or did it just have the changes for the pistol because i have interogated both the engineers of the academy and traders with almost all laser weapons researched and laser dissasembly

Also the site had a 505 error where i couldnt enter the forums or the website.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2015, 01:39:21 pm
There was a slight research overhaul between 0.95 and 0.95A, that's all. Nothing pertaining to laser weapons though, these were slightly overhauled in 0.95, when the Hydra Laser was incorporated. You can get a random Laser Weapon from Academy Engineer interrogations, though - this was added a few versions ago, 0.93 I think.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 04, 2015, 02:47:58 pm
So you get nuclear lasers by academy engineers and the occasional mercenary?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2015, 03:16:14 pm
No. You can get data on normal lasers from them - the same lasers you can find in battle. Nuclear lasers are dependant on Russian Files and other stuff.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 04, 2015, 04:40:11 pm
I hope you still get russian files from goverment cases unless you changed them to the goverment codes.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2015, 06:28:13 pm
Neither. Govt Papers give you info on missions and countries. Govt Personal Files give you info on govt personel (plus bonus info normally associated with their interrogations). You do need info on Eurasian Autonomy to get Nuclear Lasers, but it's only a single one of many prerequisites.

In other news, here's progress on my new secret project: the (real) Battleship:

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 04, 2015, 07:57:59 pm
i managed to kill a cyberdisc which was the last enemy of the boarding torpedo crew.I fired with the future bow but somehow it was stunned and didnt blow up as i saw 1 hostage being captured in the clear screen.Said cyberdisc was stuck in my large vaults
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 05, 2015, 11:36:28 am
So I tried the new morale mechanics and it works pretty well. During a base defense a few gals were prone to panic (and died because they ran out of the firing spots). But otherwise I held well thanks to the kills the other scored. I'll try stocking a few handles to combat this.

In the end I had to hunt that guy. Using gals with higher bravery ensured that I could finish no matter how long it took.

I'll try to get my veterans into many crash sites so they train their bravery, let's call this 'motivation trips'.

Edit: That's some mighty battleship. I'll take those cannons.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 05, 2015, 12:24:12 pm
This is on my list to try post Hobbes' mod!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 02:15:26 pm
By the way, many of new UFOs need some LoS fixes with regards to diagonal walls. E.g. I regularly shoot guys on 2nd floor of Supply ship from ground level through "holes" in floor along diagonal walls, in Fighter ship its diagonal piece of inner bulkhead can be seen though and shot through - and there are probably more issues that I forgot.

I'll try to get screenshots next time I meet one of those.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 05, 2015, 03:35:47 pm
This mod is getting so complex I'm starting to think of making a dedicated website, with wiki and everything... :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 05, 2015, 04:47:16 pm
Maybe we need to launch bootypedia.org? :D

@Dioxine: Looking at starting weapons, it seems like the X-bow is a pretty great one, which is kind of odd. 30 base damage + 10% of firing makes it 36 damage for a good shooty starting gal, and it's got pretty good snap and aim shots (44% TUs for 2 aims a turn is great compared to most guns which can only do one). Plus infinite ammo.

I expect the situation will right itself with plastasteel ammo for most guns, but it still seems odd. Muskets were an upgrade irl but I see very little reason to take one compared to an X-Bow, and even many of the more modern starting guns only really are better for having auto-shots. The hunting rifle specifically seems to lose out except for 20+ tiles range aimed shots, where not losing accuracy will eventually offset the ability to shoot twice, but at the cost of having only 5 shots (and probably being heavier although I didn't check that last one).

I'm not sure what needs to be done, if anything, but maybe have most rifles improve their damage like the X-Bow does? 10% of accuracy is not much, but it would make the other starting rifles stand up to the X-Bow much better, distinguish them from pistols (where it's much harder to aim precisely) and allow ranged gals to improve their damage as they get better, like the melee ones do (albeit at a much slower rate).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 04:52:37 pm
Yeah, and if someone will somehow manage to draw a research graph, it would be great  :)
Although it's not really that required, the mod works pretty well with "just keep researching and you'll eventually get to the good stuff" approach.

But on a serious note, it would be great to have a place to put down some FAQs, beginner guides, and so on. Although (multiple hoorays to Dioxine in that regard), again, mod works pretty well even if you just play and learn the ropes by trying.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 05, 2015, 04:59:28 pm
Speaking of research,raider booty is a bloody amazing research for such a weak faction next to academicians.You get some chainsaws and then some research necesery for nuclear lasers
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 05:02:45 pm
@Dioxine: Looking at starting weapons, it seems like the X-bow is a pretty great one, which is kind of odd. 30 base damage + 10% of firing makes it 36 damage for a good shooty starting gal, and it's got pretty good snap and aim shots (44% TUs for 2 aims a turn is great compared to most guns which can only do one). Plus infinite ammo.
Wait until you get to longbows.
Also, it's not 44% TU, but fixed 44 TU.

Well, I think it's sort of reasonable that mutants can show great results with primitive weapons (thanks to great strength, which in x-bow case allows handling of larger x-bows). But in this particular case it's true that x-bow pretty much breaks the progression, considering that it's available very early. In my opinion, it simply needs to be nerfed to only 1 aimed shot (up TUs to 51?), and/or require a bit more stamina - stamina usage is a great limiting factor for longbows, x-bow could use that too.

PS: Speaking of plastasteel ammo, I'm always baffled by this (is there any reason Smartpistol can use Assault Pistol's ammo?):
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 05, 2015, 05:16:13 pm
Fixed 44?! How'd I miss that?! That changes the analysis a fair amount.. It's still good, but that's more of a ~60% TU cost, which brings it more in line with other guns aimed shot wise. Still a great starting weapon though, better than the guns I can get.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 05:24:07 pm
Well, a trained person still can get 2 aimed shots per turn, the cap is 100 TU and a gal who started with ~80 can get to that very quickly.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 05, 2015, 05:33:36 pm
Well, I think it's sort of reasonable that mutants can show great results with primitive weapons (thanks to great strength, which in x-bow case allows handling of larger x-bows). But in this particular case it's true that x-bow pretty much breaks the progression, considering that it's available very early. In my opinion, it simply needs to be nerfed to only 1 aimed shot (up TUs to 51?), and/or require a bit more stamina - stamina usage is a great limiting factor for longbows, x-bow could use that too.

PS: Speaking of plastasteel ammo, I'm always baffled by this (is there any reason Smartpistol can use Assault Pistol's ammo?):

Yeah I'll nerf the X-Bow a bit. Energy cost 16->20, TU 32/44 -> 36/52. Still possible to squeeze off 2 aims if you're wearing any TU-boosting outfit :)

Also, Smartpistol is upgrade of Assault Pistol, so why wouldn't it be able to use its ammo?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Ridаn on October 05, 2015, 05:36:34 pm
PS: Speaking of plastasteel ammo, I'm always baffled by this (is there any reason Smartpistol can use Assault Pistol's ammo?):

Yeah, I think Smartpistol and Smartrife need an upgrade. When I think about smartpistol in concept I expect something like ones from Judge Dredd or Robocop. Multiply ammunition types and autofire mode.

And Smartfifle, while nice, is outclassed by Commando Rifle for sniping and rookie training and Bozar for heavy assault purposes.

May be make them a separate weapon tier and add a Smartcannon there, make it like that smartgun from Aliens.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 05, 2015, 05:43:56 pm
Yeah, I think Smartpistol and Smartrife need an upgrade. When I think about smartpistol in concept I expect something like ones from Judge Dredd or Robocop. Multiply ammunition types and autofire mode.

And Smartfifle, while nice, is outclassed by Commando Rifle for sniping and rookie training and Bozar for heavy assault purposes.

May be make them a separate weapon tier and add a Smartcannon there, make it like that smartgun from Aliens.

Bozar is basically alien's Smartgun. As for upgrade - ain't that easy. Bozar basically outclasses all firearms, except for specialist ones (Commando Rifle and Sniper Rifle). Maybe I'll just reduce requirements for the Smartrifle - can't think of any role that isn't already occupied by something better. As for the Commando Rifle, maybe it's simply too good... In theory Smartrifle wins in Aimed shots, having 2 for only slightly less damage...

As for the Smartpistol, it's later further upgraded to Mini-Cougar. As for middle-tier weapon, I'm satisfied with Smartpistol - it lacks power, but few weapons beat it when you need something that doesn't weigh much and quickly eliminates unarmored targets (which are more frequent now than it was before).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 05, 2015, 05:45:36 pm
Yeah I'll nerf the X-Bow a bit. Energy cost 16->20, TU 32/44 -> 36/52. Still possible to squeeze off 2 aims if you're wearing any TU-boosting outfit :)

Also, Smartpistol is upgrade of Assault Pistol, so why wouldn't it be able to use its ammo?

But.. Damn, I was hoping to see a bonus to some rifles :P As it is, my crew is: melee gals, mid-ranged/reaction gals (blunderbuss, boarding gun), sniper gals (Assault cannon+Bow, hunting rifle, to be upgraded to HMG and scoped rifles), but I am failing to field any mid-field rifle even though I want to. I am using X-Bows for now, but the starting rifles just don't offer much, except maybe the BM SMG.

Also, I think the smartpistol comment was at having 2 AP ammos with 25 damage, that's a bit redundant :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 05:49:07 pm
Also, Smartpistol is upgrade of Assault Pistol, so why wouldn't it be able to use its ammo?
Well then, why smartpistol's own ammo (which is plastasteel) do the same 25 damage? It supposed to have better damage :)

PS: Regarding the entire Smart<etc> line of weapons, I absolutely don't mind Smartrifle in comparison to Commando's Rifle - the latter is superior in damage and accuracy, but it doesn't have autofire, while Smartrifle have a very nice autofire mode - and it's a very useful thing in certain combat situations.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 06:01:49 pm
but I am failing to field any mid-field rifle even though I want to
As I remember my early-game tries, I always use Blackmarch SMGs as "mid-field rifles" during early stages. They are accurate enough to either work at visual ranges, or to provide fire support from a bit beyond visual ranges. Not to mention easy accessibility, which is rather important early.

A bit later, you can usually get Scoped Rifles, which are much more useful than (rather underwhelming) Hunting Rifles. Especially with plastasteel ammo.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 05, 2015, 06:02:41 pm
Also, I think the smartpistol comment was at having 2 AP ammos with 25 damage, that's a bit redundant :P

Buffing the raw damage would go against the lore (low-velocity projectiles aren't supposed to get any damage buffs from using PS ammo, that's why only select rifles and machineguns get that type of ammo), all you get is +50% clip size. I might add some extra bonus to that, like -10% enemy armor or something... any suggestions? But nothing really major (maybe fast 2-shot burst...?). Acid ammo slot for Pistols is already taken by SMG and Magnum, EP ammo slot is taken by Manstopper and Niner, MAG ammo slot is taken by Eagle, HVAP ammo - Snubby.

I might also change the damage of Commando Rifle from 50 to 40 + 10% Firing Accuracy, indeed it's more of a Rookie Rifle now :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 06:08:45 pm
I might add some extra bonus to that, like -10% enemy armor or something... any suggestions? But nothing really major.
Oh, just add 1 or 2 points of damage, and that will look fine while not really being a gamebreaker. Regarding high-velocity projectiles, we can always say that Smartpistol is high-tech enough to qualify for damage bonus :)

I might also change the damage of Commando Rifle from 50 to 40 + 10% Firing Accuracy, indeed it's more of a Rookie Rifle now
Yeah, that would look more appropriate.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 05, 2015, 06:16:22 pm
Yeah +1 damage will look good, while changing little. More of a moral bonus, but at least the player won't be disappointed :) Or hmm... damage bonus equal to 5% Reactions instead? Would ammont to around +2...+5 damage (always rounded down), so any decent-Reactions gal would get +3. Naturally this would already encroach on Manstopper/Snubby damage territory, and they have little to offer otherwise...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 05, 2015, 07:39:12 pm
I figured that the plasteel clip had more ammo after reading the bootypedia entry about plasteel ammo, and this matter for autofire. But yes, a tiny +1 should tell the player that this is a better option on the weapon entry.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 05, 2015, 10:40:35 pm
These mercenary guys sure can take a lot of punishment, huh.

*looks up their stats*

*faints*
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 06, 2015, 02:17:40 am
Chiming in late here, but Dioxine... That Battleship is just beautiful!!!

  Also, I'm a big fan of having a Bootypedia.org.

  Meridian's Tech Charts should be there.
  Beginners tips.

  The full bootypedia could be there, which might be nice to have on another screen when in a battle., etc.

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 08:07:32 am
On second thought, I agree that it would be more time-efficient and also perfectly enough to make a new subsite on wikia.com.
I can do that (once they get their data center back on), but I'm not prepared to fill the wiki by myself, so I hope people will contribute.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 06, 2015, 06:02:58 pm
I've been thinking what laser weapon is better,the laser tommy or the assault laser (including nuclear ammo)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 06:13:41 pm
I've been thinking what laser weapon is better,the laser tommy or the assault laser (including nuclear ammo)

This information and much more will be available soon on https://bootypedia.wikia.com! :)

Note the word soon, as for now it contains exactly 0 articles. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 06, 2015, 06:15:58 pm
Want me to find you backround picture for that wiki?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 06:37:07 pm
Want me to find you backround picture for that wiki?

Sure! Show me what you got.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 06, 2015, 06:58:55 pm
hum.. would it be possible to create bootypedia pages on https://ufopaedia.org? (I don't know who hosts that, hence why I ask). wikias are full of ads and annoying to browse. Right now it's telling me which party I should support to legalize marijuana in Canada's upcoming elections (that's my country, so I guess that's ok). It also runs some scripts that uses up all 16Go of memory of my computer and freezes it for a minute.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 07:13:58 pm
hum.. would it be possible to create bootypedia pages on https://ufopaedia.org? (I don't know who hosts that, hence why I ask). wikias are full of ads and annoying to browse. Right now it's telling me which party I should support to legalize marijuana in Canada's upcoming elections (that's my country, so I guess that's ok). It also runs some scripts that uses up all 16Go of memory of my computer and freezes it for a minute.

I don't really know if https://ufopaedia.org would like that, I can ask them.

For now I'm adding stuff to the bootypedia.wikia.com. I agree it's not the fastest one, but I've never encountered any problems or even ads. Is it possible that *gasp* you're not using Adblock?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 06, 2015, 07:53:51 pm
I think Hobbes is behind Ufopedia.org.  :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 06, 2015, 08:13:14 pm
I don't really know if https://ufopaedia.org would like that, I can ask them.

For now I'm adding stuff to the bootypedia.wikia.com. I agree it's not the fastest one, but I've never encountered any problems or even ads. Is it possible that *gasp* you're not using Adblock?

hum..! Yeah yeah.. I.. hum.. just forgot to.. hum.. err.. No, I didn't know about Adblock.. That makes it much better!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 06, 2015, 10:23:37 pm
hum..! Yeah yeah.. I.. hum.. just forgot to.. hum.. err.. No, I didn't know about Adblock.. That makes it much better!
or NoScript this is ABC of net hygiene :>
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 06, 2015, 11:17:29 pm
Wow, awesome stuff with that Wikia, but it has 0 articles and no activity despite what you said, Solar...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 11:24:01 pm
Wow, awesome stuff with that Wikia, but it has 0 articles and no activity despite what you said, Solar...

Are you sure it's the correct one?
It should be here. (https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 06, 2015, 11:24:34 pm
On second thought, I agree that it would be more time-efficient and also perfectly enough to make a new subsite on wikia.com.

What's the problem with UFOPaedia.org? It already hosts the OXC subwiki and you can simply add a a section called 'mods'. It isn't as easy to use as wikia, but has zero ads and self-promotion links.

I think Hobbes is behind Ufopedia.org.  :)

I'm just an administrator, I'm not the guy responsible for it :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 06, 2015, 11:30:39 pm
I don't see anything on that link either. Looks like "Blank page for a new empty wikia #2341" to me.

What's the problem with UFOPaedia.org? It already hosts the OXC subwiki and you can simply add a a section called 'mods'. It isn't as easy to use as wikia, but has zero ads and self-promotion links.
Indeed, I think UFOPaedia.org is a much nicer website, personally and if you think it would be ok to take the space for XPiratez, that'd be lovely!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 06, 2015, 11:37:41 pm
I don't see anything on that link either. Looks like "Blank page for a new empty wikia #2341" to me.
Indeed, I think UFOPaedia.org is a much nicer website, personally and if you think it would be ok to take the space for XPiratez, that'd be lovely!

As far as I'm concerned, it's a big tipi, as long as it is XCOM/XCom/Xcom/X-COM/X-Com related everything can go there. There's even one obscure and mostly hidden section called The X-COM Files (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=The_X-COM_Files).

I have also considered before to make pages for the Terrain Pack and Redux on the UFOPaedia but haven't had the time or need so far.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 06, 2015, 11:39:57 pm
I certainly don't mind doing this on https://ufopaedia.org if you think it's a better idea. Migration shouldn't be hard, as there's only 53 articles as of now (which I don't know why you can't see). But who will set it up? :)

(BTW: If The X-Com Files is taken, I think I'll need a new mod title.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 06, 2015, 11:43:50 pm
I certainly don't mind doing this on https://ufopaedia.org if you think it's a better idea. Migration shouldn't be hard, as there's only 53 articles as of now (which I don't know why you can't see). But who will set it up? :)

(BTW: If The X-Com Files is taken, I think I'll need a new mod title.)

There's already a page for mods:  https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Mods_(OpenXcom) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Mods_(OpenXcom))

You can simply add a section called 'User Mods' or something and then place links, either to the mod portal or to other pages on the wiki. Since Piratez is should a large mod, you can consider adapting the UFO table: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=EU_Table (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=EU_Table)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 06, 2015, 11:45:01 pm
(BTW: If The X-Com Files is taken, I think I'll need a new mod title.)

You can use that name for anything, I stopped working on the X-COM Files a long time ago and I doubt anyone else except me knows those pages exist :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 07, 2015, 12:38:20 am
Are you sure it's the correct one?
It should be here. (https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page)

Yeah it's empty. Probably you forgot to publish your articles or something :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 07, 2015, 12:42:50 am
Actually, there are articles, but nothing on the front page.  If you chose "random page" you can see some of the pages.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 07, 2015, 01:32:35 am
Actually, there are articles, but nothing on the front page.  If you chose "random page" you can see some of the pages.

Oh good, it's just like for me. But it should say there's 53 articles, not 0 articles.

Well anyway, does https://ufopaedia.org follow the wiki format? I'm still thinking if we should do it there. Frankly, this wikia feels more comfortable, since it can be only ours, while https://ufopaedia.org feels like a very solemn building where it's forbidden to play. :)
I'll think about it tomorrow, since it's getting really late.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 07, 2015, 05:50:08 pm
So i have 1 image that could be a backround image for the wiki itself
https://imgur.com/hWS9WhO
Another for maybe a section for geoscape related things
https://imgur.com/vDSYOOI
A battlescape one
https://imgur.com/AXU6feL
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 07, 2015, 06:42:29 pm
So i have 1 image that could be a backround image for the wiki itself
https://imgur.com/hWS9WhO
Another for maybe a section for geoscape related things
https://imgur.com/vDSYOOI
A battlescape one
https://imgur.com/AXU6feL

Thanks, I'll see what I can do with them. Though producing such pics is generally easy. If only there was a logo or something, to be put on the main page... Hmm, Ivan, maybe you could cook something from the pic that you've used for the let's play?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 07, 2015, 06:45:19 pm
Maybe dioxine can cook some letters in his adobe photoshop but i think he is too busy with the mod
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 07, 2015, 07:15:57 pm
I've always wanted a slightly different icon for Piratez, where the sectoid head wears a pirate hat and an eye patch. The crossed bones are already perfect, of course.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 07, 2015, 07:56:41 pm
Hmm, Ivan, maybe you could cook something from the pic that you've used for the let's play?

Hmm... how big of an image are you looking for... and a narrow top banner, or something more in line with a square banner like Arthanor mentioned?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 07, 2015, 08:08:48 pm
Hmm... how big of an image are you looking for... and a narrow top banner, or something more in line with a square banner like Arthanor mentioned?

I'd say a square one for now, before I figure out how to beautify the wiki's general template.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 07, 2015, 08:13:19 pm
Still going for the Wikia site, or Ufopedia?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 07, 2015, 08:25:24 pm
Still going for the Wikia site, or Ufopedia?

I'm sticking with Wikia for now. Ufopaedia is foreign territory for me, and Wikia is just easier for everyone to help.

Speaking of helping: I'd like to ask you people to help with adding units, because it's just so many of them. It's easy, since I prepared the template and everything. And here's the instructions:
1) Create the page, for example "Trader Security", and start editing it.
2) Go to the source editor mode.
3) At the very top, type
Code: [Select]
{{Infobox_unit}}4) If the unit has a Ufopaedia description (almost all do), type:
Code: [Select]
== Bootypedia description ==
(Ufopaedia text here)
[[Category:Units]]
5) Go back to the Visual Editor (normal editor mode, with formatting)
6) Click on the grey-highlighted name of the unit on the right. This opens the template. (Note: if it blabbers something about no specified parameters instead, just close the message and try again.)
7) Fill in the forms on the template (unit stats and such).
8) Save.

See here (https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Fat_Guy) how it's supposed to look like.

Note that there's an option for adding a picture, but there are no unit pictures yet, since I need to set some standard for these. For now, just omit it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 07, 2015, 08:27:44 pm
Okay.. here is a quick square graphic for discussion purposes.

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 07, 2015, 11:51:24 pm
Capt'n's Log - Feb 15, 2016

Today the world ended 'cuz some stupid spartan did somethin'...

======

Or rather.. I got a CTD on a spartan terror mission in the "aliens" turn, and I can't figure out why. I went into debug mode and I think it happens when certain spartans try to shoot. I deleted the first faulty spartan (a scout at position 41,32,0) from my save (attached below) and the turn went longer. She had a civilian straight above her, so it seems likely the first thing she would do is shoot. Then watched as they moved around a bit until another spartan did something and the game CTD'd again.

Is there a way to check an "alien"'s inventory in debug mode? I couldn't find it.. I only ever worked with XCom weapons where you know exactly what prompts crashes since you're in charge. Hopefully that's enough info any ways. I'll be happy to look into things more later if you can tell me how!

===

Edit: Also, as you can see from the save, I have had 0 activity registered from the spartans both times they launched their terror missions. I usually try to figure out where a terror will happen by tracking graphs, and then to move some interception capabilities there to at least loot some of the scouts, but there doesn't seem to be a thing (not that I could do anything about it at this point any ways though..) So they don't seem to do pre-terror recon flights as we are used to from vanilla. Is that intended?

Edit2: Went browsing in the ruleset after asking. Seems to work as intended. Nice work for the early pogroms!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 08, 2015, 10:57:25 am
From reading earlier in the thread, there is a chance that the pogrom missions crash. To fix that you can reload your save with the savecumming option on to generate a new pogrom, of give the offending spartan 100 fatal wounds to instantly kill him/her.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 08, 2015, 12:22:09 pm
Most likely a map crash. You can check their equips in debug... but only after their turn ends and you get to control them. The best option out is just like Boltgun said. I will check this save when I have the time, but there is no point in waiting. I guess I need to upgrade to the newest Hobbes' terrains, but he's not supporting all his terrains I'm using (buggy, old, uniteresting - but I have a bit lower standards :) ).

Indeed this mission works as intended. These easy Pogroms are conducted by groups who can't afford ships (or proper weapons), and get to the Pogrom site by land. There was supposed to be a separate briefing but this is impossible ATM. If there will be activity, prepare for a much harder fight with well-equipped, terror-unit-packing enemies.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 08, 2015, 03:30:41 pm
Apperently i had a pogrom crash about spartans too,maybe you should check their code for pogroms.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 08, 2015, 07:03:21 pm
Well, I know how to kill (or outright delete) units from a save, that's no issue. I wish there was a way to see what the unit intends to do before it does it, so we could see what is happening. I will look more into it when I have the time, to check which units cause crashes and if I can find their what they are using.

I had a spartan terror as my first terror and that one worked fine, so it must be possible.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 08, 2015, 07:28:39 pm
Most likely a map crash. You can check their equips in debug... but only after their turn ends and you get to control them. The best option out is just like Boltgun said. I will check this save when I have the time, but there is no point in waiting. I guess I need to upgrade to the newest Hobbes' terrains, but he's not supporting all his terrains I'm using (buggy, old, uniteresting - but I have a bit lower standards :) ).

Before you looking at the terrains for the cause of the bug (which is entirely possible, but since it isn't mentioned it can be a vanilla terror terrain), there are several issues that can be responsible for the CTD based on my experience from Redux:
1) Incorrect weapon definitions (sounds, sprites)
2) Incorrect unit definitions (corpses)
3) Flying units not having the required sprites

You need to verify the ruleset for all of these since they won't appear on the save.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 08, 2015, 08:03:15 pm
I'll look for those. As I said, I know one of them is a spartan scout, and I can find what the other soldiers who cause the crash are. Since I don't see them shoot, it's not a corpse problem (nothing has died yet) and they don't fly. So I'll just quickly check what units cause the crash, what guns they can have and if I can fire those guns in battle mode to see if the weapon definitions are good.

I'll post a screenshot for the terrain if needed. It isn't a vanilla one, it's the same as this one in Meridian's LP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4l2AGU9VM&index=66&list=PLe0K-GUDQkNIFsiJLbZIfaoRVsY5qmx09).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 09, 2015, 12:50:38 am
Alright just started this up. The sheer amount of research required is humongous!!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 10:10:59 am
1) Incorrect weapon definitions (sounds, sprites)
2) Incorrect unit definitions (corpses)
3) Flying units not having the required sprites

You need to verify the ruleset for all of these since they won't appear on the save.

Naw, it's checked and re-checked dozens of times, got these problems when I was a beginner but not nowadays.
...Is the Spartan Scout in question armed with a pistol and a melee weapon? She also has a grenade, which has me worried - what if the game crashes because she decides she must throw grenade, but she has no (free) hands?

(the map is Dawn City, it's crash-free afaik; map crashes happen on Railyard and Commercial).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 09, 2015, 10:38:25 am
Regarding the Bootypedia, I made two new templates: {{Infobox_weapon}} and {{Infobox_ammo}}. They can be seen here (https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Commando_Rifle) and here (https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Commando_Rifle_Clip). Please use them.

It's a bummer we can't have two infoboxes of the same type on one page, otherwise we wouldn't have to make separate entries for clips...

Oh, and in case you didn't get the message, it's all so that you all can help out! :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 09, 2015, 10:57:30 am
Dioxine, I need to add two more weapons to the bootypedia ingame? What list index do you suggest? The way they are now they are overwriting two other weapons...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 09, 2015, 10:59:16 am
Nice job, I only have a few questions.

So attacks use a % of time units and others use a fixed cost. By default, what does the infobox shows?

Also, is the reaction bonus associated with the ammo in the rulesets?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 09, 2015, 11:03:15 am
So attacks use a % of time units and others use a fixed cost. By default, what does the infobox shows?

By default, it shows what you enter... Which makes me think it should be written 65% instead of 65, unless it's flat cost. And the cost should specifically say "TUs", because some cases also have other cost. I'll fix it now for the Commando Rifle.

Also, is the reaction bonus associated with the ammo in the rulesets?

If you mean bonus to damage, then yes. Although the weapon box also contains all this stuff, because some weapons don't have clips.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 11:17:26 am
Dioxine, I need to add two more weapons to the bootypedia ingame? What list index do you suggest? The way they are now they are overwriting two other weapons...

Haha, tough question :) There is a complex pattern to it, but it's too complex for me to remember or write down here, plus it often changes as the weapon library grows :3 My rulesets were never intended to be friendly to anyone. If you have something to submit, better leave incorporating it to me...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 09, 2015, 01:13:55 pm
Haha, tough question :) There is a complex pattern to it, but it's too complex for me to remember or write down here, plus it often changes as the weapon library grows :3 My rulesets were never intended to be friendly to anyone. If you have something to submit, better leave incorporating it to me...

Already added. I must say it is a whole different game to the normal OpenXCOM. I have a question. I was able to build a Kraken and a pachymeter ( sp?). However what weapons can they equip? I think I only get 1 Bonny Ventura throughout the game.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 02:02:29 pm
Answers for that are all in the Pedia - craft weapons have varied types, and each craft can take only some types. If you think the game needs new weapons, why don't you share your ideas? Otherwise you can end up either adding what's already there (or not supposed to be there), therefore ruining the experience for yourself; if you share and consult with someone who knows how the mod is balanced and everything that is there, eg. myself, you can, conversely, improve the experience for us all.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 09, 2015, 05:24:15 pm
Naw, it's checked and re-checked dozens of times, got these problems when I was a beginner but not nowadays.

(the map is Dawn City, it's crash-free afaik; map crashes happen on Railyard and Commercial).

I've already rechecked last night Dawn City's MCD files, which are the usual culprits for terrain bugs. Even though I've checked and rechecked those files several times I still find the occasional wrong value  (wrong ScanG settings appeared last night), although on this case nothing that justifies a crash, since ScanGs are used for the minimap and that is crash free.

My point is, being experienced is not a guarantee that you won't make beginner mistakes anymore. If you have 100 settings to check than chances are that you'll miss one of them. And the more stuff you have to check the bigger the odds that you'll do a slip up.

Or, an even better analogy - when I was learning to drive my instructor told me this: "you don't need to worry much the first or second year of driving, because mistakes there are normal and you'll be worried enough to try to avoid them. What you need to be concerned is when you believe that you are already a good driver - that's when people decide to take unnecessary risks because they are too overconfident and cause crashes"
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 07:32:11 pm
I've never had a map crash on Dawn City before, so no need to get overworked, Hobbes :)

After indepth analysis and many experiments, I think I know what causes the problem.
1. Spartan Scout #1 ends turn
2. Spartan Scout #2 tries to throw grenade
3. Game crashes - probably to LOF issues, since the throw is very tricky, going up the elevator.

All the equipment works normally, and after removing grenades from this spartan (and yet another one who tries to throw grenade inside a building as well), the game doesn't crash. The grenades work normally when the player uses them, as well as when AI uses them - most of the time, at least :) They're vanilla grenades.

So my verdict is, OXCom engine + complex map = AI grenade throw crash (probably any arcing weapon will cause it, not only a grenade), probably due to AI trying to throw grenade up/down an elevator (the ladder, in this case). Otherwise, there is something peculiar about your ladders, Hobbes - make sure to re-check them :) I can't pester the devs about this because it's not vanilla, so they'll probably tell me to beat it - mods are a hell to debug :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 09, 2015, 07:46:41 pm
Nice work Dioxine! :)

Could we reproduce a similar throw in vanilla OpenXCom with, say, a sectoid wanting to throw a alien grenade up a 1x1 UFO elevator shaft?

Ex.: Take a supply UFO save, delete all aliens but 1, move him at the bottom of the shaft that goes to the 3rd floor with only a grenade as weapon and put a soldier at the top of the shaft.

Although the devs might not want to look into a modded game, if it is an OpenXCom bug, that should get their attention.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 08:27:41 pm
Yes we can, but don't look at me, I use my free time to care after my mod :)
Besides there's no guarantee the vanilla elevators are the same as Hobbes' ladders. Although I think I had AI-used Flamer related crash on a vanilla ship map... there is of course also related bug that stops arcing autofire mid-burst (and thus conserves ammo) if the target drops out of LOS... but Arcing Autofire Is Not Vanilla!!! ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 09, 2015, 08:36:07 pm
haha no worries! I am looking for ways to contribute to OpenXCom and my mod is pretty much fallen into neglect now, so I might look more into that (eventually, I have little time these days :() If we can reproduce it with 100% non-modded game, then it could get looked at.

How did you manage to remove the grenades from the soldiers, btw? I thought one had to wait until after the "aliens' turn" but I never got there since the game would crash first.

Also, interesting bug that of arcing autofire. It's not vanilla, but it's a feature that available in the main branch of OpenXCom, so presumably, since the devs put the feature there, they might be inclined to debug it, especially if it is a side-effect of the (potentially 100% vanilla) grenade throwing thing.

Anyhow.. no more of this in XPiratez, I'll look into it when/if I have time and post in the proper place. Sorry for blaming spartans for the bug :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2015, 08:45:55 pm
How did you manage to remove the grenades from the soldiers, btw? I thought one had to wait until after the "aliens' turn" but I never got there since the game would crash first.

Deleted them from the save file (unit 1000001 is 2nd Spartan, for example, 1000002 is 2nd and so on; knowing that, look for items that have these numbers as owners).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 09, 2015, 08:46:44 pm
Sorry for blaming spartans for the bug :P

Poor Spartans, nobody loves them... :(
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 09, 2015, 08:50:28 pm
Deleted them from the save file (unit 1000001 is 2nd Spartan, for example, 1000002 is 2nd and so on; knowing that, look for items that have these numbers as owners).
Aah! I didn't look into the contents of the save enough... Thanks!

Poor Spartans, nobody loves them... :(

Ha! I quite "love" them actually! I'd much rather face a bunch of redneck elitist survivalists than academicians with cyberdiscs on my first terrors ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: robin on October 09, 2015, 08:52:51 pm
related bug that stops arcing autofire mid-burst
could you explain a little? the spitter (erected stance) has arching autofire (usual 3-shots); i never noticed anything wrong (but my testing environment isn't as melee oriented as piratez, so i'm usually too far away to trigger autofire spam).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 09, 2015, 08:59:27 pm
could you explain a little? the spitter (erected stance) has arching autofire (usual 3-shots); i never noticed anything wrong (but my testing environment isn't as melee oriented as piratez, so i'm usually too far away to trigger autofire spam).

bug that stops arcing autofire mid-burst (and thus conserves ammo) if the target drops out of LOS...

Well, it's this one; I don't know how to explain it any further. In other words, if you attack the target with a flamethrower and kill/stun the target, and the target is no longer targetable (because it's no longer height 22, but now height 0 - laying on the ground), the weapon stops firing right then and there, without finishing the entire auto shot (which is 8 shots). It usually happens if you attack a flying unit and it drops behind some fence, or attack a unit that is below you through a lift (when you can target the unit, but not the tile the unit stands on).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: robin on October 09, 2015, 09:06:00 pm
I see. Sorry for the little derail.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 10, 2015, 02:09:02 am
I've never had a map crash on Dawn City before, so no need to get overworked, Hobbes :)

After indepth analysis and many experiments, I think I know what causes the problem.
1. Spartan Scout #1 ends turn
2. Spartan Scout #2 tries to throw grenade
3. Game crashes - probably to LOF issues, since the throw is very tricky, going up the elevator.

All the equipment works normally, and after removing grenades from this spartan (and yet another one who tries to throw grenade inside a building as well), the game doesn't crash. The grenades work normally when the player uses them, as well as when AI uses them - most of the time, at least :) They're vanilla grenades.

So my verdict is, OXCom engine + complex map = AI grenade throw crash (probably any arcing weapon will cause it, not only a grenade), probably due to AI trying to throw grenade up/down an elevator (the ladder, in this case). Otherwise, there is something peculiar about your ladders, Hobbes - make sure to re-check them :) I can't pester the devs about this because it's not vanilla, so they'll probably tell me to beat it - mods are a hell to debug :)
Could you provide save game and list of used mods to reproduce this bug on my side? Then I could try fix it in my branch or in master branch (depending who fault is it :) ).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 10, 2015, 03:45:50 am
The save is posted by Arthanor on the previous page, the mod is XPiratez, nothing more is needed.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 10, 2015, 01:45:57 pm
The sheer amount of research - I am lost!! Just beat off a base assault. Think I may have been too greedy!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 10, 2015, 07:42:33 pm
The sheer amount of research - I am lost!! Just beat off a base assault. Think I may have been too greedy!

I understand completely Cristao...  That is exactly the way I felt when I started my first (and only) game.  The mod is super rich with content and is designed to be replayed multiple times with differing game experiences.  I'm not experienced enough to give you a lot of recommendations on research paths, but there are more and more people playing, so I'm sure good recommendations can be given.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 11, 2015, 01:06:33 am
hi, so took too long to copy a character, now the save game don't want to work, and the save games order in which it put their data is random so, i don't know :C

Btw, the solider i'm trying to move fro mthe old mod to the  0.95A
Code: [Select]
- id: 13
name: Huia Patuone
  initialStats:
          tu: 67
          stamina: 37
          health: 33
          bravery: 40
          reactions: 41
          firing: 70
          throwing: 79
          strength: 20
          psiStrength: 40
          psiSkill: 0
          melee: 87
  currentStats:
          tu: 70
          stamina: 49
          health: 40
          bravery: 40
          reactions: 41
          firing: 75
          throwing: 79
          strength: 33
          psiStrength: 40
          psiSkill: 0
          melee: 87
        rank: 1
        gender: 1
        look: 2
        lookVariant: 8
        missions: 9
        kills: 4
        armor: STR_NONE_UC
        improvement: 0
        psiStrImprovement: 0
        equipmentLayout:
          - ammoItem: STR_ASMG_CLIP
            slot: STR_RIGHT_HAND
            itemType: STR_ASMG
          - slot: STR_BELT
            itemType: STR_BANDAGE
          - slot: STR_BELT
            slotX: 1
            itemType: STR_GRENADE
       
       
       
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 11, 2015, 06:25:20 am
The save is posted by Arthanor on the previous page, the mod is XPiratez, nothing more is needed.

That terror site was nuts. I don't know what's up with it since I have played in that terrain before, but it kept crashing even after I removed all the grenades from all enemies. I gave up and loaded an older save with the Bonny on the way to the terror site, turned on save scumming to get a new map. Got a nice shanty town which the spartans and the gals thoroughly enjoyed blowing up, setting on fire, smashing through and destroying with every weapon at our disposal, without any issue :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 11, 2015, 10:53:41 am
hi, so took too long to copy a character, now the save game don't want to work, and the save games order in which it put their data is random so, i don't know :C

No clue, have you even checked if the id you're using isn't already taken? Or if she's at the right base? I've never really moved characters, better ask someone who did. I do know that the character data doesn't need to be in a single place, so you might be missing something. Might be easier to buy a new hand and replace her.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 11, 2015, 04:41:57 pm
I've only done it for Piratez after I had to reboot my campaign. Did it the way you said:

Buy a soldier and overwrite the soldier with mine, but keeping the ID of the original.

Didn't have any problems. The weird thing about OpenXCom saves is that they are more of a data dump. Within an entry (here the soldier's entry), data is not really ordered. It might be best to find a soldier to replace and change the values of all the fields one by one to make sure you got it right, rather than bulk copy-pasting.

Also, you can tell when new entries start because there will be a - leading the line, so make sure you copy everything between two of those markers.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 11, 2015, 06:23:01 pm
No clue, have you even checked if the id you're using isn't already taken? Or if she's at the right base? I've never really moved characters, better ask someone who did. I do know that the character data doesn't need to be in a single place, so you might be missing something. Might be easier to buy a new hand and replace her.

mmmm i seee actually i did change the id, then i realized i didn't have barrack space so i tried replacing the hand, didn't work, i know, i can try modifying the hand to have the stats i want to
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 11, 2015, 08:12:43 pm
Am i the only one with bad luck that always runs into excavators or academy cutters?I did see something weird happening in the dark dominion so i might check that out with a proxy base
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 11, 2015, 08:21:07 pm
Am i the only one with bad luck that always runs into excavators or academy cutters?I did see something weird happening in the dark dominion so i might check that out with a proxy base

I thought these are nice targets. Would you prefer dealing with Gunships?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 11, 2015, 09:26:12 pm
Why oh why did thou invent the Dark Ones .. There I was cruising along with my customised stun weapons when I had a mutant progrom in Oz Land.. I went in there thinking all would be well. DAMN!! Had to organize 3 man teams to take them down - Stunners and Proper Weapons ..
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 12, 2015, 10:13:47 am

Well, for one thing, this gal is not assigned to any base nor traveling to any base.

hi, so took too long to copy a character, now the save game don't want to work, and the save games order in which it put their data is random so, i don't know :C

Btw, the solider i'm trying to move fro mthe old mod to the  0.95A
Code: [Select]
- id: 13
name: Huia Patuone
  initialStats:
          tu: 67
          stamina: 37
          health: 33
          bravery: 40
          reactions: 41
          firing: 70
          throwing: 79
          strength: 20
          psiStrength: 40
          psiSkill: 0
          melee: 87
  currentStats:
          tu: 70
          stamina: 49
          health: 40
          bravery: 40
          reactions: 41
          firing: 75
          throwing: 79
          strength: 33
          psiStrength: 40
          psiSkill: 0
          melee: 87
        rank: 1
        gender: 1
        look: 2
        lookVariant: 8
        missions: 9
        kills: 4
        armor: STR_NONE_UC
        improvement: 0
        psiStrImprovement: 0
        equipmentLayout:
          - ammoItem: STR_ASMG_CLIP
            slot: STR_RIGHT_HAND
            itemType: STR_ASMG
          - slot: STR_BELT
            itemType: STR_BANDAGE
          - slot: STR_BELT
            slotX: 1
            itemType: STR_GRENADE
       
       
       
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 12, 2015, 10:23:36 am
^In addition, try copying and pasting a soldier from the save and then editing their entries to match the one you posted above. That could help point out where you have missed.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 12, 2015, 09:13:41 pm
Back for some more feedback!

1 - I finally discovered what the "Piles of Junk" that we start with are.. By looking for something completely different in the workshop list, seeing I could use them for something, and then going to look in the bootypedia to find an article I had never seen. I went back in my saves and figured out it was made available when I got "Spring Cleaning", but somehow it doesn't show up with the Decrypted Data Disk in the "We can now manufacture" window. It would be quite useful to get it, or to put a mention in the Spring Cleaning article that we "should get the runts to clean up the rest of the junk" or something, since the pile of junk article itself doesn't pop up either.

2 - The Harpy's Nest got attacked by a boarding torpedo and a very fun battle followed, but I noticed something in your base defenses (and terrors to some extent): The variety in enemy units plays a lot against the AI. In this case, it was traders, and between GOs, Hostesses, Pilots and engineers, I was able to panic the enemy easily with casualties and keep them from being too much of a threat.

It seems like if Traders are fed up with the pirates and send a crew to take them out, they should send more personal/power armor dudes and fewer civilians. The 3 enemies in power armor (and the few in personal armors) caused me pause, but all the fodder was great for keeping the gals' morale high while crippling the enemy, making the base defense fairly easy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 12, 2015, 09:19:21 pm
Got my first crash. Spartan Mutant Pogrom in South America. Tried restarting and relanding but comes up with same map. I have attached the savegame. How does one know what to look for in future?

The game is insistent on that map for a reason! I had to edit the savegame to stun all Spartans. I will leave the savegame attached if further study required.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 12, 2015, 10:04:38 pm
Well, for one thing, this gal is not assigned to any base nor traveling to any base.
is okay i replaced her stats and looks with other hand and that do the trick.

PD: what happen yesterday?, the page went down or something?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Hobbes on October 12, 2015, 10:26:35 pm
PD: what happen yesterday?, the page went down or something?

Alien infiltrators attempted to sabotage XCom.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 12, 2015, 10:48:03 pm
2 - The Harpy's Nest got attacked by a boarding torpedo and a very fun battle followed, but I noticed something in your base defenses (and terrors to some extent): The variety in enemy units plays a lot against the AI. In this case, it was traders, and between GOs, Hostesses, Pilots and engineers, I was able to panic the enemy easily with casualties and keep them from being too much of a threat.

You get attacked by factions you shoot down. This could be edited (by expanding the factions and indulging in extensive ruleset juggling), but I really doubt it is worth the amount of work (and drastically increased probability of weird bugs, since I would have to use really crazy deployment arrangements) involved. I'm planning to do that anyway, but just for 'passengers'. Otherwise it cannot be done without changing the code.

As for the pogroms, yeah, some of them are easy on purpose.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 12, 2015, 11:25:54 pm
What I meant is not really about the factions that retaliate. I know you get attacked by what you shot down and that's fine (until the traders decide to hire mercs to attack my base, then I'll be in trouble! ;)).

My comment was more about the way deployments are typically made (few high ranks, a certain number of terror units and a swarm of low rank), which works against the AI (and immersion) in Piratez, compared to vanilla.

There isn't that much of a difference between ranks in vanilla aliens (with the exception of sectoids because of psi), so having lots of low ranks works. In Piratez, certain ranks are significantly weaker than others combat-wise, and indeed not really combat personnel. That gives a different experience. If you see a floater medic, you're not sighing in relief at not having seen a soldier, but if you see a trader hostess, you totally are relieved compared to seeing a security guard. That works well when you raid a crashed/landed ship: it's normal to see a bunch of civilians because they weren't planning to get attacked.

So I was suggesting to lower the number of hostess/GO/pilot (maybe engineers too) ranks and increasing the others in the deployments for base attacks. This reduces the number of "easy" targets to mess up their morale but most importantly makes it feel like they are actually mounting an attack on you with proper combat troops in their attack craft instead of bringing the civvies on a tour.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: just_dont on October 12, 2015, 11:40:09 pm
Well, at least there's a time-based progression for that, my late-game (Jan 2nd year) base defenses had the only "non-combat" unit being a trade rep (one per entire army), others were all security/pest control guys/bodyguards.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 13, 2015, 12:14:03 am
Hmm, this is a good point, but then, ranks vary amongst the races as well. While rank 4 is usually security personnel, rank 5 can either be a totally expected pest controller, or unarmored academician. Rank 3 is either medic, or Bodyguard... Even more importantly, hostess is rank 7 which is usually a terror unit. There is simply not enough ranks to cover the entirety of functions you find in Piratez (I think some sort of unification would be possible, but at the price of variation... you can have > 8 ranks now, after all). Although I think I can adjust this at least a bit (a slight problem being that hideout attack crew has to be the same as Cruiser crew, for continuity reasons...).

In short this is major work and I have a lot of things that have a higher priority now...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 13, 2015, 02:03:25 am
No worries ;) I just thought it was worthy of mentioning. With the increased number of ranks, it might be possible to make a more uniformed deployments, eventually..!

For now, the gals will welcome any GO/Academician/Hostess who wants to join the party! Too bad I had an undermanned crew and nobody carrying sun stuff.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 13, 2015, 05:49:10 am
Gretting, after getting my game good to go and lost many hairs in failed mutant progroms i took my time for something i wanted to do, i'm not game artist but i enjoy it anyway: fan designs, my time was short so i could do one but i tihnk is enough to see if people like it, i don't know if there is a place of art in the forum, but since is related to Dioxine's mod i think it's fitting to put it here

Tl:DR : i'm doing fan armor designs
i wanted to start redesigning the initial hand clothes for a more fitting vibe, but i got a biker attire, and that's about it you can kick me now
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 13, 2015, 07:17:38 am
haha nice work! That looks like smokey armor to me!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 13, 2015, 07:21:45 am
Keep advancing my late game with the mod ...and I found a CTD situation I'd like to share. Currently:
I'm waiting for a Star God Coordinator in (I though inside) a Cruiser, and this ship showed up, heading to one of my bases for an attack.

The problem is the game crashes to the desktop right after the hideout defenses firing sequence ended. I don't know what is causing the crash. I don't know if it is a map bug or some other kind of bug. See attached for my save game.

After playing with the save game I managed to "land" the SG cruiser and it was full of those purple-spitting pesky cyclops that refuse to die and don't bring much loot (a.k.a silver coins).

Where I can find a SG Coordinator? Base only?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 13, 2015, 09:47:51 am
Tl:DR : i'm doing fan armor designs
i wanted to start redesigning the initial hand clothes for a more fitting vibe, but i got a biker attire, and that's about it you can kick me now

Nice :3 It is actually possible to add alternate versions of "unarmored" that could be freely switched, but yeah, takes work...

Keep advancing my late game with the mod ...and I found a CTD situation I'd like to share. Currently:

I'll investigate this.

And to answer your question: no, he can be found on a Cruiser. Just not with this particular crew.

EDIT: the crash is caused by VooDoo Rod; they're discontinued as standalone items (only available as a part of Witch outfit now). Sell them and everything will be fine.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 13, 2015, 11:14:12 am
I started working on the wiki with flintlocks and muskets.

Does the melee attack on the bayoneted musket seems easy to read for you?
https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Bayoneted_Musket
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 13, 2015, 12:39:07 pm
I think this mod on its own is a lot of work. Credit to the developer and contributors. I am as lost as I was on the first day. What is the optimum equipment i.e. vessel, weapons, armor. I normally go in all guns blazing but damn ..
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 13, 2015, 01:57:22 pm
I started working on the wiki with flintlocks and muskets.

Does the melee attack on the bayoneted musket seems easy to read for you?
https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Bayoneted_Musket

Thanks for the help! But I'm fairly sure this melee info can be added through the weapon template itself (I'm at work now, so can't check). But don't worry, I'll fix it later today if it needs fixing.

Tl:DR : i'm doing fan armor designs


Goddamn, Piratez fan art. And a really nice one too.

EDIT: THose walker bots made by Miguel... I wonder if they can be used for the Technocracy, or some cyberpunkish government/faction? :) (I think it's planned to have slight variations between governments, based on regions.)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 13, 2015, 02:22:46 pm
EDIT: THose walker bots made by Miguel... I wonder if they can be used for the Technocracy, or some cyberpunkish government/faction? :) (I think it's planned to have slight variations between governments, based on regions.)

D/w I definitely want to add stuff based on Miguel's resources, too cool to pass :3
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 13, 2015, 03:26:08 pm
I find it funny how aquatoids send a wave to organise a terror site instead of sending a terror ship

Considering that this wave appeared instantly on my radar and then the mission started in the geoscape i have to wonder,do these have a skin in air combat or do they read jammed like supply ships?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 13, 2015, 03:54:34 pm
I think this mod on its own is a lot of work. Credit to the developer and contributors. I am as lost as I was on the first day. What is the optimum equipment i.e. vessel, weapons, armor. I normally go in all guns blazing but damn ..

Afaik the best is a mix of melee + pistols followed by smg gals who can reaction fire then rifles to cover areas your gals are not clearing, plus at least one rocket launcher (for cyberdisks). After a core team is made, you can add up snipers rifles (free 100% shots from the roof of the bonaventura), machine guns (cover destroyers), flamethrowers (quickly kills flammable enemies), medics, and gals with nothing but black powder bombs.

You're better off loading a bit of every kind of gun (balistic, laser and acidic at minimum) so you can change the equipment depending of the enemy you are attacking. This makes the hyperwave decoder a huge priority because you need to know what you will be fighting.

Armors usefulness goes from gal to gal. Usually I give utility suits to swabbies to fix their bad stats then give them TAC armors (I skip vests) or power armors, depending of how many TU they sport. This make the team really bad at reaction fire and I got a memorial of swabbies longer than a WW2 memorial but the veterans stay alive. I will soon have grav armors for snipers and rocket launcher gals.



Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 13, 2015, 04:33:17 pm
My composition is similar, but there are differences. Instead of rocket launcher, I rely on thrown explosives (mostly dynamite and elerium grenades), and I am now a fan of mortar. My shooty gals mostly use auto-cannons and LACCs, and if they are too weak - battle rifles. Most of my melee gals wear swimsuits for the better stats, but I try to never expose them to the enemy when possible. Smoke is mandatory all the time. :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 13, 2015, 04:40:02 pm
^If this were real life, I wonder what alien reactions would be to seeing smoke slowly seep into their areas.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 13, 2015, 08:39:32 pm
I started working on the wiki with flintlocks and muskets.

Does the melee attack on the bayoneted musket seems easy to read for you?
https://bootypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Bayoneted_Musket

I think that the entry needs to more clearly state that it is for the Melee attack only. Just reading it, I'm not sure if its for Ranged or Melee or what.  I can see that there IS a melee attack, I just don't know what the values displayed are for.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 13, 2015, 09:02:01 pm
Everything in the blue square on the left is for the ranged attack, everything for the melee attack is under the "Melee attack" section. It doesn't seem too confusing to me, but maybe having everything in the same location, as Solarius suggested, and having specific names (melee hit chance, melee power, melee TU cost, etc, and then snap shot accuracy, snap/aimed shot TU cost, ranged power) would be better?

Also.. I can't make a bayoneted musket, even after having researched flintlocks.. So it must require more than that! I would have thought it would be flintlocks + primitive weapons (it's a mix of gun and spear) but I already have primitive weapons, so it's not that either.. And I can't go look into Piratez.rul, too many spoilers!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 13, 2015, 11:43:06 pm
Everything in the blue square on the left is for the ranged attack, everything for the melee attack is under the "Melee attack" section. It doesn't seem too confusing to me, but maybe having everything in the same location, as Solarius suggested, and having specific names (melee hit chance, melee power, melee TU cost, etc, and then snap shot accuracy, snap/aimed shot TU cost, ranged power) would be better?

It was my idea too, so I'm not even sure if what I did is all right. I moved these melee stats to the infobox, the way I envisioned it when I made the box template, but I'm not sure if it's good enough - opinions are welcome.

Also.. I can't make a bayoneted musket, even after having researched flintlocks.. So it must require more than that! I would have thought it would be flintlocks + primitive weapons (it's a mix of gun and spear) but I already have primitive weapons, so it's not that either.. And I can't go look into Piratez.rul, too many spoilers!

Hmmm... I haven't researched it in my game, since I went a different route, but it appears it requires Tools & Blades and Basic Armor.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Roxis231 on October 14, 2015, 12:02:13 am
Hmmm... I haven't researched it in my game, since I went a different route, but it appears it requires Tools & Blades and Basic Armor.

How displaying the requirements for each piece of research in their entry into the bootypedia wiki? Under a spoiler tag - like on Wikipedia?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 14, 2015, 12:16:31 am
It was my idea too, so I'm not even sure if what I did is all right. I moved these melee stats to the infobox, the way I envisioned it when I made the box template, but I'm not sure if it's good enough - opinions are welcome.

hum.. it looks a bit more tidy now, but I would put all the melee stats in the blue square as well, presumably in the same way as you would do stats for a melee weapon (I couldn't find one on the wiki though..)

Quote
Hmmm... I haven't researched it in my game, since I went a different route, but it appears it requires Tools & Blades and Basic Armor.

Ah.. well.. I have researched neither of these so far. I skipped Basic Armor since it was underwhelming in my first game and considered it wasted a fair amount of research time for something I never used. I think I've got a brainer on it now, because it might be a pre-req for some stuff. Never seen the Tools & Blades research...

But I agree with Roxis, it might be good to have the pre-requisites for tech in spoiler tags, unless it is an obvious catch all research. Like it's ok to say "Flintlocks and Bombs" for muskets, but if the bayoneted one is unlocked from that + 2 other  techs directly (instead of a "bayonet attachment" project), then it might be better to keep it hidden.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 14, 2015, 12:50:22 am
OK, I'll consider spoiler tags. Just not today, I'm going to sleep. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 14, 2015, 12:58:58 am
Another idea from reading SIMON's experience in Hardmode and about the musket here:

Dioxine, what about adding a unlimited ammo, range 1, aimed shot to some melee weapons (the axe seems like a prime candidate), to allow them to destroy terrain? It would give the axe and edge (HA!) over the swords.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 14, 2015, 01:03:15 am
Another idea from reading SIMON's experience in Hardmode and about the musket here:

Dioxine, what about adding a unlimited ammo, range 1, aimed shot to some melee weapons (the axe seems like a prime candidate), to allow them to destroy terrain? It would give the axe and edge (HA!) over the swords.

I could but remember such an attack would have near-100% hit chance, quite possibly completely unbalancing the weapon... plus, I'm already imagining endless questions, "why this weapon has two attack modes which seem the same..."...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 14, 2015, 01:18:23 am
That's why I suggested an aimed shot (no reaction) and then with TU cost it could be made to be inefficient compared to the main melee use.

Also.. what happens if you put the aimed accuracy at 0? The "cone" of misses is larger the less likely the shot is to hit, which could lead to some misses on an opponent in front of you, but should still allow you to hit a wall or other big obstacle (hopefully a tree too..).

I agree that it's not the best fix, especially since it would probably be called aimed shot as well, which would look weird, but I was trying to find a way to make axes more interesting, since currently rapiers, cutlasses and.. the psycho weapon I can't remember the name of.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 14, 2015, 08:25:56 am
You have near-100% hit chance even with accuracy = 0.
Still... I think the idea is worth considering. It'd probably phase out the hammer, too, unless the attack was really slow...
Now let's wait for the flames.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 14, 2015, 04:07:12 pm
Can't we just have melee attacks affect terrain? (:
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 14, 2015, 04:57:50 pm
 i Do find it weird that to research tactical armor you have to first research advance WEAPON rumors.So they make better armor based on what they know on weapons?Make sense but it was a bit confusing while i was trying to find out how to make tactical armor the first time
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 14, 2015, 07:42:38 pm
If accuracy is definitely not a solution, we still have:
- Power: The axe's shot attack would be weaker than a hammer strike.
- TUs: It should use a lot more TUs than the melee strike of the axe (it represents a powerful "smash" on a wall, not a dynamic combat attack) and maybe more than the hammer's strike.
- Other costs: It could use more stamina: A hammer does a lot of the work by being heavy. The axe isn't so you have to use more of your strength = get more tired.

Between those 3, I trust you to find a way to make it useful while keeping the hammer relevant as well. You're the one who managed to fit a gazillion melee weapons in regular Piratez with just accuracy, melee use, TUs and power! ;)

Also, I think it'd be worth it even if the hammer becomes a little bit less useful compared to the axe, just because right now, the axe is not really doing much compared to a cutlass. (Also maybe the hammer could get a melee strike to be able to attack in diagonals too?)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 14, 2015, 07:44:01 pm
Hello, it's me again, it seems that there are problems , well i just leave what i made now and back pedal XD
anyway i had an idea: we have a starting suit for melee, another for support, this one is for ranged weapons,  a gear that gives a small aim bonus to ranged weapons but lowers reaction and/or movement by using more TU, i started by doing a obvious MGSV reference but it became is own thing, not sure about the colors though,i was thinking in some "camo" colors
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: doctor medic on October 14, 2015, 08:16:12 pm
Well sure,muskets arent really know for accuracy and cutlases have their place firm in early game.
Cant see something wrong with a little bonus accuracy.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 14, 2015, 08:39:41 pm
Hello, it's me again, it seems that there are problems , well i just leave what i made now and back pedal XD
anyway i had an idea: we have a starting suit for melee, another for support, this one is for ranged weapons,  a gear that gives a small aim bonus to ranged weapons but lowers reaction and/or movement by using more TU, i started by doing a obvious MGSV reference but it became is own thing, not sure about the colors though,i was thinking in some "camo" colors

Hehehe, I like it as it is - starting colors being mostly black is a good rule of thumb. Red, Blue, Purple and Green  would be bad as there are advanced armors of predominantly that color. And the design is such you'll be able to tell it apart from other black armors.
Actually there is an early armor that gives Firing/Reactions bonus (guerilla), but it is not guaranteed to be acquired really early (requires either Spartans or Back to School)... I'll think about it, maybe it should be an early use for personal armor parts/academy stuff.
As for the axe, I don't trust the Cutlass to dependably kill power armor, so I don't think the axe is useless...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 14, 2015, 08:52:39 pm
Thank you for liking my idea, i was thinking in a late game version inspired by the Ghosts form Starcraft
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 14, 2015, 09:25:14 pm
Hehehe, I like it as it is - starting colors being mostly black is a good rule of thumb. Red, Blue, Purple and Green  would be bad as there are advanced armors of predominantly that color. And the design is such you'll be able to tell it apart from other black armors.
Actually there is an early armor that gives Firing/Reactions bonus (guerilla), but it is not guaranteed to be acquired really early (requires either Spartans or Back to School)... I'll think about it, maybe it should be an early use for personal armor parts/academy stuff.
As for the axe, I don't trust the Cutlass to dependably kill power armor, so I don't think the axe is useless...

Yes, guerilla armor is an awesome armor for starting shooty gals. I use it extensively (along with some smokey for snipers, some tac vests for breachers and some pirate outfits for fodder (I mean scouts!) and some naked for gals that have to carry heavy stuff without penalty (You should see Crazy Iva, wearin' nothin' but a machine gun!). I actually really like the early variety you've got going now, between metal, tac vest, guerilla, smokey, gym suit, there's something for everyone.

As for the axe, I didn't realize it was that much more damaging than a cutlass.. But I did my analysis in Piratez. Will have to redo it. I've got a lot of success with billhooks on strong, brave gals as well. (Also, always hit power armor in the back!)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 14, 2015, 10:32:07 pm
Yes, guerilla armor is an awesome armor for starting shooty gals. I use it extensively (along with some smokey for snipers, some tac vests for breachers and some pirate outfits for fodder (I mean scouts!) and some naked for gals that have to carry heavy stuff without penalty (You should see Crazy Iva, wearin' nothin' but a machine gun!). I actually really like the early variety you've got going now, between metal, tac vest, guerilla, smokey, gym suit, there's something for everyone.

As for the axe, I didn't realize it was that much more damaging than a cutlass.. But I did my analysis in Piratez. Will have to redo it. I've got a lot of success with billhooks on strong, brave gals as well. (Also, always hit power armor in the back!)
mmm, then a idea like mine would apply better in mid game since there's already the guerrilla armor, bummer, or can modfy something to be early and have less bonus

Also, power armor must be really crappy to be defeated by common weapons like an axe
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 15, 2015, 09:21:05 am
Just got to Assault Armor Research but need to find a few components. I did manufacture a few bikinis and amazon outfits - Next is learning how to get Witch's outfit and use voodoo ...

My custom stunning weapon and giving myself loadsa cash helps a lot. Even with those, this mod is very challenging and I doff my heart to those who didnt do mods. I am still wondering where it will take one to.

Latest Status

Weapons - Plasma
Base - Industrial Printer
Armour - Assault Armor
Vessel - Drakhan
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 15, 2015, 04:43:06 pm
mmm, then a idea like mine would apply better in mid game since there's already the guerrilla armor, bummer, or can modfy something to be early and have less bonus

Also, power armor must be really crappy to be defeated by common weapons like an axe

It's about game variety. Melee weapons would be useless if you could achieve the same or better results by just firing a burst from 1 tile away. They're more risky and more tiring to use, so there should be some major incentive to do so - like high damage.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 15, 2015, 05:53:18 pm
It's about game variety. Melee weapons would be useless if you could achieve the same or better results by just firing a burst from 1 tile away. They're more risky and more tiring to use, so there should be some major incentive to do so - like high damage.

against power armor it will make snese if there advanced tech for melee like nanomachines, high frecuency or plasma, though i'm sure the mod already has those
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 15, 2015, 06:03:31 pm
Can't we just have melee attacks affect terrain? (:
I have it on my TODO list. At some point it will be implemented.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 15, 2015, 06:33:21 pm
I have it on my TODO list. At some point it will be implemented.

Supergroovy.

Then I guess it doesn't make much sense to try to push it in earlier? What do you think, guys?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 15, 2015, 07:01:34 pm
mmm, then a idea like mine would apply better in mid game since there's already the guerrilla armor, bummer, or can modfy something to be early and have less bonus
I think alternatives to runt and pirate outfit for the very beginning could be interesting. Pirate is good for melee, runt is good for weak gals (but now bad for scouts because of the stam regen :(), but there is nothing for shooty gals where the weight of pirate outfits is more damaging than its benefits, and the accuracy debuff of runt outfits is not great. Actually, there is exactly "nothing", I tend to keep my shooty gals wearing no armor/outfit.

I have it on my TODO list. At some point it will be implemented.

Woot! Yankes to the rescue! :D

Supergroovy.

Then I guess it doesn't make much sense to try to push it in earlier? What do you think, guys?

Well, I'd still like a aimed/auto-shot on the axe for now, but that's something I can "cheat" into my games if you guys prefer to wait. Maybe I'll just experiment for fun.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 15, 2015, 07:14:29 pm
against power armor it will make snese if there advanced tech for melee like nanomachines, high frecuency or plasma, though i'm sure the mod already has those

Some (and more planned), but the melee part of the balance has to be there from day one (so does the alternative option to engage powered armor - and your only other option, before voodoo, are high explosives), and it wouldn't make much sense to have flintlocks next to power swords. The rationale is, powered armor wasn't designed against melee, and what we see in the game as a melee hit, is actually a whole attack maneuver (irl, you don't slash a heavily armored enemy across their body - you either use a dedicated AP weapon, like warhammer, or trip them and stab into weak areas). None the less, I might add some "armor class" to powered armor... to make it harder to perform a successful attack. I don't want the power-armored enemies to be undefeatable except for some trick you need to know (the trick being, 'buy a Panzerfaust').

Well, I'd still like a aimed/auto-shot on the axe for now, but that's something I can "cheat" into my games if you guys prefer to wait. Was actually thinking that an auto-shot, "chop-chop" attack could be neat. Maybe I'll just experiment for fun.

Well it's always your choice, but it'd allow nice cheats (like using an axe with your melee stat around 20-30 due to wearing a non-melee armor).
As for making ranged armor a starting armor... I don't know (if so, then with some painful penalties - like Reactions and carrying capacity). Early research, yeah, but not from day one. 'No Armor' should also be a viable option IMO, it's not there just to be eye-candy. Plus you need some incentive to research stuff :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 15, 2015, 07:27:19 pm
I haven't gotten very far tech wise in XPiratez, but my experience in Piratez was that there was little progression in melee weapons. The hammer is always great and I don't think you upgrade it (although some other weapons come to surpass it somewhat). Similarly newer melee weapons (higher tech swords) are much less of an upgrade than what you see in guns that go from useless unless the target is unarmored (and even then...) to really quite powerful.

Now not having definite tiers of tech is one thing I like about Piratez. There's no "coveralls + ballistics" followed by "personal armor + lasers" followed by "power armor + plasma". There is progression, but it is a lot smoother. Ex.: you can upgrade your tac armor to different things that are still useful later in the game, you get such a wide variety of guns and "guns familly", that it's not just a matter of "unlocking the next tier" and upgrading everyone. And then there are the "upgrades by variations", like new ammo types or bayonets, which are pretty cool too.

But, it seems like melee doesn't change that much and between hammers, axes and billhooks, you have an answer to a lot of problems from day one (especially if you can keep some gals alive and reach really high strength). Actually, that might be why I don't see a need to upgrade as much: My gals don't die enough, reach too high a strength and then they break the system. Something that doesn't really happen with guns since the damage doesn't go up with stats (much).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 15, 2015, 07:39:23 pm
Hmm... so you're basically saying that early melee is too powerful compared to later variants, and it scales too much with stats? (one-hitting powerful enemies in melee when your stats are high is, I think, quite all right, not really breaking the system - there is also the problem - if melee is too weak, you start to think about how risky it sometimes is - even though enemies don't react to melee attacks nowadays, which is a major advantage). Hmm... cutlass peaks at about 95 damage, while the Electro-Sword at about 135. While there is difference, it is indeed not that pronounced, especially since 95 is a LOT anyway...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: ivandogovich on October 15, 2015, 07:57:30 pm
Hmm... so you're basically saying that early melee is too powerful compared to later variants....

I sense a melee nerf coming. ;)
Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 15, 2015, 08:01:57 pm
Some (and more planned), but the melee part of the balance has to be there from day one (so does the alternative option to engage powered armor - and your only other option, before voodoo, are high explosives), and it wouldn't make much sense to have flintlocks next to power swords. The rationale is, powered armor wasn't designed against melee, and what we see in the game as a melee hit, is actually a whole attack maneuver (irl, you don't slash a heavily armored enemy across their body - you either use a dedicated AP weapon, like warhammer, or trip them and stab into weak areas). None the less, I might add some "armor class" to powered armor... to make it harder to perform a successful attack. I don't want the power-armored enemies to be undefeatable except for some trick you need to know (the trick being, 'buy a Panzerfaust').

Well it's always your choice, but it'd allow nice cheats (like using an axe with your melee stat around 20-30 due to wearing a non-melee armor).
As for making ranged armor a starting armor... I don't know (if so, then with some painful penalties - like Reactions and carrying capacity). Early research, yeah, but not from day one. 'No Armor' should also be a viable option IMO, it's not there just to be eye-candy. Plus you need some incentive to research stuff :)

well is the future of course power sword would look nice....in late game at least(when you are not using muskets)  i'm not asking for early tech of course, also when designing my fan sniper gear i was thinking in this: the googles allow to see better in distance but like the night googles, they are bad at close range, affecting reactions and close/mid range and walking TU, also if we take the googles it work as eye candy for day one  :P, carrying capacity i did not think of that but is a good idea
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 15, 2015, 08:09:03 pm
I just think these armours are badass (big biker chicks yay), I don't care if they're necessary as long as they're in the game and balanced. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 15, 2015, 08:12:40 pm
I just think these armours are badass (big biker chicks yay), I don't care if they're necessary as long as they're in the game and balanced. :P
is the one i did right?, if so i'm flattered :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 15, 2015, 08:32:36 pm
is the one i did right?, if so i'm flattered :P

Of course! :)
Sure they need a lot of polishing, or actually making them from scratch with actual pixel art, but I do love the concept.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 15, 2015, 10:40:00 pm
Hmm... so you're basically saying that early melee is too powerful compared to later variants, and it scales too much with stats? (one-hitting powerful enemies in melee when your stats are high is, I think, quite all right, not really breaking the system - there is also the problem - if melee is too weak, you start to think about how risky it sometimes is - even though enemies don't react to melee attacks nowadays, which is a major advantage). Hmm... cutlass peaks at about 95 damage, while the Electro-Sword at about 135. While there is difference, it is indeed not that pronounced, especially since 95 is a LOT anyway...

Indeed, the difference in peak damage is small and you "quickly" get to areas where you don't really need more. Instead of 40 more damage giving you a one hit kill, you can often spare the TUs and stamina to strike twice and get the same result. But the main interesting thing to me is that it scales differently. I don't know how much damage the endgame melee (or ranged) weapons do, but it is undeniable that there is a combination of factors that favours melee regardless of weapon tier in how they advance and actually keeps entry level weapons (axe, hammer, cutlass, billhook) competitive rather late in the game in the hands of experienced gals, while muskets and rifles have long been obsolete regardless of who wields them (actually, can still be good as cheap training weapons for taking potshots for experience.. but I don't do "training exploits").

Quick scaling:
Ranged: More TUs doesn't shoot more. More accuracy hits more, until you reach ~90% (which is fast on a few weapons). Reactions + accuracy helps for snapshots on enemy turns, but that's really risky (snap accuracies aren't great, ranged damage isn't either, and the enemy can get mutual surprise or just flank you, so it's risky even in end game). More stam is pretty meaningless since you spend most of your TUs shooting and don't need to move that much. Str is maybe your biggest boon because you can carry a bigger gun. That's pretty much your only way to improve damage, since it rarely scales otherwise.

Melee: More TUs mean more strikes. More accuracy hits more and it takes longer to reach 100% to hit. More reactions increases your survivability by preventing reactions against you (it's risky to charge, but it gets less and less risky), more stam your mobility. More strength means more damage.

So there's only 2 ways to improve ranged damage: Better accuracy up to a certain, sometimes easily reachable point, and a bigger gun (big difference, but it means lots of research). There's 4 ways to increase melee damage: Better accuracy, better TUs, better Str and better weapon (but as you said, not that much of a difference).

I like the way things scale, the fixed TU cost of melee is nice to represent faster strikes from faster gals and the increase in damage from str is obviously needed. I think this works well in the early games, when gals are mid-ranged stats-wise and have rather low str. But once you get experienced gals, the melee ones benefit a lot more from stats gain (pretty much everything is helping) and can do things with starting melee weapons that are really impressive. This, in turns, makes higher end melee weapons less exciting because you are already "fine", whereas upgrading guns is primordial since it is close to the only way to improve ranged output. Which is a bit unfortunate in two ways: It's much harder to build a ranged monster, and it's much harder to be really excited about a new melee weapon because you already have a monster.

I'd like to see some scaling in damage on more ranged weapons, rifle +5-10% of accuracy? Snipers +10-15? Or maybe scale with reactions to encourage people to "risk it"? Reactions then also becomes good for shooty gals as they react to targets can spot weaknesses faster. That doesn't change much but it adds an extra scaling to ranged combat to restore the balance a bit. Or have some more ranged weapons with fixed firing costs, so increased TUs on the gals mean they can fire (or run) more, like it does for melee. If an experienced melee gal can strike "faster" (TU cost is a smaller % of her TUs), why can't an experience shooty gal aim faster? She won't hit for more damage, after all. Or if she takes the same time to aim than a starting gal (same % of TUs), then she should hit somewhere more painful since she is a better shot (back to damage scale with accuracy).

Melee also has another advantage: 12 extra TUs and you went from front armor to back armor and 12 TUs is a small fraction of your total. For a shooty gal it's often impossible to both flank and shoot, but that's somewhat mitigated by being able to spread out more so some gals are already flanking.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 15, 2015, 11:08:30 pm
Sorry about combo-breaking this (actually very interesting) topic, but I just made some experimental rank icons and wanted to share them.

Sure, they're not as great as the original graphics, but at least they're not X-Com ranks any more, which kind of annoy me in the mod. :P Besides, they're still better than TFTD graphics, because everything is.

The icons are black, because you know, black flag, but it can be changed easily.

PS: That separate icon, a shell, is a reject. :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 15, 2015, 11:11:56 pm
To answer the basic question: no, I won't make ranged damage nowhere as scaleable as melee damage (although some buffs are possible, on a case-to-case basis - more like a special advantage of some weapons than a rule). This is a major game design point: while melee weapons favor high stats, firearms should give you reliability instead. What works in favor of veterans (stat-based damage, speed) disfavors less experienced soldiers. Also, armors with high TU and Stam penalties do not penalize ranged fighters that much. So both realms - melee and ranged - should be different on that basic philosophical level. Melee is the epitome of skill (both soldier's and player's) and initiative. But this is only one of several approaches to warfare; I don't want my mod to be heavily skewed towards any one approach (other approaches are trickery, reliability, and endurance); these discussions are helpful as I am myself skewed towards initiative, and often can't see if the other realms are properly balanced.

Having said that, re-balance of melee seems to be in order... I'll keep their higher damage output compared to guns (well, top-tier guns have a tremendous damage output), but make them scale a bit less, at least the early models. Let's not forget that guns have one major advantage: abusing LoS and pelting the enemies with ranged fire they cannot respond to, even without using any good armor. Closing in to get to melee is always risky; I've lost many veterans to an unforeseen flank shot.

@Solar: yeah, the ranks need to be replaced :) The ones you've posted are quite good, although they'd need some color, and I'm not sure what the last one is supposed to depict :) Not perfect, but clearly, an improvement over what we have now...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 15, 2015, 11:27:59 pm
@Solar: yeah, the ranks need to be replaced :) The ones you've posted are quite good, although they'd need some color, and I'm not sure what the last one is supposed to depict :) Not perfect, but clearly, an improvement over what we have now...

Thanks, it's the first attempt so I'm kinda happy with it.
As for the last one, it's obviously a female pirate captain! :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 15, 2015, 11:45:36 pm
@Dioxine: Interesting! I tend to balance different combat modes similarly to get a uniform scaling, since I want the ability to make an awesome sniper or commando as much as an awesome stabber. But it's Piratez and it's a bit more of a fantasy setting, so I can see wanting to make melee the one more suited to "heroes", like it is in, say, 40k.

@Solarius: Those are cool! I like the black and white but it seems like it wouldn't fit in the very colorful XCom UI. I could see them being golden, to look like embossed medals or something? Also, what about a kraken for the last one? Go from a seashell to seahorse to shark to a sea monster!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 16, 2015, 12:44:48 am
Of course! :)
Sure they need a lot of polishing, or actually making them from scratch with actual pixel art, but I do love the concept.
Huia Thanks you
(https://41.media.tumblr.com/d57c848e402b756ce66c71b1bc476a2f/tumblr_nwa71huJ1m1sz7seio1_r1_1280.jpg)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 16, 2015, 12:46:55 am
@Arthanor: Yeah, I wanted tentacles somewhere, but it's hard to draw. :) Maybe later.

And let me withhold with adding melee weapons to the Bootypedia for now, since it's possibly in the rebalance zone... XD

@jmf: (https://orig15.deviantart.net/a375/f/2012/296/a/a/gangnam_style_emoticon_by_goloops-d5irp9y.gif)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 16, 2015, 10:52:09 am
@jmf: Yay for art, keep going!

@sola: For the black flag theme, the last one could be simply a crowned skull, pirate queen and all.

About melee, it's a staple of many games that ranged damage it based on the weapon and melee on the user. To quote Warhammer 40k, "Why use the best gun of the galaxy if your opponent crush your head with a rock?". At best we could have less base damage and more bonus so it 'upgrades' when your gals get more stats? It worked well for the sniper rifles.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 16, 2015, 02:37:50 pm
Rather the other way around, the more stat-based damage is, the more it grows with skill - and like Arthanor said, there are several other factors that already work in favor of melee for veterans. For now, I'm just slightly nerfing cutlass, tech blade and hammer, I don't feel like going all-out revolution yet - would need to make spreadsheets, and I hate those. We'll see if we can get there just by fine-tuning.

@jmf: awesome, thank you! I'll try to make some armor pixelart when I'm done stealing ships from FMP (and making new ones).

By the way, the (real ^_^)  Battleship is finished.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 16, 2015, 06:11:53 pm
Nice work on the battleship picture! Now I really wonder if a Piratez fleet might be able to take one on..! It looks a lot more like what humans would build out of alien tech now, that's great!

I think Boltgun was suggesting to add some scaling to other ranged weapons so that they compare less unfavourably  to melee ones, not to add more scaling to melee weapons. I also think it would be good for rifles. Not heavy weapons (their low accuracy ensures that there is a difference between good shots and bad ones), but regular rifles scaling to some extent would be nice. Something like 10%, to go with the sniper rifle being 25% (the gun that is designed to allow someone to benefit the most from their aim).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 16, 2015, 06:30:05 pm
Ho-hum... if we limit this to primitive rifles, and make a break-even point at, say, 60 (actually 60..69; so you get +6 damage compared to now at maxed-out Firing of 120...129, and -2 when having 40...49), this might be worth a shot... High-level guns are powerful enough as they are, but rifles are indeed somewhat underwhelmed... but this would require reducing base damage by 6 on all clips, and adding damage bonus formula, and there are so many rifles ;_; (and someone would probably also want a similar Reactions bonus to damage to all Pistols...)... the plus would be that shotguns and smgs would be more reliable for beginners... I'm still not convinced - guns were supposed to be reliable - but I guess low-end rifles and pistols are underwhelming any way, and it'd be kinda cool for veterans to stick to their old guns, simply because the shiny new ones don't provide any stat-based bonus...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: XOps on October 16, 2015, 07:41:21 pm
Love that battleship. The battlescape map for it looks pretty sweet too.  :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 16, 2015, 08:10:32 pm
I think pistols just need decent snap accuracy and/or low TU costs to work well as breaching weapons. "Damage" in this situation is scaled by how likely/often you will be to hit, rather than by how hard you will hit. Having 20% more chance to hit from a 40% snap/auto shot makes a big difference in damage output. It's similar to how the HMG is a great weapon for high accuracy gals, since they can land a few more shots that can make the difference (killed a power armored dude with one!).

The problem with rifles is that they have a weird situation of being both low damage and high accuracy since one usually uses them in situations where you have good odds to hit any ways (crouched aimed shots, autoshot from very few tiles away). So accuracy soon doesn't matter much (there is little difference between 80% to hit and 100%, and no difference between 100% and 160% or you're so close for autoshots that you hit even if you "miss"). That's why a different scaling applied directly to damage would be nice, like it is for sniper rifles (and X-bows which are very similar to rifles otherwise, and one of the most damaging early ranged weapons! but we talked about that already).

Also.. I don't think it would be needed to "nerf" the ranged power of most ammos. A 10% bonus is ~6 damage more for a good starting shot, ~4 more for a bad one, but rifles are pretty weak any ways, so I wouldn't see that as a problem. It might just make melee a little bit less of the obvious early choice.

And that's the funny thing:
You say the advantage is reliability, but for a new recruit, melee is usually the best choice because you have some very dependable weapons (and potentially very high starting melee skill), then it just gets better as skills increase and for high end gals, melee is risky but can produce awesome results.

Meanwhile, a rifle has a harder time to hit, and with lower damage has a harder time to hurt so it is not really reliable, and by the time the gal is good at aiming, she would do better swinging some kind of melee weapon with that big strength she got from secondary xp. Then the only use of rifles is giving gals scoped rifle, for the 140% aimed shot to exploit xp training, increase str and either upgrade to a heavy weapon if she had good accuracy, or more likely transfer her to melee where she can do great damage. (This is for early tech, as you get better guns, that might change, but I'm not there yet.. It's a lot more work to get good guns than good melee).

Re-reading this, I realized, maybe it's just a difference in points of view. I like all weapons to be useful and in the XAE tried to make it so one had reasons to use pistols, rifles and heavies (a bit like the weapons by roles mod, but less heavy-handed) and both gauss and lasers simultaneously at that, so that squad composition looked a bit more army like (mostly rifles, with heavies for support and a few up close specialists).

Now that I am starting to think of Piratez a bit more like XCom-40k (since you said you wanted melee to be where the "heroes" go), maybe the aim is not to give gals rifles (who likes bolters in 40k?!), but to make a squad of melee + heavy weapons, which is actually similar to how army lists are written for 40k (build a melee smashy squad, support it by heavy weapons, minimizes your rifles since they are "useless").
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 16, 2015, 09:22:31 pm
Looks like we're talking about different reliabilities here; you're saying about 'reliably killing bosses' while I was saying about 'reliably surviving (not only boss) battles'. The reality is, a melee charge is inherently risky and dependant on terrain, distance etc. Guns allow you to take pot shots at your leisure, eventually killing enemies as well (and if they don't, you launch a missile or throw a HE pack). You don't run the risk of running short on stamina and people; how many times that assault failed and ended with 3 dead hands, only because they failed their melee attacks and a single enemy survived - and there was not 4th soldier available to back them up. Or just because it was a long charge and there were new enemies in the uncharted territory. With guns, there is no such thing - you can amass as much firepower as you need, you don't run the risk of easily overextending yourself.

The WH40K bolters are a good example, indeed. They're not useless; they actually excel at mowing down weak enemies. They're only useless when you go against tanks or power armor (especially in WH40K roleplaying games, a bolter can't do a jack against an armored Space Marine there), and that's the difference; we use rifles in our wars only because they reliably neutralize infantry; but we don't know powered armor, and we don't enagage armored vehicles and reinforced positions with rifles either. This mod represents a different reality; a reality where small-bore, lo-tech rifles are simply inadequate against armored enemies. I cannot buff their damage only for 'aesthetic' reasons (so the squad looks more like WWII-era commando unit), if this would warp that reality. The heavy weapons - well, at least their ammo is too expensive to perform a classic X-Com missile spam (even though enemies in XCom were all easily killed by rifles, make that laser rifles if we talk about a few armored ones).

As for the heavy weapons - well, they're heavy. Irl this severely limits mobility, but XCom is, and always been, the domain of heroes; Piratez reinforce that notion by flatly stating they're superhuman. So a rifle is best understood as 'small gun' (puny humans be too weak to carry bigger ones! :), and a big gun will always be better in such a heroic setting (even if you pay with some speed and accuracy).

Everything points to a conclusion - early melee needs some nerfing. Maybe I'll reduce the max starting melee a bit, same with starting Bravery (to nerf the anal 'slow melee' approach, where you slowly march your whole party across the map under heavy smoke cover and gang up on single enemies)... Like I said, fine-tuning.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 16, 2015, 09:53:23 pm
Well.. I wouldn't say bosses. I don't want rifles (especially starting ones) to affect power armor, but I have yet to be in a situation where pinging a guy in personal armor with rifles was my best solution to take him out, which means in my experience, rifles are not useful to take out combat infantry, or we have a different definition of what is combat infantry in Piratez. Today, we use rifles to take out infantry that wears body armor, not (only  :'() people in regular clothes.

But maybe in 2600 rifles are just for taking out "civilians", which actually could make sense, because of progress in fabrics and armor making even Piratez traders clothes as good as 20th century body armor, while the early rifles are still like in the 20th century (and muskets are.. muskets..!) so they can't deal with 26th century body armor. In that case, it works, you can take out GOs/Hostesses/Academicians/Pilots and other easy targets with them and guys like spartans start telling you that you need heavier firepower since they are in "combat dress" even though they are not really wearing armor, so they are at a nice turning point.

So, seems like I still wasn't quite in "Piratez mode". I agree with nerfing the max melee accuracy of gals. Capping at ~80 is probably more than enough instead of 100. Bravery tweaks.. gotta be careful, since you already are playing with it with combat stress. But I think a bit of a lower cap could be ok, maybe with a bit of a higher minimum? Even starting gals should be fairly confident when engaging humans, since they are superhuman ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 16, 2015, 10:14:00 pm
26th century rifle-class weapons (lasguns) are actually pretty good at killing 26th century combat infantry... The only problem is to get them :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 16, 2015, 10:17:46 pm
What can I use broken aliens or enemies to do after researching them?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 16, 2015, 10:22:10 pm
It's in the Pedia (tldr: nothing).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 16, 2015, 11:22:21 pm
26th century rifle-class weapons (lasguns) are actually pretty good at killing 26th century combat infantry... The only problem is to get them :)

*cracks the whip* Come on ya brainerz! Da Dakka ain't working! We needs some more pew-pew!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 17, 2015, 01:06:55 am
*cracks the whip* Come on ya brainerz! Da Dakka ain't working! We needs some more pew-pew!
don't you know the solution is MORE DAKka!?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 17, 2015, 02:23:39 am
Well.. if the dakka doesn't do anything, more dakka won't either.. maybe the solution is bigger dakka? I could see that working too.. it's just Dioxine said pew-pew :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 17, 2015, 05:15:32 am
Hi, i'm happy with the reception of my drawings, but since there is too much gear already i might take time to research ingame to know them well, if i can finish those danm progroms, they last forever!!, anyway for now i'm thinking in some alt designs and minor ideas like items, i made this now: alt runt cargo gear, but i'm not sure, any idea to improve it?, hte result does not convinced me
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 17, 2015, 05:48:19 am
I'd say there's room for a few extra very early game outfits, to complement pirate and runt ones. It might be nice to have similarly pirate themed ones, but with different attributes?

Boarder: First one to board enemy crafts, face the worst fire, so slightly more armor, no other benefits (but extra weight). (Graphically: Padded clothing? Leather is already used for some other armor)
Rigger: Historically, those who climb the rigging and shoot from above into the fight below. Similar to pirate armor but bonus to shooting instead of melee. (Graph: Sort of light but also sort of tight so it doesn't get in the way)
Flingers: For the strong armed who throw stuff around. (Graph: Bandoliers/belts with bombs, no sleeves)
Hoard watchers: Not sure where this would go.. but.. Maybe more ostentatious garb, those who guard the treasure so.. boost in bravery/morale/combat stress as they won't give up?
Cutpurse/looter: Those who go for the other's hoard. Faster movement? Short pant legs and small shoes for nimble running, bag over one shoulder to put loot in.

Just some random musing of piratey roles to complement the swashbuckling outfit we have. Feel free to ignore them ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 17, 2015, 07:00:02 am
Interesting ideas, I won't say no if I could conjure gfx out of thin air :) Yeah I know this is content-heavy mod, but even so, all this stuff requires tons of work. For now I'm adding this to the idea bank (to the other 10 or so dreamed-up outfits).

@jmf: learn to live with Pogroms, there always be one every month :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 17, 2015, 07:02:01 am
well, time to go to sleep, here have another present, a sneak peek of my next alternate design
https://prnt.sc/8s6ajw
let see if you can guess what suit is meant to replace...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 17, 2015, 07:04:12 am
lol, bloomers :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 17, 2015, 07:05:53 am
Interesting ideas, I won't say no if I could conjure gfx out of thin air :) Yeah I know this is content-heavy mod, but even so, all this stuff requires tons of work. For now I'm adding this to the idea bank (to the other 10 or so dreamed-up outfits).

@jmf: learn to live with Pogroms, there always be one every month :)

i can draw them if i have the time
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 17, 2015, 08:34:12 am
@jmf: In pixel art? That'd be nice :)

@Dioxine: I think I found why I thought there were "empty" research projects in Piratez. When you research something for which you already have the base project (ex.:
researching personal armor parts after having already gotten human carapace armor from something else, or re-researching Gun Almanach
, it shows as "we have now discovered: (empty space)" (or something like that). If it still unlocks a new UFOPaedia article through GetOneFree or something, then you get that, but otherwise you get nothing, and if it didn't unlock any new project either, you end up with nothing but a "We have now discovered: (nothing)" and nothing else.

TL;DR: Since Piratez works by researching some things multiple times and OpenXCom doesn't display the name of things you have already researched if you research them again, you might end up with interrogations or item researched that don't get named, don't show any bootypedia article and don't show any "we can now research" or "we can now produce" window, leading to very confusing reports. Nothing to do for you I don't think.. but it might be worth a feature request? "Always display the name of a completed research project"?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 17, 2015, 10:56:42 am
I'll investigate this.
And to answer your question: no, he can be found on a Cruiser. Just not with this particular crew.
EDIT: the crash is caused by VooDoo Rod; they're discontinued as standalone items (only available as a part of Witch outfit now). Sell them and everything will be fine.

Thanks for the tip. I sold the VD Rods, originally on my main base but forgot to on the remaining bases.

Now, I'm reporting another type of crash. It happened to me before with the Dark Ones, specifically, I think, when transparent demons are involved.
I'm attaching the save game. If I end the turn just like this, the game crashes on me.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 17, 2015, 11:39:53 am
No idea what's wrong here, they're basically copy-pasted pinky demons. Although with save-scumming, the game doesn't crash every time... :/ I think it might be some map crash, since it depends on where the spectre is moving. Or it might involve spotting, as sometimes I see 'enemy' icon flashing just before the crash.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 18, 2015, 05:26:56 am
@Arthanor : i wish but i don't know how to pixel art, :C mostly digital, anyway i have another piece just because i can.
Since japan no longer uses bloomers as school uniform i don't feel guilty for having them as fe... i mean favorite female clothing (alternate Gym suit yay)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 18, 2015, 11:36:31 pm
Had a Humanist tank approach Bonaventura. Unloaded 10 piratez mostly with tech blades, rolled like 20 attacks against the tank, no effect, it kills them, rage quit.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Roxis231 on October 18, 2015, 11:45:22 pm
Since japan no longer uses bloomers as school uniform i don't feel guilty for having them as fe... i mean favorite female clothing (alternate Gym suit yay)

jmf, I'm makeing several alternate versions of the armours - is it alright if I borrow your Idea for the Gym gear? 

I'll start a thread for sugestions/questions when I have some ready to go
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 19, 2015, 12:46:05 am
jmf, I'm makeing several alternate versions of the armours - is it alright if I borrow your Idea for the Gym gear? 

I'll start a thread for sugestions/questions when I have some ready to go

yay an pixel artist, of course ypur remember to say "i take the desing form this guy over there (protip : me)"
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 19, 2015, 12:59:24 am
And the males of the world rejoiced.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 19, 2015, 04:04:16 am
And the males of the world rejoiced.

is that so then look a this one i made, warning: slightly nsfw
https://fav.me/d9dlmzh
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 19, 2015, 04:21:37 am
No idea what's wrong here, they're basically copy-pasted pinky demons. Although with save-scumming, the game doesn't crash every time... :/ I think it might be some map crash, since it depends on where the spectre is moving. Or it might involve spotting, as sometimes I see 'enemy' icon flashing just before the crash.

Yes, now every time there is a battle with these Spectres around, the game for sure crashes. I 'm forced to do a save hack and give them stun to keep playing.

I got another CTD case to report:
It happens I decided to build a few Hovertanks, specially the one with Railguns. Well, in the attached game, if you move around any of the tanks and get it killed by the obscene amount of Star Gods' reaction fire :) then game crashes immediately. It is be the first time I lose a HT so it's the first time I get a CTD. Would it be a bug?

Now, I'm approaching the $1B in cash, and still no sight of the SG Coordinator, those 17 Brainers are very bored as have nothing to do :)

Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 19, 2015, 11:24:55 am
Over a year. I am yet to see the humanists, star gods. Just attacked a government craft in frustration.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 19, 2015, 01:48:42 pm
Just attacked a government craft in frustration.

Arr, that's the spirit, matey!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 20, 2015, 05:01:01 am
Star Gods won't even start to spawn before Year 2, the game is supposed to last around 3 years (you'd be less pivved if you didn't cheat, naturally - by the end of Year 1, you're normally very busy just getting on your feet and the Star Gods are the last thing you want to see). Humanists are irrelevant, on the other hand - with so many various factions, it's nothing extraordinary that you've missed them, but meeting them is not required to finish the game.

Yes, now every time there is a battle with these Spectres around, the game for sure crashes. I 'm forced to do a save hack and give them stun to keep playing.

I got another CTD case to report:
It happens I decided to build a few Hovertanks, specially the one with Railguns. Well, in the attached game, if you move around any of the tanks and get it killed by the obscene amount of Star Gods' reaction fire :) then game crashes immediately. It is be the first time I lose a HT so it's the first time I get a CTD. Would it be a bug?
Whoops, it was wrong floor sprite definition with these Hovertanks. Fixed that. Proper code below (piratez_factions.rul). About the Spectres, no idea.

Code: [Select]
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_1
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100305
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_2
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100306
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_3
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100307
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_4
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100308
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 20, 2015, 05:59:46 am
Whoops, it was wrong floor sprite definition with these Hovertanks. Fixed that. Proper code below (piratez_factions.rul). About the Spectres, no idea.

Code: [Select]
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_1
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100305
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_2
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100306
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_3
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100307
  - type: HOVERTANK_CORPSE_4
    weight: 86
    floorSprite: 100308

Thanks. The ruleset sprite fix worked. I'm attaching it for the convenience of other people.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 20, 2015, 07:06:47 am
Thanks Dioxine, also back to what i'm doing, since i have to play the MOD to know what every armor does, i'm back to fan alt designs for now, today : Alt Tac Vest, i assume that the gals take the green vest and paint it to a more fit color , and maybe add some tattos too.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Roxis231 on October 21, 2015, 03:13:10 am
Thanks Dioxine, also back to what i'm doing, since i have to play the MOD to know what every armor does, i'm back to fan alt designs for now, today : Alt Tac Vest, i assume that the gals take the green vest and paint it to a more fit color , and maybe add some tattos too.

Looks good, might borrow this also.

Ps - Finished the first version of the gym suit (attached below) and 3 versions of the superhero armour, might post the lot later.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 21, 2015, 03:38:38 am
So much to catch up on!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 21, 2015, 05:26:25 am
Looks good, might borrow this also.

Ps - Finished the first version of the gym suit (attached below) and 3 versions of the superhero armour, might post the lot later.
not red but good, i love it!!, thank you

take your time, so it can have the battlescape sprites
Huia Thanks you
(https://41.media.tumblr.com/f55c2cebaef01d267e584f1140cd49ae/tumblr_nwjx14E4al1sz7seio1_1280.jpg)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 21, 2015, 06:32:25 am
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:DracoGriffin/Sandbox/Piratez

Test mock-up for wiki on Ufopaedia. Wanted to do it for a long time, but missed out on all the fun/discussions as I have been in process of moving and didn't have internet (ISP woes) for several weeks.

Mod Information -> expanded explanation of Piratez; differences (Geoscape/Battlescape/mechanics/etc) (see here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Info_%28Long_War%29) for example)
Change Log -> obvious?

Bases -> explain about headquarters (Lab mainly) and things to keep in mind for bases (Research requires certain facilities, certain manufacture items require different facilities [Still, Industrial Printer, Mint, etc])

Facilities -> Full listing, include all information from in-game Bootypedia (basically lotta copy paste templates from either X-Com or XCOM then info from rulesets)

Manufacturing -> What can be manufactured (and how), different manufacture facilities, explain Research/Manufacture (have to research most things before being able to manufacture), include profitability table/spreadsheet (I need to update mine to 0.95A, still using 0.94), mention disassembling, alcohol production vis-a-vis Laser Cannon production

Research -> Explain length of research, differences (expect projects to be MUCH slower than vanilla X-Com), basic info on projects = outcomes (Like researching Documents gives X topics, interrogating hostages gives Y unlocks), early info on what projects branch into (Craft, Craft Weapons, Armors, Weapons, Facilities, VooDoo, etc), ideally a tech tree at some point (looking at you Meridian! ;) )

Hands -> basic info on soldiers (min/max stats), VooDoo, focus on Melee information

Vessels -> List of vessels, similar table extracted from here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Craft#Quick_Comparison_Table), research requirements, manufacture info as well

Vessel Armaments -> List of craft weapons, similar table extracted from here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Craft_Armaments#Quick_Comparison_Table), research requirements, manufacture info as well

Major Factions -> page that lists basic info on Academy, Traders Guild, Church of Sirius, Mercenaries, Star Gods, & Governments (Governments page will list all the Countries and discuss about the protection payments and points system as well?); each will link to another expanded article of aforementioned faction with unit lists

Minor Factions -> page that lists basic info on Bandits, Raiders, Spartans, Humanists, Smugglers, Deep Ones, Dark Ones, Reticulans (mainly to not have all factions listed on one table and may be a bit "spoilery"); each will link to another expanded article of aforementioned faction with unit lists

Enemy Ships -> list of all enemy ships with Interception pictures, info, similar table extracted from here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFOs#Quick_Comparision_Table), individualized ships looking similar to these (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Battleship#Intercepting_Battleships)

Weapons -> basic info on ranged/melee, and the "basic" tiers (Flints, Ballistic, Laser, Plasma), types of damage (Cutting, Plasma, Acid, etc), info on weapon classes (Pistol, SMG, etc), the types of grenades (throwables; mines and such included)

Ranged Weapons -> Not sure if the Long War approach (seen here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Primary_Weapons_%28Long_War%29)) or if X-Com approach (seen here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Weapons)) would be better. X-Com approach may be better as there are a TON of weapons or a hybrid of both (Set up pages for each weapon class [SMG, pistol, shotgun, etc] and list all respective weapons in a stat table).

Melee Weapons -> Lots here as well... hybrid approach as above but instead of weapon class, based on weapon damage type (Stun, Smoke, Plasma, Cutting, etc)

Armor -> separated into classes: Outfits, Basic Armor, Powered Armor; have table to signify Psi, Flying, NV increase or decrease as well as the basic information (stats, bootypedia, research required)

Equipment -> basically all the medkits, explosives, etc (documents, chips, porn, misc items that don't do anything in battlescape can be left out despite Hands being able to "equip" them)

Mission Types -> copy paste of the types of missions factions (some unique) will do; major mention regarding Pogroms (perhaps add a subheader for it in the main table?)

Protection Racket -> temporary name; basically links to Governments overview and explains how the player shouldn't target Gov't ships aggressively or risk losing major points and the backstory of countries paying protection and the Mutant Alliance, etc

Kidnapping -> temporary name; links to Hostages page and how capturing is a much more lucrative and required game mechanic to advance the campaign (for interrogations, breaking faction leaders/commanders, etc)

Strategy Guide -> basic guide to winning; could be extrapolated

Combat Tactics -> advanced info regarding the differences in Piratez than vanilla (Combat Stress for one), focus on melee/capturing, grenades, night vision mechanics, etc

P.S. to Hobbes - if there's a better place to work on this without using Sandbox and that doesn't interfere with all the other major links, please let me know! :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Roxis231 on October 21, 2015, 06:39:06 am
not red but good, i love it!!, thank you
Huia likes it
take your time, so it can have the battlescape sprites

Sprites are low priority at the moment - I would have to learn how from the ground up.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 09:06:12 am
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:DracoGriffin/Sandbox/Piratez

Test mock-up for wiki on Ufopaedia. Wanted to do it for a long time, but missed out on all the fun/discussions as I have been in process of moving and didn't have internet (ISP woes) for several weeks.

Nice - but this makes two projects (there's already Bootypedia wikia in the making). Maybe you guys should join forces?

As for the paperdoll graphics - wow, nice, I like it a lot. I don't know if I'll be able to handle so much stuff myself, but I can always help with sprites, corpses and stuff like that.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Roxis231 on October 21, 2015, 10:30:32 am
Just posted my thread for my alternate images Here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4022.0.html).

You can download the mod from Here (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/alternate-graphics-for-piratez-extended)

If you want to leave a sugestion / comment / tip / anything on the thread - please do!

Armour(s) I'm currently working on Swimsuit (5 out of 32 done) and Runt (just started)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 21, 2015, 10:52:24 am
And now +13 months later, after destroying 3 Academy bases and countless Raiders gear, the mercenaries show up for a facility raid - well their fighter is looking for their base which I really want them to attack.

PS the Dark Ones cause crashes every time I encounter them. i had to edit the save game to stun them so that I could continue. One of the CTDs showed an explosion then vector calculation errors appeared and the game CTD.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 11:42:48 am
@Roxis
Indeed it's better if you do this as your own mod to Piratez, that way you can have full creative freedom, without my meddling. But I might want to pull some of your work into the main mod at some point anyway :)
A suggestion: the socks on the gym suit, I think it'd be better if they ended under the knees & were white.

@Cristao
The Dark Ones have been cursed from the start, something always breaks. I'll attempt a fix for the next version...
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 21, 2015, 02:00:15 pm
I'm not sure what can be done about multiple variations of the same suit, like the gym clothes. Sure, you can make mods with alternatives, but it's a bit of a waste to force a limit on the player to just have one of them when all are fine.

How about just giving different outfits to different girls? Would that be too confusing?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 02:05:25 pm
Yeah, too confusing. I think this can be done 3 ways - one is to have a mod with an alt look you can turn on or off; second is pulling this into the mod, making it 2 outfits that share the same item and tech (and possibly, but not neccesarily, stats), but can be selected - one or the other - for each girl separately. The third one is to make this a completely new outfit, by making the current gym suit into something else altogether.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 21, 2015, 02:08:17 pm
I personally think option 2 is the best, unless you really have an empty slot to move the current gym suit to.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: flying_teabag on October 21, 2015, 02:16:33 pm
And now +13 months later, after destroying 3 Academy bases and countless Raiders gear, the mercenaries show up for a facility raid - well their fighter is looking for their base which I really want them to attack.

PS the Dark Ones cause crashes every time I encounter them. i had to edit the save game to stun them so that I could continue. One of the CTDs showed an explosion then vector calculation errors appeared and the game CTD.

Having the same crash as well with the cark ones but i noticed it's always after the specter demon moves that the crash happens.  How do I edit my save to stun them so i can move on with the game because it's rather annoying.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 21, 2015, 02:38:38 pm
Having the same crash as well with the cark ones but i noticed it's always after the specter demon moves that the crash happens.  How do I edit my save to stun them so i can move on with the game because it's rather annoying.

I've encountered them and never had this problem.

Perhaps it's an install issue?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 21, 2015, 03:58:22 pm
Having the same crash as well with the cark ones but i noticed it's always after the specter demon moves that the crash happens.  How do I edit my save to stun them so i can move on with the game because it's rather annoying.

Look for the soldier details and change the following in their attributes. Status is normally 0 if alive and stunlevel is 0 if not stunned at all.

status: 7
stunlevel: 130
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Boltgun on October 21, 2015, 05:55:20 pm
Yeah, too confusing. I think this can be done 3 ways - one is to have a mod with an alt look you can turn on or off; second is pulling this into the mod, making it 2 outfits that share the same item and tech (and possibly, but not neccesarily, stats), but can be selected - one or the other - for each girl separately. The third one is to make this a completely new outfit, by making the current gym suit into something else altogether.

The best is to make alt mods because the armor choice is getting quite long already.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 21, 2015, 06:19:46 pm
The best is to make alt mods because the armor choice is getting quite long already.

Seconded!!
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 21, 2015, 07:03:02 pm
Personally, I like how some of the paperdolls vary according to the look of the gals (ex.: Pirate outfit, which is slightly different for all of them, some having hats, others not). Using Yanke's recolors, it might be possible to vary the color of the sprite similarly to match as well (ex.: Camo gear: Some gals could have black "sniper/urban" guerilla armor, some have guerrillero green, maybe some have desert brown, some get helmets/berrets, some not, etc)

That way the variation is there, can be tailored to the gals style (especially hair color, because gals gotta be fashionable!) and the player doesn't have to deal with extra armor types (of which there are indeed already many).

The option of "looks mods" like Roxis' works well too, but is more for "heavy modifications", which works if we can't agree on what's best.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 07:17:15 pm
The best is to make alt mods because the armor choice is getting quite long already.

Quite long? You've seen nothing yet. The alt option will be choosen if there is no reason to create a new armor.

Personally, I like how some of the paperdolls vary according to the look of the gals (ex.: Pirate outfit, which is slightly different for all of them, some having hats, others not). Using Yanke's recolors, it might be possible to vary the color of the sprite similarly to match as well (ex.: Camo gear: Some gals could have black "sniper/urban" guerilla armor, some have guerrillero green, maybe some have desert brown, some get helmets/berrets, some not, etc)

That way the variation is there, can be tailored to the gals style (especially hair color, because gals gotta be fashionable!) and the player doesn't have to deal with extra armor types (of which there are indeed already many).

What do you mean, hair color? All sprites are recolored to fit gal's hair and skin color. That's also the reason I cannot recolor armors, as both options are already taken by hair/skin recoloring. All what's left is rank-based recolor, and I intend to leave it in reserve (maybe for... ranks?).
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 21, 2015, 07:25:16 pm
Alternate rank icon with sharks.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 21, 2015, 07:36:16 pm
Quite long? You've seen nothing yet. The alt option will be choosen if there is no reason to create a new armor.

What do you mean, hair color? All sprites are recolored to fit gal's hair and skin color. That's also the reason I cannot recolor armors, as both options are already taken by hair/skin recoloring. All what's left is rank-based recolor, and I intend to leave it in reserve (maybe for... ranks?).

Oh, I hadn't realizes you used all the recolors by gender already. My comment was that it could be interesting to recolor the armor by gender, and then make "matching" combinations. For example, green/black camo gear could go with red/blond hair, brown camo with blue hair (not for camo value but good complementary colour, blue+green and blue+black aren't as good)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 07:50:46 pm
Hmm, by gender? Didn't know about that. What's the code for that? But even if so, that's just 2 colors.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 21, 2015, 08:19:53 pm
I was referring to:
And we should not forget that ruleset allow change colors on rank (one color) and nationality/gender (3 colors).
I think it's the same as what face and hair color is? Or maybe now. I'm not sure. But it's 3 colors according to this, so it would still leave one more.

As to how it works, only the creator knows.. Or at least I don't.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 21, 2015, 08:46:35 pm
some recap from ruleset on https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Ruleset_Reference_Nightly_%28OpenXcom%29
Code: [Select]
spriteFaceGroup Pixel color group in palette that will be replace in unit graphic by new color, range form 1-15 (its skip first group). Used by face recoloring based on nationality.

spriteFaceColor New colors index for face pixels. 8 values ordered by:

    Male Blond
    Female Blond
    Male Brown
    Female Brown
    Male Asian
    Female Asian
    Male African
    Female African

Other units use random position form table. Value 0 mean original value.

spriteHairGroup Pixel color group in palette that will be replace in unit graphic by new color, range form 1-15 (its skip first group). Used by hair recoloring based on nationality.
spriteHairColor New colors index for hair pixels. 8 values ordered by:

    Male Blond
    Female Blond
    Male Brown
    Female Brown
    Male Asian
    Female Asian
    Male African
    Female African

Other units use random position form table. Value 0 mean original value.


spriteUtileGroup Pixel color group in palette that will be replace in unit graphic by new color, range form 1-15 (its skip first group).
spriteUtileColor New colors index for pixels. 8 values ordered by:

    Male Blond
    Female Blond
    Male Brown
    Female Brown
    Male Asian
    Female Asian
    Male African
    Female African

Other units use random position form table. Value 0 mean original value.


spriteRankGroup Pixel color group in palette that will be replace in unit graphic by new color, range form 1-15 (its skip first group). -
spriteRankColor New colors index for pixels. For solders 6 values ordered by:

    STR_ROOKIE
    STR_SQUADDIE
    STR_SERGEANT
    STR_CAPTAIN
    STR_COLONEL
    STR_COMMANDER

For aliens 7 values ordered by (alien unit rank property):

    STR_LIVE_SOLDIER
    STR_LIVE_ENGINEER
    STR_LIVE_MEDIC
    STR_LIVE_NAVIGATOR
    STR_LIVE_LEADER
    STR_LIVE_COMMANDER
    STR_LIVE_TERRORIST

Civilians uses random position form 8 element table. Value 0 mean original value.
Only difference in extended is maximum table size of values.

Thins mean that you can change hair/skin plus one additional color based on gender/nationality.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 21, 2015, 08:46:58 pm
Quite long? You've seen nothing yet. The alt option will be choosen if there is no reason to create a new armor.

What do you mean, hair color? All sprites are recolored to fit gal's hair and skin color. That's also the reason I cannot recolor armors, as both options are already taken by hair/skin recoloring. All what's left is rank-based recolor, and I intend to leave it in reserve (maybe for... ranks?).
alt armors, yes please, for the time being is the better option, alt armors mods that can be used at the whim of the player
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 21, 2015, 10:49:48 pm
For all those who miss the flexible VodooRod.  8)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 11:03:02 pm
Thins mean that you can change hair/skin plus one additional color based on gender/nationality.

Thanks, man. Not sure if I'll use this anyway, since I don't want sprites to be confusing, armor-wise...
Title: Stealth
Post by: Zharkov on October 22, 2015, 08:27:30 pm
Is stealth working as intended? I still don't understand when and why a gal can the these catgirls, but in this case, she clearly can - there is this little red [1] pointing to it! Nevertheless, there is no way to make the gal hit the catgirl with sword nor shoot it. And the other gals cannot even see the catgirl despite standing right next to it.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 08:28:35 pm
well, i'm stuck can't continue playing to understand the available armors before drawing more, the reason?, the same why i could not go far in TTFTD: lobster men, broken OP, lobstermen, only a few months into an i have an invencible enemy.....any help?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 22, 2015, 08:34:34 pm
well, i'm stuck can't continue playing to understand the available armors before drawing more, the reason?, the same why i could not go far in TTFTD: lobster men, broken OP, lobstermen, only a few months into an i have an invencible enemy.....any help?

Yes, in piratez, you are not fighting a war, you run a business. Generally, it is not advised to attack your "customers" unless you can take  them out and make a profit.
Title: Re: Stealth
Post by: Roxis231 on October 22, 2015, 08:36:09 pm
Is stealth working as intended? I still don't understand when and why a gal can the these catgirls, but in this case, she clearly can - there is this little red [1] pointing to it! Nevertheless, there is no way to make the gal hit the catgirl with sword nor shoot it. And the other gals cannot even see the catgirl despite standing right next to it.

You can only hit them on diagonals - its a feature not a bug (also very annoying)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 08:42:30 pm
Yes, in piratez, you are not fighting a war, you run a business. Generally, it is not advised to attack your "customers" unless you can take  them out and make a profit.
bu...but i love war :C , that mission was so fun, lot of deep ones in sight, all getting slaughtered, can just tell what weapon works (if any) with lobster menso i can be prepared next time?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 22, 2015, 08:44:54 pm
Re: Stealth
As Roxis said, you can only hit them if you stand directly above, left, right or below (as seen on the screen), or, alternatively, only in squares that are connected by corners, not ones connected by edges. I am actually surprised that your gal in the diagonal can see the target.

Re: Lobstermen
Usually, if you need more power to deal with something, you need to use melee weapons. Especially hammers. Hammers are really good damage-wise, especially if you have strong gals. Otherwise, Piratez is not XCom, you are not trying to stop all the "UFOs" from flying over the earth, you're trying to intercept some and make a profit. If it's not going to make you a profit, don't intercept it ;) Your score can likely survive it.

Also, Dioxine hinted that aquatic life-forms have a hard time breathing air. Imagine if it's highly polluted.. smokey? air.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 22, 2015, 08:47:29 pm
Lobstermen are incidentally quite resistant to hammers. They have the same major vulneravility as in TFTD, though. D/w about them, anyway - doing Lobstermen missions is usually irrelevant, unless you're really short on cash/points (they do provide some scientific backdoor to late techs, though...).
As for score - because it is expected you will pass on some missions, all "lore" researches net you tons of points, you can easily garner >1000 points a month just from interrogations, data discs etc.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 08:51:30 pm
Lobstermen are incidentally quite resistant to hammers. They have the same major vulneravility as in TFTD, though. D/w about them, anyway - doing Lobstermen missions is usually irrelevant, unless you're really short on cash/points (they do provide some scientific backdoor to late techs, though...).
As for score - because it is expected you will pass on some missions, all "lore" researches net you tons of points, you can easily garner >1000 points a month just from interrogations, data discs etc.
but i hate them anyway , how do i kill them?, even if is only for the sweet feeling of revenge  :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 22, 2015, 08:56:23 pm
Well, usually hammers work well against armored enemies (warhammers and maces were good against medieval armor, and it worked well in the game too) so I am a bit surprised. Melee is a good way to deliver damage, but it is also risky to test.

I would expect you can cook 'em? Usually heavy armor in Piratez protects from fire, but a lobster is not wearing armor with closed controlled environment as much as having really tough "skin". Even if the skin is resistant, you should be able to cook the inside by making it hot. But that's just theory ;)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 22, 2015, 08:57:19 pm
Ugh, jmf, not in the mood to brain about subtle hints? So all exposed:

As in TFTD, their weakness is melee (cutting) damage. They're also vulnerable to stun and gauseous weapons, and to a lesser extent, to gratuitious use of FIRE. And, as with everything else, Baby Nuke or Heavy Gauss or Heavy Plasma works too, through the sheer numbers :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 08:58:06 pm
Well, usually hammers work well against armored enemies (warhammers and maces were good against medieval armor, and it worked well in the game too) so I am a bit surprised. Melee is a good way to deliver damage, but it is also risky to test.

I would expect you can cook 'em? Usually heavy armor in Piratez protects from fire, but a lobster is not wearing armor with closed controlled environment as much as having really tough "skin". Even if the skin is resistant, you should be able to cook the inside by making it hot. But that's just theory ;)

well, Dioxine himself just said that they are strong vs hammers :C, maybe fire, fire is cool, what about plasma?
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 22, 2015, 09:00:47 pm
Lobsters are aquatic creatures.
Good with pressures, including shock waves.
Not good with breathing air.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 22, 2015, 09:15:36 pm
Lobsters are aquatic creatures.
Good with pressures, including shock waves.
Not good with breathing air.
Well.. I could see that argument used against sonic damage, or even explosives, and I guess that's why hammers are not so good either, since they have the same concussive damage type. But I challenge you to find a deep sea creature for which this applies :P

Pressure is something that is applied everywhere equally on a surface. Sure they are resistant to that (mostly because they don't have air inside, like we do, which would get you crushed since the air is very compressible. Hence the ideas of liquid oxygen in some high pressure sci-fi). But most (all?) shells from sea creatures are actually rather brittle on impact, much like medieval armor. I guess you can make the point that a cutting weapon applies its force on a smaller surface, so creates a larger impact than a hammer, which is more distributed.. Fine! ;)

well, Dioxine himself just said that they are strong vs hammers :C, maybe fire, fire is cool, what about plasma?
That's why I said "I am surprised", but Solarius' quote above seems to offer some kind of a rationale. Dioxine also gave you all the answer any ways, so have fun :P
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 09:26:42 pm
Ugh, jmf, not in the mood to brain about subtle hints? So all exposed:

As in TFTD, their weakness is melee (cutting) damage. They're also vulnerable to stun and gauseous weapons, and to a lesser extent, to gratuitious use of FIRE. And, as with everything else, Baby Nuke or Heavy Gauss or Heavy Plasma works too, through the sheer numbers :)

sorry i'm in college now, should i focus but i was goffing around
pd: gotta get some advaced blades then
great, now i made Dioxine mad :C
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 22, 2015, 09:32:02 pm
Re: Stealth
As Roxis said, you can only hit them if you stand directly above, left, right or below (as seen on the screen), or, alternatively, only in squares that are connected by corners, not ones connected by edges. I am actually surprised that your gal in the diagonal can see the target.

Am I the only one who thinks stealth is more trouble than it is worth?

You can only hit them on diagonals - its a feature not a bug (also very annoying)

...or annoying? Especially the catgirls just drag missions on.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 22, 2015, 10:00:57 pm
As for the res to HE (including hammers)... well, it's always going to be a stretch. You can consider this a bit gamey. And blame TFTD for giving me that idea.

Hence the ideas of liquid oxygen in some high pressure sci-fi).

It ain't sci-fi, matey. The working tech was designed in 1980s if not earlier. Just no-one has picked them up, since it was less profitable than psychoactive drugs or internet, and the military failed to see any use :)

Am I the only one who thinks stealth is more trouble than it is worth?

...or annoying? Especially the catgirls just drag missions on.

Annoying was the very idea. Plus an occasional death-by-katana. Well, unless it's Star Gods. Then it's ragequit-inducing :)
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 22, 2015, 10:05:24 pm
Annoying was the very idea. Plus an occasional death-by-katana. Well, unless it's Star Gods. Then it's ragequit-inducing :)

Right, I forgot, you hate players...^^
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 22, 2015, 10:16:32 pm
It ain't sci-fi, matey. The working tech was designed in 1980s if not earlier. Just no-one has picked them up, since it was less profitable than psychoactive drugs or internet, and the military failed to see any use :)
1883 :> but probably not that "liquid" you mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_oxygen :D
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: jmf on October 22, 2015, 10:19:01 pm
As for the res to HE (including hammers)... well, it's always going to be a stretch. You can consider this a bit gamey. And blame TFTD for giving me that idea.

It ain't sci-fi, matey. The working tech was designed in 1980s if not earlier. Just no-one has picked them up, since it was less profitable than psychoactive drugs or internet, and the military failed to see any use :)

Annoying was the very idea. Plus an occasional death-by-katana. Well, unless it's Star Gods. Then it's ragequit-inducing :)

not even by actual sea biolgists/scientists?

pd: sorry for the lobstermen stuff earlier :C
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 22, 2015, 10:20:05 pm
Let's answer Zharkov with ad hoc ancient Chinese story.
Old Sun Li had four students. He made an exam for them. Students could drop one of the questions asked. The first dropped the hardest one. The second tried to cheat but failed. The third resigned. They all agreed their master hates them. The fourth one dropped the easiest one.

I guess I'm trying to make the fourth guy happy.

@Yankes: no, I'm talking about an oxygen-rich liquid that can be breathed like air.

@jmf: biologists and other scientists, unless they're content to get by pocket change, need to convince powers that be than there is either vast profit or military application for their tech. Or, in the case of EU, political gain.

In news, a new guy on the block to help the Bandits, and a new moderately-unkillable ship to wreck your bases (Corvette):
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 23, 2015, 01:25:23 am
Love that new armor! But the white helmet, blue and red badges makes me think of a police officer rather than a bandit :P

@Stealth/Difficulty: Come on guys! You don't play Piratez because it's easy.. You play it because it's harder than XCom and presents you new challenges. If you feel lazy when encountering cat-girls, just chuck a grenade her way (or use explosive ammo to target the tile next to her). They are not tough, just hard to aim at. Also, motion scanners are great to spot them even if you can't see them because of the stealth.

NEVER trust reaction fire against cat-girls, because the gals might not have LoS and the cat-girls have high reaction. If expecting them, try to have as much overlapping fields of fire and move very slowly to keep a lot of TUs so you may have a chance to react. Or just rush in, use scanners and hope for the best :D The best being having lots of flying gals who can't die by katanas!

@"liquid oxygen": True, I misspoke when I called it that, I meant this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing#Diving). I called it sci-fi tech simply because only in sci-fi do you see it used. Reading the wiki, it seems unlikely that "working tech" for an actual dive was produced, the challenge of evacuating CO2 seems to remain.

Also, although it sounds like something that should interest ocean scientists, most of us don't actually dive, or study the deep sea. The most interesting stuff happens along the coast or on continental shelves, and diving is almost only used to observe flora or slow/unmoving animals. Everything else is just too fast compared to a diver.

The ocean is rather "empty" compared to land, so diving to see something would mean a lot of swimming to not see much (especially when you take into account time to go up and down and how dark the ocean is. TftD XCom must have had some spotlights floating over their sites, the idea of light depending on the day/night makes very little sense past 100m, maybe ~0-1% of the light makes it). The ones most likely to be interested are deep sea mining and oil drilling companies, so they could send divers directly to the bottom.

Anyhow..! Interesting topics for Piratez..! Dioxine, when can we get deep sea suits for the gals to recover crafts shot above the oceans? :P Also, we could crash one of the Deep One's party!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2015, 01:51:56 am
Love that new armor! But the white helmet, blue and red badges makes me think of a police officer rather than a bandit :P

Well, the 26th century police looks different, so no problem with that. The helmet and the badges were probably looted from some long-dead policeman, or simply recreated to look alike - after all, this gives the look of strength, authority and menace. Just perfect for a bandit! I might think about recoloring the badges, tho.

@"liquid oxygen": True, I misspoke when I called it that, I meant this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing#Diving). I called it sci-fi tech simply because only in sci-fi do you see it used. Reading the wiki, it seems unlikely that "working tech" for an actual dive was produced, the challenge of evacuating CO2 seems to remain.

Very interesting, especially the use in space/aeronautics. Seems we'll be able to handle 20g or higher accel without any exotic tech... as long as we manage to produce new generation of engines that'll make it a problem, but laser/EM heated plasma gives some hope (someone, give these guys $10 billion) of overcoming the gross inadequacy of chemical rockets for interplanetary travel... At steady 5g, we could make the trip to Mars in days...
Also the 'working tech' I've read about was working for rats. Now I see the problem - rats have metabolism high enough to evacuate enough CO2, which is the major hurdle for humans...

The ocean is rather "empty" compared to land, so diving to see something would mean a lot of swimming to not see much (especially when you take into account time to go up and down and how dark the ocean is. TftD XCom must have had some spotlights floating over their sites, the idea of light depending on the day/night makes very little sense past 100m, maybe ~0-1% of the light makes it). The ones most likely to be interested are deep sea mining and oil drilling companies, so they could send divers directly to the bottom.

Anyhow..! Interesting topics for Piratez..! Dioxine, when can we get deep sea suits for the gals to recover crafts shot above the oceans? :P Also, we could crash one of the Deep One's party!

I'd love to! Currently the major hurdle that stops that awesome idea is lack of code to handle what armor can be taken underwater, and what armor cannot, and what happens if you take a wrong one. Next, some constant map effects would be needed to simulate underwater, or, even better, any custom enviros (this could mostly solve the previous problem; 'unless your armor is marked as enviro-res for underwater, you start to suffocate'). Finally, a vessel flag that tells if it can land upon an underwater site. I have no doubts that Bonaventura could dive and return from at least shelf depth, but airbreathers obviously won't...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 23, 2015, 03:43:01 am
Well, the 26th century police looks different, so no problem with that. The helmet and the badges were probably looted from some long-dead policeman, or simply recreated to look alike - after all, this gives the look of strength, authority and menace. Just perfect for a bandit! I might think about recoloring the badges, tho.
Eh.. some polices are thugs, I think it might be even better to run with that and hint at something like some 20th century police kept to their duty of protecting the citizens, which evolved over the years such that they now run a protection racket or something.

Quote
Very interesting, especially the use in space/aeronautics. Seems we'll be able to handle 20g or higher accel without any exotic tech... as long as we manage to produce new generation of engines that'll make it a problem, but laser/EM heated plasma gives some hope (someone, give these guys $10 billion) of overcoming the gross inadequacy of chemical rockets for interplanetary travel... At steady 5g, we could make the trip to Mars in days...
Also the 'working tech' I've read about was working for rats. Now I see the problem - rats have metabolism high enough to evacuate enough CO2, which is the major hurdle for humans...
I think the major hurdle is "clearing" the liquid from the lungs. Rats have small lungs and may be able to do so, but to flush that much liquid in and out of our lungs would be too much work for us. Just think about how much longer it takes to crush a bottle of water (say you're pressing on it to use as a cheap watergun) compared to that bottle being filled with air.

Quote
I'd love to! Currently the major hurdle that stops that awesome idea is lack of code to handle what armor can be taken underwater, and what armor cannot, and what happens if you take a wrong one. Next, some constant map effects would be needed to simulate underwater, or, even better, any custom enviros (this could mostly solve the previous problem; 'unless your armor is marked as enviro-res for underwater, you start to suffocate'). Finally, a vessel flag that tells if it can land upon an underwater site. I have no doubts that Bonaventura could dive and return from at least shelf depth, but airbreathers obviously won't...

I would expect basic environmental effect (damage/turn of different types) should be relatively simple to do (structure wise: add an "if statement" to the end of turn sequence that detonates bombs, which applies damage to every units unless it has the proper "protection" flag).

Well.. there's only one answer I know for these kind of things..
*Begins the Yankes summoning ritual*

The rest is more tricky. Also, do traders keep diving suits around in case they crash in water? Or do they just all die? That'd make for a boring mission.

OH! What about "UFOs" floating? Replace water by a different texture, which only contains two maps: 10x10 water and a small rescue raft surrounded by water (can only spawn 1-2 times). Water is unwalkable, so you need an armor that can fly if you want to move around. Enemy units that spawn in water can't move, but they still could shoot.

No cover, no walking would make the game entirely different (melee nerf anyone?). You need to shoot the survivors (but they have 100% TUs since they can't move, so it's risky to scout). The Piratez crafts are perfectly suited to that, since you can come out the top to take sniping positions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 23, 2015, 08:39:13 am
Quick bug report
Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_DRAKKAR
    requires:
      - STR_DRAKKAR_TRANSPORT
    sprite: 2
    fuelMax: 400
    damageMax: 250
    speedMax: 3000
    accel: 5
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,2,2,2]
    soldiers: 14
    vehicles: 3
    costSell: 3000000
    costRent: 175000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 25
    transferTime: 12
    score: 350

Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_BRIG
    requires:
      - STR_BIG_PIRATIN_SHIP
    sprite: 26
    fuelMax: 750
    damageMax: 500
    speedMax: 2500
    accel: 3
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,0,1,1]
    soldiers: 30
    vehicles: 4
    costBuy: 0
    costSell: 3500000
    costRent: 225000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 10
    transferTime: 12
    score: 600

Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_INTERCEPTOR
    sprite: 3
    fuelMax: 240
    damageMax: 175
    speedMax: 3250
    accel: 5
    avoidBonus: 21
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,0,2,2]
    soldiers: 2
    costBuy: 0
    costRent: 75000
    costSell: 1500000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 60
    transferTime: 12
    score: 250
    listOrder: 150

Quote from: Drakkar Bootypedia
NOT VERY SPACIOUS OR ENDURING, HOWEVER VERY FAST AND ABLE TO CARRY A DEADLY PAYLOAD OF MISSILES. MILEAGE: 25. RADAR: 600. GUNS: 1xLT, 3xMS


Quote from: Leviathan Bootypedia
WITH THIS HUGE DROPSHIP AT OUR DISPOSAL, ANY TROOP SHORTAGES SHOULD BE A THING OF THE PAST. MILEAGE: 10. RADAR: 600. GUNS: 2xLT, 2xHV


Quote from: Hunter-Killer Bootypedia
LIGHT FIGHTER THAT CAN BE COBBLED TOGETHER AT YER WORKSHOPS. FRAGILE, BUT FAST AND NOT TOO FUEL-DEMANDING. MILEAGE: 60. RADAR: 600. GUNS: 2xLT, 2xMS. DODGE: 35%"

No radarRange specified in piratez.rul but yet in-game, Drakkar has a radar range larger than 600 (sent Predator [which has radarRange: 600] to same waypoint as Drakkar and Predator had a smaller radar circle.

Attached save; just send both vessels to same waypoint and you'll see the difference. If Drakkar truly had radarRange: 600, the circles would be identical.

edit: Looks like Leviathan has same issue.

edit edit: Hunter-Killer too.

edit edit edit: Apparently Conqueror has a transfer time of 9 hrs despite no transferTime specified in ruleset.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2015, 02:49:43 pm
Quick bug report
Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_DRAKKAR
    requires:
      - STR_DRAKKAR_TRANSPORT
    sprite: 2
    fuelMax: 400
    damageMax: 250
    speedMax: 3000
    accel: 5
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,2,2,2]
    soldiers: 14
    vehicles: 3
    costSell: 3000000
    costRent: 175000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 25
    transferTime: 12
    score: 350

Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_BRIG
    requires:
      - STR_BIG_PIRATIN_SHIP
    sprite: 26
    fuelMax: 750
    damageMax: 500
    speedMax: 2500
    accel: 3
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,0,1,1]
    soldiers: 30
    vehicles: 4
    costBuy: 0
    costSell: 3500000
    costRent: 225000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 10
    transferTime: 12
    score: 600

Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_INTERCEPTOR
    sprite: 3
    fuelMax: 240
    damageMax: 175
    speedMax: 3250
    accel: 5
    avoidBonus: 21
    weapons: 4
    weaponTypes: [0,0,2,2]
    soldiers: 2
    costBuy: 0
    costRent: 75000
    costSell: 1500000
    refuelItem: STR_ELERIUM_115
    refuelRate: 60
    transferTime: 12
    score: 250
    listOrder: 150



No radarRange specified in piratez.rul but yet in-game, Drakkar has a radar range larger than 600 (sent Predator [which has radarRange: 600] to same waypoint as Drakkar and Predator had a smaller radar circle.

Attached save; just send both vessels to same waypoint and you'll see the difference. If Drakkar truly had radarRange: 600, the circles would be identical.

edit: Looks like Leviathan has same issue.

edit edit: Hunter-Killer too.

edit edit edit: Apparently Conqueror has a transfer time of 9 hrs despite no transferTime specified in ruleset.

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, but if they're not specified, I'd say default values are used? Are they problematic?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2015, 03:50:29 pm
I was under the impression the default radar range is 600. Now it's fixed. As for the transfer times - I think they might not be constant if Airborne Transfers are on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Yankes on October 23, 2015, 03:59:21 pm
I would expect basic environmental effect (damage/turn of different types) should be relatively simple to do (structure wise: add an "if statement" to the end of turn sequence that detonates bombs, which applies damage to every units unless it has the proper "protection" flag).

Well.. there's only one answer I know for these kind of things..
*Begins the Yankes summoning ritual*

The rest is more tricky. Also, do traders keep diving suits around in case they crash in water? Or do they just all die? That'd make for a boring mission.

OH! What about "UFOs" floating? Replace water by a different texture, which only contains two maps: 10x10 water and a small rescue raft surrounded by water (can only spawn 1-2 times). Water is unwalkable, so you need an armor that can fly if you want to move around. Enemy units that spawn in water can't move, but they still could shoot.

No cover, no walking would make the game entirely different (melee nerf anyone?). You need to shoot the survivors (but they have 100% TUs since they can't move, so it's risky to scout). The Piratez crafts are perfectly suited to that, since you can come out the top to take sniping positions.
*Yankes summoned successfully!*
When I end doing script engine then every one could add custom logic at end of turn that will alter state of units.

Another thing is how handle both land & underwater crash sites. This will require some new code. This would need handle:
a) craft shroud be able to submerge.
b) check if you can spawn any unit with proper armor (for underwater or space like cydonia), if not you can't start.
c) kill all enemy units without proper armor.
d) spawn filler units representing deep monsters that feed on corpses if all units are dead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 23, 2015, 04:02:45 pm
d) spawn filler units representing deep monsters that feed on corpses if all units are dead.

Okay, now I am scared...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2015, 04:11:31 pm
c) kill all enemy units without proper armor.

Would it be possible to spawn alternative units instead?

For example, instead of normal Academicians, you would get Academicians in diving suits, which give them worse stats but they don't drown.
Trader GOs, on the other hand, just die. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2015, 04:19:17 pm
Hehehe, not neccessary, OXCom allows automatic recovery if everyone is killed. That's why you need the check at b). As for a), max submerge depth needs to be specified as well. Same goes for UFOs; if crashed, they naturally can go to any depth, but if they want to land, they shouldn't choose zones that have inaccessible depth (in case someone wants the holy grail - the hybrid game - where aquatoids can land underwater, but sectoids can't).

@Solar: yeah an option for automatically altering an armor (another armor property, default: disabled) based on enviros would be great. This should have % chance too, so we can have gals surprised in bed/shower attire during hideout defense :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2015, 04:43:59 pm
As for a), max submerge depth needs to be specified as well. Same goes for UFOs;

Hmm, that made me think that perhaps we could make UFOs avoid specified depths... or any depths. Then we could have land-only UFOs that would never travel on water, which really makes sense when you think of the land vehicles... (Or vice-versa, ships.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2015, 07:06:06 pm
Makes sense to me.

Today: the forces of dorkness have received reinforcements! (sprite ripped & prepared by Miguel, slightly smoothened by myself):
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2015, 07:16:31 pm
Fucking midgets!!! :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Cristao on October 23, 2015, 07:34:19 pm
OK I like the almost nude babes but please remove that picture of Superman and Batman kissing .. it is .... annoying
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2015, 07:42:02 pm
OK I like the almost nude babes but please remove that picture of Superman and Batman kissing .. it is .... annoying

(https://www.gesshoku.com/images/no-yaoi-messenger-black.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2015, 08:07:58 pm
Do you feel offended? Sorry I won't remove harmless gay jokes just because someone says so, especially since this one is also an observation of our own culture, made from 6 centuries' perspective, making it an important part of this whole experiment. Here's one for you :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u3cUI7E8NA
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 23, 2015, 08:10:58 pm
Reminds me I need to start a FAQ subsection on the wiki

"Q. Why is feature X in but not Y?

A. This game is solely authored by Dioxine, not designed by committee. You can also suggest changes or ideas, but don't expect it to happen unless you can show a lot of evidence and work behind your suggestion. You can always make your own changes but editing the ruleset if something upsets you!"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Arthanor on October 23, 2015, 08:15:32 pm
Oh man! I had no interest in the superhero line of research before, but now I think I will dedicate a brainer to those matters!

And indeed, do keep these in. Piratez benefits from the commentaries, it is the setting which makes it more than just gunz, slaves and eye-candiez.
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Zharkov on October 23, 2015, 10:40:32 pm
Well, unless it's Star Gods. Then it's ragequit-inducing :)

After looking at the code, there are a few things I have to say:
(1) I am very impressed by the idea of using lofttempSet this way.
(2) I am very astonished by the way the concept of "line of sight" is used in this game.
(3) I would prefer to have stealth implemented in a more conventional way like reducing the number of tiles a unit can be seen from.
(4) There is no fucking way I am ever going to fight invisible flying plasma vomiting brain frying weather vanes again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 23, 2015, 11:34:38 pm
Oh man! I had no interest in the superhero line of research before, but now I think I will dedicate a brainer to those matters!

And indeed, do keep these in. Piratez benefits from the commentaries, it is the setting which makes it more than just gunz, slaves and eye-candiez.

In my first playthrough, I savescummed whenever I lost my Bat Glad. :(

I just imagine some horribly tortured slave that now believes he's some sort of superhero that can only say "BAT GLAD!" like Groot. He smashes down doors, looking for enemies, screaming, "BAT GLAD!! BAT GLAD!!" Fisticuffs some dudes or taser enemies followed by shouts of "BAT GLAD!"

And of course... Batman theme song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtoMN_xi-AM) but change the lyrics to "Nanananana BAT GLAD!"

I got really into that research. I was SO disappointed it didn't culminate into something, like skimpy superhero clothes for the Gals that gave massive boosts to Bravery and Psi Skill but armor equal to unarmored and vulnerability to incendiary. (Basically a direct upgrade to Unarmored).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2015, 12:46:41 am
This ain't 1.0 yet. Star Gods balancing (and tools to deal with 'em) will be provided, also the Superhero research branch is not really complete.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 24, 2015, 03:12:41 am
I can only imagine what crazy things you will do with this new soldier change (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3287.msg53248.html#msg53248), Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2015, 03:38:34 am
(New version up!)

No idea yet, but you can pan ideas out. In theory, someone could, for example, make male pirates or whatever. We still need to wait till at least Yankes incorporates these changes, and... well, the potential is awesome, but I didn't plan for it in advance and tried to make the mod without it. For certain, I could make other races recruitable, like Lamias or brutes but likely with just 1-2 armors per race, due to workload required to make armors. Some units will stay HWP to limit their use (eg. dogs, Advisors). This is getting beyond what a single person can do :)

For now, enjoy 0.95B; not 0.96 since I've barely scratched what I wanted to do for 0.96: three low-level factions forking from current Bandits. But the changes are many, still, and not only fixes... I've wanted to concentrate on the outstanding problems to give Meridian as good as possible base for the LP.
The bad news is lower starting melee and bravery; in return gals gained +10 health (min, max & cap). There are many new ships, mostly for overhauled Crackdown mission. Can you chase the Sentries? Can you shoot down a Battleship? This is mixed, again - now there are FIVE possible assault runs, so base defences are worth building, as each of these ships has different HP (400-900-1500-2400-3500).
Next, there is morale-restoring Battle Flag, and its upgrade. New weapons and ammo (most of them hard to find).
Next - nerfs. For one, tank nerf, in the form that you must produce ammo for almost all tank weapons, and tanks require 2 wrecks apiece to be build. Craft Missiles require some energy weapon pieces, so you can actually use those for something. Mercs and Power Armor are a bit harder to kill with Melee.
Oh yeah, and I've tried to make Rank images - let me know what you think!
And finally, a bit of lore articles.
Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: jmf on October 24, 2015, 04:09:36 am
new version eh?, too bad i will have to start a new game :C
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2015, 04:15:55 am
new version eh?, too bad i will have to start a new game :C

Nah, this baby is backwards-compatible, well, in 99%. Some crazy stuff may happen but if you have more than 1 saved game, you should be safe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: jmf on October 24, 2015, 04:49:28 am
Nah, this baby is backwards-compatible, well, in 99%. Some crazy stuff may happen but if you have more than 1 saved game, you should be safe.
ok, gotta load my save in the new version, wish me luck
Title: Re: [TOTAL CONVERSION] Piratez Extended - 0.95A - 3 Oct - Star Gods' Revenge
Post by: Alex_D on October 24, 2015, 09:37:04 am
(4) There is no fucking way I am ever going to fight invisible flying plasma vomiting brain frying weather vanes again.

Let's see the new version upload, but until then my tactic to deal with a Star God land battle was
liberal use of Chinese dragons and Blaster Bombs, then plasma blasters for mopping up the remnants. As many area weapons as possible. I suppose mortars and similar can do the same effect. And yet, I lose a tank or two who were scouting. I have to try flames, but these buggers can fly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: alinare on October 24, 2015, 11:22:29 am
Hello Dioxine:
Very grateful, to include one of my designs on her wonderful mod Piratez. You can use, if appropriate, without restrictions, the rest of my mods. The Walker, the Pick Up Resistance, Archos mobile launchers, the alien races Outsider and Mongorns, or robot Warden. miguel am, too. I did not want to have two different nicks, but would not let me mods section, with that of alinare, although it sounds a bit weird. By the way, I see the sprites found that the armored car, were taken, the Xenonauts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Alex_D on October 24, 2015, 12:02:55 pm
- Update: Almost all Tanks now require ammunition that needs to be manufactured. No more freebies! Also, manufacture requires 2 wrecks/tank now

Hmmm, No like the ammo thing :)
I had a battle running and my tanks suddenly were out of ammo! Now I have to manufacture it all over my bases.
At least the X-Sectopod is not affected. Good thing I have some around until I manufacture ammo for pretty much everything.

Some observations:
But unless I mismanaged something (or I'm the last one to discover the bug :P), it seems the game only checks if the main weapon has enough ammo, if so, it will load the tank onto the ship and when deployed in combat, both the main and aux guns are fully loaded. Then after the mission is over the aux gun ammo is returned to the base stores as main gun ammo.

For example, in the attached game, check the HT Railgun stores then sent the Bonny to any of the wreckages in South America. Land, take off. Now check again the HT Railgun stores. It's now 200 units higher. Repeat, but this time unload the HT and load instead a X-Sectopod. Launch, land, take off. Check again. The ammo stores do not change, as the unit was not involved in combat.

Free ammo. I see an exploit here :)

As per wreckage, I suppose you can implement making a tank chassis from, early on, a wreckage (or two), and later, given new advances, making a new tank chassis from scratch, but somehow it is not yet within plans?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Zharkov on October 24, 2015, 02:03:37 pm
- Update: Added (experimental) custom Ranks gfx

Sometimes, small things make me smile.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2015, 04:36:03 pm
@Alinare: the pleasure is mine. You did a lot of good work with those, making 2x2 units is hard and that's why we see so few of them that aren't just recolors/modifications of vanilla units.

@Alex_D: god damn it. Try this ruleset - now the tanks do not have secondary ammo in QB, but how they behave in normal combat?

(about the tank manufacture: maybe. I don't want players to have access to an endless stream of tanks.)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Cristao on October 24, 2015, 07:36:30 pm
Finally got a Star God and researched the location of the Governor. Church and Mercs providing opposition now. I have had 8 Base Attacks which I enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 24, 2015, 08:41:44 pm
New stuff! Yay!  ;D Will try as soon as I finish my current battle.

Regarding melee: I seem to be missing A LOT recently, with gals that have 60-70% to hit. Sometimes 6-8 times in a row, which should be incredibly unlikely. Which made me wonder: Do enemies have melee dodge? Do they have ranged dodge? If they have only melee dodge, then that's one factor that would make melee a lot riskier (and to some extent warrant it being more powerful).

Since I don't know how much an enemy can dodge, nor how it is calculated (it is melee hit % - dodge %? or melee hit % * dodge % ?), I am starting to consider it better to just run up to a target and autoshot it (LACC-AP are good for that kind of close quarter fighting), unless I know only melee can produce the weapon power I need.

Also, on my earlier suggestion to add a snapshot to the axe: I just discovered pickaxes and short swords, and they have made me very happy :) Pickaxes are becoming the designated side weapon of all my shooty gals. Clear out terrain, melee that can't miss and fits on a belt. What's not to like?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2015, 09:25:18 pm
Regarding melee: I seem to be missing A LOT recently, with gals that have 60-70% to hit. Sometimes 6-8 times in a row, which should be incredibly unlikely. Which made me wonder: Do enemies have melee dodge? Do they have ranged dodge? If they have only melee dodge, then that's one factor that would make melee a lot riskier (and to some extent warrant it being more powerful).

There's no such thing as ranged dodge. Some enemies have melee dodge, though, and it works like (Attack Acc - Dodge) = Final Acc. So gals with well over 100% melee acc should be fine any way. Melee dodge is usually based on Reactions, and dependant on facing - straight has 100% dodge, side 75%, back 50% (diagonals in between). Factions that have Melee Dodge for most members include Raiders, Mercs, Church and Smugglers. With others, it's uncommon. Star Gods and Traders don't have any - with the exception of Powered Armor. Enemy Power Armors now have 20-25% flat Melee Dodge. Almost no enemies have melee dodge of over 30-35%.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Alex_D on October 24, 2015, 10:32:58 pm
@Alex_D: god damn it. Try this ruleset - now the tanks do not have secondary ammo in QB, but how they behave in normal combat?
I had a battle open when reloaded the ruleset. The tanks in battle (HT Railguns to be precise) had full aux ammo. Upon returning the aux gun ammo was returned as main gun ammo.
If the game is reloaded from the geoscape, then vessel launches and lands, the aux guns magazines are empty. One can still manufacture aux gun ammo but it is not used when deployed in combat.
The main guns fire as normal.

(about the tank manufacture: maybe. I don't want players to have access to an endless stream of tanks.)
After so many in-game years, I have accumulated a large amount of tank wrecks (or in fact accumulated large amounts of everything - so many ship engines that my most profitable built are Predators).  The biggest hurdle for a late game is not the large supply of materials, but the item building time (and storage requirements to a lesser extent). Tracked tanks are quick to build early on but later are kind of superseded by Hovertanks, which take days to make. By then, the making of a tank chassis from scratch (as just from wrecks) would make sense, not that it will benefit the late game player. Cash is not a problem either (over 1 billion and counting).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 24, 2015, 11:27:23 pm
There's no such thing as ranged dodge. Some enemies have melee dodge, though, and it works like (Attack Acc - Dodge) = Final Acc. So gals with well over 100% melee acc should be fine any way. Melee dodge is usually based on Reactions, and dependant on facing - straight has 100% dodge, side 75%, back 50% (diagonals in between). Factions that have Melee Dodge for most members include Raiders, Mercs, Church and Smugglers. With others, it's uncommon. Star Gods and Traders don't have any - with the exception of Powered Armor. Enemy Power Armors now have 20-25% flat Melee Dodge. Almost no enemies have melee dodge of over 30-35%.
Ah well, that makes sense. I am fighting the Church. 70% to hit sounds good, until you try to hit someone with 20-30% dodge and only hitting 40-50% of the time (although I had streaks that are much worst than one would expect for even 30% chances.. that XCom RNG..!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 25, 2015, 12:44:08 am
I had a battle open when reloaded the ruleset. The tanks in battle (HT Railguns to be precise) had full aux ammo. Upon returning the aux gun ammo was returned as main gun ammo.
If the game is reloaded from the geoscape, then vessel launches and lands, the aux guns magazines are empty. One can still manufacture aux gun ammo but it is not used when deployed in combat.
The main guns fire as normal.

God damn it, so this bug was never fixed :/ I guess it's either back to unlimited ammo for secondary weapons, or maybe it'll be possible to fix with some MAJOR code juggling and trickery. Grr. I need to conduct tests of my own, too...

EDIT: There is a convoluted way of circumventing this problem:
1. Make tank ammo a normal ammo item;
2. Enable tank Inventory screen. You will only have access to that inventory at mission start & through scrolling through soldiers - inventory button won't work.
3. Load up tank weapons manually.
4. ??? Not sure yet if these weapons will be reloaded next mission, or if you have to load the tank manually every time.
5. ??? Possibly the tank ammo clip will be gone, even if you don't fire a round
6. ??? Not sure if you put anything in tank's inventory, it will be recovered or destroyed - don't know if this has been fixed, how does it work with dogs?

Of course this also means tanks will be possible to reload mid-mission, bug, feature? :)

EDIT2: Ain't gonna work. You always get 'refund' on ammo from the 1st weapon. So if you have, say, a normal 360-round clip on the tank MG, and fire 4 rounds, you will get 'refunded' 356 tank MG ammo clips. I guess there is no way but to either get rid of secondary weapons, or make them unlimited ammo, or... remodel tanks into wearable 'armor', in other words - vehicles :) I will experiment with that.

EDIT3: 2x2 crewed armors won't work properly. The game doesn't count the space they occupy, and if you take too many, it bombs out. Plus it is impossible to change movement/death sounds... I guess there's only one fallback left - unlimited secondary ammo. Gah...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 25, 2015, 06:00:27 pm
Finally there was no other option than going back to unlimited ammo for tanks' secondary armaments. With that in mind, tank/autocannon was demoted to basic MG as a secondary weapon (but its main gun's power was buffed in 0.95B anyway).

Attaching a hotfix that fixes the tanks and also fixes the soldier ranks display (now they're visible in the Hideout menu as well). Let me know if there are any further problems.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: jmf on October 25, 2015, 10:02:04 pm
hello, i was playing a bit when i had a crash, game closes  in the enemy turn during a mutant progrom, i changed to the new version of the mod, but the same, i don't know what to do besides put my save game here

thanks in advance for the help, sorry for not being able to put any art for now
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Roxis231 on October 25, 2015, 10:13:13 pm
Had this turn up last night:

First -

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=18296;image)

Then five seconds later (game time)

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=18298;image)

Also attached save file:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 25, 2015, 11:30:45 pm
@jmf: re-load from before the Pogrom, land again. This stuff happens once a few dozen Pogroms on average, most likely due to map generation. You can also try updating maps from Hobbes' UFO redux.

@Roxis: Not a bug. Try guessing what travels at 583 151 000 knots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: jmf on October 25, 2015, 11:35:27 pm
last save game was the last progrom XD, oh well i just lost some research nothing serious
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Zharkov on October 25, 2015, 11:40:13 pm
Try guessing what travels at 583 151 000 knots.

A photon with a rounding error (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-off_error)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 25, 2015, 11:55:53 pm
Had this turn up last night:

First -



Then five seconds later (game time)



Also attached save file:

Feature, not a bug. I don't think it's mentioned/listed anywhere in the Bootypedia yet.

@Dioxine ;
perhaps a mention in the STR_HYPERWAVES_UFOPEDIA or STR_ALIEN_TERROR_UFOPEDIA? I don't think they require a Hyperwave Decoder but could be inserted somewhere.
Code: [Select]
Cap'n, some factions don't have access to big enough ships for proper raiding, so they'll attack cities by land instead. In such events, the Mutant Alliance will dispatch a decoded Hyperwave message to notify us. However, the decision to provide help is still ultimately yours, Cap'n.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Styar Dark on October 26, 2015, 02:00:36 am
Hi there! Great work you have done I really enjoy this mod. I have a bug report and some thinks to improve the game.
1. The dark ones still crash the game. As I can see from terror mission I have done (with a great deal of save-loads) it is spectres or pinkyes that can cause a problem, usually when they try to bite something. it can be avoided by save at the end of each turn/load  while save cheating is on.
2.The  other thing - a autocannon have more damage then heavy cannon if i can believe to the bootypedia. Maybe it is feature of the game but it is really strange.
3. A gals morals and first hads general characteristics force me to think I have a team of crippled hystericanl-pacifistic vegeterians that can do nothing short of whining berserking and running around in panic. As I thougt nothing with bravery lesser than 30-40 have enouth eggs to be a pirat, and "super awesome very strong and fast mutants" shold have sligtly better start stats bottom cap. Some enemyes on the other hand seems logically to be have bravery and melee stats reduced, not to make game easier but to make it more logical in details. Academitial whith moral 70-80 and melee stats the same seems to have some classes in martial arts before academy!
4. Some melee weaponds that are not technically are "1 tile shoottas" like chainaxe cant hit enemy diagonally. Maby it is possible to give them 1.5 tile range or something like that?
5 I think would be good to add some info in bootypedia about weapons: its loaded weight, clip size, auto bursts in auto and one/2 hands needed.
6. Err.. a bit bizzard question, but why muzzel loaded weapons have 3-4 charges? Only game balance concideration or sophisticated system with three charges of gunpowder and "smart" 3-position fkintlock trigger? But muskets and pistol still suks even with 3 round clip.
P.S. Sorry for my bad English and length of the post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 04:12:49 am
1. The dark ones still crash the game. As I can see from terror mission I have done (with a great deal of save-loads) it is spectres or pinkyes that can cause a problem, usually when they try to bite something. it can be avoided by save at the end of each turn/load  while save cheating is on.

I'll look into it... again. This faction is over year old and has bred countless problems since beginning.

2.The  other thing - a autocannon have more damage then heavy cannon if i can believe to the bootypedia. Maybe it is feature of the game but it is really strange.

Compare the weights of both weapons and you might be enlightened.

3. A gals morals and first hads general characteristics force me to think I have a team of crippled hystericanl-pacifistic vegeterians that can do nothing short of whining berserking and running around in panic. As I thougt nothing with bravery lesser than 30-40 have enouth eggs to be a pirat, and "super awesome very strong and fast mutants" shold have sligtly better start stats bottom cap. Some enemyes on the other hand seems logically to be have bravery and melee stats reduced, not to make game easier but to make it more logical in details. Academitial whith moral 70-80 and melee stats the same seems to have some classes in martial arts before academy!

Not true with the melee stat, (although it is inconsequential for most enemies anyway), rarely anyone even approaches the level of 70-80 which is barely adequate for your soldiers. The high enemy bravery is simply caused by game's balance. If I dropped that by, say, 20 across the board, the enemies would be instantly panicking after you killed a few. Where's the fun in fighting enemy who can't fight back? As for the low Bravery of pirates, again - where's the fun in stats so high that they become irrelevant? That's another challenge - either learn to fight in a way that overcomes the problem (protip: keep killing enemies), or overcome it through other means (bravery screening, bravery boosting armor). Also generally higher base stats make for more boring gameplay and much less space for improvement. At top stats the gals are really killing machines. You just need to understand while their potential is great, most of them are basically teenage gangers, training-wise, when they join the ranks. They might be superhumans, but not infallible American Heroes - they still have their failings and can be killed or scared despite all their toughness.

4. Some melee weaponds that are not technically are "1 tile shoottas" like chainaxe cant hit enemy diagonally. Maby it is possible to give them 1.5 tile range or something like that?

Not possible. Integers only. This might finally become a thing of the past when melee attacks against terrain will be finally possible.

5 I think would be good to add some info in bootypedia about weapons: its loaded weight, clip size, auto bursts in auto and one/2 hands needed.

Yeah sure, and where do we put that? These articles simply won't take so much info without being completely cluttered and bereft of flavour text... Plus somebody would have to write all that. Isn't it simpler to just take the weapon for a spin and check by yourself? Plus - all this info will be available online... at some point, so no reason to despair :)

6. Err.. a bit bizzard question, but why muzzel loaded weapons have 3-4 charges? Only game balance concideration or sophisticated system with three charges of gunpowder and "smart" 3-position fkintlock trigger? But muskets and pistol still suks even with 3 round clip.

Either kind of unrealistic 3-round clips, or you'd be able to take only a handful of shots due to limited inventory space. I've decided it would just be overtly impractical in game terms. Oh and almost completely unusueable by AI. And self-imposed lower weight limit of 2 for all items (under the game mechanics, you can easily throw any weight 1 item into low Earth orbit). The other option - unlimited ammo - is used for bows/crossbows, but here I've decided it'd be bad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Alex_D on October 26, 2015, 05:37:14 am
Finally there was no other option than going back to unlimited ammo for tanks' secondary armaments. With that in mind, tank/autocannon was demoted to basic MG as a secondary weapon (but its main gun's power was buffed in 0.95B anyway).

Attaching a hotfix that fixes the tanks and also fixes the soldier ranks display (now they're visible in the Hideout menu as well). Let me know if there are any further problems.

Thanks for the hot fix. My comment:
the exploit of having ammo is still there, the ammo is unlimited for the aux gun, but somehow the aux ammo counter still gets "refunded" as main gun ammo.
I was wondering why I ran out of space after a land-take-off operation if I haven't recovered anything. For example, in the attached save game. Check the HT Railgun count (3027+2x25 in the Bonny = 3077), send the Bonny to the wreckage in North America. Land. Take off. Then you will be prompted to empty the storage excess items. The new counter of HT Railgun is 3577, or 2x250 more than before.

Not that I'm complaining for free money   ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 05:58:14 am
Yeah I've noticed that, I have no idea what the hell is causing that. Especially since you get refunded - 256 ammo or something like that, not 360 as per old MG ammo count... :/ The funny thing is I've just restored the old code. Maybe it has something to do with leftovers, some kind of infection that was caused by the new code and stayed even when it was rolled back??? :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 08:16:24 am
Trying inventory screen recolors, since the ranks have different color now. What about that one? Not too cold/boring/sad?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 26, 2015, 09:13:30 am
For a second there, I thought that was a hint at possible TFTD content with the bubbles, blue colors, and bikini... except that's the gym suit!

I dunno, blue doesn't feel right. The gray text for everything else seems to work well... maybe a darker red or amber for the Icon/Name.

so many colors to choose from (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors_%28compact%29)!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Alex_D on October 26, 2015, 09:49:23 am
Yeah I've noticed that, I have no idea what the hell is causing that. Especially since you get refunded - 256 ammo or something like that, not 360 as per old MG ammo count... :/ The funny thing is I've just restored the old code. Maybe it has something to do with leftovers, some kind of infection that was caused by the new code and stayed even when it was rolled back??? :/

Yes, I checked the ruleset bits and indeed they are the same. It appears there is a problem with " clipSize: -1"  in " AUX_TANK_GAUSS" (the option I tested/checked).

But if I put " clipSize: -2" it appears to work, the aux weapon ammo does not get "refunded" into main weapon ammo anymore. I tested it before launch, on a single battle, firing and hitting things, and only on the HT Gauss. Of course, further independent testing is required. I'm not familiar with OXCE code (type of variable defined, etc), so I cannot say for sure why it appears to work ("flips around"?).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 11:44:50 am
Yes, I checked the ruleset bits and indeed they are the same. It appears there is a problem with " clipSize: -1"  in " AUX_TANK_GAUSS" (the option I tested/checked).

But if I put " clipSize: -2" it appears to work, the aux weapon ammo does not get "refunded" into main weapon ammo anymore. I tested it before launch, on a single battle, firing and hitting things, and only on the HT Gauss. Of course, further independent testing is required. I'm not familiar with OXCE code (type of variable defined, etc), so I cannot say for sure why it appears to work ("flips around"?).

-2? I wouldn't come up with this in a 1,000 years! Awesome, I'll try it. Maybe there was some behaviour change... Also, added floorobs and handobs for Doom demons' weapons, just finished a Pogrom w/o any crashes. Here's hoping the issue is solved. Finally - I think I came up with something I like, inventory screen-wise:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 26, 2015, 04:33:02 pm
That looks good! But I don't know if it looks "Piratez" to me. It gives off a more techy-serious vibe, than the retro-tongue-in-cheek one I have come to associate with Piratez.

Much like the whole base is gold, I think of our pirates a boisterous (Yarrr/Nay) ridiculous (pirate outfit? berets? bikinis and thongs?) loot oriented (who would have a whole base covered in gold?!) pirate-type. Warm colours (woods, golds, reds) fit with this and gold for ranks and maybe bits of the UI, along with "full" colours, could work well.

If you want to stick to grey, I would adjust the base to be more cold-steel colours and then it goes more for the cold efficient killer pirate twist, but that might also require a fair change in writing to get the feel right.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: ivandogovich on October 26, 2015, 04:38:49 pm
I'm kinda with Arthanor on this one... the gold vibe of the base blew me away when I saw it and that first defense was such an epic battle for me, its permanently ingrained in my memory.   I like the idea of warmer colors for the inventory screens, but I think the effort to harmonize them with the new ranks is a great idea too.  I had a whole schema for alternate ranks sketched out too, but I never had time to work on it. :(  Would it be possible to color shift the ranks to warmer tones?? just an idea. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 26, 2015, 06:56:02 pm
I guess more samples would be nice. For example, have you tried Hercules orange-yellow (my personal favourite)? Or what about leafy green?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Cristao on October 26, 2015, 06:56:36 pm
After playing more days, I only have one question. Is the XPiratez meant to be ended?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 07:11:34 pm
After playing more days, I only have one question. Is the XPiratez meant to be ended?

In what sense?

Also: new inv pic. I think I've managed to capture a balance between 3 factors:
1. Pirate Boldness & post-apoc rustyness
2. Not tiring to the eye
3. Keeping the damned ranks blue, as it took me enough work to make them already :)

lemme know what you think.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: ivandogovich on October 26, 2015, 08:09:39 pm
lemme know what you think.

Me likes!! Looks terrific!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 26, 2015, 08:21:10 pm
Yup, very nice. (The rank pic too.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 26, 2015, 08:44:23 pm
Yeah, that works the best so far, although the blue tint ranks still seems off. (Also, using blue armor is so cheaty! ;) I wonder how it'd look if the armor was Ghost or Annihilator!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2015, 09:45:59 pm
Yeah these ranks aren't perfect but it is best I can do, I think. I know they're not as good as originals, but at least they're different (and I'm really satisfied with the 'bubbles' rank pic for Swabbies, speaks so much about how fleeting their life is... :) ); they wouldn't look good in another color, besides, the limiting factor is Base-scape palette, which has only half of the colors:
- grayscale
- gold
- red
- camo green
- alien alloy
- reddish grey (Power Suit color)
- brass
- some brown->purple thingy that isn't available in Battlescape
- and, blue

(attached: very not gold/blue armor for reference :) )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 26, 2015, 10:39:01 pm
Looks awesome! Nice choice :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: doctor medic on October 27, 2015, 10:45:57 am
I was thinking about the commando rifle's bonus damage on reaction,if it is 40 how much damage would be added?It cant be 40 that is for sure otherwise it would become a gauss sniper
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 27, 2015, 02:12:57 pm
citing:
POWER Bonus: REACTIONS*0.1

Why would you think that Bootypedia lies to you in that regard? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: doctor medic on October 27, 2015, 04:20:44 pm
citing:
POWER Bonus: REACTIONS*0.1

Why would you think that Bootypedia lies to you in that regard? :)
Allright now i know why the are calling it overpowered

Also in a bomber of the humanist and kkks i used a electro sword to stab a instructor in the back which caused my game to crash.
looks like the dark ones arent the only ones causing mysterious bugs
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 27, 2015, 04:39:22 pm
Have you upgraded to Nightly by any chance? If you did, don't. One of the nightlies was causing melee related crashes.

Also 40-50 damage depending on Reactions (as they can go up to about 100, 100*0.1 = 10 in case someone is not up to speed with advanced math) is hardly OP imo...

EDIT: Ooops, Cristao was right. Some versions ago I've accidentally the possibility to finish the game, breaking leader-plus and commander-plus researches. Here's a quick ruleset fix, I will also release a new version today (or tomorrow):
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: doctor medic on October 28, 2015, 05:56:24 pm
What is the correct nightly edition then?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 28, 2015, 06:33:23 pm
The one provided with the mod. After unpacking the archive, you don't need to install ANYTHING except the original game files into the /UFO folder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: doctor medic on October 28, 2015, 06:50:07 pm
Im getting tired of using debug menu on enemies on who are either stuck on the floors or just been idle on base defense
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 28, 2015, 07:11:26 pm
Hard to say anything since I haven't encountered such a bug myself, despite playing dozens of base defenses. Not a single instance of an enemy spawning in the wrong place, or getting 'stuck', or 'idle', whatever that means. I've even rechecked every map recently to see if there are no wrong node definitions, nada. So I'm highly skeptical about your claims - a proof (saved game) would help. Are you sure you have installed the mod properly? Are you sure you're not using any clashing mods? Is the vanilla OXCom working for you properly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 28, 2015, 08:23:31 pm
Maybe it has to do with base layout? I think if you have very small bases, the enemies can spawn in weird places because they run out of spawns. Now they should be able to come out and meet you, but routes are sometimes weird and units just end up pacing between 2 nodes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Dioxine on October 28, 2015, 08:46:36 pm
Yeah I've increased the number of nodes in hangars with that problem in mind, but I guess if you have no hangar, the game just goes crazy, trying to spawn 20-35 units within just 8 or so spawn-points... And even less spawn points for large units... But this isn't a mod-related problem, you'd get the same result in vanilla. I was thinking about increasing base's height to 3, thus creating more room in the lift to spawn units, but... this would require rebuilding 50 or so maps :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95B - 24 Oct - Sink The Bismarck
Post by: Arthanor on October 28, 2015, 09:08:40 pm
I always have hangars in my bases, so I can maintain some kind of craft there to follow UFOs once they are spotted by the radar to know where they are going, or to reset the home base of my spy zeppelin so it doesn't have to fly so far to refuel once in a while, so I don't have that problem. In fact, having only one hangar works really well for base defences once you get your hands on a few baby nukes  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 07:24:08 am
Well, new version is up, wanted to have all these tiny (and not so tiny) details fixed last-minute. Also I swear, no more gals' stat changes! :)

A teaser pic for hi tier voodoo tech, there are no new follow-up techs... yet :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: LexThorn on October 29, 2015, 08:21:04 am
Well, new version is up, wanted to have all these tiny (and not so tiny) details fixed last-minute. Also I swear, no more gals' stat changes! :)

A teaser pic for hi tier voodoo tech, there are no new follow-up techs... yet :)

So... there will be full-fledged hi-tech voodoo armors branch, for those players who prefer wield mighty magic in the next one or two updates? ^___________^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 08:46:09 am
Welll... yeah, definitely so, armors, but also weapons and even craft and facilities (just like with the old voodoo: you get MC rod but also mind shield) :) Next update should be focused on factions, but that also means some more Reticulan/Sectoid presence, and this ties directly with Reticulan VooDoo, which will contain new counters to Star Gods' cheaty magic, and that I want to introduce quite soon, as the Star Gods were made OP already with these future balancing techs in mind... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: LexThorn on October 29, 2015, 08:59:56 am
Welll... yeah, definitely so, armors, but also weapons and even craft and facilities (just like with the old voodoo: you get MC rod but also mind shield) :) Next update should be focused on factions, but that also means some more Reticulan/Sectoid presence, and this ties directly with Reticulan VooDoo, which will contain new counters to Star Gods' cheaty magic, and that I want to introduce quite soon, as the Star Gods were made OP already with these future balancing techs in mind... :)

Oh! Not just armors branch but whole tech tree branch... Very, very nice! Wish you patience, enough time  and, most of all, not to lose fire of creativity.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: LexThorn on October 29, 2015, 09:05:13 am
I have a question: appointment of a gal as a craft pilot with bonuses for craft and rising skills from piloting is beyond limitations of game engine now? I think it could be whole layer of gameplay if it will be possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 03:05:49 pm
For now, yes, it's impossible. I definitely want that option to appear, always did (always = since 1994, not since Piratez), but it's more of my long-term 'wishlist' for Yankes... I guess so long term I might write it myself before he has spare time to make it happen :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on October 29, 2015, 03:54:20 pm
Here are some cases when enemies would stay in the area untill i go find them myself
https://imgur.com/0URRQWs
https://imgur.com/Z14WSO2
I was there in about 8 or 9 turns
Remember the tank glitch i had where enemies would go in the top flourss i my base and stay here untill i had to use debug?
Something like that but instead of them being stuck its them being lazy to move their ass towards my bozars
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 29, 2015, 04:13:45 pm
Here are some cases when enemies would stay in the area untill i go find them myself
https://imgur.com/0URRQWs
https://imgur.com/Z14WSO2
I was there in about 8 or 9 turns
Remember the tank glitch i had where enemies would go in the top flourss i my base and stay here untill i had to use debug?
Something like that but instead of them being stuck its them being lazy to move their ass towards my bozars

Yeah, I am experiencing this too, but I think of it as feature, not a bug. It is a siege!

Would be nice, if different factions would use different tactics. With some factions this lazy behavior seems more like unlawful loitering than siege...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 04:27:29 pm
Oh so it's simply that. That's a relief. I cannot be held responsible for the AI, dood. If the enemies don't want to go and get killed by your squad, IT'S XCOM, BABY! Get your ass moving and assault them, soldier! :)

(I might try further tweaking hangar nodes, but I don't think it'll help).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on October 29, 2015, 04:43:49 pm
As long as the stupid solo tank madness doesnt occur again i will be fine.Still apartment pogroms are hell,i have to send every single unit that can fit in doors to search the whole apartments....maybe i should spam china dragons untill i get blaster boms
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on October 29, 2015, 05:10:05 pm
Welll... yeah, definitely so, armors, but also weapons and even craft and facilities (just like with the old voodoo: you get MC rod but also mind shield) :) Next update should be focused on factions, but that also means some more Reticulan/Sectoid presence, and this ties directly with Reticulan VooDoo, which will contain new counters to Star Gods' cheaty magic, and that I want to introduce quite soon, as the Star Gods were made OP already with these future balancing techs in mind... :)

When you change things to factions, we will have to tamper with saves in order to see new missions, right?

As far as I know, all possible missions are written in the save, then every time one is picked, it will be removed from further saves. The game assumes that if a mission is not listed in the save, it has happened already. This means new missions (which had never been possible before) will remain impossible as they are not listed in saves from older version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 06:00:29 pm
As far as I know, all possible missions are written in the save, then every time one is picked, it will be removed from further saves. The game assumes that if a mission is not listed in the save, it has happened already. This means new missions (which had never been possible before) will remain impossible as they are not listed in saves from older version.

If that was 100% true, you wouldn't have recurring missions. In my current run, I've had the Resource Extraction mission spawn thrice over the span of 1.5 game years. Or am I missing something? I thought that only ONGOING missions were stored in a save... keep in mind that some missions can go on for 2 months or longer.
Even if that was true, most of these new enemies will be added to Pogrom mission, so they won't be affected. The only real problem might be finding a Reticulan Elder, who as for now, can only appear in a Crackdown after you shoot up some Reticulan ships, and there indeed will be a new mission starring him.

In any case, this cannot be a reason to not add more missions. If you want more piratin', don't linger, go to Cydonia, wait for a new version, start a new run :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on October 29, 2015, 06:42:46 pm
I am pretty sure it is how it works. The save keeps the ongoing missions under "AlienMissions", but also the possible missions under something like "AlienStrategy". I remember Meridian going through things to find which mission he had missed during the first two game months of his LP, basically crossing off the missions that were in saves both before and after (meaning they hadn't happened yet) and finding which had disappeared.

I am, of course, not saying that this is a reason not to add new missions or new races! I will happily attack and loot more varied targets  :D

BUT, I am saying that, when you tweak alien missions, a word of warning might be nice, so that those of us who have an ongoing game and want to keep it updated can go into their saves and add the missions as missions which did not happen. I don't have much time to play and am only in.. June or July of my first year after 2 months of playing, so the option of finishing and restarting is not really one, and aborting is not so much fun since you end up playing the early game many times and never seeing much new stuff.

Also, oddly enough, infiltration missions are awesome in Piratez. Funding is very low any ways, so losing a country doesn't matter much. However, the shipping traffic (all of which land!) is incredible. You can make a LOT of instant money from looting, an amount that easily compensates for ~two years of funding lost from that country. Not really a question, but more of a comment/realisation.

Also, did you change missions so that the happen where you have bases? I have been VERY lucky otherwise, as I have had a regular (non-pogrom) mission spawned in my starting region every month so far. If yes, that's a very nice touch and makes it feel like the planet is more active.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on October 29, 2015, 06:53:34 pm
Here are some cases when enemies would stay in the area untill i go find them myself
https://imgur.com/0URRQWs
https://imgur.com/Z14WSO2
I was there in about 8 or 9 turns
Remember the tank glitch i had where enemies would go in the top flourss i my base and stay here untill i had to use debug?
Something like that but instead of them being stuck its them being lazy to move their ass towards my bozars

Another one is the Church zealots in a fighter. They stay in the cockpit not moving until i enter and finish them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on October 29, 2015, 06:56:31 pm
That's the routes of the fighter. It is a craft where enemies are intended to wait and ambush you. Not sure why though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2015, 07:23:41 pm
I'm not adding any missions without writing it in the changelog, so no much need to worry.
About the fighter - so, it'd be better if they rushed outside and get themselves killed by numerically superior force waiting in ambush? Or get blown by landmines? Naturally the best they can do is to bunker up and hope for the best. Also, some of them do leave the fighter, I've suffered some losses to such skirmishers who go out and attack the advancing party, and their Gauss Pistols ensure they have a good chance of causing casaulties.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on October 29, 2015, 09:44:02 pm
What I'm not sure about is why they stay inside more than the crew of other crafts. By that reasoning, shouldn't the crew of all crafts stay in instead of wandering about and getting picked off one by one?

Crash one: Our large scout got shot down by pirates! Scatter off! It's everybody for themselves and hopefully someone makes it!

Crash two: Our fighter got shot down by pirates! Stay together! We can hold 'em off if we're all in here!

What caused the change in attitude? In fact, wouldn't it be more likely for civilians to cower in their craft, protected by their security crew? You can make the story either ways:

units outside:
- mixed crew: civilians panic and ran out to chance it. They don't have the discipline to wait it out and ambush from their craft
- security crews: They're fighters and decided that they would scatter and surprise the enemy as they advance, instead of being in a predictable location and giving the choice of timing to their enemy.

units inside:
- mixed crew: civilians cower in, protected by the security personnel. They are hoping to get rescued before they get breached.
- security crew: They chose to make a last stand, ambush the enemy as it comes in and takes as many as possible with them. Maybe they'll last long enough.

In fact, from the above, I would say it sounds more plausible to have the crews with civilians stay inside (cowering in is the designated civilian response in case of fighting), and the fighty crews to be outside (better guns + reactions = better opportunity to reaction snipe someone in the open. They're warriors, they can fight and don't want to leave the initiative to the enemy)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: jmf on October 30, 2015, 02:02:20 am
Hi Dioxine, it happen again, game crashed during a progrom :C, i'm stuck in that save game it seems
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 30, 2015, 02:11:03 am
Hi Dioxine, it happen again, game crashed during a progrom :C, i'm stuck in that save game it seems

Can you attach the save game and brief explanation to replicate the crash?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: jmf on October 30, 2015, 02:49:01 am
Can you attach the save game and brief explanation to replicate the crash?

i was just playing, searching for demons i click end turn , waiting for hidden movement, BOOM back to the desktop
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on October 30, 2015, 07:32:28 am
Note on the latest release uh I'm sorry for not being much help here but I'm currently trying to participate in a pogrom but this one in particular in the eurosyndicate any time I try to get in it closes the game. Any idea why this happens?

Edit:nevermind this was for B
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on October 30, 2015, 09:43:21 am
i was just playing, searching for demons i click end turn , waiting for hidden movement, BOOM back to the desktop

Consistent with the Dark Ones. Edit the save file to continue.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2015, 09:56:36 am
i was just playing, searching for demons i click end turn , waiting for hidden movement, BOOM back to the desktop

Found that damn bug. Wrong spritesheet size. Replace the following entry in the Piratez.rul:

Code: [Select]
  - type: DEM_8.PCK
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
    width: 512
    height: 440
    files:
      0: Resources/Sprites/DEM_8.png

(the original has height: 200)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on October 30, 2015, 02:20:43 pm
Found that damn bug. Wrong spritesheet size. Replace the following entry in the Piratez.rul:

Code: [Select]
  - type: DEM_8.PCK
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
    width: 512
    height: 440
    files:
      0: Resources/Sprites/DEM_8.png

(the original has height: 200)

Just to be sure - we should change height from 440 to 200. Will test when I get back home.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 30, 2015, 02:49:02 pm
Oh, oh, can we have plague doctor costume for the gals? Or the mooks? The Ghouls could wear something like this!  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbc1E-XR4SY
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on October 30, 2015, 03:13:36 pm
''Now with a coustom .exe''
Really?After all this time its still not spelled correcly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: jmf on October 30, 2015, 04:47:03 pm
Just to be sure - we should change height from 440 to 200. Will test when I get back home.
but  200 was the original...i'm confused i don't even know what file i must change
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: apocan on October 30, 2015, 05:14:00 pm
Hi

i have been playing 0,95b for a while and found that researching plasma bomb launcher parts makes game crush

thanks for everyone who make this mod
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 30, 2015, 06:17:14 pm
- Fix: Research tree (those playing older versions... research a single leader and a single commander again...)

Will it be necessary to research broken leaders again, too?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2015, 06:19:31 pm
but  200 was the original...i'm confused i don't even know what file i must change

200 -> 440, and the file is under mods/piratez/ruleset

Will it be necessary to research broken leaders again, too?

No.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 30, 2015, 08:43:26 pm
Okay, I don't know - maybe this game is getting to me, but: I want to produce Full Plate Mail and I do not have any Cyclops Corpses. However, I do have a few very alive Cyclopses (?) - is there really nothing that can be done about this?  ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on October 30, 2015, 09:24:44 pm
Note on the latest release uh I'm sorry for not being much help here but I'm currently trying to participate in a pogrom but this one in particular in the eurosyndicate any time I try to get in it closes the game. Any idea why this happens?

Edit:nevermind this was for B
Attaching a save file is incredibly helpful. As seen here:

Found that damn bug. Wrong spritesheet size. Replace the following entry in the Piratez.rul:

Code: [Select]
  - type: DEM_8.PCK
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
    width: 512
    height: 440
    files:
      0: Resources/Sprites/DEM_8.png

(the original has height: 200)

Dioxine is able to fix things more easily if save games are attached, as seen here as Dioxine found a bug in jmf's save game, instead of just making random "this broke" comments.

Oh, oh, can we have plague doctor costume for the gals? Or the mooks? The Ghouls could wear something like this!  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbc1E-XR4SY

I'm very sure if you completed the required various spritesheets, Dioxine would utilize them. Otherwise, that's a lot of work to ask for. jmf started drawings and Roxis put the idea into action; much easier to use than words.

''Now with a coustom .exe''
Really?After all this time its still not spelled correcly?

If you noticed it sooner, bug report it so it gets fixed faster.

Okay, I don't know - maybe this game is getting to me, but: I want to produce Full Plate Mail and I do not have any Cyclops Corpses. However, I do have a few very alive Cyclopses (?) - is there really nothing that can be done about this?  ::)

Currently, does not look like there's a Butcher option for Cyclops (as there is for Celatids, Chryssalids, Reapers, Boomosauri, and whatever else I skipped). Maybe you could submit as a suggestion rather than complaint?

Hi

i have been playing 0,95b for a while and found that researching plasma bomb launcher parts makes game crush

thanks for everyone who make this mod


Attaching a save game before the crash and explaining what you did to replicate the crash would be incredibly helpful.




Oh man, after doing all this wiki work, I've grown so jaded.  :-X
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2015, 09:26:34 pm
Hi

i have been playing 0,95b for a while and found that researching plasma bomb launcher parts makes game crush

thanks for everyone who make this mod

Dammit, just right after the release. Thanks for the report. To fix this, you need to add the following to the user/mods/piratez/ruleset, under the research:

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER
    cost: 0
    needItem: true

''Now with a coustom .exe''
Really?After all this time its still not spelled correcly?

Yes, 'coustom'. Problem? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 30, 2015, 09:33:17 pm
I'm very sure if you completed the required various spritesheets, Dioxine would utilize them. Otherwise, that's a lot of work to ask for. jmf started drawings and Roxis put the idea into action; much easier to use than words.
That was a joke.
Currently, does not look like there's a Butcher option for Cyclops (as there is for Celatids, Chryssalids, Reapers, Boomosauri, and whatever else I skipped). Maybe you could submit as a suggestion rather than complaint?
And that wasn't a complaint.
Oh man, after doing all this wiki work, I've grown so jaded.  :-X
Obviously. Have you tried x-grog?   ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2015, 09:34:43 pm
@DeWolf: Reload from before the landing, land again (savescumming must be 'on'). The game very occasionally crashes on map generation. At least that much I can guess without a save file.

@Zharkov: it'd be just too cruel to butcher such poor creatures in cold blood, don't you think? But I will think what can be done about it, since if you can't retrieve the armor, you'll be needlessly murdering them in battle just out of spite (not to mention the greed) :)

@Arthanor: cool ideas with the deployments, but it is huge amount of work for dubious value (at least from my POV), plus it's really hard to impossible to get fully predictable and as-planned deployments. I just left deployment to the forces of random, except for the Fighters, where I thought that 2-4 guys scattered around the map would be so little challenge it's not even funny. The way I did it, the mission is more dangerous and much faster to play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on October 30, 2015, 09:40:51 pm
@Zharkov: it'd be just too cruel to butcher such poor creatures in cold blood, don't you think? But I will think what can be done about it, since if you can't retrieve the armor, you'll be needlessly murdering them in battle just out of spite (not to mention the greed) :)

So they are sentient creatures? Seemed to me the Gals asked them and they couldn't say...   8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2015, 09:43:37 pm
So they are sentient creatures? Seemed to me the Gals asked them and they couldn't say...   8)

Well, Deep Ones, Lobstermen and especially Star Gods are sentient, but this doesn't stop the gals from butchering and eating them :) The cyclops are just too cute (and yeah, they are sentient, although really dumb - I'd say mid-way between a human and a chimpanzee).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on October 30, 2015, 10:33:20 pm
Attaching a save file is incredibly helpful. As seen here:

Dioxine is able to fix things more easily if save games are attached, as seen here as Dioxine found a bug in jmf's save game, instead of just making random "this broke" comments.
Sorry I'm new on these forums.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on October 31, 2015, 11:48:01 am
So the reason why i dont have a variety of missions is because they last for months and i dont bother shooting them down?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: jmf on October 31, 2015, 05:54:49 pm
Btw,the fix  worked thanks DIoxine i could finish the progom, made more research, wonder what i have to do to get more armors a bit more and went to anotehr long and tedious progrom...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: apocan on October 31, 2015, 07:06:20 pm
Dammit, just right after the release. Thanks for the report. To fix this, you need to add the following to the user/mods/piratez/ruleset, under the research:

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER
    cost: 0
    needItem: true

Yes, 'coustom'. Problem? :)


thanks now able to research plasma bomb launcher parts :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Alex_D on October 31, 2015, 11:19:36 pm
Playing with my late game, a pogrom from the Spartans, resulted in a CTD. The latest ruleset hot-fixes were applied.

End the turn in the attached save game. I suppose it's the map that's creating the problem. I share the save just in case it's something else.

EDIT: As suggested before, restarted the game from before landing the pogrom, and eventually a new map was loaded. So far no problems with the new map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 01, 2015, 02:16:51 am
So what usually causes this mod to make the game freak out? The reason I ask is because I was in an activist pogrom and the game closed but when I reloaded it everything was fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 01, 2015, 05:52:29 am
So what usually causes this mod to make the game freak out? The reason I ask is because I was in an activist pogrom and the game closed but when I reloaded it everything was fine.

Weird bugs but because people don't post saves and/or reloading (before landing at the Pogrom) can generate a new map without issues, leaves the bugs in for people to have issues with. This is why posting bugged saves is important so Dioxine can find them and fix them so other (newer) players (like yourself DeWolf, also Welcome to the Forums, sorry about earlier!) don't run into the same Crash to Desktop (CTD) or other bugs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 01, 2015, 06:00:33 am
Weird bugs but because people don't post saves and/or reloading (before landing at the Pogrom) can generate a new map without issues, leaves the bugs in for people to have issues with. This is why posting bugged saves is important so Dioxine can find them and fix them so other (newer) players (like yourself DeWolf, also Welcome to the Forums, sorry about earlier!) don't run into the same Crash to Desktop (CTD) or other bugs.
Well I know one solution to the save bug thing where I just turn off save scumming. Also my fault for not reading up on things like that. Lastly is it all right I post the whole save file or do I need to post a certain part of it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 01, 2015, 06:14:23 am
Well I know one solution to the save bug thing where I just turn off save scumming. Also my fault for not reading up on things like that. Lastly is it all right I post the whole save file or do I need to post a certain part of it?

Whole save file and just explain how to replicate the crash. (Load save, shoot enemy with X gun, end turn, should crash) something simple like that.

Hope you're enjoying Piratez, though!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 01, 2015, 07:43:52 am
Whole save file and just explain how to replicate the crash. (Load save, shoot enemy with X gun, end turn, should crash) something simple like that.

Hope you're enjoying Piratez, though!
Ye be right landlubber. YARR! But ok then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: jmf on November 01, 2015, 07:05:06 pm
i was wondering, the manual fixes i made to the progrom and the one the other guy did to the research, can be included into the next version ?, or the fix can crash another part o the mod?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 01, 2015, 07:40:48 pm
i was woondering, the manula fixes i made to the progrom and the one the other guy did to the research, can be included into the next version ?, or the fix can crash another part o the mod?

I believe Dioxine already has included the fixes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 01, 2015, 08:35:15 pm
Okay weird bug with the map. This is an academy pogrom and in the save my pirate named tight mojo cannot get down the stairs. Here's the save.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 01, 2015, 10:23:19 pm
New closing battle against raiders pogrom probably a random bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 02, 2015, 09:16:58 am
Okay weird bug with the map. This is an academy pogrom and in the save my pirate named tight mojo cannot get down the stairs. Here's the save.

I think I had a similar problem. From my memory, turned out an enemy was stuck there. I had to destroy the walls of the building using shots and then stunned the alien. End of game. Major reason why I use the assault armor for battle now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 02, 2015, 02:57:13 pm
I wonder if dioxine will ever release the stress mechanic as a indepented mod?Other people may like the mechanic to be used on their vanila game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on November 02, 2015, 08:14:49 pm
@Zharkov: it'd be just too cruel to butcher such poor creatures in cold blood, don't you think? But I will think what can be done about it, since if you can't retrieve the armor, you'll be needlessly murdering them in battle just out of spite (not to mention the greed) :)

I think I found a solution! (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4050.msg53696.html#msg53696)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 02, 2015, 09:31:25 pm
Is clandestine supposed to mean mixed crews?I have seen the humanists with some activists carrying along a goverment police.
Unless this is supposed to be tied to the lore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 02, 2015, 09:47:17 pm
Is clandestine supposed to mean mixed crews?I have seen the humanists with some activists carrying along a goverment police.
Unless this is supposed to be tied to the lore.

I think it's meant to convey that the Humanists and a local province government are working somewhat together; what this means lore wise is up to you until Dioxine expands on it further.

Gameplay wise, it just means a mixed crew like you discovered. Not sure if it goes further than that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 03, 2015, 09:04:51 am
How does one get a church armoured beast master .. Out of frustration I created a stun weapon to use and try to get one but every time, the armor drops and GBAM it is an unarmoured one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 03, 2015, 02:38:03 pm
You can get them if they are the last enemy and they get psi controled.
If you have the option enabled of course.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 03, 2015, 04:07:32 pm
Good point. Looks like I have to build a few witch outfits ..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 03, 2015, 10:56:39 pm
Good point. Looks like I have to build a few witch outfits ..
BTW how do the psi power work when using this mod?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 03, 2015, 11:03:15 pm
Found that damn bug. Wrong spritesheet size. Replace the following entry in the Piratez.rul:

Code: [Select]
  - type: DEM_8.PCK
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
    width: 512
    height: 440
    files:
      0: Resources/Sprites/DEM_8.png

(the original has height: 200)

Confirmed that it worked. Didnt have any problems. Dark Ones are irritating though. So resistant to stun!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 04, 2015, 02:50:44 pm
They need the resistance because you get demon essence that does 100 acid damage,also baron of hell gives 100 of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 04, 2015, 03:17:13 pm
BTW how do the psi power work when using this mod?

It is severely restricted compared to vanilla. You must be in sight of the victim. You can only get the voodoo rod (another name for the psi-amp) while wearing the witch costume. Apart from, it functions the same way as vanilla psi-amp.

I preferred vanilla. Three guys surrounded by bodyguards while scouts hunted for victims ..  Now on longer ... :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on November 04, 2015, 04:25:46 pm
You must be in sight of the victim.

Since when?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Moon_Dew on November 04, 2015, 04:43:15 pm
Sorry if this has already been asked, but are there any cheats for this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Moon_Dew on November 04, 2015, 05:08:03 pm
It has been asked ;-)
Answer here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3964.msg51496.html

Was actually kinda looking for things like money cheats and god-mode and what-have-you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Moon_Dew on November 04, 2015, 05:16:16 pm
Oh come on, give me some credit... it is written right there!

Money cheat:

I quote: "2. editing a saved game... the save is a human-readable plain text file... and if you don't like having 50 retaliation missions at once, you can just delete them... or you can give yourself 100 billion dollars if you wish, etc."

God mode cheat:

I quote: "1. debug mode (for developers)... which you can enable in the configuration file and then use certain keyboard shortcuts to do things like: uncover entire battlescape, kill all aliens, etc."

I did see that, but I was talking more like a shortcut, like press ctrl + c to get a million dollars.  Thanks for the help.


Edit: Slight hiccup.  The post said the save would be a plain text file, but the file's a TADS Saved Game file instead.  What do I do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: ivandogovich on November 04, 2015, 05:49:10 pm
There are no "quickie cheats."  Most folks around here actually prefer to make the game harder rather than easier.

As far as the save game file, it has a .sav extension which is why your system may say its a TADS Saved Game file.  However, it is a simple text file that any text editor can modify.

So feel free to fire up Notepad and cheat the hard way. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 04, 2015, 06:30:19 pm
Since when?

You must be what? 13 squares? I have forgotten the limitation. I got rid of the witch outfit in frustration..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on November 04, 2015, 06:39:12 pm
You must be what? 13 squares? I have forgotten the limitation. I got rid of the witch outfit in frustration..

Yup, that's right, but that is distance and not sight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 04, 2015, 08:02:53 pm
I did see that, but I was talking more like a shortcut, like press ctrl + c to get a million dollars.

But that's exactly the same thing! And if it involves writing text files, it also makes you feel smarter! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 04, 2015, 08:04:39 pm
Yes - that makes voodoo still highly useful for MC'ing enemies during base defence & through a ship's hull. I've never wanted the psi to be limited by terrain obstructions; otherwise I could just enable the 'psi LOS limitation' oxcom option.

@cheat codes: don't discuss such stuff here. This topic is about the mod, not about OXCom cheats.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 05, 2015, 12:55:49 am
Hum.. So the brainerz developed yet another fancy new tool of mass destruction, but I'm not sure how they could have deemed this one worthy of use.. The Blizzard Pocket MLRS: Fires 6 missiles in quick succession sounds awesome, but 30% accuracy and effective range 6?! How is one supposed to use that?

I understand the low accuracy as making it sort of a HMG "fire everywhere and you might hit a few times" type weapon, but that works with ~30%+ to hit (so 50% accuracy, on a gal with 60+ firing, no max range), so I am confused by the maxRange: 6 of the MLRS. Or is it really just for "aim at a bunch of barns and laugh as they all blow up"?

Also.. there used to be a mechanic for breaking prisoners and interrogating them again. Has that been replaced or have I been playing for 9 months (in game) without finding the proper topic?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 05, 2015, 01:32:27 am
Hum.. So the brainerz developed yet another fancy new tool of mass destruction, but I'm not sure how they could have deemed this one worthy of use..

Or is it really just for "aim at a bunch of barns and laugh as they all blow up"?

Eeyup!  And we've got Cold Beer (and Vodka) Too!


Also.. there used to be a mechanic for breaking prisoners and interrogating them again. Has that been replaced or have I been playing for 9 months (in game) without finding the proper topic?

There's now something that you need to research first  to do that - It's called 'Prisoners Interrogation' and I think you need 'The Social Hierarchy', 'Slavery', and 'Back to School' to get it. (It might need a fourth topic - but I don't know what it is)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Axebeard on November 05, 2015, 01:46:58 am
Is there an easy way to upgrade from an older version of this mod, or should I just reinstall it each time? I was hoping not to have to mess with my settings again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 05, 2015, 02:14:51 am
Personaly I just unzip the new version over the top of the old and let ALZip overwrite all the files with the new ones.

Never had a problem with the game after doing this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Axebeard on November 05, 2015, 02:17:25 am
That's the answer I was hoping for :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 05, 2015, 02:20:43 am
Eeyup!  And we've got Cold Beer (and Vodka) Too!
Alright! Will give it a try eventually then :D

Quote
There's now something that you need to research first  to do that - It's called 'Prisoners Interrogation' and I think you need 'The Social Hierarchy', 'Slavery', and 'Back to School' to get it. (It might need a fourth topic - but I don't know what it is)
I think there might have been back when I played Piratez (with no X) but I got lucky there and got old earth books early to get back to school. Not this time.. Oh well, there still plenty for the brainerz to work on!

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Axebeard on November 05, 2015, 02:37:07 am
Found that damn bug. Wrong spritesheet size. Replace the following entry in the Piratez.rul:

Code: [Select]
  - type: DEM_8.PCK
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
    width: 512
    height: 440
    files:
      0: Resources/Sprites/DEM_8.png

(the original has height: 200)

Tried this, didn't fix it. I am having the same issue when I encounter the demons that are directly south of the ship, by the building.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 05, 2015, 04:22:13 am
It is severely restricted compared to vanilla. You must be in sight of the victim. You can only get the voodoo rod (another name for the psi-amp) while wearing the witch costume. Apart from, it functions the same way as vanilla psi-amp.

I preferred vanilla. Three guys surrounded by bodyguards while scouts hunted for victims ..  Now on longer ... :(
Unfortunately everyone else's psi powers work like vanilla but better as it seems either the enemy with a psychic only needs to see your lasses once before they are able to wreak havok on them. Just ONCE. Even then it seems like they don't need to have seen your people at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 05, 2015, 09:09:22 am
Because you're fighting natural-born psionics? No matter the explanation, vanilla psi was like playing with cheats, in other words, boring as hell.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Alex_D on November 05, 2015, 10:26:47 am
A "fix" for the elusive
Star God Coordinator.

mwahahaha (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4050.msg53850.html#msg53850)  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Meridian on November 06, 2015, 06:47:45 pm
So, I opened the BootyPedia for the first time and I need some help translating from PirateLanguage to DummyLanguage.

1. When reading about craft, what does "Mileage" indicate exactly?

2. When reading about weapons, what are: "Skill", "POWER Bonus", "Special", "Extra Damage (Lethal)" and "Extra Pain" ? And how do they affect damage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 07:18:51 pm
1. Mileage = how much fuel / 1 Elerium tanked
2. Skill = what skill is used to calculate accuracy
3. POWER Bonus: A bonus to the POWER value listed next to ammo/weapon. So if it's, say, 30, and the bonus = Strength * 0.5, the effective power value for the weapon, when someone with 40 Str is using it, will be 50.
4. Extra damage - amount of extra damage done, after the normal calcs are finished. 'lethal' means that much of the damage inflicted (stun or smoke) will be inflicted again as HP damage, eg. if you shoot someone and inflict 10 Stun damage, he's going to take 5 HP damage as well, if the value for extra damage was 50%. Extra damage 'stun' inflicted by lethal weapons is different a bit, since they generally only inflict Stun if they inflict Fatal Wounds; this property multiplies that stun damage.
5. Extra pain - afair the weapon does extra Morale damage, ie. multiplies the Morale damage normally inflicted by damaging HP.
6. "Special" is just a category to denote special properties of a weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Meridian on November 06, 2015, 07:41:27 pm
1. Mileage = how much fuel / 1 Elerium tanked

So, if Bonaventura has mileage=20 and fuel cap=500 ... it means it needs 25 elerium to fully refuel ... correct?

3. POWER Bonus: A bonus to the POWER value listed next to ammo/weapon. So if it's, say, 30, and the bonus = Strength * 0.5, the effective power value for the weapon, when someone with 40 Str is using it, will be 50.

I don't see label "POWER" written anywhere... do you mean the "Damage" ? If so, understood.

2. Skill = what skill is used to calculate accuracy
4. Extra damage - amount of extra damage done, after the normal calcs are finished. 'lethal' means that much of the damage inflicted (stun or smoke) will be inflicted again as HP damage, eg. if you shoot someone and inflict 10 Stun damage, he's going to take 5 HP damage as well, if the value for extra damage was 50%. Extra damage 'stun' inflicted by lethal weapons is different a bit, since they generally only inflict Stun if they inflict Fatal Wounds; this property multiplies that stun damage.
5. Extra pain - afair the weapon does extra Morale damage, ie. multiplies the Morale damage normally inflicted by damaging HP.
6. "Special" is just a category to denote special properties of a weapon.

Understood.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 07:46:36 pm
"power " is how you defined the weapon's (or ammo's) damage in the ruleset. It means its "raw" damage or in the case of explosives, also tends to set the blast radius, or only the blast radius for incendiaries. I think that's the reason it's not in the ruleset as damage, since not all weapons really use that value.

Side note: I've been curious about the distinction between WP and incendiary stuff. Do WP actually deal damage on hit? (more than the ~10 of an incendiary hit). How does that work?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 07:58:47 pm
Yes, 'damage'. I tend to confuse this, since for me 'damage' is the end result of an attack, not a weapon stat. Looks like I wanted to change it in the pedia, but never got to actually do it, instead I was selectively blind :) So: all correct (including fuel), although with incendiary or smoke, the only meaning of the 'damage' is that it sets the blast radius (in Piratez, the convention is: incendiary is left alone, thus radius = damage/20; with Smoke - radius = damage/10-1, so it's consistent with vanilla's Smoke Grenade (Power 60, Radius 5).

And yeah, WP incendiaries calculate their damage like explosives (50-150%), so the damage rating is meaningful. This also makes them quite useful because they still ignore armor (but not Fire Resistance).

Also pls don't ask me how far you can fly on 1 unit of fuel, I honestly don't know, other than it depends inverse-proportionally on Max Speed of a craft :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 06, 2015, 08:10:27 pm
So, I opened the BootyPedia for the first time and I need some help translating from PirateLanguage to DummyLanguage.

1. When reading about craft, what does "Mileage" indicate exactly?

2. When reading about weapons, what are: "Skill", "POWER Bonus", "Special", "Extra Damage (Lethal)" and "Extra Pain" ? And how do they affect damage?

Not to toot a horn, but most of this is on the Bootypedia (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:DracoGriffin/Sandbox/Piratez). :D

I may need to maybe have a glossary per page for specifics, but generally I think the information provided explains what those terms do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 06, 2015, 08:11:14 pm
Yes, 'damage'. I tend to confuse this, since for me 'damage' is the end result of an attack, not a weapon stat. Looks like I wanted to change it in the pedia, but never got to actually do it, instead I was selectively blind :) So: all correct (including fuel), although with incendiary or smoke, the only meaning of the 'damage' is that it sets the blast radius (in Piratez, the convention is: incendiary is left alone, thus radius = damage/20; with Smoke - radius = damage/10-1, so it's consistent with vanilla's Smoke Grenade (Power 60, Radius 5).

And yeah, WP incendiaries calculate their damage like explosives (50-150%), so the damage rating is meaningful. This also makes them quite useful because they still ignore armor (but not Fire Resistance).

Also pls don't ask me how far you can fly on 1 unit of fuel, I honestly don't know, other than it depends inverse-proportionally on Max Speed of a craft :)

I was totally looking for some of this information for the built in formulas that you didn't specify directly in the rulesets. I'll have to make a note of adding this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 08:29:17 pm
And yeah, WP incendiaries calculate their damage like explosives (50-150%), so the damage rating is meaningful. This also makes them quite useful because they still ignore armor (but not Fire Resistance).

Ooh..! Time to take a second look at WP stuff! Sounds like a good way to dispose of personal armor and potentially an even better ammo than explosives, especially if the frontline gals all wear heavy or Juggernaut armor. No friendly fire, walk in a craft and spray everything!

But.. does it deal damage to items/terrain? Especially nuclear fuel, engines and slave AIs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 08:51:13 pm
No, it's still fire, so no terrain/item damage. Although since you've mentioned it, it might actually make more sense if it did... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 09:10:17 pm
Maybe it could do less incendiary damage (still more than the default very small values), but also do some explosive damage? It would allow it to damage hazmat suits a bit, but also damage terrain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on November 06, 2015, 09:12:08 pm
Found a typo:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 06, 2015, 09:55:50 pm
When people said that cyclops were invinicible they werente kidding
https://imgur.com/PQln9JM
I remember that i was using a fire weapon and i think it was stunned and falled unconsious by itself. but then standed back up with these stats,im not sure i as i was loading saves and i cant remember which instance it was.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 10:18:02 pm
@Zharkov: hum.. looks like there is another type. Voodoo power * 0.015?? as in 1.5% of voodoo power? you'd need 2000 voodoo power to do 30 damage, that sounds a bit off.

@doctor medic: Lots of life, low armor, sounds manageable. The harsh ones are things with high armor where you can hit 'em a million times without doing anything..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 06, 2015, 10:19:54 pm
I leted some turns to pass and it still stayed up,its definetly a bug
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 10:30:23 pm
standing with 0 hp.. Now I see what you meant! That is weird! if you deal more stun or damage, does it go down?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 06, 2015, 10:36:28 pm
even tried to heal it but it didnt even heal its stun damage.
Is there a way to remove a unit from battlescape in the save file?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 10:43:24 pm
@Zharkov: hum.. looks like there is another type. Voodoo power * 0.015?? as in 1.5% of voodoo power? you'd need 2000 voodoo power to do 30 damage, that sounds a bit off.

@doctor medic: Lots of life, low armor, sounds manageable. The harsh ones are things with high armor where you can hit 'em a million times without doing anything..

It was supposed to be VooDoo Mastery (the psi 'attack strength' which is Skill * Power)
About Cyclops: no idea what's going on, it must be some strange (ie. buggy) build you're using, or you've bugged it by editing the save... I've killed or captured like a 100 of them without such stuff happening.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 10:49:30 pm
AAh.. my knowledge of voodoo is lacking, I see! Makes more sense. I hope the star gods don't have 100/100 like some XCom troopers! Hard to survive 150 damage straight to life.

As for the other comment, is that aimed at me? (I do use a strange patched build, but not a buggy one! nor do I have any problems with cyclops.. never seen them actually.. Still in October doing pirate wannabe stuff!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 06, 2015, 11:04:06 pm
Im using the latest build and i havent edited anything,i have changed the ruleset so i can have the option to enable debug if i want but i havent used it in the battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 11:18:42 pm
AAh.. my knowledge of voodoo is lacking, I see! Makes more sense. I hope the star gods don't have 100/100 like some XCom troopers! Hard to survive 150 damage straight to life.

As for the other comment, is that aimed at me? (I do use a strange patched build, but not a buggy one! nor do I have any problems with cyclops.. never seen them actually.. Still in October doing pirate wannabe stuff!)

No, I was answering the Doctor here :) Continuing: so I have no idea, I'll check it out.

Also: no, 100/100 wouldn't make sense, with such stats you can MC basically everything, even from a large distance. Solar tried stats like 90/60 (basic, kid difficulty; they scale up to 112 or 120% on the highest diff level, not sure) in his Cydonia mission and he had to back out of this, since fighting such enemy was no fun, one had to exploit how the game works to win - basically, win with tanks with people serving as psi-rods. At 10k attack strength you're way above any psi defence the enemy might have; I think Star Gods cap at around 4-5k, depending on diff level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 06, 2015, 11:29:07 pm
So how do i get that menace removed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2015, 11:53:30 pm
No idea, I've never seen such a bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 06, 2015, 11:56:39 pm
@Dioxine: Interesting! There was a lot more tweaking numbers than seems like in the original. Like finding "optimal" psi stats for the aliens but somehow not for the player's unit.. but I guess players rarely complain about being overpowered compared to if the computer/opponent is ;)

That's why I don't like personal armor dudes. 50 armor and no stat decrease! Not fair! ;)

@doctor: if you apply more stun or damage, it doesn't go down? What if you edit the save and give it one hp? Then it should be generated as stunned when loading the save? (or is there a specific state to represent a stunned enemy?)

If you just want to get rid of it, you can just remove its entry from a save as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 01:25:51 am
Well for one it was easier than in the original... When 2 dudes with 100/100 psi fight, either can MC the other without any problem. When 2 dudes with 20/20 fight, neither can do anything to the other. With 60/40 cap for pirates, it was possible to tweak enemy stats to a level where they still are a serious threat to the best gals, while not being able to completely own average ones.
The other way - it's simply impossible. Because you rarely encounter psi-strong enemies. Even if you balance them properly, most others will be too weak to resist anything. So you'll still easily win most missions with psi-spam. At high levels, attack dominates defence more easily and so this gets harder and harder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Yankes on November 07, 2015, 02:52:10 am
Quote
At high levels, attack dominates defence more easily and so this gets harder and harder.
But this should not be case in Extended version, you can modify strength (weapon) and defense (armor) curve to prevent it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 07, 2015, 10:36:38 am
@doctor: if you apply more stun or damage, it doesn't go down? What if you edit the save and give it one hp? Then it should be generated as stunned when loading the save? (or is there a specific state to represent a stunned enemy?)

If you just want to get rid of it, you can just remove its entry from a save as well.
I guess i should go find the enemy with 0 hp on the save file then.
Interestingly the enemy doesnt move on the enemy turn and his stun damage doesnt change when shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 07, 2015, 11:22:31 am
By the way in the save file where the buged cyclops exists where do i find the code of that enemy?What do i need to type in the notepads find section so i can find it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 07, 2015, 11:38:11 am
Hey Dioxine, check the black market and bootypedia, since in the latter i did not find eurosindicate lasrifle, arena flack cannon, big ben mg, the quad  launcher and related ammo, as well as some other i did not may be aware  :-\ I got these stuff after havin shoot down and captured a very small ufo with one single enemy in it.

Edit: as for ropes, during the battle i got only option to throw it, that not supposed its behavior..maybe an upadet's glitche or maybe it's a wine thing? (usin the win version!)

Edit 2: while i really like new piratez grade symbol, i found the inventory grid a bit too dark ingame, may we have some more brighten one? Maybe it's jus me i don't know :D

Edit 3: Got the rope bug also with axe, o i suppose it' a letest update bug? :,(

Edit 4: In the end, please may you update the mod page (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/x-piratez) with screenshots from newer version/new interface?

That's all :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 02:13:35 pm
1. See attachment. I have the Contacts: Eurosyndicate researched. Check your OXCE/OXC version bro.

2. Not hoes, the proper wording is wenches. And I have no idea why would you want to do with 'em anything else than throw.

3. Yeah it is dark. That was the point, it was too bright for my tastes. Maybe indeed it's a bit *too* dark, I might tune it up yet. Anyho, easy to criticize, hard to make a change.

4. What rope bug?

5. Yeah, I know I should but it's bothersome. I'd rather use my modding time to actually work on the mod. Also, I'm still gathering comments and observations about these new interfaces, would be pointless to post new pics only to take them down when/if interfaces are changed again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 07, 2015, 02:35:26 pm
[...]

2. Not hoes, the proper wording is wenches. And I have no idea why would you want to do with 'em anything else than throw.

4. What rope bug?


Sorry, wanted to mean ropes! Just amended the previuous post, in the past versions i remember i could perform melee attacks with ropes (as the bootypedia description says), now it's happen i can only throw them :,(

As for the grid color in the inventory, a brighter brown or another color should do the trick, I'd also change the grade color, so that they would match the grid ones, so i'd suggest also to think of usin seme color for both, eg. red or yellow for instance, just need to make some experiments. Blue is fine, but i'd see more in a TFTD mod ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 02:49:44 pm
Naw I'm not changing the grade colors, it would mean I'll have to redesign them as well, it's above my league; simple recolor might not be enough. But brighter brown, yeah, might work.

As for the ropes, just checked it and everything seems fine... ???

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 07, 2015, 03:01:59 pm
strange, maybe was a wine thing (usin 1.6.2 but i donìt think so since it's the first time i see such thing) or more probably a corrupted install since i was not able to get that melee attack. As for rope in the bootypedia, damage type may be changed to "stun" from "smoke"(??) :D

Hey the only thing that is really missing now it's a brand new video intro! Maybe in an hypotetical 2.0 version, if it may appear, then tghe game may be even relased as a standalone and even packaged for linux/macosx computers?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 03:13:25 pm
1. The damage type is supposed to be smoke, as in choking. This denotes the type of damage res which is used, and that it ignores armor (stun damage does not).

2. Yeah intro... huge work. Possible, but unlikely. And even if so, only as a slideshow of static images. I don't have a design studio. Blizzard needs $100k to produce 1 minute of cinematics. I have like, $1k if I sold everything I own.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 07, 2015, 04:23:35 pm
Hey, just a simple slideshow, like TFDT floppy version intro would be still awesome! Should launch a "contest" or something.. 8) Well, i was wrong..it's missing also a new soundtrak! Maybe you may ask to gifty to use his Gifty's new x-com music (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/gifty-039-s-new-x-com-music)!!


As for rope, may it should used also like a throwing weapon, like cowboy's lazo...and, what is the purpose of "pile of junk" After having shot down a very small ufo i sold it at once...i was supposed to make some use of it?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 04:34:56 pm
Yeah it's a nice idea with the rope, but it'd make the AI units confused as hell when trying to use it. And I wanted them to do, it's an important flavour of the KKK faction.

As for Gifty's soundtrack, I definitely recommend using it with Piratez. No need to install, just dump the files into Piratez/SOUND directory. I'm using these tracks myself, but if I added them into the release, the filesize goes up from 30 Mb to 65 Mb.

As for the junk piles, they're flavour. You have them in your base from the beginning, and learn how to use them by researching Spring Cleaning. Then you can recycle them into some useful resources, for a better cash value & freeing up the base. Or you can simply sell them immediately for a much worse cash value.

Hum.. So the brainerz developed yet another fancy new tool of mass destruction, but I'm not sure how they could have deemed this one worthy of use.. The Blizzard Pocket MLRS: Fires 6 missiles in quick succession sounds awesome, but 30% accuracy and effective range 6?! How is one supposed to use that?

You need to figure that one out, it has a very specific use in mind (hint: a situation where a Smoke burst is needed NAO, or killing that ONE enemy is needed NAO otherwise everyone is f**ked...) :) Otherwise it's just an incaccurate siege weapon.

Is there an easy way to upgrade from an older version of this mod, or should I just reinstall it each time? I was hoping not to have to mess with my settings again.

To be 200% sure, delete user/mods directory before installing a new version (naturally keeping any extra Piratez mods you might have in the /mods dir won't cause problems). That way you purge any unused/faulty mod files, and at the same time, keep all your saves & settings.

A photon with a rounding error (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-off_error)?

Good answer! I might start giving out some sort of prizes... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: apocan on November 07, 2015, 06:00:48 pm
hi again

i want report a bug, when i tried to assembly uac plasmagun battery from broken uac plasmagun battery game crashes
same with bfg battery
i am playing v0.95c

save attached

thanks for awesome mod :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 06:15:37 pm
Thanks! Bug found and solved. For a quick fix, what you need to modify in Piratez.rul (in rulesets) (just replace the two entries with these modified ones):

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_UAC_PLASMAGUN_BATTERY_A
    category: STR_ASSEMBLY
    requires:
      - STR_UAC_BLUEPRINTS
    space: 0
    time: 200
    cost: 500
    requiresBaseFunc: [WORKS]
    requiredItems:
      STR_UAC_PLASMAGUN_BATTERY_BROKEN: 1
      STR_SC_WIRE: 1
    producedItems:
      STR_UAC_PLASMAGUN_BATTERY: 1
    listOrder: 3552

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_BFG_BATTERY_A
    category: STR_ASSEMBLY
    requires:
      - STR_UAC_BLUEPRINTS
    space: 0
    time: 300
    cost: 750
    requiresBaseFunc: [WORKS]
    requiredItems:
      STR_BFG_BATTERY_BROKEN: 1
      STR_SC_WIRE: 2
    producedItems:
      STR_BFG_BATTERY: 1
    listOrder: 3982
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 07, 2015, 06:47:37 pm
You need to figure that one out, it has a very specific use in mind (hint: a situation where a Smoke burst is needed NAO, or killing that ONE enemy is needed NAO otherwise everyone is f**ked...) :) Otherwise it's just an incaccurate siege weapon.
Hum.. I can see the smokescreen application, and I'm thinking I might use the incendiary one too (since the front line gals are now fireproof) so I can set a bunch of jungle on fire and light things up at the same time. But the explosive one I guess I'll just keep for farm complexes.. Can't really trust it to take out something, unless it's standing right in front of you and you're wearing Juggernaut. hum..!

Also: I've been lootin' a bunch of supply crafts recently (3 church bases + 1 academy..  :'() and was wondering: Bases only ever need weird rendered down food? Would be cool for some supplies to be materials/weapons/armors too! Then I'd have to assault them because I'd be too curious what they could cary. Now I think I'll skip 'em because the risk is pretty high (baby nukes, gauss and engine blow up) for general loot (although scavenged baby nukes and gauss is nice!).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 06:54:53 pm
Yeah it's sort of a placeholder, but also a discouragement from base supply farming.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 07, 2015, 07:04:02 pm
Fair enough, although I'd say the likelihood of loosing a gal (or getting her sent to the sick bay for 3 months) is pretty high given their weaponry, so that's also quite a big disincentive. I am pretty much giving up because of that for now, although I am trying to devise a scheme that would make the casualties less painful.

Something like lots of dogs + rookies scouts, with the actually valuable gals staying safely well away from the front lines and sniping at the enemy, which is quite contrary to my "Leaders at the front in the best gear" typical 40k inspired playstyle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 07, 2015, 07:18:05 pm
Fair enough, although I'd say the likelihood of loosing a gal (or getting her sent to the sick bay for 3 months) is pretty high given their weaponry, so that's also quite a big disincentive. I am pretty much giving up because of that for now, although I am trying to devise a scheme that would make the casualties less painful.

Yep, that the biggest drawback of the game, even with low difficulty settings. I know piratez is designed to be a real challenge, but sometimes it's very frustrating! That is because i think there are too much armored and well armored enemies since the very beginnings. I think those may appear more proportionately, less in the beginning, more  in the advanced game time. Hell since factions ships are raided they should take some countermeasures!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: apocan on November 07, 2015, 07:25:08 pm
thanks

i applied the fix you suggested and bfg battery solved but broken uac plasmagun battery assembly dissappeared from manufacturing i wonder did i make something wrong save and rul attached

i also encountered ratman highwayman vs terror mission and psi captured a vehicle or tank that supposed to be not capturable i think and made game crush :) no savegame
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 07:36:39 pm
No wonder it doesn't work, you've deleted the UAC Plasmagun battery manufacture entry, by pasting the BFG battery entry twice :)

For that mission crash, do you have any save from that mission? In theory, it should be impossible to psi-capture something like that, as your max psi attack is around 95 at range = 1, and tanks have 100 defence (more on higher diff level).

EDIT: oh right, you modded it so your gals have stats like 1500+ TUs. No wonder something broke. With 110/110 psi stats, your max psi attack strength is like, 242, allows to easily MC tanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: apocan on November 07, 2015, 07:58:01 pm
No wonder it doesn't work, you've deleted the UAC Plasmagun battery manufacture entry, by pasting the BFG battery entry twice :)

For that mission crash, do you have any save from that mission? In theory, it should be impossible to psi-capture something like that, as your max psi attack is around 95 at range = 1, and tanks have 100 defence (more on higher diff level).

EDIT: oh right, you modded it so your gals have stats like 1500+ TUs. No wonder something broke. With 110/110 psi stats, your max psi attack strength is like, 242, allows to easily MC tanks.

thanks i applied now  fine :)
forget mentioning yes i changed my gals stats so i can capture or explore vs. easily
unfortunately i dont have save file but will post when encounter again

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Imeryak on November 07, 2015, 08:10:16 pm
Found an error in ruleset, in piratez.rul, line 24154
Code: [Select]
- name: STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER_A
    category: STR_ASSEMBLY
    requires:
      - STR_PLASMA_SPITTER_PARTS

What should be there (if i am not mistaken)
Code: [Select]
      - STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER_PARTS
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 07, 2015, 08:18:16 pm
Yep, that the biggest drawback of the game, even with low difficulty settings. I know piratez is designed to be a real challenge, but sometimes it's very frustrating! That is because i think there are too much armored and well armored enemies since the very beginnings. I think those may appear more proportionately, less in the beginning, more  in the advanced game time. Hell since factions ships are raided they should take some countermeasures!
Actually, the supply crafts that I am raiding are from the Church of Sirius, so they are crewed by neophytes and zealots. Neither of those are hard to kill once you spot them. The problem is that those guys are armed with rpgs with baby nukes, and gauss weaponry, so if they find you, they are well able to kill you too.

I used to have problems with armored enemies, but if you pack explosives and flamers early on, then heavy flamers, heavy machine guns or rpgs, the personal armor dudes are fine. The powered armor ones are more tricky, but they can usually be isolated. The only problem I've had was when a trader in gold armor spawned at the front of his task force, so I couldn't approach because all the other traders were covering him.

Now my main challenge is coming up with proper armor for the gals. Heavy armor is ok, but it decreases stats a lot, and juggernaut too (but that nicely makes you immune to a lot of "mainstream" weapons, making normal raids a LOT safer as you can easily tank the shots).

Piratez creates very interesting choices: what can you engage? What is worth the risk of engaging? What is worth the time investment to research? It is very different from vanilla where you can pretty much engage anything (unless you somehow get ethereals before lasers, maybe..). It creates an interesting progression:

1- You need better weapons to take out at least personal armors
2- You want some kind of armor to prevent the gals from dying
3- Concentrate on "easy" raids to get money and grow your first base
4- You need more radar coverage so create satellite bases/zeppelins
5- Your best gals are wasted in regular raids, and still run the risk of getting injured, you need better armor (but that's still too expensive/advanced, and you probably don't have many powered armor parts) or to grow the crew and get a "training base" specializing in taking out easy enemies (so 1-2 gals in tanky armor, or an actual tank, the rest with long range guns to pew-pew stuff).
6- more progression, crazier enemies, need to improve tech and it keeps going from 1.

EDIT: oh right, you modded it so your gals have stats like 1500+ TUs. No wonder something broke. With 110/110 psi stats, your max psi attack strength is like, 242, allows to easily MC tanks.
lol! You abuse the game? The game doesn't want to play anymore.. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2015, 08:36:18 pm
Found an error in ruleset, in piratez.rul, line 24154
Code: [Select]
- name: STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER_A
    category: STR_ASSEMBLY
    requires:
      - STR_PLASMA_SPITTER_PARTS

What should be there (if i am not mistaken)
Code: [Select]
      - STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER_PARTS

That was fixed already, thx.

thanks i applied now  fine :)
forget mentioning yes i changed my gals stats so i can capture or explore vs. easily
unfortunately i dont have save file but will post when encounter again

Yeah, cool. I don't normally speak with cheaters, but if there's a bug, I will fix it, that's how this business works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 07, 2015, 11:58:17 pm

EDIT: oh right, you modded it so your gals have stats like 1500+ TUs. No wonder something broke. With 110/110 psi stats, your max psi attack strength is like, 242, allows to easily MC tanks.

 :o :o 1500 TUs - why?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Imeryak on November 08, 2015, 08:39:39 am
That was fixed already, thx.

Oh, i used a forum search before posting, but found nothing. Btw do you use some sort of validation for ruleset files? I try to parse them and found some duplicate keys, that may be source of bugs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2015, 11:23:01 am
I do, if all else fails :) Looks like it won't hurt to do it again. 2 MBs of text is kinda lot :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 08, 2015, 12:10:40 pm
Streaming X-Piratez has been interesting with all the changes from 0.95A.

Plus I forgot so much about the early game since my last game in 0.95A, I was in Annihilator Armor and nuclear lasers (got stuck interrogating instead of focusing on weapon research).

Plus, I'm not playing nearly as cautious so as not to be boring, and memorial wall is getting long. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: LexThorn on November 08, 2015, 02:16:21 pm
I do, if all else fails :) Looks like it won't hurt to do it again. 2 MBs of text is kinda lot :)

Hi! Any word about next update? Even answer "it`s raeady for about 42.74%" will be fine ^____^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2015, 02:29:55 pm
I don't have much new material, didn't have the time. But there are some fixes. So I don't feel ready. More importantly, I'd like to upgrade maps and OXCE and the longer I wait, the better stuff I get :) (especially with OXCE, Yankes should release a new version soon...). Right now I'm working on an early Missile Defence facility, since the normal one became a mid-late game thing. Also a new buyable missile, I just need some cool Pedia picture for it :)
The things that aren't there yet but probably need to be added before the release, are, at minimum:
- Reticulan Base mission, with a guaranteed Reticulan Elder presence - needs a large special map
- Some new mission to get Star Gods Coordinator - probably needs a special ship.
- Tamed Cyclops
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: LexThorn on November 08, 2015, 02:44:34 pm
I don't have much new material, didn't have the time. But there are some fixes. So I don't feel ready. More importantly, I'd like to upgrade maps and OXCE and the longer I wait, the better stuff I get :) (especially with OXCE, Yankes should release a new version soon...). Right now I'm working on an early Missile Defence facility, since the normal one became a mid-late game thing. Also a new buyable missile, I just need some cool Pedia picture for it :)
The things that aren't there yet but probably need to be added before the release, are, at minimum:
- Reticulan Base mission, with a guaranteed Reticulan Elder presence - needs a large special map
- Some new mission to get Star Gods Coordinator - probably needs a special ship.
- Tamed Cyclops

Tanx for the news!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 08, 2015, 06:26:19 pm
I dont think tamed cyclops should be made like reapers,they are far too easy to be captured especialy with vulkans and miniguns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 08, 2015, 09:05:44 pm
Hey Dioxine, something for you, the third mutant progrom on us east coast (lat. new yor probably). Seems anyway the piratez may make their way throug:) See scrrenshot attached .) (secon difficulty level)

Hey a sfor difficulty, i find there'a huge difference between the 2 and the 3 level, maybe some more balancing is possible? Thaks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2015, 10:37:12 pm
1. Yeah you kinda have to learn to live with those obstructions. Use other exits or blow it up.

2. I cannot control the differences between difficulty levels that precisely. 2 is indeed pretty easy due to minimal spawns. 3 is 'likely' to produce a close-to-minimal spawn, but if you're unlucky, it can generate any spawn - up to maximum spawn. 4 is just more likely to produce maximum spawn, but as above, it can, if you're lucky, generate a small spawn. Only 5th difficulty guarantees maximum spawn. Also, enemies get stat buffs starting with difficulty 2, but these don't make a big difference between two neighbouring difficulties. For completeness' sake, difficulty 1 is guaranteed to have minimum spawns PLUS all enemies have half armor, so it's really a kindergarten difficulty. Spawn sizes in Piratez vary a lot between minimum and maximum (minimum spawn is 25-50% of maximum spawn) so diff 3 can kick your as, albeit only ocasionally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 09, 2015, 12:13:42 am
Always play on the highest difficulty - more enemies, more slaves! ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 09, 2015, 01:10:38 am
More gunz and more booty!
(Although I don't play with the highest difficulty either, I find it makes battles too tedious and long)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Axebeard on November 09, 2015, 02:40:02 am
Is this mod geared towards a specific difficulty? I've been playing it exclusively on the middle difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 09, 2015, 05:42:17 am
Just got an attack dog weredog-zombified by a chryssalid. I thought a while ago there had been a check introduced to prevent non XCom soldiers/civilians from becoming zombies? or was that reverted somehow for Piratez because you hate the poor doggies? (but nobody can beat Meridian's record with doggies.. the poor XCom-FMP attack dogs...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 09, 2015, 11:31:01 am
Always play on the highest difficulty - more enemies, more slaves! ;)

Did so some times and my games usually won't preceed by the end of march (!!!!!!!!!)  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2015, 02:35:32 pm
Is this mod geared towards a specific difficulty? I've been playing it exclusively on the middle difficulty.

No, every diff level is fine. Well I'm testing it on the highest level, naturally... :)

Just got an attack dog weredog-zombified by a chryssalid.

Just as planned. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 09, 2015, 03:15:58 pm
Just as planned. ;)


Meanie! I thought it was planned.. now I know I can't trust anything!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 09, 2015, 10:09:10 pm
Got a wierd one at end of month. The confederation has embraced a zero tolerance policy!

WTF is that ,, All my protection money gone from that region .. Achtung!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 09, 2015, 10:27:51 pm
Got a wierd one at end of month. The confederation has embraced a zero tolerance policy!

WTF is that ,, All my protection money gone from that region .. Achtung!

Same thing as an Alien Infiltration mission from vanilla X-Com; when a country signs a pact with the aliens.

Instead here, a major power essentially catches wind of a local government paying you (the pirates) to attack them and they use their full gambit of powers (mainly political and military) to force the government into enacting zero tolerance policies for crime/piracy/whathaveyous, thus unable to fund you anymore (major power is probably scrutinizing all forms of communique) under the table.

You will encounter these regardless (just like in vanilla X-Com) but they are generally much more rare, and if your radar coverage is really good (along with a super strong air fleet), you can delay it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 09, 2015, 11:45:07 pm
Yeah, infiltration missions are a PAIN! But they have really good shipping activity once a month when they convert a new country (yes, they convert a country a month until everything in that region is converted, which is a bit overboard but that's how the game works...)

I've got the Church of Sirius converting everybody in Europe into faithful servants of the Star Gods and I am making millions off landed terror ships and frigates (attacked a cruiser once, but that was more pain than was worth it.. the large ones are better, except for the interrogation purposes where catching a cardinal is nice). After 3 months, I now have 3 bases crawling with chryssalids :( Haven't managed to convince the gals to go clean 'em up yet, they keep saying they need better weapons and armors! (just got mesh armor for the shooty ones, woot!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 10, 2015, 03:06:54 pm
Before 95C harbinger armor destroyed the church as both lasers and plasma were resisted,now you have to be more carefull as they can suprise you with celatids and chrysalids,basicaly a mutated reaper will do wonders against their base as it resists the acid and it can make short work of chrysalids.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 10, 2015, 04:45:35 pm
 :o I have none of those things.. my brainerz are barely getting back to school! But it's good to know that there are improvements coming along :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Boltgun on November 10, 2015, 06:50:59 pm
A quick question about the Kraken. I deployed it for the first time and it seems that the only exits are upstairs. The problem is that after leaving the wings, the gals cannot come back in for retreat. Is that intended?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2015, 06:56:02 pm
lol door:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 10, 2015, 07:24:29 pm
:o I have none of those things.. my brainerz are barely getting back to school! But it's good to know that there are improvements coming along :D

Dont worry there are a lot of them. 3 years in with 45 brainers... I am just getting HIGHER STUDIES!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Boltgun on November 10, 2015, 09:02:34 pm
lol door:


Must have been weird pathing choices, it is always weird pathing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 10, 2015, 09:12:39 pm
If you pick any of the gals on the right side, they can't get to the door because the ones on the left are blocking the way. Maybe that's what you tried? Also, depending on the side of the craft you wanted to walk off to, the shortest path may well be going out the top..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2015, 09:29:05 pm
Just tried out 0.95B the other day, things were going along as usual, then my hideout got invaded. Due to this being early in the game and with the enemy's superior armor and psi rapes, i got destroyed. Bummer. I think i was only in february (month 2) when it happened, and it happened that early, without exception, for the next 4 games. I then tried 0.95C but it still happens. Actually i think it happened so early as January 31st in my last game. I highly consider this a bug, since the game has become unplayable past the first month or two, due to this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2015, 09:33:34 pm
Well that's a bummer but I haven't modded that aspect of the game - frankly it's even not possible. You shoot them down, they come to retaliate. If you're unlucky you get found and invaded. That's how OXCom works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Boltgun on November 10, 2015, 09:45:02 pm
Just tried out 0.95B the other day, things were going along as usual, then my hideout got invaded. Due to this being early in the game and with the enemy's superior armor and psi rapes, i got destroyed. Bummer. I think i was only in february (month 2) when it happened, and it happened that early, without exception, for the next 4 games. I then tried 0.95C but it still happens. Actually i think it happened so early as January 31st in my last game. I highly consider this a bug, since the game has become unplayable past the first month or two, due to this.

Base position is very important, try the Caribbeans. Seriously, I had several retaliation missions in North America for months and they all gave up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2015, 09:48:44 pm
Quote
frankly it's even not possible. You shoot them down, they come to retaliate. If you're unlucky you get found and invaded

4-5 games in a row where i've been invaded in the first or second month? That cannot be a coincidence. Besides, i never got invaded that early in previous versions, ever. Maybe it is a bug introduced by a newer nightly build?

Quote
Base position is very important, try the Caribbeans. Seriously, I had several retaliation missions in North America for months and they all gave up.

Well in the last 2 or 3 games i was located in Canada, but before that i tried Africa and China, no change
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 10, 2015, 10:08:02 pm
It is best to make your hideout in an area that is "off the tracks" for the region you are in. I like Creta for Europe (and easy monitoring of North Africa and the middle east).

If you play on Superhuman, there is a 20% chance to spawn a retaliation mission when you shoot a UFO, so every 5 UFO shot down should be a retaliation (only if there wasn't one going on already). The "aliens" will then start patrolling the area to try to find you (hence the interest in setting up your base in a weird place).

Also, stockpile some hammers, some high explosives/dynamite, get a fair few gals (20+) and you should be able to deal with the base attack even early on by exploiting doors and line of sight. (See Ivan's Janitorial Staff base defence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrTa0vP0yg) for a good example of wresting victory from a terrible situation). And in Piratez there tends to be a lot of squishies in early attacks, especially against early factions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2015, 10:10:26 pm
4-5 games in a row where i've been invaded in the first or second month? That cannot be a coincidence. Besides, i never got invaded that early in previous versions, ever. Maybe it is a bug introduced by a newer nightly build?

Well in the last 2 or 3 games i was located in Canada, but before that i tried Africa and China, no change

Well if I say I did nothing to mod this, you have the right to not believe me, naturally :P Also no new Nightly has been introduced.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 10, 2015, 10:56:54 pm
4-5 games in a row where i've been invaded in the first or second month? That cannot be a coincidence. Besides, i never got invaded that early in previous versions, ever.

Well in the last 2 or 3 games i was located in Canada, but before that i tried Africa and China, no change

I have had several games where I've had a base invasion as the first mission and several where I have never had a base invasion at all.

And YES some of these were in exactly the same places - Infact one game I lost a base invasion at the start of Febuary 2601, reloaded from Jan 1st 2601 save, and then didn't get another base invasion untill May 2603!

So My Guess is its just bad luck on your part - that or crappy random number generation on your PC.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 10, 2015, 11:17:41 pm
4-5 games in a row where i've been invaded in the first or second month? That cannot be a coincidence. Besides, i never got invaded that early in previous versions, ever. Maybe it is a bug introduced by a newer nightly build?

Well in the last 2 or 3 games i was located in Canada, but before that i tried Africa and China, no change

Sometimes if you're savescumming interceptions, you'll provoke a really quick retaliation. Also, if you set Aggressive Retaliation in Advanced -> Geoscape settings, this will be a very common occurrence.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 10, 2015, 11:33:27 pm
I have had several games where I've had a base invasion as the first mission and several where I have never had a base invasion at all.

And YES some of these were in exactly the same places - Infact one game I lost a base invasion at the start of Febuary 2601, reloaded from Jan 1st 2601 save, and then didn't get another base invasion untill May 2603!

So My Guess is its just bad luck on your part - that or crappy random number generation on your PC.
Assuming that you didn't play everything 100% the same way( thus changing your random seed, or even better had save scumming on), the UFO you shot down the first time that gave you a retaliation mission probably didn't the second time, so you didn't get a base attack. Or you got a retaliation mission but the scouting UFO patrolled a different area and didn't find your base. Or it went by in the same way but failed the check to spot the base. There are a LOT of reason for things to be different a month down the line.

Does assaulting landed UFOs also prompt retaliations? Avoiding shooting down UFOs in the first month or two until you can take on the base attacks might be a good way to do things too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 10, 2015, 11:38:40 pm
Assuming that you didn't play everything 100% the same way( thus changing your random seed, or even better had save scumming on), the UFO you shot down the first time that gave you a retaliation mission probably didn't the second time, so you didn't get a base attack. Or you got a retaliation mission but the scouting UFO patrolled a different area and didn't find your base. Or it went by in the same way but failed the check to spot the base. There are a LOT of reason for things to be different a month down the line.

Does assaulting landed UFOs also prompt retaliations? Avoiding shooting down UFOs in the first month or two until you can take on the base attacks might be a good way to do things too.

Actually that first game the base invasion was the first mission, when I reloaded I didn't see another Ship until late Feb. I think they just scouted the base - and yes I do use the agressive rettaiation  setting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2015, 11:48:09 pm
Quote
It is best to make your hideout in an area that is "off the tracks" for the region you are in. I like Creta for Europe (and easy monitoring of North Africa and the middle east).

If you play on Superhuman, there is a 20% chance to spawn a retaliation mission when you shoot a UFO, so every 5 UFO shot down should be a retaliation (only if there wasn't one going on already). The "aliens" will then start patrolling the area to try to find you (hence the interest in setting up your base in a weird place).

Ok i'll try out some other locations, but the frequency and consistence of early base invasions compared to earlier versions, still seem weird since i've not encountered that previously. I'm also going to check if it has something to do with the save slot being from an earlier version, even though it has been overwritten in the current one. Also, i don't use save scumming or aggressive retaliation

Quote
(See Ivan's Janitorial Staff base defence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrTa0vP0yg) for a good example of wresting victory from a terrible situation)

The video got me thinking of some other questions/suggestions i have:

1) I like the idea of the commendations mod, but i think it requires its own .exe file and is therefore not compatible with x-piratez. Is that correct? (Also it would be cool if the medals were present on each gal's inventory screen, instead of having to visit a separate screen) :P

2a) I also like the melee weapons of x-piratez, but i'm still confused of the effectiveness of melee vs. armor. How much does armor reduce stun, because handles don't seem to be able to knock out academian security, and daggers/machetes never seem to pierce their armor (even when attacking from the rear), which makes them very situational. The rope has a very high TU cost so i guess it's only for keeping unconscious enemies unconscious. It seems that the most beneficial way to melee, is to only use cattle prods so you get a ton of slaves/interrogations. Even with their TU cost they hit hard and rarely miss, and just seem to make other melee weapons somewhat redundant, despite not having any skill/power bonuses. Am i missing something?

2b) In other mods, flamethrowers seem to merely set something on fire, without any initial damage, thereby killing the enemy too slowly. Is this also the case in x-piratez, even with armor's weakness to fire?

3) I think the technology pacing of weapons is a little off. You start out with flintlock weapons but almost immediately get assault rifles, combat shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles etc. through loot. Yet it takes several steps of research to get stuff like the clockwork pistol and bayoneted musket, which are kind of inferior at that point (maybe also the x-bow). Also, some of the pistols in the game are about as accurate but less powerful than the flintlock pistols that you start with, so also seem redundant. This is also the case with some of the rifles and melee weapons, such as the short sword being inferior to the cutlass, despite having to research the short sword.

4) When intercepting ships, i find it impossible to tell which factions they belong to, which means is a problem for various reasons. One is that you cannot strategically avoid someone in particular, such as govt ships that penalize you. Another is that all the lore about the factions, their ships and missions (which i think are cool and all), just seems a bit redundant when they are not more significant when operating in the geoscape. E.g. it would be really nice to have an extended interception screen that listed the ship type's information, if the given ufopaedia entry is available. More information could eventually be present on the interception screen if you had also interrogated or researched your way to knowledge about the given faction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2015, 11:56:33 pm
Well if I say I did nothing to mod this, you have the right to not believe me, naturally :P Also no new Nightly has been introduced.

No no it's not that i don't believe you, it's just that i have never before experienced early invasions, and given the repeated cases just makes me go all conspiratorial. I mentioned in my last post that i don't use aggressive retaliation but it would make so much sense if i did :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 11, 2015, 12:36:46 am
1) I like the idea of the commendations mod, but i think it requires its own .exe file and is therefore not compatible with x-piratez. Is that correct? (Also it would be cool if the medals were present on each gal's inventory screen, instead of having to visit a separate screen) :P
Yes and no. It does not work correctly, but if you are a coder, you could compile them together to make it work but it's not easy (hence why it hasn't been done already).

Quote
2a) I also like the melee weapons of x-piratez, but i'm still confused of the effectiveness of melee vs. armor. How much does armor reduce stun, because handles don't seem to be able to knock out academian security, and daggers/machetes never seem to pierce their armor (even when attacking from the rear), which makes them very situational. The rope has a very high TU cost so i guess it's only for keeping unconscious enemies unconscious. It seems that the most beneficial way to melee, is to only use cattle prods so you get a ton of slaves/interrogations. Even with their TU cost they hit hard and rarely miss, and just seem to make other melee weapons somewhat redundant, despite not having any skill/power bonuses. Am i missing something?

There's a lot of mechanics involved. The biggest thing about melee is that they scale in accuracy and damage with your pirate's stats, hence low str pirates will do pittance whereas high strength gals can beat down powered armor.

Quote
2b) In other mods, flamethrowers seem to merely set something on fire, without any initial damage, thereby killing the enemy too slowly. Is this also the case in x-piratez, even with armor's weakness to fire?

The main thing about flamethrowers here is they A: ignore armor unless armor has resistance to fire (generally only Powered Armor does), they apply small damage and chance of a DoT (Damage of Time), set terrain on fire (which paralyzes AI pathing), and most importantly, applies huge morale damage. Flamethrowers are very useful (at least one gal should have one).

Quote
3) I think the technology pacing of weapons is a little off. You start out with flintlock weapons but almost immediately get assault rifles, combat shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles etc. through loot. Yet it takes several steps of research to get stuff like the clockwork pistol and bayoneted musket, which are kind of inferior at that point (maybe also the x-bow). Also, some of the pistols in the game are about as accurate but less powerful than the flintlock pistols that you start with, so also seem redundant. This is also the case with some of the rifles and melee weapons, such as the short sword being inferior to the cutlass, despite having to research the short sword.

The trade-off is not all factions use those weapons, so you'll run out of ammo quickly, whereas the other early tech guns you can produce and make your own ammo for (as well as your runts/brainers have to learn and start from somewhere). Also, X-Bow is not inferior, it's really good (especially the bow). And there's going to be lots of guns, but some unlock special ammo, different weights/sizes; so you'll have your favorites but nothing is truly "the best"; they are pretty normalized.

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4) When intercepting ships, i find it impossible to tell which factions they belong to, which means is a problem for various reasons. One is that you cannot strategically avoid someone in particular, such as govt ships that penalize you. Another is that all the lore about the factions, their ships and missions (which i think are cool and all), just seems a bit redundant when they are not more significant when operating in the geoscape. E.g. it would be really nice to have an extended interception screen that listed the ship type's information, if the given ufopaedia entry is available. More information could eventually be present on the interception screen if you had also interrogated or researched your way to knowledge about the given faction.

Some of that is intentional, some of it is just graphic limitations, and other is lack of graphic resources (Dioxine focuses on gameplay, rather than art as it takes much longer). You can contribute sprites and such if you like, easy way to make the changes you are seeking!

Also, some Govt ships actually are differentiated; make sure you are checking the Interception Window (if not going for landed ships).

The other suggestions are engine limitations; that's just not possible yet. OpenXcom Extended may eventually allow something like that, but currently, it's not able.

* These opinions are my own, and not the creator Dioxine's.

Also, check out the Bootypedia (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:DracoGriffin/Sandbox/Piratez) if you don't mind the spoilers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 11, 2015, 01:06:41 am
Actually that first game the base invasion was the first mission, when I reloaded I didn't see another Ship until late Feb. I think they just scouted the base - and yes I do use the agressive rettaiation  setting.
So the mission generated in February was a retaliation? Man.. that's not lucky.. Although I'd take that over an early infiltration.. I've lost 4 countries so far in October :/ Thinking that after I destroy their base, I'll try to see if you edit a save to recover a country and set negative funding (to represent bribes to get them to work with you again)

As for this, I got ninja'd by DracoGriffin, but here's more info from my experience!

Ok i'll try out some other locations, but the frequency and consistence of early base invasions compared to earlier versions, still seem weird since i've not encountered that previously. I'm also going to check if it has something to do with the save slot being from an earlier version, even though it has been overwritten in the current one. Also, i don't use save scumming or aggressive retaliation

There are certainly optimal locations, and optimal "playing patterns", such as shooting down UFOs over a different region than the one your base is in, so hopefully the retaliation strikes in the other region (retaliations have a chance to be set for the region where the UFO was shot down, OR in the region where the interceptor came from. If you intercept in your base's region, then the retaliation, if generated, will certainly be in your region and likely find your base). A good pirate needs to study her targets!

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The video got me thinking of some other questions/suggestions i have:

1) I like the idea of the commendations mod, but i think it requires its own .exe file and is therefore not compatible with x-piratez. Is that correct? (Also it would be cool if the medals were present on each gal's inventory screen, instead of having to visit a separate screen) :P
Yup, Piratez and Commendations unfortunately require different exes, but there's some talk of Commendations being integrated into the main code, which might mean Yankes would integrate it in Extended, and then we'd get medals and records for the gals :D

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2a) I also like the melee weapons of x-piratez, but i'm still confused of the effectiveness of melee vs. armor. How much does armor reduce stun, because handles don't seem to be able to knock out academian security, and daggers/machetes never seem to pierce their armor (even when attacking from the rear), which makes them very situational. The rope has a very high TU cost so i guess it's only for keeping unconscious enemies unconscious. It seems that the most beneficial way to melee, is to only use cattle prods so you get a ton of slaves/interrogations. Even with their TU cost they hit hard and rarely miss, and just seem to make other melee weapons somewhat redundant, despite not having any skill/power bonuses. Am i missing something?
You can calculate the amount of damage that different weapons do. For example, a machete with a maxed out gal:
- Base power: 20
- Strength bonus: 20% * 80 max strength = 16
- Melee bonus: 10% * 140 max melee  = 14
= max damage 50 -> damage range using EU formula: 0-100

So yeah, even with a maxed out gal, a machete doesn't do as much damage as a cattle prod. Compare with a axe though (50 + 0.7*80 + 0.1*140 = 120 -> damage range 0-240) and you can see that the cattle prod is far from the ultimate weapon, especially when you consider damage per TU since the cattle prod is very slow to use. It does have great accuracy and decent damage though, which makes it a great weapon to catch lightly armored targets with gals that don't have great melee accuracies.

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2b) In other mods, flamethrowers seem to merely set something on fire, without any initial damage, thereby killing the enemy too slowly. Is this also the case in x-piratez, even with armor's weakness to fire?

(Heavy) Flamethrowers are some of my favourite weapons, they do get things to die. If you hit all 8 times, you deal ~48 damage that ignores armor (assuming 100% damage, ie no special fire weakness resistance). That's enough to kill those annoying guys in personal armor in the early game, and it also is a great counter to cyberdiscs and other 2x2 units, since they take 4x the damage (it absolutely murders reapers since they have a weakness to fire).

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3) I think the technology pacing of weapons is a little off. You start out with flintlock weapons but almost immediately get assault rifles, combat shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles etc. through loot. Yet it takes several steps of research to get stuff like the clockwork pistol and bayoneted musket, which are kind of inferior at that point (maybe also the x-bow). Also, some of the pistols in the game are about as accurate but less powerful than the flintlock pistols that you start with, so also seem redundant. This is also the case with some of the rifles and melee weapons, such as the short sword being inferior to the cutlass, despite having to research the short sword.
The short sword is nifty because you can put it in your belt, so a gal with a rifle can join a melee by spending only 4 TUs instead of 10 to pull a cutlass from the backpack. I think some of the weapons are there mostly for flavours, and also for being easy to maintain (you don't need anything to manufacture musket ammo, for example, so it may help early on if you are low on cash).

Quote
4) When intercepting ships, i find it impossible to tell which factions they belong to, which means is a problem for various reasons. One is that you cannot strategically avoid someone in particular, such as govt ships that penalize you. Another is that all the lore about the factions, their ships and missions (which i think are cool and all), just seems a bit redundant when they are not more significant when operating in the geoscape. E.g. it would be really nice to have an extended interception screen that listed the ship type's information, if the given ufopaedia entry is available. More information could eventually be present on the interception screen if you had also interrogated or researched your way to knowledge about the given faction.

You can tell the government because most of their ships have red and blue lights on the interception picture. Once you find a government ship, be wary of shooting down anything in the same region. Similarly, some crappy crafts are only used by less well provided factions, like the rusty-bronze coloured ones being used by raiders and spartans. Beyond that, if they use the same ships, why would you be able to tell the difference between the academy and traders? Apparently you can't easily pain UFOs, so they all fly in default alloy colours, and any ways, if you want details, just research the hyperwave decoder ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Axebeard on November 11, 2015, 01:14:20 am

Some of that is intentional, some of it is just graphic limitations, and other is lack of graphic resources (Dioxine focuses on gameplay, rather than art as it takes much longer). You can contribute sprites and such if you like, easy way to make the changes you are seeking!

Also, some Govt ships actually are differentiated; make sure you are checking the Interception Window (if not going for landed ships).

The other suggestions are engine limitations; that's just not possible yet. OpenXcom Extended may eventually allow something like that, but currently, it's not able.

I would be willing to do some ship graphics for the different factions. Can we replace the graphics of ships based on their factions or is that the part that's outside the realm of the engine currently?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DeWolf on November 11, 2015, 05:03:58 am
The only problem that I actually see so far in this mod so far is that when you are in an interception when you get hit once your ships usually go all to red so it hides how much damage you really have.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Alex_D on November 11, 2015, 12:27:25 pm
Finally I got to get to Mars

So after a few more in-game months the dice roll spawned not one but two Cruisers with Star God Coordinators plus a base, all within a short month.

Capturing the first cruiser's SGC caused me some of my best troops to get badly injured, but in those long months I had the chance to maxout several gals across all bases so replacements were available. The other battles were plain destruction, no prisoners taken :) It took some base management to get the Conqueror building within reasonable time limits (less than a month or so, in one of my printer bases).

The battle after landing on Mars was fairly easy. Blasters plus Chinese Dragons made quick work on those open spaces outside the Conqueror. Note that the ship is not so blast proof as the Bonny, so careful aim with the Dragon or the gals still inside can die from the shock wave, or so it appears. :p

Funny the Conqueror has those escape hatches on the top level near some bunk beds. Nice detail!

Then it was the moment to go into the brain level. The last unit was killed (see attached game). Then deployment and start of a turn. A game re-load gave me an error I observed before also on other mods, which is upon reloading the game before the end of the first turn, all the soldier's guns are emptied (no magazines, ammo, etc). It was frustrating as I have to restart from the surface again. To replicate this from the save game, just kill the last unit, next screen and once deployed, save and reload. The ammo is gone! I don't know why it happens or if recent nightlies have fixed the problem.

For the last level I suggest get some inspiration from the Brain Level of Hellrazor's Hardmode mod. The 10x10 map is really difficult, more like an endurance race than a quick deployment. This is as the current 6x6 is easy, just scout for the Brain chamber and blast away.

Well, it was fun to play the mod. I'm sure I'll reply again in a couple of updates down the road.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2015, 01:33:38 pm
The only problem that I actually see so far in this mod so far is that when you are in an interception when you get hit once your ships usually go all to red so it hides how much damage you really have.
pics or it didn't happen. OXCom version associated with Piratez has some minor bugs, but from my experience, it's rather the other way around (it shows too little damage on the interceptor's image so you can get killed thinking you still have some HPs left)

I would be willing to do some ship graphics for the different factions. Can we replace the graphics of ships based on their factions or is that the part that's outside the realm of the engine currently?

It's impossible, plus they use same ship models (except faction-unique ships), plus why would you need a Hyperwave Decoder if everything was possible to tell by visual ident?

@Flamers and Cattle Prods: well, strange, I personally consider flamers to be extremely powerful while cattle prods too much of a hassle to be useful (I mostly use brass knuckles for stunning). Not saying that your choices are bad, saying that many a weapon might seem useless before you learn how to use it - but then again, you don't have to, I believe in creating many ways to achieve an effect thus everyone can choose their favorite :)

@Alex_D: Congratulations! Yeah the final mission isn't too hard, but that was the idea, the finale should be fun (The Hardest Mission should be somewhere earlier). I might make it a bit more unique in the future, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 11, 2015, 03:15:26 pm
Will there be a better aye phone in the future?Even showing the current position of enemies instead of the previous turn would make them usefull when raiding star god's cruisers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Cristao on November 11, 2015, 03:40:11 pm
Finally I got to get to Mars

So after a few more in-game months the dice roll spawned not one but two Cruisers with Star God Coordinators plus a base, all within a short month.

Capturing the first cruiser's SGC caused me some of my best troops to get badly injured, but in those long months I had the chance to maxout several gals across all bases so replacements were available. The other battles were plain destruction, no prisoners taken :) It took some base management to get the Conqueror building within reasonable time limits (less than a month or so, in one of my printer bases).

The battle after landing on Mars was fairly easy. Blasters plus Chinese Dragons made quick work on those open spaces outside the Conqueror. Note that the ship is not so blast proof as the Bonny, so careful aim with the Dragon or the gals still inside can die from the shock wave, or so it appears. :p

Funny the Conqueror has those escape hatches on the top level near some bunk beds. Nice detail!

Then it was the moment to go into the brain level. The last unit was killed (see attached game). Then deployment and start of a turn. A game re-load gave me an error I observed before also on other mods, which is upon reloading the game before the end of the first turn, all the soldier's guns are emptied (no magazines, ammo, etc). It was frustrating as I have to restart from the surface again. To replicate this from the save game, just kill the last unit, next screen and once deployed, save and reload. The ammo is gone! I don't know why it happens or if recent nightlies have fixed the problem.

For the last level I suggest get some inspiration from the Brain Level of Hellrazor's Hardmode mod. The 10x10 map is really difficult, more like an endurance race than a quick deployment. This is as the current 6x6 is easy, just scout for the Brain chamber and blast away.

Well, it was fun to play the mod. I'm sure I'll reply again in a couple of updates down the road.


LOUDLY APPLAUDS!! I am envious that you got there. This is what I am working towards.. How many in-game years?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2015, 04:00:34 pm
Will there be a better aye phone in the future?Even showing the current position of enemies instead of the previous turn would make them usefull when raiding star god's cruisers.

Impossible to mod. Besides, it already does show their current positions... ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Boltgun on November 11, 2015, 06:15:18 pm
pics or it didn't happen. OXCom version associated with Piratez has some minor bugs, but from my experience, it's rather the other way around (it shows too little damage on the interceptor's image so you can get killed thinking you still have some HPs left)


I confirm this, I got a full red bar on a predator equipped with an extra engine in a missile slot. I thought I was losing it but nope, it came back with 19% damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2015, 08:16:13 pm
Then it's a game bug. Report it somewhere where it can be fixed, ideally with a proof from unmodded game...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Meridian on November 11, 2015, 09:11:03 pm
Then it's a game bug. Report it somewhere where it can be fixed, ideally with a proof from unmodded game...

I can confirm it too. I even have it on (unpublished) video. My guess is it's an OXCE bug, as I never saw it in OXC.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Yankes on November 11, 2015, 09:20:27 pm
I can confirm it too. I even have it on (unpublished) video. My guess is it's an OXCE bug, as I never saw it in OXC.
I suspect this too. This probably caused by items that boost craft durability and intercept window that ignore that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 11, 2015, 09:46:50 pm
I just discovered the surgery room (yay!) but.. does it help soldier recovery time? That would be an awesome feature to add to it if not.. Yankes? Pretty please!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Alex_D on November 11, 2015, 10:10:08 pm
LOUDLY APPLAUDS!! I am envious that you got there. This is what I am working towards.. How many in-game years?

Thanks, this is about when I launch the ship to Mars
Code: [Select]
time:
  weekday: 3
  minute: 7
  month: 5
  day: 1
  second: 20
  year: 2605
  hour: 23
so 52 months or less than 5 years.
I ended the game with over 1.5 Billion in money. The last months were just waiting for the SGC to show up and farming silver coins from wrecks for the mints. Before the mint change (needing coins to make coins) I stopped landing (too lazy), just intercepted everything that was detected. Interceptions were always made with 4 Barracudas armed mainly with 2 lascannons (no ammo logistics) and a targeter (more dps overall). Then after the game change, the farming started. This allowed me to rotate the gals for training and making annihilator suits for those "trained" :)

I like the logistics part of the game, I even kept a .txt file where I recorded the most profitable build requirements (PREDATOR ship, went to 108 in the build count, making $214/hr). And also the complex supply line of building ANNIHILATOR suits (tip: hoard power armor parts, combat drugs, life support systems, and mercenary booties), and later the CONQUEROR ship.
I attach the save game before the launch for your reference.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 11, 2015, 10:28:28 pm
1.5 Billions? 52 months? man.. I struggle to get to 10 millions after a year.. I need to up my production line!

Congratulations!

... Out of curiosity, how long did it take you in real time? A year?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 11, 2015, 11:07:24 pm
1.5 Billions? 52 months? man.. I struggle to get to 10 millions after a year.. I need to up my production line!

Congratulations!

... Out of curiosity, how long did it take you in real time? A year?

Depends on how much time you have and luck of RNG.

I got pretty far into the game (Annihilator suits and working towards Conqueror) within a month or so with an hour play a day or so (more on weekends). If you don't know what hostages to "save" for end-game, it can take awhile waiting on RNG to bless you with the right faction/mission/ship/unit to capture.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 12, 2015, 12:48:39 am
There are certainly optimal locations, and optimal "playing patterns", such as shooting down UFOs over a different region than the one your base is in, so hopefully the retaliation strikes in the other region (retaliations have a chance to be set for the region where the UFO was shot down, OR in the region where the interceptor came from. If you intercept in your base's region, then the retaliation, if generated, will certainly be in your region and likely find your base). A good pirate needs to study her targets!

Ok so regarding my repeated cases of super-early hideout invasions, i tried setting the base up in Cuba, as well as making sure to shoot down enemies further away from the base...and it has seemed to work! So far i'm at the end of march and still going strong. It's still weird that i never got early invasions in previous versions however, since i changed neither the difficulty or my playstyle before, but thanks for the help anyway :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 12, 2015, 03:43:53 pm
Depends on how much time you have and luck of RNG.

I got pretty far into the game (Annihilator suits and working towards Conqueror) within a month or so with an hour play a day or so (more on weekends). If you don't know what hostages to "save" for end-game, it can take awhile waiting on RNG to bless you with the right faction/mission/ship/unit to capture.

Yeah.. I know I haven't had anywhere near the same luck in this game as in my previous Piratez one. Barely see traders, took forever to get old earth books, and still struggling to get good armor, crafts and weapons after a year! (Need those military vessels blueprints but I don't see them :/ But I just got revenant armor, which is quite good!).

btw Dioxine, is it possible to find a random suit of defender armor? I have one and I don't know where it comes from (well, I suspect it's from looting a military supply mission, but I'm not 100% sure). And it would be nice to be able to research it and make more once you have one. I know there's a topic that allows that already, but I haven't managed to catch a live trader PCM for that the one time I got a trader terror.

Ok so regarding my repeated cases of super-early hideout invasions, i tried setting the base up in Cuba, as well as making sure to shoot down enemies further away from the base...and it has seemed to work! So far i'm at the end of march and still going strong. It's still weird that i never got early invasions in previous versions however, since i changed neither the difficulty or my playstyle before, but thanks for the help anyway :)

Nice! I'm glad it helps (or maybe it's just that the RNG stopped hating you ;)). You're now a propa sneaky pirate!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 12, 2015, 04:01:21 pm
btw Dioxine, is it possible to find a random suit of defender armor? I have one and I don't know where it comes from (well, I suspect it's from looting a military supply mission, but I'm not 100% sure). And it would be nice to be able to research it and make more once you have one. I know there's a topic that allows that already, but I haven't managed to catch a live trader PCM for that the one time I got a trader terror.

Your assertion is correct, it was Military Supply. You won't be able to reproduce it without the proper tech, but I'm planning to add damaged armors mechanics (you get a damaged, but useable armor if its wearer dies & you can repair it), so you'll be able to at least keep it for longer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 12, 2015, 06:10:00 pm
That would be nice! It would make crafting "rare" armors more rewarding. Especially ones needing power armor parts, since those are not very common (I've had a grand total of.. 7 in a year? research + 1 juggernaut + 1 loader + 1).

In my first mission with the juggernaut, I used it to shield the gals with less armor, and promptly got it gauss'd out. >:( I gave in and "rage-restarted" so I could play with my new toy, only juggernaut I've been able to make ever since! (and the other gals are all grateful to Charmin' Rin and Boltgun for taking all the hits for 'em, especially the gauss hits!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 12, 2015, 06:34:59 pm
That would be nice! It would make crafting "rare" armors more rewarding. Especially ones needing power armor parts, since those are not very common (I've had a grand total of.. 7 in a year? research + 1 juggernaut + 1 loader + 1).

Heheheh, nah. Power Armor is too good already - at least, it won't be repairable as easily as advanced non-powered armor (defender, revenant, etc). You're supposed to usually have only a few Juggernauts, and thus use them with care.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 12, 2015, 07:08:56 pm
I have a couple of toxic questions, and perhaps a really incendiary one as well.

1) Exactly how effective are flasks of acid? I know they're good vs. armor, and it says they do 40 acid damage, but also that they do 0-16 initial armor damage. So do they only damage armor or can they actually kill? I tried using some on cyberdiscs, but i don't know how much they helped. My flamethrower did rape them real good though!

2) The poisoned dagger should be superior to the previous daggers, yet it has a much worse accuracy. Therefore i'm guessing that the bonus 'health damage' is worth it, but how exactly does it work?

3) As i mentioned, i have been shown the path to anti-armor enlightenment by thou holy thrower of flames, but are other incendiary sources that effective as well? I know that the willie pete says it does initial damage, but what about good ol' molotovs?

(them puns btw) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 12, 2015, 07:16:29 pm
1) Exactly how effective are flasks of acid? I know they're good vs. armor, and it says they do 40 acid damage, but also that they do 0-16 initial armor damage. So do they only damage armor or can they actually kill? I tried using some on cyberdiscs, but i don't know how much they helped. My flamethrower did rape them real good though!

2) The poisoned dagger should be superior to the previous daggers, yet it has a much worse accuracy. Therefore i'm guessing that the bonus 'health damage' is worth it, but how exactly does it work?

3) As i mentioned, i have been shown the path to anti-armor enlightenment by thou holy thrower of flames, but are other incendiary sources that effective as well? I know that the willie pete says it does initial damage, but what about good ol' molotovs?

1. Where does it say they're non-lethal? :) This 0-16 armor damage is *in addition* to all normal acid effects, eg. if it penetrates armor, it does damage HP and it does further armor damage.

2. It doubles the HP damage inflicted after penetrating armor, is it good enough? You decide.

3. No, Molotov is just normal incendiary, causing 5-10 points of damage to a normal target (just like a single flamer hit). However it sets targets on fire, has devastating morale effect, and does quad damage vs. 2x2 units. Note that there are enemies who are well-armored but have a single digit HP pool...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 12, 2015, 08:57:27 pm
1 - I haven't tried the flasks. Originally they seemed like a good idea for up close encounter with armored stuff, but then melee is a pretty good answer too :/ I haven't used them much, but I guess if you encounter something that has really high armor and is hard to deal with (like stunning an academy provost, what a PAIN), you could use 'em to reduce their armor rating (and likely won't hurt them since the damage is pretty low). A 3x3 splash with half damage on everything but the centre might make it a bit nicer as it would deal with the accuracy issue a bit?

(Oh, and please refrain from "raping" cyberdiscs or other enemies, regardless of implements and gaming connotation, it's really not a nice thing to do)

2 - For a weak fighty gal it might work, but then, you can also use a rapier which is more likely to work, but that's a nice belt-sized alternative, I guess.

3 - Molotovs can be awesome against those annoying little drones from the academy. Really hard to damage, but fall from a single incendiary hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 13, 2015, 12:25:06 am
(Oh, and please refrain from "raping" cyberdiscs or other enemies, regardless of implements and gaming connotation, it's really not a nice thing to do)

Well sure it's not, but then again, i'm able to distinguish between actual rape and gaming lingo. I've also never believed that wrapping the language in cotton candy would actually help people such as rape victims to overcome their trauma. But i'll indulge as a courtesy to my fellow piratez :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 13, 2015, 12:35:11 am
I'm sure you can, but I don't know why, maybe it's a second language thing, or maybe it's just me (and no, I have no particular relationship to that), but I have a hard time looking past the primordial meaning to consider it something acceptable.

Thanks for destroying/annihilating/stabbing/murderising/smashing/blowing up, or doing other such nice ( ::)) things to your targets from now on ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 13, 2015, 08:41:28 am
Well sure it's not, but then again, i'm able to distinguish between actual rape and gaming lingo. I've also never believed that wrapping the language in cotton candy would actually help people such as rape victims to overcome their trauma. But i'll indulge as a courtesy to my fellow piratez :)

Arthanor probably just pointed out that describing war violence in sexual violence terms is just a full-on plebeian thing to do, which I happen to agree with. The term would be correct only if applied to psionics and Chryssalids :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Zharkov on November 13, 2015, 09:48:12 am

(Oh, and please refrain from "raping" cyberdiscs or other enemies, regardless of implements and gaming connotation, it's really not a nice thing to do)


Rly? These cyberdisc are begging for it!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 13, 2015, 12:30:53 pm
Rly? These cyberdisc are begging for it!

Pity X-Com 1 had no heavy thermal lances to satisfy their needs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 13, 2015, 03:05:18 pm
Come on dont get frisky,we have a whole game here for these things.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 13, 2015, 06:00:44 pm
Hey Dioxine,

I'm noticing on my 0.95C stream playthrough that I'm able to see into ships/UFOs at certain angles, whereas I wasn't able to before (at least in 0.93 dedicated testing).

Just FYI, no screenshots or anything since I was streaming; I think Cutter/Runabout mostly so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 13, 2015, 08:20:27 pm
Hey Dioxine,

I'm noticing on my 0.95C stream playthrough that I'm able to see into ships/UFOs at certain angles, whereas I wasn't able to before (at least in 0.93 dedicated testing).

Just FYI, no screenshots or anything since I was streaming; I think Cutter/Runabout mostly so far.

I've had this happen too, I thought it was related to useing Luke's Dark UFO's Mod.

ps: It seems to happen more often when an ships reactor explodes.  My personal thoughts on this is that the explosion is destroying the pillars that were used to fix the holes between the wall sprites.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Alex_D on November 14, 2015, 01:21:36 am
That would be nice! It would make crafting "rare" armors more rewarding. Especially ones needing power armor parts, since those are not very common (I've had a grand total of.. 7 in a year? research + 1 juggernaut + 1 loader + 1).

In my first mission with the juggernaut, I used it to shield the gals with less armor, and promptly got it gauss'd out. >:( I gave in and "rage-restarted" so I could play with my new toy, only juggernaut I've been able to make ever since! (and the other gals are all grateful to Charmin' Rin and Boltgun for taking all the hits for 'em, especially the gauss hits!)

From my recent campaign, my thoughts on armor (and other things) are:

IMHO the only armor that matters is the Annihilator, which is essentially immune to laser and Gauss pistol, and all projectile guns. Gauss musket, plasma and above can cause a severe injury or even death to the wearer. From terror units, the cyberdisk, sectopod and celatid are deadly too. Of course researching (and making) this armor is pretty much the end of the research tree.  Any other armor or no armor require tactics (cover, hiding, mass fire, smoke, etc) as any hit from pretty much any gun can be deadly. I also avoided using explosives when possible as it destroys the loot :)

I never bothered making other armors (except for testing), with the rare exception of the Xeno armor (good on meele, for the strong gals) and gravity belts for my snipers. Freebies such as Defender armors were also used if available. I went all the way with Annihilators once they become available. In the meantime, the hammer is your friend :)

I suppose making Kustom Power armors, Synthsuits, and Revenant armors are also ok, as they are used into making Annihilator armors, so no waste here :)

Attrition rates were pretty high, but with base rotation crews, the Bonny was always fully crewed (10 gals plus two tanks). Gals rotation consisted of getting the replacements for the KIAs and injured from other bases and sending the injured back to these bases. Newer recruits were always pre-screened (strength, then voodoo training) at the satellite bases then sent to the main base once their time came. Satellite bases had a minimum of 10 gals to pick from, with no more than 3 injured, leaving no less than 7 plus lots of tanks and dogs for base defense.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2015, 03:12:34 am
From my recent campaign, my thoughts on armor (and other things) are:

Nerf hammer, nerf tanks. Got it :) Because your thoughts on armor boil down to 'I don't use armor' :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 14, 2015, 04:50:16 am
yeah.. it's an odd take on it, but depending on the armor of tanks, I could see them being much better scout than anything else. Especially if when destroyed they give you a wrecked tank from which you can manufacture a new one. A lot of the encounters in Piratez are with enemies that don't have great ways of dealing with high armor targets and the AI doesn't necessarily think of using its high explosive instead of its shotgun..

Dioxine, if you want a way to nerf tanks, why not make the early tank (and early overtank?) designs unstable since the runts/brainers don't really know how to make them. Blows up on death, maybe not much power, but it's enough to destroy the corpse, make going down first a bit risky for the other gals and prevent the infinite loop of rebuilding tanks. Engine developments could lead to some kind of safeguard and safer tanks.

As far armor, I heavily use armor, as I am a strong believer in gal survivability. Increase the survival of your gals and you increase the average stats of your gals (because they live longer, they have more time to improve more), which in turns increases their survivability since they hit more/are stronger and carry bigger guns/have better reactions so react or don't get reacted to. As your team improves, so does the survival, and it spirals into getting a really awesome team, especially if you can also support them with good tech.

Of course, good tactics also improve survivability and definitely should be used, but it does not replace armor (although tanks might replace tactics, but I dislike tanks, or rather prefer gals). After a year in game, (it's not as much, I know, but still) I have:

Used:
- smokey/mesh armor for support gals (really like mesh)
- tac/revenant armor for the front lines (the later being Teh Awesomest thing EVER (so far ;)).
- guerilla for the midfield (and for rookies going on "training missions" since it's cheap, expendable but still good).
- Heavy armor works well for valuable midfielders and heavy flamer gals (not frontline so the stam regen/reactions nerf doesn't hurt to much, but close enough that additional armor is good).
- Storm Marine/Defender armor for advanced midfield/boarder (in Piratez, haven't discovered it yet in XPiratez due to missing my PCM on the one trader pogrom I saw :()
- juggernaut for "tanking" duties, unless the enemy is using Gauss weapons/baby nukes (damn you supply ships!).

Not used/disliked:
 - helmeted tac armor: The same downsides as heavy armor but less protection, for barely less than a heavy armor?
- basic armor: Too many negatives for the gains, I'd rather use guerilla for shooty gals, or pirate/tac vest for frontlines.
- Gym/Swimsuits are.. an interesting idea. I know Solarius likes them for melee, but I want my gals to be able to take a facefull of shotgun shells and give some love back. Maybe for melee rookies to "hit and run" support to my real breachers? But 4 breachers is usually enough.

In a move completely against typical "rookie first" standard XCom doctrine, my boarders are my most experienced gals, in the best non-reaction hurting/reaction boosting armor I can find, so they have the highest reaction score I can get. (stamina loss is compensated by combat drugs). Ideally, few guns can do enough damage and kill them in one shot, so they heal back to shape if they get hit (even though it can take a while.. Too bad the surgery room doesn't help with wound recovery). But most of the time they don't get hit since they react and don't get reacted to, and being high accuracy and strength, they hit well and hard.

Melee weapons wise, I personally don't rate the hammer. Too much stamina to swing, too slow, too annoying with the diagonals, too heavy. So it's already where it should be.. I have one on my breaching team because it is great at clearing elevators (can't melee above.. but you can "shoot" a hammer up), used by the juggernaut gal (since the carrying buff means I don't care for the weight, and she's armored enough to tank shots coming down the elevator shaft).

For terrain destruction, pickaxes are just as good and fit on the belt for less weight. For damage, cutlasses, billhooks and axes are ok at the beginning, and techblades later. Plus, melee attacks don't get reacted to, whereas shooting a hammer can get you killed if you don't kill first. And smaller TU usage means you're more likely to react with a blade than you would be with a hammer too. In Piratez, the hammer was REALLY good, in XPiratez? meh..

I've had a hard time finding a good use for most other melee weapons though, especially spears and daggers. Rapier is cool on high melee weak rookies, short sword is an ok side arm for midfield gun gals especially in dense pogrom terrain. I really like the balance of knuckles/handles/cattleprods. Knuckles are better on strong gals, but you risk killing your targets (especially if trying to stun them after they woke up), so cattleprods for the prisoner watchers are really best, and handles for rookies.

Pff.. long post.. Sorry Dioxine, I hope there's something interesting somewhere in there for you ;) I'm procrastinating boarding that landed trader cruiser I know I "need" to pilfer!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2015, 05:39:20 am
Thanks for the feedback, it's always appreciated. The tanks already need 2 wrecks to be manufactured, I will also increase the workshop time. I'm playing with ideas such as 'a tank has finite energy, 10 full moves or so worth of it, but doesn't regenerate any'. Although this is hardly 'realistic' in any meaning of the word...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 14, 2015, 05:39:48 am
Is it me or does the stone hatchet not have an ufopedia entry? Does fuso knives allow for reaction shots? I remember something i read about reaction shots only being snap shots, and given that knives only have aimed shot, can they be used for reactions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 14, 2015, 08:09:59 am
Is it me or does the stone hatchet not have an ufopedia entry? Does fuso knives allow for reaction shots? I remember something i read about reaction shots only being snap shots, and given that knives only have aimed shot, can they be used for reactions?

No, the Stone Hatchet issue is like a big thing; but long drama short, it has to be researched after being manufactured. Cuz there are other things. Spoilery... kind of.

Fuso Knives do not have reaction shots if they do not have a Snap Shot (same for any weapon).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 14, 2015, 08:27:09 am
hum.. that reminds me I need to do that..

*Bugs the runts until they stop making hi-tech armor to get them to make a stone hatchet*
Brainerz! Leave to Lazors alone! We need to know what we can do with this thing!


Ah.. (X)Piratez! The weird, crazy juxtapositions you cause.. ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 14, 2015, 09:32:41 am
No, the Stone Hatchet issue is like a big thing; but long drama short, it has to be researched after being manufactured. Cuz there are other things. Spoilery... kind of.

Ok well how many similar cases to this are there, just so i know that i'm not missing anything?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 14, 2015, 09:35:51 am
Ok well how many similar cases to this are there, just so i know that i'm not missing anything?

Several, Especially those on the Energy Armour (ie Iron Man) research tree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 14, 2015, 10:05:23 am
Several, Especially those on the Energy Armour (ie Iron Man) research tree.

How about earlier in the game, from start to mid?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 14, 2015, 10:14:06 am
How about earlier in the game, from start to mid?

No Idea, as there really is no 'early game', 'mid game' or 'end game' as such.  Due to how Dioxine has set out the game, you could aquire these tech's very early (maybe even on the first mission) or not until as late as December year 3 or 4.  Its just the luck of draw - Also the random number generator in Open X-Com
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2015, 02:30:55 pm
No, the Stone Hatchet issue is like a big thing; but long drama short, it has to be researched after being manufactured. Cuz there are other things. Spoilery... kind of.

It's actually a shortcut. If you don't do that, you can acquire that tech from mission or interrogation or data disc or books, but this will:
a) potentially block some juicy researches for a very long time, depending on rng, like Roxis said;
b) needlessly 'burn' one of your prisoners/disks/books etc.
This pattern happens for a few items. It's perfectly normal for any item research to be available from several alternate sources. This is one of the sources (manufacture-then-research).
And no it's usually too entangled for a 'one true way' to exist.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 14, 2015, 02:58:35 pm
Hey Dioxine, after some hard playing i came up with this: how about to raise damage for mukets and flintlocks pistol from 29 to 30, and make their chamber so that should contain only 1 bullet instead of 3 (balancing and realistic :) ) on the other hand, every flinlock bullet clip may have 5 or 6 bullets instead of 3. TU for reloading may stay the same, or a bit decreased (1 or 2 points)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2015, 03:32:03 pm
Nah I wanted to do that in the beginning but immediately discarded the idea, it would be unfeasible unless muskets received massive damage boost (maybe to 40-ish but armor would be 150% effective against them...?). I don't know, this might work, but it'd be a drastic change. Also this would make ammo extremely scarce, 10 shots max, making these weapons hard to use for AI units...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 14, 2015, 07:53:57 pm
Nah I wanted to do that in the beginning but immediately discarded the idea, it would be unfeasible unless muskets received massive damage boost (maybe to 40-ish but armor would be 150% effective against them...?). I don't know, this might work, but it'd be a drastic change. Also this would make ammo extremely scarce, 10 shots max, making these weapons hard to use for AI units...

i think instead it may be not that drastic, since for the 1 and 2 difficulty level these weapons are of rather small useful, virtually useless from 3 level and up. It may eventually became a nice change, the TU cost may be even unchanged, and since these are startin' weapon to be replaced after 4-5 months, and the black market has really nice stuff...i'd catch the chance to suggest in havin some more stuff in the BM to buy, eg 2 small and 2 medium handed firearm to buy in the bm for the 0.96/0.97 relase, along with 3-4 equpment. Then stop adding stuff and focusing on cixing and balancin util the final and last 1.0 ;)

In the end still don't like the combat stress feature >.<  but the combat flag is awesome!! It should be supposed to be mznufacturable since the very beginning of the game, and needs to be a bit less TU consuming :)

Edit: grammar...arghh!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 14, 2015, 09:35:44 pm
4-5 months of muskets? Regular flintlock muskets? I don't ever make one, even though it's probably my first research topic for black powder bombs. It might be interesting to add an extra mechanic to the musket (I don't quite understand what you were suggesting, unfortunately, but going from power 29 to 30 seems like a cosmetic change? And the number of bullets is not the issue..)

What I would suggest is a "messy wound" mechanic, which means some weapons make more fatal wounds than others. Muskets, with their crude, squishy lead ammunition that distorts on impact, would be great candidates for that. It would add a damage over time component that might help it shine on harder targets. The same thing could be given to a few other weapons, the billhook comes to mind, even though in melee you mostly want to make sure your target is dead, otherwise you will be on their turn..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2015, 09:46:26 pm
What I would suggest is a "messy wound" mechanic, which means some weapons make more fatal wounds than others. Muskets, with their crude, squishy lead ammunition that distorts on impact, would be great candidates for that.

A good idea, but quite impossible for now - at most, it is only possible (or not, I don't know) to tweak how likely is a weapon to cause maximum number of Fatal Wounds, but it will never cause more than 3. Naturally, a weapon which causes 3 wounds even when it causes a handful of HP damage would have a tiny, but non-negligible advantage...

Another/complementing option could be making them to cause 150% hp damage, but multiply all armor by 135% or so. Thus, against an enemy having 10 armor, a hit worth 50 damage will cause (50-13)*1.5 = 55 damage (instead of 50-10 = 40), while against someone with 30 armor, it will cause (50-39)*1.5 = 16 damage (instead of 50-30 = 20). (all numbers are examples only, fine tuning would be needed to find just the right break-even spot, probably around 20 armor).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 14, 2015, 10:44:07 pm
4-5 months of muskets? Regular flintlock muskets? I don't ever make one, even though it's probably my first research topic for black powder bombs. It might be interesting to add an extra mechanic to the musket (I don't quite understand what you were suggesting, unfortunately, but going from power 29 to 30 seems like a cosmetic change? And the number of bullets is not the issue..)

What i meant was a more balanced-kind of thing, since lots of basic firearms in the black market range from 22 up to 20, plus have auto fire. Also having to reload after a single shot may be even more challenging :P

What I would suggest is a "messy wound" mechanic, which means some weapons make more fatal wounds than others. Muskets, with their crude, squishy lead ammunition that distorts on impact, would be great candidates for that. It would add a damage over time component that might help it shine on harder targets. The same thing could be given to a few other weapons, the billhook comes to mind, even though in melee you mostly want to make sure your target is dead, otherwise you will be on their turn..

Agree but as for musket these should be really effective only on unarmored targets, since enemies even in basic armors may nullify the damaged done by those, at least as things are now. None the less, such weapons are actually be able to make from little to average damage to basic armor, but only on easy difficultry level (1 and 2) in my game experience.  ;)

hey, maybe it's a bug: right-clicking while in the hiddeout screen on the laboratory i get the fence yer stuff away screen, instead of the research one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 14, 2015, 10:49:10 pm
hey, maybe it's a bug: right-clicking while in the hiddeout screen on the laboratory i get the fence yer stuff away screen, instead of the research one.

That's because Lab also gives some storage space in Piratez, and this function seems to precede the research building flag. In other words, it is also a vault.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 15, 2015, 11:36:00 pm
That's because Lab also gives some storage space in Piratez, and this function seems to precede the research building flag. In other words, it is also a vault.

Thanks Solarius! Hey in the meantime i managed to use openxcom extended linux executable with x-piratez (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4084.0.html) but here goes one of the most epic fails: i surrounded a soldier after i shoot downa a ver small ufo, and i was not able to stun it even with 4-5 pirates armed with handles, the scurvy dog threw a grenade killing himself!! On the second difficulty level and with the option "sneaky AI" turned off...damn!!!!!! The most difficult vidoegame ever!!!

'shot attached!!

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 15, 2015, 11:49:15 pm
Although surrounding feels nice and should yield better results from a realistic approach (the enemy has to fend off attacks from all sides), you will get better results if gals take turns attacking him in the back since his armor is lower there. It's a bit gamey, but it gets the job done better.

Also, I wouldn't try to capture security guys (and definitely not power armored guys) until later in the game when you have strong gals. You can concentrate on the unarmored enemies and they will give you plenty of interrogation material while being a lot easier to bag. The armored ones are hard enough to kill at the beginning, let alone stun..

And I think the grenade was a pretty good AI move! He know's he's doomed, takes as many as possible with him! Try to avoid clumping your gals!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 16, 2015, 08:54:23 am
So right now i'm on a medium ufo mission, where i have 2 snipers holed up on the roof of my ship...because all the other 14 gals are dead. I'm up against these blue-suit rail-gun soldiers i think, and they were tougher and more numerous than i thought. I think there is only 1 or 2 enemies left, but right now it is a cat and mouse game. The surrounding field fires are dying out, and it is getting dark again, real dark, so i've turned off the personal lights, though i don't quite understand all the intricacies of night vision in x-piratez, so can anyone explain it to me? Does it actually work? And do the blue guys have night vision, because that is crucial information to me right now, as i have to decide between taking off with catastrophic mission failure and save the ship, or stay and risk it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 16, 2015, 03:33:52 pm
All security guys (Personal Armor) have a NV of 16... not sure if you're talking about them, though - there are several types of blue enemies :) The Vision range won't stop them from approaching and attacking once they're in range, if they have spotted you before, but you still have the advantage of spotting them earlier than they do (if your NV is better), which includes 100% safe Reaction Fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 16, 2015, 03:53:29 pm
All security guys (Personal Armor) have a NV of 16... not sure if you're talking about them, though - there are several types of blue enemies :) The Vision range won't stop them from approaching and attacking once they're in range, if they have spotted you before, but you still have the advantage of spotting them earlier than they do (if your NV is better), which includes 100% safe Reaction Fire.

Do the enemy automatically know where all my gals are if the personal lights are on? Does firing at an enemy or taking other actions reveal yourself? Can you elaborate on the whole 'being spotted before' thing, like can they actually see my gals or do they just know where they are, and for how long does this last?

I find it quite difficult to determine the effectiveness of night vision because of the above, but also because there is no indicator of the effect of night vision, so you never really know if you're hidden or not. Since you have to turn personal lights off for it to work, i also find that it becomes very difficult to navigate. Wouldn't it be a good idea to implement some sort of green overlay for gals with night vision?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 16, 2015, 04:35:02 pm
I tried to play the night game and failed miserably. It sounds like a good idea, but when you can't even tell what the terrain looks like, it is really difficult. If I have a night mission, I usually try to use flares sparingly but turn personal lights off, so it is kind of a hybrid. I still bring light, but it's not centered on the gals, so they are not as easy to spot.

Guys in personal armor have good night vision (16) compared to your gals (12), so you will be loosing the pitch black game, especially since the AI knows the terrain whereas, as you said, the player can't see anything.

If you have personal lights on, you are visible form the normal sight range (20) since you are not hiding in the dark. So I guess you still "win" 4 tiles by turning those off. If you can set some light ~20 tiles away for the enemies to step on so you see them (in light, gals have a vision range of 20), while making sure it is pitch black on the Bonny's roof (you will only be seen at 16 tiles), you will spot them first and be able to react/take potshots.

Enemies "remember" you for a number of turns after having seen you, which means that they know exactly the position of a gal for a certain number of turns after spotting her (spotting by the AI is the same as for a gal to stop with the little number appearing on the bottom right, it means they actually saw you). Although they know your position, enemies will not shoot without spotting you again, but they will know the best way (shortest distance) to come spot you. I am not sure if they can throw explosives without spotting you again.

Shooting an enemy or throwing something at them does not reveal you, and I don't think they even "think" to make the connection between where the shot came from and where they need to check. They need to visually see you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: ivandogovich on November 16, 2015, 04:50:40 pm
Heh.  Just a funny comment here.  Every time I look at the new swabby rank (btw I think the custom ranks are a great improvement) I can't help but think of this:

(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PrMTqBqF7SA/S-WK0jNxN4I/AAAAAAAABrE/o_05rSdFi3c/s1600/Far+Side-Was+That+You.jpg)
#WhaleFarts
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2015, 02:12:33 am
A chryssalid walks not into a bar, but just outside range of my breaching team. "You're cute, you're coming home with us. Here, look at my buzzing magic stick". A couple of loving tickles later and little chryssie got tired and went to sleep. "Aw, he looks soo cute when napping. I'll lull him around for the rest of the mission so we won't wake him up again."

So yeah, can enemies wake up if you carry them around?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 17, 2015, 02:18:00 am
A chryssalid walks not into a bar, but just outside range of my breaching team. "You're cute, you're coming home with us. Here, look at my buzzing magic stick". A couple of loving tickles later and little chryssie got tired and went to sleep. "Aw, he looks soo cute when napping. I'll lull him around for the rest of the mission so we won't wake him up again."

So yeah, can enemies wake up if you carry them around?

Yes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on November 17, 2015, 02:19:11 am
So yeah, can enemies wake up if you carry them around?

Yes, I've had it happen in the Original game - DOS version, and enemies can wake up in Open X-Com (had that happen a couple of times) so it can happen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: ivandogovich on November 17, 2015, 02:28:34 am
Hmm... you might want to tie him up.  Did you bring rope?
(Are they susceptible to smoke)??

Edit:  Looks like they might be smoke immune. Ack!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2015, 06:17:35 am
I was wondering why gauss cannons use rounds and not magazines. I think i got the cannon parts and magazines from looting a ship, but if the magazines just provide ammo anyway, why the need for the extraction?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: doctor medic on November 17, 2015, 09:24:44 am
I was wondering why gauss cannons use rounds and not magazines. I think i got the cannon parts and magazines from looting a ship, but if the magazines just provide ammo anyway, why the need for the extraction?
Because its more compact and probably takes less space from the vaults
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 18, 2015, 11:09:39 am
Heh.  Just a funny comment here.  Every time I look at the new swabby rank (btw I think the custom ranks are a great improvement) I can't help but think of this:

The idea I wanted to convey is that Swabbie's life is as enduring as a bubble, or to make an association with drowning, but I guess it works too, depending on your sense of humour and your attitude towards the Swabbies :)

Live Chryssalids... yuck! :) Remember that unconscious units in OXCE still take damage, but sadly you can't use melee weapons on them, so you can detonate a small stash of Stun Grenades atop a Chryssalid to ensure it stays down (Knockouts won't work), or use Zapper or Stun Bomb if advanced enough. Also, Stunned guys stand up with 0 TUs, so you can always taze it again when it stands up, but you need 2 people of escort to be sure.

Gauss Cannon Mags & similar were introduced to a) save space in Deployments b) avoid problems with researches & manufactures c) because I thought disassembling them is cool (and gets you some Plastasteel).

The Night Game kinda works (it's not OP, at least), but it is a pain, but Yankes plans (planned?) to add more cool light effects to the sprites, so you'll be able to at least see the spotted enemies and your own troops, as they will be able to be fully-lit even in total darkness.

New version (News of the World) almost ready (need to release before weekend so Meridian can upgrade & check before the recording), playing around with odds and ends now. Like upgraded Blunderbuss. Because I heard you like Blunderbuss, so I put a sexy plastic chassis, laser pointer, and big-ass ammo drum on your Blunderbuss, so you there will be less blunder and more bus. (like usual with sexy blacks, a mix of vanilla, X-Ops and my own pixelart).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Meridian on November 18, 2015, 11:48:54 am
New version (News of the World) almost ready (need to release before weekend so Meridian can upgrade & check before the recording).

No need to hurry... this LP will take a year or two :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Boltgun on November 18, 2015, 11:51:46 am
New version (News of the World) almost ready (need to release before weekend so Meridian can upgrade & check before the recording), playing around with odds and ends now. Like upgraded Blunderbuss. Because I heard you like Blunderbuss, so I put a sexy plastic chassis, laser pointer, and big-ass ammo drum on your Blunderbuss, so you there will be less blunder and more bus. (like usual with sexy blacks, a mix of vanilla, X-Ops and my own pixelart).

*squee*

I love the blunderbuss. As it was about to become obsolete, it was upgraded with acid ammo and stays a top weapon to fight both the trade guild and the academy. One more upgrade will make it an endgame weapon for sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 18, 2015, 06:19:29 pm
New hi-tech blunderbuss? Bring it on! :D Totally looking forward to that! My blunderbuss with explosive ammo is still quite useful, but I'd never say no to an upgrade.

Sidenote:
I realized yesterday that "Heavy Slugthrower" (or something similar) is not just a fluff topic, but actually unlocks a gun too, even though the topic didn't come up. Could it work better if instead of the research topic unlocking 2 UFOPaedia pages, it unlocked one and the used "getOneFree" to give "STR_HEAVY_SLUGTHROWER_GUN" so that it would flash the second article as well?

In fact, I suspect that could be used for a few research topics that have more than one UFOPaedia article, to ensure the player sees both (since it is really annoying to "discover" that your runts have been able to produce this shiny new powerful gun that the brainerz also knew about, but that nobody told you (and reviewing the bootypedia/manufacturing list quickly becomes a tedious task).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 18, 2015, 06:43:55 pm
No can do, "getOneFree" would make the 'heavy slugthrowers' (or any other) topic to be available to research from the start, ignoring its prerequisites. Only 'requiresItem' researches can give free stuff, since they're blocked by the need of an item.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 18, 2015, 07:14:07 pm
Ah.. right. That's too bad. These "double unlocks" where you see only one, and the interrogations where you sometimes see nothing "We have now discovered (empty) messages" and maybe not even a popup, make the game more difficult than it should be. Maybe now that TftD is going better and new features/fixes are being put in, we can get those fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 19, 2015, 03:54:58 am
I'm sure you know this already Dioxine, but you may want to update STR_ALIEN_RETALIATION_UFOPEDIA as apparently, the number of completed facilities in a base increases the chance of detection by Shippings (UFOs) on Crackdown (Retaliation) missions, as well as Hideout Shrouds (Mind Shields) do stack, but at diminishing returns.

Quote from: Warboy
[18:31] <@Warboy> return ((completedFacilities / 6 + 15) / (mindShields + 1));
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 19, 2015, 01:59:36 pm
Actually I didn't know that, thanks a ton!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 19, 2015, 03:55:59 pm
Dear Dioxine, please may you actually pack the mod in a mod lowercased directory? For details see this thread here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4084.msg54563.html#msg54563). Thanks you!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 19, 2015, 04:05:15 pm
Works for me, this doesn't disturb any of my paths.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 19, 2015, 10:10:35 pm
Weird "report" here:

I got a pogrom with lots of gazers/cyclops and one star god. Failed to bag him after 2 turns of fistycuffing, got tired of it (and it panicking my gals) and ended up shooting it.

This was a REALLY weird pogrom though. There was something like 3 civilian casualties (not even sure how they died) and no gal was injured. The few gals who got hit lost a lot of armor, but since there was nothing to hurt them, that didn't seem to be much of a worry. Then lots of ammo and energy swinging techblades were spent to put down cyclops. Seems like the Star Gods didn't quite prepare right for their pogrom?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 12:52:38 am
Reading the bootypedia on Cyclops might help to answer your questions.

Also, for the new update - what's worth new update without a new suit? (based on Zane's alt power suit). This will be hard to research, but *extremely* useful when fighting Star Gods and their ilk...

Not sure yet if to leave eyes red, yellow or maybe make them matching the pirates' eyes.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2015, 02:04:20 am
I actually waited until I had researched both the live one and corpse before commenting. I understand they do little damage but strip lots of armor, which means if exposed, they will whittle you down. But it didn't happen, and they failed to kill more than 3 civilians in the ~15 turns of the pogrom. But they did waste their time targeting civilians any ways. It seemed odd that the Star God (singular, there was only one.. :( ) and his escort would try to slaughter mutants and prove to be worse at it than pretty much any other faction.

What about making it so that their damage scales inversely with armor?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 02:23:45 am
Impossible, but I might simply remove this faction from Pogroms... they aren't, indeed, super-effective when hunting civilians. Or maybe I'll add a badass Terror Unit for them (not as badass as Sectopod, naturally)...
Are you saying the damage wasn't working? It is certainly working for me, and it worked in Boltgun's Let's Play... I have nerfed it a bit, though, so you'll be taking very little Health damage if your res is high (only 65% compared to your armor losses). If you wear Bikini, you'll oftentimes just lose a couple of HPs. I guess complementing this setup with some shotgun-wielding (pretty weak, but very rapid-firing to represent their tech level) enemies could be the trick, they will do tons of damage once you lose your armor. And kill civilians en masse, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2015, 06:41:46 am
Too bad damage can't scale against armor.. That would have been a cool mechanic.

My gals aren't wearing bikinis, the frontline ones are in revenant armor and the support are in mesh. I have 1 juggernaut, 1 loader and 2 hovers for front/mid/rear heavy support.

With good use of terrain, I was able to avoid being shot much, combined with the fact that the cyclops were mostly preoccupied with staring at civilians. When I got hit, I lost a bunch of armor, but never lost any health (presumably because no gal ever ran out of armor?). There were 3 civilian casualties, so they must be doing some damage, but 3 civilians in 15 turns is a very low killing rate (I play on Black Beard, btw, otherwise I find fights get too busy).

I assume Star Gods are scary once you have to deal with multiples of them MCing you, psi-panicking the gals and being their annoying invisible selves. (plus using that beam that ignores armor?!) But in the pogrom I only got one (I am guessing they are the Guild Rep equivalents) so it wasn't too much of an issue. It took a while to kill the cyclops, so they have the right resilience, but it seemed like they were majorly lacking punch for a pogrom. Adding some church neophyte-like little dudes with shotguns to represent the faithful coming to see their god in action could be cool, it would tie the church and the gods.

My following pogrom against the academy was a lot more trouble with the cyberdiscs and acid throwing guns, plus the little drones pewpewing the civilians, and that seemed backwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 20, 2015, 04:26:24 pm
Hey Dioxcine, lookin closer to the RCF carabine, its magazine is supposed to be squared, not "bananned one" as th homefront rifle,here's a screenhot (sorry, i got pointer on the clip >.<

I've taken the liberty to modify that magazine, making a model more fitting, in my huge humbly opinion :) sprite is 32x32, not sure if pallette will work, just maded it with GIMP.


Edit: slightly modified :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 04:35:53 pm
CAR-15/M-16 military magazine:

(https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimgs/l/9/91608_ts.jpg)

lol intrntz

btw indeed the RCF carbine seems to be sporting some sort of a very old CAR-15 magazine variation, but it's only to make it more recognizable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 20, 2015, 04:38:07 pm
Excellent as always, even in the posts!  ;D I remember it was a squared one, maybe in the old models? Whatever, thanks again :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 20, 2015, 06:00:55 pm
Speaking of the RCF rifle, it seems a bit weird that it does less damage than the blackmarch smg, given that an assault rifle should be higher caliber or something than an smg. It does have a slightly better aimed accuracy, though the less damage and higher TU cost hardly makes it worthwhile. The homefront rifle is inferior to the blackmarch smg in every way, and as such i have never found a use for them. I know i mentioned this before with some of the pistols, but it's not that i'm against a plethora of weapon options. I just feel that they need to be relevant at some point in the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 06:19:44 pm
Unlike the other 2 weapons, Blackmarch SMG doesn't get any special ammo & isn't available to buy. Homefront Rifle gets an early (small) upgrade, too. As for the caliber, Blackmarch uses an advanced .45 ACP equivalent, while the other 2 are small-bore rifles using lo-tech ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 20, 2015, 06:37:17 pm
Unlike the other 2 weapons, Blackmarch SMG doesn't get any special ammo & isn't available to buy. Homefront Rifle gets an early (small) upgrade, too. As for the caliber, Blackmarch uses an advanced .45 ACP equivalent, while the other 2 are small-bore rifles using lo-tech ammo.

Hm, i haven't discovered any upgrades for them yet (bayonet not counting). I don't think there's plastasteel, acid or explosive ammo for them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: niculinux on November 20, 2015, 06:46:01 pm
"Service comunications" for questions, doubt and "knowledge" about the game instead of technical stuff see here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.0.html#new)!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 07:54:20 pm
I don't think there's plastasteel, acid or explosive ammo for them?

No, something else. One is easy-ish to develop, the other a little harder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 20, 2015, 08:42:57 pm
No, something else. One is easy-ish to develop, the other a little harder.

Wow, much question, very mystery, so hide, wow :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2015, 09:26:29 pm
haha I don't know if the homefront rifle has anything but the bayonet. It's a pretty cool idea, but it is rapidly outclassed by other guns due to their stopping power. That being said, it's good for training rookies. They can do ok pot-shot, and have a lightweight weapon that combines autoshots and melee to clear buildings (provided the opposition isn't armoured, then they can yell "I FOUND HIM! I FOUND HIM" and run ;)).

Dioxine, any chance we could see a "chain bayonet" à la 40k after discovering the little chain knife? The "gun + melee" concept is cool and could be expanded on. First wave breachers have a lot of melee weapons + pistol options, but it'd be cool to have a short-range accurate (or auto) gun to follow/cover them with that also has a melee option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 10:31:41 pm
Wow, much question, very mystery, so hide, wow :P

U-wow... nobody likes me... u-wow... Have a new mod version, I worked very hard on it, it's not like I don't hate you -idiot!

https://www.mediafire.com/?ck2mfkrwcpm2nz4
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 20, 2015, 10:55:40 pm
Just relased 0.96...yeppiee!!

Hey Dioxine,  on 0.95C if i activate the (recommended) option "Spend research item" after i interrogate a living enemy, i'm supposed to have wasted he/she? Openxcom syas that "Living aliens will be returnet to the general stores" but as for piratez, seems i cannot use he/she anymore? Screenshit of the workshop attached. So it's a bug or what?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2015, 11:03:56 pm
An unfortunate side effect of interrogation is that in increase the death rate of the subject to 100% within 1 minute of completing their last confession. You are given a body (in this case spartan booty), not a live one. If you were given a live one, then you could chain interrogate one, which would be stupid.

@Dioxine: Looks nice! Looking forward to trying it this weekend :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2015, 11:11:30 pm
An unfortunate side effect of interrogation is that in increase the death rate of the subject to 100% within 1 minute of completing their last confession. You are given a body

Booty is not the same as body, booty means loot, who needs a dead corpse? A gravedigger maybe, but he'll want money. It is not said the subject is killed (unless it's a demon or something edible); it's up to the player. The subjects are simply unfit for more interrogations, possibly because they don't know anything, and are likely released.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2015, 11:14:32 pm
Fair enough, it's just that you get a "booty" from a corpse in battle (because you loot it, I know), so they are easy to equate. I should have been clearer, as I said in the example, I think you are given a booty after interrogating the subject. Whatever happens to the person/thing, they are unfit for either enslaving or interrogating or anything, so you never see them again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 20, 2015, 11:16:29 pm
Thanks, i'd like to have some more in depth explanation, maybe someone may be so kind to tell here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg54663.html#msg54663)? (arthanor already has fired i while i wrote this post!)

Hey Dioxine, probably you've forgotten to update the OXCE_Piratez_readme.txt file, because it says "VERSION:0.95B" inside it

Just dowloanded 0.96 , trying with 0.95C saves, hope it will be all ok ;)

Edit: Strange that runt outfit is unlimited, maybe a gift for the suffering provided? :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 21, 2015, 08:47:59 am
U-wow... nobody likes me... u-wow... Have a new mod version, I worked very hard on it, it's not like I don't hate you -idiot!

Uh, did i say something wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.95C - 29 Oct - Interfaces & Critical Fixes
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 21, 2015, 08:53:37 am
haha I don't know if the homefront rifle has anything but the bayonet. It's a pretty cool idea, but it is rapidly outclassed by other guns due to their stopping power. That being said, it's good for training rookies.

The bow can also be good at training rookies i think, given it's high accuracy modifier and unlimited ammo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: ivandogovich on November 21, 2015, 03:40:29 pm
FYI:  When downloading the .96 file from Mediafire, Chrome flags it as malicious.  Not sure why.  My AV scanned it clean.  Maybe just the site.  It might DL fine from the mod site.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2015, 04:06:25 pm
FYI:  When downloading the .96 file from Mediafire, Chrome flags it as malicious.  Not sure why.  My AV scanned it clean.  Maybe just the site.  It might DL fine from the mod site.

Google doesn't own MediaFire, and it's a very popular service. Add 2+2 :) In general, Google discourages downloading archives and execs. The same exact file is on the Modsite now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Hobbes on November 21, 2015, 04:52:55 pm
Google doesn't own MediaFire, and it's a very popular service. Add 2+2 :) In general, Google discourages downloading archives and execs. The same exact file is on the Modsite now.

I also got this issue but by going to the download page of Chrome you can recover the .zip file. The mod portal is still broken, i.e., I can't download the latest Piratez for this reason.

I noticed that you added the Slums and Complex terrains but using craft. I don't know if you noticed it yet but you're going to have missing walls on buildings because of how the map blocks for those terrains are designed. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2015, 05:20:21 pm
I noticed that you added the Slums and Complex terrains but using craft. I don't know if you noticed it yet but you're going to have missing walls on buildings because of how the map blocks for those terrains are designed.

I got used to missing walls in your terrains, it's a little rough & chaotic but not a real problem, pirates fly their ships with bravado and no attention to little detail :) Btw how do I get back the "landing in shrubs" in the jungle and "landing on top of boxes" in Area 51?

EDIT: looks like a broken link on mod-portar. Joshua, get your #@%$ together... Re-uploading...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 21, 2015, 06:46:33 pm
Tryed the 0.95c saved games on 0.96 and the game hanged a bit...then returned normal...don't know if usin newer versions will make the player miss new features, like the newspaper, it's possible? And even cripple research?

In the meantime, started a new game on the 0.96 (playng the most hard level i was being beated for gooooood!!!  :o )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: doctor medic on November 21, 2015, 07:46:12 pm
It shouldnt disable any important research,but if you research something that was removed or youre researching something that in the newer update removes said item then things can get weird.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 21, 2015, 08:22:21 pm
Oh so i suppose it's always better have a new game to be safe.  :'( Hey ON certain terrain, when i shoot ans assault a ship, if i make some (even accidentally) blow, nearly half of the map explodes (!!!) I suppose it's a feature? It occuurs in maps with the wrekage of airplanes :P (suppose it's mutuated form TFTD)  8)

Also, inspired by this post (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3972.msg54717.html#msg54717) would be nice to have a facility that decresas the days required to gals to be cured, maybe something like "Sanatory"..may even be not researched first, since it's a primary need (instead of the base defence facilities) may it find its way in 0.97?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 21, 2015, 08:55:12 pm
There are already medical facilities, but I don't think they help recovery time. It would be a nice touch. We'll see..

It is always better to start a new game with updates, but Piratez is such a long game that you will be starting a new game without ever finishing one, or you will be missing the new features. Neither of which are great. I certainly will be trying to upgrade!

Google doesn't own MediaFire, and it's a very popular service. Add 2+2 :) In general, Google discourages downloading archives and execs. The same exact file is on the Modsite now.
I don't think it's MediaFire, but some archival sites will add "promotional software" to installers when they archive them. Usually, running the installer will have a page with an already checked box that say "Yes, please install X on my computer" so if you just click "next", you will get it and you have to pay attention and uncheck the box, but some websites have started to dispense altogether with the page and just install it. Since you are running an installer for a program you want and already gave it permission to instal, it goes through. It's a nasty thing and it might be why google flags downloading a .exe from archival sites as potentially malicious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2015, 09:27:56 pm
Yeah possibly, but MediaFire has no installer, downloader or uploader, or anything. Flash interface is as insane as they go, which is not very much for this insane world.
I personally think it's Google pushing their Cloud tech to net-junkies, by, amongst other means, discouraging large (voluntary) downolads.
I'm always running 2 antivirus programs plus Peerblock, not counting normal Firefox & Windows firewalls, so I think I'm reasonably clean.

Med facilities are not supported by the code in any way, so I cannot add them (and even if I could, I dunno - the recovery time seems just right. Maybe a chance to ressurect a freshly-killed soldier instead...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 21, 2015, 09:42:19 pm
[...]

Med facilities are not supported by the code in any way, so I cannot add them (and even if I could, I dunno - the recovery time seems just right. Maybe a chance to ressurect a freshly-killed soldier instead...)

Vodoo-powers related?  ;)

Edit: Please mind reading for upgrades 0.97 and onwards.  (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4104.0/topicseen.html#msg54742)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: robin on November 21, 2015, 11:29:14 pm
i've been following a bit Meridian's LP; just bits so i might be mistaken, but: maybe researching all enemies is a bit out of place for this mod?
as far as i understand the world is how it is since a while; pogroms have been happening for quite some time, it is not an "invasion" started "one month ago".
i understand researching bio-engineered terror units an robots (the latter so you can tie to manufacture), but stuff like the "ghouls" give me the idea of common (relatively) grunts that should be known among the outlaws-rebels-whatever.
making many of these "soldier"-type of enemies known would also slim down the research tree, which isn't a bad thing (the interface is not friendly to many research topics).

just an impression.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 21, 2015, 11:58:34 pm
I would expect that until the game starts, the gals would have ran the hell away from a pogrom, so they don't really know much about other real enemies. The game doesn't feel like the gals have been doing this for a while (they would have something better than muskets and pirate outfits). Although the world has been what it is for some time, it seems like before January 2610, the gals were just common bandits, probably preying on regular humans. Then they found the hideout (you don't know much about it at the beginning: Can't build a lab, the vaults are full of junk) and decided to think big and somehow managed to extort the governments for protection money.

Actually, a "Who is the enemy?" follow up to "Contact: Mutant Alliance" could be cool. It would represent the gals getting info from their new allies and could open the bootypedia entry of some low level enemies to see their armor and vulnerabilities. So you spend some time being clueless, but if you are looking for it, the info would be there so you can face problems properly.

The "common ruffians" entry factions could get a bit more detail, while the main ones would give less. Then you keep the corpse and interrogation research projects for the topics that actually lead somewhere (or for those who didn't bother with the mutant alliance).

Different topic: Who's that idiot who suggested increasing the weights of heavy weapons?! I didn't checked after upgrading, now I'm raiding a terror ship with gals that can't carry their kit! ;) Joking and my own stupidity aside, I think that works well. Hover is much less obvious of a choice over loader/juggernaut now.

Edit: And great work on the UFO recolors. Those look awesome! A lot more dark and menacing than the originals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 03:22:30 am
Where's the fun in exploring lore if everything is laid bare at the beginning of the game? Who'd have the patience to read Pedia if it was twice as long? You get basic human stats at the beginning and human enemies are usually close to that template. Unless armored, but that armor is like magic to your gals - and if it isn't, it's not that important for them. Yeah most enemy researches are just random (if sometimes useful) stuff (most grunts have a ton of random topics to talk about) and tidbits of info as a prize. You don't really need to research that many enemies, if you don't want to. But where's the fun of playing the game if you get no prizes? There is no corpse research for common enemies, that'd make no sense. As for slimming down the research tree? Well. No. Not really. It's the opposite direction we're travelling here, sorry. "Who is the enemy" of sorts does exist, it's called "Who is Who" and IS followed by "Contact: Mutant Alliance".
Also, all topics, at least potentially, lead somewhere. Yes. No real 'dead topics' since this would kill replay value. The Ghoul itself is not much important, but he will talk about one random topic, and you need ALL of them in the end, or at least most (but you can get them from multiple alternate sources). You need to know all basic weapons and all ship types, that's for sure. You need countries for much stuff as well. Missions, not really yet, but this will also change and there will be prizes for getting a ton of mission lore.
Oh yeah and there are usually prize-researches for interrogating all members of a faction as well. So... no 'useless' stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Hobbes on November 22, 2015, 03:26:19 am
I got used to missing walls in your terrains, it's a little rough & chaotic but not a real problem, pirates fly their ships with bravado and no attention to little detail :) Btw how do I get back the "landing in shrubs" in the jungle and "landing on top of boxes" in Area 51?

You'll need to reset those map blocks as landing areas for craft (groups: 1)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 01:26:44 pm
Hey, just thinking: inspired by RareOne's dart wepons mor for x-piratez (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4098.0.html) may be nice to have some research-related improved harpoon gun, with a more roomy ammo capacity (6 rounds) and 4 different types of ammo: piercing, stun, poisonous and explosive (rambo docet! It's a pity bows in the game do not have ammo types  :'( ). That research topic may also unlock dart gun, only with 2 ammo types, piercing and stunning and a limited magazine size (let's say 3 rounds)

Also, may we get a hexen-alike mace instead of that anonimous lead pipe? Altough it may make some sense because it's kinda related to the pile of junk item, i find very strange  :-\  Here's a sample:

(https://i.imgur.com/xuAAezd.png)

Actually i never paid attention, but it resembles the one seen in the cartoon series "Fist of The North Star" :o (hey do some researech and look with your own eyes!!! Though the one featured in the aforementioned has a cylinder more taller). Well...the are many more examples provided by Google, for different ideas, i hoe this may intersting. I think it should be buyable from the black market, so that the pipe may instead being discovered among the junk :D

Another thing, may be also some more interesting havin an "RCF carabine" and a "RCF Rifle", the latter might be the actual carabine featured in the  game, the former more M-14 style, more lighter and longing range that the rifle. An example may be here (https://www.models-resource.com/pc_computer/thebureauxcomdeclassified/model/9400/), or the usual Google footage:

(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LxkVC2dDbsY/UKqmHbs8v3I/AAAAAAAAAfg/kNQpg1gm204/s1600/m-14.jpg)

:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 02:12:55 pm
The spiked mace is a nice idea, I like spiked maces. But not for a starter weapon, maybe later on. As for the Ruger 14 Mini, too close to the Hunting Rifle I think...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 02:44:27 pm
The spiked mace is a nice idea, I like spiked maces. But not for a starter weapon, maybe later on. As for the Ruger 14 Mini, too close to the Hunting Rifle I think...

Well, seems a Ruger, but i googled m-14, actually ruger was a copy as far as i know, is it so? A mace would suit perfectly to the game, i thought more as a strartin weapon, maybe research eould lead eventually to an elerium mace (there is a mod on the forum, made by tyrian nick). Like happens with the bow/force bow. :)

Oh and the eventual "RCF Carabine" should not have autofire, for some balancing sake...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 03:13:03 pm
Elerium Mace is already in the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 03:20:25 pm
Sorry my bad. :( Maybe the carabine should also have a  lighter mazazione (15 rounds) but a bit more powerful than the rifle. also, another ancient smg in the black market to  buy woukd be fine (there are lots of handguns and few submachineguns), such as a sterling, or even an PPS-43, the second is a Red Army weapon, kt really shoukd not be missing in piratez!!!  :D

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 22, 2015, 04:23:19 pm
How about a spiked mace unlocked with some armor research? Or used by a faction and introduced in a similar way as longsword (but manufacturable with a pipe + some scrap metal?)

Maces were a good weapon to deal with armor, I think? So something like: More clumsy than a sword, but ignores some of the target's armor? Lower hit % as it is more difficult to land a telling blow, but ignore some armor so when you hit and armored foe, you hit a bit harder.

We have a lot of choppy weapons, but we could indeed use a few more blunt ones. Spiked mace research could then become a pre-req for the elerium one.

As for guns.. I tend to agree with Dioxine that we have a lot.

Also, I noticed you attached my juggernaut recolor. That's nice :) But for some reason the ruleset fails to overwrite big/floor obs #910, so the corpses don't display properly. I've attached a working ruleset.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 05:18:51 pm
How about a spiked mace unlocked with some armor research? Or used by a faction and introduced in a similar way as longsword (but manufacturable with a pipe + some scrap metal?)

Actually these were pretty ancient weapons, even romans made use of them, though spiked model (morning star) appeared durin medieval age. I really can't see why research may be needed to produce them, could be present in the BM since the start. Research ay birn to elerium mace, as i wrote in the post above.

Maces were a good weapon to deal with armor, I think? So something like: More clumsy than a sword, but ignores some of the target's armor? Lower hit % as it is more difficult to land a telling blow, but ignore some armor so when you hit and armored foe, you hit a bit harder.

I'm not a technical guy...but yes these may bring both stun and concussive damage, the % percentage accuracy ma by greater than a sword (maces are rathcer "big" in comparison ta a sword) but of poor usage agains heavy armored enemies, fair against average ones, pretty effective against unarmored. Maybe some strenght may be required for optimal usage (bonus)
[/quote]

As for guns.. I tend to agree with Dioxine that we have a lot.
[...].

OK, I don't wanna insist, but there are 6-7 handguns and only a couple of smg right avaiable at the BM at start. Moreover there are quite some pieces rather unusual in videogames. Having these in piratez may be interesting, since less featured, as far as i know. Please google and see if something stimulate your fantasies, here some examples:

PPSH-41 (i mentioned nother model above, sry for the mistake, i meant the following)
(https://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/images/uploads/ppsh41_1945/ppsh41_1945-040849_4.jpg)
(please note, my be made by modifing the thompson m1928 sprite...ma be interesting, since it could have worst accuracy in the game, since it has not any hand grip, but a bit more long range than the spraygun. damage: 23?)

Sterling Mk 4:
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/Tim_Orrock/Sterling%20Mk4/P1040836-1.jpg)

(alternatively, a Sten)
(https://www.corpsecandle.com/wwiirolemaster/Sten%20Mk3.jpg)

Beretta MBA 30
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Beretta_M1938.jpg)

The first two are british smg, the last is an italian one so may all the world represented in guns in piratez?  ;D

Spraygun..resembles the old M£ grease gun, so that's fine:
(https://www.pixstel.com/m3-grease-gun-smg_pics154-15438.jpg)

Another potential inspiration for the rcf carabine i mentioned before may, other than an M-14 (which i prefer) may be an FN-FAL (belgian rifle) maded in both auto and non auto version, the latter may be fitting in the game:

(https://world.guns.ru/userfiles/images/assault/as24/fal_imbel.jpg)

In closing, i really never stood the actual rcf carabine firing sound (seeems tom me more a quack/squack sound O_o) any chance to replace in the next versions? Some inspiration may come from here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3924.msg50763.html#msg50763). ;)

Edit: also battle flag should be manufacturable since the very beginning, costing 50$ each one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 22, 2015, 06:12:42 pm
Actually these were pretty ancient weapons, even romans made use of them, though spiked model (morning star) appeared durin medieval age. I really can't see why research may be needed to produce them, could be present in the BM since the start.
Well, at the beginning, the gals aren't really into weapons theory it seems. Much like you need research to tell you that a smaller sword you can put in your belt is nice (short sword), I think a more refined blunt weapon could too. Otherwise you get everything at the start and who's gonna use the pipe when they have a mace?

Why would the black market sell maces? That's awfully backwards when there are guns, unless it has an antique department ;) Swords and daggers have a prestige around them so they might still be around for officers, and hammers for doing work.

Quote
Research ay birn to elerium mace, as i wrote in the post above.
Sorry what?

Quote
I'm not a technical guy...but yes these may bring both stun and concussive damage, the % percentage accuracy ma by greater than a sword (maces are rathcer "big" in comparison ta a sword) but of poor usage agains heavy armored enemies, fair against average ones, pretty effective against unarmored. Maybe some strenght may be required for optimal usage (bonus)

In my experience, a weapon being big has nothing to do with hitting lots. Being big (and heavy) means being cumbersome to use and harder to hit with because your blows are slower (same strength, larger mass = lower acceleration). To me a mace should have lower hit %, but maybe gain accuracy as.. 15% of strength? As you get stronger you have an easier time swinging it? That'd be a cool mechanic for blunt weapons.

Also it seemed like a sword suffers more from armor (nothing to cut, more difficult to land a telling blow) than a mace (still something to smash, if you smash through armor, it makes even more of a mess) and looking at the wiki articles, it seems like warhammers were a development to deal with plate armor, maces are also mentioned as having flanges or spikes to help penetrating armor, whereas swords/axes are just mentioned as having issues with hard steel and scoring glancing hits.

Quote
Edit: also battle flag should be manufacturable since the very beginning, costing 50$ each one.
I agree, or made relatively accessible? It's been a year in game and I still can't make one I think. And since I started before it was introduced, I didn't get one at the start either.

Different topic: I've been playing with the Full Plate and enjoying it quite a lot. But I found the shield to be a bit oddly placed, so I tweaked it. I've attached a modified handob and a screenshot of the changes (top = new, bottom = old).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 06:34:10 pm
[...]
Sorry what?

Emh.. I mean after some research player may be able to make an elerium mace.  Mace is really a simple weapon, one step above the club or a stone hatchet i'd dare to say. Gals woulds see it like a "lead pipe with spikes" (possible bootypedia desctiption) so i think there's not necessary a "genius" to figure it out (referring to piratez, fo course!)

In my experience, a weapon being big has nothing to do with hitting lots. Being big (and heavy) means being cumbersome to use and harder to hit with because your blows are slower (same strength, larger mass = lower acceleration). To me a mace should have lower hit %, but maybe gain accuracy as.. 15% of strength? As you get stronger you have an easier time swinging it? That'd be a cool mechanic for blunt weapons.

Also it seemed like a sword suffers more from armor (nothing to cut, more difficult to land a telling blow) than a mace (still something to smash, if you smash through armor, it makes even more of a mess) and looking at the wiki articles, it seems like warhammers were a development to deal with plate armor, maces are also mentioned as having flanges or spikes to help penetrating armor, whereas swords/axes are just mentioned as having issues with hard steel and scoring glancing hits.

Nice explanation  8), but honestly i thought of it just for a possible replacement for the lead pipe  :) Another way: Primitive weapons research topic may also bring to two-edge axe and mace, for instance. :D

I agree, or made relatively accessible? It's been a year in game and I still can't make one I think. And since I started before it was introduced, I didn't get one at the start either.

Battle flag never were avaiable since start?!? Actually now makes mooore sense with the combat stress actually, not before. Should be makeable as pirate clothing.

To complete the picture, also a couple of western weapons may be fine, these surely may appear after some research, eg Winchester model 1894:
(https://www.votesprout.com/replica-images/replica-weapons-38-650.jpg)

and a colt pacemaker:
(https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/guns/images/1/17/SAA_P1870.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20060421202552)

Also, some "incitement" may come from imfdb.org (https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Main_Page), it really a must see, even for a freaking sick maniac like me  :o The ruger mini 14 featured in the A-team series (without folding stock) may be interesting

"Boys, I love whan a plan comes togheter"
(https://i.imgur.com/esvjJKN.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 06:37:52 pm
Well, at the beginning, the gals aren't really into weapons theory it seems. Much like you need research to tell you that a smaller sword you can put in your belt is nice (short sword), I think a more refined blunt weapon could too. Otherwise you get everything at the start and who's gonna use the pipe when they have a mace?

It's hard to expect from them to know all the refinements the medieval people have made to their weapons. That knowledge was lost (even today, some of it has been lost), as most of the history was lost. Figuring out a spiked mace and methods to make it requires some braining. Well, I don't say that the weapon isn't known in the world, just that the gals do not know it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 22, 2015, 07:57:50 pm
@ Dioxine: oh..ok...peraphs if there enough stuff i thunk new should be added, as  i wrote some post ago, unless there are original ideas, above are just some clues. Hey, another rrreeeeeeaaaalyyyyy cool may be.. Freddie Krueger wand!

Example:
(https://s12.postimg.org/3yfna51ih/freddy_krueger_glove_mw_100889_1.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/3yfna51ih/)

Amy be named "Assassin wand"...and even unlacked with "Primitive weapons"... damage type: 10 (cutting). More light than a dagger but more TU to use. Virtually useless agains average-armored enemies.

Also,  the actual blunderbuss may be a startin weapons as the  musket, with a shotgun-alike fire, damage 30, a bit faster reloading time (25 TU) but only 1 shot  in the chamber:

Example:
(https://www.armisoftairsanmarino.com/images/417a+Fm+ZeL._SL1000_.jpg)
(sprite may be sone more longer, modifying the musket one)

The current one eventually one may become "Auto blunderbuss" and may be produced after "Flinktlock and bombs" has been reserched. Seems fine?

@ Arthanor: really like the shield there. It provides some armor bonus, but prevent usin two handed weapons i guess...;)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 22, 2015, 08:01:23 pm
If there were a "pain" psi-tree built around torture/interrogation/slavery (panic as usual, instead of mind control, a torture spell that ignores armor and inflicts many low damage hits to cause lots of fatal wounds), that could be the psi-amp for it if Dioxine and Yankes figure out a way to allow psi-amps to also inflict melee damage. Could be pretty cool!

Regarding the shield, Dioxine did that, I just moved it around a bit so it looks better in the gals' hand. It does increase armor, and takes up a hand so you'd get an aiming malus for using a 2-hand weapon. I use it with newish gals, give them a smartpistol so they can hit something and they are cheap walking tanks to board easy (normal firearms) crafts. Great for training and sparing your good gals from the possible grenade/rpg injuries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 09:22:32 pm
If there were a "pain" psi-tree built around torture/interrogation/slavery (panic as usual, instead of mind control, a torture spell that ignores armor and inflicts many low damage hits to cause lots of fatal wounds), that could be the psi-amp for it if Dioxine and Yankes figure out a way to allow psi-amps to also inflict melee damage. Could be pretty cool!

This is within the scope of the Illusion discipline, and indeed, the weapon you describe is very close to what the Star Gods already have (and you, as well, if you get the Ghost Armor). This would just be a mutation that fires multiple weaker bolts, and Cutting instead of Plasma.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 22, 2015, 09:27:25 pm
Ah! Well.. I'm a voodoo n0ob. Just getting my first gals with some training now! :D Got 2 witch outfits waiting (man is it ever a pain to find medallions.. had to ruleset dig to see where I could get some from, because I really wanted to finally try voodoo!). Soon it'll be shenanigans time!!!

Maybe as a slightly easier alternative to MC (since MC has a lot more potential than outright killing) it would be cool to get a DoT power. Bonus points if it also sets the target on fire  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2015, 09:37:18 pm
It's easier since the damaging voodoo weapons always work, even if your VooDoo powers are quite average. For MC to work reliably, you need masters. As for the fire, yeah, it is possible, but it's more of the Destruction discipline :) And yeah, there will be more voodoo toys, since basically all vanilla VooDoo, plus invisibility, plus armor-ignoring beams, are Illusion. The 3 remaining disciplines need each a comparable number of options :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 22, 2015, 09:49:38 pm
Destruction discipline? Even more disciplines? *runs to the Voodoo hut*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Yankes on November 23, 2015, 12:13:56 am
I'm not a technical guy...but yes these may bring both stun and concussive damage, the % percentage accuracy ma by greater than a sword (maces are rathcer "big" in comparison ta a sword) but of poor usage agains heavy armored enemies, fair against average ones, pretty effective against unarmored. Maybe some strenght may be required for optimal usage (bonus)
Quit opposite, sword are poor against armor. Maces and warhammers was added as can openers. Spikes on it was great tool to focus all impact in one spot that can easy pierce armor and under layers (nobody used armor on bare skin). Even plain mace is effective against armor because you can store a lot of energy in one swing that if even don't bend armor, it will still affect enemy (image this like boxing fight, even with glows you can KO enemy).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 23, 2015, 03:47:02 am
Indeed, would be cool to see some similar mechanic, with maces ignoring a bit or armor to represent how they work (and do a bit of stun too), swords as the best "average" and axes for raw damage.

Although.. So far it seems like the only weapon-type to get upgraded are swords. Went from cutlass to longsword to techblade to electro-sword, but no mace/axe/hammer upgrade..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2015, 05:17:35 am
Does the hammer need an upgrade? (rhetorical question).

But yeah, specialized can-openers can be nice for melee weapons... but they might be simply too powerful in the first place, why need a can-opener when your starting melee weapons cut through armor quite nicely already... I need to rethink this whole thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 23, 2015, 01:52:47 pm
Does the hammer need an upgrade? (rhetorical question).

But yeah, specialized can-openers can be nice for melee weapons... but they might be simply too powerful in the first place, why need a can-opener when your starting melee weapons cut through armor quite nicely already... I need to rethink this whole thing.

Well, there is a distinction to be made between variuos can openers types..like the (two handed, keep in mind) hammer is very powerful, maces, could be really efffective against unarmored/ poorly armored enemies, but users may gea a small strenght bonus (+5). Same for spiked maces, which sould get some more damage power (+5)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 23, 2015, 04:34:01 pm
maces, could be really efffective against unarmored/ poorly armored enemies
Dude! Maces are good against armor, not the opposite! :P

@Dioxine: I think the hammer could get something new, yes. I'd even go so far as to say it should. Not because it is not powerful enough (lol) but because I just feel it's wrong for it to still shine even against hi-tech weapons. It's still just a demolition hammer!

My suggestion for the hammer: Thunder hammer :D To go with the electro-sword.
Similar damage, I'd say lower starting power, better melee to power scaling meaning better damage for high melee gals (it's more tricky to land a telling blow and time it with the power/electro-field burst).

As a side effect, it drains the target's TUs on top of better stun damage (concussive+electro field = good stun). The "TU drain" makes enemies less likely to react back at you. One of the main disadvantage of the hammer compared to melee is that since it is a "gun", it causes reaction fire, whereas real melee weapons don't. By having the thunder hammer drain TUs, you improve on the hammer by helping survivability of the user. (I don't use hammer against strong foes with strong guns, because many times they get my gal if the first hit isn't enough to kill).

Even better if you can tweak the explosion radius + falloff (I think you can in Extended?) so that it does max ~60 damage (ie average power = 40, actual = 20 to 60) 1 tile away from the point of impact. (I will work on a "electro-splosion" recolored animation if you do that). Doesn't add much except cool destruction in certain terrain, and maybe the ability to kill unarmored enemies, but it would make it stand out. It would also restrict its use to armors with better than 60 under armor (= juggernaut), otherwise you damage yourself and drain your own TUs.

As for adding a "can opener" mace to the game, I think it could work. I'd say:
- Need primitive weapons ("invented" along the spear as the total opposite weapon)
- Takes a pipe and scrap metal to make a mace.
- Lower or similar power to a cutlass ( depends more on Str, less on Melee, which also means it will cap lower since Str cap is lower than Melee cap, but Str is easier to train), but concussive type
- Lower accuracy: With an added dependency on Str (stronger = better control of a heavier weapon)
- Higher TU/Stam cost (they are cumbersome weapons)
- Ignores.. say 25% of armor?

By no means a no-brainer upgrade, but good to have if you expect to face dudes in medium (personal) armor. Doesn't really work on power armor, but better than a cutlass. Not all enemies have high enough armor and it's not outright superior to warrant entirely replacing swords, but it's annoying enough to have your cutlasses bounce and get shot point blank. So it'd be good to have the extra little hitting power for insurance by bringing 1-2 mace gals in the boarding party. I'd expect the sword gals to kill more (they get less tired so get to strike more, also they hit more), but upon seeing a PA-dude, would likely send the maces to kill, so they'd get more armored dudes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: ivandogovich on November 23, 2015, 06:01:04 pm
The mace discussion is very interesting.  I really like Arthanor's proposal for balance and tactical utility. :)   
Also, I think the idea of the Electro Hammer is pretty darn cool. :) Maybe Thor's Hammer template?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: xaphias on November 23, 2015, 06:02:02 pm
I was running .95C and game stops in a terror mission, I believe it's a heavy armor trader body guard, that doesn't know what to do, chased him into a corner, and now enemy turn doesn't end, it just says hidden movement. I saw that he was just standing in one spot and turning 45 degrees back and forth... upgraded to .96 same thing. anyway to salvage that save? it's on ironman mode :/
will include the save if anyone wants to take a crack at it, I should have just crashed the client and resumed from an autosave 3-5 turns back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2015, 06:10:39 pm
No crash/hang detected here. 2 enemies left, one is dropping unconscious at the start of their turn. Try debug mode, or, if it fails, add fatal wounds (in the save) to the enemies to kill them instantly. Might be a Nightly problem, but that will be adressed in the next version.
Also, I don't reccomend Ironman before 1.0. Self-impose it, but save before each mission at least (there is a crash-prone building in the Dawn City map, for example).

EDIT:
@Arthanor: yeah Thunder Hammer was planned from long ago, very similar to what you describe, just I need Terminator Armors first :) Also, while maces are a good idea (and I'd implement they basically almost exactly as you suggest), I routinely kill Power Armor with axes... So is there even need? Same with the hammer, it remains good enough even in the end-game... Maybe I should add 'increases target armor' to all bladed weapons, like swords, machetes? Axes would stay at 'armor unchanged'. Or make a general melee power nerfing, but I abhor doing such sweeping changes, better to fine-tune...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: xaphias on November 23, 2015, 06:36:11 pm
Ah thanx you, I managed to get past it with debug mode! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 23, 2015, 08:49:54 pm
You know what would be cool? Shrapnel mortar missile.

Imagine something not quite as powerful as the normal ammo, but with absurdly huge radius, like twice as big. Damage type: as crate of violence.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 23, 2015, 10:10:20 pm
With the caveat that it does little damage to terrain and armor? Could be cool :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 23, 2015, 11:04:50 pm
Dude! Maces are good against armor, not the opposite! :P

[...]
By no means a no-brainer upgrade, but good to have if you expect to face dudes in medium (personal) armor. Doesn't really work on power armor, but better than a cutlass. Not all enemies have high enough armor and it's not outright superior to warrant entirely replacing swords, but it's annoying enough to have your cutlasses bounce and get shot point blank. So it'd be good to have the extra little hitting power for insurance by bringing 1-2 mace gals in the boarding party. I'd expect the sword gals to kill more (they get less tired so get to strike more, also they hit more), but upon seeing a PA-dude, would likely send the maces to kill, so they'd get more armored dudes.

Not always true actually, because the more thougher is an armore, the less a mace would be useful...still may be littele effective against medium ones, spiked or not...hell a power armor damege by a mace...i don't think...for the rest i agree...mace may be an upgrade of a club with nails, that may be also a potentil startin addiction to the arsenal!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 24, 2015, 02:35:50 am
Is this based on some experience? (Sorry Dioxine for the weapons debate derail, feel free to move a bunch of post to a "we want maces!" type thread). My experience comes from fencing, where the clothes are "hard" enough to not break when hit. But the heavier the sword (foil to épée -> more impact) the more it hurts even though no material was broken, because it has more impact. And you can try a heavy medieval re-enactment foam sword, that hurts too!
From what I have read, the tougher the material the armor is made from, the less useful swords and edged weapons become because the blade can't "bite" into it, so you just get glancing blows. But since a sword is not very heavy, that's not much of a blow.

By opposition, it doesn't matter how hard you are, a large impact (being hit by something heavy) will cause some trauma and possibly concuss you as well. That's why car airbags are important and why cars deform when hitting something: They reduce the impact. You could build a super hard car, but the human body would not be able to survive the impact without a cushion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 24, 2015, 04:05:33 am
Dioxine,

Quick question: how did you manage the color effect on the background images (Back_04.gif, Back_05.gif, Back_06.gif, etc) ?

Trying to replicate it and it's not looking the same at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 24, 2015, 09:57:33 am
Is this based on some experience? (Sorry Dioxine for the weapons debate derail, feel free to move a bunch of post to a "we want maces!" type thread). My experience comes from fencing, where the close are "hard" enough to not break when hit. But the heavier the sword (foil to épée -> more impact) the more it hurts even though no material was broken, because it has more impact. And you can try a heavy medieval re-enactment foam sword, that hurts too!
[...]

Actually not experience involved..I just figured out in the year 2601 a power armor may be simply to tough to even damage... :'( Just my ideas ^-?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 24, 2015, 10:29:52 am
Actually not experience involved..I just figured out in the year 2601 a power armor may be simply to tough to even damage... :'( Just my ideas ^-?

That would make the game pretty short. ;)

Actually, it depends a lot on the powered armour's quality. Really good power armours indeed would have little to no weak points and they'd require special means to deal with, like adhesive explosive charges to detonate on their backs or whatever. But nothing explicitly says that Piratez power armours are that good; actually, they seem to be more of the crappy sort. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Boltgun on November 24, 2015, 11:06:06 am
I can definitely see a gal cleave a power armor helmet with an axe. And I can see her hit a joint with a sword to chop an arm.

Imo let's add more emphasis to melee skill with swords, with less base power, and armor reduction to blunts. The former will be important to take out cyclops and the later will work better against power armors. Axes would keep the same stats, using pure strength but without the armor modifier.

Currently there is too little difference between the three kinds and I simply gave tech blades to everyone.

Semi related : In DF, swords have low contact area, causing them to either be stopped by armor completely, pass through unchecked or to bend the armor causing a conversion to blunt damage. Blunt are more effective against armor because they are less often blocked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 24, 2015, 03:56:18 pm
No worries. Power armor is indeed hard to damage!

But it would make sense for maces to be better at it than swords as you can still smash someone around and it'll hurt (except maybe for beastmasters..), whereas if you can't cut through the armor, the sword won't do much ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 24, 2015, 07:51:49 pm
No worries. Power armor is indeed hard to damage!

But it would make sense for maces to be better at it than swords as you can still smash someone around and it'll hurt (except maybe for beastmasters..), whereas if you can't cut through the armor, the sword won't do much ;)

An sword made for ubers weighs a couple kilos, so I doubt it's painless. :) Classical swords are actually semi-blunt weapons due to their weight and rigidity. Of course it doesn't apply to daggers, katanas, rapiers and the like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 25, 2015, 02:18:31 pm
I have discovered a CTD that occurs every time i shoot incendiary ammo with the SMG (the one looking like an uzi). I don't know if it applies to multiple guns that use incendiary ammo, or just the SMG, or that it is in fact the SMG itself and not the ammo that causes the crash, but it happens every time in 0.96
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 25, 2015, 05:34:33 pm
I have discovered a CTD that occurs every time i shoot incendiary ammo with the SMG (the one looking like an uzi). I don't know if it applies to multiple guns that use incendiary ammo, or just the SMG, or that it is in fact the SMG itself and not the ammo that causes the crash, but it happens every time in 0.96

Would you have a save?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 25, 2015, 06:15:47 pm
No need, already fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 25, 2015, 07:10:51 pm

Quick question: how did you manage the color effect on the background images (Back_04.gif, Back_05.gif, Back_06.gif, etc) ?

Trying to replicate it and it's not looking the same at all.

Ok, does anyone know how? I've been trying layer after layer and I can't seem to get the color just right.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 25, 2015, 07:23:03 pm
Extract the palette? Here's the one I was using, I think:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Cristao on November 25, 2015, 11:05:25 pm
Finally got a piece of research - death and glory. Now off to find traders to get the last access code.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 25, 2015, 11:51:30 pm
Good stuff! We'll catch with 0.97 version, hopefully to be relased by end jaunary/beginning of february 2016, just guessing...:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 26, 2015, 01:18:03 am
Extract the palette? Here's the one I was using, I think:

I couldn't figure out how to do this with GIMP and this helped a ton. Thanks Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Cristao on November 27, 2015, 12:34:30 am
Finally completed the game. There seems to be something wrong on the final level. Weapons fire really slowly. It can take 20 secs for auto shots. Meanwhile on the first Cydonia level, all is well. Kindly look into it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 27, 2015, 01:17:11 am
Well, there's nothing I can do - it's unmodified, after all... And I don't write the code for the game...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 27, 2015, 04:23:44 am
It isn't modified at all? I could see it slowing down a computer if it were made bigger or had more enemies, but if nothing is changed.. odd. I'll see when I get there.. in.. 3 years :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 27, 2015, 04:30:09 am
Well, the map size is increased a bit, and there are a bit more enemies, but nothing like in some Pogroms. Also no one has ever reported such a bug yet. Maybe it's karma going back at Cristao for cheating his way to victory :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 27, 2015, 06:00:56 pm
Never thought i'd get to hear bagpipe music in an XCOM game :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 27, 2015, 06:32:33 pm
@ Dioxine: just before (my) christmas break: as for starting armors I'd switch: Pirate clothing: illimitate at start with armor 15 while Runt duds, production for 75$  armor 20. Small TU penality -5 just an idea don't know, since duds seems to me requiring a lil more "figuring out" by gals and brainers!

As for possible addiction, related to this (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg54788.html#msg54788), this (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg54794.html#msg54794) and this (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg54801.html#msg54801) another nice addiction may be a chinese pps43 submachine gun, that would nicely fit, as the homefront rifle:

(https://s2.postimg.org/lcj0q4xe1/PPS43_PIS12_D.jpg)
(with or without folding stock.

Also, maybe don't mind the western revolver on the second linked post, since the rusty niner is fine, but the western lever-action rifle, another submachine gun and another carabine see  (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.1410.html)) may be balanced things to be put as buyable in the black market since game start. Mace may be either buyable and/or manufaturable after havin researched primitive weapons (Arthanor suggesitons seems fine as for requirements to make these (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg54867.html#msg54867)). Or maybe even a spiked bat may added, don't know if manufacturable or buyable since start:

(https://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a155/Kronin/TMP/armi%20TMP/mazzachiodata.jpg)

that's really all. Just gonna waith the 0.97, cheers!!

Edit: smaller pps43 image

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 27, 2015, 08:09:42 pm
Looks like the next version will be delayed till next week because of nightly upgrades - I'll have to script all the new missions in, I think... But when it's done, there will be a mission balance of sorts (the 'trading' missions appearing more regularly).

@Niculinux: Stop spamming the thread with these f*ckhuge images of weapons, or I'll start deleting them. If you really feel an insatiable urge to use them, link them (wikipedia is fine). I know perfectly well how a PPSh looks, my grandma had one.

For now, a mace preview for all you blunt weapon enthusiasts:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 27, 2015, 08:58:48 pm
NICE :D

I was running numbers earlier to make a mace as well, and found it surprisingly difficult to create something that is balanced compared to other low-tech melee weapons but still useful and different. We have converged to very similar solutions (but I like yours better..!)

Do you have plans for a "thunder hammer"? If not I should work on one.

PS: I'm looking forward to more trading (and looting!) and less crazy missions. Now the church has decided to sway governments in Europe after infiltrating them (which.. doesn't quite make sense since they already left me.. but I guess that's even more church bases coming up...  >:()

PPS: I also agree about the images, linked or attached works a lot better. In general, I don't think there is much of a need for more early rifles any ways. This is not the "every gun which ever existed" mod, it's already surprising that there are so many "normal" rifles in the early 2600s!

PPPS(!): Meridian's comment about "and the hammer will be.. the hammer" meaning you could rely on it made me think again about how reliable and powerful it can be. I was wondering if, maybe, the solution to the smash stuff but doesn't hit all the time could be making the hammer and pickaxe melee weapons with a range 1 snapshot which only/mostly damages terrain? The fact that a hammer hits 99% of the time really makes it stand out as far as "melee" weapons go, and makes others much less interesting (ex.: swords strike faster and take less stamina, but since you miss and still waste the TUs and stam, you might as well take the hammer)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Meridian on November 27, 2015, 09:11:40 pm
I promise I won't abuse the hammer... please leave me with at least one reliable weapon, pretty please.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 27, 2015, 09:59:03 pm
Ok, sorry to everybody :, ( I know it's not a matter of "every gun existed" but a more balanced variety would be interesting, differencing between smg, carabines (mauser karabiner 98 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser_Karabiner_98k) may be also a fine piece, along with the above mentioned m-14) and rifles; these were sheer suggestions/ideas/clues to eventually explore. Take for another example the blunderbuss/autoblunderbuss weapon thing, so for instance later in the game would be no need for an improved blunderbuss because in the 2600 technology offers loads of hardware at disposal...another thing may be: for balancing sake most black market wepons may be low/ood tech, while more modern ones may be had to stsal and research.

Hey thanks for the mace! If you Dioxine may relase next version a bit more delayed, let's say around 20 dec, would be fine so more testing and balancing may happen :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 27, 2015, 10:38:33 pm
haha I am specifically not using the hammer because I feel dirty when doing it.. It is much more interesting to try to make cutlasses, axes, short swords and spears work than just picking hammers since you can't miss. I only take it out to clear elevators (one instance where melee weapons completely fail since you can't stab up). I also feel wrong that my hammer gals become great markswomen. To me, the hammer makes melee accuracy obsolete by not requiring it and also making its user a great shot eventually. Maybe if its damage heavily depended on melee (if you're not a good fighter, it's too slow to land a telling hit on anyone? but then that'd break the terrain damage capabilities).

You do highlight something interesting though, and it is the lack of really reliable melee weapons. There are quite a few guns with crazy accuracy (shotguns and blunderbuss for short range, sniper rifles and bows for long range) which allow gals with even just 65% accuracy to hit very reliably. And if it doesn't kill? Just shoot again (with another gal if necessary) or hide around the corner. You don't get that kind of backup or easy escape when using melee weapons. You do get better damage (especially in the early game), but a short string of misses is much more likely to mean a dead gal.

Gals used to start with very high melee accuracy, but that was nerfed (rightfully). There was no "starting melee" weapon added to help in the budding warriors though. I guess there's the spear and billhook, but you also need good bravery/throwing accuracy for it to be worth it, otherwise it's ballbats, pipes and shovels for their "melee/2+50" hit chances. Which actually I'd say is fair enough.

I would say the solution lies in squad (and particularly boarding party) composition:
- Fewer melee weapons (only on gals that have quite good odds to hit): cutlass/axe/billhooks/spears on the best gals to deal with PA, ballbats/pipes/shovels/billhooks/spears on "training gals" to bash the non-PA targets (and leave the PA killers free to kill PA) so they can train their melee accuracy.
- A few gals with better short range backup in the form of blunderbuss (special ammo make that gun a great personal armor killer) and shotguns (great for reaction training too) to try to save the melee gals if things go wrong/ambush enemy units that might be coming after the melee gal who missed and could only run a few tiles. Generally, shotguns are pretty much unused in Piratez, and the blunderbuss.. maybe 1/team?
- Midrange support who can lob explosives at PA and take the pressure off the front lines
- Long range support who can snipe/blow up PA if really needed (tends to be even more expensive, but also tends to get the job done)

One weapon that would be cool is a gladiator net. Drains stamina and TUs on hit (to represent entanglement) and applies some stun damage. Is it possible to also drop firing/melee accuracies like if the target had suffered damage? Or TUs on the next turn? Or melee dodge? Basically, what do you do if your target proves impervious to your weapons? You trap it until it is at your mercy and then hit it many times with something heavy :D Doesn't matter if your weapon is inaccurate or unwieldy if you can swing however many times it takes.

Although thanks to my new friend Tesla, I found a weapon I like even more than I ever liked the hammer :D

@niculinux: You really think there isn't enough variety in starting guns? That's probably one of the most well furnished tier of any game/mod, and most people barely look at it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 27, 2015, 10:49:51 pm
@niculinux: You really think there isn't enough variety in starting guns? That's probably one of the most well furnished tier of any game/mod, and most people barely look at it.

probably it's may fault because some years ago while still i used windows i used to play to jagged alliance 2 with mod/patch 1.13 that provided 2000+ weapons!!!! :o

Well i think aside of mace, whatever will be its fate to be buyable or  not, 4-5 weapons in tne black market from start (2  arabines, 2 smg and a rifle) may be nice, even as cosmetic variant since balancing may start to become demanding. As for the hammer actually it should less accurate in comparison to other melee weapons since is deadly, but may be slow and heavy to handle. I really did not see the reason for the existence of a shovel in the black market, it' more to be found as loot. ;) It may be replaced in tne BM by the mace, and eventuzlly a an halberd may be added as manufacturable weapons once you research "primitive weapons"..so as for melee weapoms these may be enough. :) A single shot blunderbuss may be added by modifiyng this sprite (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3392.msg40541.html#msg40541) at Dioxine's airlight hangar!

as for gladiator net: may be an alternative/improvement and have same usage as the rope. Shotguns are not that used by player i giess since they host less ammunition in their chambers, but i'm ok with these because are conceived for certain strategies : D hey, in the very end that blinky flash across the screen while firing a flamethrower or a grenade explodes  may be removed or it's more an openxcom extended feature?

edit: the usual typos

edit: some thoughts
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: ivandogovich on November 27, 2015, 11:20:58 pm
Gladiator net sounds impressive!! Me-likes!!

Also @Niculiunx:  JA 2 1.13 is amazing and a lovely game.  The gun choice is drool worthy for a gun nut.  However, the philosophy of PirateZ is to provide a balanced game with extra similar guns for flavor purposes (sprag gun & smg is one example).  Different factions carry different weapons for immersion rather than to fill lots of niche weapons.  The Original Piratez thread was filled with many of the same suggestions that you have proposed again, and Dioxine explained his philosophy a few times there.

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 27, 2015, 11:28:14 pm
Also @Niculiunx:  JA 2 1.13 is amazing and a lovely game.  The gun choice is drool worthy for a gun nut.  However, the philosophy of PirateZ is to provide a balanced game with extra similar guns for flavor purposes (sprag gun & smg is one example).  Different factions carry different weapons for immersion rather than to fill lots of niche weapons.  The Original Piratez thread was filled with many of the same suggestions that you have proposed again, and Dioxine explained his philosophy a few times there.

Cheers, Ivan :D

Right, i just thought since this is piratez extended there might be room more "extenction" also for weapons...but in the end ok, i won't to the weapon maniac anymore!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 28, 2015, 01:39:59 am
You should make a "Moar gunzes" mod for X-Piratez where you put a gazillion other rifles in ;P then those who want it can use it but Dioxine doesn't have to worry about it. I would use it. There's never too many gunzes!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 28, 2015, 02:13:49 am
It's also a matter of workload. If you give me guns with finished pixel art, that's taking 50-75% workload off me (depending on gfx quality), but 25% times 40 guns is still 10 other objects which might be more interesting to the player. If you just throw an idea, I have to choose between more or less useless 'variety' gun and something which actually is needed to call it 1.0.

About the hammer... no, dropping its damage (which DOES heavily depend on Melee) would be too gamey. A hammer is a hammer. Well, this is a magical hammer that always hits, but it still has its mass. The very fact that Meridian calls it 'the only reliable weapon' means it has to be nerfed. Not much. I'm just upping the TU use from 24 to 30 (and the same goes for its little brother, Pickaxe, 20 to 26 TUs). And Stamina cost stays the same as it is now. Once your gals get 90-100 TUs, 30 won't be that painful. See? No less dependable, just more Kamikaze :)

Otoh, Meridian, no more 100% Fire Immune enemies, as you have unassailably reasoned! Except for Power Armor, but I'm thinking about making them vulnerable too, but only to WP shells (0.1 Fire Res will reduce their fire damage to taking 1 HP per each 6 Flamer blasts/flaming floors, and immune to catching fire, but still able to be somewhat burnt by eg. Mortar WP shells - they'll cause 4-13 damage, which might make a difference on a 40-60 HP enemy). I need also to rething gal's Fire Res, naturally... the 'no more fire res' should work both ways...

EDIT: actually, I think there are too many weapons available from the start, discouraging reading, I'd rather move some of the non-neccesities (like, not the Panzerfaust for sure, it has to stay) to a bulk Contact-like, early & cheap research so the player is introduced more gradually. But Moar Gunz seems like a good idea (if not worth the huge effort at this point).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 28, 2015, 03:59:14 am
I'm still standing for a switch to melee weapon with terrain damaging snapshot for the hammer and pickaxe instead f what they are, but I'm 100% fine with modding things to fit what I want put of them too.

I don't know if nerfing the hammer will ever solve the problem. I think it's either worth it or not, there isn't much of a space in between for balanced for a thing that hits all the time with heavy damage.

I fully agree with the switch of incendiary immunity towards fire immunity (as in "can stand in flames and be fine") instead of bot taking any damage from flamethrower and WP ammo. But honestly I don't think it makes much of a difference. Things with high resist will go from "must be taken out with something else" to "really should be taken out with something else", which isn't all that different. It's just a small iteration towards perfect. And I think there should be some 100% closed armor with life support that is immune to all/most fire.

Reducing the weapons available at the start and adding a contact research for bootypedia and black market unlocks of more gun sounds good. I'd like a 2nd tier that also allows one to purchase some more gun like assault rifles and maybe even blackmarches
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Imeryak on November 28, 2015, 06:50:37 am
I have a suggestion about the sniper weapon.  Shot from it costs a lot of tu, it may miss with 100% chance to hit, and even if hit, can cause no damage (even with HE rounds).
tftd random (50%-150%) damage formula can remove the last flaw. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 28, 2015, 07:54:52 am
The first flaw is an engine flaw. Some trajectories are impossible, yet the engine allows to shoot. So ask the devs.

HE rounds ALWAYS use 'TFTD' damage roll, so the second one is irrelevant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 28, 2015, 10:42:34 am
It's also a matter of workload. If you give me guns with finished pixel art, that's taking 50-75% workload off me (depending on gfx quality), but 25% times 40 guns is still 10 other objects which might be more interesting to the player. If you just throw an idea, I have to choose between more or less useless 'variety' gun and something which actually is needed to call it 1.0.

About the hammer... no, dropping its damage (which DOES heavily depend on Melee) would be too gamey. A hammer is a hammer. Well, this is a magical hammer that always hits, but it still has its mass. The very fact that Meridian calls it 'the only reliable weapon' means it has to be nerfed. Not much. I'm just upping the TU use from 24 to 30 (and the same goes for its little brother, Pickaxe, 20 to 26 TUs). And Stamina cost stays the same as it is now. Once your gals get 90-100 TUs, 30 won't be that painful. See? No less dependable, just more Kamikaze :)

Otoh, Meridian, no more 100% Fire Immune enemies, as you have unassailably reasoned! Except for Power Armor, but I'm thinking about making them vulnerable too, but only to WP shells (0.1 Fire Res will reduce their fire damage to taking 1 HP per each 6 Flamer blasts/flaming floors, and immune to catching fire, but still able to be somewhat burnt by eg. Mortar WP shells - they'll cause 4-13 damage, which might make a difference on a 40-60 HP enemy). I need also to rething gal's Fire Res, naturally... the 'no more fire res' should work both ways...

EDIT: actually, I think there are too many weapons available from the start, discouraging reading, I'd rather move some of the non-neccesities (like, not the Panzerfaust for sure, it has to stay) to a bulk Contact-like, early & cheap research so the player is introduced more gradually. But Moar Gunz seems like a good idea (if not worth the huge effort at this point).

Well..time for a "call to arms"? Maybe someone may want to open a thread where to post contributions? (seriously, no joke)ù!) Wuld be an awesome thing!! I made a preyy pathetic attempt opening my own thread (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3934.msg50864.html#msg50864) but' i'm abolutely sure you guys here may be lots better!! Take for example gifty's garage (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2630.0.html) or other possibly sources for inspiration may be here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3924.0.html)

@Arthanor: I'm kinda curious to see some contributions of yours!!

@Dioxine, i absolutely agree with what you stated above, especially to more gradually introduced weapons; fort example heavy shotgun and combat shotgun should not be present in the black market, these are kinda more advanced weapons to be stolen/researched from other factions; eventually these may be fine replaced by a carabine in the BM, something intermediate between SMG and a rifle with a bit less TU required to fire than a rifle but no autoshot. (m-14 ruger maybe?)

Another interestin' thing i already wrote some posts ago is related muskets and flintlocks pistols: 1 shot per chamber for both, but balls magazine with 5 bullets instead of 3, firing and reloading TU are fine as they are now. That would make the game a bit more realistic, also more "melee-oriented" (at least at the beginning, but mostly would be a serious incentive to player to keep looting/researching better weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 28, 2015, 12:03:33 pm
Alo, a nice move may be to replace the vanilla skyranger with  Roxis123's X-95 Blackbird (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3944.0.html), it's a verysuperultracool and futuristic plane that would perfectly suit the game. Or at least with a modified skyranger, there's some stuff in the ources post i mentioned above, like Aldorn's one ;)

Edit: as i stated before, in the 0.96 download, the OXCE_Piratez_readme.txt file, in the directory XPiratez readme/ still displays an olr version number, the 0.95b. Screenie attached :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 28, 2015, 11:51:17 pm
Talking about the next release...

Welcome to Hell.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 29, 2015, 02:35:13 am
*stares at the bushes* Are those shurbifiers?  :-\

Looking forward to it!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 29, 2015, 02:55:24 am
*stares at the bushes* Are those shurbifiers?  :-\

kinsoku jikō desu~

(but there will be more than 1 new fun way to die terrain in the next release)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 29, 2015, 05:32:07 am
 :o

I better not tell the gals.. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 29, 2015, 07:37:26 pm
Just playing at the 4 on 5 difficulty level (Davis Jones who the jack was he :D ) and some considerations: our abilities should not a research topic, but by default present in lore at the start, along with our "fight" and "primitive weapons" so that player may be able to make them at the start, also because bow, crossbow and spears are known since the dawn of the mankind....maybe some othere things may be added, that may need more "thinking" :) also because at this level the enemies did not even miss a shot..on the  second of jaunary 2601!!!!

Also "Personal armor parts" should be renamed "Security human armor" or something, maybe the gal do not know what is a personal armor; also it may unlock "basic armor" while "tools and blades" may be in the base research tree...as for flintlock "clips" i suggested above may be better if those have 6 bullets, and shoud be fairly light to carry..

edit: i think there is still some general fine tuning to do, but most is done, some little stuff  and 2-3 missions to add maybe.. but still huge difference between 3 and 4 difficulty level, so if i'll keep playng gonna stick witn the third ;) as for hell screenshot...things are likely to go south!! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: robin on November 29, 2015, 09:22:43 pm
Talking about the next release...

Welcome to Hell.
reminds me of the petrified underground forest of the vault under industria, from the anime future boy conan.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on November 29, 2015, 09:27:56 pm
Already another version on the horizon?

I'm caught between excitement and joy... but dread because I still haven't really reached the end-game in majority of my playthroughs without there being another version released (Farthest has been Annihilator Armor but hadn't even unlocked the end-game "keys").

With Commendations built in now, that'd be a really great release for the next version. I've just been wracking my head and not sure what pirates would award (other than booty and not being dead). Sashes, fancy bitz, (some) medals, pins, necklaces; I figure, the more "flair" a pirate has (see any of the grizzled/"veteran" pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean series), that's more indicative of their status or rank?

I looked at the Commendations ruleset and yikes. The workload to bring that up to PirateZ level with all the extra ranks and factions is crazy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on November 29, 2015, 10:05:49 pm
Personally, it' almost two years i play the game and never ever really ended the year 2601 (!!!!!!). Until the 1.0 will come out my playng would be more kinda "testful". But as imstated above, most is done, we will see hopefully fina version by june/july 2016...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 29, 2015, 10:42:47 pm
So far I've been through.. 4 updates? It's not that hard to upgrade. The only big change was around the shift to OXCE.

Keep it up Dioxine!  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Roxis231 on November 29, 2015, 11:03:06 pm
Had some Reticulan Missions a few days ago.  Two problems - when killed/stunned the Elder uses the Hybrid corpse, and the Siren corpse just looks like a Hybrid with a bad wig.

So I did a quick recolour and presto - a better Siren corpse. (the mod I made for it crashes the game though).

If any one wants to use my recolour below - feel free.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 29, 2015, 11:13:28 pm
I looked at the Commendations ruleset and yikes. The workload to bring that up to PirateZ level with all the extra ranks and factions is crazy.

No worries, the latest OXCE build doesn't support Commendations yet. But it does support Mission Scripting.
There will be some work associated with carrying saves over to 0.97, but all you need will be outlined here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on November 30, 2015, 02:42:19 am
1: Witness distress signal from "The Star Gods" Pogrom
2: Outfit the gals to deal with highest damage gear regardless of type to deal with cyclops
3: Fly the Bonny to the pogrom
4: Deploy and crazy stuff flies by the lead scout
5: Look around: "You mean.. actual staR GODS?! More than one?!"
6: Star God tanks 6 auto-cannon shots: "We're outta here gals, no way we're going through this."

-655 points ensue, DioxiiIIIINE!!!

Even when it feels like you have everything under control and can handle what the game throws at you, there's still some surprises :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 30, 2015, 05:07:47 am
Happy times like these will be some day over, but not very soon. Late Year 2 will bring Elite versions of basic factions taking over 1/3rd of the missions. Early Year 4, if you're not on Mars yet, will replace another 1/3rd with Nightmare versions :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Cristao on November 30, 2015, 09:53:30 am
1: Witness distress signal from "The Star Gods" Pogrom
2: Outfit the gals to deal with highest damage gear regardless of type to deal with cyclops
3: Fly the Bonny to the pogrom
4: Deploy and crazy stuff flies by the lead scout
5: Look around: "You mean.. actual staR GODS?! More than one?!"
6: Star God tanks 6 auto-cannon shots: "We're outta here gals, no way we're going through this."

-655 points ensue, DioxiiIIIINE!!!

Even when it feels like you have everything under control and can handle what the game throws at you, there's still some surprises :D

Welcome. I loaded my old stun pistol for this one and proceeded to move in groups of four. The Star God Coordinators are basterds ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 30, 2015, 08:55:04 pm
-655 points ensue, DioxiiIIIINE!!!

(https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/457901055678746624/gNS4RpM7.jpeg)


:D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 30, 2015, 09:58:58 pm
I know the ufopedia entry says that human booty is useless (or was that raider booty?), but am i missing some research or is it really utterly redundant?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on November 30, 2015, 10:31:43 pm
You'll find out in due time... Nothing critical is dependant on garnering that, that I can promise. OR, you have an old version of the mod :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 30, 2015, 11:14:13 pm
You'll find out in due time... Nothing critical is dependant on garnering that, that I can promise. OR, you have an old version of the mod :)

Yeah i just found a use for it :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 01, 2015, 05:14:25 pm
A while back i asked about reaction shots only being snap shots, but i didn't ask if it was possible to enable aimed and/or auto for reaction shots. Is it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 01, 2015, 05:26:55 pm
I certainly hope not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 01, 2015, 09:19:05 pm
Hey, don't wanna be ripetitive, but just watching meridian x-piratez let's play (ep 4 progrom) and fuso knives do have "ammunition" (these are counted in n. 6 units) so why bow and x-bow can't have a 30 shots quiver? Plus with research eventually explosive and poisoned arrows may be manufacted...also i never pointed outanywhere in the forums,  but why very small ufos once crash landed arent covered in flames and smoke, even just a bit?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 01, 2015, 09:29:33 pm
Hey, don't wanna be ripetitive, but just watching meridian x-piratez let's play (ep 4 progrom) and fuso knives do have "ammunition" (these are counted in n. 6 units) so why bow and x-bow can't have a 30 shots quiver? Plus with research eventually explosive and poisoned arrows may be manufacted...also i never pointed outanywhere in the forums,  but why very small ufos once crash landed arent covered in flames and smoke, even just a bit?

Because if the Bow & X-Bow get stuck with ammo, they are essentially non-unique and superfluous and easily replaced by guns.

The main aspect is the unlimited ammo (essentially a very accessible and "weak" weapon similar to vanilla X-Com's Laser weapons) and damage scaling. However, the damage scaling is poor if the pirate using it isn't "properly trained", that is, having the correct stats for it. Otherwise, sniper rifles can easily replace the role of Bows/X-Bows as they have damage scaling and much better range.

Now the ammunition type isn't a bad idea but the same could be said for having more weapons have alternate ammunition (not all weapons have alternate ammunition).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 01, 2015, 09:38:23 pm
I know but that would make the game...even more challenginng! Definitely, we need something originally hard to play ;) plus the usual realism as side effect. Technically speaking the bow/x-bow would vave 1 shot in "chamber" and need to be reloaded every shot. The whooe thing its not a matter of life and death, i just did not payd attention to the fuso knives before, so i was asking myself, why this "discrimination".

@DracoGriffin: some weapons/stuff you would see added in the game? I really a wincnester lever action rifle would fit nicely weel, what ypu think about? ;)

Edit: also, i've seen that highwaymen are very though but i think but they are not supposed to be, since they are commomd bandits, but then they are because them too are mutants? Bjt they are also less technologically armed, so maybe some adjustment to that faction may be needed. The Spartans on the other hand while usually well harmed aren't hard to bag, because they are purebloods? How about to switch thei thughness? Sry don't know if i was clear but hope you get the idea
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 01, 2015, 10:03:40 pm
Reloading a bow would look ultra-retarded. Chik-chok, quiver loaded, sir! No. Not a chance.

Highwaymen aren't any harder than Spartans. They're harder to capture because their armor is geared for melee, while Spartans wear (crappy) bullet protection. Spartans have higher stats.

Fuso Knives disappear after you use them. If your bow disappeared because you fired a few arrows, it'd be retarded. Geez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 01, 2015, 10:09:08 pm
Uh ok thuugh i thought the quiver instead have to disappear..but then peraphs is a technical limitation of openxcom extended, quver ammo cannot go down until disappearing? Aside that, i'll make it with unlimited bow ammo ^-^.

As for tne factions, the highwaymen are reeaaly touugh to beat down, well, it has to live with now imsee thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on December 01, 2015, 10:55:13 pm
Having quivers to swap the kind of arrow you want to use (for explosive and acid/poison ones :D) would be cool. Although reloading your bow with a quiver full of arrow would look stupid (and having to carry arrows individually would be annoying), it might be worth it.

Actually, instead of a quiver, we could have a "handful of arrows", which take.. a 2x1 place in inventory. Then reloading the bow represents the archer setting them up in front of him. I think archers planted arrows in front of them for faster shooting instead of shooting directly from the quiver. So you'd have to reload your bow every.. 3-5 arrows? Basic arrows are free to manufacture and take few runt-hours, explosive/alloy/poison/incendiary arrows take more time and require special ingredients. Since extended allows you to set reload times, it could be set very low too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 02, 2015, 12:15:46 am
Nah, it works as it is, I won't try to ruin it. Special arrows are the only good argument, but special arrows should ruin bow's accuracy, but this cannot be modded, so they'd be unrealistically powerful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 02, 2015, 02:14:21 am
I have noticed that i have 13 plasma pistols in my vaults, but they don't show up when i go to equip my ship. Is this a bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 02, 2015, 02:23:34 am
You wished it was a bug. Ever heard of being unable to use weapons without researching them? And no, Assault Rifle isn't the same as Plasma Pistol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 02, 2015, 03:59:33 am
With the sniper rifle i get that it gets a power bonus based on the shooter's firing accuracy, but i just researched the Python HSR, and it has "Power bonus: Firing (AP)". What does the AP stand for?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 02, 2015, 04:14:06 am
It actually says "POWER Bonus (AP): FIRING*0.3". Now, what are the three ammo types available for this weapon?

EDIT:
@Niculinux: Ye wanted yer Ruger, son, well you may have it. Better be grateful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 02, 2015, 07:54:12 am
Hey Dioxine, instead of cramming everything into one entry, would the _FAUX string trick work to hold the melee information?

STR_S_CARBINE: "Scoped Carbine"
STR_S_CARBINE_FAUX: "Scoped Carbine - Melee" ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 02, 2015, 08:26:44 am
Yeah but is this really neccesary? Everything neatly fits into a single line.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 02, 2015, 09:21:15 am
It actually says "POWER Bonus (AP): FIRING*0.3". Now, what are the three ammo types available for this weapon?

EDIT:
@Niculinux: Ye wanted yer Ruger, son, well you may have it. Better be grateful.

Absolutely! Loeve Dioxine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It may be buyable? And the scope would be an upgrade? Thanks Your Highness!!!!!

Edit: post repeated twice!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 03, 2015, 01:30:21 am
It actually says "POWER Bonus (AP): FIRING*0.3". Now, what are the three ammo types available for this weapon?

Yeah i thought about that, but does it mean that the extra power bonus only applies when using the armor piercing ammo, or that the extra damage is of the piercing damage type?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on December 03, 2015, 01:48:47 am
It only applies to the AP ammo, I think. I guess saying:

AP Ammo: Power Bonus = FIRING*0.3

might be the clearest if that's indeed the case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 03, 2015, 08:53:37 pm
[...]And the scope would be an upgrade? Thanks Your Highness!!!!!

with the due research, the scoped version may be an upgrade, like occours with the hunting rifle...?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 03, 2015, 08:55:01 pm
No.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 03, 2015, 09:04:05 pm
No.

Roger, Cap'n!  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 03, 2015, 10:20:08 pm
If i'm not mistaken, the next version is not that far away (any estimate?), and i just wanted to know if the saves between versions are compatible, so i do not have to restart when the new version arrives
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 03, 2015, 10:34:32 pm
here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4133.0.html#msg55366)



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Arthanor on December 03, 2015, 11:06:58 pm
There's rarely game breaking changes. New missions are the closest it comes to, really. It's likely you'll just discover new research projects that should have been researched a long time ago or some such, and then also have the wealth of new stuff Dioxine added to the mod. It's worth upgrading.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: niculinux on December 04, 2015, 10:10:26 am
Hey, another "odl" thing: i've seen that not all of i pick up from fallen enemies is "weird thingle", for eg. laser weapons: how about to make also these "weirds" so player must have research these before make use? Maybe game would be as near as impossible?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2015, 11:53:15 am
No. These guns are made for the general public. People of 27th century generally know how to replace a magazine, use iron sights, and pull a trigger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.96 - 20 Nov - News of the World
Post by: Meridian on December 04, 2015, 11:58:19 am
No. These guns are made for the general public. People of 27th century generally know how to replace a magazine, use iron sights, and pull a trigger.

Fortunately so, because people of 23rd century had problems even switching between stun and kill setting on their phasers  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2015, 07:44:05 pm
Version 0.97 is up. A big, huge, and absolutely must-have update, as it not only fixes a ton of bugs and adds much, much content, but also upgrades the game engine four months forward, which allowed me to add all sorts of functionalities. Be warned though: new global mission structures are not really tested yet, so things may go really savage on Planet Earth. But I recommend it. Check the Pedia and stores, too, some free stuff appeared in both places.

Special thanks to SolariusScorch for helping to expand lore, and DracoGriffin whose relentless LP allowed me to find and fix tons of little bugs, with less effort and far better value than if I played myself. When you were muttering about this or that being uncool, I was there to hear your voice, man.

Check the separate thread on how to upgrade your saves from 0.96.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 04, 2015, 08:11:07 pm
Cheers! Now to update everything.. was thinking of restarting a game from my last entry in the Capt'n's log, seems like a good time to do so!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Meridian on December 04, 2015, 09:16:45 pm
The upgrade was successful as far as I can say.

One thing though... you should mention that the saves need to be moved into "piratez" subdirectory.

Also, I found the following new things in the bootypedia, can you confirm all is OK?:
- spiked mace
- stone hatchet
- blowpipe
- hunting bow (renamed bow?)
- combat bow
- armored vaults
- smugglers
- contacts: black market
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 04, 2015, 09:22:46 pm
Do we get... Soldier Diaries yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2015, 09:26:06 pm
Everything checks. Hunting bow is new (the old bow is now called Combat Bow). Check also the market - I decided to make some of needlessly hard to find stuff, like a Blowpipe or that infamous Stone Hatchet, buyable from the start. After all, these kinds of things are really not rocket science, plus, I think it's better to clutter the blackmarket a bit than the manufacture menu.

Also please research Contact: Smugglers - it is now a preq to the Basic Bullet Manufacturing, renamed to Firearms and Munitions, which I believe you already have.

Oh and one more thing... if upon landing you see a terrain that looks unnatural, expect anything to happen, and don't blame me for anything :) (no instakills there, though, I promise, cross my heart).

@Draco
OXCE doesn't have it yet - it is always a couple of months behind the Nightlies, for obvious reasons. What we got now is Mission Scripting, multiple soldier types and Soldier Diaries will (hopefully!) appear in 2016 :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 04, 2015, 09:31:02 pm
Everything checks. Hunting bow is new (the old bow is now called Combat Bow). Check also the market - I decided to make some of needlessly hard to find stuff, like a Blowpipe or that infamous Stone Hatchet, buyable from the start. After all, these kinds of things are really not rocket science, plus, I think it's better to clutter the blackmarket a bit than the manufacture menu.

Also please research Contact: Smugglers - it is now a preq to the Basic Bullet Manufacturing, renamed to Firearms and Munitions, which I believe you already have.

Oh and one more thing... if upon landing you see a terrain that looks unnatural, expect anything to happen, and don't blame me for anything :) (no instakills there, though, I promise, cross my heart).

@Draco
OXCE doesn't have it yet - it is always a couple of months behind the Nightlies, for obvious reasons. What we got now is Mission Scripting, multiple soldier types and Soldier Diaries will (hopefully!) appear in 2016 :)

See! I don't wanna gyp myself out of a brand new start. If this base defense goes poorly (again because I should have cheesed it instead of playing overly aggressive/reckless), then I'll probably just start a fresh 0.97 campaign.

Multiple soldier types, huh? Wonder what dastardly things you are cooking up... not to mention the endless mission scripting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Meridian on December 04, 2015, 10:12:21 pm
Also please research Contact: Smugglers - it is now a preq to the Basic Bullet Manufacturing, renamed to Firearms and Munitions, which I believe you already have.

OK, will do. There are 3 more new topics after the upgrade to 0.97:
- Javelins
- Linux SMG
- UAC plasmagun ... this doesn't look right, should it be there? it researches immediately and doesn't do anything...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 04, 2015, 10:26:57 pm
OK, will do. There are 3 more new topics after the upgrade to 0.97:
- Javelins
- Linux SMG
- UAC plasmagun ... this doesn't look right, should it be there? it researches immediately and doesn't do anything...

Hurrò for the new version! I must abolutely get my hands on the linux smg!!!!!!!!!! I preffered that piratez clothes were the only defaulted ones, since runt is more military-alike thatis ougth to need some research, as well armored vaults but whatever:)

As Meridian wrote, researching the UAG gun gives nothing, even in the bootypedia. The startin research hotis attached. Let's hope it's not a bug  :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2015, 10:35:40 pm
Yeah right, the UAC Plasmagun research is a bug, a single line of code has mysteriously disappeared. Just ignore it, it doesn't do anything.

@Draco: Upgrading that deep into campaign won't give you any problems, most of what changed is early game. But if you simply need a fresh start... :)

And don't get too excited about soldier types, it will probably take months for OXCE to start supporting that, or an infinity if Yankes gets fed up with doing his thing :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 04, 2015, 10:39:50 pm
Yeah right, the UAC Plasmagun research is a bug, a single line of code has mysteriously disappeared. Just ignore it, it doesn't do anything.

[..]

ok, giving a shot right now, it will be fixed for next relase ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2015, 10:48:52 pm
@Draco: Mission scripting? I'm not Hobbes, the scripts will be simple, realistic, 80% boring 20% savage :) I let the RNG do the most scripting for me.

@Meridian: Except the UAC (research it off-camera and forget, it really doesn't do anything by itself), other research checks out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 05, 2015, 12:04:57 am
Et voilà here we go with the linux smg! Linux in the sense of custom :P (see screenshot attached)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Cristao on December 05, 2015, 12:13:36 am
Right on time. Now I play again with less cheats - No big money.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 05, 2015, 09:29:25 pm
Hey another thing which i hope won't be a bug: researchin "primitive weapon" ulocks the research topic "javelins", but also when i finisehd to research "primitive weapons" i can already manufacture "javelins" without research them first, is that intended? Shot attached
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 05, 2015, 09:33:39 pm
It is a bug, fixed. Thanks! But no reason to worry, it will cause no other problems. Plus, I think I will release a new version with bugfixes within a few days.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Roxis231 on December 06, 2015, 01:26:04 am
Yeah right, the UAC Plasmagun research is a bug, a single line of code has mysteriously disappeared. Just ignore it, it doesn't do anything.

Actualy it's somehow fused with the Pred Claws entry

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_PRED_DISC
    cost: 0
    points: 10
    needItem: true
  - name: STR_PRED_CLAWS
    cost: 0
    points: 10
    needItem: true
    cost: 0
    points: 10
    dependencies:
      - STR_UAC_BLUEPRINTS
  - name: STR_BFG
    cost: 0
    points: 10
    dependencies:
      - STR_UAC_PLASMAGUN

And later on...

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_SLUGTHROWER
    cost: 5
    points: 10
    dependencies:
      - STR_SLUGGA_PRODUCTION
  - name: STR_UAC_PLASMAGUN
  - name: STR_BLUNDERBUSS_ADV
    cost: 20
    points: 20
    dependencies:
      - STR_SHOTGUN
      - STR_CAWS
      - STR_SHOOTA_PRODUCTION
      - STR_SECTOID_CORPSE
      - STR_PERSONAL_ARMOR_STUDY
      - STR_ACIDIC_AMMO
      - STR_EXPLOSIVE_AMMO
      - STR_EXCAVATION

Does that help you find it Dioxine?

Also... Why did I get a Floater corpse when I shot down and then killed an Accademy Security trooper from a small scout? I thought there weren't any Floater in this game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Hobbes on December 06, 2015, 03:27:39 am
@Draco: Mission scripting? I'm not Hobbes, the scripts will be simple, realistic, 80% boring 20% savage :) I let the RNG do the most scripting for me.

I can come up with a few ideas for you to try. :)

IIRC, someone posted some time ago that there were too many 'mountain' maps appearing. This should be lessened if you added the new terrains and geoscape textures from Redux. But this impression still remains, I can further reduce their chance of appearance on the next version of the Terrain Pack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 06, 2015, 01:34:43 pm
Also... Why did I get a Floater corpse when I shot down and then killed an Accademy Security trooper from a small scout? I thought there weren't any Floater in this game?

Are you sure it's not Trader's Booty you didn't change the string for in the save?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Cavelobster on December 06, 2015, 01:44:20 pm
Hi everyone,

Think I found a bug.
Maybe it's fixed in 0.97, but in 0.96 I don't get any reputation damage when I skip a pogrom mission, nor do they show up as shipping activity on the charts. I've skipped all of them and didn't do enough missions or research to justify excellent results for 3 months straight.
Haven't tried v 0.97 yet, will do so today.

Thanks for this great mod, been playing for months now :)

Edit:
Doesn't seem to occur in 0.97 - Just got a nice spike in activity and drop in rep - losing as intended :) yay :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2015, 02:59:09 pm
Actualy it's somehow fused with the Pred Claws entry
Does that help you find it Dioxine?

Also... Why did I get a Floater corpse when I shot down and then killed an Accademy Security trooper from a small scout? I thought there weren't any Floater in this game?

Thanks a ton, but this was fixed long ago :) I just didn't feel like bothering with lengthy explanation. Sorry you had to investigate because of my laziness :)

Also, what you describe is impossible. Even if everything was broken, you should get a Sectoid Corpse from Academy; moreover, Academy wasn't in any way changed between these 2 versions. If you, however, had any Trader's Booty in your stores, and didn't upgrade the save as per instructions, they have changed into Floater Corpses. And don't think there won't ever be Floaters here :)

I can come up with a few ideas for you to try. :)

IIRC, someone posted some time ago that there were too many 'mountain' maps appearing. This should be lessened if you added the new terrains and geoscape textures from Redux. But this impression still remains, I can further reduce their chance of appearance on the next version of the Terrain Pack.

I know you have tons of ideas! I'm always curious what you'll come up with, but some things are better kept simple :) While I enjoy playing Redux a lot, I'm a very different person, and so Piratez should be kept very different - variety is the spice of life, as they say :)
As for the Mountain terrains, I think the problem is simple - we need more Map Blocks! And none of the new ones should have big caves :) I might cook up some maps, but this is a big 'might'. And even if so, they'd be planned for map height = 7...

Hi everyone,

Think I found a bug.
Maybe it's fixed in 0.97, but in 0.96 I don't get any reputation damage when I skip a pogrom mission, nor do they show up as shipping activity on the charts. I've skipped all of them and didn't do enough missions or research to justify excellent results for 3 months straight.
Haven't tried v 0.97 yet, will do so today.

Thanks for this great mod, been playing for months now :)

Thanks, found and fixed (I hope!). It appears the problem was there was no point penalty defined for the Distress Call - type Pogrom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 06, 2015, 03:31:13 pm
I agree with Dioxine! Probably the only map type missing is an outskirt alike, when the wasteland meet the city, but not in progroms. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2015, 04:17:47 pm
Oh yeah such a terrain would be awesome, but making terrains isn't easy! Another one I'd really like to see here some day: Old Battlefield, with cratered earth, burned out tanks, charred ruins, rusting barbed wire, and (some) very live landmines.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 06, 2015, 05:59:10 pm
With all the talk of pogroms, it reminded me that i'm often not bothered by them. Even though the lack of penalty has been fixed for 0.97, i still find myself to be penalized a lot for coming to citizens' rescue. Sure, if all the civilians are dead it's not good, but at least i tried to save them and at least i killed all the aliens, but i feel that if i'm gonna risk that much penalty as well as the lives of my gals, it might be better to just avoid them. To counter this i suggest lessening the penalties early in the game, for letting civilians die (but you still have to go to the pogrom to get a lesser penalty). And then logically, as your reputation goes up later in the game, so does the expectations of your rescue-skills, as well as the penalties for failing to hold those standards, thereby scaling the penalties rather than them being static.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2015, 06:32:40 pm
Pretty much impossible to implement. And even if so... if helping mutants was just a 100% surefire business, where would be the moral/self-esteem/pride element? Your comment actually proves that everything works right and there is indeed a choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 06, 2015, 07:04:38 pm
I think i found a bug with the fuso knives. Great that they now have snap shot, but the snap shot costs more TU than the aimed shot, or at least it says so in the ufopedia. I haven't tested to see if it indeed costs more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 06, 2015, 07:11:47 pm
Hey i've seen that researchin "bigger guns" gives access to boardin gun and its ammo, but in a smaller format. But actually "fitearms and ammunitions" already allows production for boarding gun ammo in a larger format(45×5), and if im not mistaken the boarding gun itself, so kay be there kinda a bug/oversight?

And  how about to add to "bigger guns" topic also the abiloty to manufacture handcannon, moving it from where lies now? Seems the 0.97 has some research bugs too, as i watched beginning of episode n. 23 of dracogriffin's let's play, the laser disassembly topic show some weirds strings (around 5th minute).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 06, 2015, 07:18:48 pm
The idea of getting smaller ammo clips for some guns is to conserve shots. In OpenXCom, if you have 1 boarding gun and shoot once, you will lose that clip at the end of the mission, since there aren't enough shots to make up a whole clip to refund you at the end of the battle. So it's nicer to lose a smaller clip than a big one. Alternatively, I implemented "statistical bullet conservation" here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4062.msg53770.html#msg53770).

It's also lighter which makes it easier to carry around (especially as extra ammo).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 06, 2015, 09:56:06 pm
Ok, thanks for clarification, i've express my wishes on the thread you linked above :)

just for trying sake, i attempted to research that floater corpse but researching goes forever and never ends :, (

@Dioxine: interesting stuff may be the kappa weapons mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3918.0.html) maybe if yoi ask the author may ise some sprites for instance to replace the musket (see theage on the modportal, second screenshot from left, some recolor may be necessary (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/kappa-weapons-wip)) and/or eventually futher addictions, there are teally nice sprites there..'.night!

Edit: please may you make the hunting rifle's palette more brighter, like the handle one? I always miss it in the inventory! >.<

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2015, 10:15:57 pm
I think i found a bug with the fuso knives. Great that they now have snap shot, but the snap shot costs more TU than the aimed shot, or at least it says so in the ufopedia. I haven't tested to see if it indeed costs more.

Not a bug.

@Dioxine: interesting stuff may be the kappa weapons mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3918.0.html) maybe if yoi ask the author may ise some sprites for instance to replace the musket (see theage on the modportal, second screenshot from left, some recolor may be necessary (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/kappa-weapons-wip)) and/or eventually futher addictions, there are teally nice sprites there..'.night!

Nah, most of these sprites are not interesting. But I have DL'ed this mod long ago, just in case I need something (the Musket Bayonet is taken from there).

Hey i've seen that researchin "bigger guns" gives access to boardin gun and its ammo, but in a smaller format. But actually "fitearms and ammunitions" already allows production for boarding gun ammo in a larger format(45×5), and if im not mistaken the boarding gun itself, so kay be there kinda a bug/oversight?

Not a bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Roxis231 on December 06, 2015, 10:42:29 pm
Also, what you describe is impossible. Even if everything was broken, you should get a Sectoid Corpse from Academy; moreover, Academy wasn't in any way changed between these 2 versions. If you, however, had any Trader's Booty in your stores, and didn't upgrade the save as per instructions, they have changed into Floater Corpses. And don't think there won't ever be Floaters here :)

I think there's a problem then...

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=19052;image)

And

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=19054;image)

Easy way to replicate - start a new game.  And by the way, I now think it could be something else, as I now seen to get them on guild missions.

I'll try to get a save file of this from my Home computer tonight - currently posting on my laptop.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 07, 2015, 01:55:20 am
Already fixed, see bug thread. And please post bugs on the bug thread.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 07, 2015, 11:22:24 am
Already fixed, see bug thread. And please post bugs on the bug thread.

Thanks again! But i still got that corpse in the inventory and research, gonna wait next version to continue playing; In the meantime, just paying attention the frag grenade seems too much bigger  that other pieces such as the HE one and the willy pete, therefore i dared to resize a bit :)

See screenshot of comparison

Edit: sligthly modified hunting rifle and the scoped one, hopefully may be more brighter?

Edit: 2: updated frag grenade, more smaller.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Bobwolf on December 07, 2015, 04:30:10 pm
Thx for the major update !

But I have a new problem. My game is "lagging" when I am spinning the earth. This bug is new from .97.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 07, 2015, 04:51:08 pm
Thx for the major update !

But I have a new problem. My game is "lagging" when I am spinning the earth. This bug is new from .97.

Hello Bobwolf, it may be not a bug, maybe depending on your computer. Please provide as most data ea you can, screenshot and saved games most of all. And please please reposr bugs here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.0.html). Thanks for you patience!

Edit: this 0.97 version was veery unlucky *sigh*

Edit: 2@Dioxine: please may the TU required for firing heavy machine gun be decreased? At least under 90%? Eg. between 70 and 80 would be fine, i'd go with 70 anyway since it's kinda useless for the first half of the game i think...

Edit: 3 and now the only "compain" i got  ;D when playng at the most higher difficulty level (4 and or 5) sometimes progroms anc certain mission are unbeatable because as soon as i made first steps out of my vessel i get shot and killed almost instantaneinly?!?!  :oWhat the heck they got super duper reactions fire or maybe are fraking robots? This occpurs with machines (cyberdisc, ecc.) and humas! Please may these reactions times be slowered, for instance, by an half? Another point: may be the vanilla cyberdisc replaced by the vanilla hovertank, provided the latter are't already used by enemy in the game. The vanilla cyberdisc are really very "alienish" so somenthing more ordinary would be more setting to the framework :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Bobwolf on December 07, 2015, 07:00:10 pm
Use smoke grenade. Drop it from your inventory to avoid reaction fire. Skip the turn and you should be able to move more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 07, 2015, 07:49:32 pm
Edit: 3 and now the only "compain" i got  ;D when playng at the most higher difficulty level (4 and or 5) sometimes progroms anc certain mission are unbeatable because as soon as i made first steps out of my vessel i get shot and killed almost instantaneinly?!?!  :oWhat the heck they got super duper reactions fire or maybe are fraking robots? This occpurs with machines (cyberdisc, ecc.) and humas! Please may these reactions times be slowered, for instance, by an half?

Don't be ridiculous. You're simply not good enough to play on this level yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 07, 2015, 10:40:56 pm
Don't be ridiculous. You're simply not good enough to play on this level yet.

Well, it's sometimes frustrating, nonetheless sad but true (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8MO7fkZc5o)  :'(

Hey, before the end of the year a quick update would be relased to fix the latest 0.97 bugs, at least the floater corpse one? If not, how i may fix it manually?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 08, 2015, 12:31:31 am
@niculinux:
Go into Piratez_Armors.rul and change every instance of "corpseGeo: STR_FLOATER_CORPSE" to "corpseGeo: STR_GUILD_CORPSE" to fix the floater issue.

@Dioxine:
Btw, many of the guild and church captures no longer counts as a live alien, although they are recovered. They are not tagged with "liveAlien: true" in Piratez_Faction.rul.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 08, 2015, 01:31:43 am
Yes, that was already fixed too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2015, 02:24:07 am
After starting a new game for 0.97 i noticed that the sneaky AI was set to on. I've never really played with it as i've heard that it could be a bit wonky or something. That was just for Openxcom however, so i wanna ask if you guys use it for x-piratez and what your experiences with it are
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2015, 02:28:44 am
@niculinux:
Go into Piratez_Armors.rul and change every instance of "corpseGeo: STR_FLOATER_CORPSE" to "corpseGeo: STR_GUILD_CORPSE" to fix the floater issue.

I'm getting the same bug, but with both floaters and snakemen. What do i replace for snakemen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 08, 2015, 02:47:47 am
Replace STR_SNAKEMAN_CORPSE with STR_CHURCH_CORPSE
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 08, 2015, 05:05:53 am
After starting a new game for 0.97 i noticed that the sneaky AI was set to on. I've never really played with it as i've heard that it could be a bit wonky or something. That was just for Openxcom however, so i wanna ask if you guys use it for x-piratez and what your experiences with it are

Dioxine published his options.cfg file (which also turns on debugging, which turns off quick save/load) with the latest Piratez release. That's why certain of your settings would be different.

I haven't tried sneaky AI with Piratez, but I guess Dioxine uses it if it was enabled in the options..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Cristao on December 08, 2015, 08:04:35 am
Dioxine published his options.cfg file (which also turns on debugging, which turns off quick save/load) with the latest Piratez release. That's why certain of your settings would be different.

I haven't tried sneaky AI with Piratez, but I guess Dioxine uses it if it was enabled in the options..

Would that explain why a Humanist with me in his clear shot rather than risk firing at me decided to retreat? I was expecting a gal to die but instead the enemy retreated  :o

(posts merged - Dioxine)

@niculinux:
Go into Piratez_Armors.rul and change every instance of "corpseGeo: STR_FLOATER_CORPSE" to "corpseGeo: STR_GUILD_CORPSE" to fix the floater issue.

@Dioxine:
Btw, many of the guild and church captures no longer counts as a live alien, although they are recovered. They are not tagged with "liveAlien: true" in Piratez_Faction.rul.

Is this for ver 0.97? Will do so when I get home .. or perhaps I can sneak play in the office.. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 08, 2015, 08:42:52 am
Not sure about publishing this config, but it's an easy way for new people to have all the default Piratez options set properly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 08, 2015, 09:35:58 am
@niculinux:
Go into Piratez_Armors.rul and change every instance of "corpseGeo: STR_FLOATER_CORPSE" to "corpseGeo: STR_GUILD_CORPSE" to fix the floater issue.

very very thanks, guys!! Hey, maybe there is something to do also with the academy, since when imrecovered the corpses of the  guys in persnal armkr, the academy security, i got that floater corpse, so may have to change also something academy related?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 08, 2015, 11:00:05 am
The academy works just fine. It wasn't changed at all, in the first place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 08, 2015, 02:16:37 pm
The academy works just fine. It wasn't changed at all, in the first place.

OK, actually i'd post here because don't know if it's a bug, in the Piratez_Armors.rul file seems there are floaters associated with guild faction; here are 11 entries, but since in kinda incompetent i don't know if it is supposed to be so, may someone please may do a double check? Thanks fo the patinence. There's sample screenshot attached (on windows, urgh!??)


edit: the faction was the guild, sorry
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Cristao on December 08, 2015, 02:43:14 pm
^I dont think it is an error. It looks more like the setup for the aliens in that group. He has retained the group name as Floaters but the code looks ok.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: niculinux on December 08, 2015, 02:49:03 pm
^I dont think it is an error. It looks more like the setup for the aliens in that group. He has retained the group name as Floaters but the code looks ok.

ok thanks! Hey, after having done the changes pointed out by Artanhor some post ago  in my savegamed i got in the research topic still "floater corpse", suppose i have to start a brand new game? I deleted that save, since was early beginning..or maybe after research was finished everything was gonna be ok?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 08, 2015, 04:20:53 pm
The changes I had suggested was to prevent the appearance of STR_FLOATER_CORPSE in your base inventory, since that fixes the generation of corpses. If you have them in your save, you need to do what Dioxine said in the "Upgrading your save" thread: Change STR_FLOATER_??? to STR_GUILD_???..

But starting a new game (once you fixed the ruleset), is probably the easiest. BTW, you will want to go in Piratez_Armors.rul and also change corpseGeo: STR_SNAKEMAN_CORPSE to corpseGeo: STR_CHURCH_CORPSE, as Dioxine mentioned a bit higher.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2015, 05:58:00 pm
I have a question about dual wielding. So i know that having a 2-handed firearm such as a machinegun in one hand while having something else (like a grenade or one-handed pistol) in the other, will incur an accuracy penalty when using the machine gun. I don't think that one-handed items ever get a penalty even if you have a 2-handed item in the other hand, but do correct me if i'm mistaken. My question is really about melee weapons, because i have always equipped my stun gals with a cattle prod in one hand and a pistol in the other, but when i look at the characters in the battlescape, you see the cattle prod being used with both hands, so does that mean that it is actually i 2-handed weapon, and do 2-handed melee weapons get penalties when dual wielding?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 08, 2015, 06:21:48 pm
Cattle prods and Fuso swords are two examples of two-handed melee weapons. They do incur accuracy penalties when used with something else in the hand. Best to quickly holster the pistol before slashing. You can easily determine if a weapon is two-handed, both by the way it is held by the gal (more horizontal) and checking how the accuracy varies as you put something else in the hand.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2015, 06:26:24 pm
Cattle prods and Fuso swords are two examples of two-handed melee weapons. They do incur accuracy penalties when used with something else in the hand. Best to quickly holster the pistol before slashing. You can easily determine if a weapon is two-handed, both by the way it is held by the gal (more horizontal) and checking how the accuracy varies as you put something else in the hand.

So much for doing it the right way all this time :P

On the topic of stuns, i have noticed that enemies with stun harpoons are just as harmless as unarmed enemies. A gal that is hit with a stun bolt often takes 10% of her health as stun damage, so while this weapon is great against the enemy, it is almost useless against gals themselves. Shouldn't they be more vulnerable to stun dmg?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Arthanor on December 08, 2015, 06:32:40 pm
Must be luck, gals take stun damage like everybody else. Harpoon guns have a pretty bad accuracy though, and enemies with 'em are usually safe targets to run up to and stun. Even if you get hit, the worst that will happen is you will be the one getting stunned..

Note that the gals have 20 armor without wearing armor, just from being so tough, whereas unarmored humans only have 5 armor. So a GO for example, will take 15 more damage from a hit than a gal would (this goes for any weapons, but obviously makes the most difference for low damage weapons, of which harpoon guns are one).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2015, 06:42:21 pm
Must be luck, gals take stun damage like everybody else. Harpoon guns have a pretty bad accuracy though, and enemies with 'em are usually safe targets to run up to and stun. Even if you get hit, the worst that will happen is you will be the one getting stunned..

Note that the gals have 20 armor without wearing armor, just from being so tough, whereas unarmored humans only have 5 armor. So a GO for example, will take 15 more damage from a hit than a gal would (this goes for any weapons, but obviously makes the most difference for low damage weapons, of which harpoon guns are one).

Yeah those were instances from past games though, and just now i saw a gal take 60% stun dmg from a single stun bolt, so maybe the gals were nerfed, or maybe it was just luck like you said :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 09, 2015, 12:29:03 am
Just luck and tons of HP. It has 50 Stun damage and most of the gals' armors have no stun resistance. But 20 armor can soak up a lot. Besides. Yes, they're almost harmless. That's by design.

@Niculinux: yes it's a bug, wait for a new release (probably tomorrow).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 09, 2015, 06:14:42 am
I just had an interesting encounter with some spartans, to put it mildly. I had shot down a small ship, and the battlescape was one with all the plane wreckages. My guys start spreading out, killing a couple of the enemies, then i use a heavy cannon with explosive munitions on one of the spartans. Then all hell breaks loose, explosions start happening all over the place. I didn't see any explosive barrels or anything, so i thought maybe there were some weapon crates in the explosion...but the explosions continue for about 30 seconds nonstop like a wildfire, spreading far beyond my fog of war. After what felt like 10 minutes of explosions, i hear maybe 6 or more death sounds and the mission is complete, without me even having spotted their ship. Not even in the refinery battlescape were the chain reactions this excessive, so i'm wondering if it's a bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: ivandogovich on December 09, 2015, 07:03:54 am
 ;D
I'm pretty sure the plane wreck terrain is one of the most explosive terrains in the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Dioxine on December 09, 2015, 07:17:55 am
That's Hobbes for you :) I've found this peculiarity the hard way, losing half the crew... This is also fixed in the next version, it's simply insane and uncalled-for.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97 - Dangerous Place, Savage Place
Post by: Boltgun on December 09, 2015, 04:06:08 pm
That's Hobbes for you :) I've found this peculiarity the hard way, losing half the crew... This is also fixed in the next version, it's simply insane and uncalled-for.

It was an underwater terrain for TFTD originally and the wings are equally explosive there, so blame Microprose.  ;D

(TFTD is a concentrated can of wtf.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 09, 2015, 07:34:20 pm
New version up, fixes hopefully all bugs (sorry for 0.97 being so buggy, but it was a major update). Use Mediafire to DL it (see first post), I will upload to the modsite when it starts working for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Meridian on December 09, 2015, 08:54:14 pm
Nice Christmas present... I have also something in mind, hopefully you'll like it ;-)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Imeryak on December 10, 2015, 06:33:18 pm
why
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Ridаn on December 10, 2015, 09:27:24 pm
why

Alien Infiltration equivalent?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 10, 2015, 09:53:25 pm
Alien infiltrations exist in Piratez, they are less common, but I got one in a previous game that spammed me with big ships and bases full of chryssalids. Not nice!  >:(

Although it is kind of weird that they all landed on the same spot. Usually they pick different places.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Imeryak on December 11, 2015, 07:24:55 am
I have a new idea about enemy vessels looting. Is it possible to make vessel 'item'? Yes, the whole ship as the item, recoverable after the mission. Than you can sell it for half of price or even cheaper, or disassemble it, if you know how, have a proper tools and free runts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 11, 2015, 08:39:05 am
Would require a ton of work to destroy the current system of recovery, and would be error-prone - you either get all or nothing, with no way of telling beforehand (the 'item' could be destroyed by engine explosion or whatever). So, no, not really, not going that way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 11, 2015, 04:20:12 pm
Alien infiltrations exist in Piratez, they are less common, but I got one in a previous game that spammed me with big ships and bases full of chryssalids. Not nice!  >:(

Although it is kind of weird that they all landed on the same spot. Usually they pick different places.

Seen a couple of times in my games. They seem to occur either as a base is built or supplied.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 11, 2015, 04:35:23 pm
Actually it's the other way around, Infiltration always spawns base building too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 11, 2015, 06:37:02 pm
^true!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 02:11:16 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this.gif)
I think I fucked up somewhere..

Don't ask how the fuck I managed to stuff this into the XCOM palette, either. It's pure luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: XOps on December 12, 2015, 02:41:47 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this.gif)
I think I fucked up somewhere..

Don't ask how the fuck I managed to stuff this into the XCOM palette, either. It's pure luck.

Nice spritework there.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 02:52:44 am
Thanks, it took about four hours (quite a long time by my standards) to crank out.
What's amazing is the fact that I actually did something after several months of not doing anything.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this2x.png)
Here's a zoomed in one just for clarity's sake.

@Below:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this.png)
There's not much to look at - I just know how to work within a palette from experience with Doom modding.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Roxis231 on December 12, 2015, 02:54:21 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this.gif)
I think I fucked up somewhere..

Don't ask how the fuck I managed to stuff this into the XCOM palette, either. It's pure luck.

If you Email me a copy of your originals and the palleted versions, I can have a look for you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 12, 2015, 03:55:52 am
I've noticed that academy explorers are only named "explorer" in research and manufacturing (slavery) without the academy prefix
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2015, 04:40:26 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/whats_this.gif)
I think I fucked up somewhere..

Don't ask how the fuck I managed to stuff this into the XCOM palette, either. It's pure luck.

Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Now, will you do the remaining 2000 images? :) I can supply the basic dolls etc. :)
The palette is legit, so it's all fine.
If there's anything I don't like, the legs could use some more muscles :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 04:50:35 am
That's because the baggy pants obscure the otherwise pretty defined musculature. All on purpose.

And yes, I do plan on eventually revising all armors, as crazy as that is.
The thing that annoys me the most is the flatness of most hair though.

Also, would you mind if this piggy pink color tone became the standard cracker color? I really don't like the piss yellow XCOM one.
Both because I think that it doesn't look that good outside of the very specific XCOM1 comic style and because it's a nightmare to work with.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 12, 2015, 05:32:22 am
Good lord, somebody got massive implants.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2015, 01:29:11 pm
Yeah the hair is in most cases, rather weak. Pink instead of yellow is fine. And it will probably be better to start off with a nude template, that way the work is limited to 2-3 skin tones, 32 heads, and only as many armors as you want - seems that existing armors can be easily pasted over... Well, most of them suddenly wouldn't fit... Maybe the chest should be smaller by, like, half a number...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 02:25:34 pm
Yeah the hair is in most cases, rather weak. Pink instead of yellow is fine. And it will probably be better to start off with a nude template, that way the work is limited to 2-3 skin tones, 32 heads, and only as many armors as you want - seems that existing armors can be easily pasted over... Well, most of them suddenly wouldn't fit... Maybe the chest should be smaller by, like, half a number...
Don't worry, I'm experienced enough of a sprite artist to know that making something nude is the best way to start off, since adding is easier than removing.
You just don't see that everything is in fact, slapped on, due to carefully shading the edges so that they don't look off. ;^)

I do think the knockers are just a tad too big myself, but that's due to me being unable to draw them for the life of me and resorting to alternative methods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 12, 2015, 02:40:22 pm
Strongly prefer the big knockers myself ..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2015, 03:46:17 pm
Yeah but there's big, and there's ridiculously big, me preferring the former over the latter :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 05:11:20 pm
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/pirate1.gif)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/pirate2.gif)
Quick update on the fact that I really doubt that I can squeeze in more normal human colors than these two.

Anything else looks either unnatural as fuck or really ugly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 12, 2015, 05:19:15 pm
I've noticed that academy explorers are only named "explorer" in research and manufacturing (slavery) without the academy prefix

BTW does this belong here or in the bug thread?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 12, 2015, 05:27:53 pm
Wait, what's the nude template look like?  8)

... Research purposes, of course.  :-X
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2015, 06:35:10 pm
Quick update on the fact that I really doubt that I can squeeze in more normal human colors than these two.

Anything else looks either unnatural as fuck or really ugly.

Nice it is. Two types is good enough. The only problem is that for the dark skin, you use the same exact color as for leather, and there are many leather elements in Piratez. Maybe on the dark skin, leather could use some alternate tone. Or recolor leather in general to use one of the remaining 3 yellow-browns. Or some brown-black tone? I don't really know, but it cannot have the same color as skin.

I also liked the idea of a single contrasting element on the belt, until I realized it was long hair :) Maybe add something red to one of the side pouches indeed? Something akin to strapped red knife which was added to tactical armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: ivandogovich on December 12, 2015, 08:04:08 pm
Ok.   ;D  I'm quite giddy with the really nice pixel work Bloax is doing for these paper dolls!  I'm with Dioxine on the perspective of big is fine but huge is too much. ;)  I like the highlighting, and am very interested to see how these turn out. :)  The yellow skin tones of the original images may actually work to pull in some more Asian looking gals.   Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 12, 2015, 08:09:47 pm
hum.. there's no denying the quality of the art here, but to me the skin tones and glowy eyes make the gals look like zombies. Even though they are artistically better, I think I'd stick with the original yellow. :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 12, 2015, 09:36:20 pm
hum.. there's no denying the quality of the art here, but to me the skin tones and glowy eyes make the gals look like zombies. Even though they are artistically better, I think I'd stick with the original yellow. :/
I think it'll be better once I give most of them different expressions rather than a corpse-like one. ;)

Edit: Oh and getting the armor overlays would be nice, yes.

EditEdit:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/pirate3.gif)
Hey look, a gal without a thousand-yard stare frozen on her face!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 13, 2015, 02:22:11 am
Thought I'd leave this here for the future Pirate Diaries integration.

I went with a different feel than medals/awards... and with "trophies"/tattoos. So further decorations would be like... painting stuff red or etching stuff into it (like how pilots add enemy ships or kills etc), maybe even additional beads or jewels, etc.

Anyway, I modified a save file to have majority of them (I have no idea how the noun: crap works, maybe Arthanor can step in and modify it so all medals show up?). Piratez_Trophies is the commendation mod, and requires Nightly 2015_12_12_1835 (which I believe says such in the save file).

Also, none of the graphics can be changed nor has the UFOpaedia entries modified at all (just the basic name and description for now).

For those that don't feel like going through the hassle of downloading the attachments, here is the pasted code:
Code: [Select]
     STR_MEDAL_MERIT_STAR_NAME: "Murderous Jolly Roger Patch"
     STR_MEDAL_MERIT_STAR_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has sent many victims to Davy Jones' locker. Further embroideries add flashy bitz."
     STR_MEDAL_XENOCIDE_MEDAL_NAME: "{0} Decimator Bitz"
     STR_MEDAL_XENOCIDE_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has decimated {0} forces. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_DEFENDER_MEDAL_NAME: "Swashbucklin' Sash"
     STR_MEDAL_DEFENDER_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who massacred hideout invadin' idiots. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MILITARY_CROSS_NAME: "Fancy Rum Holster"
     STR_MEDAL_MILITARY_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has survived intense pillaging. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_SERVICE_MEDAL_NAME: "Salutary Eyepatch"
     STR_MEDAL_SERVICE_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has managed to not die easily. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_HONOR_CROSS_NAME: "Über Pirate Brand"
     STR_MEDAL_HONOR_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on all hands that manage to survive their first month of pillagin' and raidin'. We only tattoo this once on our gals."
     STR_MEDAL_CAMPAIGN_MEDAL_NAME: "Extortion Bitz"
     STR_MEDAL_CAMPAIGN_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has enforced our protection racket across this backwater planet. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_WEAPON_PROFICIENCY_NAME: "Savvy {0} Bitz"
     STR_MEDAL_WEAPON_PROFICIENCY_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who's quite savvy using a {0}. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_CAMPAIGN_RIBBON_NAME: "Pride of {0} Arm Bandana"
     STR_MEDAL_CAMPAIGN_RIBBON_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has saved the Mutant Alliance's ass in {0}. Further embroideries add flashy bitz."
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_RESTRAINT_NAME: "Angel of Torment Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_RESTRAINT_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals who have managed to bring home many live 'toys' for you, Cap'n. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."
     STR_MEDAL_LONGEST_NIGHT_NAME: "Obsidian Earrings"
     STR_MEDAL_LONGEST_NIGHT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has proven Über mutants are the superior predators at night. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MEDAL_OF_HEROISM_NAME: "Necklace of Ears"
     STR_MEDAL_MEDAL_OF_HEROISM_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal has proven her mutant endurance. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_HELLRAISER_MEDAL_NAME: "Firebrand Sash"
     STR_MEDAL_HELLRAISER_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has incinerated many enemies. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_DISTINGUISHED_SERVICE_NAME: "Belt of Mediocrity"
     STR_MEDAL_DISTINGUISHED_SERVICE_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has defeated the rank-and-file forces of the many factions. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_BOLTS_CROSS_NAME: "Beaded Septum Piercing"
     STR_MEDAL_BOLTS_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Piercing given to a gal who has kidnapped high-value prey. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_GRENADIERS_MEDAL_NAME: "Fancy Ancient Lighter"
     STR_MEDAL_GRENADIERS_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has managed to explode three or more enemies in a visceral display with a single explosive. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_STAR_OF_ASCLEPIUS_NAME: "Comfortable Kevlar Corset"
     STR_MEDAL_STAR_OF_ASCLEPIUS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has survived the hail of enemy gunfire. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MAN_OF_STEEL_NAME: "Snug Chainmaille Thong"
     STR_MEDAL_MAN_OF_STEEL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has persevered after being ventilated during a single raid. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_BLACK_CROSS_NAME: "Cardinal Waist Scarf"
     STR_MEDAL_BLACK_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal that withstands being stabbed in the back by another pirate. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_STAR_OF_VALOR_NAME: "Howling Reaper Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_STAR_OF_VALOR_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals that return solitary after a raid. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."
     STR_MEDAL_IRON_MAN_NAME: "Spike Studded Gloves"
     STR_MEDAL_IRON_MAN_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has adamant grit. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_EARTH_NAME: "Corsair Skull Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_EARTH_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals that have struck fear and panic into the masses across the planet. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."
     STR_MEDAL_SNIPER_TMPNAME: "Bloodied Scope"
     STR_MEDAL_SNIPER_TMPDESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has sniped hostile targets from afar. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_LUCKYSHOT_TMPNAME: "Malformed Cowyote Paw"
     STR_MEDAL_LUCKYSHOT_TMPDESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has demonstrated some rare sorcery when striking targets with absurd chances. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_DBLKILL_TMPNAME: "Barbed Earrings"
     STR_MEDAL_DBLKILL_TMPDESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has an insatiable bloodthirst in the field, often slaughtering multiple enemies quickly. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_REACTIONFIRE_TMPNAME: "Grisly Catgirl Headband"
     STR_MEDAL_REACTIONFIRE_TMPDESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has exhibited faster reflexes than even Catgirls, often executing hostiles before they can even react. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_PURPLE_HEART_NAME: "Wooden Ring"
     STR_MEDAL_PURPLE_HEART_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who was came home bloodied and wounded. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_CRIMSON_HEART_NAME: "Pearl Necklace"
     STR_MEDAL_CRIMSON_HEART_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who got to enjoy a lengthy time with scantily clad nurses and slaves instead of the harsh reality of raidin' and pillagin'. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_GLORY_NAME: "Plastasteel Brooch"
     STR_MEDAL_ORDER_OF_GLORY_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who was critical in a raid's success. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_VALIANT_CRUX_NAME: "Mutant Alliance Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_VALIANT_CRUX_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals that actually manage to prevent any mutant civilians from being purged by enemy forces. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."
     STR_MEDAL_FALLEN_NAME: "Iron Tribe Funeral"
     STR_MEDAL_FALLEN_DESCRIPTION: "Funeral given in respect to fallen gals in an Iron Tribe ritual in which the corpse is incinerated on a pyre."
     STR_MEDAL_TRAP_NAME: "Carnosaurus Tooth Necklace"
     STR_MEDAL_TRAP_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has exemplified predatory tactics. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ALIEN_BASE_ASSAULT_NAME: "Vintage Lace Bra"
     STR_MEDAL_ALIEN_BASE_ASSAULT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has raided and demolished a faction's secret base. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_NIKE_CROSS_NAME: "Jewel-Encrusted Stockings"
     STR_MEDAL_NIKE_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who exclusively massacred all hostiles in a raid. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_SAPPER_NAME: "Arsonist Utility Belt"
     STR_MEDAL_SAPPER_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who 'dismantled' hostile armored platforms in an extremely explosive manner. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_SECTOPOD_KILL_MEDAL_NAME: "Plastasteel-woven Bodice"
     STR_MEDAL_SECTOPOD_KILL_MEDAL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal that utterly destroyed the most fearsome Star God automated death machine. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MERCY_CROSS_NAME: "Reaperhide Vambraces"
     STR_MEDAL_MERCY_CROSS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who painstakingly captured the entire enemy force by herself during a raid. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_HEADSHOT_NAME: "Crystaliskhide Firearm Grip"
     STR_MEDAL_HEADSHOT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who employs a form of precise gunplay, managing to annihilate the cranium of her enemies. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_REARSHOT_NAME: "Suspicious-looking 'Pipe'"
     STR_MEDAL_REARSHOT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who favors murdering her foes from behind, rather than head-on. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_FLANKSHOT_NAME: "Blood Hound Bone Necklace"
     STR_MEDAL_FLANKSHOT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who prefers striking hostiles in the sides with deadly force. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_HEALER_NAME: "Red Cross Auricle Piercing"
     STR_MEDAL_HEALER_DESCRIPTION: "Piercing given to a gal who has bandaged and sutured injured hands during a raid. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ALLUFOS_NAME: "Deluxe Aye-Phone"
     STR_MEDAL_ALLUFOS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has skyjacked every type of enemy shipping. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ALLMISSIONS_NAME: "Boomosaurushide Knapsack"
     STR_MEDAL_ALLMISSIONS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has foiled every type of mission the enemy conducts. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ANTITERROR_NAME: "Three-Horned Goat Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_ANTITERROR_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals that have eradicated every type of terrorizing hostiles. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."
     STR_MEDAL_ALLBATTLETYPES_NAME: "Slave AI Enhanced Goggles"
     STR_MEDAL_ALLBATTLETYPES_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has utilized every type of weapon in the heat of combat to the demise of her foes. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_NIGHTOPS_NAME: "Tentacle Vine Facepaint"
     STR_MEDAL_NIGHTOPS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has utilized the dark of night to her advantage. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ALLRANKS_NAME: "Gold-Inlaid Garter Belt"
     STR_MEDAL_ALLRANKS_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has met and slain every enemy that has dared to strike against us, Cap'n. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_ORIGINAL8_NAME: "Piracy Brand"
     STR_MEDAL_ORIGINAL8_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on all guppies recruited into our crew to show their oath in pillagin' and raidin' the Star Gods' forces, and makin' this backwater planet yours, Cap'n. We only tattoo this once on our gals."
     STR_MEDAL_STATGAIN_NAME: "Bejeweled Rings"
     STR_MEDAL_STATGAIN_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal has shown arduous improvement in her raidin' skills. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_REVIVE_NAME: "Crimson Lipstick"
     STR_MEDAL_REVIVE_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has the kiss that can bring others back to life. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MEDIKIT_NAME: "Vibrating Medkit Bitz"
     STR_MEDAL_MEDIKIT_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who is very intimate with others with her medkit than in the bunks. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_BRAVERYGAIN_NAME: "Credit Chips Patch"
     STR_MEDAL_BRAVERYGAIN_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who values enjoying her booty alive rather than dead. Further embroideries add flashy bitz."
     STR_MEDAL_BESTOFRANK_NAME: "Three Volley Salute"
     STR_MEDAL_BESTOFRANK_DESCRIPTION: "Act performed during the fallen gal's funeral in recognition of her supermutant achievements in piracy."
     STR_MEDAL_BESTSOLDIER_NAME: "21-Musket Salute"
     STR_MEDAL_BESTSOLDIER_DESCRIPTION: "Act performed during the fallen gal's funeral to display her extraordinary importance to the Cap'n's campaign against the Star Gods."     
     STR_MEDAL_MIA_NAME: "Tattered Wanted Poster"
     STR_MEDAL_MIA_DESCRIPTION: "Poster of the missing gal circulated throughout the Mutant Alliance network stating, 'WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE FOR DESERTION'."
     STR_MEDAL_MARTYR_NAME: "Berserker Bitz"
     STR_MEDAL_MARTYR_DESCRIPTION: "Various paraphernalia of the fallen gal's that is placed in her funeral pyre in respect to her kamikaze attacks."
     STR_MEDAL_POSTMORTEM_KILL_NAME: "Vintage Eurasian Rum"
     STR_MEDAL_POSTMORTEM_KILL_DESCRIPTION: "Poured over the fallen gal's funeral pyre in respect to her ability to slay her foes, even after death."
     STR_MEDAL_GLOBETROTTER_NAME: "Lavish Plumed Bandolier"
     STR_MEDAL_GLOBETROTTER_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has personally extorted protection money from every region in the world. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_MINDCONTROL_NAME: "Star God Blood Phylactery"
     STR_MEDAL_MINDCONTROL_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has conquered her enemies through 'Star God'-like VooDoo. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_PSIPANIC_NAME: "Reticulan Talisman"
     STR_MEDAL_PSIPANIC_DESCRIPTION: "Given to a gal who has managed to sap the will of her foes with arcane magic. Trophies are awarded once, but flashy bitz can be added to it."
     STR_MEDAL_SLAVEKILLS_NAME: "Star God Skull Tattoo"
     STR_MEDAL_SLAVEKILLS_DESCRIPTION: "Tattooed on gals that display 'Star God'-like tactics: forcing the enemy into killing each other. Further recognition is done with flashy bitz or filling in with colors."

Some might not work, but hopefully I invoked some of the Piratez attitude and vibe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 13, 2015, 04:44:08 am
The heavy suit is named "heavy armor" in the research screen
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 13, 2015, 05:40:41 am
While waiting for those overlays I decided not to waste time and tinker around.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Pirate01.gif) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Pirate02.gif)
Found a neat pale purple color, as well as a cool white one.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Pirate_oops.gif)
Oh and here's one with a bit of a wardrobe malfunction to demonstrate what I meant about the legs being muscular enough. :^)

It looks surprisingly good for an automatic palettization, but some manual pencilling will be in order once we're past the experimentation stage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 13, 2015, 05:42:54 am
What about the shoulder pads? Also, Pirate01.gif looks like she may have a hidden eyepatch?

What's supposed to be in the cleavage... ammo? Grenade?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 13, 2015, 05:45:16 am
What about the shoulder pads? Also, Pirate01.gif looks like she may have a hidden eyepatch?

What's supposed to be in the cleavage... ammo? Grenade?
The shoulder pads are just a flight of fancy, plain and simple.
And yes, that's correct - there's a tasteful curl over the eyepatch. ;)

As for the cleavage question, that's just the bra mid-section showing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 13, 2015, 05:51:58 am
Oh... what's the bra look like? You know, for Runt armor!  ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 13, 2015, 05:53:55 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/angry1.png)
(Don't break into the dressing rooms like that.)

And since you mentioned runts;
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Runt01.gif)
With that outfit, a new discovery within fashion has been made:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Pirate03.gif)
Shorts!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 13, 2015, 02:20:24 pm
Here Bloax, have the whole package, have fun. No order, just my working folder.

https://www.mediafire.com/download/1i9bg2356r2cya2/UFO+piratez.rar

Also... these all are very nice, but I think you're going too much into the plastic doll category... Kinda My Little Pony you know? But we'll yet see what comes out of it :)

@Draco:
These commendations are awesome. 100% for it. Now if it only worked :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Bloax on December 13, 2015, 02:30:12 pm
Also... these all are very nice, but I think you're going too much into the plastic doll category... Kinda My Little Pony you know? But we'll yet see what comes out of it :)
Is it the gratuitously animaymay hairstyles?

also jesus fuck i forgot THE RUNTPOCKETS fuckkkkkk

edit:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/Pirate04.gif)
more stylish fashion choices
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 13, 2015, 02:42:26 pm
Anime hairdos are fine, but you left anime far behind and went into the pink f***ing unicorn land :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Meridian on December 13, 2015, 03:10:52 pm
I like these paperdolls... but the thread is quite "polluted" by them now... could we move this paperdoll discussion into a separate thread?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Hobbes on December 13, 2015, 04:11:06 pm
What's supposed to be in the cleavage... ammo? Grenade?

(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EFiXa0LwkfM/TjAPRLGx5jI/AAAAAAAAAYk/_tEFBUd7RMo/s400/Handle-With-Care-Danger-Sign-S-0375.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 14, 2015, 12:01:20 am
A quick question about stun weapons (yet again). The shovel and the spiked mace both have specials other than adding stun damage. The shovel has 'armor +30%' and the spiked mace has 'armor -30%'. Does this mean that the shovel does less physical (or stun) damage to armor and more damage with the mace, or vice versa?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 14, 2015, 12:02:17 am
Armor is 30% more effective against shovels, whereas spiked mace ignores 30% of armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 14, 2015, 04:48:10 am
Armor is 30% more effective against shovels, whereas spiked mace ignores 30% of armor.

So shovels deal 30% less stun to armor too, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 14, 2015, 05:27:37 am
What do you mean, "to armor"? This is not damage done to the armor value of the target, but extra armor applied before damage is dealt to the target.

Damage on target works like:

( WeaponPower * [0-200%] ) - Armor

If a weapon has +30% armor, it does:

( WeaponPower * [0-200%] ) - Armor*130%

So a bigger number is subtracted from the damage dealt.

Similarly, a spiked mace with -30% armor, would do:

( WeaponPower * [0-200%] ) - Armor*70%

So a smaller number is subtracted. Maces deal more damage than other weapons against heavily armored targets, shovels (and many cutting weapons) deal less.

Shovels do mainly cutting damage, extra stun from weapons is handled entirely differently. Each time you apply damage to an enemy unit, a small amount of stun damage is dealt. The stun bonus applies to that, so a shovel will do twice as much of the little bit of stun damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 14, 2015, 07:50:53 am
What do you mean, "to armor"? This is not damage done to the armor value of the target, but extra armor applied before damage is dealt to the target.

Yeah i know, i just didn't clarify it properly :P

Quote
Each time you apply damage to an enemy unit, a small amount of stun damage is dealt. The stun bonus applies to that, so a shovel will do twice as much of the little bit of stun damage.

So you still have to inflict physical dmg to deal stun dmg? This is pretty important for me to know if i'm attempting to capture enemies in power armor, since a cattle prod deals stun dmg no matter what
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 14, 2015, 10:13:06 pm
Yes, you need to inflict physical damage first, then stun is added as an extra damage.

Update:

Between Robin's MIB mod and XOps' XenoOps mod, there are so many great assets to play with!
Raid Missions were boring, weren't they? Reinforcements are arriving to both Raiders and Spartans to make them more thrilling...
Featuring: Raider Gunship with Spartan elite crew.

Also, I'm fixing walls of all ships, so you won't see inside from the outside anymore...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 14, 2015, 10:53:19 pm
And they have puppies?! The gals won't like hurting puppies.. If I stun it, can I bring it home? Pleeease! ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 14, 2015, 11:03:00 pm
Yeah Raiders and Humanists will be getting some special over-the-top units, and, since they share deployments with Spartans, the Spartans get dogs instead :)

You can capture them, but you can't turn them to your cause... at least for now. The dog will be upset since you killed his master, you know? :) And they're more loyal than humans...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 14, 2015, 11:32:20 pm
I guess if they're trained to somehow detect and hate mutants, it might be hard. I guess reapers aren't very loyal/intelligent beasts since they are easily tameable. Actually, I've never tried, so I don't know how easy it'd be..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 15, 2015, 12:16:18 am
It's trivial if you have the remote controller. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: xaphias on December 15, 2015, 01:07:25 am
I have a question about a faction, I haven't found
reticulans
yet, and I'm wondering why, the planet is pretty much covered with hyper wave decoders and they seem to have been generated into the savfile as a possible spawn, so why haven't I encountered any?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 15, 2015, 01:15:37 am
R. N. G., The Chairman of the Board of Directors

Coming soon: Increased radii of all basic incendiaries. New incendiary weapons. Airborne, 3-D fire explosions. Set the world on fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 15, 2015, 03:10:38 pm
DAMN!! Wow!! Dioxine - real wow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Arthanor on December 15, 2015, 10:02:46 pm
That fire looks exceptionally squared! :o Are we getting fire2? :D

Looking forward to more burning. It has always been a very enjoyable part of Piratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 16, 2015, 06:40:29 pm
I have a question about a faction, I haven't found

Is this a campaign that was started before they were introduced? If yes, then perhaps you haven't edited your save game - you need to add them manually to the possible missions section.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 16, 2015, 10:41:17 pm
Hey Dioxine, may we get at least an option to have the bonaventura color the same as the ufo vanilla avenger (it's beige if i remember correctly)? I really don't like the green, maybe an option would be nice, as happened with the star gods coordinator :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: ivandogovich on December 16, 2015, 11:00:10 pm
Hey Dioxine, may we get at least an option to have the bonaventura color the same as the ufo vanilla avenger (it's beige if i remember correctly)? I really don't like the green, maybe an option would be nice, as happened with the star gods coordinator :)

hm... as the original Bonny was not green when Dioxine designed it, I'm sure you could replace the map files and have it as you like it.  You will probably have to go back to some version before XpirateZ ... probably around 0.9.h of the original. 
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/piratez

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 16, 2015, 11:09:29 pm
Hey Dioxine, may we get at least an option to have the bonaventura color the same as the ufo vanilla avenger (it's beige if i remember correctly)? I really don't like the green, maybe an option would be nice, as happened with the star gods coordinator :)

On the contrary I love the colour.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 16, 2015, 11:10:08 pm
I really don't like the green, maybe an option would be nice

There is an option. Sell it, buy Pachyderm. It's red. Red ones go faster. Alternatively blue - Skyranger and Pigeon. These are only for real men but blue is lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: xaphias on December 17, 2015, 02:21:07 am
Is this a campaign that was started before they were introduced? If yes, then perhaps you haven't edited your save game - you need to add them manually to the possible missions section.

no savfile was created on 0.96 so they were in when I started
I did check the savefile and they are there under possible missions, tho I do see some minor differences in a new game I created.
but I dont think that's the issue

is it safe tho to replace all the possible missions in my current save with the list spawned by a newly created game on the same difficulty? since they seem to have been tuned a bit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 17, 2015, 12:53:02 pm
is it safe tho to replace all the possible missions in my current save with the list spawned by a newly created game on the same difficulty? since they seem to have been tuned a bit.

Yes, I think so. Just don't touch the currently ongoing missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 17, 2015, 04:05:44 pm
Got ears-deep in mission scripting... but I think it is worth it. It will soon be possible to change happenings on the global scale - the planet will slowly change if you choose so. This is the first result - no idea if it will work as intended, though :) There will be more such advances, each helping you in small way, relieving some of the mid & late game burdens: peace with Reticulans, partial removal of Pogroms, stopping Sway Local Govt missions etc. Crackdowns will go on unabated, though, so you will always be able to catch these elusive VIPs if you muster enough airpower.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Boltgun on December 17, 2015, 04:56:20 pm
Cool, and I am looking forward to make choices like this, I always felt that the pirates could be many things but not everything at once and meaningful effects to your choices will add more colors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 17, 2015, 05:41:41 pm
Cool, and I am looking forward to make choices like this, I always felt that the pirates could be many things but not everything at once and meaningful effects to your choices will add more colors.

True. It reminds me of Distant Worlds, where instead of normal stellar empires, like in every Master of Orion-like game, you could play an alternative campaign with a pirate fleet (which had somewhat different mechanics). There were three types of pirates: mercenaries (focused on space warfare), smugglers (focused on trade) and balanced (no focus, maybe a little on raiding).

I think it would be nice to better define your organization like this along the campaign - focused on this or that, or recognizable by some specific activities - but I don't know how to introduce this in an interesting way (as opposed to dumb gamey choices).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 17, 2015, 08:06:20 pm
@ivandogovich: thanks for the remimder!

@SolariusScorch: agree on that!


There is an option. Sell it, buy Pachyderm. It's red. Red ones go faster. Alternatively blue - Skyranger and Pigeon. These are only for real men but blue is lucky.

Hey, i "wanna stay young" :) well an option won't be bad, maybe also envolving alternative colors for all pirate vessel, more interesting! :D but if it's just me don't wnat to insist :, (

edit: as for the exotic village map, instead usin a mix with the vanilla farm terrain, may be fine to have the island map from TFTD. Might  be that possible?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 17, 2015, 08:11:57 pm
I think it would be nice to better define your organization like this along the campaign - focused on this or that, or recognizable by some specific activities - but I don't know how to introduce this in an interesting way (as opposed to dumb gamey choices).

By non-insistence, I think. You will have these choices clear and always open (no going back after commitment, though - once the genie is out, the genie is out), but they won't limit you in no real way (but, if your calling is killing people, why would you want to reduce the number of targets?) - they will only change what is happening on the geoscape.

Also, the idea is never to give the player more than he wanted - for example, researching diplomatic techs shouldn't give you new guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 17, 2015, 08:19:45 pm
Agree also with Dioxine, though i like killing people!!!  >:(

edit: and the arena fireball launcher should use clips (nuclear cells) 15 shots per each :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 17, 2015, 10:06:54 pm
edit: and the arena fireball launcher should use clips (nuclear cells) 15 shots per each :)

No.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 17, 2015, 11:30:01 pm
No.

Ok, though i don't know if i evver manage to get my hands on it!!! :o small question: suppose won't be added any new faction in the remaining versions till 1.0, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 18, 2015, 08:43:30 am
You need to research Social Hierarchy and Death Realms. And no, no enemies will get it. Probably. Possibly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: xaphias on December 18, 2015, 01:10:28 pm
Ok, though i don't know if i evver manage to get my hands on it!!! :o small question: suppose won't be added any new faction in the remaining versions till 1.0, right?

are you talking about the chinese dragon?
I just unlocked that...wow, just wow...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 18, 2015, 11:49:50 pm
are you talking about the chinese dragon?
I just unlocked that...wow, just wow...

no i was referring to the arena fireball launcher, don't even know about the existence of a "chinese dragon"?!?! What is that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Roxis231 on December 18, 2015, 11:57:27 pm
no i was referring to the arena fireball launcher, don't even know about the existence of a "chinese dragon"?!?! What is that?

F***ing Nasty Rocket for the Quad Launcher - 59 Tile Radius Blast, 600 Explosive Damage.

Basiclly One Shot Kill for most of - if not all the battlescape - in one hit, Costs $680,000 per rocket though!

Edit - Just found the actual Numbers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 19, 2015, 12:13:27 am
Thanks roxis! Hey Dioxine, 0.96 did not have a humanist activist bootypedia image. Does the 0.97 have it or we shoul wait 0.98? Just for a humble curiosity ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 19, 2015, 07:35:52 am
No image for him yet. And there won't be one anytime soon, unless someone draws it, as I have tons of work with the new release... I want it to be ready before the Christmas Eve :)

A teaser below: what the govt forces will fly in one of the possible paths... (now they just need a couple more new units).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: niculinux on December 19, 2015, 07:30:03 pm
Looking forward to is as always!  8) Any chance the bonaventura would be buyable at black market? I think so, maybe the startin one owned by our beloved gals may a be slightly modified version, as happens with armored vault and vaults. Piratez may have modified it a bit to fit their need...:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 20, 2015, 09:39:41 am
Question: do you gain a larger penalty from killing or capturing govt units?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 20, 2015, 02:29:14 pm
To be honest, I'm not sure. It will be fixed once OXCE allows separate definitions for killing and capturing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97A - Jetbikes for Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 12:53:07 am
Version 0.97B is up. It's not only incendiaries, though; the most important feature I think is overhauling of the enemy deployments and missions (with some enemies added, some of them will be seen commonly), which changes the dynamic of the early game a lot (and adds replayability), plus, changing mechanics of the mid-late game, by adding researches that influence what shipping appears on the globe in major ways. Also, more chances for finding VIPs (I will work on the 'elusive Star God Coordinator' problem on the next release), and faster interrogations of mid- and high- tier people, seeing how many engineers you need to interrogate to get everything...
A lot of balancing tweaks, mostly for less-used items, but also for Long Range Radar which seemed completely useless until now, not to mention how it messed with Hyperwave detection. Now it is a new weird thing that maybe will be more interesting, if not useful.
Ship walls are no longer see-through, which was a commonly irritating glitch. It costed me a hell of a lot of work, too. Side effect: you get more Plastasteel from shippings. To balance it out, you only get half as much Elerium from large Ship Engines :)
Last change is the disappearace of 'booty', now will you see things like Durathread Mesh or Engineered Biomatter, so don't get spooked out, only the names have changed :)

Look out for these black things she's holding in the picture...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 21, 2015, 01:24:47 am
I wonder when I should restart the stream campaign. Still not very far in the mid-game... and nowhere near the end-game (haven't even unlocked the research for the "keys" to the Star God kingdom, so to speak).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 02:36:51 am
Just finished watching what you've uploaded to YT so far, it was great series so far. These Mercs... You're not fully prepared to fight them yet, since they're end-game enemy. Also, because for mid-game, your weapon research is kinda poor (mitigated, as it is, by the advanced laser weaponry you got from Smugglers and Bombers). However, your armor & craft research is good, and base tech - excellent.

As for your question, well... Upgrading save is risky - the game may go haywire since you're so far in, because of all mid-late game research tweaks, mission scripts and other crazy stuff I did, and not all research bugs might get fixed by just that (no major bugs, but thanks to you, I've discovered a ton of minor ones that blocked you from getting some stuff you shoul get by this point). Not upgrading - well, would be a shame, there is a ton of new features plus the early game should play quite differently now. Starting anew has obvious drawbacks, like getting you 100+ hours of gameplay back, and going into uncharted waters (there might be start-month crashes, should be gone but I can only give 80% guarantee they're gone for good - I will be able to hotfix these if they occur, though) but personally I wouldn't mind seeing a new campaign - with all this modding, I don't have the time to play myself :) Also no sweeping changes are planned for foreeseeable releases so you'd be likely able to further  upgrade seamlessly, without any save editing or experiencing weird stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 21, 2015, 02:54:53 am
@ Draco:  Just my two cents following Dioxine's discussion.
I have only been able to start watching your series and have enjoyed it immensely.  The vast amount of content in front of me is a bit daunting, so I have no Idea how I might catch up.   If I were offered the vote to upgrade and restart, or continue in the old version, I for one would vote for the restart.  This is because I selfishly would like to see the new stuff in the early game because I can't play myself, and it greatly helps my understanding and ability to contribute to the bootypedia. 
/threadjack
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 21, 2015, 04:07:45 am
I have no idea how you went through all those videos so quick, Dioxine. You must have skipped around and/or set to like double speed. :P

Honestly, I could easily trounce anyone with the amount of plasma weapons I have in cold storage, but my playstyle is much more towards ammo conversation and kidnapping. That's the main reason I suffer against enemies like the Mercenaries, in addition to playing just way too aggressively against them.

Yeah, I agree in regards: not upgrading is not very helpful for you as the creator and playing the latest incentivizes you as the creator as people enjoy the new content (rather than playing old versions and not enjoying the new stuff you were putting in).

The issue for me is for my viewers; starting from scratch seems like a slap in the face (as in, "Oh look we got this far, but we're just arbitrarily going to restart just because") when they haven't seen the mid/end-game of Piratez or myself (which in all honestly, I never got too far in Weapon research or Craft research; Predators/Crabs are a huge mainstay for me, as are the customized ballistics weaponry [trying to keep tabs on all the different types of ammo and ensuring appropriate amounts and materials can be hectic live, rather than just hitting pause during recording]).

Plus, if I keep restarting, I'll never finish or get to do fun challenges (like sell Bonaventura for a Pachyderm or Skyranger or something).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 21, 2015, 05:20:59 am
I'd personally stick it with it so that at least SOMEONE has some video documentation on getting far in this mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 06:15:54 am
I have no idea how you went through all those videos so quick, Dioxine. You must have skipped around and/or set to like double speed. :P

Simple, I'm hardcore. But yeah, I was skipping some parts - there's little I can learn from watching n-th Freighter or Hopper run, where the most exciting event would be an off grenade that sends someone to hospital for 1-2 weeks. For the last dozen episodes, I only watched battles where there was an actual risk to your soldiers involved (plus Geoscape, naturally - call me perverted but I like to watch base management :) ).

And I can see the argument for keeping this going, I just evaluated beacuse you've asked.

On second thought, after getting past my pride of all new stuff & fluff, I realized that watching how the late game plays out will be more interesting/educating for me than seeing that new stuff - there's always Meridian for that, I have precious little experience in late-game, and a second playthrough will be even more interesting if there is more difference between versions. So yeah, continuing makes more sense.

This time I don't recommend upgrading version & saves - unless some nasty game-breaking bug pops out, then we'll have to. 0.96 has its problems, some stuff doesn't work properly (eg. Thrusters and Targeters, they do not give bonuses to speed or radar radius they should), but no deal-breakers, I think (there was some Star God Novice crash... I think easily fixed, but don't remember what was broken, exactly). However there was OXCE version change between 0.96 and 0.97, and other major changes in the code, making upgrading tricky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 10:15:15 am
Hey Dioxine, since an hospital facility is no supposed to be present in the game, the living quarters description may tell that it provides also hospital support or something alike?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 10:53:56 am
Well it's not really a 'hospital', but I'll add a few words for clarity's sake.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 11:09:05 am
Well it's not really a 'hospital', but I'll add a few words for clarity's sake.

Thanks :) Sry, forgot: the blowpipe was a very very nice touch! Actually, it may fire standard percing darts, and then with some research poisoned and after acid onse. Just my two cents :) overall very very good work on the armory, a neat mix of good and old! As the rest seems i ran out of ideas...anyone has some more ones to share? ^-^

Edit: how about to replace the vanilla TFTD gauus weapons with sprites from xeno operations mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2913.0.html)? The only things of the 1995 game i never liked  :'(

Edit 2: Thanks for the ol' rifle!!! I did not see the stun baton in the black market,so i think it's supposed to ba a military police/spartans/government item, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Cristao on December 21, 2015, 11:31:21 am
Wow, another version. I dont wanna restart  :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Boltgun on December 21, 2015, 12:07:23 pm
Wow, another version. I dont wanna restart  :(

You can copy your save over the new version, just look at the thread detailing what happens if you do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 21, 2015, 01:21:01 pm
When the cattle prod is unlocked by researching contacts: smugglers, the ufopedia entry names it as stun rod
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 03:20:12 pm
A bounty killers faction hunting piratez may be interesting; alternatively bounty killing facts to the plot so player may have to be rewarede for his actions...perpapsh lowering a bit "infamy" :D

...and (very) last cartidge to shoot  :(   amjaor uodate should be relased when a new verison of openxcom extended is (eg 2.6--0.98) :) so updating the executable still will provide compatibility with x-piratez update; as of now updating an openxocm extended version leads to incompatibility with newer piratez versions :,(

@foxhound64: see here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg56494.html#msg56494)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 07:13:08 pm
Stop telling me what to do. Let's make a few things clear. I will use ANY version I please, and make a release ANY time I please. New OXCE versions are not always bug-free, also, what's the f*cking point of updating if the mod doesn't use any new functionalities? Just stick to the same one to avoid problems. Is that so difficult? And yeah, I know you don't have it easy, since you need your own Linux version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 07:23:06 pm
Stop telling me what to do. Let's make a few things clear. I will use ANY version I please, and make a release ANY time I please. New OXCE versions are not always bug-free, also, what's the f*cking point of updating if the mod doesn't use any new functionalities? Just stick to the same one to avoid problems. Is that so difficult? And yeah, I know you don't have it easy, since you need your own Linux version.

sry don't wanted to be annoying :,( ok i promise i won't do anymore. See, enthusiasm sometimes plays very bad tricks...:,(

Edit: actually i thought it may avoid problems when you install openxcom extended (very very kindly knapsu has pacaged in in the official repo) and updatin to a newer version may provide problems with x-piratez...well, i'll go to the "manual way" instead. Over and out!!! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2015, 07:31:57 pm
The mod is already using the latest OXCE version (2.5B), but you need a very specific Nightly to work with that. Basically just rulesets. I am sure Yankes provided links/zips with all the needed files on several occasions (yeah, all you really need are proper ruleset versions, so there is no Linux<>Windows problem, as the file format is the same).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 10:29:36 pm
Thanks, i was minding to avoid upgrading problems by matching x-piratez and openxcom extended updates :)

In the meantime, i made a miserable attempt to reconstruct a very tiny paperdoll of the humanist activist, hopefully somebody may want to use it to make a bootypedia image, see the attachment :)

Edit: may be used at least for the color scheme?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 21, 2015, 10:44:13 pm
In the meantime, i made a miserable attempt to reconstruct a very tiny paperdoll of the humanist activist, hopefully somebody may want to use it to make a bootypedia image, see the attachment :)

As in this one?  "https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Humanist_Activist_(Piratez) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Humanist_Activist_(Piratez))"

Edit: and yep, I did the same "miserable attempt"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 21, 2015, 10:52:02 pm
As in this one?  "https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Humanist_Activist_(Piratez) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Humanist_Activist_(Piratez))"

Edit: and yep, I did the same "miserable attempt"

Oh, was did not aware of that, but seems the one in the bootypedia has some kind of antialiasing filter, but the one i "cobbled togheter" is made actually of sprites parts copied and pasted from the mod assets (!!!)  :o :)

posts merged - Dioxine

...and the damn church is really bitter and vengenful! It's the third tim in , arch 2601 i got my base attached only because last mont i shoot down a ship of theirs! Or peraphs because also i , ade some scoutin with bonaventura across europe and asia? I suppore bantits should act by surprise...well who knows, maybe both factors!  ;D

edit:typo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 23, 2015, 06:08:36 pm
Honestly, I could easily trounce anyone with the amount of plasma weapons I have in cold storage

Except you can't use these plasma weapons :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 23, 2015, 08:59:08 pm
Except you can't use these plasma weapons :)

Yeah, I'm probably totally misremembering but I thought I could do that before (previous versions maybe?) ... oh well!

Man, today's stream involved a raid on a splashed Mercenary Destroyer and it was just not worth it... at all. Zero. I'm glad I learned now (never attacked a Destroyer before), as I'd rather learn from my own experiences (hopefully without too much loss). There just doesn't seem to be any type of reward against Mercenaries (which there doesn't have to be; they can essentially just be there to disincentivize the player from expanding too rapidly or intercepting too many ships).

My only concern/question is: shouldn't the larger ships have at least 1 or 2 Life Support Systems? Life Support Systems seem to be added arbitrarily to some ships but not others (although I think it used to be confined to Ordinators but think that was changed a few versions back?). (Suggestions: Cruiser, Destroyer, Envoy, Assault Transport [bootypedia specifically states used in space warfare], and Freighter [due to prevalence and "ease" of raiding; limit to only 1?])

Honestly, in regards to the being behind in weapon research... not sure what to do about that as there isn't anything really to work towards; advancing research in ballistic weaponry doesn't seem like it should be helpful at all in designing laser/plasma weaponry, whereas reverse engineering laser/plasma weaponry should allow rudimentary blueprints for laser/plasma.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 23, 2015, 09:37:38 pm
There just doesn't seem to be any type of reward against Mercenaries (which there doesn't have to be; they can essentially just be there to disincentivize the player from expanding too rapidly or intercepting too many ships).

Rewards? Two words. Brute. Armor. I agree that they're there mostly to impede the player, though.

My only concern/question is: shouldn't the larger ships have at least 1 or 2 Life Support Systems? Life Support Systems seem to be added arbitrarily to some ships but not others (although I think it used to be confined to Ordinators but think that was changed a few versions back?). (Suggestions: Cruiser, Destroyer, Envoy, Assault Transport [bootypedia specifically states used in space warfare], and Freighter [due to prevalence and "ease" of raiding; limit to only 1?])

No, not so easy. Probably yes for Assault Transport and Boarding Torpedo. Definitely not for Freighter. Revenant Armor is easy enough to acquire as it is, considering how good it is (and how good its upgrades are).

Honestly, in regards to the being behind in weapon research... not sure what to do about that as there isn't anything really to work towards; advancing research in ballistic weaponry doesn't seem like it should be helpful at all in designing laser/plasma weaponry, whereas reverse engineering laser/plasma weaponry should allow rudimentary blueprints for laser/plasma.

Research seems to be just fine, although I am 1.5 episode behind, so can't say where you are ATM, but afaik you were mostly ignoring Laser research up to this point. Plasma stays locked until you get one of the rare VIPs. You just need to complete your mid-game portfolio to be allowed to go higher (naturally, the late-game techs aren't finished yet, but you still have a ton of good stuff not unlocked yet).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 23, 2015, 11:26:30 pm
Rewards? Two words. Brute. Armor. I agree that they're there mostly to impede the player, though.
Ohhh yeah, I know all about the sweet Brute Armor and Annihilator Armor. I captured a second Merc Engineer today, so shouldn't be too much longer before I am fielding a few Brutes (except I lost a ton of Revenant Armor on that Destroyer raid).

Quote
No, not so easy. Probably yes for Assault Transport and Boarding Torpedo. Definitely not for Freighter. Revenant Armor is easy enough to acquire as it is, considering how good it is (and how good its upgrades are).
Too bad, I'm down to 2 Life Support Systems and who knows when I'll be able to get more; wish at some point I could purchase them from the Govt at perhaps a significant cost (rather than relying on RNG to attack Ordinators and suffer score loss since you can't grab life support systems and abort a mission)?

Quote
Research seems to be just fine, although I am 1.5 episode behind, so can't say where you are ATM, but afaik you were mostly ignoring Laser research up to this point. Plasma stays locked until you get one of the rare VIPs. You just need to complete your mid-game portfolio to be allowed to go higher (naturally, the late-game techs aren't finished yet, but you still have a ton of good stuff not unlocked yet).

I keep forgetting to remind myself to research the "weak" tier weapons (such as Heavy Flamer, Hunting Laser, Small Launcher) and other things.

Looking at the ruleset, I can't believe how many things I'm prevented from getting since I haven't researched them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 24, 2015, 12:16:24 am
Ohhh yeah, I know all about the sweet Brute Armor and Annihilator Armor. I captured a second Merc Engineer today, so shouldn't be too much longer before I am fielding a few Brutes (except I lost a ton of Revenant Armor on that Destroyer raid).
Too bad, I'm down to 2 Life Support Systems and who knows when I'll be able to get more; wish at some point I could purchase them from the Govt at perhaps a significant cost (rather than relying on RNG to attack Ordinators and suffer score loss since you can't grab life support systems and abort a mission)?

Sure-fire way to get a lot of LSS's is to raid enemy Hideout. As well as Supply Ships, Shrine Ships, Frigates (I think), Battleships (if you dare). I'll be also adding a mid-to-late game tech that allows you to manufacture these, as well as stasis pods... at a significant cost :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 24, 2015, 01:26:24 am
Is repairing armors a thing or going to be thing? That could be somewhat useful.

Early game armors... maybe repair cost could be like 1/3 or 1/2 of the material cost?
Mid-game armors... require at least two "broken/damaged" versions plus a minor resource cost (like scrap metal, plastasteel, maybe the bootys that the player can craft [Church/Academy I think so far?]).
Late-game armors... require at least three "broken/damaged" versions plus a moderate resource cost (scrap/plastasteel/fuel/etc, plus booty, and half/third of the rarer materials)?

I mean, if we're able to salvage stuff from the enemy, we should be able to repair our own stuff in some way?

I can only imagine how Meridian is going to feel once he gets a bit deeper into his campaign; more corpses = more materials, but more enemies = more dead pirates? Also, the limited resources don't increase as difficulty does (mainly ship components), so should be interesting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 24, 2015, 01:49:05 am
@DracoGriffin: seems in the episode n. 33 of the playthrogh you have 22 or 23 almanacs; i strongly advice to research these, provide inco on various weapons, plus the research is more quicker :)

So far i managed to research only laser weapins disassembly, and obtained some stuff like laser lenses, still need to figure out hiw to produce lasers :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 24, 2015, 01:51:32 am
In the meantime, i made a miserable attempt to reconstruct a very tiny paperdoll of the humanist activist, hopefully somebody may want to use it to make a bootypedia image, see the attachment :)


I finally got around to working on a paper doll.  I'll pop it here if Dioxine wants to use it.
(https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/4/4d/HumanistActivist_Piratez.png)

Should the tunic be whiter?  I went with grey-ish because of the colors on the sprites.

Edit:  Heh. My original unprofessional attempt has been supplanted by Bloax's awesome product below. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 24, 2015, 02:33:30 am
Thanks ivan!!! Please Dioxine, would you use it? :) Hey this evening i found aout that also church priest does not yet hav an image (i barely managed to capture one alive) hope some brave and good will user may make an attempt...on the other hand for others images eventually missing i think it's enough to take a look to the directory which contains the related assets of the mod, to have a whole glimpse of what's missing:) Well..at least we'll  see in jaunary, with next rslases i hope:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 24, 2015, 02:44:08 am
Oh a KKK man, ok.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/HumanistActivist_Piratez.gif)(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/HumanistActivist_Piratez2x.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 24, 2015, 03:22:51 am
Oh a KKK man, ok.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/HumanistActivist_Piratez.gif)(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/HumanistActivist_Piratez2x.gif)

Awesome, thx.

Is repairing armors a thing or going to be thing? That could be somewhat useful.

Definitely, but I need to draw them (because I want damaged armor to be wearable :3 ) You'll need:
1. research damaged armor (so you lose the 1st one)
2. heavy resource cost (maybe 2/3rd of what it would cost you to make a new suit), but much less time/cash
3. just a single suit of damaged armor
Or I could make it (for mid-to-late-game stuff), a little less resources but 2 suits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 24, 2015, 05:15:10 am
Oh a KKK man, ok.

Sweet!  Added to the online Bootypedia! 
Care to take a stab a the Church Priest and Church Matron?
Here are the battlefield sprites.
(https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/5/53/ID_ChurchPriest_Piratez.png)(https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/6/6c/ID_ChurchMatron_Piratez.png)

Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: DracoGriffin on December 24, 2015, 06:47:52 am
@DracoGriffin: seems in the episode n. 33 of the playthrogh you have 22 or 23 almanacs; i strongly advice to research these, provide inco on various weapons, plus the research is more quicker :)
I'm just a hoarder; I've already researched all the guns those Gun Almanachs could reveal (so essentially, they are useless surplus and I always forget to sell them because I get too focused on other things but I made a note to sell them all). Gun Almanachs are only really useful for the first 1 to 3 months as they are almost all early tech weapons whereas going down the Kustomized Weaponz route instead is a much better pay off.

Sweet!  Added to the online Bootypedia! 
Care to take a stab a the Church Priest and Church Matron?
Here are the battlefield sprites.
Cheers, Ivan :D

I feel the Bootypedia entries are also really useful due to the amount of detail Bloax provides:

Church Priest
Priests are Church's field operatives, often not very bright but always fanatical in their fervour and true to their belief. The Church naturally assumes that everyone worships Star Gods, which is sometimes a good thing, and sometimes very bad thing. Be careful, them priests know how to brawl. They are usually former Zealots and might tell us about their trade as well.

I don't know if I am thinking of the same thing as Dioxine, but I wish I could remember the exact name... but I know there's like a pugilist priest in some movie that went around spreading religion. Oh my god, this is going to bug me forever until I somehow figure it out.

Church Matron
Matrons are universally revered and respected officials and leaders within the Maidens of War order of the Church. Their duties are to run Maiden covens, but also various non-military establishments of the Church, from food handout centres to hospitals. Sometimes they also serve as special envoys for the Church. They're skilled melee fighters, diplomats, lore-keepers and healers. In short, these older women are jaded, sophisticated and kind of creepy so we'd better keep them separated from the rest of our population, who knows what kind of curses and love-magics they possess?

They seem like a mix between Adepta Sororitas with an evil Catholic nun twist; with a touch of Slaanesh Cultism, especially as the Church has some really dark secrets...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 24, 2015, 07:11:09 am
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/ChurchPriest_Piratez.gif)(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/ChurchPriest_Piratez2x.gif)
fuck that was hard to do
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Arthanor on December 24, 2015, 07:12:20 am
Man that looks good.. now you'll have to do all the enemy paperdolls too! Otherwise they'll look like crappy next to this one ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 24, 2015, 07:15:55 am
Naturally, although I'm definitely prioritizing the player dolls first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 24, 2015, 07:34:50 am
The priest is hardcore. I love it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 24, 2015, 10:56:31 am
My heart grows as I look at these.

I would like to claim the priest for my X-Com Files mod, too (I need a priest of Dagon!).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 24, 2015, 11:26:18 am
Well my shit is practically public domain (I would only ever bitch if someone was going to say they made something I made) so go for it.

Sharing Is Caring (tm)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 24, 2015, 02:06:57 pm
*Drools
Bloax, You rule!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 25, 2015, 07:35:17 am
Time to work on some hi-end armors too... (this will be in the next release... if you manage to get to it, that is :) )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 25, 2015, 12:58:15 pm
Very nice, it's a great one.

(Also probably the perviest yet.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Meridian on December 25, 2015, 01:50:04 pm
What's that? A care bear armor? :D

(https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/carebears/images/e/e5/Take_Care_Bear.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/270?cb=20120405172827)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 25, 2015, 06:25:30 pm
Very nice, it's a great one.

(Also probably the perviest yet.)

agree! Kind of "porn" armor actually?  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 25, 2015, 06:56:32 pm
What's that? A care bear armor? :D

https://youtu.be/0lzC0aIVFvw?t=41 :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 25, 2015, 08:50:10 pm
I'd say, intensive care bare.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 26, 2015, 04:17:06 am
We Do What We Must Because We Can
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Bloax on December 26, 2015, 04:47:08 am
>But we can lend them for profit

Does that mean they have a negative maintenance cost?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 26, 2015, 04:53:37 am
Yeah. But selling them yields tons of cash if you have an unlimited access to Plastasteel...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 26, 2015, 04:43:49 pm
Dioxine, while watching Meridian's LP it occurred to me that maybe it would be better to call ammo production "10 clips" or something like that instead of "4x10". Sure, you lose the information of how many bullets per clip there are, but you can always check the item itself to learn this, and I think the current format is pretty hard to read. It's even hard to read for me, who has been playing this mod a long time ago, because I always have to think of which number is the number of clips and which is for the bullets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 26, 2015, 08:19:38 pm
Dioxine, while watching Meridian's LP it occurred to me that maybe it would be better to call ammo production "10 clips" or something like that instead of "4x10". Sure, you lose the information of how many bullets per clip there are, but you can always check the item itself to learn this, and I think the current format is pretty hard to read. It's even hard to read for me, who has been playing this mod a long time ago, because I always have to think of which number is the number of clips and which is for the bullets.

I humbly agree :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 26, 2015, 10:28:53 pm
Nah, this info is important. Maybe I can change it into '10x30r' format or something, but that'd be really tedious to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on December 28, 2015, 04:48:33 pm
Seeing how fire and stun are best friends for capturing people,how about a melee that does fire damage and stun damage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Zharkov on December 28, 2015, 07:01:51 pm
...,how about a melee that does fire damage and stun damage?

Classic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_sword_(mythology))

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: LexThorn on December 28, 2015, 07:15:42 pm
Classic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_sword_(mythology))

These never go out of fashion!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on December 28, 2015, 08:04:46 pm
Who knows maybe the 5-10 damage of the fire can be dangerous on a melee weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Yankes on December 28, 2015, 08:59:22 pm
it can be 0-100. Extended can use normal damage roll for fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 29, 2015, 09:29:23 am
I've only started playing around with direct-attack Fire damage (check out how the updated Combat Shotgun/Incendiary works, now it's actually pretty sweet IMO), but I agree we should explore this avenue more. And I like the basic idea, only need to figure out where to put it on the research tree, how to rationalize it, and how to stat it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on December 29, 2015, 10:32:21 am
It doesnt need to be a sword made of flames,maybe the gals would think so but it could function diffirently.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 29, 2015, 11:27:26 am
I think I just broke Draco's record on hospitalization time (was it 95 days?). Heavy Flamer + Guerilla Armor = BAD.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - Doberman Sprites
Post by: ivandogovich on December 29, 2015, 03:55:37 pm
As I was working on the bootypedia, I go to thinking about the dogs, and how it would make sense for some of the factions to have them to (Spartans, Govt, maybe Raiders).  Of course, then I saw that Dioxine added it in the latest version. :)

That got me thinking, that it might be nice to have a distinction between the two.  i.e. Different Sprites, and images, etc, and maybe some slight variation in stats. 

So I got working over the Christmas holiday, and worked up a complete set of sprites for the Doberman Guard Dog.  I have a sprite sheet, corpse, bigob Corpse, and an Inv/BigOb.    (There is no ruleset at this time, only graphics)

I'll leave these here and Dioxine can use them for Piratez.  Of course they are free game for anyone else to pick up for their own mods. :)
(https://i.imgur.com/KCgQCQ3.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: niculinux on December 30, 2015, 12:09:14 am
Thanks ivan! He just i thought (not a suggestion!) i've seen that humanist soldiers come not equipped, at least at the beginning, with the magneto-plasma gun (a technologically advenced version of the MP-40 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP_40)) so hy not to give it to these, to "complete" the humanists arsenal? Maybe in a "raw" form using standard bullets (dam., complementing to the officier's pistol 19). NO humanists soldier come equipped primairly with random weapons, peraphs that mentioned primitive mp-40 (in game named soldier's smg?) may become the main hardware, instructors should get the battle rifles, since they're more valuable? After some research, the mp-40 may become as it is now?

Only random thoughts, not more ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 30, 2015, 02:26:20 am
Possible Church Matron INV image:

(Not in the correct pallette yet).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 30, 2015, 08:55:55 am
Shouldn't really be based on pirate gals' paperdolls, humans should be based on human inventory pics...

NO humanists soldier come equipped primairly with random weapons, peraphs that mentioned primitive mp-40 (in game named soldier's smg?) may become the main hardware, instructors should get the battle rifles, since they're more valuable? After some research, the mp-40 may become as it is now?

Mp-40 would be pointless since there is spraygun already. And do your homework, Instructors are often armed with batte rifles (or hydra lasers), and MPG is researcheable & manufaturable, albeit only in mid-late game. Also I wouldn't call smg + rifle + machine gun combination 'random', but whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 30, 2015, 03:22:43 pm
Shouldn't really be based on pirate gals' paperdolls, humans should be based on human inventory pics...

Yeah, good point.  That bothered me a bit.  I'm looking forward to re-working it. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 30, 2015, 05:52:59 pm
Re Worked
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 30, 2015, 06:15:12 pm
Much, much better, but I forgot to mention... She's supposed to have a Church of Sirius eye in the pyramid on her chest, not some red rectangle :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 30, 2015, 06:50:14 pm
Yeah, I was wondering about that! Will do!

Ok, here it is with a Pyramid.  Would you like it on a Rectangular Gold Badge instead of just the triangle?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 31, 2015, 08:50:08 am
Just the triangle is fine! I like it a lot, but let's save it for a different purpose - for the Matron, it'd be better to shrink that triangle by, like, a half? :) This one just looks HUEG.

Maybe this one:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on December 31, 2015, 03:14:51 pm
Ok, cool.  Thinking about it some more.... we are basically going with the design from Apocalypse right?
(https://www.ufopaedia.org/images/f/fb/Apoc_sirius_icon.png)

Or did you mention an "eye" in the Pyramid?

The pixel count in space for the image is getting pretty small now so alot of this is becoming more "suggestions" of the design.

And here is a smaller triangle on the Matron.

Edit: Lol.  Cross post. XD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on December 31, 2015, 04:27:25 pm
Lol there's indeed no eye in that pyramid, I stand corrected :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on January 01, 2016, 11:50:25 am
What does the year of 2601 holds for us now that it has arrived?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on January 02, 2016, 06:48:50 pm
I have an idea for a security door mechanic,maybe in some special missions with some factions you would need a keycard to enter some doors which would be a weapon that does special damage to a wall that is weak to that damage type,sure the door would destroyed but unless openxcom conjures some code in the air i cant find a better way to impliment that system.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 06, 2016, 05:27:54 pm
I've been watching more of Dracogriffin's series and am very impressed with the Nurse's Outfit!

One thing I noticed though is that the Nurse's Medikit looks identical to the Field Surgery Kit even though it has different characteristics.  I got to thinking about alternatives, and how nice that flavor change might be.

(https://wayart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Vintage-Syringe2-LR.jpg)(https://images.eurogamer.net/2011/articleshttps://a/1/4/2/4/0/8/6/valentine_syringe.png)

I liked the idea of maybe using the old fashioned syringe as a typical nurse's instrument.  I mocked out a really quick sprite, but would be willing to refine it and create handobs too if you are interested.

I went with Green liquid, but it could be any other color too.


Edit: some links in the spoiler for possible 'pedia images.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f4/fd/f8/f4fdf84ed5d192a22474d7750d25b639.jpg
https://www.enchantedfairygarden.com/pics/nursecandy.JPG
https://img03.deviantart.net/d042/i/2011/218/6/1/nurse_who____maple_injection_by_dark_yokokitsune-d45ocge.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/35/a0/31/35a0319a5b62be3bd7e355c3462a0139.jpg
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 06, 2016, 05:55:43 pm
Nice pictures :) Just a syringe would look stupid, but I agree that a special bigob might be in order (same goes for Advisor's medkit). Maybe a different case, like an opened one with all sorts of syringes and other stuff neatly packed in? Or an old-style Doctor's Bag for the Advisor?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 06, 2016, 06:05:11 pm
Yeah, I like the idea of the Doctor's Bag.    Black Leather with handles, etc. Maybe with stethoscope since that is a classic part of most of these images.

(https://i.usatoday.net/yourlife/_photos/file/doctor-bagx.jpg)(https://managemypractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ishot-1.jpg)

Maybe the Field Surgery Kit could reflect more of the Combat Medic's Bag...  Army Green etc.

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/79/01/a6/7901a6a47a55f33bba02c32e386e4ae3.jpg) (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/41/f7/8c/41f78cb53afd9583335ec0fe2253a337.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 06, 2016, 07:23:51 pm
Already made Doctor's Bag for the Advisor, still nothing good enough for the Nurse. Also the item-on-white pictures (and jpgs in general) are so much pain to cut and rework it's not worth it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 06, 2016, 07:27:19 pm
Already made Doctor's Bag for the Advisor, still nothing good enough for the Nurse. Also the item-on-white pictures (and jpgs in general) are so much pain to cut and rework it's not worth it :)

Sure, I get that. :)  I was just brainstorming.
I'll try mocking up a Combat Medic's bag and see if you like it. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 06, 2016, 08:34:00 pm
Here is a Medic Bag.   A possible replacement for the Nurse, but it also might make more sense as the Field Surgery Kit, because that item has generally less capacity than the Nurse's outfit.

Edit:  Handob as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 06, 2016, 10:46:18 pm
These are really sweet little things!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 07, 2016, 04:18:56 am
Is there an estimate/timeline plan for the coming updates and version 1.0?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 07, 2016, 05:22:29 pm
Very nice item! Now I don't know what to do with it, since it's clearly too low-tech for field surgery kit (or Nurse's upgraded equivalent of it). Should I create a new item or what? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 07, 2016, 05:25:01 pm
I got bored and more creative.  New Field Surgery Kit with the guts exposed.

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=19920)

(blown up)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 07, 2016, 05:57:18 pm
Niiice. Now that's something I can work with. Great help! Much appreciated!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 07, 2016, 06:07:40 pm
Niiice. Now that's something I can work with. Great help! Much appreciated!

Cool, I figure the standard handob should work for that too. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 07, 2016, 06:19:13 pm
Nurse outfit doesn't use any handobs, so... not really an issue :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Meridian on January 09, 2016, 11:00:29 pm
So... fighting off heavy plasmas and blaster launchers with rocks and sticks (in March 2601) is a thing in this mod... or was I just shat on by RNG gods?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 10, 2016, 01:25:09 am
So... fighting off heavy plasmas and blaster launchers with rocks and sticks (in March 2601) is a thing in this mod... or was I just shat on by RNG gods?

Please refer to my horrific base defense in my LP. ;)   (Jan 27th, 2601)
Let's Play OpenXcom PirateZ! Ep #008: Madame Mayhem!  - https://youtu.be/Y2nI1hFL3M4?t=20m59s

They were packing plasmas, and Blaster Launchers.  The hammer was the main thing that saved my butt, iirc.  I had far less armor than you too, but wasn't playing on super human. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Evaristo on January 10, 2016, 11:16:38 am
Thank you very much for the mod. I got a Game Over two years into my first campaign after I ran into bad luck during a pogrom and just couldn't recover (I met the star gods for the first time - those are some BIG explosions!). Despite that it's a bunch of bodacious babes just having a killing of a time, I've enjoyed the world building very much and I am continuously immersed. The flavor text packed into everything makes the geoscape come alive in my mind and I love imagining human appropriated saucers zooming lonesomely across desolate landscapes.

My time is made better due to me not being an original x-com veteran, I only found out the franchise existed when the 2012 game came out. Because of that, my experience with the mod is just as much an exploration of it as it is an exploration of the original game. I'm already looking forward to sparking up a new campaign and starting the carnage again!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 10, 2016, 01:44:17 pm
@Evaristo:
Thank you so much! If you're new to the original, I encourage you to try the vanilla campaign too (either full vanilla or augmented by some major mod, like Redux, FMP or Hardmode).

So... fighting off heavy plasmas and blaster launchers with rocks and sticks (in March 2601) is a thing in this mod... or was I just shat on by RNG gods?

It is, if you're man enough :) Please be more specific - either you attacked a warship on the ground (which is 100% your choice), or you got hit by Crackdown (retal), but the last one is just pirate workline risk - if you shoot down too many shipping, this will happen, and bad luck + bad preparation can result in getting destroyed by it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Meridian on January 10, 2016, 11:15:05 pm
It is, if you're man enough :) Please be more specific - either you attacked a warship on the ground (which is 100% your choice), or you got hit by Crackdown (retal), but the last one is just pirate workline risk - if you shoot down too many shipping, this will happen, and bad luck + bad preparation can result in getting destroyed by it.

I shot down one single UFO, on the other side of the globe. Retal came several days later.

I know the chance to spawn is "only" 20%... I've seen it in the source code myself... but I swear to all that is holy that in my FMP LP it got generated with every second UFO... later in the LP I have removed 14 retaliation missions (during 3 months) from my save so that I can even finish it and they constantly spawned like crazy.

If this is going to happen in PirateZ too, I will be forced to do the same.

I like Superhuman, I really do, but the number of retals spawned is just crazy.

PS: I think Warboy has unhardcoded it, I would really appreciate a different curve for retals than now... if you have time to mod/test it of course. Link: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3957.msg51750.html#msg51750
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 11, 2016, 05:59:20 am
Not sure, never had this problem occur to me, despite playing campaigns 2+ years long. 3 retal missions/month was about the peak activity that ever happened. Well, bad luck, despite attacking on another continent... but you can further sway luck to your side by destroying retal scouts and, later, building some base defences (since in Piratez, even basic defences might save you, sometimes).
As for 'monthly retal' I have substantially pushed that to later game-years (so no Merc or Star God invasion early on... unless provoked), but not on Jack Sparrow, as it is by definition the ridiculous diff level :) But even then the monthly retals start about December 2601 or so. Upside - retals (ships and assault teams) are your best source of faction commanders :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: doctor medic on January 12, 2016, 06:38:57 pm
Oh,ethereals on a terror site,well screw you too dioxine i didnt want to have fun either way :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 12, 2016, 07:33:43 pm
What did you expect? Easter Bunny? Too bad, here Etherals, f*ck you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 12, 2016, 07:49:04 pm
What did you expect? Easter Bunny? Too bad, here Etherals, f*ck you.

For clarification:

(https://heahea.org/img/39-Mirrion_Dorrar.jpg)

:)

But I think it would go more like this:

Quote
Dear Customers,
With utmost regret, we are forced to cancel your urban defence plan for this month due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Please rest assured that customer satisfaction is the most crucial value for our company. Should you have any comments, suggestion or claims, please contact our helpline and your issue will be taken care of by our team of experienced specialists - free of charge!
Thank you for choosing our company. We hope to maintain our long-term business relations in the future. Please see the attached Elerium Grenade as a special gift for our valued customers to recognize their brand loyalty.
your sincerely,
Mutant Self Defence Force
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 12, 2016, 10:08:35 pm
Me too, but there are people who like weapons like this too.
PirateZ is an excellent example... there's tons of weapons there, which do either no damage and/or have abysmal accuracy. Good for wasting ammo I guess :) It can be pleasantly hypnotizing sometimes though watching all those bullets... if you didn't rage quit yet.

You just need to call Dr. Lo Wang, poor soul. All your prayers will be answered.
(remember: no donation, no salvation)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Zharkov on January 12, 2016, 11:29:14 pm
Hej, this screen looks exactly as my attempt playing Hobbes' Ufo redux: first mission, I hit some plane wreck, everything exploded, second mission, I hit some kind of ventilation shaft, everything exploded, then I stopped playing. My ICAO petition about the exploding aircrafts is still pending...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 12, 2016, 11:46:30 pm
Just take TUNDRAPLANE, POLARPLANE & DESERTPLANE files from piratez/terrains, copy it to Redux & enjoy less explodey planes. And you're exaggerating a bit about the vent shafts... unless you had the early version, I guess :)

The map in the above picture had some exploding barrels on it, but  99% of the damage seen came from a single warhead :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Cristao on January 14, 2016, 01:58:35 pm
When is 0.97C coming out? I am scared to continue based on the bug report ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 14, 2016, 02:39:21 pm
Hopefully today, I need to run some errands first, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 14, 2016, 06:20:58 pm
Okay, I'm confused.  :o

I'm watching Draco's LP and just finished watching his Base Defense from the Guild.  After the major massacre, I was waiting for a nice haul of Trader's booty (this is on version .96) but he only got one!!!  https://youtu.be/QrSfb2RsOEQ?t=1h26m50s

How could this be possible?? He still had probably 8 or more corpses intact that weren't damaged by blasts.   Is there only one enemy that drops booty now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Dioxine on January 14, 2016, 06:55:48 pm
AFAIR they all were either Pest Control Managers (Grav Parts), Security guys (Armor Parts) or Bodyguards (Broken Powered Armor). So no wonder they left no Trader Booty, which, being less valuable, can be gained from unarmored Traders.

Also, a little picture story of a new facility I am making... because I heard you like traps :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: ivandogovich on January 14, 2016, 07:29:10 pm
Ok, yep.  I guess the sole surviving Guild Rep corpse was the only one providing booty.   ???  Thanks  very much for the explanation. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 10:45:35 am
New version is finally up. First and foremost it includes Meridian's upgrades, but this is nothing new to the people who are regulars here :) It also finally fixes persistent mid-game crashes it suffered since 0.96.
But, that's not all. As usual you get a ton of stuff - from new avatars to new facilities. There's a new late-game research that allows to stop the pogroms and make tons of cash (and gets you extra retals). The research tree was unbugged and fleshed out some more, too, which will definitely cause some curses - but fear not, at worst you'll have to research a few topics more. Upgrading doesn't break saves in this case.
What else - not less than 4 new armors, including one that can be only acquired if a pirate in Defender or Guardian armor is killed (yes, I will be implementing wearable damaged armor that can be repaired - if you have the tech).

So, enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 15, 2016, 11:30:50 am
Hurray and on a Friday -

Lets go dancing/gaming - ooh la la

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWuoGZAz94c
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: yrizoud on January 15, 2016, 12:02:18 pm
More like Privateering world :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 15, 2016, 12:10:15 pm
Quote
- RMP updates for Pirate ships. Expect to be boarded now.

Can you elaborate?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 12:25:23 pm
Yes. Up to this point, pirate ships were using dummy RMPs (movement Route MaPs for AI units). Meaning, the enemies could board your landing ship ONLY IF they spotted someone onboard and were in hot pursuit. No longer. Since the ships have fully-fledged RMPs now, the enemies will check them out as per normal patrol routine, if they're nearby and dice rolls tell them to do that, even if none of your soldiers has been spotted yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Zharkov on January 15, 2016, 12:26:31 pm
Can you elaborate?

Yeah, just maintain course and speed and you will understand soon!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 12:41:38 pm
Oh yeah... boarding ships mid-flight. And actual ramming. That'd be so awesome.

More like Privateering world :)

That too, in a way, but you need to get to endgame to understand :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 15, 2016, 05:17:05 pm
I managed to reach power armor before even researching tac armor.I feel very odd and i would like to know if any research about it was changed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 06:31:17 pm
Nothing was changed in that regard lately, and it's as intended. They share a common prerequisite but can be researched independently. The limiting factors are 1. lost of extra research needed for powered armor; 2. scarcity of power armor parts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 15, 2016, 06:43:41 pm
Did you restore nuclear fuel from 25 to 50?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 06:47:13 pm
Did you restore nuclear fuel from 25 to 50?

Of course not. Testing shows it is a far more fitting amount. Besides, it makes sense - in the OG, aliens had to have enough fuel for a round-trip to Mars. Also they didn't have to pay for it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 15, 2016, 08:01:18 pm
I got the new version loaded. I have been getting a lot of Trader Cargo Freight missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 15, 2016, 08:28:16 pm
I got the new version loaded. I have been getting a lot of Trader Cargo Freight missions.

What is a lot?
Did you already manage to play several game months in just several real-world hours after release?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 15, 2016, 08:31:29 pm
Hi! I require hints, comrades.

I'm stuck being unable to go to Cydonia - I've got the Guild, Church, Academy and Star God codes. What I lack is apparently a ship capable of getting there. The Computer Core description implies existence of further education research, but I've been unable to find what triggers that. Everything I could research, I did, right now I'm just farming Encrypted Disks for the collection of fluff and mechanics description research.

For what it's worth, I've started playing on 0.97A and upgraded to 0.97C just now. This gave me a bunch of new technologies, but I am still unable to figure out how to reach these mystical Higher Studies. Who do I need to kill or take hostage for that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 08:33:39 pm
Do you have Magnetic Containment, nuclear laser ammo and Forcefields yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 15, 2016, 08:39:13 pm
Those would be under Mysteries? Pretty sure I don't have them.

Attached last page of my Mysteries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 15, 2016, 08:45:08 pm
What is a lot?
Did you already manage to play several game months in just several real-world hours after release?

No most of the crafts I have seen so far in two months of game play are supply. I normally go after them when landed so I guess they are cargo freight and military supply vessels crewed by the Guild.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 15, 2016, 08:47:38 pm
No most of the crafts I have seen so far in two months of game play are supply. I normally go after them when landed so I guess they are cargo freight and military supply vessels crewed by the Guild.

Wow you actually did play the whole day today :-) I guess just bad luck on RNG then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2016, 09:32:42 pm
Those would be under Mysteries? Pretty sure I don't have them.

Attached last page of my Mysteries.

You need UAC weapons, reticulan power systems, MPG and Kruger to get it. For Forcefields, you need Church. For nuclear laser ammo, elerium explosives, lasers and Industrial Printer (not a full list of preqs, just guidelines)

About the freights - they weren't changed at all since before 0.9, so... bad call :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 15, 2016, 09:34:15 pm
I am not complaining. I get loads money from it and Nuclear fuel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 15, 2016, 09:42:12 pm
You need UAC weapons, reticulan power systems, MPG and Kruger to get it. For Forcefields, you need Church. For nuclear laser ammo, elerium explosives, lasers and Industrial Printer (not a full list of preqs, just guidelines)

Will have to catch some pokemons again, I guess.

Is the Industrial Printer required for any research? Or just a guideline? It doesn't flat out say anything about research, just manufacturing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 15, 2016, 10:46:02 pm
Turns out I had Forcefields, they were just listed in the middle of the list. From the prereqs you listed:
- UAC Weapons
- Reticulan Power Systems: CHECK
- MPG (is the tech actually called that?)
- Kruger: CHECK
- Forcefields: CHECK
- Nuclear Laser Ammo
- Elerium Explosives: CHECK
- Lasers (what kind of lasers? I've got Laser Weapons Construction and Laser Weapons Dissassembly)
- Industrial Printer: CHECK (at least the tech; I have it built in a non-research base)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 16, 2016, 12:51:47 am
I wish I hadnt complained. The Church just got on the scene. Started a landing mission, stunned, killed a few enemies then saw chyrissies and thought - wait did anyone bring fire or spears? High Explosives? Nobody? - alrite everybody back the eff up onto the craft - we outta here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 11:14:37 am
Turns out I had Forcefields, they were just listed in the middle of the list. From the prereqs you listed:

To get Higher Studies you just need Printer tech, not the facility. You seem to be missing Laser Batteries, which are quite a basic tech. You need to
farm gun almanachs (you need Hydra Laser, Laser Tommy & Hunting laser). MPG is a weapon and can be gotten from interrogating all types of nazis, but also from farming Disks. UAC weapons can be gotten from Disks or from Doom mission.

Looks like I need to add another source of these rare techs like UAC weapons (maybe advanced hacking) so you don't have to rely on rare finds so much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 12:00:22 pm
- Hydra Laser: CHECK
- Laser Tommy: CHECK
- Hunting laser: CHECK

>interrogating all types of nazis
Strange - the Nazis I caught recetly were uninterrogatable anymore. But then I caught only Activists and Instructors. I suppose I'll have to catch a Soldier or Leader, if they show up again.

>UAC weapons
That's not a tech, that's a group of items, yes? I have some UAC stuff - a broken battery. Also researched UAC Plasmagun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 12:05:10 pm
Yeah you need these 2 Nazis too.
If you have all lasers, you should be able to manufacture superconductive clips for all lasers as well, and with all your other tech, upgrade them to nuclear clips.
The only way to research UAC plasmagun should be through UAC Weapons Blueprints, which is the actual prerequisite for Magnetic Containment and should also give you the BFG and the ability to repair batteries for both weapons.
I'm writing in so much detail so if there's bug in the research tree, we'll catch it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 12:47:22 pm
Yes, I have both BFG and the ability to repair UAC and BFG batteries.

Can I bait Nazis somehow to make them appear?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 01:08:25 pm
There's a chance they will appear either in Pogrom or in Crackdown, albeit a small one. They also have their own missions, so if you see their ships, shoot them all down - it might provoke a Crackdown mission of their own. Other than that, no.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 01:13:15 pm
Well, I was lucky for once.

I have now a Humanist Soldier, Humanist Instructor, and Humanist Leader in jail - but I cannot interrogate/research them. Factions techs indicate that I have researched Humanists, Humanist Soldier, Humanist Instructor, Humanist Leader and Humanist Activist. No MPG, though. (No available techs to research, either.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 01:44:18 pm
Oh, and - who designed this toilet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 01:49:29 pm
Hobbes.

And MPG is an acronym for Magneto-Plasma Gun, sorry if you didn't catch it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 02:24:05 pm
Good job, Hobbes. It's details like these that make you understand how much the future sucks.

Dioxine: Definitely don't have the MPG or Magneto-Plasma Gun. Are there more Nazi types than I listed? Or should I just religiously land-mission them, until they spawn with an MPG for me to research?

EDIT: Decrypted disks ceased to be researchable. I don't nearly have the numbered fluff/mechanics description techs, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 02:43:22 pm
Not all numbered pinups are done yet, this isn't 1.0 :)
Also you're missing Humanist Stormtrooper. MPG cannot be researched from an item.

You also must forgive Hobbes, he made these for Evil Military Base. Forces of evil want everyone to suffer :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 03:16:33 pm
No, no, I'm being serious. This future is supposed to suck, right? (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StylisticSuck)

These toilets aren't actually the worst. See: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/23/worst-bathroom-fails_n_907693.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 03:33:39 pm
The fun part, these weren't made for my mod, but for the OG... they do fit even better here, though :)

And I think the toilet where you have to climb the stairs to, so to speak, sit on the throne... is actually not a fail, but an awesome idea :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 06:59:59 pm
Watching Jormungand got me thinking.
An idea for discussion. Since sniper weapons are so (unrealistically) effective, even in the hands of green soldiers, I thought that adding some limiting factor should be in order; it takes skill to master such a weapon. The idea is to replace the skill their use; instead of normal accuracy, they'd use:
Firing^2 * 0.015.
This would make them resemble more Psi Amps and Throwing Knives in skill/accuracy spread than normal firearms.

What would that mean? For a sniper rifle with acc = 125%, the chances to hit a target would be (old -> new):
Firing 50 (rookie): 62% -> 46%
Firing 65 (budding sharpshooter): 81% -> 79%
Firing 75 (experienced soldier): 93% -> 105%
(after that, it gets meaningless - it'd easily reach >200 with soldiers who have above 100 Firing Acc, but it doesn't change anything beside a bit tighter grouping of shots).

The numbers might require further tuning - eg. reducing the gun acc to 100% if it seems too easy to use, or changing the multiplier to 0.01, but what do you think about the idea, people?

(or I could keep the current skill and simply reduce their acc to 100 or 110, but that'd look weird...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 16, 2016, 07:13:44 pm
Agreed. Makes sense.

My idea of mapping between soldier's firing and final accuracy:
firing < 55 => useless (less than 20% ?)
firing 65-70 => accuracy around 85-90%
firing 80+ => accuracy above 120%

EDIT: who is Jormungand, where can i see his videos?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 16, 2016, 07:22:12 pm
I never understood how 0.015 is supposed to be calculated neither do i know what ^ is.
Also what happens if a calculation that cant be made?As if for example a number that cant be divided?Would the game crash or not take into account that calculation?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 07:31:44 pm
^ is a common notation for "to the power of". Firing^2 means Firing*Firing.

0.015 has nothing to do with division, it is multiplication by a constant floating point number. Since the outcome is supposed to be an integer, then it'll get rounded (depending on various factors, like programming language, compile settings, libraries used and stuff). Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean.

Dioxine: Do you idle on IRC somewhere? Is there an IRC channel for Piratez, like there is for OpenXcom?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 07:38:26 pm
@AbuDhabi: yes, that's exactly how it works. The number actually gets truncated, not rounded, though (at least per normal behaviour OXCOM is using too), so eg. 50.999 changes to 50.
But no, I don't have any IRC channel. Might be good to open one, though... I just don't know how to do it, I'm really lame at social media, I don't even have a FB account.

@Meridian: yeah, something along these lines. And Jormungand is an anime series, or Nordic World-Snake, not a guy :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Devon_v on January 16, 2016, 08:02:01 pm
Also sometimes called the Midgard Serpent or Midgard Wurm. Or the Midgar Zolom if you translate it really poorly.

Agree on the sniper change, they're just crazy good in FMP so long as you're a halfway decent shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: AbuDhabi on January 16, 2016, 08:08:46 pm
Heh. I've never really made the connection between IRC and social media. IRC is ancient as all hell.

There is an #openxcom channel on irc.freenode.org. The least inconvenient way to get on for a complete newcomer is to go to https://webchat.freenode.net/ and fill in your nickname, write in "#openxcom" into the channels box, pass the captcha and connect. (After you connect and the window changes, wait a few seconds for the proper channel to open. There will be a list of names on the right, and a box to enter messages at the bottom.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Yankes on January 16, 2016, 08:13:11 pm
@AbuDhabi: yes, that's exactly how it works. The number actually gets truncated, not rounded, though (at least per normal behaviour OXCOM is using too), so eg. 50.999 changes to 50.
nope, in 99% chance it will return 51 and 1% it will return 50 :)
this way I can preserve some part of truncated value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 08:22:55 pm
Yeah I was going there, I mean the OXCom IRC, but this is not Piratez channel. I'm not there anymore because I preferred to withdraw since I was pissing Warboy off, a lot. I know IRC is ancient but I wasn't much interested in using it even when it was still hot. Had no use for it, but I guess Piratez might be the right reason... I just don't want to lose whole days hanging out :) So how do I make a new channel there? Soft-wise, I have shexchat but my machine hates it with a passion (it's a very, very passionate PC).

Also good save Yankes, but it means OXCE no longer uses standard behaviour... and it would also explain WHY THE HELL MY ACC % IS FUC***G BLINKING +1/-1 BACK AND FORTH ALL THE TIME! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 16, 2016, 08:38:37 pm
Hey dioxine, a while back you said that most of the enemies from the church faction were not fit for slavery and that this was on purpose. Is there then any reason to keep them alive, maybe for something later in the game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 16, 2016, 08:53:02 pm
I will not answer that :) But not in general, no.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 17, 2016, 11:00:42 am
@Meridian: yeah, something along these lines. And Jormungand is an anime series, or Nordic World-Snake, not a guy :)

LOL, well, I'm not an anime guru :)
I've only seen Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 17, 2016, 11:06:27 am
LOL, well, I'm not an anime guru :)
I've only seen Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Don't worry, I've seen over 300 titles, which is over 3000 episodes, but I've never heard about this one either. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97B - 20 Dec - I Bring You Fire
Post by: Meridian on January 17, 2016, 04:16:16 pm
I shot down one single UFO, on the other side of the globe. Retal came several days later.

I know the chance to spawn is "only" 20%... I've seen it in the source code myself... but I swear to all that is holy that in my FMP LP it got generated with every second UFO... later in the LP I have removed 14 retaliation missions (during 3 months) from my save so that I can even finish it and they constantly spawned like crazy.

If this is going to happen in PirateZ too, I will be forced to do the same.

I like Superhuman, I really do, but the number of retals spawned is just crazy.

PS: I think Warboy has unhardcoded it, I would really appreciate a different curve for retals than now... if you have time to mod/test it of course. Link: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3957.msg51750.html#msg51750

That's it. My patience is big, but not endless!

Just shot down a second UFO... and a second retaliation has been generated... I don't care anymore, I am changing the source code and decreasing the chance from 20% to 12%... call me a cheater, see if I care...

Howgh.
/ragequit
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 17, 2016, 04:35:38 pm
I think 12% is actually better than 20%, for one simple reason: base defence, while hard, is very profitable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 05:15:43 pm
Yeah but building interception fleet, base defences and keeping large & well-armed crew costs money and diverges research from things that give more instant gratification... :) But I guess there are easier ways out. However, Meridian is the director of his show, I just want this to be expressly stated by him, that he was wrong and doesn't, in fact, have what it takes to endure Jack Sparrow, and is decreasing the diff level :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Bloax on January 17, 2016, 05:21:36 pm
I think the issue is rather that he has endured far too many base defense missions (which always go down in more or less the same way) in his time and is deathly tired of being forced into doing them due to the accursed
STATISTICAL IMPROBABILITIES AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYKPdNvH800&t=1m21s)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 05:30:48 pm
I assure you, if he was attacked by Star Gods or Mercenaries, it wouldn't go the same way :D

Anyways monthly retals are set to start around Christmas 2601 (on Jack Sparrow), so.

As a wiever, I am torn on this. I like to watch base defences because they're hard and full of adventure, otoh they're indeed a bit repetitive and take soooo much time. Even with heavy melee setup, while I am able to beat them off in less than 16 turns, more than half of that is slow and boring clearing of hangars.

However, decreasing difficulty is just that, I don't consider it a cheat or whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 17, 2016, 05:34:46 pm
Yeah but building interception fleet, base defences and keeping large & well-armed crew costs money and diverges research from things that give more instant gratification... :) But I guess there are easier ways out. However, Meridian is the director of his show, I just want this to be expressly stated by him, that he was wrong and doesn't, in fact, have what it takes to endure Jack Sparrow, and is decreasing the diff level :)

I said call me a cheater... not a weakling... now my pride won't allow me to turn the option on :-(

Well, at least it will be there for future generations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 05:36:02 pm
That's not a cheat in my book, it's just going down a notch from "Jack Sparrow" to "Almost Jack Sparrow" :) Don't worry, it is still a very high difficulty... with very high rewards from missions, too... Actually as high as on true Jack Sparrow... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 17, 2016, 06:48:11 pm
The only way I try Jack Sparrow is with a 300 stun power and 5% TU auto weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 07:28:43 pm
Good idea. I will equip an enemy with it, and everyone will know to thank you for that :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 17, 2016, 07:29:57 pm
Why is everyone so keen on getting hostages?

@Dioxine: just out of curiosity...
1. How many hostages do I absolutely inevitably need to unlock necessary secrets for final mission and finish the game?
2. And how many do I need if I want also some decent armor and plasma weapons?

No need for precise numbers... just approximately... 5, 10, 25, 50, more?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 07:54:55 pm
About 25, I'd say, to finish the game..
For plasma weapons per se, you need less than 10 (and these 10 is mostly the same guys as these 25 from above), but also tons and tons of other research, so it's almost irrelevant.
For decent armor... depending on your idea of decent armor. No armor in the game allows to take Heavy Plasma and Blaster Bombs with (even relative) impunity. One is coming close to it, but it's rather very hard to get and inflicts gruesome stat penalties.

As for the small fish... a lot of important techs can be gotten from like, 10, 20 or more sources, interrogations being part of these sources.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: LexThorn on January 17, 2016, 08:18:43 pm
About 25, I'd say, to finish the game..
For plasma weapons per se, you need less than 10 (and these 10 is mostly the same guys as these 25 from above), but also tons and tons of other research, so it's almost irrelevant.
For decent armor... depending on your idea of decent armor. No armor in the game allows to take Heavy Plasma and Blaster Bombs with (even relative) impunity. One is coming close to it, but it's rather very hard to get and inflicts gruesome stat penalties.

As for the small fish... a lot of important techs can be gotten from like, 10, 20 or more sources, interrogations being part of these sources.

Seems about 150-200 hostages to research all or almost all booty pedia entries (yes, i am pervert-masochist-perfectionist).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 17, 2016, 08:30:33 pm
Why is everyone so keen on getting hostages?

Because most girls are nice and don't like unnecessary deaths!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 17, 2016, 08:42:31 pm
Seems about 150-200 hostages to research all or almost all booty pedia entries (yes, i am pervert-masochist-perfectionist).

95% of these 200 topics can be taken from other sources, like books, almanachs, govt papers, found items, and especially discs. 25 was only referring to those you actually need to finish the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 17, 2016, 10:04:15 pm
Why is everyone so keen on getting hostages?

@Dioxine: just out of curiosity...
1. How many hostages do I absolutely inevitably need to unlock necessary secrets for final mission and finish the game?
2. And how many do I need if I want also some decent armor and plasma weapons?

No need for precise numbers... just approximately... 5, 10, 25, 50, more?

I like hostages because of slavery!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gunner-chan on January 18, 2016, 12:04:00 am
Capturing hostages is just fun and good money.

Shooting people is also fun. Win win.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: LexThorn on January 18, 2016, 06:16:34 am
95% of these 200 topics can be taken from other sources, like books, almanachs, govt papers, found items, and especially discs. 25 was only referring to those you actually need to finish the game.

I know, i know. After all this is that items for. For that i must thank you too, sometimes it saves time.

I have a qestion: is score for game over is hardcoded or included intwo rulesets(im about huge negative score during two month)?  I have some free time & want to playtest a mod with more\less score to loose or\and extended\reduced number of month with negative score. If i can change that myself - need an advice how to do that.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2016, 11:06:11 am
No idea. It's either hardcoded or irrelevant (I've lost the OG once due to running out of cash, but never due to neg. score).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 18, 2016, 02:56:27 pm
I wonder what are the stats for the mercenary commando melee attack,it can stun full health commandoes and shock troupers very easily
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2016, 03:19:11 pm
hehehe, quite OP actually (125 dmg, double stun effect). Will be fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: LexThorn on January 18, 2016, 03:35:58 pm
No idea. It's either hardcoded or irrelevant (I've lost the OG once due to running out of cash, but never due to neg. score).

Tanx anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 18, 2016, 04:37:55 pm
I was complaining about the church till I met the mercs. Thank GOD for melee. >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2016, 05:01:37 pm
A teaser :)

(https://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/max_smirnov/Piratez/screen286_zpsfglnhrtt.png) (https://s242.photobucket.com/user/max_smirnov/media/Piratez/screen286_zpsfglnhrtt.png.html)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 18, 2016, 05:23:56 pm
A teaser :)

Hah, nice. Speaking of not being on fire, if any of the gals has indeed caught on fire, is there any way to put it out prematurely?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2016, 05:33:41 pm
None so far, but maybe something in the future, if coding it down is deemed to be worth the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Zharkov on January 18, 2016, 05:51:19 pm
A teaser :)

Indeed!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 18, 2016, 08:07:38 pm
What about the blackops shotgun?It seems to be too far in the list to be as usefull as the kustom blunderbuss or the super shotty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2016, 08:23:35 pm
Depends on your luck - and preferences, mil shotgun/AP doesn't appeal to everyone. Wasn't supposed to be a mainstay weapon, just a lucky bonus if you have just the right stuff. You can get it as early as March. I think I will replace the most faction-dependant requirement, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Devon_v on January 19, 2016, 12:59:25 am
No idea. It's either hardcoded or irrelevant (I've lost the OG once due to running out of cash, but never due to neg. score).
I believe it's triggered by two consecutive months of negative score. It's pretty hard to do in the OG except in the early months of Superhuman if you don't know what you're doing.


Her name is Koko, and she is loco.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 19, 2016, 08:37:03 am
Depends on your luck - and preferences, mil shotgun/AP doesn't appeal to everyone. Wasn't supposed to be a mainstay weapon, just a lucky bonus if you have just the right stuff. You can get it as early as March. I think I will replace the most faction-dependant requirement, though.

That gun is wack when used against the Mercs. I am trying to push to being able to build lasers - research needs to be faster. What is helping me is my custom armor but there is only so much punishment it can take.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 11:55:28 am
Don't be ridiculous, it's just a shotgun, what did you expect it to do against Mercs?

Also, any further posts about cheating will be moved to "Cheater ZOO" sub-board. Nothing personal, I'm just a love crusader and my religion says to hate wizards and charming rogues. So it's a religious war.

@Devon_v
Yeah I guess now I know the identity of another of 4 dragons that will appear in this gameworld :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 01:48:10 pm
Some experimentation I'm making... 4 level bases, basically. Here's some concept map: adding severs below and air ducts/service corridors above (some facilities would stretch for more than 2 levels, though). It would mean more FUN when defending bases... Naturally, going for it would mean an insane amount of work since all RMPs would have to be repaired (moved 1 level up, which is AFAIK possible only by remaking them from scratch...).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 19, 2016, 02:59:40 pm
Don't be ridiculous, it's just a shotgun, what did you expect it to do against Mercs?

Is it a useless weapon vs. Mercs because it is a shotgun or because it does Armor Piercing damage? I just fired a RPG - HE at one during a base raid and nothing visible happened.  :o

Only Melee works for me.

PS wrt cheating or using custom mods, we will have to agree to disagree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 19, 2016, 03:21:37 pm
Mercs dont really have any weaknesses,you have to relly on lasers and gaus,even the mercenary hwp is really good as one punch from it can stun them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 03:33:24 pm
Finding out how to deal with Mercs is as easy as researching their synthsuits, duh. Or checking the online Bootypedia if you don't mind spoilers. I can't really see any difficulty here.

Cheating or not cheating is not a matter of agreement, but personal beliefs. It's your right to do it and my right to call it heresy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Boltgun on January 19, 2016, 03:54:58 pm
Some experimentation I'm making... 4 level bases, basically. Here's some concept map: adding severs below and air ducts/service corridors above (some facilities would stretch for more than 2 levels, though). It would mean more FUN when defending bases... Naturally, going for it would mean an insane amount of work since all RMPs would have to be repaired (moved 1 level up, which is AFAIK possible only by remaking them from scratch...).

If you forget about the sewer and only add the corridor levels, will it be possible to keep the routes?

And mercs are easy to handle with the right setup.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 19, 2016, 04:03:48 pm
Naturally, going for it would mean an insane amount of work since all RMPs would have to be repaired (moved 1 level up, which is AFAIK possible only by remaking them from scratch...).

I'm fairly sure you can add more map levels either from the top or the bottom, which should be enough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 04:06:32 pm
If you forget about the sewer and only add the corridor levels, will it be possible to keep the routes?

Yes, since the z level is counted from the bottom, but it just wouldn't be the same without sewers, just look at this beautiful sludge :) Also with adding -1 level it'd be possible to make stuff like underwater part of a swimming pool...
RMPs aren't actually that difficult to edit byte-by-byte, but I lack the skill to make a script that'd move every node by +1z. Shame the PCKView has no such function.

I'm fairly sure you can add more map levels either from the top or the bottom, which should be enough.

AFAIK you can only add levels from the top.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 19, 2016, 05:09:31 pm
One minor thing i've noticed is that ships are always facing the same way like e.g. the bonaventura with it's rear facing southeast, or the front of the raider craft (with searchlights on top) always facing south-west. I know that there are different variations of ships, but each variation always faces the same way. Is it possible to change this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 05:27:34 pm
Yeah it is - you'd just have to make new maps from scratch :) With pirate vessels, it is only theoretically possible - you can make multiple maps per ship, but the troop deployment is on per-ship, not per-map basis, so your soldiers would end up in all the wrong places, including off-map, which would cause a crash. Unless one relied on auto-deployment, but with crafts with more intricate floor plans than Skyranger, it wouldn't really work in any satisfactory manner.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 19, 2016, 06:59:13 pm
AFAIK you can only add levels from the top.

No, if you change it from 2 to 3, then an option appears to tick a "add to ceiling" option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 19, 2016, 07:05:03 pm
I just got this handy little disc from a random interrogation and I can manufacture it without any advanced manufacturing tech. It looks stronger than any gun I can get my hands on now. I'm not complaining, it just does not feel right  ;D

Also do I understand it correctly, that the retaliation mission will spawn several ships over time that will look for my base and shooting each of them may cause more retaliation missions?

This mod it awesome, thanks a lot for making it, Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 19, 2016, 07:16:13 pm
Random my ass, this requires an interrogation of one of the most hardcore enemies in the whole mod. Hence the payoff is big. Luck works both ways in this mod.

Your understanding of retal (called Crackdown in Piratez) is not entirelly correct. Yes they will look for your base, but:
- No more than 1 retal can be active over a single continent simultaneously.
- Shooting down retal ships doesn't generate further retals, so it is actually beneficial to blast them.
- Retal spawns if you shoot down ships. Assaults on landed ships do not generate retals.
- It is possible to fool the retal by perpetuating attacks over a continent without any of your bases, but there's a random chance they will not be fooled and correctly guess where the attacks were coming from.
- After a while (a looooong time if you play on low difficulty) extra retals will start to generate automatically, one each month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 19, 2016, 07:19:20 pm
Speaking of disk of death,the claws you get from interogating the merc captain could be considered a worse research than the disk as you need some special materials to make the claws while the disk can be made almost instantly.
Yes its a melee and it can take down the front armor from sectopods but you still need to find the materials which can be rare in some cases.

Maybe im rambling too much or have goten my ass saved from disk of death too many times.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 19, 2016, 09:53:31 pm
Thanks for explaining the crackdown missions. I have another question about missions like Conversion or Gold transport. Do you have to let the escort ships live to get the Shire Ship/Freighter to appear, or can you ambush them on ground?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 19, 2016, 10:14:01 pm
The hydra lasers fires in 3 round bursts and not 4.Did nobody use this weapon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 20, 2016, 08:55:40 am
You can actually play this mod without shooting down any crafts. Out of 100 alien ships, I have shot down only 3, a few dont land and the others all land. I have had to get a pachydem to assist with taking down small craft.

We are still slowly moving up the weapons chain. I cant wait to research force blade and the microwave cooker. Got one in my raid on the merc's base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 20, 2016, 10:16:13 am
Thanks for explaining the crackdown missions. I have another question about missions like Conversion or Gold transport. Do you have to let the escort ships live to get the Shire Ship/Freighter to appear, or can you ambush them on ground?

Shooting the first ships down can supposedly stop a mission, but I have never noticed such behaviour. Basically a mission will always run its full course, no matter what you do, although crashing ships will delay next arrivals. The only exception from this rule is Crackdown which immediately ends once they manage to spot you.

And Cristao is right, out of first 100 shippings, I usually shoot down less than 10 myself, most non-retal ships land, and w/o almost any interceptions, no retals are generated :) I only rack up interceptions from mid game onwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 21, 2016, 08:52:53 am
I do not disagree with that. But some shippings do not land and some of them I shot down. It's not like you are completely safe from crackdowns if you only shoot down handful of shippings. Each of them could generate a crackdown.

About these extra crackdowns. Since I'm playing on the highest difficulty, they are going to start pretty soon, right? Are they going to be like other crackdown missions, where they try to find my base, or are they going to be base assaults every month?

Also somewhere around the third month, the Trade Guild decided to set up a secret base. These bases generate regular supply missions, right? So is it better to actually keep those bases operating and raid the supply ships, or are you going to get too much negative score/loose countries?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 21, 2016, 09:48:14 am
They're just like any other retals, plus there's a chance that a Peacekeeping mission will be generated instead of a retal - no chance of being raided but a score hit instead.

Bases generate constant negative points, but so little there's no point in concerning yourself with this too much. Supply ships are designed to be very nasty so raid them at your own risk. Bases are pretty hardcore but worth a fortune if cleared.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 21, 2016, 12:55:56 pm
I do not disagree with that. But some shippings do not land and some of them I shot down. It's not like you are completely safe from crackdowns if you only shoot down handful of shippings. Each of them could generate a crackdown.

About these extra crackdowns. Since I'm playing on the highest difficulty, they are going to start pretty soon, right? Are they going to be like other crackdown missions, where they try to find my base, or are they going to be base assaults every month?

Also somewhere around the third month, the Trade Guild decided to set up a secret base. These bases generate regular supply missions, right? So is it better to actually keep those bases operating and raid the supply ships, or are you going to get too much negative score/loose countries?

Supply Ships are dangerous. I advice you watch out for the RPG wielders. Instant fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 21, 2016, 02:59:57 pm
Supply mission difficulty is very dependant to factions as most missions do.

Mercs are going to be most likely flying behind a tree or stare at your craft to decimate one of your gals with 100%+ reaction shots if you arent carefull.They also might have a engineer with a heavy laser to take down your power armor,which is rare as they usualy have the more potent heavy gauss and the fact that even a rifle can punch throught a power armor with relateve easy.

traders are the easiest as you can kill them before they fire their gauss or their nuke launcher.Apart from tanks and reactionary heavy gauss you will be fine.

academy is infuriating as you will be barraged by 2-3 psi every turn,their lasers and plasma will kill both armored and light armored gals.On the bright side you can cause alot of friendly fire between them with their cyberdisks.

church is a mix of everything expect from HWP.They resist energy which can easily be bypassed with proper tactics.They have a few psychics but they dont appear on craft that often.Chrysalids and celatids can be a pain but they arent as tough as tanks.

Spartans are glass cannons with plasma or lasers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 21, 2016, 05:13:01 pm
That is true, I grabbed one landed large near the place where the base spawned and it was intense. Their plasma guns could one-shot my gals, my hammers, maces and grenades could one-shot their guys. It reminded me of Terror from the Deep.

Though nothing beats those mercenary gunships. The most hardcore enemies I have faced yet. I would never even attempt to fight them on ironman. The star gods themselves are even more hardcore?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 21, 2016, 05:19:46 pm
Up for you to decide, they're a very different enemy to fight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 21, 2016, 05:48:56 pm
Is there any reliable way to deal with mercs on low tech? The only thing that really works for me is to throw smoke everywhere, scout with dogs/swabbies and kill every enemy with panzerfausts/high explosives/captured gauss weapons. Charging with melee weapons is really unreliable due to the reaction fire and their high dodge. And I still have to reload an occasional bad turn, when they decide to charge through smoke right at me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Boltgun on January 21, 2016, 05:56:55 pm
Is there any reliable way to deal with mercs on low tech? The only thing that really works for me is to throw smoke everywhere, scout with dogs/swabbies and kill every enemy with panzerfausts/high explosives/captured gauss weapons. Charging with melee weapons is really unreliable due to the reaction fire and their high dodge. And I still have to reload an occasional bad turn, when they decide to charge through smoke right at me.

You are using the best tactic already if you unlocked nothing. You may try dragging a corpse to your craft and abort to get your answers from the brainers.

Stock up on laser weapons looted from the trade guild, conserve their ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 21, 2016, 06:22:36 pm
Is there any reliable way to deal with mercs on low tech?

I hope not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 21, 2016, 06:54:20 pm
Bare in mind that laser is only good as they dont resist it,so you can also use your plasma against them
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Bloax on January 21, 2016, 08:11:11 pm
Bare in mind that laser is only good as they dont resist it,so you can also use your plasma against them
Is there any reliable way to deal with mercs on low tech?
Quote
plasma
Quote
on low tech
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gunner-chan on January 21, 2016, 09:14:10 pm
Well if you've run into a few reticulans you might have their plasma gun researched. It's not the best choice but it worked decently well for me the first time I ran into the mercs.

Also a silly question, the red desert terrain is supposed to do stun damage sometimes right? It's an interesting effect and for some reason I can't help but wonder what it actually is lorewise. ... Well it could just be extreme weather but I don't see it happening in the normal deserts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 21, 2016, 11:12:15 pm
I got the red weather once. I was really scared, until I realized, that is does only stun damage  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gunner-chan on January 21, 2016, 11:37:51 pm
Yeah, it's just weird. It's actually helped me out once or twice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 22, 2016, 01:58:47 am
I just had a mutant pogrom with the ratmen faction. Halfway in i noticed a certain lack of...mutants. I didn't see any at all, and there was indeed no mention of any civilian mutants on the score screen. Is this a bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: ivandogovich on January 22, 2016, 02:01:35 am
Sometimes pogroms are actually spawned special missions.  I believe that is the case that you encountered.  The game still calls it a Pogrom, but its deployments may have no civs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 22, 2016, 08:36:13 am
I am beginning to hate certain factions - Raiders, Mercs and Exalt in Church. I have avoided taking down any Star Gods crafts and I am yet to encounter the DOOM faction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gunner-chan on January 22, 2016, 09:46:22 am
I've only seen the DOOM monsters in missions those probes lead to. Do they actually fly ships or do any missions besides those?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Quanti on January 22, 2016, 09:46:52 am
Hi there, loving the mod so far just have a research problem currently going after that mysterious higher learning tech.

I've spent about half a year in game trying to find the persons or items needed to unlock it, even came on here and found out about and acquired mag containment. Eventually I gave up and learnt how to raid the rulesets for information on what I was missing and it turns out the only thing I didn't have on that list was plastasteel manufacturing, which I didn't have because I haven't researched commercial activities. (Coincidentally I don't have any of those activities tech). I have all the mission types and techs listed as requirements, but it says that there is an item needed to research it.

So what I want to know is: what is this item/person needed to research commercial activities if there's supposed to be one?

I thought about setting needitem to false but if there was just something i was missing then ill just keep going. Currently going around taking everything I can think of hostage to no avail. Just missing this and the star god key to reach the finale. As soon as I get the prerequisites for higher learning and the commander I haven't managed to coax out yet I'll be able to finish my first game. :)

Edit: The only other missions I've seen dark ones run is retaliation and land based pogroms. They use different ships and enemies in those.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 22, 2016, 10:36:58 am
I thought about setting needitem to false but if there was just something i was missing then ill just keep going.

Yup that's the bug. The needItem: true lines are erroneous there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 22, 2016, 11:54:15 am
I've only seen the DOOM monsters in missions those probes lead to. Do they actually fly ships or do any missions besides those?

I normally encounter them in pogroms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 22, 2016, 03:07:25 pm
I've only seen the DOOM monsters in missions those probes lead to. Do they actually fly ships or do any missions besides those?
Suprisingly they do have fighters to do crackdowns even if they dont have any ships at all.In base defense you face barons of hell and as far as im aware of there are no cyberdemons or masterminds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Quanti on January 22, 2016, 04:33:27 pm
Yup that's the bug. The needItem: true lines are erroneous there.
Yep that's opened up a whole pile of new research to do, thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Absle on January 22, 2016, 09:21:41 pm
Hey! I'm new to the forum, but I've been lurking the mods page for a few years now. I finally decided to play X-Piratez last week, and it's awesome. Would this thread be an appropriate place to leave some thoughts on the project so far? Or is there a true discussion/suggestion thread somewhere that I haven't found yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 12:16:22 am
It is the best place for it. Fire away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Zharkov on January 23, 2016, 12:37:04 am
I am just wondering about smugglers' courier runs - are these supposed not to land?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Absle on January 23, 2016, 08:29:43 am
Thanks Dioxine! Again, love the mod. It's hard, it's fun, and just has a really good feel to it. I have a few specific things I had some thoughts on, and keep in mind I'm only in my first playthrough at the mid-level difficulty, so a lot of this stuff may be wrong or ignorant.

1) Resources: I'm not sure if this is different at Jack Sparrow difficulty, or maybe it gets harder later on, but the game really loses that dystopian-lack-of-resources edge very quickly. So far I've never been exactly rolling in it, but after the first mission or two I've never felt like I needed to be shy about buying whatever I wanted off the blackmarket either. But this is just atmosphere, and you shouldn't sacrifice gameplay for it.

2) Pogroms: I love these so much. Love them so much that I despise them. I love how hard and tense they can be, and how protecting civilians is important enough that you can't just level the map to protect your soldiers. I don't necessarily agree with how it's implemented in the strategic layer, however. You're a band of pirates (essentially well funded raiders with a sweet base and ship), certainly you can be the world's mutant police force if you want to be, but the game is set up to punish you for just being a pirate and focusing on making money and attacking targets of opportunity. Pogroms have obviously been part of the mutants' reality for a while, why does the Mutant Alliance suddenly expect you to be willing to jump to any part of the world at any time? You could make the argument that they're at least aware of you, and therefore would ask you for assistance with local pogroms, but I shouldn't be expected to care about what's happening in N.America when I'm an opportunist operating in Europe.
     Perhaps this could be simulated by only having negative effects from pogroms that are on the same continent as one of your bases (even if you totally ignore them), but a huge increase in rewards for dealing with them anyway. Maybe the same sort of set up, but instead with exponential differences across distance from your nearest base. This way, there's a more tangible cost to building a wide network of bases: you have to take on more responsibilities with the locals as you network with them.

3) Base Defense: These are also mostly perfect, I just thought of a tweak for them strategically. I thought that it might make more sense for the AI to become less and less likely to assault your base each time you successfully defend it, sorta representing the heads around Earth thinking, "that didn't work so well last time, why do it again?" If I remember correctly, the severity of the base assault scales with score and time. This means that you could purposely be more bloodthirsty (by shooting down ships) in the beginning of the game at the expense of profits and having to risk early base assaults; however, if you manage to defeat several of these, it might make your overall campaign easier by making later, more difficult base assaults less likely.

4) Alliance Advisors: how do these guys work? Like i see the scanning doohickey and the medkit in their weapons slots, but the Bootypedia also suggest that they're packing some voodoo that I can't figure out how to use. Actually, how does voodoo in general work in this mod?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 23, 2016, 10:49:56 am
Voodoo is basicaly psi with more flavor text.The advisors have high voodoo power which makes them resistant to mind control so that you dont put them in battle to be mind controll foders like friendly mercenary commandos.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 01:09:26 pm
1) Resource scarcity. Wrong type of dystopia. It's not a world which has no resources; it is a world with big differences between rich and poor. Resources are very scarce... for poor people. And you start off as a rich and connected person, however you look at it.

2) Score, Pogroms, Crackdowns: These are good ideas but I cannot change such core game concepts even if I wanted. It'd be *possible* to do it more along the lines you've proposed, yes, but then I'd have nothing to replace these mechanics with and keep the player challenged. So yeah the core game mechanics basically force you to be at least part-time revolutionary, so I went this way with all the story. At least you have choice between part-time and full-time now...

Also:
The Mutant Alliance, just like all world powers, is acutely aware of your presence from Day 1. You can't just ignore a powerful group with access to Cloaking Devices (nobody knows where are you getting them from!). So they immediately want to know, are you useful to them? I agree you could play for the other team too, let's say, taking orders from the Guild to do a Pogrom yourself for a load of cash, why not. But you have no such options since only death lies that way (either they eventually get rid of you, or you become a part of them). And for all Guild has, they don't have the Cloaking Devices. I will try to implement some of that... later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 23, 2016, 01:18:42 pm
I managed to detect a star god throught the line of sight bug.I believe that wasnt intentional.
https://imgur.com/wbaabOB
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 03:36:14 pm
Gone into advanced weapons. So built stuff like Kustom Blunderbuss, Gyro Autogun. I am hoping those are not all as I am yet to achieve laser ability although I did get something similar.

Well Dec 2601 - and we are managing to survive. Of course we avoid all mentions of Star God.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 23, 2016, 03:53:41 pm
Is it normal, that I get intact armors from some missions? I got two suites of the sweet Assassin Armor in the first months, now I see I got four Defenders, twelve Guerrilla Armors and a bunch of upgraded Tac Armors from some other missions. None of those have been researched, yet I can use them and they are a quite an upgrade over basic armors.

Also I can manufacture something called Basic Armor, but I can't equip it and I don't have it in the Bootypedia either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 04:08:35 pm
If you loot an intact suit of armor from a mission, you can use it normally, but not research them - until you have the prerequisites to produce your own. Actually if you scoured the map for items, you'd notice the armor suits you found lying on the ground (or, actually, in the crates) :)

Basic armor so far allows to equip only a single kind of armor, called WARRIOR armor. In the future, it will give several options to choose from, hence the generalized name.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 04:21:47 pm
Is the Guildmaster immune to Stun? Surrounded him with 5 Cattleprod holders and a handle holder and yet he isnt going down!!

EDIT!! Looks like the butt of my combat shotgun is a better stunner than those two. Interesting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 04:29:20 pm
He has over 100 armor, nuff said. Your weapons are rather lacking to stun such an enemy without extreme luck/savescumming. You need more firepower (Small Launcher, fistycuffs on a melee monster, tower shield etc.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 04:31:34 pm
He has over 100 armor, nuff said. Your weapons are rather lacking to stun such an enemy without extreme luck/savescumming. You need more firepower (Small Launcher, fistycuffs on a melee monster, tower shield etc.)

Realised when I looked at the Bootypedia online. Lucky enough it was a couple of my best soldiers near him with the combat shotgun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Boltgun on January 23, 2016, 04:43:18 pm
Realised when I looked at the Bootypedia online. Lucky enough it was a couple of my best soldiers near him with the combat shotgun.

Taking him down with multiple hits tends to get enough stun on him without enough damage to kill him, you only have to apply vodka afterwards.

(and if you kill him, shoot down a few guild ufo to get a fresh one ;))
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 04:52:02 pm
Wanted him alive because of the ransom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 23, 2016, 06:22:35 pm
I want to remove pogroms for the first couple of months (personal preference), which file do i alter that in?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 07:04:23 pm
^If it is too difficult why not try it on a lower level?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 07:16:53 pm
You can mostly ignore Pogroms for the first 3 Months, you'll be racking tons of Research points, I've made lots of early research very high scored, PRECISELY because I knew Pogroms will be difficult early on.
The mission structure is in missionScripts, in Piratez_factions, but change that at your own risk - you may easily break the whole game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 23, 2016, 07:23:38 pm
Research increases your score??
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 23, 2016, 07:35:42 pm
Just like in normal xcom
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 23, 2016, 08:08:19 pm
Just like in normal xcom

ARGHH! Well shit...by how much, and does advanced research count more? Are there other ways to increase the score, now we're on the subject?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 08:47:47 pm
It's written in open text in the "#001" entry (you get 200 points per pinup), and in Contact Mutant Alliance entry (+500) etc. Other stuff? Varied. Guns and other direct power applications give you 20-30 or so points, lore (including missions, enemies, shippings, countries) 50-100 or so. Advanceness is not directly related to point value.
Also blasting shipping grants points (on top on what you get from missions).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 09:26:54 pm
Research increases your score??

Yup, there is one I like getting early on. Contacts: Mutant Alliance - I believe that is worth 500 points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 23, 2016, 09:33:16 pm
Can the short sword get extremely powerfull with streangth increasing armors seeing how it only divides streanght by one?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 23, 2016, 09:36:18 pm
You mean the dagger or the tech sword?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 23, 2016, 10:27:50 pm
Short sword is based mostly on Melee (*0.3), so you can get +45 damage with 150 melee :) However strength is almost irrelevant - even score of 90 gives you only +9 damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 24, 2016, 03:33:53 pm
Does the combat shotgun gain any improvements? It is interesting the weapons you have to keep just in case they are an ingredient for an endgame weapon
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Quanti on January 24, 2016, 04:16:48 pm
Well, I finished my first game yesterday and I feel like pouring some love out.

This mod has probably been my favourite "XCom" experience I've ever had. Certainly it's been the longest, while I can beat the original Xcom and the Firaxis remake in 2 days of serious playing, this one's taken me a month to beat, which isn't a bad thing. Usually I couldn't be bothered playing something for that long but the variety of gameplay that's brought to the table through the research tree keeps the game fresh as you progress from flintlocks and bows to plasma and the really interesting options brought to the table by voodoo magic.

I think my favourite parts of all of it is just how many options you have for building a team with the different armours and enormous amounts of weapons letting you come up with tonnes of compositions. As opposed to the original where it was all heavy plasma and maybe some bombs, smoke grenades and tanks. The team I brought to the final mission had 4 different loadouts, a tank and a bunch of mercenaries, and I'm already forming some ideas as to what I want to do for my team for a second playthrough. After all, I didn't end up using dogs or half the armours/weapons because of how much there was (ayy replay value). I almost want to start again immediately but I want to see what's next to be added in.
Anyway, I just wanted to gush for a moment about what I spent my last month doing. Maybe I'll change my tune when I get off the easiest difficulty so that enemies can take hits and shoot straight, filling my memorial and my frustration higher than it was.

To add some actual input, I think there should be an option to disassemble some of the armours, an example of this being the harbinger armour, as it isn't used in the manufacturing of the final power armour which I can't remember the name of. While the armour isn't made automatically useless, it's 4 power armour parts you can't get back any of to put towards the more advanced stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Galwail on January 24, 2016, 04:46:53 pm
I have just raided a Destroyer and man ... all those chairs. They just look like toilets. Like the ship is some kind of a giant portable WC  ;D

EDIT: It's a Bomber, not a Destroyer...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 24, 2016, 05:22:13 pm
Decided to be brave and take a star god mission. Well I had no choice - It was  a progrom and it is shaping up to be a nightmare. Several soldiers down. I had to use HEs to kill the basterds and the kills are inconsistent. One I had to use three archers peppering the guy. Another my acid Kustom Blunderbuss killed and then had no effect on the other. Well now I have one cornered. I hope these twats dont resurrect from the dead. I am deaf taking one home for interrogation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: doctor medic on January 25, 2016, 12:21:34 pm
Unless you have a lot of voodoo researches done before hand there is no reason for you to capture them,try interogating the church of sirius before you die from invisible armor ignoring plasma shots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 25, 2016, 01:03:28 pm
Captured him by luck. He passed out before he could die and he was the last one!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 25, 2016, 03:59:25 pm
Customized equipment space on a per-armor basis is the next thing... for good or bad. Upside: swimsuit now weighs zero instead of that ridiculous number from before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Boltgun on January 25, 2016, 04:11:28 pm
Customized equipment space on a per-armor basis is the next thing... for good or bad. Upside: swimsuit now weighs zero instead of that ridiculous number from before.

I always felt that 'embarrassing'  weight was a bit ridiculous considering that the default suit is not that far away. But removing inventory space would make a lot of sense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: yrizoud on January 25, 2016, 04:30:10 pm
By the way, since Piratez adds the extra QD slot, and since the belt has been reorganized to allow a 2x2 item, wouldn't it be better to get back to 6 slots, like this :
QD   BELT
[]   [][]
[]   [][]
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 25, 2016, 05:04:07 pm
Naw, I'm keeping the enlarged belt space as it is, in part because there is so much stuff you can take with you in Piratez, from knives to stun weapons to various bombs and grenades to motion scanners. However, many early outfits have backpack space reduced by 3 or 6, and all energy armors have 2 belt slots taken by the shield gen (just like every flying armor bar the lightest one has backpack space taken by jetpack).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: ivandogovich on January 25, 2016, 05:45:33 pm
The immersion level just boosted significantly.   The capability to limit inventories to armors in this way is absolutely terrific!  I can't wait to see the end results. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 25, 2016, 06:29:20 pm
Thanks are due to Meridian for allowing this to happen with his code :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Arthanor on January 25, 2016, 07:35:04 pm
That's pretty awesome indeed! Looking forward to 0.97D/0.98!

Maybe we will get a 0.97DD with some sprites from Bloax  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gyuudon on January 26, 2016, 07:36:30 am
Stumbled upon this mod via LPs while waiting for X-Com 2 - pressed with a dilemma... I see that it's not 1.0 and its actively being built upon still.

Should I wait for a "1.00" release for a full experience of this mod? Looking at LPs from 0.95 to now, it seems like things are constantly being changed. Played a few hours of it and enjoyed it... but I'm just not much of a replay person.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 26, 2016, 09:20:40 am
^You will replay this one. Believe me. It has massive re-playability factor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: LexThorn on January 26, 2016, 03:41:35 pm

Maybe we will get a 0.97DD with some sprites from Bloax  ;D

No way! Only as optional stuff! I love original Dioxine paperdolls, they remainds me of original game. And they was hellofa work!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 26, 2016, 05:11:07 pm
No worries, Bloax sprites will be added as a mod when fully done, they do not fit my vision of things so can only be optional. Although I might steal a thing or 2 from him for the basic version (almost definitely the synthsuit for its fetish value, maybe also the muscle structure on the body but this would require some recoloring effort and TONS of gfx updating work) :)

Also, waiting for 1.0 can take a looong time, as I will be drawing this out before I'm fully satisfied, but to each their own. 0.97D should be released before week's end, but I'm quite torn on the expendable medical items, especially on the expensive ones (it's all fine with Bandages or Beer, but I don't like the 'too awesome to use' situation, and such might arise with Combat Drugs or Rum).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: LexThorn on January 26, 2016, 06:30:40 pm
No worries, Bloax sprites will be added as a mod when fully done, they do not fit my vision of things so can only be optional. Although I might steal a thing or 2 from him for the basic version (almost definitely the synthsuit for its fetish value, maybe also the muscle structure on the body but this would require some recoloring effort and TONS of gfx updating work) :)

Also, waiting for 1.0 can take a looong time, as I will be drawing this out before I'm fully satisfied, but to each their own. 0.97D should be released before week's end, but I'm quite torn on the expendable medical items, especially on the expensive ones (it's all fine with Bandages or Beer, but I don't like the 'too awesome to use' situation, and such might arise with Combat Drugs or Rum).

Maybe it will be good to separate specific drug from combat drugs for manufacturing brute armour  and make it rare item (as a variant craft it from reticulans stuff). Basic Combat Drugs can be made less rare and more affordable then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Cristao on January 26, 2016, 09:25:22 pm
Started using laser in loadouts. I am now able to manufacture for the rect's weapon and the hydra.

Got better weapons including the disc and the 37mm rifle.

PS nice humour on the 'Attack of Violent Flare Females'
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 27, 2016, 10:21:04 pm
A while back in this thread i saw some talk about your ships risk being boarded mid-air, and the risk of enemy reinforcements when in battlescape. Do these things happen later in the game (mid-late game), because i haven't encountered this yet (i guess i'm still in early game)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 28, 2016, 12:10:38 am
You're making things up, dude :) Sadly all of this is impossible. What has changed, I've explained before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Foxhound634 on January 28, 2016, 05:12:26 am
You're making things up, dude :) Sadly all of this is impossible. What has changed, I've explained before.

It was on january 15 i asked. The patch notes said "- RMP updates for Pirate ships. Expect to be boarded now."

You then explained "Yes. Up to this point, pirate ships were using dummy RMPs (movement Route MaPs for AI units). Meaning, the enemies could board your landing ship ONLY IF they spotted someone onboard and were in hot pursuit. No longer. Since the ships have fully-fledged RMPs now, the enemies will check them out as per normal patrol routine, if they're nearby and dice rolls tell them to do that, even if none of your soldiers has been spotted yet."

Zharkov then said  "just maintain course and speed and you will understand soon!"

I guess i misunderstood something, so i don't have to worry about getting boarded after all :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Roxis231 on January 28, 2016, 05:32:17 am
I guess i misunderstood something, so i don't have to worry about getting boarded after all :P

Yes you can, the enemy can come aboard the craft while it is landed (ie: terror missions, crashes and landed craft) not while airborn (at least not yet AFAIK)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 28, 2016, 06:33:32 am
Geez, Zharkov was just messing you up, dude ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Roxis231 on January 28, 2016, 06:37:26 am
Geez, Zharkov was just messing you up, dude ;)

And I've had had 10 hrs sleep over the past 3 days - guess which wins  :o

And I still can't hit the sack for another 5 hrs - Stupid course work  >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 28, 2016, 06:46:16 am
Indeed you're sleep-deprived Roxis, I wasn't even talking to you :) Airborne boarding will never be possible in this game. Probably.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Roxis231 on January 28, 2016, 06:49:28 am
Indeed you're sleep-deprived Roxis, I wasn't even talking to you :) Airborne boarding will never be possible in this game. Probably.

Sorry - curently running on coffee - Just have to finish these last few things and then I might have a chance to leave early.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Gyuudon on January 29, 2016, 07:38:06 am
Is it possible for this engine to allow you to check the Bootypedia in the inventory screen or something? The selection of weapons and armors are so overwhelming that I would probably need a huge printout of it next to me to optimize what Gals wear what, heh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Roxis231 on January 29, 2016, 07:45:14 am
Check out this thread (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.0.html)

Dixone has changed X-Piratez a while to use Meridian's custom Exe, but I'm not sure which version.

I usually update to the latest version - it adds all-sorts of new piratey things to the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 29, 2016, 11:34:39 am
All Meridian's fork versions up to this point are backward-compatible afaik, so you can either use the version provided or the newest one, it won't cause bugs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 29, 2016, 11:56:05 am
All Meridian's fork versions up to this point are backward-compatible afaik, so you can either use the version provided or the newest one, it won't cause bugs.

Speaking of compatibility... do you plan to upgrade X-PirateZ to OXCE 2.9 or can I continue with 2.5b for some time?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 29, 2016, 12:38:26 pm
Not sure how soon I will do that; not in the current release, certainly. So it's OK to run on 2.5b for now.
But, do you know what kind of new features were implemented by mid-November OXC build the OXCE is based on now? If it's Soldier Types, I will change as soon as possible, even if all I would have as alternate soldier races for now are doggies (yes, they will get experience points, varied looks and 1-2 new armor types!) :) I also need to understand what exactly Yankes has added and what can be done with it; it looks very black magic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 29, 2016, 02:17:55 pm
Not sure how soon I will do that; not in the current release, certainly. So it's OK to run on 2.5b for now.
But, do you know what kind of new features were implemented by mid-November OXC build the OXCE is based on now? If it's Soldier Types, I will change as soon as possible, even if all I would have as alternate soldier races for now are doggies (yes, they will get experience points, varied looks and 1-2 new armor types!) :) I also need to understand what exactly Yankes has added and what can be done with it; it looks very black magic.

Yes, soldier types were added there.
And also the addUFO in mapscript (I think Solarius is waiting for that).

Yankes stopped merging just one commit before the Soldier Diaries... that will be painful btw.
That one commit before Soldier Diaries is the TFTD Damage formula being a mod instead of an option.

Quote
Here's a full changelog in OXC (between OXCE 2.5b and 2.9), I highlighted some interesting ones:

OXCE 2.9
-----
d93f5fe no more missionSite zone bugs please
a75fcdf Durrrrr
be559a4 Merge pull request #1065 from winterheart/master
631d02e "I have no deathSound, and I must scream"
771507c Added filtering to Transfer screen
61c2601 Support for mod soldiers with custom death sounds and names. (mods with custom civilians will have to re-add their death sounds)
616b174 Added filtering to Sell screen
2fd91bf - Added research requirements to mod soldiers - Added unit requirements to mod armor
1605d49 Improved mod error messages
508cb4d Fix missing engineer purchase. Fix battlescape crash.
e745641 Merge pull request #1064 from ajschult/AlienDeployment
4e1553a Initialization order must match declaration order
6c072ab C++ fixes
a8c8afe First pass at purchase screen filtering
c9769f7 Added customizable alert background
603df0b Merge pull request #1063 from JonnyH/adlib-memory-fix
269b2cc Fix memory corruption in adlplayer.cpp
a97b0c7 Fixed scientist/engineer costs
e05edff Merge cleanup
1052bb3 Cleanup
abbdf63 Refactored purchase screens. Added support for extra soldier types.
3bf425e Merge pull request #1058 from R1dO/refactor_Savegame_Base
a98efd2 Merge pull request #1060 from R1dO/Cmake__NO_OPENGL
1237bbd Allow build even when openGL headers are not found.
5b92fac tee hee
723b79b multiple UFOs on a single battlescape
68661ba Merge pull request #1059 from ajschult/install_data_local
553f194 Handle spaces in filenames by avoiding xargs
0b9f904 merge setUFO and addUFO
fdaec26 fix spelling mistake on caribbean region
a9bbf12 fix some oversight
05385fe add setUFO command to mapscripts
0462159 make sure burntime math gets done properly
6750092 Merge pull request #1054 from winterheart/verbose-load-images
3a2f9f6 Merge pull request #1057 from winterheart/GNUInstallDirs
3a9b73f Refactor Base::getItems into Base::getStorageItems
fb8d532 Add support for GNUInstallDirs variables (>=CMake 2.8.5)
939badc Merge pull request #1055 from winterheart/png-fix
c16cec8 Fix another warning from libpng.
a320763 Fix drill UFOpaedia entries
22e6b0e Add verbose facility logging for loading images.
a3c09c0 make retaliation odds a property of alien missions
e9f46f4 Merge pull request #1053 from NHOrus/errfix
9e28d6f Correct solution to signed/unsigned problem
4110eaf Fix ambient sound mods
f0b09bc Fix resource mods
11bbba6 Fix research complete message bug
-----
OXCE 2.5b
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 29, 2016, 02:47:52 pm
Yankes stopped merging just one commit before the Soldier Diaries... that will be painful btw.
That one commit before Soldier Diaries is the TFTD Damage formula being a mod instead of an option.

Thank you so much. Do you happen to know where to download the required OXC version? Also - if TFTD formula is a mod, does it change anything? Besides the inability to switch to TFTD formula with a single button? I have no problem with people using my weapons as intended (with TFTD damage formula added manually where applicable through OXCE functionality).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 29, 2016, 03:08:45 pm
Thank you so much. Do you happen to know where to download the required OXC version?

You don't need the OXC version I think.

Yankes provides:
1. the standalone EXE -- on the mod portal (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/openxcom-extended) and also a backup somewhere
2. all the data files -- attached in the first post (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2915.0.html), filename: data29.zip

Also - if TFTD formula is a mod, does it change anything? Besides the inability to switch to TFTD formula with a single button? I have no problem with people using my weapons as intended (with TFTD damage formula added manually where applicable through OXCE functionality).

No change for you.
Only Ivan won't be able to switch to TFTD damage formula anymore :D Finally!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Dioxine on January 29, 2016, 03:15:35 pm
Hmm so I guess your fork will have to be upgraded soon as well, soldier types alone are worth it (although I don't know when I will start implementing this stuff) :) Unless you think it's better to wait for Soldier Diaries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 29, 2016, 03:38:12 pm
Hmm so I guess your fork will have to be upgraded soon as well, soldier types alone are worth it (although I don't know when I will start implementing this stuff) :) Unless you think it's better to wait for Soldier Diaries.

My idea would be (if you agree):

1/ release 0.97d in the near future with all the changes you've made so far using OXCE 2.5b+
2/ after that start working on 0.98 with OXCE 2.9 from Yankes... within 2-3 weeks from today I should be able to upgrade my fork too

3/ upgrade to newest nightly will not be easy for Yankes and also not for me... so I would not wait for OXCE 3.0 right now and keep that for future releases (0.99?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on January 29, 2016, 04:44:20 pm
Makes sense to me. I will quite likely release 0.97d today.

...And so it is released. Not so much new stuff (bar the 3 new facilities, including DAT SWIMMING POOL and SUPER MAIDS) but a lot of improvements and fixes. Main highlights:

- Prisoners can be robbed of their possessions now, even those who were impossible to enslave (less enemies possible to enslave though). You lose half the ransom money, though.

- Getting hit by a lesser faction should be now easier to handle, as many of their nastiest weapons will be replaced with Plasma Subrifle (it's still quite deadly, though). That's for you, Meridian :)

- Inventories have shrunk for most outfits. If you're (literally) naked, you get no inventory slots, and vice-versa, full inventory is only available for fatigues equipped with full combat webbing. What's in between, gets in between. The upside - armor weight is now only physical weight, so gym suits, bikinis etc. weigh 0 instead of whatever they used to.

- Weapons train proper stats now. Thanks to Meridian especially for this.

- Big weapons (and bows) cannot be fired when your other hand is occupied.

- Sniper rifles are for skilled combatants only. Do not be suprised with abysmal hit chances if you give them to swabbies.

- Overkill feature support added. Some weapons can completely vaporize combatants, with their equipment.

- You get partial refund for dismantling Facilities.

- Lo-tech Anti-Tank weaponry is a bit more effective in its role. This includes Landmines.

- Some low-level med items are consummable now. Feedback needed on how this works out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Yankes on January 29, 2016, 07:29:38 pm
Yes, soldier types were added there.
And also the addUFO in mapscript (I think Solarius is waiting for that).

Yankes stopped merging just one commit before the Soldier Diaries... that will be painful btw.
That one commit before Soldier Diaries is the TFTD Damage formula being a mod instead of an option.
Thanks for info dump, I now have half less things to write :)

I choose merge merge target deliberate to add `addUFO` for Solarius.


Aside changes from nightly that could be useful for you Dioxine is `spriteScript`. This will allow easy creating small variants of same unit (or animations).
In case of pirates is now possible to have unique torso for each paper doll in battlescape. Very useful to have different hair styles for each unit.
Another smaller thing is option for sharing repeating groups of values in armor/unit definitions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Axebeard on January 30, 2016, 06:51:31 am
Been away from Xcom for a while, and just updated (as in extracted the latest) version of XPiratez over my old copy. This might be my problem.

I noticed that some of my girls in the Pirate outfit can't equip any weapons, and they have one hand completely blocked out (which I'm assuming is by design). Or did I screw something up real bad?

EDIT: Nevermind, I installed it the proper way and everything is peachy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on January 30, 2016, 11:41:35 am
Upgraded and my observations/questions are below.

1. New Research Item shows in mine titled STR_HEALER_PLUS?

2. Elerium Grenade is now Hilarium Grenade?

PS This has occurred right across all the versions of XPiratez I played. The Provincial Govt crafts add negative points to my monthly score. If we are not really meant to attack (i.e. take negative influence if we do) - shouldn't they increase rather than reduce our score?

I got the mint and building it. Also decided to cough up money to purchase 3 Euro LRs. 70 Laser seems a nice weapon. Would add more variety to attacks.

Also nice mechanic on rebel trading.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on January 30, 2016, 01:41:39 pm
You're not 'meant' to do anything, but wouldn't it be strange if you got positive score from attacking the same people who pay you? Maybe if it was the Guild it'd make sense, but govts are too poor already to stage false flags :)
Elerium was renamed to Hilarium because I wanted to drift away a bit from cloning X-Com nomenclature. The name could change over 600 years :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97C - 15 Jan - Privatizing World Peace
Post by: Meridian on January 30, 2016, 10:28:21 pm
My idea would be (if you agree):
1/ release 0.97d in the near future with all the changes you've made so far using OXCE 2.5b+
2/ after that start working on 0.98 with OXCE 2.9 from Yankes... within 2-3 weeks from today I should be able to upgrade my fork too
3/ upgrade to newest nightly will not be easy for Yankes and also not for me... so I would not wait for OXCE 3.0 right now and keep that for future releases (0.99?)

So, I spent several hours merging (dang it, that's a tedious job!), several hours fighting with visual studio 2015, c++11 and yaml... but I managed to compile a version, which doesn't crash :) (unless you have playIntro turned on, so don't turn it on).

@Dioxine:
Attached is:
1. new executable (with features from 2016-01-30)
2. DLLs (some of them are new, at least one I think, so make sure to update)
3. also corresponding data files just in case (without translations from transifex)

Download (2016-01-30-oxce29plus.rar, 2.2 MB): https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8itkFQbhj-YcEtIczRKYzhWcFU

@Everybody else:
Don't use this unless you know what you're doing! This is not per se compatible with current version of X-PirateZ (0.97d).

PS: if anybody is interested, here's the source: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commits/oxce2.9-plus-proto
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Ruludos on January 31, 2016, 04:42:37 am
I was just browsing through the Bootypaedia for the nth time when I realized that, with a decent damage roll, the Fusion Torch could cut through a UFO's outer wall.

Why am I just now realizing this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on January 31, 2016, 07:10:11 pm
What I would like to do if I could borrow some of your weapons - is build a 'Ninja Warrior' mod.

It would use the Fuso Sword, Ninja Stars, Fuso Knives at al weapons. My concern though is would they work outside the Piratez environment?

I think I will get the armor from Xops mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 31, 2016, 07:13:54 pm
What I would like to do if I could borrow some of your weapons - is build a 'Ninja Warrior' mod.

It would use the Fuso Sword, Ninja Stars, Fuso Knives at al weapons. My concern though is would they work outside the Piratez environment?

I think I will get the armor from Xops mod.

If you use OpenXCom Extended, I can't see any problems.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Yankes on January 31, 2016, 08:17:59 pm
Overall I have some plans for Ninja theme in next OXCE version. Like when moving through dark places your are less likely to get reaction shoots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on January 31, 2016, 08:29:52 pm
Overall I have some plans for Ninja theme in next OXCE version. Like when moving through dark places your are less likely to get reaction shoots.

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 31, 2016, 08:53:03 pm
Yankes, I don't want to be too greedy, but what do you think about introducing reduced spotting distance for some units? I mean spotting them at distances that are closer than seeing range, for example 10 tiles instead of normal 20 (per day).
This would probably be an armour feature. I think it would be best expressed in decimals; so
Code: [Select]
stealth: 0.5 in the armour code would mean that you can only spot them at half the normal distance.
Obviously this would enable stealth units (ninjas) without any dirty tricks regarding invisibility.

In a more advanced version, stealth would be a derived stat from the unit's TUs, Reactions and maybe Melee Accuracy, and also with possible bonus from armour (dark clothes, stealth fields etc.) But that's probably too heavy, at least until introduction of adding new custom stats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Yankes on January 31, 2016, 09:09:56 pm
First of all I don't know how it will work and I don't want know, I will simply expose required parts of engine to script and rest will be DIY :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Devon_v on January 31, 2016, 11:20:49 pm
I was just browsing through the Bootypaedia for the nth time when I realized that, with a decent damage roll, the Fusion Torch could cut through a UFO's outer wall.

Why am I just now realizing this?
Heh, that's what they were added for. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 01, 2016, 01:25:14 am
What I would like to do if I could borrow some of your weapons - is build a 'Ninja Warrior' mod.

It would use the Fuso Sword, Ninja Stars, Fuso Knives at al weapons. My concern though is would they work outside the Piratez environment?

I think I will get the armor from Xops mod.

No need to ask, just credit me where it's due. Sword and Knives bigobs are from Diablo, handob for knives is Warboy (?), mine are ninja stars bigob, sword handob and all projectiles.

I'd be very careful with stealth options, as it would mess up the current Reactions & Mutual Surprise mechanics that are supposed to simulate stealth. If we added stealth, we'd need to make default vision range = unlimited, for starters, and second, derive some mechanics on how stealth is interdependant with Reactions, and also add spotting skill to counter stealth, and how it is interdependant with Reactions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 01, 2016, 10:17:05 am
Thanks Dioxine. Will work on extracting items out later today. Probably create one that can be used in normal OpenXcom as well. Will see how it goes.

Another thing that is different for me is that I havent built any interceptors. I have researched up to Brave Whaler but for some reason I prefer assaulting Ground Landings. This is probably best in the early games ( I have played 14 game months) but as it goes on. You start seeing Bomber runs, gold transport and others. I normally use the Ventura and two pachyderms to transport soldiers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Yankes on February 01, 2016, 08:23:54 pm
I'd be very careful with stealth options, as it would mess up the current Reactions & Mutual Surprise mechanics that are supposed to simulate stealth. If we added stealth, we'd need to make default vision range = unlimited, for starters, and second, derive some mechanics on how stealth is interdependant with Reactions, and also add spotting skill to counter stealth, and how it is interdependant with Reactions.
I plan that by default nothing will be change (only maybe small corner cases). Rest will be up to modder to change as it see fit.
Mechanism will be two staged, first will be calculating value in range from 0 to 100 based on acting unit. After that reacting unit will get that number and modify it.
Result value will be used for probability of each reaction shoot normally available for that unit in that situation. Failed reaction shoots will not cost anything.
This mean 0 no reaction shoots, 100 current behavior.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 02, 2016, 09:54:56 pm
What does Voodoo Mastery refer to? The Ghost Dagger is surprisingly effective. I even took down a tank!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Bloax on February 02, 2016, 10:43:30 pm
What does Voodoo Mastery refer to?
not-Psi-Strength.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: AbuDhabi on February 04, 2016, 12:47:38 am
What do I need to get Nuclear Laser Ammo, again?

I got the MPG and the related tech from Humanist Files, but I seem to be missing something more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: ivandogovich on February 04, 2016, 01:11:05 am
What do I need to get Nuclear Laser Ammo, again?

I got the MPG and the related tech from Humanist Files, but I seem to be missing something more.

Have you tried the Tech Viewer from this thread: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4106.0.html ??
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: AbuDhabi on February 04, 2016, 08:13:08 am
That's awesome! Thank you!

Turns out I'm missing a Broken Academy Engineer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 04, 2016, 08:24:38 am
What does Voodoo Mastery refer to? The Ghost Dagger is surprisingly effective. I even took down a tank!!

It refers to Psi attack strength, the attribute psi-amp is using, which is Voodoo Skill * Voodoo Power.

This is naturally explained in the VooDoo School facility description.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 04, 2016, 08:37:10 am
Thanks. That explains it. I was looking at the formula and wondering why Ghost Blade was so good for anything. Could you explain why it is useless versus Star Gods? I can use a Bardiche to kill one but not a Ghost blade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 04, 2016, 08:44:10 am
High resistance to Plasma.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 04, 2016, 12:03:08 pm
Thanks. I dont think it states that Ghost Blade deals Plasma damage. I will double check once I get on the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 05, 2016, 12:17:28 am
What is STR_HEALER_PLUS? It's a project on the research screen. Also, i'm not too sure when robbery is a better option than plain ransom, got any tips?

Another thing: i was just assaulting a totally normal cargo freigther, and some of the time during the enemy's turn, the screen focuses on certain spots on the landscape and makes this weird (scanning?) sound. I've encountered this before, but ignored it since it didn't seem to have an effect. This time however, it made one of my elite gals in defender armor drop unconscious and blow herself up due to carrying live grenades. What gives?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: AbuDhabi on February 05, 2016, 12:56:35 am
Is the Conqueror SUPPOSED to take two years to craft? Why can't I assign more than 10 runs to build it? There's workshop space there!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 05, 2016, 11:31:32 am
What is STR_HEALER_PLUS? It's a project on the research screen.

Probably a harmless leftover from version upgrade. Happens when continuing the campaign from an earlier version.

Also, i'm not too sure when robbery is a better option than plain ransom, got any tips?

When you want the raw materials instead of money.

Another thing: i was just assaulting a totally normal cargo freigther, and some of the time during the enemy's turn, the screen focuses on certain spots on the landscape and makes this weird (scanning?) sound. I've encountered this before, but ignored it since it didn't seem to have an effect. This time however, it made one of my elite gals in defender armor drop unconscious and blow herself up due to carrying live grenades. What gives?

It was probably a strange desert, right? That's one of the mod's mysteries. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 05, 2016, 12:19:20 pm
Probably a harmless leftover from version upgrade. Happens when continuing the campaign from an earlier version.

Ok so i don't get anything from researching it?
 
Quote
It was probably a strange desert, right? That's one of the mod's mysteries. :)

Yeah, a pink desert...confusion intensifying!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 05, 2016, 12:57:20 pm
Ok so i don't get anything from researching it?

Not exactly, you probably do. I don't know about this particular item, but in general it means that this part of the tech tree was rebuilt and such non-translated strings are 0 cost researches that normally shouldn't be visible at all.

You see, if a research has cost 0, then it's researched straight away. If it doesn't have any prerequisites, it's automatically researched at the first midnight (no scientists required, because nothing needs to be researched), so making it doesn't even make sense - you can as well make it starting knowledge. But a 0 cost research with requirements makes much more sense, because it is researched automatically when all prerequisites are met, so it can be used as a "trigger" for enabling something.
What you see is probably such a 0 cost research. In a normal game you wouldn't see it at all on the list, because it gets researched the same moment when it becomes available for research, so it doesn't even show up. But if the tech tree changes, this relation often breaks and these researches can be seen.
The solution? Put 1 scientist on this research, it'll be discovered for sure within a day.

Yeah, a pink desert...confusion intensifying!

^_^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Boltgun on February 05, 2016, 01:24:57 pm
It's part of the update process, start all the STR_* projects with a brainer each to get them at the next midnight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 05, 2016, 02:05:46 pm
Is the Conqueror SUPPOSED to take two years to craft? Why can't I assign more than 10 runs to build it? There's workshop space there!

It takes 100 workshop space, if you want it finished quickly, you need much more :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 05, 2016, 04:39:23 pm
On STR_HEALER_PLUS? Researched it and got the Spa

Weird Noise? In the desert, yup knocks out your soldiers in the open. when I noticed this I quickly moved my soldiers into either my craft or the enemies craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 06, 2016, 11:11:45 am
Little Requests, Dioxine

Is it possible to make the EuroSyndicate Lasrifle have the ability to stun an enemy?

PS is the TK projector bugged?

Also what exactly does the research 'The Mutant Self Defense Force' do? For some reason I am reluctant to research it ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 06, 2016, 01:18:08 pm
Little Requests, Dioxine

Is it possible to make the EuroSyndicate Lasrifle have the ability to stun an enemy?

Wut

PS is the TK projector bugged?

Also what exactly does the research 'The Mutant Self Defense Force' do? For some reason I am reluctant to research it ...

Is not, and I'm not saying anything past what Bootypedia says :)
EDIT: there are downsides and upsides for doing that research, but it is definitely not required to end the game. It's sort of a 'different ending' thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 06, 2016, 05:19:22 pm
^Similar to stun ability of Combat Shotgun, Autogun and Battle Rifle is what I meant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 06, 2016, 07:41:15 pm
Nah it lacks a proper stock for that, & is powerful enough as it is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Meridian on February 06, 2016, 07:49:54 pm
I just found out about Acid Grenades and Flasks o' Acid... finally something I can USE!
Thanks to whoever had the idea... no nerfs please.

Going to try out my new toys...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 06, 2016, 07:58:25 pm
No need for nerfs, these were already upgraded based on Draco's experience and are just right :) And who had the idea? And who do you think? :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Meridian on February 06, 2016, 09:21:14 pm
No need for nerfs, these were already upgraded based on Draco's experience and are just right :) And who had the idea? And who do you think? :P

Why everything Draco encounters is buffed to OP (cattle prod, acid) ? And everything I encounter is nerfed to useless (hammer, cutlass) ?

I have no idea... but it couldn't have been you, you hate the player   :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: DracoGriffin on February 06, 2016, 10:22:05 pm
Upgraded based on my experience? Wait what? I don't recall using that stuffs too extensively...

How am I influencing so much with so little? Meridian, it's all rigged I tell you! After all the work you're pouring in!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 06, 2016, 11:07:58 pm
Wait what? I don't recall using that stuffs too extensively...

Yeah, that's why it got buffed :) You said it is meh, said why you think so, I thought it over and had to agree. Your LP has influenced a lot of little things like that. It's harder with Meridian since he only talks about the very best weapons he encounters, which naturally sometimes means showing me they're badly OP :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Boltgun on February 07, 2016, 09:04:38 pm
Yeah, that's why it got buffed :) You said it is meh, said why you think so, I thought it over and had to agree. Your LP has influenced a lot of little things like that. It's harder with Meridian since he only talks about the very best weapons he encounters, which naturally sometimes means showing me they're badly OP :)

Yeah the gals threw their flasks everywhere but on the enemy, now I started using those again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Gyuudon on February 08, 2016, 09:59:55 am
What's the deal with Catgirl units? Seems like I can not only see them from a certain angle (which pretty much kills everyone since I don't know they're there) but if other people are trying to shoot at her when they themselves can't see her, meaning they're targetting the tile through someone else's spotting of the mob, all their shots miss. And I'm talking about 110% accuracy shots here. It seems like it just goes right through the model.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Meridian on February 08, 2016, 10:07:13 am
Probably Dioxine abusing some properties, which were not meant to be abused, just to make the player rage quit  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 08, 2016, 10:20:40 am
Catgirls aren't hard to deal with. Assume a formation that maximizes your viewing angle and if you don't know exactly where they are, use area damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Boltgun on February 08, 2016, 12:47:02 pm
What's the deal with Catgirl units? Seems like I can not only see them from a certain angle (which pretty much kills everyone since I don't know they're there) but if other people are trying to shoot at her when they themselves can't see her, meaning they're targetting the tile through someone else's spotting of the mob, all their shots miss. And I'm talking about 110% accuracy shots here. It seems like it just goes right through the model.

Get to a diagonal square next to them and point blank shoot them.

Or flamethrower.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 08, 2016, 02:32:38 pm
Probably Dioxine abusing some properties, which were not meant to be abused, just to make the player rage quit  ;D

Properties exist to be abused, that's where the real modding starts. I love the players far too much to give them bland tasteless experience. If they ragequit or cheat they way out it simply means there's no love in their little black hearts and they do not deserve my gifts :D
Besides, you've dealt with Catgirls quite easily in your "Star Wars" episode...
Although I do not advise using your favorite tactics (human shields) to an inexperienced player... ;) Word of advice, this won't work against dangerous enemies, so better use it only where you know whom you're fighting :)
Also nobody is invisible to the motion scanner (Aye-phone), or untouchable to area weapons...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: MultiD on February 11, 2016, 01:45:59 am
Hi, I'm itching to play the new pirate mod game! I've bought Enemy unknown, downloaded the mod, unpacked it, copied the files of original game in but it wont run? says i'm missing MSVCP100.dll? Someone know how to fix? D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Roxis231 on February 11, 2016, 03:29:50 am
says i'm missing MSVCP100.dll? Someone know how to fix? D

Just use the windows search function to find it in your windows folder, and copy it into the X-Piratez folder.  That worked for me on my home system.

FYI: I have XP instaled on that machine.

Edit: sorry fixed typo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: yrizoud on February 11, 2016, 03:56:57 am
The cleanest fix would be to install the official "Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012" which includes it : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30679
This way, you're sure there are no other missing dependencies or weird mix of DLL versions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: MultiD on February 11, 2016, 05:38:12 pm
Cheers, i'll give it a go
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2016, 05:40:25 pm
So I've played around with the base paperdoll, trying to merge mine and Bloax's sprites to get a result I like (get bloax's muscle tone but get rid of hueg breasts, piggy-pink skin hue and unnatural pelvis musculature). Here it is (but it'd take tons of work to actually update all paperdolls to that...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Roxis231 on February 13, 2016, 07:09:28 pm
I like these, I really do!  ;D

Dioxine, I've sent you an E-mail with the request about half a hour ago from my phone, but I'll put it here too.

Is it possable for me to get a complete (all 48 bodys) copy of body #500.  I use this one as a base for all my Images.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2016, 07:19:46 pm
I will get it to you once it is done; this won't take that long. I'm just weighing cons and pros before starting to update 2000 pictures, which is likely to take a day or 2 :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Roxis231 on February 13, 2016, 07:22:38 pm
I'm just weighing cons and pros before starting to update 2000 pictures, which is likely to take a day or 2 :)

Ah.

Well, I have less pictures to update, but I agree with you - it is a time comsumeing problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Arthanor on February 13, 2016, 07:55:54 pm
That looks great! Best bikini pics of the gals!  I want more ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Bloax on February 13, 2016, 08:02:40 pm
You probably have a slightly outdated variant, but I doubt that's a big problem.
They're only improvements either way.


as for taking a while... :^ )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: ivandogovich on February 13, 2016, 08:13:03 pm
These look terrific, Dioxine!  (and yeah, I'm not a fan of the Pinky girls, But I like Bloax's work other than that. )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2016, 08:20:18 pm
You probably have a slightly outdated variant, but I doubt that's a big problem.

Even better... You keep the best to yourself while I've butchered those pretty badly as well :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Bloax on February 13, 2016, 08:58:47 pm
(and yeah, I'm not a fan of the Pinky girls)
I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a lot of people being very used to XCOM having yellow as fuck paperdolls, while I - having never played the game today, let alone the original a very long time ago - have no such accustomment to this visual detail, thus preferring a piggyskin tone over the comically yellow vanilla skin tone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 13, 2016, 10:48:47 pm
I can't say I dislike the pink skin in itself, it just doesn't look X-Com to me. It'd be OK for some other some alien race, including alien chicks, but humans? That's just not the same graphic convention.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Bloax on February 13, 2016, 11:38:26 pm
Well I'm not trying to look like X-COM. I'm just going for something closer to reality (https://i.imgur.com/ZVZQhou.jpg).

In fact the only time caucasian people would look not pink-ish in sunlight would be when you have red or green colorblindness - or they're pretty tan or in more yellow lighting than daylight sunlight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 14, 2016, 12:30:01 am
Well I'm not trying to look like X-COM. I'm just going for something closer to reality (https://i.imgur.com/ZVZQhou.jpg).

In fact the only time caucasian people would look not pink-ish in sunlight would be when you have red or green colorblindness - or they're pretty tan or in more yellow lighting than daylight sunlight.

In reality, yes. In X-Com, no. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 14, 2016, 12:42:48 am
Panty-pink is even further removed from any reality, as far as skin colors go... and who said they were Caucassian in the first place :P
Also it would blend with red and pink outfits. And there are 4x16 colors for yellowish/brownish skin tones, while only 1x16 for pink.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Gunner-chan on February 14, 2016, 12:49:36 am
I think anything honestly works because they're mutants anyway. I like both. Variety is good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2016, 12:39:57 am
Dioxine, I am not sure if the 'Family Ties' research works. I got two 'Zero Tolerances' within the following months.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 15, 2016, 11:58:40 am
Shouldn't be possible but I think there's some hardcoded part to this mission. I think I heard that once it starts, it's going to be auto-spawned for each country in the region in turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2016, 12:42:03 pm
That would be in line with my observation. The turned countries are all in Europe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 15, 2016, 01:10:17 pm
So it should go like this... you will lose all of Europe, one country per month, then no more Sway Govt missions will ever appear. I can't change how this works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2016, 01:35:44 pm
^ouch. Hope to win the game before then. I have 3 of the 4 codes required. I am now actively hunting down the Provincial Govt to provoke a base raid.

Playthrough has been interesting although the end game can be a bit too long. The addition of the two 'Rebel' mechanics does help because at the moment I have built 3 fighters and shooting every craft down but only assaulting choice crashes / landing / bases.

Funny enough only 6 alien bases in 3 years of game play but then this is difficulty level 2.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 15, 2016, 01:59:04 pm
Yeah, bases aren't that common. And I will work to streamline the endgame more in the future - I agree it gets a bit tedious. Also, why would you want the Govt invading? You don't need them for codes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2016, 02:23:32 pm
Bear with me. Let me gather my thoughts. I have Trade, Academy, Church. Don't I need Provincials to round off? Don't mind me. I need a SGC - I think. How does one capture one alive with minimal loss? Will think on that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Galwail on February 15, 2016, 02:55:45 pm
Motion tracker, stun bombs and lots of smoke?  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 15, 2016, 04:00:06 pm
Yeah stun bomb them to hell. With stun bomb production running and shoulder launchers installed you'll be able to blanket the whole map with stun damage, at least for a couple of missions but you don't need more. Motion scanners'll make sure you won't get easily surprised by the invisible units. Get some plasma-resistant armor. Don't trust the smoke fully as Star Gods can fly and spot you from above (units can see 4-5 tiles inside the smoke and it is difficult to make smoke screen that high). Don't use chemical weapons, though, they're useless against Star Gods. SGCs can be found on any missions that normal highest-level commanders appear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2016, 06:27:29 pm
Thanks. Last time I played this - I used custom stun weapons. Will update Arsenal to include shoulder launchers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Gyuudon on February 15, 2016, 10:25:30 pm
Probably should standardize text for things like Defender/Guardian Armor: it reads "Energy Recovery 40%"... wasn't too pleased after I realized this meant "recovers energy 40% of normal rate" when previous armors would read Energy Recovery -40% instead.

Anyway, great mod, I went midgame and probably will stop playing until the mod's a bit more finalized. And probably play my next run with Sneaky AI off because that was the most frustrating part of my first OpenXCOM experience. Nothing like scouring the whole map only to find it was some Lobsterman walking back and forth between three unexplored tiles just because he wanted to stay hidden.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 16, 2016, 10:42:20 am
Sneaky AI is devilish in Pirates especially on those terror maps with high storey buildings. I keep forgetting to bring along my motion scanners.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 16, 2016, 12:37:01 pm
Probably should standardize text for things like Defender/Guardian Armor: it reads "Energy Recovery 40%"... wasn't too pleased after I realized this meant "recovers energy 40% of normal rate" when previous armors would read Energy Recovery -40% instead.

wut
Here are the Pedia texts, straight from the language file:
Code: [Select]
      STR_PIR_DEFENDER_UC_UFOPEDIA: "This medium-weight carapace armor offers near-invulnerability to small-arms fire, being resistant to most known forms of abuse; however, it's quite heavy (Wt: 12). Large Target. Energy Recovery -20%."
      STR_PIR_DEFENDER_DMG_UC_UFOPEDIA: "This suit of advanced carapace armor was taken from a dead pirate corpse. Despite the damage, it is still quite useable. Wt: 10. Large Target. Energy Recovery -20%."
      STR_PIR_GUARDIAN_UC_UFOPEDIA: "Improved version of the Defender armor, with thicker plating and electronic sights. Wt: 15. NV: 20. Large Target. Energy Recovery -40%."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Cristao on February 16, 2016, 04:19:13 pm
So here I was rejoicing about being end game - then I get another research item - Higher Studies!!  :o ;D ;D

Also gotten Ultimate Craft research
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Gyuudon on February 17, 2016, 06:05:50 am
Oh duhr, it's word wrapped so it looked kinda of like

Energy Recovery -
40%

Defender was definitely confusing though, which made me believe Guardian was also an Energy Recovery upgrade.

(https://i.imgur.com/eWahQdQ.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 18, 2016, 01:39:20 pm
Yeah the parser sometimes loses the "-" during word wrapping, which is irritating. Re-edited the text to hopefully have that "-40%" somewhere in the middle of a line and not confuse the player.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: LexThorn on February 23, 2016, 06:05:43 pm
Dioxine, any news on development? Its so qiet here, like in wild west town. Wind in the empty streets... Tumbleweeds and stuff... ^____^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Galwail on February 23, 2016, 07:32:40 pm
no time, XCOM 2  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Dioxine on February 23, 2016, 08:03:36 pm
no time, XCOM 2  ;D

Not really, the first part was enough to convince me to never touch anything Firaxis will ever make :)

Actually I've upgraded to new .exe, testing, bugfixing. I should release new version soon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on February 26, 2016, 11:55:58 pm
New version up! Bunch of changes, all sorts of crap you can read about in the changelog :)
Highlights: Mainly beautifying, but also some new additional research patterns, items, fixes, updates. Beautifying was focused on soldiers, new gfx, and a new cute icons to preview armor in craft equip screen.
In battle, 2 major things: using fast melee weapons increases Reactions (as well as Melee), and WP munitions can cause Overkill now (quite often they do that...).
Also Smugglers are harder to catch with your rusty privateer wannabe, the Bonaventura :)
There was also an idea to make 4 extra colored versions of Bonaventura, each focused on some other aspect, Power-Rangers style, but this is not for this time :)

Special Thanks to Yankes and Meridian for code;
Special Thanks to Bloax and Ivan for gfx.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Meridian on February 27, 2016, 12:15:06 am
- Update: Bows: slight accuracy debuff

I knew it!
Never gonna upgrade ;)

Btw. custom armor icons look awesome... I just added possibility to override also HWP icons today... can't wait for the new doggy icon :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Bloax on February 27, 2016, 01:54:42 am
Somehow, even without having played openxcom I've managed to nudge things for quite a bit of good stuff to become reality.

feels good man
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: DracoGriffin on February 27, 2016, 02:49:00 am
I'm hoping once summer break comes along to give this a solid playthrough again.

Still no Soldier Diaries/Commendations yet, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 27, 2016, 08:23:49 am
Is there any way to disarm (proximity) explosives, such as mines?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 27, 2016, 01:36:09 pm
I'm hoping once summer break comes along to give this a solid playthrough again.

Still no Soldier Diaries/Commendations yet, right?

I think it'll be there by summer. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Phoenix7786 on March 01, 2016, 10:27:42 am
Not really, the first part was enough to convince me to never touch anything Firaxis will ever make :)

Actually I've upgraded to new .exe, testing, bugfixing. I should release new version soon.

X2 is actually pretty damn fantastic. It's a complete upgrade over Xcom'12, as far as I am concerned.

I do have a question about Piratez, though; we are NOT supposed to use the version listed in mods, right? Only the versions you upload to Mediafire?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 01, 2016, 12:25:21 pm
I do have a question about Piratez, though; we are NOT supposed to use the version listed in mods, right? Only the versions you upload to Mediafire?

The version on the mod portal is outdated, as the site is acting up. Again.

Therefore please download the one from Mediafire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 01, 2016, 04:39:16 pm
The directions to the most recent version are always in the first post.

EDIT:
5-level bases are in!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Cristao on March 02, 2016, 01:31:36 pm
 :o :o :o :o 5 LEVEL BASES!! HELL NO!! Dioxine - please dont include them .. I cant imagine looking for the last alien in that mess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 02, 2016, 01:50:22 pm
:o :o :o :o 5 LEVEL BASES!! HELL NO!! Dioxine - please dont include them .. I cant imagine looking for the last alien in that mess.

In Piratez X-Com,
the last alien finds YOU!

*ba-dum-ching*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: ThatDude on March 05, 2016, 11:49:21 pm
I can't quicksave or quickload in the latest version? Is this a bug or is it just me
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Arthanor on March 06, 2016, 12:39:41 am
That has nothing to do with Piratez. You need to turn off debug mode. (In the configuration file, write debugg: false instead of true).

It's possible actually that Dioxine distributed his configuration file (and hence the debug mode turned on). He has a tendency to do that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 06, 2016, 01:50:59 am
It is true. It has all the options set to what Piratez need for those who don't know about configs. Those who do will know not to overwrite it. I will disable debug in that config if you think it makes more harm than good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Moon_Dew on March 06, 2016, 03:39:00 am
I follow the instructions to the letter, but no matter how times I uninstall and reinstall, every time I've clicked on the .exe file it says that it can't find the damn directory!  What am I doing wrong!?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Bloax on March 06, 2016, 03:42:00 am
You don't have the UFO: EU (xcom1, not-tftd, whatever) files in the /UFO/ folder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: doctor medic on March 06, 2016, 11:22:57 am
Is it possible for weapons to change the terain they hit to make it cost diffirent TU when a unit walks on it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 06, 2016, 01:48:44 pm
Is it possible for weapons to change the terain they hit to make it cost diffirent TU when a unit walks on it?

No, terrain tiles, if destroyed, are internally defined to change to a given another tile, or disappear completely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Hohlokot on March 06, 2016, 03:53:43 pm
Guys, how to get uac carabine early in the game?And why magical girls so rare?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Arthanor on March 06, 2016, 06:57:18 pm
No, terrain tiles, if destroyed, are internally defined to change to a given another tile, or disappear completely.
But I think it is possible for the destroyed terrain tile to cost less. Like those annoying 8 TUs high grass tiles that, if destroyed, change to a barren tile that is faster to walk on (I think?).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 06, 2016, 08:47:41 pm
Yeah it is possible. You can eliminate high grass with an explosive, the destroyed tiles allow normal movement rate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Meridian on March 06, 2016, 09:12:43 pm
Yeah it is possible. You can eliminate high grass with an explosive, the destroyed tiles allow normal movement rate.

Good to know! From now on I think my every first turn will be just throw HE pack out and wait one turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Countdown on March 06, 2016, 11:00:51 pm
Does high grass provide any kind of cover? I've tried having soldiers kneel in it at times thinking they'd have less chance of getting hit since less of their body is exposed, but now that I think about it maybe this was silly. It's just grass.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Arthanor on March 07, 2016, 12:38:34 am
It'd be cool if there was a spotting mechanic, but as far as I know, kneeling does nothing more than improving your accuracy (it does help a little if you are behind a low elevation cover piece, but it will also probably block your shot while since your head and shoulder are exposed, the enemy will likely still make their shot..).

Partial cover has very little impact in XCom, if you're seen, you're a good target, unless  there's some funky firing mechanic happening (like when standing just out of a UFO and trying to hit someone diagonally by the door)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Boltgun on March 07, 2016, 11:59:25 am
A lot of cover is designed around kneeling. I do not have the specifics, but kneeling behind a rock or a tree trunk helps against most angles. Bushes are also a lot helpful as it often take two shots or more to burn through the leaves.

High grass or wheat fields however are useless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.97D - 29 Jan - High Times
Post by: Devon_v on March 07, 2016, 06:44:58 pm
X2 is actually pretty damn fantastic. It's a complete upgrade over Xcom'12, as far as I am concerned.
It's significantly better than EU/EW, and with mod support it will only get better.


Cover is actually modeled in X-Com. Each scenery element has a height, as does each sprite, and the game actually traces each projectile path to determine the point of impact. Firing accuracy basically reduces or eliminates scatter on the initial release of the projectile. The more things between you and the shooter, the more on-target the projectile has to be to not hit something else on the way. This is why collateral damage and friendly fire are possible. It was way more advanced than most games were doing at the time, and still more advanced than Firaxis's XCOMs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 07, 2016, 07:14:01 pm
It's not as elegant in OXC. Basically cover doesn't matter as if you roll a 'hit', you will hit, even if it's a single pixel visible - and chances to hit aren't influenced by cover. HOWEVER, the trajectory calculation is glitchy and thus cover does sometimes work despite you roll a 'hit' (hence all the misses at 200% acc), but in no way in any real-like manner (eg. kneeling in open field gives you *no* advantage against enemy bullets, so does kneeling behind a boulder UNLESS the enemy is shooting from a lower elevation).
Also it's worth to note that enemy fire hitting cover are usually missed shots, if you were saved by the combined powers of cover & glitchy algos, the shot will often appear to just go wide (cover caused an error in trajectory calc).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: yrizoud on March 08, 2016, 12:11:33 am
AFAIK, in case of "success" roll, the shot is fired with a minor random deviation. At short range and with no cover, it will never be enough to cause a miss, but if the target has partial cover near the 'center of mass', the random variation is as likely as not to hit one of the obstacles in the way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Arthanor on March 08, 2016, 12:32:01 am
There are several "target points". The game does not aim for the center of mass, it aims for the closest exposed target point to the center or something. Sometimes, that target point actually is obstructed when firing, leading to the bug that lets you fire diagonally into an UFO but always hit the UFO wall, or take shots and always hit the top of a hill instead of the target in the valley. Most of the time, the aiming point is far enough for cover that a hit is a hit (unless you are firing at a target that is very far away, in which case the small deviation on a hit might take you off target). Very, very rarely, you are in such a position that the target point is close ish to cover and things behave realistically.

We had a whole discussion with volutar on this, and his proposed improvement of the aiming system. It was a nasty one full of misunderstandings, but it was also enlightening about the aiming/cover mechanics (or lack thereof).

XCom: EU and TftD are very elaborate in their way to calculate projectile trajectories and aiming, but not very good at all at handling cover.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 08, 2016, 02:00:20 am
This is true but Volutar's point was that OXC is handling trajectories worse than the OG. While cover was useless in the OG, at least the game calculated trajectories better.

And like Arthanor said, it is not aiming for the centre of mass, and it doesn't really mean how much the target is obscured. If the to-hit roll is successful, a 'perfect' trajectory is chosen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Countdown on March 08, 2016, 02:30:52 am
kneeling in open field gives you *no* advantage against enemy bullets
Really? All the TUs I've wasted getting down and standing up. Even the original rulebook (https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/7760/manuals/x-com%20ufo%20defense%20manual.pdf?t=1447351440) says kneeling will make you less likely to get shot. Good to know though because that is a lot of wasted TUs each turn kneeling down for no reason.

Quote from: XCOM manual
The advantage of kneeling is that your soldier is less visible to the aliens and fires more accurately.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 08, 2016, 02:48:51 am
It is true. It does make the soldier less visible. I'm just saying that it only makes sense if kneeling makes you completely invisble to the enemy (eg. kneeling behind a ridge or a hill). The manual doesn't say it neccesarily makes aliens less likely to hit you. Also the accuracy bonus is nothing to scoff at.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Countdown on March 08, 2016, 05:35:35 am
It is true. It does make the soldier less visible. I'm just saying that it only makes sense if kneeling makes you completely invisble to the enemy (eg. kneeling behind a ridge or a hill). The manual doesn't say it neccesarily makes aliens less likely to hit you. Also the accuracy bonus is nothing to scoff at.
Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up.

Yes, the accuracy is beneficial of course, but a lot of time I kneel at the end of my turn for defensive reasons even if they don't have enough TUs for a snap shot. I didn't realize that this is pointless if you're still 100% visible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Dioxine on March 08, 2016, 07:19:24 am
You can actually use partial cover defensively, but common sense is useless - you need to know how the glitches work instead :) Eg. kneeling behind something if you have a height advantage usually makes the enemies miss their shots due as no trajectory might exist but the algorithm thinks one does. Also Skyranger's ramp is a pretty good partial cover as the algorithm is stupefied by its shape, that divides targets into 2 parts. I'm sure more exploits exist.

100% cover however is frail with its own dangers - if you were seen, enemies will change position to one where they can shoot at you. It can be exploited if that position is inside door or behind a corner - all shots that try to 'cut the corner' will miss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Boltgun on March 08, 2016, 12:23:53 pm
If cover does not help, I must have been really lucky. A fence or a tree does not help at all, but an accumulation of bushes, rocks and other obstacles confused the trajectory calculation enough to take bad angles.

But that explains why I cannot defend myself in cities while I always obliterate the enemies in jungles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 08, 2016, 03:01:39 pm
Is Volutar's code still flying around somewhere?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98 - 26 Feb - Leather, Oil & Sweat
Post by: Arthanor on March 08, 2016, 06:39:48 pm
He was suggesting to code it but because the discussion went all kinds of crazy he decided to work on something else, then he left. I don't think he ever coded it.

His proposition for aiming at the center of the largest visible area plus some added deviation on hits would have made cover actually behave properly. If you can diminish your target area to smaller than the scatter from deviation around a hit, you are less likely to be hit. That'd be perfect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 12, 2016, 07:30:26 am
All right, 0.98A is finally here. First and the biggest change by far are 5-level Hideouts. For better or worse, they're with us now :)
Nerfhammer strikes again, albeit not overtly hard. The victims are knives and hunting bows, which have the same power and accuracy but got some negative qualities. Also longbows take 45, not 40 TU to shoot, but are as awesome as ever.

To even things, all advanced weapons are now better. In general, they will be more likely to stun a target if they fail to kill it. Also, high-calibre guns now damage armor even if fail to penetrate. The biggest winner is acid, which now always damages armor and causes moderate Morale damage (not as much as fire though). Also some heavy melee weapons now damage armor (hammers, power claws). Only lasers got nothing.

Also! A magic shop opens, offering some interesting merchandise to those who want to try their hand at entry-level magic! You don't even need VooDoo schools for that!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Ridаn on March 12, 2016, 09:22:50 am
I put on my robe and wizard hat.

Thank you very much for all your time and effort poured in this project, again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Cristao on March 12, 2016, 09:30:59 am
You nerfed my ninja stars!! WAHHHHH!!! Dioxine and 5 levels - GULP!! More for the kill eh!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: LexThorn on March 12, 2016, 11:17:14 am
Dioxine, are you planning to add advanced VooDoo armor? Is it in nearest plans or in distant future?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 12, 2016, 05:33:33 pm
Which one?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: LexThorn on March 12, 2016, 07:10:28 pm
Which one?

Any)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Bloax on March 12, 2016, 07:29:29 pm
The answer is yes, there will be more voodoo armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Arthanor on March 12, 2016, 09:16:50 pm
Interesting stuff! Looking forward to trying it!

One nitpick:

When you release the mod, you have the OXC and OXCE commit numbers, which used to be handy: I knew exactly which version of OXCE to compile to be able to play XPiratez.

Now that you moved to OXCE+ from Meridian, the OXCE commit number is old (Jan. 29th, probably when Meridian pulled from OXCE?) and there is no OXCE+ commit number. So I have no idea which version of Meridian's OXCE+ is released with XPiratez, which means I have to guess (compile the latest) and that doesn't always work. Knowing which version you have (and is thus known to work and work with XPiratez) would be handy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 12, 2016, 09:27:38 pm
Oh right, sorry! This one is 9 March 2015. I will add it to the metadata file in the 'version' field.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Roxis231 on March 15, 2016, 06:26:54 am
Dioxine - had this when I used the latest version (0.98A) last night.

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=20859;image)

Had to go back to the exe from 0.98 to get it to run

Just checked Meredians thread, He found what he thinks is a fix for this. I've downloaded his exe and will try it tonight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Proboscis on March 16, 2016, 12:32:07 am
Getting a reproducible crash involving capturing armored church beastmasters. Only happens if I don't break their suits before MCing them, so I guess there's a problem with the armored unit itself. If it's been reported already, my bad. I checked back 20 pages and didn't see anything about it.

On the newest version too, I should mention.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 16, 2016, 01:45:52 am
Please provide a save. It was never a problem before since they seemed to be impossible to capture by normal means (due to how the engine works, not by intention). There is code to support capture but obviously something is wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Arthanor on March 16, 2016, 02:50:13 am
It is possible to MC them with a good gal, and with psi-capture enabled to finish the mission with them.

I did it a few versions ago and could interrogate the armored church beastmaster, but it yielded very little (I was hoping for some amazing breakthrough from their fancy armor!). I don't know what went wrong since then..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Cristao on March 16, 2016, 08:39:59 am
Getting a reproducible crash involving capturing armored church beastmasters. Only happens if I don't break their suits before MCing them, so I guess there's a problem with the armored unit itself. If it's been reported already, my bad. I checked back 20 pages and didn't see anything about it.

On the newest version too, I should mention.

Same here. It caused a CTD when I psi-captured an armored one and tried to end the turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 16, 2016, 01:00:28 pm
If it worked and then stopped, must be a code issue, since I didn't change the unit for years... I'm at a loss, honestly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 19, 2016, 02:07:18 am
I never really liked the TU debuff of the Camo armor, and the lack of additional armor, aside from percent modifiers it gives the same protection as no armor. I kind of expected something like Human security armor since its made out of kevlar. It would be cool if camo armor could be turned into human security armor to get the same defense bonuses like with the addition of metal plates.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Roxis231 on March 19, 2016, 06:17:43 am
Still getting the 'Not a Valid Win32 Application' Error with 0.98A, and now I'm getting it with Meredians 2.9 version (v2016-03-17)

Any sugestions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 19, 2016, 11:48:51 am
aside from percent modifiers

That's a big aside sometimes :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 19, 2016, 07:22:10 pm
That's a big aside sometimes :P
A kevlar vest would probably reduce piercing by more than 20% in most situations. A gunshot wound against a bullet proof vest vs one without should say it all.
The human armor description in the lore even says that human armor was designed to stop bullets. I'm not sure if something that's considerably heavy should have so few modifiers in regards to protection. Its also more flammable so its a give and take situation in regards to protection in game. IRL Kevlar is more resistant than Nylon, Plastic, and basic clothing in terms of fire protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBwn8b15wVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H85mnt3D30

Ghillie Suits would be flammable if the gals used leaves in the armor construction but Kevlar is the material used in game. I still think it'd be cool if the camo suits could be upgraded to human security armor. Tac suits are supposed to do that, but I think it'd be cool if kevlar could be used to make more armors like
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f7/48/1e/f7481ecf3de4211f0f51ce61028fd5a0.jpg
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: greattuna on March 19, 2016, 08:57:34 pm
Hello there, I'm absolutely loving your mod, but isn't one crackdown\month a bit too high? Since they haven't attacked main base, I'm relatively safe (and I finally made a whole suit of power armor! fear me purebloods), but dang it, secondary bases are hard to defend when there's little good equip AND all gals are panicking every other turn. I lost 3 bases in 5 months, and in progress of losing fourth. This is brutal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 19, 2016, 09:34:16 pm
A kevlar vest would probably reduce piercing by more than 20% in most situations. A gunshot wound against a bullet proof vest vs one without should say it all.

True that, but combined with armor value, it tends to give more or less realistic end results (stops low powered projectiles in the case of Camo Gear). As for the flammability, yeah Kevlar itself isn't that flammable but the rest of the outfit is.

[/quote]
 I still think it'd be cool if the camo suits could be upgraded to human security armor. Tac suits are supposed to do that, but I think it'd be cool if kevlar could be used to make more armors like
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f7/48/1e/f7481ecf3de4211f0f51ce61028fd5a0.jpg
[/quote]

That might be, I even have it planned somewhere, but is it really worth a day of my work? Such armor would probably be superflous.

Hello there, I'm absolutely loving your mod, but isn't one crackdown\month a bit too high? Since they haven't attacked main base, I'm relatively safe (and I finally made a whole suit of power armor! fear me purebloods), but dang it, secondary bases are hard to defend when there's little good equip AND all gals are panicking every other turn. I lost 3 bases in 5 months, and in progress of losing fourth. This is brutal.

Shoot down less craft. Also yes, automatic Crackdowns kick in after a while to limit your growth. Try spreading your forces less thinly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: greattuna on March 19, 2016, 09:42:19 pm

Shoot down less craft. Also yes, automatic Crackdowns kick in after a while to limit your growth. Try spreading your forces less thinly.

But I don't shoot down crafts at all, I capture them on ground. And... yeah, probably I will, but is there any way to at least reduce the frequency of crackdowns?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 19, 2016, 09:54:29 pm
If you're already nearing 3rd year into the game, you will have Crackdowns all month every month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: greattuna on March 19, 2016, 10:13:03 pm
Well, I'll deal with it somehow. At least I don't feel bad over losing newly-hired hands as much as over losing stat-capped ones.

Aside, tried to assault a supply ship for first time. Got 3 gals nearly killed on first turn becuase I did not expect baby nukes and gauss rifles. Silly me -_-.

EDIT: what's with the enemies firing their explosives when they're in range of it? Bye stupid explorer, bye half of my team.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: specspore on March 19, 2016, 10:16:28 pm
This mod awesome. Just one question. are the provincial govt supposed to be doing crackdowns? because i haven't shot any of them down since my first year and those were on accident but now they seem to be out for blood.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 20, 2016, 04:43:35 am
But I don't shoot down crafts at all, I capture them on ground. And... yeah, probably I will, but is there any way to at least reduce the frequency of crackdowns?
I generally focus on making each base have lots of planes nightmares or dragons, and 25 staff. All with gauss weapons or at least Hilarious grenades :D
I usually lose bases because I haven't made a barracks yet not because of the invasion. Though etherals are a pain, Invisibility is no joke haha.

If you shoot down every plane in the sky you get more money. You can also prevent countries from leaving which will generate even more money long term. My budget in my first play through is just hilariously op. I can buy Euro lasers for everyone then some.

IMO it isn't worth making base defenses just set up the bases to have a one side entry point and maybe add a fire or gas trap. Instead of using bases solely for radar make use of spy zepplings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Arthanor on March 20, 2016, 06:33:29 pm
EDIT: what's with the enemies firing their explosives when they're in range of it? Bye stupid explorer, bye half of my team.
Piratez does not change the AI of enemy units (OXCE changes morale mechanics but that's it as far as I know). But really, what would you like them to do?

A horde of bloodthirsty charges at you and you've got an rpg with baby nuke. They'll murder you, and your friends, or take you prisoner and torture you for knowledge which in their barbaric hands will just cause more murder. You can make them pay a high price for getting you, maybe they'll turn and that will save your friends. You pull the trigger. Bye heroic explorer, by half the murderous savages.

Surrendering makes sense when you face an honourable foe who will take your surrender and not harm you. The gals are no such people.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Yankes on March 20, 2016, 06:40:20 pm
Piratez does not change the AI of enemy units (OXCE changes morale mechanics but that's it as far as I know). But really, what would you like them to do?
Basic and extended calculate effective of blast, if it hit more enemies than ally it will do it. I don't recall if I made any significant changes to that. It probably works same like basic one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: greattuna on March 20, 2016, 07:02:09 pm
Piratez does not change the AI of enemy units (OXCE changes morale mechanics but that's it as far as I know). But really, what would you like them to do?

A horde of bloodthirsty charges at you and you've got an rpg with baby nuke. They'll murder you, and your friends, or take you prisoner and torture you for knowledge which in their barbaric hands will just cause more murder. You can make them pay a high price for getting you, maybe they'll turn and that will save your friends. You pull the trigger. Bye heroic explorer, by half the murderous savages.

Surrendering makes sense when you face an honourable foe who will take your surrender and not harm you. The gals are no such people.

For starters, she could fire it from safety of 2nd floor of supply ship, not blindly rush into the smokescreen...
Besides, I was just mad because I lost my pirate queen, and that's after she survived first baby nuke to the face. I also lost my only power armor suit. Back to heavy suits again.

Eh, I'll weather that as well. I got 14 baby nukes from the mission, plus variety of gauss weapons.

I generally focus on making each base have lots of planes nightmares or dragons, and 25 staff. All with gauss weapons or at least Hilarious grenades :D
I usually lose bases because I haven't made a barracks yet not because of the invasion. Though etherals are a pain, Invisibility is no joke haha.

If you shoot down every plane in the sky you get more money. You can also prevent countries from leaving which will generate even more money long term. My budget in my first play through is just hilariously op. I can buy Euro lasers for everyone then some.

IMO it isn't worth making base defenses just set up the bases to have a one side entry point and maybe add a fire or gas trap. Instead of using bases solely for radar make use of spy zepplings.

I can't intercept gunships with bonaventura, she's too valuable, shark jetbike is fragile, and spy zeppelin is spy zeppelin.

I'm also using chokepoints in my bases, but they're much less effective now that there's also sewer level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Cristao on March 21, 2016, 08:17:05 am
I wouldnt advise using Bonnie to shoot down vessels. Use it to attack ground craft is my advice. I made shiite loads of money and resources that way. I only started intercepting in the air once I got to the better crafts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: clownagent on March 25, 2016, 05:39:04 pm
Some general feedback and suggestions:

1. disassembling Slave AI gives 12 electronics, assembling one costs only 10 electronics, which makes it possible to generate electronics by die- and reassembling.
2. The sniper armor looks very weak regarding the cost and necessary research. Maybe it would be good to increase the armor or resistance values a bit.
3. It would be simpler if the HMG and launcher cyberdiscs would use normal HMG ammo or rockets instead of specialized ammo. This was made possible some time ago.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 25, 2016, 07:47:36 pm
1. Thanks.
2. The +15 acc bonus doesn't look weak to me. That it doesn't protect? Irrelevant. Also you can get it fast if you get Electronics fast.
3. No, because clip sizes wouldn't match.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: clownagent on March 25, 2016, 08:39:30 pm
2. +15 Acc is ok, but on the negative side -15 TU is too hefty. But it does not matter, there are many other good armors. 


3. Since TFTD support, HWP ammo works like the following:
  - type: STR_COELACANTH_GAUSS
  ....
    # special behaviour here: for a HWP with compatible ammo, setting a clipsize
    # defines the max ammo for the HWP, and the clipsize on the weapon dictates
    # how many rounds it adds.
    compatibleAmmo:
      - STR_GAUSS_CANNON_AMMO
    clipSize: 50
so you are quite flexible with defining different clipsizes.


Edit:
4. It would be good to have a ufopedia page which explains the different craft slots and which weapon/extension fits to which slot. Maybe I am too dumb, but it can be a bit confusing.

Is the following correct?
There 3 kind of weapon slots. And each craft weapon does only fit to one specific slot type. For example a light weopon does only fit to a 'light weopon slot'?

Posts merged - Dioxine

Hello there, I'm absolutely loving your mod, but isn't one crackdown\month a bit too high? Since they haven't attacked main base, I'm relatively safe (and I finally made a whole suit of power armor! fear me purebloods), but dang it, secondary bases are hard to defend when there's little good equip AND all gals are panicking every other turn. I lost 3 bases in 5 months, and in progress of losing fourth. This is brutal.

Hmm... , I am playing on 'blackbeard' and I am now in March of the second year with 8 bases. Maybe I am just lucky, but there was not a single base defense mission so far, although there are a lot of ufos with crackdown mission (Seen from hyperwave info).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 25, 2016, 09:16:50 pm
2. -15 TUs is irrelevant for a sniper. Don't expect good all-rounder Master of War armors at such low tier anyway.

3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't have varied clipsizes (ie. if the HMG clip is 48, I cannot have a tank with 240 HMG shells can I). And even if I could, it's troublesome - next question would be, "why can't I use HMG PS clips on the tank?"

4. Yeah that's how it works atm. The game won't let you fit a wrong weapon onto the slot anyway :P I could write an ufopedia page, but I have no idea what words to use not to make it sound retarded. "Heavy weapons fit only heavy weapon slots". "Really, Dioxine? Thanks a ton, I'd never guessed."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: clownagent on March 25, 2016, 09:50:45 pm


3. I think you can give the tank 240. As long as it is a multiple of 48 it should work.

4.  Yes, but first I expected that light weapons and missiles also fit into a 'heavy' slot (bacause they are light  :P)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: doctor medic on March 25, 2016, 10:30:53 pm
When i try to download the latest version of the mod i get this
THERE WAS AN ERROR
The page you requested was not found. Please try again.

[DISABLED: TEMPORARY PAGE]
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 26, 2016, 01:40:34 am
Modpage is fukked, use the mediafire link in the first post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: ivandogovich on March 26, 2016, 05:40:14 am

Edit:
4. It would be good to have a ufopedia page which explains the different craft slots and which weapon/extension fits to which slot. Maybe I am too dumb, but it can be a bit confusing.

There is a page with vessels and which types of weapon slots they have.  (Expand it to display the whole table)
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Vessels_(Piratez)#Quick_Reference_Guide

Its a little out of date, but still useful. 

Likewise, there is a table with all the vessel armaments that show which class they are.
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Vessel_Armaments_%28Piratez%29
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: doctor medic on March 26, 2016, 10:25:46 am
Modpage is fukked, use the mediafire link in the first post.
Thanks for the help
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: R1dO on March 26, 2016, 11:45:11 am
3. I think you can give the tank 240. As long as it is a multiple of 48 it should work.

Just a note on that.
If a clipsize is defined on vehicle, that number will be used when loading it into the battlescape.
In that case the clipsize on the ammo item will be used to determine the amount of clips to take away from storage (clipsizeHWP/clipsizeAmmo).

For conistency reasons it is best if HWP clipsize is an integer multiple of the ammo clipsize, but this is not enforced by the game. Meaning some free shots in battlescape since the floored number of clips is taken away from (when unloading a vehicle, given back) to the stores.

But OXCE must be updated to the OXC version of 2016-03-10 (f7d2c8e3) to prevent some free ammoclips upon mission return.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: doctor medic on March 26, 2016, 12:38:56 pm
Now openXcomEXPlus29  keeps asking me for a ton of dlls.After i download one and place it at system 32 and another one is requested.

Right now ucrtbase.abort cant find api-ms-crt-runtime-L1-1-0.dll.,anyone else having this issue?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Roxis231 on March 26, 2016, 08:04:43 pm
Try Meridian's resources and mods for X-PirateZ (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.msg61061/topicseen.html#msg61061)

It's a more often updated version of the .EXE

Also the thread has hints and fixes for these sort of problems.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 27, 2016, 12:56:57 pm
I think it would be cool if Academy Drones could be made, or captured and reprogrammed. I think it would be cool for base defense or just to watch them float around shooting things xD!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: doctor medic on March 27, 2016, 02:39:38 pm
There are diffirent icons in the ship equipment screen depending on what armor a gal wears.
That is fucking clever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 27, 2016, 11:59:00 pm
There are diffirent icons in the ship equipment screen depending on what armor a gal wears.
That is fucking clever.
IKR. Its so cute!!! Its the reason why I updated the game. (I only update when the update is big enough with games cause I make a new save file.)

Just finished the game just now, I was kind of wishing that the show would go on after defeating the end haha.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 30, 2016, 03:02:14 pm
So the game was too short? We'll see what we can do in that regard, sir :)

I'll try to put at least a rudimentary Marsec arc together in 0.98B, no promises though. For now, I have their, more or less, complete weaponry (still needs to finish details like code, research, manufacture and text, but at least inventory pictures are ready). Bitz for small weapons mostly taken from XOPs designs, thanks for these awesome works, dude! I will take more :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Cristao on March 30, 2016, 06:39:16 pm
I used XOPs stuff for my mod as well. I loved the above weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: ivandogovich on March 31, 2016, 02:23:26 pm
Terrific Article on X-PirateZ is out on Rock Paper Shotgun here:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/30/x-piratez-xcom-mod/

(https://i.imgur.com/IFUV8my.png) (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/30/x-piratez-xcom-mod/)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: hellrazor on March 31, 2016, 03:44:03 pm
Hi Dioxine,
You maybe interested in the overworked Terrain Pack MCD files and Maps, i did publish in the  0.99 Version of Hardmode Expansion (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3550.msg60700.html#msg60700).
Fixed a lot of bugs, wrong or missing LOFT's, TU usage issues, patched the Swamp terrains and Scangs Data for the Mini Maps and some Map issues.

I still need to fix up the ScanGs data for the MCD's files from the converted Cargo and Liner Ship and the Island Terrain.
But all the others should be fine.

Also i am inclined to see that you pulled in all the Mapfixes and also some of the UFO Maps from me. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Dioxine on March 31, 2016, 04:27:32 pm
The thing is, I forked my maps from Hobbes' some time ago and added a lot of manual fixes by myself; therefore, it's not that easy to merge the stuff. I will definitely look into it, I already have some of your UFOs added (medium and large scout maps), but this isn't that easy. Thanks for the heads-up!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: doctor medic on March 31, 2016, 05:32:34 pm
I wonder if we are going to get see how you make a small tutorial for the process of making new weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on March 31, 2016, 05:49:14 pm
I'm terrible at tutorials, and making them is boring like hell. I'm born for different things.

Here have a new mod release instead (hopefully without windows incompatibility idiocy now!) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: hellrazor on March 31, 2016, 08:57:30 pm
The thing is, I forked my maps from Hobbes' some time ago and added a lot of manual fixes by myself; therefore, it's not that easy to merge the stuff. I will definitely look into it, I already have some of your UFOs added (medium and large scout maps), but this isn't that easy. Thanks for the heads-up!

It is definitly worth taken a look at the new POLAR terrains, the had some severe bugfixes in their MCD files.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Cristao on April 01, 2016, 12:12:13 am
It looks like I might need to restart. Those rebel researches made getting SGCs a bit difficult.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: DracoGriffin on April 01, 2016, 01:03:53 am
Congrats on the article, Dioxine! Glad to see your work getting some spotlight!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Ketonur on April 01, 2016, 03:31:50 am
Doctor medic please, don`t distract Dioxine from creating "the best game ever". Dioxine thanks for your update! I have that feeling that you read in my mind. It`s almost like someone creates a game just for me. Together with Meridian and his forks you are just amazing. Keep up the good work! Gollop could learn from you :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 01, 2016, 10:21:17 pm
And I lost another base. That exploding plasma thingies, killing plasma thingies and goddamned chryssalids are way out of my league.

I think I could use a bit of advice. How does one defend the hideout? Think captain Jack Sparrow difficulty, ironman mode, against church.
I'm trying to hold them in chokepoint (with fire pits now!) and use sniper rifles, explosives and hit-and-run melee to defend it, but they come from sewers and OHK gals either with plasma, grenades or melee.
What should I do? I have lasers, gausses and baby nukes in EXTREMELY limited amount, can manufacture heavy slugthrowers, custom snipin' rifles, guardian armor, blades up to vibro blade (out of raider stuff for that one), can buy ES guns (1 per base), i-gun and arena stuff (and high explosives, of course). No base defences but armored vaults.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: DracoGriffin on April 01, 2016, 11:42:55 pm
I always hated doing base defenses because I am extremely impatient and I hate waiting for the AI when/to attack.

So unfortunately, smoke abuse and using your best high TU/reactions (preferably) scout for your other gals to snipe from out of line of sight.

And now I believe base defenses have 5? levels (or am I confusing with assaulting enemy bases?) so, haven't really tested that.

Even after you've wiped out most of their enemies... they tend to hide/hang back deep in the hangars and then it just gets silly after that.

One other tactic I was somewhat successful with was having two or three high melee/strength gals near the chokepoint to be able to dash behind an enemy, hit once or twice with a melee and be able to get back into a room to block Line of Sight, but it was lots of micromanaging.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: clownagent on April 02, 2016, 03:17:35 pm
Just a note in case other people experience a similar problem:
For the new version with "maxViewDistance: 30" I had sometimes on large maps (many enemies, lots of smoke) the annoying affect that after each walking step all figures (gals, civilians, enemies) made a short pause, which gives a very "laggy" feeling.
Reverting this to  "maxViewDistance: 20" repaired this.

Apart from that, the change of "maxViewDistance" had nearly no impact on gameplay (in my opinion).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 02, 2016, 03:20:36 pm
Yeah, I will be scaling it back to 25, turns out modern computers are too weak to run OXCom properly if you increase the vision range :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 02, 2016, 04:44:25 pm
Yeah, openxcom is a lot more demanding than the old one.. especially with cranked up vision.

For base defenses, another thing is to make sure you (ab)use the alternate movements so you can strafe around corners and ensure mutual surprise (ie you spot them when they spot you) to avoid reaction fire. Keep your scouts alive (and use dogs!) so you can spot and snipe efficiently.

Having a good psi soldier on the 2nd floor of a block close to the hangars is good too. If you can MC even a weak enemy there you can stir sh*t up pretty fast.

Many Piratez enemies aren't that tough but have the capabilities (guns, melee or psi) to mess you up, so an aggressive playstyle can pay off. I don't use the lift as my choke point since the doors protect the approach from hangars and make it difficult to then go and clean them. My usual base layout has the hangars surrounded by other blocks to be able to attack them from every side and fire explosives (baby nukes are best, but large rockets will do) inside. It's more like one giant trap for the attackers from T1 than trying to play the waiting game at a small choke point later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 02, 2016, 09:09:40 pm
I'll take your advice into consideration. When I get psi. And large rockets. I'll also try more offensive approach, but I have heavy doubts about it.

I'm getting better though. I got limited ability to produce laser ammo, I can step up my game now. Plus magneto-plasma gun. And look at this! Probably has enough to fund rebuilding of my industrial hideout.

EDIT: what is TROLLIUM and how did it end up here? (gold transport is overrated, only $1.2m worth of gold and 4 power armor parts)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 02, 2016, 11:27:05 pm
EDIT: what is TROLLIUM and how did it end up here? (gold transport is overrated, only $1.2m worth of gold and 4 power armor parts)

You tell me...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 03, 2016, 07:05:45 pm
It's happening.

(https://i.imgur.com/2kDMhm6.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/dCgGbEO.png)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Cristao on April 03, 2016, 07:43:28 pm
Dioxine - I am not playing again. Please put that as an option not the mod!! I can just imagine the headaches...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 03, 2016, 08:08:57 pm
This looks very !!FUN!!. Looks like terror mission site; I can't imagine the amount of frustration I'll get from fighting chryssalids, tanks and celatids indoors.

About TROLLIUM - it looks like the suits of NONE that I've removed from my gals after updating the game. They don't seem to affect the game in any way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 03, 2016, 08:24:04 pm
Ahahaha, lol. Enjoy, and maybe you find some more easter eggs after researching Trollium :) It should probably not appear anymore after you remove STR_NONE armors; it spawned since it was the first item on the item list I presume :)

@Cristao: No, not a terror, I'm not that evil. This will be a special, fully optional Infiltration-type mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hobbes on April 04, 2016, 12:47:58 am
It's happening.

(https://i.imgur.com/2kDMhm6.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/dCgGbEO.png)

Dawn and Commercial's MCD combined together?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: AKnightOfNi on April 04, 2016, 01:34:26 am
Does anyone know where I could find where to change the maxViewDistance variable? I can't play well since the last update and I cant find it myself to change it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 04, 2016, 02:13:47 am
Does anyone know where I could find where to change the maxViewDistance variable? I can't play well since the last update and I cant find it myself to change it.

Line 39012 of Piratez.rul
maxViewDistance: 20

You can just search for MaxViewDistance when you open that file with notepad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 04, 2016, 03:06:34 am
Dawn and Commercial's MCD combined together?

And Steppe Forest, and some extras :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: AKnightOfNi on April 04, 2016, 03:13:56 am
Thanks Ivan, I thought I already did this but now that I think about it I probably was checking one of my backup files on accident.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: sambojin on April 04, 2016, 06:39:21 am
Did you mean for the Parrot to have 1/6 carrying capacity on its legs? I mean, you don't feel as bad exploding a bird as you do a dog (for some reason), but being able to carry a pre-primed grenade and drop it is fantastic. Especially with 120TUs and flight to get there.

Smoke or kaboom. May be a tiny bit OP (maybe). Sure, you can't throw stuff (no hand slot), but just dropping grenades does the job.

Was this intended? It is awesome. Your birdy can even carry a pack of smokes or some bandages for you.

They do die to anything, pass out to smoke, and take an age to manufacture/catch, so they might be balanced. They're cool and very pirate'y anyway.


Great work on the varying inventory slots for the different outfits too. Now there's a huge range of choices in outfitting the gals, without just standard "upgrades" in either stats or armour. Makes sense too. Was a shock though to find out nude had no pockets. Great for a challenge run though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 04, 2016, 10:07:57 am
Was this intended? It is awesome. Your birdy can even carry a pack of smokes or some bandages for you.

No, Dr Who did it. Come on. I'm not that retarded, bro ;) Also I'm glad you like it. Have fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 04, 2016, 09:59:23 pm
I didn't realise how auto-cannon is good until now. 70 damage and decent accuracy is not so shabby.

And does weapon upgrade feel good. After battle rifles\PS magneto-plasma guns, cannons, FAE granades and stocked lasrifles (around 10 days till power station, so I'm using advanced cells) are so good. I can go autofire when not point-blank! And soon I'll start fielding recoilless rifles and boom guns, so assault parties are in for surprise.

Question of the day: how to get psi? Or, more accurately, what ships contain an Esper? Not exactly, of course, just what size and amount of resistance I should expect?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 04, 2016, 11:30:33 pm
Question of the day: how to get psi? Or, more accurately, what ships contain an Esper? Not exactly, of course, just what size and amount of resistance I should expect?

They are analogue of Leaders from the vanilla game, so you get the idea where you can find them. But there's also one relatively small ship which you may encounter.

The Esper is tougher than she looks, but not overly hard to catch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 05, 2016, 12:34:50 am
The auto-cannon is a great weapon. Accurate enough that you can reach 100% accuracy on aim shots to take things out from afar (to the point where I might suggest a maxRange of.. 30 tiles? it's not a sighted rifle, long range accurate shots don't really fit with it..) and auto-fire works awesomely in mid/close(ish) range.

I've been fond of using it with both explosive (mid/long range) and AP (close/mid) ammo once gals are strong enough to wear armor and carry it (and once I can make ammo for it...). One of my favorite late-early game weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 05, 2016, 12:54:29 am
They are analogue of Leaders from the vanilla game, so you get the idea where you can find them. But there's also one relatively small ship which you may encounter.
Thank you. Time to tackle all these larger ships, thank god I just nabbed a freighter with 5 power armor parts.

@Arthanor: that's why I love auto-cannon too. But I don't use explosive shots, because I fear reaction shots ruining everything (also, to preserve loot).


Question of the day-2: incendiary damage numbers in bootypedia doesn't represent actual damage, right? I fired the FAE grenade (stated to have 120 INC damage) into a power armor soldier, then checked him with mind probe to realize he only lost 1 health.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 05, 2016, 01:09:41 am
Yeah, I only use explosive ammo for long range fights against armored opponents. Hitting under armor makes a big difference. Now that there may be overkill though, I'm not sure how that'd work.

Incendiary explosion radius is proportional to listed damage in the same way as explosion radius is proportional to explosive damage. But unless it is a funky incendiary weapon (like the WP stuff, for example), fire does a set amount of damage (5-10 on hit and for a few subsequent turns if you catch fire, and 5-10 for spending a turn standing in fire). That damage ignores armor, which is why flamethrowers are so good against security guards and cyberdiscs, but is affected by incendiary damage modifiers on armors (often +X% for cloth armor, and -Y% for heavy/powered armor).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2016, 01:20:39 am
Question of the day-2: incendiary damage numbers in bootypedia doesn't represent actual damage, right? I fired the FAE grenade (stated to have 120 INC damage) into a power armor soldier, then checked him with mind probe to realize he only lost 1 health.

As Arthanor said, armors have varying in resistances.  Take for example one of the new brutes to join the mod:  the Humanist Supersoldier:
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Humanist_SuperSoldier_%28Piratez%29 (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Humanist_SuperSoldier_%28Piratez%29)

His resistance to Incendiary is 10%.  That means that only 10% of the damage is passed onto health, I believe, and his under armor is 100.  Hard to even dent him with fire.  Most power armors are very resistant to fire, so Chem(old Acid) and Laser are usually the way to go.  I haven't even manufactured FAEs because of this, as most other enemies can be dealt with effectively in other ways. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: davide on April 05, 2016, 01:32:07 am
It's happening.

(https://i.imgur.com/dCgGbEO.png)

Is it a working progress ?

Is it a hotel/resort ?

In my opinion there is too much pink color,

The rooms are all single bed ...

where are the baths ?

I think that it needs a lunchroom and a bar

in any case I'm interested in your experiment
Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 05, 2016, 03:47:41 am
I assume it's a work in progress, otherwise you better bring lots of hammers since many/most rooms don't have a connection yet.

That'd be nifty to separate enemies from civilians and ensure the chryssalids don't get to reproduce. Just make sure you can handle them after opening up a room with one ;)

I'm sure we'll see more corridors when it is implemented.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 05, 2016, 12:49:27 pm
Is it a working progress ?

Is it a hotel/resort ?

No, it's a mansion.

In my opinion there is too much pink color,

The rooms are all single bed ...

where are the baths ?

I think that it needs a lunchroom and a bar

There are 8 floors more to it, don't just assume you've seen it all. It has all these things already, only on different levels.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 05, 2016, 01:24:17 pm
There are 8 floors more to it, don't just assume you've seen it all. It has all these things already, only on different levels.

Height more floors? I'd better stock up on miniguns and explosives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2016, 03:12:55 pm
Height more floors? I'd better stock up on miniguns and explosives.

*The sinister chuckle knowing that only small weapons will be allowed. (think knives and pistols) *
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 05, 2016, 05:06:22 pm
*The sinister chuckle knowing that only small weapons will be allowed. (think knives and pistols) *

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WziO005uM3g
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2016, 05:11:09 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WziO005uM3g

Lol! Yep! My thoughts exactly... until....
Dioxine explained how squishy the baddies were, and how amazing the loot would be...
The loot whore in me said, "Ok, I'll try this just once..." ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 05, 2016, 05:12:16 pm
There will be no despawn point penalty either. So you can just let it go. Fully voluntary.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 05, 2016, 11:47:44 pm
I tackled a big ship. It was a battlesh cruiser, full of plasma-armed soldiers and a provost! Nevertheless, it wasn't particularly successful assault: I lost 11 gals and 2 power armors.

Aggressive tactics worked really well for a first few turns: I killed a lot of them without losses (aside from 1 gal, who got MC-ed on first turn and killed another gal) and even stunned an esper! Then a stray grenade killed her, and it went downhill from there. My overstretched forces couldn't survive the counterattack, and in the end, only five gals remained, two of them unconscious, and one in the vanilla coveralls (also known as NONE armor). To add insult in injury, last enemy threw a grenade into cargo tile of Bonaventura, mind probe gal survived, but some equipment was destroyed.

After that, I caught lesser ship and got two espers, one for research and one for interrogation, so aside from $2+m gained, attacking the cruiser was pointless, and I was dumb.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2016, 11:53:17 pm
The cruiser is really tough, especially when facing MC attacks.  The academy has been avoiding me during my campaigns, but I do have a tactic that I like for the Cruisers.  Instead of trying to infiltrate via the "elevator shaft of death"... try taking a fusion torch along.  Bust into one of the engine sponsors and attack from there. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 06, 2016, 12:33:03 am
Indeed! The fusion torch breach is well worth it for that ship! :) You can breach on your own terms and not have to go through two floors surrounded by enemies. Some hit and run in the middle while the gals are going up the engine room works well, to keep an eye on the action and distract the ennemy.

Also, that cruiser was worth a lot of points! That's almost half a pogrom penalty right there! Of course, good gals are much harder to replace :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 06, 2016, 01:10:52 am
Thanks for advice, but the fusion torch is one of those items that I will forget about when I need it the most.

And the losses are the main reason I won't be doing anything cruiser-related, even despite a lot of ships doing peacekeeping and ruining my score.
Instead I'm now trying to stave the loss of score from all the enemy hideouts and missions with the imperial probe mission, featuring the dark ones (and 3-minute enemy turns).

Questions of the day: is there anything I'd need to spoiler on this subforum, and is there any sources of ammo for BFG aside from the probe missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 06, 2016, 01:33:57 am
You'll be able to produce them, eventually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 06, 2016, 08:44:12 pm
Yeah, if I survive. He. He.

Way for me to start the third year. Star God mutant pogrom! And their goddamned lackeys, I figured their gimmicks, but it didn't help my armor-heavy team at the slightest. Goodbye 15 good gals.
All I gained is one alive cyclops.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: BetaSpectre on April 07, 2016, 11:16:28 pm
Most any ship can be taken down with dragons with 4 railguns or 2-3 of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 08, 2016, 02:40:04 am
Killer Maids are coming. Will be available as a disguise for the Mansion Robbery mission.

(https://i.imgur.com/uwxUzQH.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 08, 2016, 10:44:59 am
Just a question: Will there be an evac area in the mansion mission? Like for example after stealing enough stuff could you run back to the starting area to leave with your loot.

The most fun would be to make it really work like a heist. You'd get full map visibility on first turn (the gals prepared their attack), and at turn 10 several squads of security guards enter the mansion, causing you to run for the exit with your booty. I'm pretty sure, both are impossible with OXC but one can dream.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 08, 2016, 10:48:24 am
Just a question: Will there be an evac area in the mansion mission? Like for example after stealing enough stuff could you run back to the starting area to leave with your loot.

The most fun would be to make it really work like a heist. You'd get full map visibility on first turn (the gals prepared their attack), and at turn 10 several squads of security guards enter the mansion, causing you to run for the exit with your booty. I'm pretty sure, both are impossible with OXC but one can dream.

1/ We have full visibility on base defense missions for example, so even if it's hardcoded (I don't know), we can easily extract it to ruleset.

2/ Adding new enemies mid-mission was already asked for by hellrazor... but since he's not using oxce+, I have it on very low prio. I can have a look if it gets upvoted.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 08, 2016, 05:04:53 pm
Just a question: Will there be an evac area in the mansion mission? Like for example after stealing enough stuff could you run back to the starting area to leave with your loot.

The most fun would be to make it really work like a heist. You'd get full map visibility on first turn (the gals prepared their attack), and at turn 10 several squads of security guards enter the mansion, causing you to run for the exit with your booty. I'm pretty sure, both are impossible with OXC but one can dream.

Multiple evac areas, depending on your luck (1-4). All visible. Starting block is visible too. Everything else - not, as it would make the mission harder in some ways (you don't know where you've been already) and do away with the exploration fun. The thing you're talking about with security guards can be emulated by putting them into a single mapblock, but such solutions work best on paper. I mean the potential security guards are unlikely to make this mission any more tactical... simply much harder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 08, 2016, 09:12:40 pm
Updated Parrot sprite.  Facings were messed up.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: robin on April 08, 2016, 09:13:54 pm
1/ We have full visibility on base defense missions for example, so even if it's hardcoded (I don't know), we can easily extract it to ruleset.
In the terrain definition you can define a property 'revealedFloors' (going by memory, maybe the name is a little different) that makes the floor, for the map module in which it is defined, visibile.
(the alien base map module where x-com units are spawned use this, so check the alien base terrain for an example).
So you could just define a terrain with all its map modules having revealedFloors, with the result of making the generated map fully visibile.
Haven't tested but should work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 08, 2016, 10:00:55 pm
Multiple evac areas, depending on your luck (1-4). All visible.

I'm already using this function, bro :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 08, 2016, 11:21:02 pm
Should I use sneaky Ai or shouldn't I?

What is intended? Does it matter?

Is that the reason why all/most of the enemies stays in specific ufos (small two story ufo, which are used by spartans and bandit/raider)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Bloax on April 08, 2016, 11:26:25 pm
Don't use sneaky AI, it'll just make your life miserable and the game not very fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 08, 2016, 11:42:00 pm
Is that the reason why all/most of the enemies stays in specific ufos (small two story ufo, which are used by spartans and bandit/raider)

No, thats not the reason.  Some UFOs are so designed that the crew stays in them.  This presents a breaching puzzle.  (One which, BTW can almost always be given different and interesting solutions with Fusion Torches). 
Sneaky AI is only really designed to ensure that enemies duck out of sight if possible, rather than standing to be gunned down in the open.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Roxis231 on April 09, 2016, 12:22:31 am
Is there a hotfix for the distilling hellerium bug avaliable?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 09, 2016, 01:53:34 am
Right!

You need to replace the current STR_ELERIUM_115_XXX under manufacturing in Piratez.rul with:

Code: [Select]
  - name: STR_ELERIUM_115_XXX
    category: STR_UFO_COMPONENT
    space: 0
    time: 1000
    cost: 100
    requiresBaseFunc: [WELL]
    producedItems:
      STR_ELERIUM_115: 1
    listOrder: 5040

(it was missing the producedItems category)

Also, someone was asking for heavier Guerrila armor, right? :) How about that:

(https://i.imgur.com/tlYG2TK.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 09, 2016, 04:39:06 am
Gimme gimme want. Not the original asker but want. Don't like the exposed thigh skin area. I think the outside of the thigh would look better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 09, 2016, 06:24:47 am
@Bloax .. yeah I think I turn it off. because of the terror missions, where Ali.. eh.. the enemy can hide nearly everywhere. Have fun with 3 stories houses on a row .
I played with this option for 30-50h. It wasn't really an issue to me, except those search & destroy moments.

@ Dioxine yay thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 09, 2016, 07:21:16 am
I just level multistory buildings in terror maps if there are to many. One or 2 is okay but a mapful i break out the mortars and level the map. Screw the penalty for civilain kills most of them are gonna die before i win anyway if i win at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: karadoc on April 09, 2016, 01:21:45 pm
This mod is great. I've only started recently, but I've been playing a lot and enjoying it thoroughly. I like the game is rich with detailed lore which is fully consistent with the other xcom games.

I've got a minor bug report (rereport, really); and a minor question.

The question is kind of a philosophical question about the intended way to use saves and such. Essentially what I want to know is whether players are expected to play on after taking a massive loss, or should we just reload and retry.

I recently encountered a mercenaries for the first time in a landed UFO mission. It was brutal. I didn't really know what I was up against, and so I quickly lost most of my crew before realising that I wasn't well enough equipped to win the fight. Up until then, I'd basically just been playing on through whenever something bad happened, but this time I decided to reload and not take the mission. I'd kind of like to know if the game is designed in such a way that I'd recover from taking a big loss, or if a big loss would mean the start of a slippery slope towards ultimate defeat. I mean, if I lose a heap of valuable equipment and most of my best trained hands; is that something I should play on from?


Found a small bug, dont know if its relevant since you already work on the extended edition, but might be worth checking if it replicates there too:

When you try to ship slaves from one base to other (all types of slaves) and you click on the arrow the numbers change to -random number (etc -256) on both columns. If you give the order to proceed you pay the cash but no actuall transfer takes place.
Cannot fix that but it's actually good, slaves shouldn't be possible to transfer for a good number of reasons.
As a brief follow up on this: when trying to transfer slaves, the number of slaves being transferred is shown to be negative; and so the cost is also negative. This means that xcom actually gains money when attempting to transfer slaves. As pilot00 points out, the transfer doesn't actually take place, but the player can just keep trying to transfer over and over again to get infinite money. If it can't be fixed, then I guess that's just too bad. I just through I'd raise the issue again because the bug is a bit more harmful (exploitable) than originally described.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 09, 2016, 02:26:20 pm
The question is kind of a philosophical question about the intended way to use saves and such. Essentially what I want to know is whether players are expected to play on after taking a massive loss, or should we just reload and retry.

I recently encountered a mercenaries for the first time in a landed UFO mission. It was brutal. I didn't really know what I was up against, and so I quickly lost most of my crew before realising that I wasn't well enough equipped to win the fight. Up until then, I'd basically just been playing on through whenever something bad happened, but this time I decided to reload and not take the mission. I'd kind of like to know if the game is designed in such a way that I'd recover from taking a big loss, or if a big loss would mean the start of a slippery slope towards ultimate defeat. I mean, if I lose a heap of valuable equipment and most of my best trained hands; is that something I should play on from?

That depends on you, but usually you should be able to recover from virtually anything. You can remake\buy\loot weapons, retrain gals, remanufacture\repair armor, and replace the trusty ol' boat with a pachyderm, skyranger or manufactured ship. Though it might kill your game if you lose yer boat on first month, because you have nothing to cushion the fall, and the loss of laboratory, should it happen, is permanent.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: karadoc on April 09, 2016, 03:45:04 pm
That depends on you, but usually you should be able to recover from virtually anything. You can remake\buy\loot weapons, retrain gals, remanufacture\repair armor, and replace the trusty ol' boat with a pachyderm, skyranger or manufactured ship. Though it might kill your game if you lose yer boat on first month, because you have nothing to cushion the fall, and the loss of laboratory, should it happen, is permanent.
Before xPiratez, I was playing Long War, the mod for X-Com: Enemy Within. If the player suffers a major loss in LW, you can still rebuild, rebuy, and retrain - but you still lose the game. You lose because the aliens keep getting stronger while you rebuild. In fact they get stronger even faster than they would otherwise, because you aren't raiding their bases and shooting down their ships. So although you can rebuild after loss, if the loss is big enough then it can put so far behind that you no longer have strong enough tech to shoot down UFOs... and so you lose the game.

That's the kind of thing I was worried about happening when I was defeated by the merc ufo in xpiratez. My thinking was roughly this: if missions like this are going to become the new normal, then I can't afford to lose this - otherwise I'll have to restart the game.

Maybe I'll try to play without using saves from now on, and just see how it goes. If I have to restart, then it won't be so bad anyway - because it's an excellent game! I kind of look forward to trying a different early-game tech path. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 09, 2016, 03:56:53 pm
No, Piratez will never screw you over like that, it just wouldn't fly in the X-Com community. :) Although losing the lab would be a major pain, since you'd have to build whole new bases only for research and paying dearly for this not very efficient solution. Plus the lab allows you to hack data, which is very useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 09, 2016, 05:05:23 pm
Nah you can always rebuild, unless you're hit twice or thrice in a short time, which has a very low chance of happening. The easy enemies are never going away for good. And you can get hit by full-force Mercs in the first month anyway, if you're both over-aggressive AND very unlucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 09, 2016, 06:58:44 pm
Over-aggressive and very unlucky : |

I raided a church small or medium (don't know) ship. Didn't know it was one.
After that my base got attacked by the church...

with plasma weapon and a lot of more high tech shit. At least no power armor.
Half or more of my gals got killed, but I won.

I'll never attack the church again until I eat their units at breakfast.

Ok. It wasn't the first month. I think it was the sixths or so.
It never happend before.
So I think the church attack your base more likely than other factions? Or Did I have bad luck?

p.s Yay I have plasma weapons. It will take month until I can use them but hey.. I have plasma weapons!

p.p.s Nobody likes my parrots. They get killed very often. Even my own gals shoot them. They "miss" the enemy and hit my parrot,which was about 60° angle away from LoS to the enemy..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Foxhound634 on April 11, 2016, 12:29:54 am
A while back i think i remembered Dioxine talking about the chance of a retaliation mission when shooting down ships. I know that they will search the region where the ship was shot down, but i think you said that there is always a small chance of them finding it regardless of location. Is this true, because that would mean that they could still find me, even though i shot down their ship on the other side of the globe...and that just seems like cheating :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 11, 2016, 02:49:42 am
Yeah game is slightly cheaty when comes to detection of bases. Each crackdown mission has chance to find a base if it survived disregarding regions. At least it worked that way in original xcom and I don't think it was altered in open.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 11, 2016, 11:00:27 am
Location does matter however, my base in China was attacked a few times already while 3-4 North American crackdown failed to find my Caribbean base. Maybe the Caribbean count as South America for the game despite it's proximity and is causing these missions to fail.

Other isles in Oceania might have similar results. Perhaps Sardinia too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 11, 2016, 12:16:25 pm
Had not thought of island behavior given that most island are pretty meh for coverage. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 11, 2016, 04:22:31 pm
I always have a base in Crete now. The search patterns for UFOs on retaliation missions are predetermined and they are designed to look at the mainland of the regions, nut can miss edges and islands. Crete gives you great coverage of Europe, north Africa and some of Asia, while being tough to spot. Makes it a great starting spot!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 11, 2016, 05:56:37 pm
And here am I, who tried to build production base in the Pacific, because who would've search there. First thing I've encountered was mercenary hideout, second - two successful retaliations. There was also a base in eastern Asia (found and destroyed, lack funds to rebuild), and in centre of southern America (found and destroyed twice, rebuilt and ready now). Main base in Crimea (don't look at me like that, please) wasn't found yet despite 2-3 retaliation attempts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 11, 2016, 09:56:15 pm
Yeah the game has some odd corner cases when it comes to pathing. They at least minimize the flyover detection chance but do diddly about the crackdown end of mission roll.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 11, 2016, 10:52:55 pm
There are only 2 possibilities of a Crackdown (retal) mission ending:
1. All ships make their flyovers
2. Attack ship is launched and defeated (with the next ver. it will immediately end the retaliation if you shoot that ship down, not only if you fight the hideout def.).
Also shooting Crackdown ships down will not generate extra retals; and any automatic retals will not always appear.

Some stuff from the next ver. - if you're into infiltration but not into dress-up games (Gfx mostly by Bloax): (https://i.imgur.com/UyojSOO.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 11, 2016, 10:55:43 pm
Oh God, please resize the images at source, or in the post... please.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 11, 2016, 10:59:27 pm
Incendiary damage is the worst. And I keep forgetting to bring extinguishers with me.

Question of the day: how would I know if the INC damage is also a white phosphorus? WP granade is obvious from description, but when I found LACC-WP workshop entry, I was... surprised.

Question of the day-2: does LACC-WP ammo work as advertised or is it just an incendiary ammo?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 11, 2016, 11:18:51 pm
Everything which has WP in the name works as advertised. It holds true for any such abbreviation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 12, 2016, 12:37:16 am
Is there any point in copying the "Aliens pick up weapons" mod over from the "standard" folder and enabling it, or is the functionality included with Piratez by default?

Edit: Heh, forgot the most important part: thanks a lot for making the mod! It's what finally got me back to OpenXcom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 12, 2016, 01:48:35 am
i do not believe that functionality is in piratez. least i have never observed it happening. In my opinion it would make the mod a more challenging experience. I wouldn't like supply ships runs where foes pick up there dead buddies baby nukes
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 12, 2016, 02:27:34 am
Copying the AliensPickupWeapons mod wouldn't do much, since that mod only works on vanilla weapons.

Piratez already has attraction values set for pretty much every weapon, so you can consider it to be built-in already any ways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 12, 2016, 02:40:06 am
Ok, thanks for the answer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 12, 2016, 10:27:59 am
Is there any point in copying the "Aliens pick up weapons" mod over from the "standard" folder and enabling it, or is the functionality included with Piratez by default?

Edit: Heh, forgot the most important part: thanks a lot for making the mod! It's what finally got me back to OpenXcom.

I had enemies pick up weapons, meridian too when on his first attempt to capture a marsec bodyguard.

Copying that mod is pointless anyway because it only affact vanilla weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 12, 2016, 12:11:42 pm
Yeah and the Bodyguard picked up weapon from his dead buddy. So it is implemented as good as it can be; if it happens rarely it's because the AI works the way it works and there's no helping that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 12, 2016, 12:17:14 pm
Yeah they do pick up things. After some testing it seems they are reluctant to pickup things while in view of foes. I always run with parrots so i have very large portions of the map under observation most the time which seemed to be hindering the attraction behavior.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Zharkov on April 12, 2016, 08:16:11 pm
- New Mission: Russian Files require an actual mission now

What happens if you upgrade and use an old save, but Russian Files is already researched?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 12, 2016, 09:39:30 pm
Do I need a printer, if I built a factory?

After I saw what building will come later, It seems I should built a manufactoring-hideout and one that provides stuff for research, then built my mainbase to a easy-defend base (access behind hangar. hangar has only one connection to the rest of the base).
(It seems I'm in mid-game)
But Can I research stuff, that need facilities that isn't in the mainbase? If not, then I have to build a lot buildings that provides places for brainers.. And that's a lot maintance cost.

That means I have do to more ufo raids.. what really starts to annoy me, because I got most of the time the same with "cheap" loot and I can do up to three ufo raids per day because so much flying around ( I don't do that)... Most of the time it's small ufos or .. crackdowns. And then .. I have to intercept some of it because of score.. And I can't kill crackdowns ship (even star gods was searching for me <.<)
At the end I do a lot more busy work/tactical combat than producing/researching.
I did the same missions so often, if someone got hurt, then because I was too lazy to do it right. Freighters, all small ships. ugh
Can't really see it anymore. even the raider/spartan ships are no problem anymore. Powerarmor eats everything.. Second Powerarmor gets a Meele weapon and range weapon, because it reminds me so much of a space marine. Attacking mining ships isn't really that profitable and it isn't fun anymore to see G.O with shovels running towards to you (and I thought a mining ship has a mining laser..)

It's start to get really really grindy. What do I wrong? I mean what can I do to improve my booty. I mean. Do I really have 5-10 raids per month to keep govs happy? And for the late game: Do I have to do more raids per month to keep things running?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 12, 2016, 09:52:08 pm
It depends. I every month get either a crackdown (obvious) or peacekeeping (ruins score with alarming speed). There are a lot of ships, including Star God mission to sway the non-existant country in Central Asia. Every month, for two years.
Aside, there's also supply ships to replenish the 10+ enemy bases, which also ruin score. And variety of other missions. Despite being in 3 year, I lack the ability to shoot down most military ships and just have to let go.

Do I need a printer, if I built a factory?

-snip-

It's start to get really really grindy. What do I wrong? I mean what can I do to improve my booty. I mean. Do I really have 5-10 raids per month to keep govs happy? And for the late game: Do I have to do more raids per month to keep things running?

I think printer is explicitly required for top-tier stuff.

I'unno, don't attack low-price targets? And they're not that low-priced, you get pretty penny from the hellerium, plastasteel and other loot, and hostages. There are also other ways to get money.
You can get away with only a few BIG operations. Assault a cruiser if you can, or do an imperial probe mission. Anything which gives you a lot of dead bodies will also give you big score.
No, there are research topics, which can alleviate the score problem, but they're more of a late-game thing, though I already have one (*Rebel Trading*).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 13, 2016, 12:50:30 am
What happens if you upgrade and use an old save, but Russian Files is already researched?

It will spawn the mission next month. You'd better win it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 13, 2016, 01:22:17 am
Most faction missions have no score penalty and can be ignored unless you need the score from the combat. Peacekeeping is the big one to watch out for since it is a huge negative hit. Supply runs do not have any penalty its the base itself that is causing the score ding. Crackdowns are only a threat to your bases not score.  pogroms are actually a net positive if you can manage the ground combat.

As to the industrial printer/factory problem the printer is specifically needed for some items. The factory is just a supersize workshop with greater capacity and lower maintainment then 9 workshop blocks. However fully staffing its 450 capacity requires significant supporting building. 13 luxury barracks at the smallest space. also a power plant. Factory is a late game thing that i feel is best suited to either cashflow or gal hour intensive things like vessels and advanced HWPs.

To be able to build everything in the same base requires: a surgery, a laser defense, a plasma defense, a gauss defense, an industrial printer, a power plant, a excavation, a still, a mint, a summoning circle, at least one vault for component storage, a prison and an influx of slaves(which means ground combat team), an unused hanger, and some additional barracks space. The complexity and the piecemeal acquisition of needed tech makes a single center of production unreasonable imo. Granted a manufacturing focused base for component processing and substeps to a final product is a good investment.  Saves runt hours on the high tech base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 13, 2016, 02:39:07 pm
Thx for advices. It seems I have to risk more. like never attack crackdowns.

I raided a military supply ship and found Defender Armor and I can't research it :/
Well I have no research option anymore.. I really should attack bigger crafts for moar loot(and I should watch more path of ufos and raid them when they land)

(Base Defending against Mercenaries isn't fun..)

At least the game make more fun again.

Edit: How to capture star gods or at least mercs. Stun grenades and cattleprods don't work well on them and mercs are tough isn't fun to kill them.. and then.. capture them x_X?

edit: Do I need pillow book-item for diplomacy? I start to think I'm missing research, that I could research. Well I already researched pillow book and any prerequisite for diplomacy. It seems I can't research it. I loaded up my savegame if anyone want to look at it
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Cristao on April 13, 2016, 10:24:35 pm
^I think you should reduce the difficulty level that you are playing at...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 13, 2016, 10:31:18 pm
Don't take my "complaining" too serious. I'm having fun. And having fun too find weaknesses of the enemy.

I look up the tech tree and saw that more stun stuff is coming and reveal maybe a bug at my savegame..

I guess I'll stop asking things..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 13, 2016, 11:34:43 pm
Okay dug around in your save and yeah you are hung up on the tech bottle necks. Specifically Diplomacy and the subsequent broken prisoners. You are also missing a few country knowledge which are bottlenecks. Eurasian autonomy, pirate straits are the big ones that are missing. Capture guild hostesses to solve that bottleneck. I can't get the tech tree viewer to work right now so I am unsure whats the issue with diplomacy is.

Also your base design is weaker to ground attacks although it does maximize space. Foes spawn in hangers and the lift and having more connections gives you more places to defend. The ideal defensive setup looks something like this:

HHHHHH
HHHHHH
L
BB00000   H=hanger tiles L=lift B=barracks 0=other

This setup forces all attackers to come through the lift to attack you. in addition the majority of your units will spawn in barracks so having them close to the lift choke point cuts down on turns spent moving to defend.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 13, 2016, 11:59:01 pm
Also your base design is weaker to ground attacks although it does maximize space. Foes spawn in hangers and the lift and having more connections gives you more places to defend. The ideal defensive setup looks something like this:
<snip>

And yeah, there is a feature to re-arrange your base if you would like to. ;)
Ctrl-click on a facility and it puts it into "move" mode.  Left-Click to place it. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 14, 2016, 12:07:06 am
Although this is the generally accepted design, I personally don't like it for Piratez. Many Piratez factions present odd challenges that are more easily overcome by playing differently for me, especially in base defences.

Especially early in the game, many factions (academy, spartans, regular guild) will attack your base with lots of weak units (almost all spartans, academicians, GOs, guild reps and Hostesses) that sport strong (plasma + blaster) weapons and, for the academy, some psi. It is much easier to have quick access to them and take the offensive. You can slaughter a whole bunch with a few rockets T1 in the hangars, crippling their morale and, with some fire, effectively paralysing them in there to be picked on. This significantly reduces the risk of something going wrong by reducing the number of enemy units.

Other factions (or even the guild if you get a guildmaster + several power armors) can present you with tough enough units that they can push through the bottleneck without you being able to shoot them effectively or approach them for melee since they are all together coming out of your one entry point.

A lift also provides the enemy with nice cover from the doors. Breaching the lift is always the worst part of my base defences. As such, I make sure that the enemy walk through something clear without doors to protect them.

My usual setup is something like:

55L555
HHHHHH
HHHHHH
142434
OOOOOO
OOOOOO


Where numbers represent the priority of building either vaults or barracks at that location, L is the lift, and O are other valuable facilities. The 5s on the top row are the last buildings I build, usually all at once (to prevent a few gals from being isolated and overpowered there, although hiding upstairs and ambushing there can work). This uses the whole space, which is good.

Early on, it makes the lift totally irrelevant since the enemies will walk into the open in hangars where they are much easier to pick off. Later on, once you build up the top row, you can tackle the lift from two sides, while your gals on the other side hit the hangars so the lift doesn't get reinforced. On the bottom, you have plenty of little rooms to hide in and direct, open lines of fire into the hangar from the corridors. Snipers, HMG and rocket gals can hide in the back behind smoke.

If you face enemies that need to be taken out in melee, they will be spread out coming out of the hangars in the #1-4 facilities, which reduces the likelihood that they can cover each others with reaction fire, instead of making one unapproachable clump in the one bottleneck.

Once you have strong and plentiful enough ranged weapons that you don't have to fear the clump, and psi-strong enough gals that you don't have to fear psi so you can take your time, a bottleneck might be great, but by then, you don't really have much to fear and might as well use all the tiles in your base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 02:18:55 am
okay i can see that being effective. I personally don't have an issue with lift breaching stage since by that point it usually an empty cube from explosives use. I also tend to come from above and below first rather then up the hallway at ground level.  different styles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 14, 2016, 05:41:15 am
I've got to admit I haven't been playing much recently, and have not experienced the new base defences with sewers, corridors and stuff. That might well change my game plan since it already dilutes the attackers/gives more ways to attack. I'll have to see!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 06:37:10 am
The upper level "ductwork" is pretty favorable to the player because its mostly one tile wide hallways with 2 hatches between tiles. So few foes at a time and little opportunity for return fire because of the LOS nature of autoclose hatches. However limited options to flank within the ducts themselves. Heavy armor foes can a big problem since multiple attackers are hard to pull off, and few rear shots. Under armor is also hard to get because no overhead space for arcing weapons. arcing weapons effective range is about 6-7 tiles while crouched.

The cavern level is an interesting "huge problem to no problem situation". The terrain down there has a very high TU cost so even the fastest things move quite slowly. Parrots with 120 TU go about 6-8 tiles a turn. Many, many short multi branch 1 tile wide paths exist with real short LOS. I think about 6 tiles is the longest straight line outside of under the hangers which are giant empty caves. So nothing is going to go real fast down there and come up behind a defense line in time to matter. However finding anything that wanders off down there can take a very long time. power armor and one tile terror units are even worse then in ducts because you spread out a ton to find things in the sewer so massing sufficient firepower while keeping track of the target without losing gals or lots of parrots because the almost melee LOS is a challenge.

However few foes actually go down into the caverns because the pathing tu cost is so high. Anything actively trying to go some where distant will not path though sewer. Its the random wandering guys that go down there and dink around getting lost.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 14, 2016, 07:01:10 am
Good to know! Will have to be careful with these new additions.. It does sound like the ducts will be cool and I'm curious about the sewers. I'm surprised flying units don't get a bonus for movement down there, but I guess it's not high enough to fly above the gunk..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 08:41:18 am
its how all the terrain works, since hover capable units use the TU of the ground in the tile they are in. Empty/flat tiles are cheapest. For example its faster for a hover tank to float up and over a hill then up the side despite the up and over being more total tiles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 14, 2016, 09:07:47 am
First of all: Thx for being so helpful :)

I read how to change ruleset and I changed Maxdistancething to 20 and fixt that hellerium destillthing.

Now I can't see crackdown ships anymore..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 09:22:35 am
Are we talking not seeing any on the Geoscape? It's possible to not have any crackdown ships spawn since crackdowns are dynamically generated based on player activity. Or are we talking something missing in intercepts or the battlescape?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 14, 2016, 09:30:38 am
Sorry for being not clear.

Geoscape. Before fixing they were a lot crackdowns ship and got every few hours a new one.
Now: Nothing. Only normal Ufos. I got a base attack out of nowhere. No, sightings. Don't know if this normal but I think I could see every attackship before

Edit: Ok I saw a smuggler crackdown, which attacked my base, but I recently attack them.
So all of the old ones are gone?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 09:49:07 am
After an an attack on your base the crackdown ships for that mission stop appearing. Now multiple factions can have multiple crackdown mission running at one time. But it sounds like to me that the base attack hit and concluded the mission. The actual ships that do the base attack are very fast(6000) so depending on base position relative to the spawns it possible for one to hit in between detection sweeps which are every 30 mins of in game time i think.

Crackdown missions come in 2 stages:
Stage 1 lots of normal ships trying to find a base by searching the region where there factions ship was shot down.
Stage 2 a single attack ship goes for the base. If it is shot down by base defenses after awhile another may try. Sometimes it bugs and you get a never ending series of ships getting shot down by base defenses.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 14, 2016, 09:53:38 am
That was bugging me.

I got crackdowns from multiple factions and one load from another everything was gone. Everything seems come to an end and a whole month nearly nothing. I got crackdowns over month! and I did the same as last month. So I don't know. it seems they are flying again this month slowly.

Seems just very odd to me.

I think I really stop asking things and play and maybe say something if it's a real problem...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Boltgun on April 14, 2016, 10:05:17 am
After a while you get one crackdown a month. Other missions caused by your interception are added on top of that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 14, 2016, 01:31:35 pm
Now I have slavery and Diplomacy and can't research interrogation technique..
confusing. I shouldn't look at the tech reviewer, I think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 02:41:31 pm
okay i can now vouch for weird things happening to crackdowns after a base attack. I had multiple attack craft inbound to bases but after the first ground. battle they all vanished as well the 3 or so crackdown search ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 14, 2016, 03:45:46 pm
okay i can now vouch for weird things happening to crackdowns after a base attack. I had multiple attack craft inbound to bases but after the first ground. battle they all vanished as well the 3 or so crackdown search ships.

This is 100% correct and vanilla.
After a successful base defense, the entire crackdown mission is removed from the game including any UFOs, which may still exist on the globe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 14, 2016, 04:23:53 pm
This is 100% correct and vanilla.
After a successful base defense, the entire crackdown mission is removed from the game including any UFOs, which may still exist on the globe.

Ah, so I misunderstood: thought that the other Battleships reach your base and then disappear... I wonder where I got it from.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 04:41:56 pm
So are all crackdowns the same mission? I had Mercenary, Academy, and Star Gods all on base strike runs to separate targets. Traders and humanists where doing the swarm thing in asia and south America respectively. One failed landing and everybody says fuck it and teleports off the globe? Given that these are themed as distinct factions this behavior ill fits the mod IMO. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: LexThorn on April 14, 2016, 05:15:19 pm
So are all crackdowns the same mission? I had Mercenary, Academy, and Star Gods all on base strike runs to separate targets. Traders and humanists where doing the swarm thing in asia and south America respectively. One failed landing and everybody says fuck it and teleports off the globe? Given that these are themed as distinct factions this behavior ill fits the mod IMO.

Say, friend, you want 10 base defenses in a row? Without rest?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 14, 2016, 05:31:52 pm
So are all crackdowns the same mission? I had Mercenary, Academy, and Star Gods all on base strike runs to separate targets. Traders and humanists where doing the swarm thing in asia and south America respectively. One failed landing and everybody says fuck it and teleports off the globe? Given that these are themed as distinct factions this behavior ill fits the mod IMO.

No, they are separate missions.
Only one mission should disappear, not all of them... do you have a save to debug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: LexThorn on April 14, 2016, 05:40:45 pm
No, they are separate missions.
Only one mission should disappear, not all of them... do you have a save to debug?

You mean faction-separate?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 14, 2016, 06:03:46 pm
I am trying to capture a good save to debug. I have been as yet unsuccessful at reproducing the multiple factions active at once. And my closet save is 2 game weeks away from the incident. Will update when i have a good candidate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 14, 2016, 10:30:42 pm
I expected new, shiny thunderhorse to have doors, and forgot to equip not-new-but-not-veteran-either gals with smoke grenades. Result? Two death spore missiles into runway, on turn 1, while I was trying to maneouver somebody to throw a smoke.

I love this game and this mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 15, 2016, 07:50:11 pm
A quick question about chryssalids: are they just as deadly in Piratez as they are in original X-com/unmodded OpenXcom, i.e. one-hit kill through every armor? Just asking so I don't end up doing something stupid like throwing a bunch of melee gals against them. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 15, 2016, 08:00:48 pm
Yup, pretty much ;)

Also worth nothing, since you are using melee, that melee doesn't prompt reactions, so if you can get up to one, you are free to swing at it until you kill it (or run out of TUs..)  But beware, stepping in front of a melee unit can trigger it to react to your movement and, in the case of a chryssalid, turn you into a zombie. So better try it from the back (which also reduces their melee dodge, probably, meaning you are more likely to hit).

It's not a very good tactic, but with good melee gals it can work. Especially if you have flying armor and can "lift off" before running out of TUs, thus making yourself immune to the chryssalid's retribution as it can't hit a flying enemy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 15, 2016, 08:40:16 pm
Ok, thanks for the warning. I have to say, lids slashing through the heaviest of heavy armors has always been a bit jarring to me and I was hoping that might have been toned down a notch in Piratez. So far melee has felt like a fairly strong option for the player, but it seems to me "classic" style chryssalids are pretty much a hard counter to that. Ah well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 15, 2016, 08:47:21 pm
I don't think Piratez is intended to be played by using only one style. Melee is strong, but in open terrain where you can get shot up, shooting wins back. Similarly, when fighting certain factions (with high reactions to shoot your melee gals on the way in, or high melee dodge, or high melee capabilities themselves) melee will be a very risky endeavour. Fighting chryssalids is indeed on of those cases.

OXCE actually has the capability of making "chryssalid proof" armor (I think it entirely negates the possibility of being zombified? It would be nice to have a "zombified only if damage was dealt" option, I very much agree). I don't know if such armors exist in Piratez however.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 15, 2016, 09:24:29 pm
I do agree that melee shouldn't trump guns in most situations, it's just that a strong melee component kinda highlights the whole "armor = wet tissue paper against chryssalids" thing. But I'll stop my bitching here. If we ever get an armor that the lids can't ignore, I'll be happy, but if not, well, cowering in a corner should still work well enough. :P

Edit: By the way, I like the 30 tile vision range. I'm not sure why exactly, but it feels better than the normal 20 tiles in X-com/unmodified OpenXcom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 15, 2016, 10:58:44 pm
I had to reduce my vision range to 25 and even still, the gals move quite slowly.. but I have a crappy computer.

I certainly agree that increased sight distance makes the game more interesting. It is a soft nerf for melee in open terrain since the enemy can see you even further out. It helps some midranged weapons because you can spot the enemy earlier and go to a good location to engage instead of spotting later and being in a worse position. And it is a change to reaction fire in that they can happen earlier (good?) But since they happen over longer range (up to 25-30 tiles away) the snapshot accuracy drop matters more (for a snap range of 15, that's 10-15 tiles short, which means -20 or -30% accuracy) so long range reaction shots are much less deadly. Now you get a likely miss at 25 tiles and another shot at 20 tiles if you keep pushing, instead of 2 shots at 20 tiles without being able to do anything. This "advanced warning misd" makes the player feel less powerless to enemy reaction fire and that's great. Stumbling onto the sight limit of an enemy and getting multiple shots (at only -10 accuracy for a typical snap range) is no fun.

It also makes weapons with increased snap range more meaningful for reaction fire, since they suffer less from the increased sight range.

I quite like it, and would play with 30 if my computer could. You get into more "long ranged firefights" since you spot enemies further and those are fun. Brutal close ranged is fun too, but that still happens in dense terrains and crafts. Now there's more variety and even some sort of suppression fire (the enemy is likely to stay in cover if they see you and you certainly stay in cover if you see them) and flanking mechanics (approaching from a side out of LoS to bring melee or short/mid-range gals into play) all growing organically out of the situation instead of being forced like in NuCom. And it makes bombardment/cover destruction all the more relevant).

The only thing is that it makes "infinite range heavy weapons" even better since you spot enemies further (so your scouts are less in danger) and can completely overpower the  (now more common) long range firefight with them. I'm thinking giving things like the HMG a max range 30-35 with a 1% drop after or something like that might be better than infinite. (Then it encourages hover armor mobility instead of just sitting on top o the Bonny). It becomes more reliable than a sniper rifle (which should keep infinite range!) otherwise as the weight of fire more than compensates for the lower accuracy and they are otherwise similar in needing a stationary soldier for lots of TUs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 15, 2016, 11:07:54 pm
I have done a lot more testing yesterday and 20 is really the limit where we can go; without affecting performance on average PC.

I just hardcoded the maxViewRange to 20 again, I don't want to be responsible for people having these issues.

Who likes bigger range and can live with the performance penalty, will have to compile their own version.
Just uncomment what I commented here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/295cd465ddbe81917d4f35a3a0a31d6f43cbfe6f
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 15, 2016, 11:15:55 pm
Really? I have a crappy tiny acer notebook, dual core "only" and 1Gb ram, no GPU to speak of and I'm ok at 25. It's not as smooth as before but SO worth it imho. Would it be possible to make is a battlescape advanced option with a default of 20?

I agree it shouldn't be a mod thing, since it affects performance and depends on the machine and user. But I love having the option!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 15, 2016, 11:23:34 pm
Really? I have a crappy tiny acer notebook, dual core "only" and 1Gb ram, no GPU to speak of and I'm ok at 25. It's not as smooth as before but SO worth it imho. Would it be possible to make is a battlescape advanced option with a default of 20?

I agree it shouldn't be a mod thing, since it affects performance and depends on the machine and user. But I love having the option!

If I make it a user option, I may/will make modders unhappy.
If I make it a ruleset setting, I will definitely make some users unhappy.

But I guess, I can make it a hidden user setting... it would be in options.cfg... but not visible in advanced options, so you'd have to edit it manually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 15, 2016, 11:40:28 pm
Manual edit makes sense to me. I frankly don't think i would have been as successful in my current play through without the longer range. My initial rounds of gals came up almost all high accuracy low str. Parrots allowed scouting in relative safety and high accuracy let me mass fire at long range. If i had been forced into a more mid range game i would have been shafted by limited carry weight for ammo and heavy weapon options.     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: greattuna on April 16, 2016, 12:25:57 am
I'm indifferent about it, my gamestyle hasn't changed that much when I moved from maxdistance 20 to 25. Although it's still nice to have as a option.

Questions of the day: can I bring ghost\seductress outfits to an infiltration mission, can I just kill 'em all, and do I get all the loot if I can.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 16, 2016, 12:56:52 pm
I just hardcoded the maxViewRange to 20 again, I don't want to be responsible for people having these issues.

I agree that you can't go above 20 on a normal computer (at least on a big map), because the game engine is crappy. I have scaled it back to 20 in the ruleset. But wtf have you done Meridian? Do you think so little about other people to force them to follow your whims? Have you joined the Thought Police? :) Unhardcode it back once you sober up :)

@Chryssalids: nah they're still very strong but there are armors that can take several Chryssalid hits. In OXC, the Chryssalid has to actually kill you to zombify you.

@Infiltration: yep these kinds of armor are allowed. And what can I do to stop you from killing them all and getting all the loot? This is always the default option. However the map is so nightmarish that most players probably won't want to do that :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 16, 2016, 01:13:25 pm
I don't know what a whim is, but I am not forcing anyone to follow anything.
All my work is public, feel free to do whatever you want with it...

It took me almost 2 weeks (and 10+ hours of testing) to make that decision, and I was sober at a time.
I'm not a 13yr old teenager anymore, I think before I act and I stand by my decisions.
I honestly don't see any good reason of unhardcoding it right now, but as always, I am listening...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 16, 2016, 01:44:43 pm
I'm sorry if it sounded too serious, I know you're not like that. I just tried to convey my indignance in a not-100%-serious manner. I'm very grateful for your work, I just cannot agree with the policy of elitism in any form, yours or otherwise, purely on principle. Sure, anyone can unhardcode your stuff back, except that anyone is maybe 5% of users because everyone else lacks the skills to compile code (and/or the incentive to learn). Also nobody will use a distro made by mr./mrs. someone, they will use yours since it is you (and Yankes) who had earned yourself a name in this.

So, in short, yes, your decision was hard, but there's no need to make such decisions at all IMO. If you put your time and effort into unharcoding a setting, why later remove such an option from your exec distribution? I simply see no reason to do so. Sure, a modder can f*ck up game's performance by setting this too high, but why should you care about it? It's modder's personal business. You're in no way obliged to protect modders, who are adults too, you know. Unless there were technical reasons (eg. your code was causing some unitended bugs to prop up, and you decided there's no point in wasting time to resolve these issues, which is understandable), I see no slightiest reason for removing that setting from the ruleset.

I don't intend to use that option in my mod, since it's a killer on huge maps (like Mansion, incidentally). But I still think that taking such an option away is going backwards instead of progressing. Taking any ruleset option away is going backwards, unless that option is badly written. Well I have yet to find any OXCE+ upgrade that is badly written :) Do you think it would somehow tarnish your name if a mod using your build gets unplayable because someone set max view to 100? I think that's silly, you should be above such concerns. It's not your fault how the engine is written. Give people freedom to make bad choices and let them learn from them.

I actually think unhardcoding that setting was a huge thing, and one of the most momentous changes you've made. Why? Because it exposed how bad the gfx engine is, in all its misery. This might stir further progress. Conversely, hiding stuff away and pretending everything is cool and fine is a road to nowhere.

(too bad Volutar was dumped... he was someone who could've repaired that...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Rince Wind on April 16, 2016, 03:25:19 pm
Military Police give negative points when killed, correct?
It is always so annoying to have them in a pogrom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 16, 2016, 06:09:37 pm
For what it's worth, here's another player who would be extremely grateful if vision range remained easily changeable. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: legionof1 on April 16, 2016, 06:28:31 pm
Military Police give negative points when killed, correct?
It is always so annoying to have them in a pogrom.
In program just kill them anyway the net score should still be in your favor
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 16, 2016, 07:47:59 pm
I am surprised (and disappointed) by this turn of events on the vision thing. I agree that putting the maximum vision range as a moddable value is not the right place (because then everyone would have to go in the Piratez ruleset every time they update and rechange it from whatever Dioxine decides to put in), but I don't see what is wrong with it as a battlescape advanced option? What could modders not like about that?

There are already plenty of options that screw up balance in mods (ex.: UFO/TftD damage types, instant grenades, psi LOS, psi strength training) and modders just list what the recommended options are. If the users want to use something else, they do and it's their choice and if they don't like the result they can just change it back, all within the game.

Saying that "you can change the code back" works for me, because I already compile my own version, but it doesn't for most people. Having it in "options.cfg" sort of works because it's easy enough for anyone to edit a text file, but then what's the point of adding the extra inconvenience for changing it? Trying to prevent people from doing it? It would be much better to have it as an advanced option with a disclaimer that it will affect performance.

Also, the map size shouldn't have an impact on the performance drop from vision range. If you see at 25 tile, the game scans a 25 tiles radius, regardless of if the map has 100 or 10000 tiles, no? It's still scanning ~2000 tiles per level (pi*25^2 tiles per level, approximating the sphere of vision as a cylinder). Number of levels should have an impact though, since that directly adds to the number of tiles to consider.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Yankes on April 16, 2016, 08:36:58 pm
I am surprised (and disappointed) by this turn of events on the vision thing. I agree that putting the maximum vision range as a moddable value is not the right place (because then everyone would have to go in the Piratez ruleset every time they update and rechange it from whatever Dioxine decides to put in)
one way to proper override is simply create mod that is loaded after xpiratez that change value to more proper one. It could be added as part of official release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 16, 2016, 09:25:07 pm
Uhh... I just noticed that I don't seem to be able to actually spot anyone further than 20 tiles out, even though I can see terrain as far as 30 tiles. Is this intended?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Dioxine on April 16, 2016, 10:14:55 pm
Well, against putting the max view distance in a config - a mod has to be balanced with a set vision in mind. If this is an option, yeah, the modder can say 'use this and that option setting' but isn't it much simpler if such things are configured via ruleset? It is much easier to write a small mod that overrides that (or any) value for vanilla or any mod, than compiling a custom executable.

I'd actually vote for putting every advanced option as a ruleset option. It would work like this: When you change values in the menu, the game saves them not in some shady config, but as a ruleset file (in the proper master mod or vanilla 'user' folder). And again, it would search for such a ruleset file when loading up a mod/options screen. That way, both can the user easily modify such values, and a modder can customize a .rul file with all the proper presets which were intended for the mod. It would really save a lot of fuss for the user with setting all the proper options, while allowing modders to stay away from becoming coders (because being a coder is sort of a 4life thing, and not everyone wants to make such a commitment) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 16, 2016, 11:40:49 pm
@Hazard: I play with a vision range of 25 and haven't had that problem. Are you sure it's not just some hard to spot enemy that wasn't in LoS until later? I guess you could spot an enemy in the open and move back until you don't see them anymore?

@Dioxine: Yeah, I generally agree that it would be good to have a "config mod" that sets the gameplay relevant options properly. Having configs as a file that can be exported could work. You already export yours often enough with the executable :P Although in that case it's the whole config, including resolution (which would cause my game to crash as my laptop can't handle resizing the game in full screen) and debug mode (= no quick save anymore :(). Having a proper setup where you can list only the options that should be changed would be much nicer.

However, for things like vision range that affect performance, it can't be in a mod unless it's also easy to change from the default/mod value for the user in the GUI. Asking users to go in the mod to change values defeats the purpose as it's no easier to change it in a mod than in the config file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 12:09:10 am
@ Arthanor

I've been playing test battles on various flat environments and my units simply don't spot anyone beyond 20 tiles on a straight line. As I said, terrain is revealed around a 30 tile radius, but not enemies, they pop up way after the fog of war has disappeared. Enemy markers stop blinking when I move a unit back and turn around so that they are more than 20 tiles from an enemy, and no reaction fire occurs beyond that range either from my units or the enemy. Changing the max view distance to 25 only limited the "terrain" vision range, enemies were still invisible beyond 20 tiles.

So yeah, I'm pretty confused about this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 17, 2016, 12:11:05 am
@ Arthanor

I've been playing test battles on various flat environments and my units simply don't spot anyone beyond 20 tiles on a straight line. As I said, terrain is revealed around a 30 tile radius, but not enemies, they pop up way after the fog of war has disappeared. Enemy markers stop blinking when I move a unit back and turn around so that they are more than 20 tiles from an enemy, and no reaction fire occurs beyond that range either from my units or the enemy. Changing the max view distance to 25 only limited the "terrain" vision range, enemies were still invisible beyond 20 tiles.

So yeah, I'm pretty confused about this.

Yeah, I remember this has already popped up. Can't remember the explanation, but the next version will take us back to 20 tile vision, so whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 17, 2016, 12:12:13 am
@Hazard: I play with a vision range of 25 and haven't had that problem. Are you sure it's not just some hard to spot enemy that wasn't in LoS until later? I guess you could spot an enemy in the open and move back until you don't see them anymore?

In the official version shipped with 0.98b (2016-03-27) it is exactly like Hazard describes... only the viewRange was increased to 30. The actual visibility was still 20... moddable per armor, but 20 by default.
I changed it later so the default is not 20, but maxViewRange (i.e. 30 in this case)... since version 2016-04-02... so that dioxine doesn't have to change all the armors manually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 12:22:45 am
Okay thanks, that explains it. I take it I would need to add a specific line to all entries in the Piratez_Armors.rul, right? What would that be?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 17, 2016, 12:37:55 am
Okay thanks, that explains it. I take it I would need to add a specific line to all entries in the Piratez_Armors.rul, right? What would that be?

To all armors you would need to add:
Code: [Select]
visibilityAtDay: 30
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 12:44:22 am
Thank you. Though instead of going at it by hand I could just stop being a goddamn idiot and download the latest .exe from your thread. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 17, 2016, 12:47:58 am
Thank you. Though instead of going at it by hand I could just stop being a goddamn idiot and download the latest .exe from your thread. :D

Latest is not the best, you won't recover any more corpses in that version, because of some incompatibilities.

I'd recommend version from 2014-04-07, here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8itkFQbhj-YMEdaV0xlYVg3b3M
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 12:51:04 am
Alright, thanks again. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Arthanor on April 17, 2016, 01:05:42 am
In the official version shipped with 0.98b (2016-03-27) it is exactly like Hazard describes... only the viewRange was increased to 30. The actual visibility was still 20... moddable per armor, but 20 by default.
I changed it later so the default is not 20, but maxViewRange (i.e. 30 in this case)... since version 2016-04-02... so that dioxine doesn't have to change all the armors manually.
Oh! wow, I hadn't realize it had changed so much between the "shipped version" and the one I compiled!

Just to make sure, I un-commented the one line you commented out in the "hardcode default 20" commit, and that's really all I need to do to retain the full functionality (of revealing terrain, spotting and reacting to enemies), right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Meridian on April 17, 2016, 01:07:11 am
Yes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98B - 31 Mar - I Can See My House From Here!
Post by: Rince Wind on April 17, 2016, 02:02:02 am
In program just kill them anyway the net score should still be in your favor

Oft course I kill them. It is still disappointing to have a negative score after killing all enemies and even saving some civs. But this is nothing major. I love this mod (and just started a screenshot LP [in German]).

Also, is there a way to change the screenshot folder?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 17, 2016, 02:38:16 am
Es tut mir leid, aber nicht.

Neu Version (0.98C)...
Brings about the titular 'mansions', in the sense of Mansion Invasion, a novelty 100% indoor mission where you're allowed only concealable items, and most of your available armor turns into maid uniforms for the time of the mission (except exotic stuff like Nurse, Seductress, Witch, Ghost and Arrancar Ragnarok). Lots of squishy enemies with weak weapons, but you have no armor, and the map is hellish... Still you can just simply grab what you can and make a cinematic escape from the roof!
To balance things out, also one new armor is added: thieving gear. It hits your stats bad but has sweet gfx by Bloax, fantastic carrying capacity and some secondary powers, the most important being it can be taken for any infiltration mission!

The selection of items for that mission is really easy now thanks to item tagging system (credit to Meridian!).

Tons and tons of loot items have been added, leading to some crafting changes. An immense amount of fixing and balancing all the stuff (armors, weapons, etc) followed, based on observations and forum feedback. Sight range has been rolled back to 20.

Endgame has been made easier by the ability to pay the Mercs a shipload of money to bring faction leaders to your doorstep.

As usual, for a full change list, see the first post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 17, 2016, 03:36:39 am
Neat! Just as I compiled a (hopefully working) new Linux version of Meridian's exe with extra stuff!

Now, I gotta ask again.. which version of OXCE+ is this? because in the archive, the date I get for the executable is 2016-03-27, which is way older than some of the changes that are already in (vision changes) and other stuff you mention (ex.: starting conditions is April 1st), but also some not so recent changes are  not taken into account by the ruleset (ex.: recover flags being used for the corpseGeo property, April 10th, but the ruleset which still has recover: false for things like STR_SECURITY_CORPSE).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 17, 2016, 04:28:52 am
Now, I gotta ask again.. which version of OXCE+ is this? because in the archive, the date I get for the executable is 2016-03-27

How come? It's 12 April exec
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 17, 2016, 04:45:50 am
WOOT new version. Now someone explain to me in baby steps how to set view range back to 30.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 17, 2016, 05:11:27 am
I don't know.. that's the date that's shown when I open the archive, unless I messed up.

But if you use the April 12th executable, doesn't that have the "check recover flag for corpses" function? (Meridian's feature list says it does) Which would mean that the corpses from Piratez_Factions.rul need to be set to recover: true ?

I guess I'll have to check in M
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: greattuna on April 17, 2016, 06:07:45 am
Witch and Ragnarok? I didn't expect THAT. Also, kudos on the new version!

A question: does the 'New month/mission rating system!' mean that I no longer should be afraid of the all-out military strike if I do poorly?

EDIT: also, this. More fitting than Ironman, I guess?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 17, 2016, 07:12:58 am
But if you use the April 12th executable, doesn't that have the "check recover flag for corpses" function? (Meridian's feature list says it does) Which would mean that the corpses from Piratez_Factions.rul need to be set to recover: true ?

It's taken care of.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 17, 2016, 07:27:51 am
Heh!  I LOLed when I found Academicians had been renamed "Researchers"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: new_civilian on April 17, 2016, 12:10:43 pm
Had my (third) attempt of playing through Piratez (the first two were waaaaay back when XPiratez started) and finally I caught on to the game-flow and managed to have a small but effective base. Nice. Then in one split-second decision I went after a middle UFO and left only 4 wounded gals at the base and 2 parrots when ...TADA!....i had a base-defense mission.... ;D :o

Ouch. I lost the game, but it was so much fun. I have to congratulate you Dioxine, this mod is VERY stable and playable and enjoyable. I especially like the stability part.

I am using Meridians exe, btw, those new features are great.
Anyway, thanks to all involved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 17, 2016, 02:48:02 pm
It's taken care of.

Alright, I notice now that the other corpses have the recover: false line removed. What confuse(d) me is that the STR_SECURITY_CORPSE still has it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 17, 2016, 03:17:34 pm
Call me stupid, but what do I have to upgrade my version to the new one?
Just overwrite Pirate-mod-folder with the new one?

Which changes in savegame-fie?

Or copy just save-files in the new version savegame-folder?

I'm asking because in another thread is mention something similiar about a older version and I can't find something for the new
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Eddie on April 17, 2016, 03:47:30 pm
WOOT new version. Now someone explain to me in baby steps how to set view range back to 30.

Locate file "piratez.rul". Open it with a text editor. Search for "maxViewDistance: 20". Change number to anything you like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 17, 2016, 04:37:31 pm
Alright, I notice now that the other corpses have the recover: false line removed. What confuse(d) me is that the STR_SECURITY_CORPSE still has it.

- Because it's a geo corpse (LOOT), not battle corpse.

- Max View Distance does no longer work since Meridian has removed that functionality from his .exe.

- For upgrading, it's always best to create a new folder, move you saves and configs (and UFO:EU files) there, then delete the old one once you're sure it works. It's true for Piratez and any other software. If there is any need to upgrade saves, there will be a note on the 'upgrading saves' thread.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 17, 2016, 04:43:57 pm
Thx dioxine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Eddie on April 17, 2016, 05:08:06 pm
I ran the numbers on the new leather whip. That thing is powerful!
Don't get fooled by the low damage. It does choking damage and a lot of enemies have a x4 damage mod to choking. Vs these enemies, it can be the most effective stun weapon if your gal has good throwing skill. It should also be noted that it trains melee and reaction.
Don't use it on Osiron Security, those guys are immune to choking damage.


Totally wrong as it does stun damage and not choking.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 17, 2016, 05:24:23 pm
I ran the numbers on the new leather whip. That thing is powerful!
Don't get fooled by the low damage. It does choking damage and a lot of enemies have a x4 damage mod to choking. Vs these enemies, it can be the most effective stun weapon if your gal has good throwing skill. It should also be noted that it trains melee and reaction.
Don't use it on Osiron Security, those guys are immune to choking damage.

Do you mind breaking those numbers down?  Where did they cap out ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: greattuna on April 17, 2016, 05:43:12 pm
It does choking damage
Are you sure about that? Bootypedia states that whip does stun damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Eddie on April 17, 2016, 05:46:10 pm
Are you sure about that? Bootypedia states that whip does stun damage.

You are right, I stand corrected. It does indeed do stun and not choking. I was confused by the noose, as that has the same damage type 6 but then ResistType 9. That's what you get when you look more at the .rul files than at bootypaedia...

That makes my post moot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 07:00:28 pm
- Max View Distance does no longer work since Meridian has removed that functionality from his .exe.
According to the GitHub page, it looks like he reverted that change after all. Many thanks to Meridian for doing this. :)

Edit: Also the .exe on the 0.98C package is v2016-04-12, which didn't have the "rehardcoding" implemented yet, so changing the maxviewdistance works correctly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 17, 2016, 07:28:26 pm
Good luck with that view range. It worked reasonably well on small empty maps, but Mansion had ground my i5 4x2.8 GHz 12 GB RAM desktop to a halt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Hazard on April 17, 2016, 07:59:22 pm
I actually haven't had much problems with poor performance so far with my i7-4790K 4GHz, 16GB RAM and GTX 980. There's some jittering in the walking animations occasionally in bigger maps (it's a little hilarious, no offence intended to anyone :D ), but nothing too bad. Then again, I guess I'll find out what happens with the Xbox huge maps that I haven't seen yet, like the mansion.

Also, do I need to edit my save in any way to take the mansion missions into account? Comparing to a new campaign save, I see "- region: REGION_LOC_EMANSION" is missing, but all other region specific mansion entries are there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Meridian on April 17, 2016, 09:40:22 pm
Am I allowed to cheat in some arrows?  ::)
I need to go to a mission like right now... and don't have any after the upgrade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Rince Wind on April 17, 2016, 10:13:01 pm
Mansion Missions seem to be behind th !Mansion Mission! research, so i would guess you won't need to change anything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 17, 2016, 10:18:05 pm
I've had little trouble with the view range on my I-7 @ 2.3 with only 12g ram. Maybe a little stutter on occasion but nothing detrimental to game-play.

@ Meridian I would cheat in some arrows if it was me. A weapon going from no ammo to ammo using qualify for balance cheating to keep presently active games from grinding to a halt. Like one quiver per gal.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 17, 2016, 10:41:09 pm
Am I allowed to cheat in some arrows?  ::)
I need to go to a mission like right now... and don't have any after the upgrade.

just remember to decrease your funds lol :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 18, 2016, 01:28:58 am
- Because it's a geo corpse (LOOT), not battle corpse.

Could you try this save for me? (just finish off the guard with the hammer gal) All kills were security guards except one cyberdisc (which blew up). I don't get any armor parts unless I remove the recover: false line from the STR_SECURITY_CORPSE in Piratez_Factions.rul, then I get 6 (out of 8 kills. I must have destroyed some.. I don't know how to tell that from the save, except it does list the 8 of them in units).

As far as I understand the code change, it affects the corpseGeo loot, but I might have messed up my compilation, which I'd like to know earlier than later ;)

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 18, 2016, 02:21:34 am
Arg missed that single one! Yeah it should have the line removed to make it WAI. Such a mess with that upgrade :)

@Meridian: yeah feel free to cheat some arrows in, the fault is 100% mine.

@Mansion: no need to do anything, the mission is activated by research (don't get impatient if it doesn't show up immediately, it has only about 1 in 3 chance for spawning each month). I take no responsibility for any hair loss, though :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 18, 2016, 02:45:16 am
Did shield bash kill enemies before patch?
I used it for stunning. I recently killed a reverant and chilrden with it - so i think it kills physicial weak enemies ( I'm a child murderer D:)


p.s finally can use plasma weapons now. time to die, mercs gnahahahahaha
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 18, 2016, 02:53:39 am
Shield bash does inflict a part of the damage as lethal damage, just like all similar weapons. It has always been like this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 03:51:52 am
Even some the most frail things are unlikely to die to shield bash because the percentage is quite low. 25% of dmg multiplied by TFTD formula is pretty small(if wiki is correct). 80 str gal does 94 stun base. 94 times 100%(median roll in TFTD) times .25 comes out to 23.5. Account for armor and resist and only weakest foes are in any real danger. 

Now the dmg may cause wounds and bleed out if you dont check. But absolutely safe capture is and should remain rare. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: sambojin on April 18, 2016, 05:10:40 am
Now that bows use quivers, but require ammo as such, does that let me make the assumption that there's going to be some Rambo/Predator style stuff going on? Explosive arrows, flare arrows, Smoke, etc?

I, myself, am totally against it. That's an Assault Cannon's job. But I can see the use of such things. The Bow's accuracy is way too high if it gets implemented though (unless the explosions are tiny and weak). ACs/GLs do have the chance of it all going horribly wrong on the low-tech, early-tier end of things. With the correct results of it doing so.

Pebble-booms from bows might be strategically useful, but shouldn't replace actual KaBooms in gameplay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 18, 2016, 05:13:57 am
I, myself, am totally against it. That's an Assault Cannon's job. But I can see the use of such things. The Bow's accuracy is way too high if it gets implemented though (unless the explosions are tiny and weak).

Precisely - much weaker than cannons. And ammo more limited than normal arrows. If it gets added at all, that is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 05:41:53 am
If you did do special arrows i wouldn't do aoe at all. The special ammo would be more appropriate for varied dmg types. Deep ones with Chem(poison) arrows. Fire arrows doing incendiary. Screamer(morale dmg) arrows. Now historically explosives have been on arrows but the payload is minuscule and used either for propulsion assist(Korean Hwacha) or as a disbursement tool for some other agent usually some type of flammable accelerant(ignite and spread in one package.) Now maybe at hellurium/fusion tech, since we arrive at handheld fusion grenades, some aoe would be appropriate.     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: sambojin on April 18, 2016, 06:24:23 am
I could see little AoEs from bows being legit. Smoke bombs aren't exactly high-tech, and a 1-radius blast would be tactically useful. Similarly to a low damage (but regularly hitting) explosive, but only at 15-25 damage or so. Maybe less. Same with incendiary, at even lower damage (10-12? Yet it lays a small light/fire patch).

I'm cool with the whole Hawkeye/Green Arrow toolkit warrior. And with the unrealistic "unloading" of normal ammo, "loading" a toolkit arrow, and doing "that thing", it might even be fun. And hard enough to do that even if some of these things were low-tier research, it's fine, as it just gives more versatility to the weapons. Plus pack space used, and TU's wasted, just so you can "use the right arrow for the job". You might even "load" more than one of that particular type at a time.

But bows shouldn't be able to do everything without costs or hassles. Or stand on the toes of other weapons that already do those things, but have costs associated with them. Low-tier or high.

There's plenty of ways to play xpirates, and there's always ways to come back from defeat, as long as you discover them. There is vendor trash too, but that's understandable. Those weapons can kill "them", but your gals aren't just taking on basic researchers all the time, and those weapons were designed to keep their own populations in line. You're taking on the whole world, including the star gods, and taking hostages along the way, all to both profit and win.

You're probably not going to do it all with bows. Having an option to be versatile with one isn't a problem. But there's weapons and weapons.......
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 18, 2016, 06:44:00 am
+1 for bow variety! Poison/acid, poison/stun, explosives and incendiary damage could all be interesting. Given the newly found arrow bug, adding a 1 tile AoE for some of these could be good, to make sure that a hit is a hit. Have the damage drop by 50% per tile and you get something quite harmless but still cool looking.

I'd agree with dropping the accuracy as well, or decreasing the range/increasing the range penalty. It's easy to get really good accuracy with bows and still be able to get multiple shots. Especially with the new rags (awesome armor!) and the stamina regen. My archers are all in rags, start with a quiver in their hand and usually two molotovs (for drones, see below). As soon as they're in a good position, they drop the quiver and start firing. So far 12 arrows has been enough. If it isn't (pogroms, maybe?), they can start looting grenades and tossing those, since enemies often carry some and archers are great throwers.

Unrelated comment:
I just started a new game and although I think separating STR_SECTOID and STR_SECTOID_NONCOM to distinguish the roles is a good idea, they new combat race make for a boring/tedious first encounter. In most fights, all you get are personal armor dudes and flying drones. No academician, no medic, no engineer. So in a sense, no soft or valuable target. Spam molotovs on drones, deal with the armored ones however you can (ie rush to bombs, buy a HMG and a few flamers + melee for breaching UFOs). I've seen a few explorers but they're not all that common either.

It was a lot more fun starting with the wide range of units, where the armored guys would feel like the big threat, instead of the norm, and the soft target tempted you to risk capturing for interrogations. Now I don't bother to stun except for 100% safe explorers. This change, ironically, has made my game a lot safer for the gals.

I also noticed that their weapons selection is quite different. I've got CAWS, LACC and Light Cannons in the first month, but I am yet to see a sniper rifle. The upgrade from hunting to scoped was kind of a early game breakthrough for my gameplay, giving a first "sniper" weapon and I quite enjoyed that. By oppositions, cannons are both stronger and more useless, since it takes a lot longer to be able to get ammo for them.

I think the ideal 1st month of Piratez for me would be a mix of both STR_SECTOID_NONCOM and STR_TRADERS_NONCOM. Maybe a ~2 months long "business as usual" mission that represents shipping standard shipping on the planet. This would allow the starting player to encounter the two main factions of the world and a variety of units. Having lots of varied units is one of the main strength of Piratez, I've "only" seen 2 units on more than one mission so far: drones and osiron. Otherwise, 1 cyberdisc and the gang from a bandit pogrom, once each. I've got a spartan pogrom coming up now and I'm looking forward to it for variety, which isn't quite how it should feel. I used to dread all pogroms.

With traders and academy, you would get the basic building blocks of your early tech, like the Aye-Phone, Leather/metal armor, scoped rifle, and  "civilian units" would give some potential for interrogation (the urge to capture and interrogate being another central and cool feature of Piratez). Now, in late February, I still haven't seen a trader and I feel like leather armor would be quite a breakthrough! And there's been no VIP to bag so that whole side of the game is missing. It feels more like "running the gauntlet" and trying to make it through to the fun stuff rather than like before, when the variety of encounters and objectives was overwhelming and fun.

I do know it was intended to change the early game and this might just be a side-effect of other changes (splitting races between normal and non-com), but I thought it was worthy of mention because it feels significantly different.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: sambojin on April 18, 2016, 06:53:11 am
There are better "auto-have" researchable armours straight away. For stats or actual armour, even if it is a few research topics away.

I'll start another playthrough, but you might have just gotten RNG'd. Where did you start? While missions and factions are pretty random, having radar coverage of a few earth factions and plenty of cities does tend to help (afaik. probably very wrong. RNG again).


And yeah. On the bows, a 1-tile radius just makes <CTRL>shooting a square possible. Saves that whole "What capt'n? Arc? Yep! LoS too? What? Nah...." thing from happening with researchable (and thus apparently more useful) arrows. Just shoot beside them.

Also gives incendiary arrows plenty of "flare" value, as well as pinpoint smoking doors, pyramid-hill entrances, etc. 1-radius blast makes them a lot easier to use, for targeting or tactical use.

Like a mortar, but worse if you miss, because you might actually miss. But not as bad when you hit your own with explosives, and easier to use for fiddly stuff.


I'm pretty sure that's why all the other heroes like Hawkeye/Green Arrow. No unexpected deaths due to overpoweredness (unless he's using that specific arrow against them. Kryptonite/Hellerium-boosted WTF-arrow, etc).

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 07:10:30 am
Rags?? blegh. Gym suits are a mere 2 very fast techs away, have accuracy bonus for archers, more inventory, no stress modifier, and stamina and energy recovery bonus. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 18, 2016, 07:15:37 am
The starting mission is a research mission crewed by the "STR_SECTOID" race (being the first defined, it has a 100% chance to be picked), which is comprised of security guards and drones most of the times, sometimes explorers and cyberdiscs. You are certain to encounter that in your first month.

I then also got a "STR_SECTOID" "Survey", which I guess would qualify as getting RNG'd (yet again the same combat faction) and the bandit pogrom I mentioned (that was fun!). For my 2nd month I have the continuing research mission, a raider pogrom (meh, not a huge fan of raiders, but they're variety!) and spartans doing a military supply in South America (where I don't have coverage, planning on buying a pigeon soon). My base is on Creta, so I can cover Europe, North Africa and the Middle East with my radar (lucky, since that's where the survey happened to be!).

The above is mostly a long explanation as to why I don't think "STR_SECTOID" are an enjoyable race for the 1st mission. Before races got split, the first mission was crewed by a mix of academy units and that was more enjoyable. Simply defining STR_SECTOID_NONCOM before in the alienRaces would make them run the first mission instead and re-establish the previous early game experience. On the flip side, I've got a lot of grav units from the drones, and those are sometimes quite rare.

As for "early game armor must haves", it's been a while since I played early game so I don't know. I don't use smokey much, grav harness is cool for heavy support but doesn't help the front lines, tac vests are expensive and warrior needs a decent soldier given the TUs and Stam reduction. So a fair chunk of my gals are still in rags/scout/adventurer, which is cool (more use of the early armors!) but after ~2 months now and still looking forward to leather/metal armor, it's a bit weird...

Re: gym suit
Probably, I just never paid attention to how I got it in my previous playthrough and I try to mine the research tree only when I am getting frustrated. Rags are working fine for archers, but you made me dig and it is indeed quite accessible. Still not much of a survival upgrade for the frontlines though (but better than rags, granted).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 08:34:12 am
yeah pretty much dick helps the front line for a long while. The first upgrade i try for is guerilla if only for the large inventory and pierce reduction. Actual armor increase has to wait for something like revenant, Mesh or sythmuscle suits. The compound penalties on the Tac armor line of TU, stamina, and recovery, are not in my opinion worth the 10-20 additional mostly front armor. Gauss and plasma are still one shot kill potential. Moderate power(mid 30's) gunpowder weapons can still pen your front armor even with pierce reduction. Heavy pistols are also still a very credible threat. About all that Tac armor really offer over 20 armor outfits is the ability to take shotguns to the face. Buts so do the armors i mentioned above and they have there own advantages beyond raw armor which is the tac line only strongpoint.

The only useful armor in the tac line is the hover solely because its very early flight with a weight bonus allowing things like HMG's commanding altitude. But even the hover has issues in heavy direct fire support since the pack spaces are taken, limiting a user to 2x1 ammo and and max 4 if they are vertical rounds like rpg's
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 18, 2016, 09:16:25 am
I'm using the grav harness right now on snipers. It works better with my way of playing than smokey. I'd rather make a cloud of smoke on the enemy and see them come out than smoke myself and have to go look for them. Or if I do go, then there's only one cloud to clear at a time, so the odds of missing something to then get surprised are pretty small.

I do use the Tac Vest right now on valuable enough breachers to try to reduce the chance to get killed. Gals get injured, it just happens, but they shouldn't get repeatedly hit and minimizing the chance of getting killed in few hits is paramount to me, to get the gal back eventually and keep getting more XP. Not getting hurt is even better, but not getting killed is a great step imho. The Tac Vest isn't great at it, but it helps at a relatively low cost (stats and resources wise). The Tac Armor will significantly increase a gal's survival chances against conventional and (low tier) laser weapons.

Gauss and Plasma will mess you up (Plasma less so if you have mesh, but I never got a good life insurance armor against Gauss, let alone a injury proof one). Against those, you're better off with very light armors and trying to manoeuvre to not get shot. And fielding a few non-valuable pets/gals at the front to take the shots.

I agree on the Guerilla outfit. It works quite well for midfield gals, although warrior can work too against basic weapons if you are willing to move slowly and have good enough guns to play the shooting game (no meleing in warrior...). I use warrior on my "valuable midfield shooters" as it protects life better than guerilla against basic grenades and guns. Right now I'm still waiting to encounter spartans so can't make guerilla any ways..

As it is, I tend to agree that the Tac Armors and Heavy Armors seem to take a while for what you get. But actually looking at them (gah! Gotta stop doing that..!) the Tac Armor isn't that hard to get and it is not a bad armor. Heavy Armor is quite a bit harder to get, only plays a niche role and isn't fireproof anymore (it used to be  :'() so I'm not entirely convinced by it. I'll have to see what the alternatives are by the time I could research it.

And that's the main point in Piratez, sometimes things don't come properly and you've got to make do.. Leather/Metal are good for that and help the frontline in the "everyday raids" without costing much stats wise so I'm quite looking forward to it. In my new game, there seems to be a lot of making do...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: sambojin on April 18, 2016, 09:32:03 am
This is probably deserving of an early-game tactics or research thread.

All I have to add is that all armour is worthwhile, as are all outfits. Starting with 20 all-round armour, and with all vendor scrap weapons being 30 damage or below, means that everything is a good boost from semi-survivable upwards. It might not be great against plasma/laser/gauss/explosive/grenades, but even 25-35 armour does amazing things against half of the early weapons you'll face. And you'll be facing at least a few of these enemies in most missions for a very long time.

I like the inventories now being side-grades, or at least something to think about for virtually any armour. Does it fit that gal's role?

Strength, TU and stamina are the most regularly upgraded stats with experience, so early armour really is a choice. And you've always got runt duds, brainer coats, gym suits or nude, really early on, so stats aren't a problem. No matter where your research goes.

Actual early armour doesn't need a huge boost due to the weakness of so many weapons, and it tends to immortalized gals against most things once you get up to "real armour". Nothing but the big guns will scratch them. Yet you've got homegrown or blackmarket options to ding the hell out of their's. But those early game options still look worthwhile using sometimes, depending on the gal and the role she's playing on the battlefield.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 09:58:14 am
You and me have different opinions of valuable Arthanor. The only gals i treat with extra care are the fire support unit(archers, snipers) since without them killing most things is quite hard for a long time. Everyone else is reasonably expendable until the armor actually means something.

As far as Gauss defense your best option is pierce reduction and not raw armor. Gauss have big base values so even small percent reduction hit them quite hard.

70 base on pistol for example vs 80% armor(guerilla) only averages 56 minus 20 base armor gives 36 hp damage. Not happily survived but doable even with raw swabbies.

Musket at 85 base drops to 68, minus base armor:48 hp. Swabbies are probably dead, but vets are likely still here.

Sniper has accuracy and TU cost problems limiting its usage in ai hands. Your dead if they shoot you anyway. Only the very last tiers of power armor have a chance of mitigating this because of the power bonus.

Heavy eats everything the gals can field along with 90% of everything you can fight. Bio armor can maybe shrug a burst on front or side armor but the multiple shots are not in the defenders favor as far as mitigation. 400 potential damage on median burst-up to 800 on max dmg rolls. Only lobstermen reliably survive this kind of punishment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: mercy on April 18, 2016, 10:05:22 am
I'm so planning to play your MOD after v1.0! Fantastic work!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: new_civilian on April 18, 2016, 10:07:40 am
here something weird... (see picture)

May I also have a proposal: Why not use the FASTRAMP fix for the Bonaventura? It is just a tiny mcd-patch that corrects/fixes the ramp-TU-usage.
I attached an example rul-file for your convienence.

hf! and thx
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: sambojin on April 18, 2016, 11:03:40 am
STR_RUNT_CORPSE also appeared on the black market after my second downed ufo. Yep, lost a gal (and a parrot) already. I did however get 3 gauss pistols.

Zero $ sale..... She was worth something, dammit! About 25k for the next one all told :)
The next mission will need the pistols more than her though (large ufo, landed. Just got my prods, nothing else researched/produced. Wish me luck).

Edit: Nevermind.... Early guild security, with shotguns. Flamed, grenaded and even prodded a few. Not the right ones, but not a problem. Lotsa hellerium though. Yay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: AncientSion on April 18, 2016, 11:35:26 am
Can you uprade from 0.98B with straight copy/override ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2016, 11:37:43 am
Should be no problem. Backup saves and config file just in case anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Cristao on April 18, 2016, 03:42:47 pm
I miss 'infinite ammo' bows!!  :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 18, 2016, 03:44:58 pm
I do know it was intended to change the early game and this might just be a side-effect of other changes (splitting races between normal and non-com), but I thought it was worthy of mention because it feels significantly different.

Lol. Yeah, it is an effect of upgrade... but this upgrade happened over a year ago, before even 0.91 I think :) There is a selection of 4 races (used to be 3) you can hit in the first guaranteed enemy mission that's guaranteed to spawn nearby. STR_SECTOID is one of them.

May I also have a proposal: Why not use the FASTRAMP fix for the Bonaventura? It is just a tiny mcd-patch that corrects/fixes the ramp-TU-usage.

You mean it breaks the ramp TU usage costs? The ramp is supposed to slow you down. I say no to such cheats. You want to get out fast? That's why I made that hole in Bonavetura's floor. That patch was made for Skyranger, and it makes sense for Skyranger, since that craft leaves you with no choice but to walk the ramp into the death zone (with you peripheral vision being conveniently obscured). Bonaventura has choices and fastramping would actually limit them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Arthanor on April 18, 2016, 06:30:49 pm
Lol. Yeah, it is an effect of upgrade... but this upgrade happened over a year ago, before even 0.91 I think :) There is a selection of 4 races (used to be 3) you can hit in the first guaranteed enemy mission that's guaranteed to spawn nearby. STR_SECTOID is one of them.

hum.. I guess I don't restart/play enough to have noticed. I got traders on my first run (of normal Piratez, before the X), then academy-noncom every time afterwards. I guess as someone put it, I was "RNG'd", but it made for a very atypical start to the run.

I always pictured the guaranteed first mission as an introduction to the mod, which to me STR_SECTOID don't do well by not showcasing the variety and choices. It does introduce the "this mod can screw with you" feature though ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: new_civilian on April 18, 2016, 06:54:32 pm
You mean it breaks the ramp TU usage costs? The ramp is supposed to slow you down. I say no to such cheats. You want to get out fast? That's why I made that hole in Bonavetura's floor. That patch was made for Skyranger, and it makes sense for Skyranger, since that craft leaves you with no choice but to walk the ramp into the death zone (with you peripheral vision being conveniently obscured). Bonaventura has choices and fastramping would actually limit them.

It is NOT a cheat it is a fix so that the AI pathfinding actually USES the ramp instead of doing snake-like-manoevers when it simply should walk down the ramp in a straight line. It does so, because the ramp has a somewhat broken TU usage, it takes longer to walk down one tile of the ramp than it does to jump off at the top and then do a snake-walk manoever and then back to the straight line.. It just is awkward to look at and feels broken. The original DOS Xcom did not have that problem iirc, because the pathfinding AI was basically nonexistant, unlike in OpenXcom where the pathfinding is better than most users' ideas...  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 19, 2016, 02:48:17 am
Sorry but I don't get it. Naturally you make snake-like maneuver, because going 3 tiles straight is 8+8+4 = 20 TU, while hopping off then hopping in is usually 6+4+8 = 18 TU... (plus free scouting!). To really 'fix' that you would need to completely rewrite the basic mechanics of the game (in this case, rule of: "the cost of movement is the cost of entering a new tile").
The slowing-down effect of the ramp is important tactically. The 'fix' destroys that feature. Also what makes you think the AI uses different pathfinding than auto-pathfinding given to the player? Does it even remotely matter?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: new_civilian on April 19, 2016, 03:47:12 am
Sorry but I don't get it. Naturally you make snake-like maneuver, because going 3 tiles straight is 8+8+4 = 20 TU, while hopping off then hopping in is usually 6+4+8 = 18 TU... (plus free scouting!). To really 'fix' that you would need to completely rewrite the basic mechanics of the game (in this case, rule of: "the cost of movement is the cost of entering a new tile").
The slowing-down effect of the ramp is important tactically. The 'fix' destroys that feature. Also what makes you think the AI uses different pathfinding than auto-pathfinding given to the player? Does it even remotely matter?

So, it is realistic that a longer way, a detour,  a jump and another detour BACK to the straight line take LESS time than a simple run DOWN a ramp?
And why should a ramp DOWN slow you down? I simply don't understand the logic behind all this.
It looks strange that every time you want the unit to run down the ramp it does the snake-dance before it goes back to the line it was supposed to use.
Well, I agree that the free scouting is convinient, true, but it does so at the cost of precious TU, which will lead to more reaction-fire AND one could easily scout/look manually at a lower TU cost.

Anyway, I see you want the ramp as it is for other reasons than TU-logic, I can accept that. (Still will use the fast-ramp for myself)  ::)

And what I meant about the pathfinding^  is that it sometimes happens that the autopathfinding finds a faster way than the user would BY HIM/HER-SELF, nothing more nothing less. And yes, that does matter, as it can save your unit's ass.  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 19, 2016, 04:02:40 am
And why should a ramp DOWN slow you down? I simply don't understand the logic behind all this.

And why a ramp UP wouldn't slow you down? What kind of logic is that? The problem is, we can't have it both ways because core game mechanics, as I mentioned. So my choice is to keep terrain penalties to movement. Especially since going down the stairs isn't as fast as walking on a level surface, unless you want to risk falling on your face. If I didn't want the ramp penalty, I wouldn't use a hack either, there simply wouldn't be any ramps on my ships. On some of them, there indeed isn't, as you might've noticed. With this patch, they're losing some of their disembarkment advantage.

EDIT: but I think I will add a 'motorized' ramp to some ship... note that down...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: greattuna on April 19, 2016, 04:13:55 am
Did I screwed up an update? Because the rewards from Pyramid of Pain seem a bit underwhelming now, especially now that the top-tier voodoo-related outfits require gems (different ones).

Also, how do I get them pretty things? I think the mansions hold some, but is there any other sources of these precious gems?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2016, 05:10:54 am
Mansions defiantly hold some. Potentially quite a large number depending on map spawn. Any other ways i dont know off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 19, 2016, 05:25:41 am
There will be more ways to get them. This is a new mechanic. For now, only the Mansion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 19, 2016, 04:05:00 pm
Where to find a "shrine maiden"?

I thought I captured all church members..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2016, 09:53:35 pm
Hunt smaller church ships the maiden is approximately equivalent to a marsec operative as far as spawning. It can be easy to miss these ones because the church has more types of "mid-tier" units and fewer ships that spawn them. Shrine ships while medium ships in class, spawn like a terror ship with lots of grunts and some elites missing the middle ground. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 20, 2016, 01:09:53 am
Well, most of the ships mission are pacification with medium ships or larger (or sway govt from traders, but with no success. I didn't shoot down anything. Now those missions don't end on europe).

patience is here the worst enemy.
Waiting for smaller ships. Waiting for the right faction. Get more money than you can throw away. Earth should be drunken by now.
And keep somehow the rating up
Have someone similiar problems at the late game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: legionof1 on April 20, 2016, 03:32:27 am
The wait on good old rng is indeed a problem from say the end of year one till the final mission. Ive had the raw ground firepower to win vs anything for years. Live captures particularly of stargods where another matter till very recently. A combination of RNG and the difficulty of live captures of some targets left me in holding pattern for a very long time. Now at the very end im waiting out another period because stargods are absolute bitches to live capture. Not bleeding plus only being harmed by aoe, and able to butcher almost any gal in a few of shots.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: new_civilian on April 20, 2016, 07:58:50 am
Oh man, I made such a mistake yesterday: I attacked a small ship full of military police.... I was very surprised when I had a score of -457 despite losing no-one. That will teach me to fire at everything that moves  ;D

------------------------------------------------

Yikes, the next landed medium ship also full of military police... And I had set up such a nice ambush.... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 20, 2016, 03:50:43 pm
I suggest the option to buy more faction units as prisoners for a lot of money.
After some years I don't find a "Shrine Maiden" yet... and have about 400 Million cash
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 20, 2016, 03:53:06 pm
I suggest the option to buy more faction units as prisoners for a lot of money.
After some years I don't find a "Shrine Maiden" yet... and have about 400 Million cash

Does the Shrine Maiden gate some tech?  or are you just looking for completionist sake?

(You could also just "cheat" some in with a .sav file edit and deduct the cash from you account as well.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: superschokokeks on April 20, 2016, 04:34:14 pm
I need it for Church Rituals -> voodoo excess.. Wait...
It seems Its optional.

I have to look If I have UAC Weapon Documentation.

I need "Magnetic Containment Field" to go further.

Tech tree is sometimes more like an tech forest and you can get lost.

Yeah. it seems there's no need for my suggestion
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: yrizoud on April 20, 2016, 04:59:44 pm
This buying of prisoners (as "the hard way", an answer for hostile RNG) could be presented as you setting up a bounty on the black market. A steep price would show that this is endgame-level stuff, and the transfer time could be set so that it needs one month to be delivered to your interrogators.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98C - 17 Apr - Mad Mansion Missions!
Post by: Dioxine on April 20, 2016, 05:52:08 pm
Yeah. it seems there's no need for my suggestion

I know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Dioxine on April 21, 2016, 10:52:05 pm
New version up. Mostly bugfixes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: superschokokeks on April 22, 2016, 02:08:21 am
Wow, I can't research decrypted Data discs anymore. Now where can I find UAC Weapon Documents?..

Edit: I looked into faction.rul and I saw.. that I have to do more Imperial probe missions with Dark Ones..
...I already did a couple of them..
Well

Edit2: Wow. Found finally one. Guess what. I can't research it. Maybe because I know already all UAC weapons?

Edit3: According to my savegame I already researched UAC Weapons Doc. Well then why I can't research Magnetic Containment Field

Edit4: I don't have Reticulan Power Systems, which I can't research, but I have everything I need for.. I think.

Edit5: I need "STR_RET_Commando". Then somethings wrong with the tech tree viewer. Well, then at the outpost there isn't every unit-type..

Edit6: Wait, these are the engineers/technician of the reticulans.. But .. I made sure, that I caputered one at the outpost... Ok. Then the hunt begins again
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Zharkov on April 22, 2016, 10:04:16 am
- Freighters and Hoppers behave more realistically (land rarely); more loot added too

I am not sure I get this one. So they don't go anywhere? They are just flying around most of the time?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: new_civilian on April 22, 2016, 10:11:39 am
Just a tiny question: Can Buddha-X Smokes not be researched directly for a reason? I have a lot of them in the base, but no research pops up and they are not in the Bootypedia by default...

And yes, I got them by a random research in my last campaign, np.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Rince Wind on April 22, 2016, 11:11:17 am
A lore question: why do the raiders, who are mutants themselves, go on mutant prgroms?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 22, 2016, 11:17:05 am
A lore question: why do the raiders, who are mutants themselves, go on mutant prgroms?

Probably for the reward. I guess it's a job paid by someone, and of course you can steal from the community.

Who said all ubers are as ethical as the pirates? :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Rince Wind on April 22, 2016, 11:40:15 am
Well, my pirates stop them for political reasons, not ethical.

But I like the job thing. If it was just a robbery then mutants wouldn't be a prime target I think. Though, even they probably have more than the raiders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: superschokokeks on April 22, 2016, 12:07:12 pm
Where to find a dmged defender armor?
From piratez.rul I guess if someone dies in it. At least It didn't work with one of my gals

Furthermore I can't really understand why you still need a dmged one, when you have already researched how to build one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: osood on April 22, 2016, 12:41:30 pm
why when I made one shot from the laser gun for example, at the end of the battle cage disappears (Not enough equipment to fully re-equip squad)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 22, 2016, 12:52:07 pm
I don't really understand. What cage?
Are you referring to spent ammo clips?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: osood on April 22, 2016, 12:56:28 pm
yes
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 12:57:42 pm
Just a tiny question: Can Buddha-X Smokes not be researched directly for a reason? I have a lot of them in the base, but no research pops up and they are not in the Bootypedia by default...

But they are in the Pedia by default.

Furthermore I can't really understand why you still need a dmged one, when you have already researched how to build one.

Think harder.

I am not sure I get this one. So they don't go anywhere? They are just flying around most of the time?

They don't land anywhere accessible to you, ie. not in wilderness but at city's ship terminals.

why when I made one shot from the laser gun for example, at the end of the battle cage disappears (Not enough equipment to fully re-equip squad)?

That's how the game works. It tallies all shots remaning in all the clips of a single type, then re-creates a number of ammo clips. Thing is, it always rounds the number of remaining clips down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Cristao on April 22, 2016, 01:20:19 pm
A lore question: why do the raiders, who are mutants themselves, go on mutant prgroms?

Why do humans attack one another including genocidal actions ...

posts merged - Dioxine

Dioxine, if it isnt too much - could you upload the file (0.98D) to Google Docs. Mediafire is being blocked by my ISP for now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 01:31:00 pm
I'm not that trusting with Google Docs... does that link work?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-8IP37CA63LdzdyUVBaUy0xVEU
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Cristao on April 22, 2016, 01:35:48 pm
No. It doesn't work. The reason it didnt work is that the link has to be made shareable. I tried using the id for the file (through another means) and it said I needed permission.

The below steps are what I normally use.

1. Upload file to Drive

2. Right click and select 'Get shareable link'

3. Then paste here

e.g. the below is a link to a random excel sheet

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TPSl4ZJWLHvbN4WrN9MEGl1Wo20LUuCxMY1IoimUa-I
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 01:40:03 pm
Thanks. Does this work better?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-8IP37CA63LMTFSbUd1ZFBhTGc
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Cristao on April 22, 2016, 03:13:52 pm
WORKS!!  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 09:42:53 pm
New version up, should end the problems introduced in the previous one. Alternate Google drive link added for DL-ing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: The Think Tank on April 22, 2016, 09:51:29 pm
Thanks for the Live Alien fixes! I will test it as soon as possible and see if there are any issues.

Best of regards,

Think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D - 21 Apr - Bugfixes
Post by: Stian on April 22, 2016, 10:15:53 pm
Thanks for the new version!

Quote
why when I made one shot from the laser gun for example, at the end of the battle cage disappears (Not enough equipment to fully re-equip squad)?
That's how the game works. It tallies all shots remaning in all the clips of a single type, then re-creates a number of ammo clips. Thing is, it always rounds the number of remaining clips down.
There's an approximation of saving all rounds available in the bullet saving patch (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4062.0.html) on the dev subforum. Might encourage greater weapon diversity as players don't have to be as careful with what they use to save clips.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 10:21:08 pm
I'm on the fence with this. It really helps if you have a single weapon of a type, but can lead to bullets magically appearing out of nowhere. Probably would be best to add as an option; along with a ruleset parameter 'always save ammo' which would give you a clip (or don't destroy & then refill a clipless weapon), no matter how many charges get used (remember 255 charges in laser guns in the OG?). It could be for example used for weapons where clips are merely used to change damage type.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 22, 2016, 10:37:43 pm
*sees update* Rod of Bliss? Sounds interesting...  :o

Thanks for the extremely fast fix, btw!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 22, 2016, 10:55:09 pm
It's basically the item you've proposed (the inverted stimulator), only twisted and turned into something much more curious :) Actually I see now the code is borked a bit, here's update:
Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_ROD_OF_BLISS
    categories: [STR_BAT_CAT_MAGIC, STR_BAT_CAT_MORALE, STR_BAT_CAT_STUN, STR_BAT_CAT_FOREVER, STR_BAT_CAT_INFILTRATION]
    size: 0.1
    requiresBuy:
      - STR_CONTACT_MAGIC_SHOP_ZZZ
    costBuy: 69000
    costSell: 44000
    weight: 5
    bigSprite: 725
    floorSprite: 279
    handSprite: 304
    hitSound: 41
    battleType: 6
    invWidth: 1
    invHeight: 2
    stimulant: 3
    stunRecovery: -36
    costUse:
      time: 100
      energy: 50
      morale: -25
#Stun segment
    meleeHitSound: 79
    meleeAnimation: 0
    meleeType: 6
    meleePower: 0
    meleeBonus:
      psiStrength: 1.0
    meleeAlter:
      RandomType: 2
      FixRadius: 0
      IgnoreDirection: false
      ArmorEffectiveness: 1.0
      ToMorale: -1.5
    accuracyMelee: 100
    meleeMultiplier:
      melee: 0.5
      bravery: 0.5
    costMelee:
      time: 16
      energy: 8
    flatMelee:
      time: true
#segment end  
    experienceTrainingMode: 19
    listOrder: 4139
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 23, 2016, 12:04:50 am
Thanks for the update!
There's an approximation of saving all rounds available in the bullet saving patch (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4062.0.html) on the dev subforum. Might encourage greater weapon diversity as players don't have to be as careful with what they use to save clips.

Woo! Someone knows about my patch! It can be neat to address this issue, yes. Response to Dioxine's comment below for anyone who is interested.

It does lead to "bullets appearing out of nowhere", but the original, and even openxcom's much improved implementation of combining all bullets and then refunding clips, leads to "bullets disappearing everywhere". I love to use special weapons that have low/rare ammo, which are especially common in XPIratez, but I hate that once I fire once, I might as well empty a whole clip's since worth since I know I am losing it. It makes me either not fire, or fire much more than I would otherwise. I also noticed that I previously tried to keep track of how many bullets I had spent over all the gals with the same weapons for some things, like gauss ammo before I could make it, which is really the opposite of fun. Take gauss pistols, 7 shots, well, either you spend 0 or 7, but in between is a waste. That's an unfortunate, unnecessary choice.

The patch leads to the statistically accurate amount of magically (dis)appearing bullets, in that you don't always lose the remainder of your clip, nor do you always gain one and with a large enough sample, it converges to losing/gaining none. It has taken away the "bullet accountant" syndrome I had, and now I use weapons more appropriately, I use more weapons and I enjoy the game more. win/win/win! But I understand that using statistics on random variables (since the #of bullets left / clip size determines odds, not outcome anymore) is not quite as real as properly tracking bullets and might throw off some people. It is statistically accurate though (and in fact Yankes has an implementation of this, used for example when your cursor flip flops between two numbers when firing on enemies).

Anyhow, it is out there, and if you already compile your game it is easy to make the changes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 23, 2016, 12:36:17 am
Well then, we can ask Meridian to pull this into his build. As an option still.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: sabrecat on April 23, 2016, 02:04:46 am
I would absolutely love to see the bullet conservation patch implemented in XPiratez!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 23, 2016, 02:26:46 am
I really like the rod implementation. Successful capture assured if your willing to surround some dude and let him wang on you for a turn. Excellent tool.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Foxhound634 on April 23, 2016, 03:42:12 am
On the topic of mags for guns, i have always found it to be a bit 'boring' that many weapons don't fire more bullets on full auto. Like if you have a really weak submachine gun that has a large mag, you would expect its strength to lie in its ability to spray the enemy full of lead really fast. Instead, these weapons usually have around 5 or 6 shots, which of course is more than 3 shots from a heavy assault rifle. Those 3 shots from the higher caliber weapon however is ultimately worth a lot more, because armor plays such a significant role. Even the gatling with a 200 round (or was it 300?) box mag will only fire 20 rounds in a burst.

And therein lies another point of discussion, the fact that there doesn't really exist a 'full auto' fire mode where the soldier would fire 10 or 15 rounds in one go...and that's kind of strange, considering that they are carrying fully automatic weapons. Another thing is that 'aimed shot' and 'burst fire' aren't mutually exclusive 'fire modes' in real life, just like 'snap shot' and 'burst fire' aren't either. Aimed/snap is about taking aim, but there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to do both single shot and burst shots while taking a careful aim.

I guess that last part is a discussion on changing the combat system, which is probably very difficult if not impossible to do. My first point however, i'll try to form it into a question. Can/will you add a 'full auto' fire mode that fires substantially more rounds than burst?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 23, 2016, 03:54:40 am
3 reasons for not increasing autofire rates on all weapons...
1. Gets boring to see all this animation through...
2. Why use snap shots at all, then?
3. Run & boom: a tactic to run to adjacent tile and pump the enemy full of lead. As of now, melee weapons seem to do it better than guns, but adding more lead to autoshots would likely disrupt that balance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 23, 2016, 04:35:32 am
the closest approximation of "full auto" that i would care to see in the mod would be a weapon that has low TU for auto fire and only has autofire. Structured like this something like the HMG would feel like it real world counterpart. In reality even the most stable weapons platforms do not sustain full fire rate for more then few seconds at a time. Ammo consumption and accuracy suffer to much for anything man portable to make such usage worthwhile. Mounted on a AFV both restrictions are eased quite abit but ammo consumption is still the overriding factor. Anything a lot of ammo from a small caliber can do one round from a bigger caliber can do better 90% of the time. With laser and plasma weapons recoil and ammo problems go away but heat dispersion prevents sustained use in any setup besides a low power sustained beam. Unless your tech ignores thermodynamics. UFO verse tech only futzes with gravity and even then in a manner consistent with modern science. We merely lack the requisite power generation. The 2 real sci-fi things the UFO verse has is its power supply and psionics. 

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 23, 2016, 10:13:34 am
I really like the rod implementation. Successful capture assured if your willing to surround some dude and let him wang on you for a turn. Excellent tool.

Oooooh, I have to test this right away in the battle generator!  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 23, 2016, 12:09:36 pm
Legionof1, a very sensible post. Although I'd like to add that both the aliens and X-Com - and consequentially, Star Gods and their Earth colony citizens - travel in space, so they must have some sort of heat sink to prevent overheating of spacecraft.
What would be great is a possibility to set numerous auto fire mods to a weapon, something like a "burst fire" for 3 bullets and "auto fire" for 20 bullets; that's how it was in Fallout Tactics, for example. I'd especially like to use such a setup on a minigun HWP, for reasons you've mentioned too regarding accuracy and recoil. But that's something way beyond this mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 23, 2016, 02:13:54 pm
I like the way they did it in JA2 1.13, where you can spend more action points for longer bursts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 23, 2016, 04:35:45 pm
I like the way they did it in JA2 1.13, where you can spend more action points for longer bursts.

Yes, it was a very good system, but very different from X-Com. I doubt we could just cherrypick its elements.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 23, 2016, 05:29:36 pm
Sure, despite having no clue about programming, it seems rather difficult because of the difference. At least JA2 already had the possibility to spend more points to aim.


Something else: I'm at the end of November of the first year, and I have yet to see the academy. :D
I'll find them eventually. (here's the link (https://www.civforum.de/showthread.php?100022-OpenX-Com-XPiratez-mod-Mir-nach!-Ich-wei%DF-wo-der-Rum-ist!), if anyone is interested in a German let's play, new gals are always welcome.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 23, 2016, 06:21:11 pm
I wouldn't say no if you took a stab at German translation :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 23, 2016, 08:04:17 pm
@Solarius Scorch, true heat dissipation is an issue but not a large one since a true grav drive doesn't generate heat to provide motive force. Warp effects are  reactionless with regards to the vessel. The two big heat sources in a craft are the power source and the drive. UFO verse has a power source capable of interstellar travel that is relatively safe and low temp, and a non newtonian drive. Seems like low heat system to me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 23, 2016, 08:12:59 pm
Hum. I know every magazine being a clip is a proud XCOM tradition, and that UI space is limited, at least occasionally... Still, a critical mass of the word "clip" must have been achieved in my head, because it's annoying the hell out of me. It didn't yesterday, but now it does.

So yeah. That's all for now. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 23, 2016, 08:46:36 pm
The lore states that Elerium engines have 99% efficiency, and with no moving parts either, the waste heat would be very low. I also took the liberty of making Plastasteel a heat superconductor, which makes it ideal material for a radiator (and possibly allows ramming through air at Mach 6+). Let's us also not forget that Elerium is more of a energy-storage-molecule than a conventional fuel; batteries usually have high efficiency. However, I do not believe in reactionless drive. I'm not a physicist, but basic newtonian equations point out that such a drive would have an infinite acceleration, which is naturally BS. So it's quite likely (and that's my opinion) only behaving like a reactionless drive, in reality it interacts with the gravitic field of the universe in some fashion. Such 'trick' technology seems to be very much in line with the cunning ways of the Star Gods.

However I noticed how large and empty UFO hulls are in relation to the size of engine. My theory is that you need so much bulk of 'Plastasteel' hull to somehow dissipate all the heat. It might be that personal arms are simply too small to allow more power than Heavy Plasma without too much heat building up.

Clips/magazines issue: while weapons have magazines, I'd wager that you buy and manufacture clips (why pay extra for the casing?). But in battle, you use magazines (except for things like Hunting Rifle). However, an item cannot have two names. Hence, I think that clip is a more fitting name in general, if imperfect. It's the same as with manufacturing 'arrows' while what you see in battle are arrow quivers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Foxhound634 on April 23, 2016, 08:48:22 pm
1. Gets boring to see all this animation through...

That reminds me of something strange. With some weapons that shoot more than 3 rounds per burst, the projectiles fly very fast. So fast that 5-10 rounds take the same time as the regular 3 round burst of many weapons. I don't know if weapons have individual projectile speeds, or if is only the burst mode with some weapons, but there is some inconsistency between the projectile speed of weapons
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 23, 2016, 09:31:40 pm
Clips/magazines issue: while weapons have magazines, I'd wager that you buy and manufacture clips (why pay extra for the casing?). But in battle, you use magazines (except for things like Hunting Rifle). However, an item cannot have two names. Hence, I think that clip is a more fitting name in general, if imperfect. It's the same as with manufacturing 'arrows' while what you see in battle are arrow quivers.

I'm pretty sure there are no clips involved in most small arms ammunition supply/production chains, there's no need for such. Manufacturer makes the individual cartridges and packages them in containers of various sizes and types, and they're then shipped to retailers or straight to bigger customers, like armies. It's then distributed to troops and loaded into magazines/non-disintegrating belts (or even actual clips in some rare cases) as needed mostly by hand. So while ammo is obviously not produced together with magazines as the game's UI would imply, clips don't fit any better. And because the actual inventory item that the players mostly interact with is usually a magazine of some sort, I think magazine would still be the better term to use.

That reminds me of something strange. With some weapons that shoot more than 3 rounds per burst, the projectiles fly very fast. So fast that 5-10 rounds take the same time as the regular 3 round burst of many weapons. I don't know if weapons have individual projectile speeds, or if is only the burst mode with some weapons, but there is some inconsistency between the projectile speed of weapons

Projectile speed can be changed in the ruleset. The majority of auto-fire weapons probably have the default value, with only the dedicated full-auto weapons receiving higher bullet speeds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 23, 2016, 09:35:09 pm
@Solarius Scorch, true heat dissipation is an issue but not a large one since a true grav drive doesn't generate heat to provide motive force. Warp effects are  reactionless with regards to the vessel. The two big heat sources in a craft are the power source and the drive. UFO verse has a power source capable of interstellar travel that is relatively safe and low temp, and a non newtonian drive. Seems like low heat system to me.

Yeah, but I was more worried about the heat generated by the crew. A human-sized organism generates a lot of heat, enough for architects to have to calculate heat balance for every room in the building according to how many people will be there (among other things of course).

I also took the liberty of making Plastasteel a heat superconductor (...)

And I guess this closes the issue for me. :)

(This is a bit O-T; maybe we need a separate thread about future tech?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: DoktorV on April 23, 2016, 11:11:37 pm
Where is the updated executable for the Linux version? Hopefully I haven't missed something and made a fool of myself, but there's only a Windows exe in the updated rar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Meridian on April 23, 2016, 11:36:09 pm
Where is the updated executable for the Linux version? Hopefully I haven't missed something and made a fool of myself, but there's only a Windows exe in the updated rar.

I will make a Linux/Ubuntu executable in 1 hour or so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 23, 2016, 11:44:30 pm
I should clarify, i ment reactionless in the sense of pushing your self with thrust(rockets, nuclear pulse, etc). A gravity based drive distorts space making themselves "fall" forward. A reaction is occurring but is a exceptionally low energy system.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: DoktorV on April 23, 2016, 11:45:28 pm
I will make a Linux/Ubuntu executable in 1 hour or so.

Thank you!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Meridian on April 23, 2016, 11:48:51 pm
Something else: I'm at the end of November of the first year, and I have yet to see the academy. :D
I'll find them eventually. (here's the link (https://www.civforum.de/showthread.php?100022-OpenX-Com-XPiratez-mod-Mir-nach!-Ich-wei%DF-wo-der-Rum-ist!), if anyone is interested in a German let's play, new gals are always welcome.)

I have only read the first 4 pages yet, but I'd love to join the team.

Name: Merry Diane

EDIT: Linux executable for 0.98d1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8itkFQbhj-YblJLZG40WHhRVGc
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 24, 2016, 12:10:47 am
I'm pretty sure there are no clips involved in most small arms ammunition supply/production chains, there's no need for such. Manufacturer makes the individual cartridges and packages them in containers of various sizes and types, and they're then shipped to retailers or straight to bigger customers, like armies. It's then distributed to troops and loaded into magazines/non-disintegrating belts (or even actual clips in some rare cases) as needed mostly by hand. So while ammo is obviously not produced together with magazines as the game's UI would imply, clips don't fit any better.

True that, I already said clip is just an approximation... Loose ammo doesn't appear in-game in any way, but magazine somehow seems more wrong than a clip...

I should clarify, i ment reactionless in the sense of pushing your self with thrust(rockets, nuclear pulse, etc). A gravity based drive distorts space making themselves "fall" forward. A reaction is occurring but is a exceptionally low energy system.

Interestingly enough, X-Com: Interceptor shows that humans actually mostly rejected these 'reactionless' drives, despite fully mastering the technology. Instead, they still use some sort of rocket drives (ion or otherwise), both in interceptors and missiles (aliens only use quite low performance, if ingenious, missiles). One can only surmise, that the boon is better performance, and the price is larger engine size (a smaller one would melt?), and quite obviously increased fuel consumption. It is beacuse of this Conqueror's engines are proportionally larger than normal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 24, 2016, 12:41:14 am
Yeah grav based drives are agile and have excellent top speed but utterly atrocious acceleration. A grav drive can apply it "thrust" in any direction it wants in a fraction of the time of a thruster based engine but it has difficulty countering its own momentum. A thruster engine can effectively powerslide through a turn loseing much less momentum. A grav drive has to almost fully cancel its momentum when changing course. Also a thruster based system can have multiple angles of thrust active at the same time. A grave drive can not.

The thruster based craft may need several times the space to turn but it will complete it in a fraction of the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 24, 2016, 12:52:49 am
True that, I already said clip is just an approximation... Loose ammo doesn't appear in-game in any way, but magazine somehow seems more wrong than a clip...

Interestingly, the few weapons that could realistically utilize a clip, revolvers and hunting rifles mainly, have either "drum", "rounds" or "ammo" as the ammunition item name, instead of "clip". ;)

Anyway, if for whatever reason you don't want to change it, that's fine (duh, it's your mod). Doing a trivial find and replace job with Notepad++ myself when something new gets added to Piratez_lang.rul is not a big deal. Though it could be I'll just forget, seeing how small of a thing this is. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 24, 2016, 02:43:03 am
I could change that to elusive 'mags' but then again there's MAG ammo :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 24, 2016, 11:10:03 am
The Rod of Bliss is a very interesting device, I like the way you merged all ideas into one tool!  :)
And how you implemented them. Perfect.

But.... *shuffles feet* could it please have a more flamboyant icon/bigob? It looks so tame and not like the PSi-Stun/Hypno/tranquilizer thing it is. I am fine with understatements in most cases, but I think this time it is worth going a bit more overboard.  8)

Please?  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 24, 2016, 11:49:35 am
Well, I'd say it's rather risque-looking already, and not exactly tame, if you know what I mean :3
I'm not against upgrades here, thing is, I don't have any better bigob ATM...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 24, 2016, 12:23:51 pm
Well, I'd say it's rather risque-looking already, and not exactly tame, if you know what I mean :3
I'm not against upgrades here, thing is, I don't have any better bigob ATM...

Yep, risky looking, true  ;)

Ah, heck, I don't have any good ideas/bigobs either. I tried to use the psi-amp color theme, but...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 24, 2016, 05:31:06 pm
I have only read the first 4 pages yet, but I'd love to join the team.

Name: Merry Diane


You are in now! Though slightly wrong name for the first 2 missions.


Regarding a German translation: It would spoiler me too much at the moment, haven't seen the endgame for a while. And I really shouldn't pick up another tast at the moment. I might have more time later this year.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 24, 2016, 07:30:57 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/8uMbDpP.png?1)

It werks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 24, 2016, 08:03:54 pm
Spaaaace!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 24, 2016, 08:27:38 pm
kewl! Is it possible to limit which craft goes to which mission?

There could be mansion like missions, which are instead raids on space stations around the earth? Need a space worthy craft and all gals without properly enclosed armors get a space suit? Get some "space piratez" going!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Meridian on April 24, 2016, 08:43:24 pm
kewl! Is it possible to limit which craft goes to which mission?

Yes, it is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 25, 2016, 01:15:09 am
Really great work with those space suit graphics...  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 25, 2016, 03:56:23 am
All credit to Bloax, I only did battlesprites :)

Also the craft limiter is already in-game (you can't use anything larger than the Bonavetura, or any of the non-hellerium crafts on the Mansion mission).

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 25, 2016, 04:01:33 am
Well, the gals can dream about raiding asteroids or space stations orbiting Earth then :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 25, 2016, 04:05:42 am
Yes this is one of about 5 novelty enviros I plan to add to the game (very gradually, it takes a lot of work). The enviros would be, roughly (and prone to change):
- Space stations
- Underwater treasure hunts
- Deep cave forays
- Dimensional Gates
- Dreamland/Cyberweb
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 25, 2016, 05:31:38 am
That sounds awesome! Piratez has so much stuff already and still so much potential. It's hard to believe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Zharkov on April 25, 2016, 09:42:50 am
- Dreamland/Cyberweb

Will this be drug induced, Peter Pan, or shadowrun style?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 25, 2016, 03:39:23 pm
Some sort of amplified psionics to get into horror-esque dreamscape, something like this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Zharkov on April 25, 2016, 03:56:42 pm
Some sort of amplified psionics to get into horror-esque dreamscape, something like this.

Ah, so Peter Pan it is!^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Devon_v on April 25, 2016, 09:54:54 pm
Yeah, but I was more worried about the heat generated by the crew. A human-sized organism generates a lot of heat, enough for architects to have to calculate heat balance for every room in the building according to how many people will be there (among other things of course).
Some architects calculate how many people they can fit into a given space for maximally efficient energy generation. :)

Presumably the aliens can use stasis systems to eliminate waste heat production from the majority of the crew during interstellar travel. Snakemen and chryssalids may not even be warm blooded. Interplanetary travel seems to be a trivial matter for them, presumably the grav-drives just continually accelerate at whatever is a survivable rate for the crew and then invert the field at the half way point. It's ony when they get to Earth than atmospheric friction becomes the limiting factor. Certainly the Avenger made it to Mars lickety-split.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 25, 2016, 10:26:16 pm
Actually a grav drive has minimal impact on the crew. A grav drives speed come from accumulated momentum. If your consistently "falling" towards a point of specific pull you never experience more then the force of the pull. So you keep adding lets say one G worth of momentum. 32 feet per second times seconds traveled. No upper limit in any environment with out substantial drag except C limit. At 1 g constant you get to C in a little under a year.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Devon_v on April 26, 2016, 06:25:13 am
That's what I meant. But a grav drive should also be capable of mulching the crew, so obviously you don't want it at 200G. Acceleration is acceleration.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 26, 2016, 02:49:49 pm
Not neccesarily. If a grav drive exerts equal force on every molecule of the ship, the crew will experience weighlesness regardless of acceleration.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Galwail on April 26, 2016, 04:13:36 pm
That is one big if. I would find it more realistic, if the grav drive was less perfect. After all it is quite difficult to create homogeneous fields of other types. The ship and its crew would then be subjected to tidal forces, because the grav drive would accelerate different parts of the ship with different forces.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: DoktorV on April 26, 2016, 08:48:51 pm
If the grav drive evenly or almost evenly affects the entire volume around the ship, then it would indeed produce microgravity inside it. However, on long voyages your crew would get gravity sickness, assuming the aliens are subject to it. Perhaps the long range ships have spinning sections for the crew, for simulated gravity.

Why are we debating this again?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Galwail on April 27, 2016, 11:48:15 am
I don't know why, but I smelled a pseudo physics sci-fi discussion, so I simply had to chime in...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 27, 2016, 04:08:07 pm
Can grenades cook off when they are in fire? Or do some trees explode? I had a fire going in a night mission, wooded snowy map. And I am not sure what exploded, but there were several explosions in the fire. Might have been where enemies dropped, but it was hard to see.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: ivandogovich on April 27, 2016, 04:48:14 pm
Can grenades cook off when they are in fire? Or do some trees explode? I had a fire going in a night mission, wooded snowy map. And I am not sure what exploded, but there were several explosions in the fire. Might have been where enemies dropped, but it was hard to see.

The dark forest has reputed explosive effects, but I have never seen it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 27, 2016, 05:22:22 pm
Yeah, but... snow? :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 27, 2016, 06:04:53 pm
It was even in Antactica. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 27, 2016, 11:33:49 pm
I have seen the dark forest tileset blow itself up several times now, But ive never seen it with snow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 28, 2016, 01:21:33 pm
Holy shit do I hate the lofTemps: 85 setting of the Catgirls (and Star Gods I suppose, though I haven't really fought them yet). I get what it's supposed to represent, but in practice it's so aggravatingly gimmicky... Blegh. It would be easy to change, but I don't know how much that would upset the balancing of these units. I guess there's no other way to represent this whole "being hard to hit" thing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 28, 2016, 01:27:35 pm
Holy shit do I hate the lofTemps: 85 setting of the Catgirls (and Star Gods I suppose, though I haven't really fought them yet). I get what it's supposed to represent, but in practice it's so aggravatingly gimmicky... Blegh. It would be easy to change, but I don't know how much that would upset the balancing of these units. I guess there's no other way to represent this whole "being hard to hit" thing?

Not without some serious remodelling of battlescape mechanics, especially with the partial invisibility thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 28, 2016, 01:39:13 pm
Don't be a pussy, the cats have only 30 HP and no armor whatsoever :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 28, 2016, 02:25:33 pm
And distinct lack of guns most of the time. and x5 from chokeing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 28, 2016, 03:09:26 pm
And distinct lack of guns most of the time.

I think this part is actually bad news, since katanas are deadly. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 28, 2016, 03:48:18 pm
yeah swords hurt for sure but semi invisible ranged attackers are just irritating. At least the catgirls with melee you have a few tile window for reaction fire. And only the most anemic pistols are less then a 75% chance to kill on a hit. Also for whatever reason they always start inside the smuggler ships so it not like you dont know which way they have to come from to stab you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 28, 2016, 04:14:44 pm
Don't be a pussy, the cats have only 30 HP and no armor whatsoever :P

:D It's not that I had much difficulties with them on the few smuggler ships I've caught so far, it's more that them being immune to direct-hit weapons except from a few angles feels like it's there mostly to annoy the player. You can say that this makes them more difficult to fight, and while it's technically true, they still die easily to AoE weapons which should always be carried in abundance anyway. So in practice, it doesn't make much of a difference whether the cats are "invisible" or not, at least in my experience.

My balance concerns are mostly about the Star Gods. While I haven't fought them, I assume they don't go down nearly as fast to explosives, yet I don't know how much the overall threat they pose is based on the lofTemps hack. So I'm afraid that either I go mad screaming bloody murder at my monitor trying to fight them as intended, or I change their lofTemps to 1 and steamroll over them, unless I'll mess with their stats even more...

Edit: Which brings to my mind the question of just how much the different "unit" lofTemps 1 to 5 actually change the probability of being hit. As in does it really matter whether a unit has a lofTemps: 1 instead of 4, for example. I see it's used to represent larger or bulkier units and armors, but how much that actually matters is a question mark to me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: ivandogovich on April 28, 2016, 04:30:55 pm
... it's more that them being immune to direct-hit weapons except from a few angles ...

Not to mention practically immune to melee as far as I can tell. 
They do a good job of teaching the importance of maintaining AOE capability on every squad, though.  My favorite tactic when farming them trying to pop PIRATE STRAITS, was 2-3 puffs of tear gas and maybe a stun grenade/smoke grenade. :)

Good question about 1-5 Loft Temps.  I think the voxel view/viewer might tell us.  Other than that, maybe only the devs can explain it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 28, 2016, 04:35:35 pm
All units in any X-Com game, except for the invisible and semi-invisible units, are vertical cylinders. The diameter of a cylinder is determined by the LOFTemps used, while its height is determined in the ruleset. It's just as simple.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 28, 2016, 04:37:21 pm
Edit: Which brings to my mind the question of just how much the different "unit" lofTemps 1 to 5 actually change the probability of being hit.

None to negligible. Below 5 tiles, it can be raised to 'very little'.
Also their invisibility hack is not to make them immortal, don't be ridiculous :) It's to give them a bit more chance to cut you down with a katana if you're careless. Star Gods can be exploded as well, they're medium-toughness enemies. Again their invisibility is for attack, not for defence.
Also melee works just fine on both these units, unless some glitch happens that is :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: ivandogovich on April 28, 2016, 04:46:21 pm
All units in any X-Com game, except for the invisible and semi-invisible units, are vertical cylinders. The diameter of a cylinder is determined by the LOFTemps used, while its height is determined in the ruleset. It's just as simple.

Thanks for that explanation!

Another thing to keep in mind, is that these only really matter when the game is calculating a "miss" if I understand how it works correctly.
The first thing the game does (after ensuring a clear trajectory) is use aim etc, then random to determine if a shot hits (Center Mass on the target).  Any shot that Hits, will Hit, no matter what. 
In the case of a miss, it then calculates the trajectory of the miss.  This can be pretty broad actually, though I don't know the exact mechanics.  Because the miss didn't hit the target, if a unit with Loft Temps 1, was shot at, if the miss erred even on voxel to the left or right, it would miss.  If it was loftemps  5, you have a much broader area for a "miss" to still connect with another voxel in the overall target. 

How much difference this actually makes, I don't really know.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Hazard on April 28, 2016, 04:55:25 pm
All units in any X-Com game, except for the invisible and semi-invisible units, are vertical cylinders. The diameter of a cylinder is determined by the LOFTemps used, while its height is determined in the ruleset. It's just as simple.

What wasn't/isn't clear to a layman like me is just how often it actually happens that a shot deviates so little that the lofTemps and height settings make a difference. Most misses are way off, after all, and the cases where it kinda looks like the shot should've hit but didn't, i.e. when the size of the cylinder might matter, are quite rare.

None to negligible. Below 5 tiles, it can be raised to 'very little'.
Also their invisibility hack is not to make them immortal, don't be ridiculous :) It's to give them a bit more chance to cut you down with a katana if you're careless. Star Gods can be exploded as well, they're medium-toughness enemies. Again their invisibility is for attack, not for defence.
Also melee works just fine on both these units, unless some glitch happens that is :)

But I guess this answers that.

To be honest, my biggest gripe with this lofTemps thing is that it simply feels stupid and/or unfair, or something like that at least, not that it poses a problem that is impossible to work around. Again, these are things that are easy to change if one so wishes, so I suppose what I'm mostly doing here is merely bitching and voicing my annoyance, not a demand for official fix/change/whatever. :) I can appreciate the intent behind these stealthy/difficult to spot/hit units, but the way it has to be done leaves a lot to be desired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 28, 2016, 06:00:26 pm
Snip
Also melee works just fine on both these units, unless some glitch happens that is :)
I would beg to differ. I have yet to successfully strike a cat girl with a melee swing even doing the rear gangbang conga. My most concerted melee effort was probably in the area of 25 swings with zero connections. Stargods i have been able to wonk if i have the rear, or sometimes one tile clockwise depending on exact faceing of the stargod. There is some issue of consistency with both types. They do not behave in a fixed manner in regards to facing. Each facing/relative elevation combination behaves differently. A catgirl for instance on a ramp or stair with the attacker below is untargetable by melee(no one there error) as apposed to a level ground engagement she has 4 tile she can be swung at from.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 28, 2016, 07:18:24 pm
Catgirls also dodge very well, which makes melee not a great idea against them. In previous versions, I have been able to melee stun them, using a cattleprod with a high melee skill gal, if I remember well. But they are kinda tricky. The best is definitely using bombs or grenades on them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 28, 2016, 07:31:23 pm
Well, many versions ago it was definitely possible to hit the catgirl with melee (with no more trouble than anyone else, even considering the dodge). Maybe in the meantime someone added some 'melee fix', since at the time I was heavily discouraged by the devs against using non-conservative loftemps settings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 28, 2016, 09:20:38 pm
Man, Robin's tiles are sweet. See how cute it is:

(https://i.imgur.com/32IZUuj.gif)

(also this will be your new starting ship, kya!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: greattuna on April 28, 2016, 09:26:20 pm
It has doors at least.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 28, 2016, 09:29:31 pm
There will be 5 Bonaventura variants (including the original) to choose from (hence the introduction of different starting ship :3 ). I assure you, at least one will have full-door suite :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 28, 2016, 09:59:10 pm
Very cute! Now to figure out how to experience the new features without having to do a complete restart.. hum...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 29, 2016, 12:24:49 am
Curse you dioxine and your changing the beginning while I'm at the end.  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 29, 2016, 02:29:37 am
Lucky you! You'll have a new beginning for when you're done. I'm too much of a slow player.. never get much past year 1 before Dioxine changes things so much I end up restarting to try things out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 29, 2016, 12:03:52 pm
Can we get rid of the default Skyranger as well? I mean the B-52 has been around for 60years+ but the Skyranger design would be TINY BIT dated with 600+ years....  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2016, 12:11:10 pm
I might make it harder to acquire later, or maybe exchange hull and picture (if I had an alternative!) but can't really delete - people are using it! :)
But if you ARE using it, from 0.96E it will burn Chemicals as fuel (no more free rides).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: new_civilian on April 29, 2016, 12:28:04 pm
I might make it harder to acquire later, or maybe exchange hull and picture (if I had an alternative!) but can't really delete - people are using it! :)
But if you ARE using it, from 0.96E it will burn Chemicals as fuel (no more free rides).

Good idea(s)! A ship with a similar layout and size to the Skyranger is the helios (?) in the apocalypse mod, it also has a nice ufopedia screen  ;)
Robin's permission needed of course...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 29, 2016, 01:13:19 pm
Snip
Chemicals as fuel (no more free rides).
ouch unless the mileage is quite good that is quite a trap purchase. Chemicals are used in so much during the early game and moderately expensive compared to early income. Chemicals never really fall out of use either you just get to the point you can absorb the costs. Hopefully before the junkpiles run out.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2016, 01:59:14 pm
A full tank will be around 10 Chemicals (mileage 125 on Skyranger, 200 on Pigeon), and Chemicals are 20x less expensive than Hellerium. So I hope it won't be too punishing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 29, 2016, 02:27:13 pm
Seem like reasonable mileage figures. maybe a touch short range for the skyranger. 10 tank at 125 gives you 625 miles operational limit(it needs gas to get home) or about half the range of starting radar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 29, 2016, 02:31:42 pm
My Skyranger seems to fly just fine without chems. And it has a lot more range than 625 miles. Are you sure this works?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2016, 02:35:34 pm
It works, just not released yet :) My present is your future :)

EDIT:

(https://i.imgur.com/5gTYu0T.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Rince Wind on April 29, 2016, 07:00:14 pm
You probably meant 98E then, with 96E I thought it should already be in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: GarlandSP on April 29, 2016, 07:11:03 pm
It works, just not released yet :) My present is your future :)

EDIT:

(https://i.imgur.com/5gTYu0T.png)

Nice armor i really look forward to test it... May i suggest some durathred leggins?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Zharkov on April 29, 2016, 07:16:03 pm
Nice armor i really look forward to test it... May i suggest some durathred leggins?

Seems unnecessary. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChainmailBikini)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Arthanor on April 29, 2016, 09:56:04 pm
Well then her.. neck! should be more exposed :P I personally would add one more row of scales, and maybe pair it with a shield?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Zharkov on April 29, 2016, 11:24:00 pm
Say, Dioxine, is it by design that 4 armored vaults have a higher capacity than 1 large vault?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: legionof1 on April 29, 2016, 11:55:06 pm
Seems fine to me since armored vaults are lateish tech and large is available right out of the gate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Dioxine on April 30, 2016, 04:30:46 am
Yeah the best capacity of the Armored Vaults is fully intended (and appropriately priced).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98D1 - 22 Apr - Fixed Recovery/Capture
Post by: Zharkov on April 30, 2016, 10:47:11 am
Yeah the best capacity of the Armored Vaults is fully intended (and appropriately priced).

Okay, I just thought there should be a 2x2 more room efficient solution for vaults and barracks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on April 30, 2016, 02:25:47 pm
FOURTH tier of barracks & vaults? I give up :)

Anyways, new version is up. Cydonia is finally fixed, map tweaked a bit and added requirement to wear space-capable armor (if you don't have one, the Conqueror will provide you with a space suit).
Another change that might surprise is the need of Chemicals for Pigeon and Skyranger to fly.
Other than that, bunch of various stuff and even bigger bunch of fixes (thanks for all bugreports). As always, check the log in the first post for the full change list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on April 30, 2016, 04:06:32 pm
Yay! You guys rock! Incredible, how can you do such a lot of stuff in so little time actually???  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Cristao on April 30, 2016, 05:10:26 pm
Grrr, Dioxine I have had to restart another game today that I restarted yesterday after noticing that the one I restarted last week was ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on April 30, 2016, 06:47:02 pm
No need for that, changes to early game are minimal :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Eddie on May 01, 2016, 03:52:37 am
Bug report:
In the recent version (0.98E) the alternate corpses mod doesn't work, the one that comes packaged with it. I get an error message when I try to start with that mod enabled. Also, the default language of the packaged .exe is set to Czech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: ldath on May 01, 2016, 02:19:26 pm
Bug report:
In the recent version (0.98E) the alternate corpses mod doesn't work, the one that comes packaged with it. I get an error message when I try to start with that mod enabled. Also, the default language of the packaged .exe is set to Czech.

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 01, 2016, 02:21:42 pm
Restore your config file, and download the updated version of alt corpses mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on May 01, 2016, 05:25:41 pm
Had something interesting happen in my last tac mission: One gal stood under a door of a medium UFO, suddenly she fell unconscious. When I sent another gal to look an enemy unit had used the door and landed on my gal there, knocked her unconscious when jumping out of the ship  :D
Next turn she was up again, the enemy however had been killed by the second gal.  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: ivandogovich on May 01, 2016, 05:33:36 pm
Had something interesting happen in my last tac mission: One gal stood under a door of a medium UFO, suddenly she fell unconscious. When I sent another gal to look an enemy unit had used the door and landed on my gal there, knocked her unconscious when jumping out of the ship  :D
Next turn she was up again, the enemy however had been killed by the second gal.  8)

This is a built-in feature of OXC, fondly callled "Goomba Stomping."  Per Warboy its there to handle those situations where the AI paths off something and lands on another entity (normally a player unit).  Since two units can't occupy the same tile simultaneously, they temporarily knock the victim unconscious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 01, 2016, 05:35:52 pm
Your own units can do that too, but only when panicking. I asked Warboy to enable voluntary goomba stomp, but he declined :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on May 01, 2016, 05:41:53 pm
I really like that mechanism.  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98A - 12 Mar - Magic Missile Massacre!
Post by: Meridian on May 01, 2016, 07:53:56 pm
Getting a reproducible crash involving capturing armored church beastmasters. Only happens if I don't break their suits before MCing them, so I guess there's a problem with the armored unit itself. If it's been reported already, my bad. I checked back 20 pages and didn't see anything about it.

On the newest version too, I should mention.

Is this still happening?
If yes, can we please get a save? I can't reproduce...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: grommy on May 02, 2016, 10:15:31 am
Hi! I have a problem starting the game. After installing the latest 0.98E version with the alt-corpses on I get this error: [ERROR]   Resources/Corpses/SHvy_Rifle_i.png:Couldn't open Resources/Corpses/SHvy_Rifle_i.png
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: ivandogovich on May 02, 2016, 03:35:07 pm
Hi! I have a problem starting the game. After installing the latest 0.98E version with the alt-corpses on I get this error: [ERROR]   Resources/Corpses/SHvy_Rifle_i.png:Couldn't open Resources/Corpses/SHvy_Rifle_i.png

Download the latest Alt-Corpses package from the Alt-Corpses thread.  Replace the old one with the new one.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4424.0.html

Alternately you can scan through the recent pages in this thread and the bugs & crashes thread for manual fixes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: grommy on May 02, 2016, 04:07:54 pm
Download the latest Alt-Corpses package from the Alt-Corpses thread.  Replace the old one with the new one.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4424.0.html

Alternately you can scan through the recent pages in this thread and the bugs & crashes thread for manual fixes.

Searched bugs & crash reports thread and after deleting Piratez_AltCorpse_tester.rul file the game started.  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Hazard on May 02, 2016, 05:35:15 pm
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like the EuroSyndicate laser weapons are a bit too good? They're easy to gain access to, and while they're expensive as hell, money is not tight enough for that to matter much. And they pack a punch, so much so that I'm pretty sure they leave most other laser weapons way behind. It could be I just went ass first up the research tree and got the capability to build competitive laser weapons way later than is possible, but looking back at the 2 and a half years this campaign's been going, I had the ES guns sometime around late 2601 and haven't felt the need to build a single laser apart from Lascannons and Battle Lasers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: legionof1 on May 02, 2016, 05:57:53 pm
The euro syndicate guns are indeed very good but access to them is entirely rng since you need eurosyndicate nation info which is only one of a very big list of get one free techs from a limited pool of sources, mostly specific captives. The smallest get one free list it is present on has 23 possibilities. The longest is well over a hundred. Not stellar odds when you will only see at best a few chances for the right captives per month. Some months you won't have a chance at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: ivandogovich on May 02, 2016, 06:12:41 pm
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like the EuroSyndicate laser weapons are a bit too good? They're easy to gain access to, and while they're expensive as hell, money is not tight enough for that to matter much. <snip>

They are really nice weapons!  But... so far for me, (May 2602) I've only bought a few.  I'd rather spend that on research infrastructure and crank through the tech tree.  Scavenged gauss has been great for most of my needs, and I'm getting exotic ammo online now.  I'm still not in that, "Jeeze, what am I gonna spend that 100 million on..." stage so it may be too early to say.  The allure of banking a bunch of that for purchasing VIP abductions from the Mercs is strong too. 

I'd guess it comes down to return on investment.  Do you feel like the ES line pays for itself?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Hazard on May 02, 2016, 07:21:08 pm
I'd guess it comes down to return on investment.  Do you feel like the ES line pays for itself?

I do. While the weapons themselves cost a ton, the ammo is priced in a much more sane manner, so once you got the guns they aren't very expensive to keep online. That said, I stuck with only a few hideouts for most of the first 2 years, so I probably had more money sitting around than you.

And yeah, it's very much possible I simply got lucky with RNG in regards of getting the right free research topic early. I also gained access to Mercenary Commandos during the first year, a little before ES, and they definitely helped with acquiring a steady stream of captives to research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on May 02, 2016, 07:32:08 pm
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like the EuroSyndicate laser weapons are a bit too good? They're easy to gain access to, and while they're expensive as hell, money is not tight enough for that to matter much. And they pack a punch, so much so that I'm pretty sure they leave most other laser weapons way behind. It could be I just went ass first up the research tree and got the capability to build competitive laser weapons way later than is possible, but looking back at the 2 and a half years this campaign's been going, I had the ES guns sometime around late 2601 and haven't felt the need to build a single laser apart from Lascannons and Battle Lasers.

Don't you dare to touch the ES laser weapons! Now after 4 ingame years I finally have a decent weapon to take on a Mansion mission and here comes Hazard wanting to nerf the thing! Noooooooaaaaaaaaaaargh nononononononononoooooooo!!!!!!  ;D

They are comparable to the Gauss weapons in damage output, they are worse against harder enemies but better against weak enemies, why would you want to nerf them??? Why, oh why?  :-X

All those years of collecting scarce gauss pistol clips led to nothing, still not enough to equip my team after all that time, rng didn't mean it good, then finally, yes! A weapon. With Ammo! And it can be taken on a Mansion mission, oooh, it has slightly lower stats, but otherwise is nice. Expensive? hell yeah, but ok, I need them...

Hazard comes, wants to nerf them.  ::)

Yeah, sure.  >:(  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: legionof1 on May 02, 2016, 08:07:45 pm
The problem with eurosydicate lasers IMO is they lack characteristic niche present in the other national guns. The arena weapons are unique deathrace style waepons. Dr wang is big booms to a absurd degree. Even the big ben has character as a super hvy SMG. Euro is just plain this is better gun. Quite bland.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on May 02, 2016, 08:15:08 pm
Euro is just plain this is better gun. Quite bland.

Just like an uberexpensive Eurosyndicate weapon should be.  ;D

I hereby declare the ES weapons off-limit to everyone, even Dioxine!  ;D :P
Hell I might be even tempted to make an Eurosyndicate addon-mod just to keep them the way they are!  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Warzameg on May 02, 2016, 09:09:20 pm
I ran out of things to research and still hadn't unlocked higher studies.  So I bit the bullet and finally started fighting mercenaries, and captured a live star god.  After researching everything these opened up, I still couldn't do it, so I took a look at the tech viewer.  It looks like what I'm missing is a dead mechtoid.  Unfortunately, I don't recall seeing a reticulan vessel in over a year, despite nearly complete landmass radar coverage.  Is there anything I can do here, or do I just need to wait until I get lucky?

(I saw lots of reticulan ships back in the first year, but I stopped shooting them down after a while because they provide poor monetary returns and I seemed to have exhausted the research possibilities of the various live captives.  Oops.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 02, 2016, 09:20:29 pm
Just like an uberexpensive Eurosyndicate weapon should be.  ;D

I hereby declare the ES weapons off-limit to everyone, even Dioxine!  ;D :P
Hell I might be even tempted to make an Eurosyndicate addon-mod just to keep them the way they are!  ;D

No worries about that man. I might only increase the clip prices a bit since 'clip saving' patch has been introduced. $25k per mag seemed fine when it was a loss no matter if you fired only once.
And yeah, they're expensive, easy to handle and bland. Just as planned.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: legionof1 on May 02, 2016, 10:41:28 pm
Well as long as stuff for other nationals has some spice i can live with a bland.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: new_civilian on May 03, 2016, 03:04:45 pm
Just that: I love the Tornado Rocket Mortar. Is this thing great or what? I usually bring 2 gals in Loader armor with Tornados on every out-door mission. 8)
Sure you will maybe lose some loot, kill some civilians, destroy the whole city... but hey, does it kill enemies or what!  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Cristao on May 03, 2016, 05:20:05 pm
In my new game, I am waiting and praying to get the ES tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 03, 2016, 06:49:01 pm
Hehe, yeah, and now Loader can take one extra Tornado clip for even more mayhem :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on May 05, 2016, 04:24:52 pm
I'm curious as to what the vessel with the tank icon is. I haven't found a way to get one ingame and only dug up icons in the mod files. The wiki also has no info on it. Can someone please spill the beans or is it some endgame secret?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: ivandogovich on May 05, 2016, 04:47:15 pm
I'm curious as to what the vessel with the tank icon is. I haven't found a way to get one ingame and only dug up icons in the mod files. The wiki also has no info on it. Can someone please spill the beans or is it some endgame secret?

Once you have high enough tech, there is a Battle Tank (Craft) that you can manufacture for sale to interested parties (at a substantial profit). Thats probably it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: doctor medic on May 06, 2016, 12:24:57 pm
So i wonder how will those missions spawn.I always liked the idea of random missions that appear around the globe but in what way do they spawn.

On a side note is it possible that if you download the latest patch and allready have the capability to make portable lascanons with their ammo.The fact that the mysterious siberia base is there should raise some warning flags from my part?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 06, 2016, 01:53:34 pm
They will spawn in the exact way Pogroms spawn (w/o any preceding flights, usually, though).

As for the MP Lascannon, the gun itself and the lower-grade ammo for it should be accessible without going to Siberia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 08, 2016, 04:59:36 pm
Early game improvements are slowly taking shape... Here's a preview of an Academy outpost, used to monitor mutants and 'examine' them :) Credit to Robin for his great tiles!

(https://i.imgur.com/t9KO5KA.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Rince Wind on May 08, 2016, 05:51:01 pm
Sweet! Is that supposed to be like a mini-base mission?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: doctor medic on May 08, 2016, 05:53:39 pm
In my opinion the wand of flames is a bit too good in comparison with rending.a 70 psi gal can do a 28 damage that almost ignores armor,or a 70 damage area of effect flame.Unless im forgeting a morale function on the rending,i think it doesnt compare with the wand of flames.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Arthanor on May 08, 2016, 06:45:49 pm
Different tools for different jobs? Once you find high armor (50+) enemies, 28 damage that ignores armor is more better than 70 damage. Just make sure your witch has multiple wands in her bag ;)

And the base looks great! I restarted a few months ago, now made it to July and a decent crew with decent equipment, and now you're working on early game! I will never finish Piratez.. unless I can resist the urge to restart, which seems.. unlikely given the temptation!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Hazard on May 08, 2016, 07:15:50 pm
Gotta love the fact that there's a bathroom in that outpost (and in some of the big ships, too). Realism is important. :)

Dioxine, I remember you mentioning Marsec special forces arriving later in the game to hunt the player down. Do you think you're going to take that idea further? IMHO, it's an excellent concept, and there's more than enough room for such a faction/subfaction: at the moment the Mercenaries are pretty much the only ones that are "conventionally" tough all-around. Well, apart from Star Gods, but they're more like a boss faction anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 08, 2016, 07:57:47 pm
Different tools for different jobs? Once you find high armor (50+) enemies, 28 damage that ignores armor is more better than 70 damage. Just make sure your witch has multiple wands in her bag ;)

It's actually up to 28 damage, or 5-10 damage of varied AoE, both ignoring armor. I don't think either is much more 'powerful'.

Dioxine, I remember you mentioning Marsec special forces arriving later in the game to hunt the player down. Do you think you're going to take that idea further?

Yes, the plans include Osiron and Galactic Bounty Hunters, for starters. And upgraded Humanists although they won't usually hunt you down. But all takes time and currently my priorities are on early game.

Sweet! Is that supposed to be like a mini-base mission?

Yeah basically, or an immobile UFO, however you look at it :) You will get a marker anyways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Hazard on May 09, 2016, 12:47:06 am
Now that I've unlocked plasma weapons plus their disassembly and manufacture (and lasers prior to that, obviously), I've started wondering why exactly I can't make non-XG Gauss ammo. Sure, it's fairly easy to scavenge, and I've had more than enough lying in stores for a long time now, but it still feels bit weird and inconsistent. Is there some particular reason for this?

Also, Deep Ones. Do you have any plans of expanding them with other TFTD races and perhaps weapons? If Meridian were to implement extra damage types... ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 10, 2016, 04:28:44 pm
Yes. Only needs time and work. Damage types would be welcome but not really needed. As for Gauss, there will be ammo manufacturing added later.

Meantime - 'raid the church' mission is taking shape...

(https://i.imgur.com/EB3bsV7.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: mercy on May 10, 2016, 04:34:03 pm
@Dioxine: You can set up a Patreon page, where people can donate to show their respect toward your awesome work.  See for yourself:
https://www.patreon.com/capnbubs?ty=h (https://www.patreon.com/capnbubs?ty=h)

https://www.patreon.com/stenchfury?ty=h (https://www.patreon.com/stenchfury?ty=h)

https://www.patreon.com/tjnome?ty=h (https://www.patreon.com/tjnome?ty=h)

Only the young are bold and stupid enough to think they have awesome youthful energy & their health forever and waste it by creating the 'Awesome Must Have'-content For Free, when they get old they very much regret their for free MOD making years and the fact that they were NOT more clever and asked for money to help their PC, life / family.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 10, 2016, 05:23:23 pm
Patreon isn't a bad idea for sure, I'm considering it for some months now (it's a clever system but I'm not sure if I like to be bound to anything like this) but looks like you misunderstand. I won't judge my own stupidity or lack thereof, but certainly I'm neither really 'young' or bold, I don't feel like I 'wasted' anything and I regret nothing. Youth is full of energy but aimless, it lacks the wisdom to use said energy in an efficient manner. Youth has little new to say - how could it? It is still but learning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: legionof1 on May 10, 2016, 05:52:40 pm
That is a nice looking church. Look forward to blowing into tiny pieces. :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Rince Wind on May 10, 2016, 06:33:43 pm
Love the church and the memories of Apocalypse's Temples it invokes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: AncientSion on May 10, 2016, 07:32:32 pm
I would probably maybe support a Patreon. I think the idea is good. Its depends in the fees though. I dont like "donating" for something is the guy im supporting isnt receiving it all (think Twitch subs, 50 % cut).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: AncientSion on May 10, 2016, 08:44:25 pm
Early game improvements are slowly taking shape... Here's a preview of an Academy outpost, used to monitor mutants and 'examine' them :) Credit to Robin for his great tiles!

(https://i.imgur.com/t9KO5KA.gif)

Also, i absolutly adore this mini-base. AWESOME. But how it will work ? Will it spawn on a pogrom like event, is it a Base Mission type once the base is uncovered ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Arthanor on May 10, 2016, 08:49:05 pm
Dude, you need to read previous posts before posting..!
I would probably maybe support a Patreon. I think the idea is good. Its depends in the fees though. I dont like "donating" for something is the guy im supporting isnt receiving it all (think Twitch subs, 50 % cut).
Yup, that's why you can use paypal to give money directly to Dioxine, as he outlined here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.msg64363.html#msg64363).

Also, i absolutly adore this mini-base. AWESOME. But how it will work ? Will it spawn on a pogrom like event, is it a Base Mission type once the base is uncovered ?

Just a bit above:
Sweet! Is that supposed to be like a mini-base mission?
Yeah basically, or an immobile UFO, however you look at it :) You will get a marker anyways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: AncientSion on May 10, 2016, 09:13:17 pm
Now i feel bad.
Why you do this? :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Arthanor on May 10, 2016, 09:54:01 pm
lol no need to feel bad! I was just giving you the information you seemed to be looking for.

And.. poking a bit of fun at you for missing it ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: AncientSion on May 10, 2016, 11:33:43 pm
I was just joking. Of course you were right, i was skimming over some points, should have read more carefully tbh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Ashert on May 11, 2016, 04:23:51 am

Meantime - 'raid the church' mission is taking shape...


Do not forget the right background sound! ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: Dioxine on May 11, 2016, 05:45:00 pm
Yup, that's why you can use paypal to give money directly to Dioxine, as he outlined here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.msg64363.html#msg64363).

Yeah that's the best reply to Mercy's post. Life Advice is the most abundant and least valuable resource while a few bucks are always welcome :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98E - 30 Apr - Breathless in Cydonia
Post by: x60mmx on May 13, 2016, 07:07:29 am
Couple things I noticed today.  Text error in the Bootypedia entry for the Assault Grenade Launcher, and I find the Sectopod image for Robot Disassembly a poor choice.  Would make more sense if it were an early robot so the player has likely seen it previously.  A late game unit for a topic that can be researched relatively early is weird.

Btw, tried to paypal ya today but paypal wasnt having it. :-/  Will try again tomorrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2016, 07:34:06 pm
I find the Sectopod image for Robot Disassembly a poor choice.

It's a placeholder :) But you're right, needs to be changed.

EDIT: New version is up!
More fixes, more changes - nothing REALLY new, but to those who don't play they might come as shocking - starting base that feels like it has fallen on really bad times, WORKING long distance view (thanks to Stian, Yankes & Meridian), and Bonaventura needs to be unlocked before being built. Other than that, new nuances here and there, biggest being changing how lasers deal damage (all have lost 20% power but gained 1/3rd armor penetration) or the refinery and new industrial manufacturing projects to CRANK OUT ONE DOLLAR MORE in late-mid to late game.

But what is sort of a preview of upcoming 0.99 is not only the starting base nerf; it's foremost 4 new marker missions that will spawn randomly, 2-3 per month - easy to fight but well-polished missions, intended for early game, where you attack small outposts of Ratlings, Church, Academy and the Guild. They're a first taste of the things to come. As of now they don't really lead anywhere, but you can at least get a feel. Later, they will lead up to more dangerous and more profitable marker missions, like raid illicit business to catch its owner and cash in the price for his head from Ratmen Mafia, go swimming under the sea, kill some pirate-wannabes who say you're not true, raid a Ghoul-owned chemical plant, rob banks, exchange shots with Marsec Policemen etc. etc. They will evolve into multiple tiers of marker missions that work alongside flight missions (these will have the number of landings  reduced, to force air combat to get to them).

During this phase, also the full tech regression will be realized. The game won't get much harder, but even the most basic techs will have to be researched; that way, the starting array of available equipment will be severely hampered (to the musket level), but will become more surmountable as the equipment will appear gradually, first from loot, only later from the store and production. Production will just complement the store first (or the other way around), only in some longer time you will be able to produce stuff that surpasses store selection. Loot driven armory will also allow to skip 'suck' guns (only researched ones will appear in the store - once a certain tier of trading is achieved). Store will be more organized, in time offering better tech and not a kitchen sink like it is now. I took a lot of different opinions from this forum and I need to weigh them; even the people who might feel like I was rude to them I assure were carefully listened to. Also the changes outlined here will start to be implemented: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.msg64394.html#msg64394

But this all also means this update to 0.99 will take much longer than usual. I need to make tons and tons of assets to make this work, write a lot of code, balance, test play etc. Basically overhauling the whole game progression, changing the bare bones story it has now into something resembling what the game was envisioned in the beginning. It will be a huge upgrade, and the time will be worth it, I promise that.
If you want to support me in that gruelling work, you know how to do it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: AncientSion on May 13, 2016, 08:44:06 pm
Do you advice to use 0.99 only for a new playthrough only or will a "update" from an older version work, too, considering the changes to the early game ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on May 13, 2016, 09:01:39 pm
EDIT: New version is up!

Looks like an older version to me :)
0.95F?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2016, 09:29:49 pm
Do you advice to use 0.99 only for a new playthrough only or will a "update" from an older version work, too, considering the changes to the early game ?

Well it will update. Better to experience it from the start, but there will be changes to later game too. But you should have enough time to complete a campaign until then.

Also this IS the new version just I named the archive wrong :) I will update asap.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Arthanor on May 13, 2016, 09:36:36 pm
Cool stuff! Hopefully I have time to finish a campaign before 0.99 comes up! (Or wait for 1.0??!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: ivandogovich on May 13, 2016, 09:39:03 pm
Cool stuff! Hopefully I have time to finish a campaign before 0.99 comes up! (Or wait for 1.0??!)

I half considered rushing the last part of the campaign when .99 releases.  Cheat in the required prisoners for the encrypted keys etc, for Cydonia.  I'd like to get a campaign completed for a sense of how it all goes before I start again, but dayum.  It sure is tempting to try out the new early game!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Arthanor on May 13, 2016, 09:43:39 pm
Well, luckily 0.98F is not game changing, so maybe we can press on and finish.

Since the new features are mostly early game, we can experience them whenever, then hopefully Dioxine progresses to changing things later in the game and we can keep up. The only thing that requires rushing through to experience is endgame material, but since I've never experienced it, I'm happy to wait..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Hazard on May 13, 2016, 10:01:46 pm
Lasers ignoring armor seems pretty weird conceptually. Then again, lightly armored targets being resistant to lasers was weird as well, and it's not like this matters much anyway. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: a0kribu on May 13, 2016, 10:11:33 pm
Lasers ignoring armor seems pretty weird conceptually. Then again, lightly armored targets being resistant to lasers was weird as well, and it's not like this matters much anyway. :P
Every type of projectile has a different medium that counteracts the destruction it is supposed to do. Armor plate that shatters a bullet and absorbs the shards created would not stop and dissipate a laser beam.
Edit: Imagine a body covered in thin sheet of superconductive foil. Laser energy would just vanish and a 9mm bullet would swish through.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: x60mmx on May 13, 2016, 10:30:36 pm
Making the game more challenging at the start seems odd, as it is already the most difficult part of the game.

On the Bonaventura being a craft you have to unlock and manufacture, what's the point?

It seems the start of the game will not only become more difficult, but also bogged down by more logistics.  There is already a *lot* of stuff to wrap one's head around when beginning Piratez, and now you will have more you need to research, more to manufacture and more base work to do *before* you can get to the already challenging status you started with before .98f?  I don't see how this stuff would do anything but turn away more people who try Piratez for the first time.

It would be wise to consider that everyone here is familiar with Piratez, and our feedback is a reflecion of that.  While these changes won't sink us, I don't think the same can be said for people new to it.  The new missions sound cool, but I wouldn't want to start a new game with .98f.  Sounds like more of a pain in the ass than fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: a0kribu on May 13, 2016, 10:34:07 pm
Er. What patch notes are you reading from what I can tell every aspect of early game just got a lot easier.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: clownagent on May 13, 2016, 10:39:10 pm
Short comment on the new early game:

- first mission was Warehouse: very interesting und good
- second mission was pogrom on the other side of the planet. Airbus could not reach it, because it was too far and it just despawns. First month end with -600 rating.  That feels really unfair, because you get a lot of negative points just because of bad luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Hazard on May 13, 2016, 10:40:33 pm
Every type of projectile has a different medium that counteracts the destruction it is supposed to do. Armor plate that shatters a bullet and absorbs the shards created would not stop and dissipate a laser beam.
Edit: Imagine a body covered in thin sheet of superconductive foil. Laser energy would just vanish and a 9mm bullet would swish through.

Except the laser would still need to burn through the armor plate, instead of ignoring some amount of it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: AncientSion on May 13, 2016, 10:47:59 pm
Short comment on the new early game:

- first mission was Warehouse: very interesting und good
- second mission was pogrom on the other side of the planet. Airbus could not reach it, because it was too far and it just despawns. First month end with -600 rating.  That feels really unfair, because you get a lot of negative points just because of bad luck.

Perhaps it is possible to disable real progroms for like the first 2, 3 months and instead only offer ship landings and/or the new mini progrom type missions ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2016, 01:07:52 am
Still on the fence with it. On one hand, it's unfair. On the other hand, it sets a challenge to overcome, and establishes the whole anti-mutant racism and other parts of the story. Probably the best would be eliminating despawn penalty for early Pogroms (much easier said than done, really...).

It seems the start of the game will not only become more difficult, but also bogged down by more logistics.  There is already a *lot* of stuff to wrap one's head around when beginning Piratez, and now you will have more you need to research, more to manufacture and more base work to do *before* you can get to the already challenging status you started with before .98f?  I don't see how this stuff would do anything but turn away more people who try Piratez for the first time.

Well, going from 50+ to just a dozen of starting weapons and from 12 to 6 gals seems like a lot less stuff to worry about. Same for logistics, as the starting craft doesn't use up any fuel, and your maintenance is safely under your budget. What remains? More research and longer campaign - longer through more stuff and more gradual introduction of said stuff.
Also there will be no real point of arrival at the previous starting point, as it'll be hard to compare both.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Roxis231 on May 14, 2016, 02:05:20 am
Just downloaded 0.98F - I'll check to see if my Alternate Armour Mod has no problems over the next couple of days.

Looks like I might have to restart my game now though. Ah well, just adds to the experiance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2016, 10:18:04 am
It shouldn't, unless it changes some stats (laser resistances b-gone).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 14, 2016, 11:27:09 am
Perhaps it is possible to disable real progroms for like the first 2, 3 months and instead only offer ship landings and/or the new mini progrom type missions ?

It's a way, but I'm afraid it would be too confusing for the player. "Why is it giving me so many negative points, it never gave me negative points, waaaah!". And it would be a legitimate complaint, I'd be confused too.
I'd rather see an idea that was already loosely discussed, "Pogroms lite". So pretty much the same thing, but smaller, easier, less deadly. They only escalate a bit later to full Pogroms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2016, 03:27:36 pm
It's a way, but I'm afraid it would be too confusing for the player. "Why is it giving me so many negative points, it never gave me negative points, waaaah!". And it would be a legitimate complaint, I'd be confused too.

I had an idea that the escalation should happen only when you "contact the mutant alliance", which will be explained in the corresponding entry (it's a preq. for Back to School so you need to research it eventually). A Pogrom is a Pogrom, the mini-pogrom was a figure of speech (it will be a different mission with a different name).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Alexandra Moonwatch on May 15, 2016, 04:38:39 am
So this won't work with standard Xcom I bought from steam?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: legionof1 on May 15, 2016, 05:36:05 am
the files from xcom:ufo defense are needed to play but the program we run is "new" in addition to whatever extras have been added by modders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: ivandogovich on May 15, 2016, 05:41:53 am
So this won't work with standard Xcom I bought from steam?

You are in the right place!
Follow the instruction for installing the mod.  OpenXcom uses files from the original game (maps, images, etc.) but ads a new engine.  XPirateZ runs on a branch of this engine called OpenXcom Extended Plus (OXCE+ for short).

So yes, you need the Xcom you bought from Steam to run this engine and this mod. :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Alexandra Moonwatch on May 15, 2016, 09:59:12 am
I suppose it's out of place, to hope for a pre patched instillation for simplicity's sake?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: AncientSion on May 15, 2016, 10:16:25 am
Yes, out of place.

Its not hard.
- Copy and Paste your STEAM UFO contents folder into the Piratez folder (open x com requires graphics and sounds from the UFO game).
- Profit

EDIT: Deleted wrong information
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Alexandra Moonwatch on May 15, 2016, 10:19:05 am
Thanks, that actually gives me what I need to know.  I tried doing it with just the xcom from steam and it didn't work now I know why.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on May 15, 2016, 10:46:53 am
Yes, out of place.

Its not hard.
- Download OpenXCom.
- Copy and Paste your STEAM UFO contents folder into the openxcom folder (open x com requires graphics and sounds from the UFO game).
- Copy and Paste Piratez into the OpenXCom-Folder (/mods, see readme)
- Profit

Although that will probably work, it is NOT the correct way to install X-PirateZ.
Please read the installation instructions!!!
You don't need to download OpenXcom at all, the X-PirateZ game is self-contained and comes with everything you need (except for STEAM UFO folder, which is the only thing you need to add).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Alexandra Moonwatch on May 15, 2016, 10:52:00 am
tried that  just the steam ufo file and it didn't start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: AncientSion on May 15, 2016, 10:53:55 am
What exactly did you copy out of the Steam folder and where exactly did you paste it into ?

This is how it should look:

The UFO folder is the one you need to grab from Steam

https://prntscr.com/b47t6r
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on May 15, 2016, 10:57:25 am
tried that  just the steam ufo file and it didn't start.

You can see the entire installation in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEBdv9CWr2w
Just do the same.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on May 15, 2016, 12:35:34 pm
Complete installation with all needed files would probably be illegal. By copying your files you proof to have the original game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 15, 2016, 12:52:23 pm
Yeah distributing original UFO would be infringing copyright :) You need to either buy it or set sail under the Swedish banner :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Zharkov on May 15, 2016, 03:03:54 pm
- Cannonballs now explode (radius 1) to be more useful

Actually, I thought the non-exploding Kind more useful as a close-combat support weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 15, 2016, 03:24:11 pm
It was changed because of arcing weapon hitscan glitches (it is fine if bows don't work from time to time, but a cannonball should always hit something). If that eliminates the tactic of firing from 1 tile away, 's all good :) I actually intended radius 0 (only a single tile gets hit), but radius code has changed. I'll try to fix it, if possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 15, 2016, 03:25:13 pm
If that eliminates the tactic of firing from 1 tile away, 's all good :)

Well, it's called the Assault Cannon, no? ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Baldri on May 15, 2016, 03:36:50 pm
I think the skyranger is too strong when you are only able to raid warehouses and stuff.

Then again it comes in handy for the early progroms or larger landed ships like cutters.

Engaging the new missions with 6 gals feels right but why would I do this when I can use 12 instead.

Not sure how my feelings about the possibility to just switch out the airbus at the start are.  Maybe make the smugglers sell skyrangers?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 15, 2016, 03:50:47 pm
Skyranger and Pigeon will be taken care of (will need prerequisites). Skyranger will probably be eliminated completely or made an 'easter egg' craft. Not sure about Pigeon - it lacks style but moving it too high up will render it nigh-obsolete because of Spy Zeps.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: a0kribu on May 15, 2016, 06:46:05 pm
I think Pigeon is fine as is. You already have only time to get one as is before Zeppelin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: vlad on May 16, 2016, 04:24:03 pm
Short comment on the new early game:

- first mission was Warehouse: very interesting und good
- second mission was pogrom on the other side of the planet. Airbus could not reach it, because it was too far and it just despawns. First month end with -600 rating.  That feels really unfair, because you get a lot of negative points just because of bad luck.

just updated from previous 0.97d - having non-combat vessel is fine, speed and radar sucks tho. i figured i will have to wait till i get some landed shippings or terror missions will be my daily bread. then suprise popped up - warehouse mission and i had good laught (https://prnt.sc/b4nv2q). these sideeffects of BV nerf should be considered.

EDIT : first pogrom (https://prnt.sc/b509aj) and following academy mission (https://prnt.sc/b509bh)
had landed ufo inbetween and that went fine (aka in radar zone of my only base), also those mini-terror missions are great for starting, my compliments to the chef. its just sad i cant get to them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 20, 2016, 07:31:18 pm
Congratulations Dioxine, you brought the most wonderfully maddening aspect of EU2012 Long War to OXCE - drones and their ability to mess up your swabbies (rookies).  If it weren't for the self-charging laspistol I got out of assaulting early Academy shipping, it wouldn't have been worth it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 20, 2016, 09:36:41 pm
Use Molotovs against them, they never fail.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 20, 2016, 10:09:46 pm
Given how much I love using Molotovs against everything else, I should have probably thought of that.  Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: gibbousmoon on May 22, 2016, 07:34:00 am
OK, I finally got this to run (using the download linked on the front page), but all the text labels (for "new game," "options," etc.) have been replaced by ????????  ??????  ???????.

Is this a bug, or am I doing something wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 22, 2016, 08:53:21 am
Wow. Never heard about such a bug. And what do you mean by 'finally'? It's basically 2 retardedly easy steps:

1. unpack the archive into a fresh folder
2. place original UFO files in the yourfolderhere/UFO directory (see download topic for reference...)

Also make sure you're running English-US language version. Better not run any install software. Do not 'upgrade' with any extra content except mods. Including OXC Nightly.

...Been playing around with various designs, here what I came up lately (if you don't count NSFW content):

(https://i.imgur.com/hMguBDt.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: gibbousmoon on May 22, 2016, 10:04:35 am
Yes, it was "retardedly easy" once I figured out that I was supposed to ignore the confusing mod installation instructions in the main directory (in the openxcom readme) and instead look specifically at the xpiratez readme (which is not in the main directory when you unpack the .rar). ;)  Because I am new to both openxcom and this mod (and was linked directly to this forum thread from outside the website), it was not immediately apparent.

If that mistake makes me "retarded," then so be it.

I grabbed the files from a fresh English-language installation from Steam.  Vanilla openxcom works fine and doesn't exhibit the bug, by the way.

I wonder if it's a Unicode problem?

Edit:
I'm running win7 pro 64bit.  I should have mentioned that in my initial post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: karadoc on May 22, 2016, 12:25:12 pm
You're right that it is easy if you ignore all the misinformation floating around. The openxcom install instructions should probably be removed, for clarity.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 22, 2016, 06:05:00 pm
If that mistake makes me "retarded," then so be it.

Come on dude, you love to be insulted or what? It was just a figure of speech not any personal attack. I was just making (forcefully) a point that you did it the 'too smart' way. Also I put a lot of work into making it as easy as possible, by basically giving you package with almost everything set up from get-go.
You don't need any language files from Steam, the mod has everything except original copyrighted UFO files. Also what oxcom readme...? That .md file? Shit my omission, I left it in the main directory because I had no idea what it is. But I cannot delete it since it is OpenXcom and that'd be uncool.
Also OXCom is a wholly different beast than Piratez now - divergent paths. OXCom's architecture and relation with Steam changed since that fork began, while Piratez play by old rules in that aspects - all improvements have been towards gameplay only, not Steam integration (personally I don't even use Steam so no love loss here).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: niculinux on May 22, 2016, 07:11:21 pm
@Dioxine, since in the upcoming versions even the most basic technologies will have to be researched, may you please make an example of what players would have to expect?

For instance: starting armors will be runt, brainer and rags, so that even the pirate armor will have to be researched?

Edit: also, chances to give up for a linux binary of the modified extended piratez executable? If so, i hope some user would help making it, hopefully one day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 22, 2016, 08:06:47 pm
Edit: also, chances to give up for a linux binary of the modified extended piratez executable?

It's in Meridian's thread, first post: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: niculinux on May 22, 2016, 08:16:40 pm
YAY, thanks guys!!!!! <3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 22, 2016, 09:23:22 pm
For instance: starting armors will be runt, brainer and rags, so that even the pirate armor will have to be researched?

Pirate armor will be available immediately, but in limited quantities.

As for the other changes. It's all in flux atm. But the main pointers:
- No Crackdowns and no penalty for missed Pogroms early on, because getting a combat-capable ship will take time.
- Having to do with muskets, melee and looted (weak) weapons for a few months; store selection will be very limited but will expand with research, both general research and loot research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: niculinux on May 22, 2016, 11:51:08 pm
It's in Meridian's thread, first post: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.0.html

Ah one more thing: may i humbly suggest to include it in the main mid package?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2016, 12:00:33 am
Once it's up to date. I'm already using important functions from the 20th May build.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: gibbousmoon on May 23, 2016, 02:03:01 am
Come on dude, you love to be insulted or what? It was just a figure of speech not any personal attack. I was just making (forcefully) a point that you did it the 'too smart' way. Also I put a lot of work into making it as easy as possible, by basically giving you package with almost everything set up from get-go.
You don't need any language files from Steam, the mod has everything except original copyrighted UFO files. Also what oxcom readme...? That .md file? Shit my omission, I left it in the main directory because I had no idea what it is. But I cannot delete it since it is OpenXcom and that'd be uncool.
Also OXCom is a wholly different beast than Piratez now - divergent paths. OXCom's architecture and relation with Steam changed since that fork began, while Piratez play by old rules in that aspects - all improvements have been towards gameplay only, not Steam integration (personally I don't even use Steam so no love loss here).

Not insulted at all.  I was making a point right back at you, letting you know why I didn't find it as "retardedly easy" as you think I ought to have.  You can take the feedback and use it, or you can be offended by it.  Or ignore it altogether.  I'm not inclined to care.

In any case, it's academic, since the game is impossible to play without being able to read anything.  Since you didn't mention my problem at all, I'll assume you're just as stumped as I.  I didn't use any special language files; just copy-pasted all the files in the XCOM directory in Steam.  Do you think getting my hands on a gog version instead might fix my issue?

Speaking of reading, a file which is called "README" is usually a readme. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2016, 02:53:51 am
Man, I cannot delete that readme since that would be pissing over the game engine and its developers. But you should generally ignore it, the proper readme files are in the 'xpiratez readme' folder

As for your problem - I have no idea what happened, since that's the first time such a bug is reported, and I'm here for years now. Hence I assumed following the install instructions helped, that's why I didn't adress it.

Steam version of UFO is fine as far as OG files are concerned. I assume you re-installed the mod from scratch again? Make sure you don't install it over any OXC install, but create a new directory (see, now it sounds like lecturing a school kid, I wanted to avoid that, and I'm sorry). I also assume you have selected the proper language version from in-game options, the only proper ones being US and Czech so far. But assuming these 2 things, the game should work.

It shouldn't be a problem with unicode, since the game uses its own font... but then again, I have little knowledge in that area. Your OS is same as mine. I'm willing to help, but I don't know how.

Also: does the title (XPiratez 0.98 blah blah blah) display properly, or all is in hieroglyphs? If so, it might meant simply an instalation error.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: gibbousmoon on May 23, 2016, 12:05:27 pm
I agree that you shouldn't delete the openxcom readme.  Perhaps you can move your own readme to the parent directory (maybe even name it README FIRST), so that someone doesn't get caught up in installation shenanigans which aren't relevant to your particular distribution method.  It's my own fault that I didn't look more carefully to see if multiple readmes were in the package, but others might make the same mistake.

I tried installing the game on my Win10 work laptop today, and the exact same problem exhibited.  Which means it is either a non-OS specific bug or it is a mistake that I am making both times.  So let me describe exactly what I do to install.

1. In accordance with the readme, I "- Copy files from your original "UFO: Enemy Unknown"/"X-Com: UFO Defense" folder to the "OpenXcom_XPiratez/UFO" folder."

2. "GEODATA/WORLD.dat not found."

3. I realize the instructions are probably not correct.  So instead I copy all the files from "XCom UFO Defense/XCOM" folder to the OpenXcom_XPiratez/UFO folder.

4. Now the game runs.  I get the Microprose splashscreen followed by a screen with "OpenXCom Extended 2.9+ [v2016-05-05]" and six buttons (options, exit, etc.)  All six buttons have their fonts replaced by question marks.  If I click on one, the next screen also has all of its buttons labeled with question marks only.

Because I did not follow the instructions exactly (steps 2 and 3), perhaps I am making a mistake somewhere in there.  Ideas?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2016, 12:51:46 pm
Ad.3 - that extra directory level was added by Steam or whatever. The OG never had it. Then, better to make instructions as per OG, since distros might vary. This doesn't make the instructions incorrect, at most possibly not detailed enough.
Inside the UFO folder, you should have the following OG folders:

GEODATA
GEOGRAPH
MAPS
ROUTES
SOUND
TERRAIN
UFOGRAPH
UFOINTRO
UNITS

all else is superfluous, but shouldn't give you trouble.

You can also try adding attached file into the /user folder. This should override any buggy settings, if there are any.

Also you've only described the steps you took to copy data files from UFO:EU to XPiratez - an unlikely cause of trouble, as the game crashes if you do it wrong, as you have noticed. It would be more helpful if you described all the steps, starting from mod download.

PS
Regarding readme, I thought that a fukken DIRECTORY named XPiratez Readme is much more obvious than some silly .md file. Myself I kinda ignore any loose and nondescript readmes and readme1sts since folders are usually overflowing with such thrash, usually badly outdated or not even related to the actual application.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: gibbousmoon on May 23, 2016, 01:49:26 pm
First things first: The mod appears to work now!  After replacing the cfg file with the one you just gave me.  I haven't tried playing yet, but the font problem is now gone.  So my .cfg file appears to have been the locus of the problem.  I'll post again if there are problems, but it looks like you fixed my problem for me.  Thank you!

The nitty gritty:

The extra directory within Steam is because Steam uses DOSBox.  The Steam directory is for the Steam game (essentially DOSBox, preconfigured to run this game), and within that directory is the game which is to be emulated.  To make your instructions compatible with Steam, you may want to update them as I described.

Just so you know, I didn't delete any files beyond the directories you listed.  And your "shouldn't give you trouble" statement was correct.

I'm not clear what other steps you want me to describe.  That I clicked on the link and downloaded the file?  That I unpacked it using 7zip?  Is that actually helpful to you?  What steps am I missing?  As you said earlier, the way you have this packaged is such that it doesn't require any installation at all.  Other than moving the copyrighted files into a directory, what steps are there?

Readme, shmeadme.  If you don't want to move readme files around, that's fine with me.  As I said earlier, I'm not inclined to care, now that I know where the real readme is.  If you want to make your distribution more idiot-proof, on the other hand...

Finally, regarding the issue at hand:  My theory is that upon running it the first time, a .cfg file is created that--due to my particular configuration(?)--spawns the problem.  Are you curious enough to want me to try and duplicate the issue, then send you the problematic .cfg file?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 23, 2016, 08:22:52 pm
No thanks, no need to describe anything once it turned out that the .cfg was the problem - I would be only neccesary if it didn't. Looks like I need to start distributing the .cfg again (I stopped this because of some concerns that upgrading the mod also resetted the .cfg to my personal settings). Have fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 24, 2016, 12:06:56 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/u1NA03G.gif)

Sometimes a Harvester is just a Harvester :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 24, 2016, 12:42:12 pm
Wait... Is it a Spice Harvester? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: legionof1 on May 24, 2016, 02:44:34 pm
it does resemble the one from the older dune movie with Patrick Stewart.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: doctor medic on May 24, 2016, 06:23:10 pm
Does that mean that we are going to fly on dune worms now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 24, 2016, 07:24:27 pm
Does that mean that we are going to fly on dune worms now?

I've always wanted to shoot down a huge, mutated flying beast... Then collect the carcass. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Blank on May 24, 2016, 09:30:25 pm
It's the Combine!


(Okay, I have been having fun with this mod after a couple of false starts. I still feel a long way from getting my own Bonaventura. My greatest scientific achievements have been attaching a knife to a gun and getting metal armor)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2016, 01:52:48 pm
It works! I moved the civilian (non-nuclear) traffic, and it will keep on moving, chaotically, with no less that 9 types of ships :) Later in the game, waste of ammo, and no real point rewards, these flights are mostly to create a flavor of (comparatively) bustling planet, help to loot something in early game, and provide an incentive to get the first interceptor - no Crackdowns for downing these :)

(https://i.imgur.com/0tijcNx.png)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Arthanor on May 25, 2016, 07:11:28 pm
Nice! That looks very promising!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: AncientSion on May 26, 2016, 01:51:14 am
Cool, that looks really interesting.

Easy ways to get lots of slaves and scrap those damn vaults.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: legionof1 on May 26, 2016, 01:58:38 am
If those ships have all civilian crew no slaves for us as you cannot enslave them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: jammjammjamm on May 26, 2016, 03:59:46 am
Currently there are two research topics named "Diplomacy". Could one of them be renamed? I spent a lot of time wondering why I couldn't do interrogations when I'd already researched Diplomacy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 26, 2016, 07:55:02 am
Have you actually read the pedia text? One is their diplomacy, the other is yours. I think the text leaves no shade of doubt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Mattdo on May 26, 2016, 12:56:03 pm
I think the point was that he'd already researched Diplomacy but not Diplomacy, so he couldn't read the Pedia text for Diplomacy, just the text saying he had to research Diplomacy, which made no sense, because he'd already researched Diplomacy...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on May 26, 2016, 04:30:46 pm
Allright I will change the enemy mission name then, what gives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on May 28, 2016, 05:50:44 pm
I cannot manufacture vessels with or without debug mode on any save file. Also, some mission types don't work (I used battle generator for that.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: karadoc on May 29, 2016, 02:46:30 am
Which missions don't work; and what prevents you from manufacturing vessels? (ie. Does the game say "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid you can't do that"? Does it give a reason? Do the vessels just not appear on the list? Does it crash? Something else?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on May 29, 2016, 01:47:54 pm
You do have free hangar space, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Cristao on May 29, 2016, 06:23:12 pm
Is there any sniper weapon that uses acid/chem bullets?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: legionof1 on May 29, 2016, 07:21:41 pm
Is there any sniper weapon that uses acid/chem bullets?
no
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on May 29, 2016, 07:41:33 pm
Well, the Python HSR. You won't have the damage bonus from skill with the Chem rounds though, just with the piercing ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 02, 2016, 07:24:43 am
rebel fighter rebel freighter, etc. when I go to manufacture, no vessels are there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 02, 2016, 10:06:46 am
Those are vessels you can encounter on the map, not ones you are able to build. You are stuck with the Airbus at the beginning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 02, 2016, 06:12:41 pm
what, like the conquerer
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on June 02, 2016, 06:21:17 pm
You cannot build Rebel Fighter, Rebel Freighter, Runabout, Cutter  and so on... they are "alien ships"!

You can build only your own ships, which you have to research first (which will take you at least 1 year)... Conqueror is one of those ships, but Conqueror is a very late-game ship, don't expect it until VERY late.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 03, 2016, 11:09:41 am
I'm curious as to how I'm supposed to effectively use the Rocket Sentry Gun, since it tends to blow up everything inside the Bonny whenever I fire it. That, or I have to leave the second auxillary behind. Either way, it still feels extremely inefficient since it can basically,  only fire in a straight line
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 03, 2016, 12:19:13 pm
It has to be the first symbol in the deployment list, if you try a little with adding and removing both aux you can get it there. But then it blocks the door, so you won't get back into the Bonny unless you are flying.
My problem is that it is often useless, when the back of the Bonny points to nothing special. That is why I don't use it anymore. Maybe another ship will have a better doorlayout for it later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 03, 2016, 12:57:04 pm
It has to be the first symbol in the deployment list, if you try a little with adding and removing both aux you can get it there. But then it blocks the door, so you won't get back into the Bonny unless you are flying.
My problem is that it is often useless, when the back of the Bonny points to nothing special. That is why I don't use it anymore. Maybe another ship will have a better doorlayout for it later.

I'm starting to wonder if it shouldn't be allowed to move, like, 1 or 2 tiles per turn to make it more useful without making it too useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: legionof1 on June 03, 2016, 02:56:39 pm
The sentry, from experience, does do better on the later craft. The thunderhorse in particular can really benefit from it because its has multiple exits. Also the thunderhorse's rear being so wide and open is difficult to secure against multiple hostiles in the opening turns. Something the sentry is very good at.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 03, 2016, 08:34:53 pm
rebel fighter and other mission types don't work. Vessels dont appear in my manufacture tab
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 03, 2016, 08:35:50 pm
rebel fighter and other mission types don't work. Vessels dont appear in my manufacture tab

Are you trolling us? >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 03, 2016, 08:42:43 pm
Absolutely not! When I want to manufacture the Hunter-Killer, which you get in the begining of the game, it's not there with OR without debug mode. Also, some missions don't work. I used the mission generator for those missions. As for manufacture, I went into the game for that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 03, 2016, 08:44:28 pm
Also, my manufacture error goes for any vessel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on June 03, 2016, 09:10:45 pm
Absolutely not! When I want to manufacture the Hunter-Killer, which you get in the begining of the game, it's not there with OR without debug mode.

Which version are you playing?
In 0.98F for example, HUNTER-KILLER is not available in the beginning of the game anymore...

Also, some missions don't work. I used the mission generator for those missions.

Some missions are not supposed to work via battle generator... hard to explain why.
Can you give us an example of which mission are you trying to start? Best with a screenshot...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 03, 2016, 09:24:34 pm
Thanks for the tip. Is it normal for vessels to not appear in the manufacture tab with debug mode?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on June 03, 2016, 09:39:11 pm
Thanks for the tip. Is it normal for vessels to not appear in the manufacture tab with debug mode?

Yes, that is normal too.
Debug mode doesn't show absolutely everything, at least not in OXCE.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 03, 2016, 09:48:29 pm
Also, what research do I need to  get the Hunter-Killer?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Meridian on June 03, 2016, 10:05:51 pm
Also, what research do I need to  get the Hunter-Killer?

I think you just need to build a workshop... the starting base doesn't have a proper workshop anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 03, 2016, 10:21:10 pm
Absolutely not! When I want to manufacture the Hunter-Killer, which you get in the begining of the game, it's not there with OR without debug mode. Also, some missions don't work. I used the mission generator for those missions. As for manufacture, I went into the game for that.

Ah sorry, I thought so because you asked again about rebel vessels which were already explained. It was clearly some kind of misunderstanding.

Also, what research do I need to  get the Hunter-Killer?

You need Nuclear Engine, Plastasteel and some contacts to buy the scrap metal. Then you'll be able to research Interceptor Assembly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on June 03, 2016, 11:53:01 pm
Also, some missions don't work. I used the mission generator for those missions.

They do all work... but you need to know the right mission/race combinations, which only I know :) Which is totally fine as the quick battle mode is mostly a debug tool for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: toonlink3181 on June 04, 2016, 04:02:35 am
Sorry, but I want to know, how do you get Basic Bullet Manufacturing, or whatever you call it in this version?

merged

They do all work... but you need to know the right mission/race combinations, which only I know :) Which is totally fine as the quick battle mode is mostly a debug tool for me.
Thanks a lot! ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 04, 2016, 07:21:45 am
Just use the Tech Tree Viewer for that.

https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: doctor medic on June 04, 2016, 10:58:37 pm
I wonder if we are ever going to see something from WH40k.A sisters of battle armour would be awesome,but i do understand that a new faction or new big content are going to be scarce as the full release is coming closer and more important aspects of the mod must be addresed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 05, 2016, 12:38:00 pm
Do I have to shoot down all ships in a sway local gouvernment mission to make it fail?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: doctor medic on June 05, 2016, 06:02:28 pm
Do I have to shoot down all ships in a sway local gouvernment mission to make it fail?
It works like vannila xcom,where you need to stop the ship before it lands,that includes every ship including potential cruisers,which at that point unless you can sway multiple mind control and plasma shots you shouldnt attempt to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 05, 2016, 06:30:42 pm
It works like vannila xcom,where you need to stop the ship before it lands,that includes every ship including potential cruisers,which at that point unless you can sway multiple mind control and plasma shots you shouldnt attempt to.

This is completely wrong. X-Com doesn't work like that.
Even if you shoot down the Cruiser right after it appears, the nation will leave you anyway. It's the same in vanilla X-Com.
Spoiler: you can, however,
switch off the "Sway Govt" mission through research, which eliminates the problem.
It's a late game thing though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 05, 2016, 06:35:49 pm
That is wrong. I stopped multiple Sway Gouvernment Missions already (Unless is only a chance that the nation leaves you.). If you allow the ships to land it is too late, and this time they had (at least) three ships, and my Kraken was out of ammo after a courier and a terror ship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: doctor medic on June 05, 2016, 06:48:59 pm
That is wrong. I stopped multiple Sway Gouvernment Missions already (Unless is only a chance that the nation leaves you.). If you allow the ships to land it is too late, and this time they had (at least) three ships, and my Kraken was out of ammo after a courier and a terror ship.
I dont think that is true,in vannila when battleships start to appear you allready lost the nations unless i mistake facts again.
Of course im pretty sure that part should be diffirent in xpiratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 05, 2016, 07:13:40 pm
Ah, ok. It might of course be that Cruisers make this happen. I only had lighter ships in these ones. As I never tried to stop the cruisers so far, I did not question loosing those countries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Voiddweller on June 07, 2016, 12:40:58 am
Is there any way to change geoscape texturing/layout?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Arthanor on June 07, 2016, 07:27:50 am
I just researched "Durathread Printing" and the description talked about making a fortune. Since the operation is about breaking even now, that sounded pretty exciting. Took out the calculator and:

1 Plastasteel: $4500 sell value
2 chemicals: $500 extraction value
1 Durathread run: $1000
Total cost: $6000

10 Durathread Mesh: $2500 sell value  :o  :'(

Back to using the industrial printer to make boxes for grog..!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: doctor medic on June 07, 2016, 10:23:00 am
I just researched "Durathread Printing" and the description talked about making a fortune. Since the operation is about breaking even now, that sounded pretty exciting. Took out the calculator and:

1 Plastasteel: $4500 sell value
2 chemicals: $500 extraction value
1 Durathread run: $1000
Total cost: $6000

10 Durathread Mesh: $2500 sell value  :o  :'(

Back to using the industrial printer to make boxes for grog..!
is the 2500 the total value or the value of 1 durathread because in either case that is a good way of making money,it's not battle tanks but it is something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Rince Wind on June 07, 2016, 11:14:49 am
One mesh sells for 250.
You could make armour out of it, then you'd make money.
Lingerie is better than grog, BTW.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Dioxine on June 07, 2016, 03:08:35 pm
Yeah. Durathread armor sells for 2.5k or so, multiplying your sales value by an order of magnitude. The brainer was assuming you're aware of that fact ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.98F - 13 May - Airbus Adventures
Post by: Arthanor on June 07, 2016, 05:37:01 pm
Ah! Well.. I didn't think of that.. only made the armor to then upgrade to metal armor. Never looked at the sale price.

So refine chemicals, make durathread with leftover plastasteel, make armors out of it -> profit?!

Will have to compare the whole production chain to making grog!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 07, 2016, 07:25:16 pm
So I've put up a 'first impressions' 0.99 version. It has way less early-mid game stuff than it is planned, but it does completely overhaul the early campaign and brings it to a fully playable and somewhat balanced status. This is all I can do for now; at least you will be able to see the difference. Naturally there is still a lot of new quality stuff in there, including 8 new portraits - as always, check the changelog :)

To really get hog wild with new missions stuff, wait for a more full version which will appear probably around fall 2016, depending on my life and your donations :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: niculinux on June 07, 2016, 10:40:25 pm
Since the mod is reaching its final status i wish the only new addictions would me only planned missions to add; then focusing only on bugfixing. Real life is cool! ThanksvDioxine as always for the greeeeeat mod!!!  :-*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: AncientSion on June 07, 2016, 11:25:55 pm
Interesting patch notes. Perhaps its time for a new campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Roxis231 on June 08, 2016, 01:14:57 am
So I've put up a 'first impressions' 0.99 version.

Naturally there is still a lot of new quality stuff in there, including 8 new portraits

Looks Like I'll have to add them to the Alternate Armour Collection when I next update - Hopefully this will be soon, though I currently have less time to work on it than I'd like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 08, 2016, 02:23:30 am
Quick question, I don't appear to be able to build a still at my second base in 98f.  Is that normal because I wanted to build all the booze at my manufacturing hub but sadly I can only suck hellerium out of the ground instead.

Second, when I go to the tech tree at https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/ I just get a white screen with a search bar in the top left.  That normal?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 08, 2016, 02:29:57 am
Have you researched stills? This almost divine building isn't something anyone can build, you know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 08, 2016, 03:08:07 am
Have you researched stills? This almost divine building isn't something anyone can build, you know.
Figured it required that, now i need to figure out what I'm missing before it in the tech tree.  Wish i could get the site to work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on June 08, 2016, 04:54:11 am
well tech viewer is at the moment out of date so maybe it wont have an answer.

But try clearing your browser history and cache and then restarting the browser. That helped me when i had that problem a while back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 08, 2016, 12:31:33 pm
Second, when I go to the tech tree at https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/ I just get a white screen with a search bar in the top left.  That normal?

Yes, you search for the tech you need in that bar...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Gynther on June 08, 2016, 03:48:54 pm
Was too far into my game to restart now so i moved my game to 0.99.
I have to research everything again it seems, i have best powerarmor and such but still need to research Blackmarch pistols and G.O.s again. I guess it dont really matter except for the slight annoyance?

price i have to pay for not restarting i guess :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 08, 2016, 04:10:12 pm
Was too far into my game to restart now so i moved my game to 0.99.
I have to research everything again it seems, i have best powerarmor and such but still need to research Blackmarch pistols and G.O.s again. I guess it dont really matter except for the slight annoyance?

price i have to pay for not restarting i guess :)

Or just read the instructions: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4133.msg66038.html#msg66038
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Blank on June 08, 2016, 07:30:33 pm
I happened to have just lost my game due to a government crackdown while all my ships were in repairs and my best hands injured after trying to shoot down a government ship. I considered myself fairly warned about this, although enabling the 'injured soldiers fight in base defense' option was on my to do list. I put up a good fight with parrots and dogs carrying explosives and a heavy machine gun set up at the end of a corridor. I know a bit better what kind of opposition to expect from a retaliation now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Mr. Quiet on June 08, 2016, 11:13:29 pm
parrots and dogs carrying explosives

I assume the animals can't throw, so the held explosive will blow? My gf would be pissed if she saw that. Especially with the poor dog sound. "I took out a poli! Oh yeah, sorry you had to see that... You know I have no choice! I told you this game is hard!"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 09, 2016, 12:03:54 am
Actually, explosives do not explode for being merely carried. Unlike the Soviets' anti-tank dogs which blew up with their explosives (sometimes), Piratez/XCom dogs can safely carry their explosives to the target and run back to safety (since we have absolutely no issues with control). Or just blow up at the end of the turn in which they were killed when the explosives falls on the ground (so.. vengeance?).

If one were to make a melee explosive weapon which actually has a blast radius, then you could make actual suicide-bombers (animals, soldiers or machine based).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 09, 2016, 02:49:32 am
But...dogs only have a strength of 2 which is not enough to even carry a small grenade. Funnily enough, Parrots have 5 strength, and thus are stronger than dogs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 09, 2016, 03:48:27 am
Prime explosive, throw to dog, dogs picks it up and carries it inside UFO entrance, drops it and runs out, or dies trying, hopefully leaving the explosive close enough to the intended target (and not too close to your own troops). You usually have better option, but sometimes for entrenched enemies. Parrots can be used too, provided you use a grenade and not something bigger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 09, 2016, 10:11:43 am
Exactly, Parrots can start the mission with a primed grenade and drop it on the enemy heads (ghetto mortar) but a dog will lose TUs if it tries that

EDIT: I have just updated to 0.99 and have found something rather curious. Apparently the game saves first person simulations of the battlescape at random points in the game. Is this a known feature or something unintended?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 10, 2016, 01:08:50 am
I've only seen it saving the map, this looks awesome!
Can we get a 1st person level, a little bit like Dungeon Keeper? Pretty please?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2016, 01:59:23 am
There is a hotkey you can take to take a 1st person screenshot as seen by the unit currently selected. This was used when developing the LoS/LoF mechanics. I don't remember which key it is but it is there in the key bindings for the battlescape, I think. It is not at all optimized, so unless you want to play a 1st person XCom at 1fps, it won't happen :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 10, 2016, 02:13:04 am
Did anyone else's quicksave key break when updating to .99?  Odd thing to have break.  I've tested it by making a new game and trying again, but it appears to refuse to work in the battlescape while still functioning on the geoscape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 10, 2016, 04:02:12 am
Well, my quicksave key didn't break, but the quicksave slot got corrupted.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on June 10, 2016, 04:19:33 am
Did anyone else's quicksave key break when updating to .99?  Odd thing to have break.  I've tested it by making a new game and trying again, but it appears to refuse to work in the battlescape while still functioning on the geoscape.

Meridian noted in his change log that crtl, shift, and alt keys could no longer be set as hotkeys.  I wonder if this is why?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 10, 2016, 04:43:53 am
I'm gonna be honest here.  I saw Jade streaming this and decided to give it a try after not playing any xcom since xenonaughts came out.

This is the most fun I've had with a modded game since skyrim.  Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2016, 06:51:57 am
Meridian noted in his change log that crtl, shift, and alt keys could no longer be set as hotkeys.  I wonder if this is why?
Actually, I'd bet on debug mode issues. Line 21 of the the options.cfg file has  "debug: true", which turns off quicksave and enables debugging. Replace it with "debug: false" and see if that helps. It happens once every few releases when Dioxine forgets to switch it back before distribution ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on June 10, 2016, 11:54:53 am
Im thinking of making a reskin of the hydra laser,but i forgot which page had the pixel art programs.I would really appreciate if someone would remind me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 10, 2016, 12:04:03 pm
Actually, I'd bet on debug mode issues. Line 21 of the the options.cfg file has  "debug: true", which turns off quicksave and enables debugging. Replace it with "debug: false" and see if that helps. It happens once every few releases when Dioxine forgets to switch it back before distribution ;)

Yeah, most likely.

I don't know why Dioxine decided to deliver that config file again... it just creates problems, there's absolutely no advantage to it. I can't imagine anyone who would use it... everyone has their own video/audio settings, hotkeys, etc. and you always have to delete the file provided and replace it with your own...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2016, 02:32:16 pm
The one time I didn't do it, a lot of people with problems immediately appeared. I have to assume that most people don't read instructions/don't care (eg. Jadestar, playing w/o UFOExtender accuracy), so they do need that config file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 10, 2016, 03:32:27 pm
The one time I didn't do it, a lot of people with problems immediately appeared. I have to assume that most people don't read instructions/don't care (eg. Jadestar, playing w/o UFOExtender accuracy), so they do need that config file.

I was there live on his stream when he upgraded from 0.98b to 0.98c... and it was a total disaster!
He didn't backup anything and just overwritten the config with the one provided in the package. The whole stream went just black (because of different video settings) and even with my help and help from SupSuper who was also on the stream... it took 20-25 minutes until we had the stream back up and running correctly.

Shortly afterwards he changed UFOExtender accuracy back to FALSE... because that's how he wants to play it... providing a config file will not force him to do otherwise. In my humble opinion, it just makes our life harder, nothing else. But maybe I am missing something... @people who are using the delivered config file, can you please explain why?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2016, 04:01:24 pm
Oh so that's how it went with Jadestar? I didn't know, my bad. It's not about forcing anyone to do anything (even if Piratez make no sense w/o the extender accuracy), it's just I had a lot of complaints when I didn't add the config. So I weighed pros and cons and decided to keep it anyway. For those who know what they're doing, it's a problem, but a small one; for those who don't, it's a big help IMO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 10, 2016, 04:48:34 pm
I think it is also good for those who install the game for the first time, way better than having to read a text (that at least 50% ignore anyway) which explains the recommended options.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on June 10, 2016, 05:58:55 pm
Even if people don't ignore the instructions, I think it's reasonable to expect that a fresh install will use the game's recommended options. It would be confusing and tedious to have to manually change a whole lot of options after freshly installing a game just to make it run as intended.

In my view, the config file needs to be included with the game. It's better to say "when upgrading versions, don't overwrite your config file" compared to "before you play the game for the first time, change this long list of settings, otherwise things won't work as intended."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 10, 2016, 06:59:46 pm
I think distributing the options, or the executable, is the wrong thing to do. Much rather say:

- Install the latest executable from Meridian
- Put your UFO data in
- Put the mod in

Personally, I just grab the mod out of the package and plop it into my install. The config (and executable) are just extra megabytes.

If the options.cfg file is supposed to be helping new players, it can be distributed with the mod, but then it should:
- Not have debug mode on, since that removes quicksave and enables a bunch of stuff that is not meant for playing the game.
- Not have any key bindings, since that would force the user to redefine them all the time
- Not have any graphics/sounds config

OpenXCom does work without an options.cfg file (since it doesn't have one on a fresh install), so presumably if can work with a partial one? That would allow Dioxine to distribute a partial file that does what it should for new players, but doesn't get in the way for existing player.

OpenXCom requires you do to some work to be installed by design: You need to introduce the original files. XPiratez is a mod for OpenXCom, and modding or playing mods should be expected to involve some extra work.

If XPiratez were a game, then sure, it should work out of the box. But XPiratez is not a game, it is a mod for a rewrite of a game. I can understand the desire to have it work out of the box like a proper game, but expecting it.. no.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 10, 2016, 08:05:46 pm
You already have to copy the files from the OG.
And I think it would be better to cater to the new players. For the others it is little hassle to replace their options.cfg. Though enabling debug seems wrong, but it is probably just an oversight.
I have 2 xpiratez folders, and I always switch between them when a new version comes out, so I can go back to the old one if something is not working properly. It also means that I have all the files and can just copy my options.cfg.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2016, 08:10:36 pm
You're right on all accounts, Arthanor, but your only gripe seems to be some hassle with the config when you're upgrading version. In comparison with streamlining the install process, it looks like a very minor thing... Also new options appear in new versions, and the config needs to set defaults on these too.
And yeah the debug on is an oversight, obviously. I never use quicksave/quickload; also, the bug is not caused by the option itself, only by the fact that the game disallows quicksave for some inexplicable reason. So it's a game bug, not mod's bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Devon_v on June 10, 2016, 08:34:15 pm
X-Piratez isn't a mod though, it's a total conversion relying on specific settings for a proper experience.  When all of the units and items are balanced around calculations working a certian way, they kinda need to be set that way. This is especially true since people don't read. You can put all the warnings you want in the largest font you want right on the title screen and there will still be people who didn't read it. Sadly it's just easier to have things work out of the box.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Blank on June 10, 2016, 10:23:11 pm
Shortly afterwards he changed UFOExtender accuracy back to FALSE... because that's how he wants to play it... providing a config file will not force him to do otherwise. In my humble opinion, it just makes our life harder, nothing else. But maybe I am missing something... @people who are using the delivered config file, can you please explain why?

I did a fresh install in a new folder just for the new version, I felt better knowing all the essential settings like using up research items and the UFOextender accuracy were set up right. The other stuff like video setting I'm always tweaking anyway. Although it took me a while to realise why the geoscape seemed to have so bad fps, that was the geoscape clock speed I had no idea was an option.

So far, starting off with only flintlocks and tribal armor was difficult but the early game feels smoother when there aren't all these expensive toys to buy right from the bat. Adding weapons to the shopping list as you research them is nice. I've ended up with tommy guns way earlier than I did in the last game, haven't even seen any hunting rifles or homeslice rifles to loot yet.

Watchtower seems ridiculously easy (free slaves bascially) which is probably okay because I find ratmen rodeo very difficult with starting gear (in part because finding them all in that maze of a map wears me down through attrition). Megascorpion hunt is refreshingly different but I still haven't followed the research path to do something useful with the stings yet.

Mostly just chasing down the requirements to build a still in my other manufacturing base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 11, 2016, 03:40:07 am
Recently did a new install on .99 after my first game basically ended in a wipe due to me screwing up.  Couldn't quicksave so figured 'why not ironman'.  Lasted till month two before i got murderized.

Second run has gone well.  Haven't spotted any bugs yet but christ my first month had a - score due to just not having anything to do. Had 3 missions and two of them were super easy(watchtower/church).  Month two started off with Humanists going to town on mutants and all of my girls taking a wound from the fight.  That loot though. 

Loving it so far.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: sabrecat on June 11, 2016, 06:50:26 am
For what it's worth, I overwrite the options file with each update. It takes me a few minutes to fix video settings, but I'll live with that to get the recommended setup for each of the new options constantly being added.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: clownagent on June 11, 2016, 10:05:19 am

I don't know why Dioxine decided to deliver that config file again... it just creates problems, there's absolutely no advantage to it. I can't imagine anyone who would use it... everyone has their own video/audio settings, hotkeys, etc. and you always have to delete the file provided and replace it with your own...

I think the problem with the "options.cfg" is that it contains both video/audio settings + gameplay settings like "instant grenades", "Ufo extender accuracy", "Allow running" etc.
All the gameplay options should be defined by a ruleset and not by the same file that defines video settings. Then, mod authors can deliver a ruleset with the intended gameplay behavior but without overwriting personal video/audio settings.
 

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on June 11, 2016, 11:38:29 am
I think the problem with the "options.cfg" is that it contains both video/audio settings + gameplay settings like "instant grenades", "Ufo extender accuracy", "Allow running" etc.
All the gameplay options should be defined by a ruleset and not by the same file that defines video settings. Then, mod authors can deliver a ruleset with the intended gameplay behavior but without overwriting personal video/audio settings.
I agrees with that, I think it would be easy to move it to rulesets and ignore from config files. If someone dislike it, he will need create small mod on top of curret one that will override it different value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2016, 12:07:44 pm
Well I've been proposing that since ages, but nobody listens :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 11, 2016, 12:26:27 pm
Well I've been proposing that since ages, but nobody listens :)

I listen. It is on my todo list for quite a while now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Stian on June 11, 2016, 12:49:37 pm
A possible implementation of the ruleset idea without actually doing any implementation would be to provide a custom shortcut to the executable with lots of "-<option name> <option value>" pairs. This appears to update the current cfg with the values specified.

I'd think a config based solution might provide a lower barrier of entry to customizing each setting though. An alternative might be that a mod could supply their own (partial or full) default_options.cfg which would be used during the construction of the user options.cfg or for adding missing values to the same file upon version change. This way users wouldn't have to dig into the ruleset to change certain values, and if the game wasn't supplied with a user config a new (and correctly configured) one would be automatically created to suit the active mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Winderlies on June 12, 2016, 03:00:11 am
Greetings, fellow commanders. I have a few questions:

What is a megascorpion sting, why does my craft consider it to be a tank (taking 4 spaces, no less!) and why does it make my battlescape crash upon load?

Would it be possible to add a distance indicator when the game asks me where I wish to send my craft? I realise such indicator wouldn't be very usefull at around midgame, but since the Airbus is now our starting craft, it can be somewhat frustrating to have to guess if those ground missions are within range.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on June 12, 2016, 07:50:09 am
I need to ask what influences your score in the early game, started a game, did well enough with the spawned events, ignored the shipping as I needed hands to heal, at the end of the month, my score was -1500.  I don't know the inner workings of the game well enough to dig out the things giving that score, so here I am.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on June 12, 2016, 02:25:09 pm
What is a megascorpion sting, why does my craft consider it to be a tank (taking 4 spaces, no less!) and why does it make my battlescape crash upon load?
Megascorpion stings come from dead megascorpions; but from what I've seen they only take around 0.1 each; not 4. What makes you think it is causing the battlescape to crash?

I need to ask what influences your score in the early game, started a game, did well enough with the spawned events, ignored the shipping as I needed hands to heal, at the end of the month, my score was -1500.  I don't know the inner workings of the game well enough to dig out the things giving that score, so here I am.
I know that there are some shipping missions that the factions can do which will lower your score. My guess is that there was a whole lot of negative missions going on outside of your radar range. If that's what caused it, it's essentially just bad luck - because there's nothing you could have done about it. (There are worse things that can happen than getting a low score though...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 12, 2016, 02:34:23 pm
Hmm looks like he tried loading the megascorpion stings on the craft... and looks like the shortcut I took while making them has such consequences. I would never have guessed someone tries loading them, they're just a sale item :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 12, 2016, 03:24:15 pm
I know that there are some shipping missions that the factions can do which will lower your score. My guess is that there was a whole lot of negative missions going on outside of your radar range. If that's what caused it, it's essentially just bad luck - because there's nothing you could have done about it. (There are worse things that can happen than getting a low score though...)

Well, one thing you can do is check the graphs to see which regions are most affected by enemy activity and then try patrolling there. There's no guarantee of success, but you may get lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Asheram on June 12, 2016, 04:03:37 pm
Well, one thing you can do is check the graphs to see which regions are most affected by enemy activity and then try patrolling there. There's no guarantee of success, but you may get lucky.
Isn't patrolling near impossible with how short the ship radar is nowadays? (Unless you count zeppelins)

Anyhow. I absolutely Love the new mechanic with the small faction hubs. Great way to earn notoriety.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 12, 2016, 05:54:17 pm
Isn't patrolling near impossible with how short the ship radar is nowadays? (Unless you count zeppelins)

Yeah, you need something better than the Airbus for that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: greattuna on June 12, 2016, 05:57:07 pm
Isn't patrolling near impossible with how short the ship radar is nowadays? (Unless you count zeppelins)
Pigeons are still there, though they now require a bit of research (and of course, money).



There are times when I absolutely hate thunderhorse, and this is one of such times.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on June 12, 2016, 07:18:38 pm
Hmm looks like he tried loading the megascorpion stings on the craft... and looks like the shortcut I took while making them has such consequences. I would never have guessed someone tries loading them, they're just a sale item :)


I've been stockpiling, not selling - but that may explain why I also got a crash as soon as my laser defenses failed to shoot down that Mercenary Craft...  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 12, 2016, 10:04:59 pm
Not a bug, but I hate that the library pre-req requires an academy medic.  I haven't seen the academy in like 2 months and I'm pushing end of July year one and am getting close to needing a library.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on June 13, 2016, 02:04:55 am
I was specifically asking about the first month, don't even have the ability to get other vessels yet, 1500 down the hole is just  a bit extreme, I think.  Though I'm mostly willing to accept sheer bad luck, I don't think I have the skills or resources to recover from that sort of start, needs the capacity to shoot stuff down, I believe
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 13, 2016, 02:51:21 am
But Research Stations are like a free Medic capture
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Winderlies on June 13, 2016, 05:03:47 am
Hmm looks like he tried loading the megascorpion stings on the craft... and looks like the shortcut I took while making them has such consequences. I would never have guessed someone tries loading them, they're just a sale item :)

Thanks for the reply. I shall sell them all promply seeing as, as above stated, a defense mission would also cause the game to crash.

Also, if you don't mind me adding, I've come to enjoy the limitedness of early-game bases you have brought, specially with the adjustments to score (for progroms). All those researches and extra items can be a pain to track.

Speaking of reseach, are there plans to change the research interface? Specifically, about informing which items a reseach will consume and what items a research is missing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on June 13, 2016, 05:27:56 am
If there is an item with exactly the same name as a research project, you stand really good chance of that item disappearing once you start the project. If having one in the storage of the base is necessary to research it, then you are 100% sure that it will be consumed.

As for showing dependencies, Meridian is working on it (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4697.0.html).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 13, 2016, 05:54:12 am
But Research Stations are like a free Medic capture
I kept getting watchtowers and scorpion hunts and stuff like that, got my first one at the butt end of august which is where i finally snagged one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Spess Mahren on June 14, 2016, 10:03:06 am
Liking the new progression so far, but could anyone tell me how to transfer items from one base to another?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 14, 2016, 11:36:19 am
Ship, in the base screen, unless something changed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 14, 2016, 01:04:55 pm
Ship, in the base screen, unless something changed.

Yeah, it's exactly the same place as in vanilla. "Ship" means shipping in the sense of carrying goods, not ships. However you can ship ships too:

(https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52cc7f356bb3f7285be6116e/9-bizarre-sentences-that-are-perfectly-accurate.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - Escaped Lunatics!
Post by: ivandogovich on June 14, 2016, 11:43:37 pm
 ;D

Having clawed my way up to the endgame in two game years, and starting to hit the "grind" wall (clicking through scads of enemy contacts, starting the fuel capsule grind, waiting for who knows how long for the magical SGC to show up, etc.) I finally decided to "pause" the campaign and go back through and explore the new early game.

New Campaign, Veteran level, plopping the first hideout ("Bare Base") down in southern Greece for coverage of Europe and N. Africa. Set up the base for defense and start checking out the new gals.  All are sporting "tribal wear", interesting.  I laugh out loud at the "Escaped Lunatics" in the Monthly Report. :D

Minimal gear, cool. 6 in a crew? Fun! not too hard to equip them, anyone with 60 + firing gets a musket.  Weaklings get rapiers and cutlasses, some of the stronger gals get sabers and extra gear.  I make up some canteens, but realize they take a lot of space, we'll see.  Order 4 more hands, and a bit more equipment.  Survival comes in, while we are hearing quite a few rumors of enemy activity in Siberia and Asia.  Put the runts to making more gear, javelins at the top to give some of those gals something to toss.  The braintrust duo figures Hunting Bows might be a way to get more to eat as things seem kinda meager around here.  New hands arrive sporting some better gear (adventurer duds) so we spread that around a bit.

Then we get confirmed word of a village of nasty Ratmen in N. America.  Time to go investigate and see if something interesting can be turned up there. :)  The immediate impression of the maze of hovels, makes us feel like our crew is a bit sparse for this investigation but we spread out taking cover by fences and walls, hoping for the best.  Immediate contact with two rats that surprise us.  One gets taken out by reaction fire (the leader, no less, with a hipshot from a musket!) but the other gets real unfriendly-like a throws a knife that sticks in my gal!!  Patching up her four gaping wounds becomes the first major challenge.  Fortunately, one gal has a bandage and the little rat had another.  The joy of looting the enemy shoots dopamine into my cortex as I continue the operation.  So many of the gals are weak and out of shape, that its challenging to maintain a good pace while working through the warren!  My cannoneer, makes her way forward, and gets shot at from all sides. She takes out one brave rodent that approached by beating it senseless with the cannon then ducks back into cover.  A horrible growling roar however, tears in from behind her and her anguished scream is the last we heard of her. :( 

This is where I left my first session of the new campaign, and I have to say, it feels tremendous!! The early game innovations, Dioxine, are terrific!  The smaller set of equipment and trappings is great, as is the sheer joy of being able to loot an Ol' Revolver and know you just got a serious upgrade in fire power!  What a great experience!  Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on June 16, 2016, 06:34:37 am
Last version we could buy clothes, despite them being useless at that point, I assume finding a used clothes store is an early game thing, but I haven't found a reliable way to get the basic clothes yet, was that removed?

This is probably because I recently watch Mad Max, but the tribal outfit makes me think that there was a murdered warlord in the near past of the storyline.  :)  It also made me think that it might not be too hard to branch off of this mod to create an actual Mad Max storyline. I envision convoys of barely adequate souped up cars instead of shipping or your craft and difficult to come by ammunition, fuel, food and water. Maybe some way to do away with money altogether and require you to purchase things by barter.  Bases might require you to clear out the current warlord in residence and expanding to new continents would be a major hurdle.

Edit
Sorry if that last bit is not appropriate for this topic
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Spess Mahren on June 16, 2016, 12:09:44 pm
In the fourth month of a new game and I'm wondering what ships qualify for the mansion mission. Would the pachy work?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 16, 2016, 02:38:49 pm
As far as I understand, anything that uses hellerium will work for mansion missions, although I don't have any ship heavier that the Bonny.  The Pachyderm works great, as long as you've got the tactical chops to pull the job off with eight gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on June 17, 2016, 05:09:06 am
I had to do a mansion mission with a hunter killer today...

2 girls, 33 kills, 0 wounds.  All hail the advanced laser pistols I stole from someone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 17, 2016, 03:02:34 pm
Hunter killer to a mansion mission? "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 17, 2016, 06:00:42 pm
Hunter killer to a mansion mission? "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."

I wish I could "Like" a post.
Or sig it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 17, 2016, 09:34:34 pm
Just finished my Destructor outfit after farming essence hard for it, put it on my VooDoo-skilled pirate queen.  First turn of assaulting a Reticulan outpost, decided why not annihilation bomb the first enemy in the entrance... and wow.  The walls are missing.  Absolutely worth stunning every one of those stupid possessed soldiers for the essence.

@Solarious Scorch I aim to please.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Gunner-chan on June 18, 2016, 06:49:25 am
Aren't terror missions supposed to not affect your rating till you contact the alliance? Because right now they're really killing my rating in my current game, leaving me really confused what I'm supposed to do right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 18, 2016, 07:29:50 am
I was under the impression they didn't affect score if you completely ignored them until the research, but the touch-and-go method would still give the score penalty for civilians killed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 18, 2016, 03:33:36 pm
I was under the impression they didn't affect score if you completely ignored them until the research, but the touch-and-go method would still give the score penalty for civilians killed.

This is exactly how it works. You WILL get penalty if you touch-and-go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Gunner-chan on June 19, 2016, 09:57:58 am
It feels like something is still not quite right with the score system, sometimes I do fine and other times I get a huge negative hit out of nowhere that I can't find an explanation for. Either that or I don't know how to find missions with the airbus well enough yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 19, 2016, 10:09:38 am
Large negative scores out of 'nowhere' happen from time to time. I'm not sure what's causing them myself... better to keep eyes peeled.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Gunner-chan on June 19, 2016, 10:12:01 am
I took a peek into my saves, and made more with some exploratory edits. There are huuugee "Alien" scores popping up in north america which I have zero ability to reach, Over 1000 points worth. Weirdly enough I appear to have some points in the region despite not being able to reach it at all. I also noticed I had a -300 in china for some reason, despite china being close enough I actually do a lot there. Something is weird.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Bloax on June 19, 2016, 10:14:24 am
Clearly it's time for a "Score +/- Due to [(Enemy) Mission]" log feature.

oh and

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63152810/n/xcom/piratez/test/muton_inv2.gif)
ayy
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 20, 2016, 12:35:19 am
Huh, for some reason I can't get the Heavy Metal research option to appear. I've got all the pre-requisites, but it's not available to research. Does it require a special facility to be present as well?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Vesparco on June 20, 2016, 07:33:00 pm
Hi again,

After one year I can raise back from the dead to play again Xpiratez.
I've been testing extensively the 0.98 and 0.99 versions and I have to say it has amazingly improved from one year ago.

I've reached 1 year+ with last campaign before restarting and I found the following issues due to the huge diversity of missions and the lack of oportunity for certain encounters. I believe the reason is the lack of Trader's guild activity during the periods (basically it was mostly the church vs pirates).

- Toxigun: More scarce than elerium on the crust of earth and disabling one key technology (adv chemistry). Is it really necessary considering that you have also chem munitions as another requirement? In my game I ended erasing the requirement from the code after interrogating 10 guild engineers without success (they can speak about too much stuff).

- Armors: Again blocked due to the lack of armor power parts (and maybe something more). The weapons are not critical as you can salvage gauss weaponry after the first encounter with them but afterwards it becomes a one-shot kill to most of the ladies (which almost encourages guerrilla uniforms to increase the chance of survival). Are all mid/high tier armors dependant on the salvage of enemy in order to manufacture?

-Terror units: same as previously. Haven't seen a reaper/boomsaurus/cyberdisk and so you lack the techs associated to them (when they are relevant).

- Aircraft technologies: Technologies not linked to light weapons. This makes the research rather optional as you salvage the vessels and rearm yourself (I usually use the technique of launching one brick vessel and three others behind to shoot down hard stuff).

For the rest impecable, it's an amazing mod. Never though it could get this better.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 20, 2016, 08:19:55 pm
In my understanding, this mod accepts and relies on randomness to increase replayability. Toxigun is not a necessary technology; sometimes you get it, sometimes you get something else. So I wouldn't consider it a problem. The same about terror units.
Lack of armour parts is a problem, even though it never happened to me, since there are several sources of them; in other words, the chances are pretty small. But there are alternatives: for example in Meridian's LP he never encountered Raiders, a fairly common faction, so he has big problems with metal armours (because no rare earth elements except from sewers hunting). So I suppose you do have some other armours, because you must be fighting somebody.
About the air weapons, I'm not sure what you mean. Is it that you don't have to research simpler weapons? Yeah, it's similar to firearms - you don't really have to research them if you don't want to. I guess it's a playstyle thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 20, 2016, 08:23:55 pm
In my understanding, this mod accepts and relies on randomness to increase replayability. Toxigun is not a necessary technology; sometimes you get it, sometimes you get something else. So I wouldn't consider it a problem.

Toxigun is a necessary technology, you cannot finish the game without it.

(Toxigun > Advanced Chemistry > School Graduation > Advanced Habitation > Mars Attack Vessel)

EDIT: btw. almost everything is a necessary technology, heck even Slavery is necessary! Only a few guns and some lore is optional afaik.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 20, 2016, 09:13:17 pm
Toxigun is a necessary technology, you cannot finish the game without it.

Oops. Sorry, I should have checked. It just never occurred to me.
Yeah, maybe this needs addressing.

EDIT: btw. almost everything is a necessary technology, heck even Slavery is necessary! Only a few guns and some lore is optional afaik.

Slavery is not necessary, since you can get all the research from pillow books. But it makes the game a little easier thanks to the extra space.
But to answer more fully, I'd have to examine the tech tree, which frankly I'm not willing to do because spoilers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on June 20, 2016, 09:17:45 pm
Slavery is not necessary, since you can get all the research from pillow books.

You need Slavery for Interrogation Techniques, which you need for basically everything else. No way around it. Not playing much PirateZ, are you? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 20, 2016, 09:49:17 pm
You need Slavery for Interrogation Techniques, which you need for basically everything else. No way around it. Not playing much PirateZ, are you? :)

Sorry, I meant you don't have to research slaves. The research itself is necessary, but it doesn't force you to enslave people, and it's very accessible.
But yeah, I don't play nearly enough. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: vitto on June 23, 2016, 04:58:49 pm
Well, it is my first playthrough and I am stuck, ver. 0.99. Year 2606 already, but I saw only once "The Coordinator" in my first encounter of them about few years ago. Of course I killed him. Now, I am finished almost everything: MSDF & Rebels has been done. New (last) year became especially strange: early I saw many raiders driving casual vessels, spartans driving >raider's< vessels, but last thing was the govt forces attacked my base... Weird. I supposed this was a training mission between their and my forces =)

Ok, back to the problem. How to catch that son of b****? I did not saw any ships with Star Gods about 2 years and without their codes looks like it is impossible to finish the game... How many years I should wait? Or this is the end of my playthrough (because I must be careful about research decisions in next time)?

--

Anyway, weird things I saw, IMHO, shortly: cyclops, ghosts and willie pete.
1. Cyclops: no need to create enemies with an armor better than tanks/lobstermen.
2. Ghost armor: the game engine does not understand its mechanic. We, players, can understand why a doorway passage is blocked by "invisible wall", but the game engine does not understand such situations and there is endless loop appears.
3. Invisibility is not described. Well, until I have tested by myself how ghost armor is working I was very very angry about such "innovation" in the game. Hint: try to heal your "ghost gal" with another gal :) This should be explained in boobspedia.
4. Willie Pete is ultimate. First, it is one-shot killer for cyberdiscs. Second, its side-effect works against power armored units. And third, the damage caused on most units even better than fusion grenade (!).

Also the next items should be nerfed, IMHO:

Ok, may be I am wrong. But that's my first feelings about X-Piratez Extended. Don't be too angry on me. Ty!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 23, 2016, 05:35:57 pm
Regarding the Cattle Prod: It is cheap, it is there from the beginning (almost) and it can stun anything without heavy armor quickly. You don't expect the Tommy to be effective against Provosts and their ilk, so why would you do that for the cattle prod? The heavy armor probably works like a Faraday cage.

Also, in Ironman you just accept that some gals die. Yes, it sucks (to loose the armor) but that is the risk of being a pirate. I am fighting mostly mercs in my pogroms at the moment, with Revenant as the standard armor (some heavier stuff and some specialists in lighter armor lke seductresses, medics and blitz armored melee gals) and I usually loose one or two.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 23, 2016, 05:51:30 pm
Very helpful analysis, well except the 'how could I keep my gals alive in Ironman mode'. You cannot, hopefully. Also you're very lucky you've made 6 years in w/o a critical crash. Ironman is unadvised.
Cooker is the counter against super-armors. It's almost a non-issue if you're using fast troops. Also, its effective range is 10 tiles at best, while sectopod can fire all across the map.
In general, I will say it once again, endgame is maybe 50% finished, at best. This doesn't naturally change the fact that your problems (hardly unique) will be hopefully resolved before 1.0.
'Ultimate weapons'. Frankly, I've already read about 2 dozens of 'ultimate weapon sets' proposed by various players, all different. Seductress isn't fully tested yet, it's possibly quite OP. The disadvantages are serious - as in, no armor whatsoever. Maybe not serious enough, I agree.
Evaluations of the Cattle Prod vary from 'ultimate' to 'useless', depending on player :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on June 23, 2016, 08:29:57 pm
I find the microwave cooker something more of an environmental hazard then anything. Very few enemy units have the fireing skill to make it threatening anywhere beyond point blank. Since it has a snap shot mode ai will very often take shots well beyond useful range. Usually ashing a few of there buddies in the process. Shotguns that have snap fire mode are just not very dangerous in ai hands. Boom gun is an exception since its seems to have a much tighter grouping.

Seduction while powerful draws on a semi limited resource, a good voodoo score. Most gals don't have the voodoo power/skill to make most voodoo gear worthwhile compared to mundane guns.

kruger is very good for its size but its still a pistol and therefore suffers at long range. I also find that using a side arm on a lethal option with a not great ammo per clip is not a very good use of space for most gals the more your tech advances. Krugers are also somewhat hard to find early game when it could have the largest impact. It doesn't take to long for its plasma damage type to be its only exceptional feature.

Cattle prods are in a kind of weird spot. They are very good stun weapons in terms of base damage but they are clunky in size and time units. Gun butt attacks completely replace them as long as a gal is above a certain str. And if your str is low nuff to make gun butt bad you probably have weight issues anyway and the prod is not particularly light.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Nygmus on June 23, 2016, 08:41:25 pm
Quote
Shotguns that have snap fire mode are just not very dangerous in ai hands. Boom gun is an exception since its seems to have a much tighter grouping.

They seem pretty nasty in close quarters, like in bases, though the effect is magnified with the boom gun. I lost half my squad to some dude (a Provost I think) with a boom gun, and I probably only managed to bring him down because someone emptied a full machinegun autoshot into him from the tile beneath him before getting wiped out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: vitto on June 24, 2016, 04:04:04 am
Very helpful analysis, well except the 'how could I keep my gals alive in Ironman mode'. You cannot, hopefully. Also you're very lucky you've made 6 years in w/o a critical crash. Ironman is unadvised.
The current balance is not Ironman-friendly. IMHO. No need to create overpowered armors/weapons because this leads to "unadvised" solutions. I really love Ironman mode in the original and openxcom/vanilla, because it gives better feelings and even can teach you be calm :) Also, only Ironman mode may provide unforgettable situations, like "run, run guys I will stop them!" [charging high explosive around dozens of chryssalids] and in the last moment you realize that others will not have a time to be on ship and... almost everyone dies by an explosion =)))

Your option, "Ironman is unadvised", is not what casuals/veterans expect to hear. May be you should try to change a balance so that Ironman mode will advised? ;) Well, not now, may be latter, after 1.0 or ... well, I don't know.

Quote
Cooker is the counter against super-armors. It's almost a non-issue if you're using fast troops.
Actually it depends on a map. A crew of Battleship holds at least 4 guys with cookers.... Ah, you are not expected that someone may fire from a top using darkened hole? You should be!

Quote
Seductress isn't fully tested yet, it's possibly quite OP. The disadvantages are serious - as in, no armor whatsoever. Maybe not serious enough, I agree.
Novice outfit even worse, but as part of role-playing its worthless. Wands should be more powerful!

--

So, what about MSDF (mutant forces/pogrom-stopper) and Star Gods. Will I see them in this playthrough? Any chances?

Thanks for a reply.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on June 24, 2016, 04:13:21 am

Your option, "Ironman is unadvised", is not what casuals/veterans expect to hear. May be you should try to change a balance so that Ironman mode will advised? ;)

Save Reloading is an Option.

Ironman is an Option.

This is designed to be hard enough without Ironman Mode... 

The "Default Balance" should not require Ironman.  The Default Balance should be to make Ironman a harder challenge

As a former Veteran Player of every version of the original, and now a Casual Gamer...  That is what I expect.

I think Dioxine has done the right thing by advising that Ironman is not advised...  Because it would be more unfair to go into it without having a Warning...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: DracoGriffin on June 24, 2016, 05:10:01 am
I believe Dioxine meant "Ironman is unadvised" because of bugs/CTDs, not due to difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 24, 2016, 07:02:40 am
Yeah, if it wasn't obvious from my previous comment, Ironman is highly unadvised due to the risk of unrecoverable crashes/AI getting stuck (and any such cases being nigh-impossible to bug-track). In extreme cases, it might even lead to losing all progress, which can well be 50+ hours of gameplay.
As far as balance goes, I never reload myself, so the balance assumes you don't reload. I don't like Ironman's straightjacket (eg. you need to do a boogaloo to save some interesting situation 'for science'), it's much more comfortable to self-enforce it. But it's everyone's choice. If you feel you need to reload, dial down the diff level.

As for the Boom Gun, it works the same as other shotguns, with a bit better range than most, though. It's a solid weapon mostly because of brute force, 1 pellet is often enough to score a kill on an unarmored/lightly armored target.

As for Battleships, you naturally can expect to be trolled. It's supposed to be the hardest crash recovery in game. However, from mid game onwards, crew losses are pretty much irrelevant.

As for the Star Gods, you will run into them... eventually. When the dice roll favorably. The best strategy is to provoke a Crackdown. Three times less likely to get a chance at it once MSDF is in place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Nygmus on June 24, 2016, 07:11:57 pm
>However, from mid game onwards, crew losses are pretty much irrelevant.

Out of curiosity, what makes crew losses irrelevant in the midgame? Is it high funding making replenishing the ranks easier, or does the eventual scaling of gear simply make it so that a less experienced hand can be replaced relatively easily or still make a difference?

Not far enough into the game yet, I think, to know what you mean by this yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on June 24, 2016, 07:38:18 pm
Out of curiosity, what makes crew losses irrelevant in the midgame?

Dojos and other facilities allow you to train raw recruits to Veteran status.  These can easily be brought into the main crew and pull their weight.  More experience will get them to elite status, but its not too hard to set up a training base that can keep say 40 gals training and make a great pool of replacements.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 24, 2016, 08:41:26 pm
It's especially easy if you keep a light dropship at the training base to do the easy missions - give them fair armor, handles, and pistols, and they build reactions quickly too on top of the secondary stat gains.  There's the added bonus of being able to rob/enslave/ransom all the captures you get from handling everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: vitto on June 25, 2016, 06:27:01 am
I am finished the game, date: 6 Nov 2607. I found last Star God by an accident in a place where I did not expect to find it. I already said my thoughts about this game. Something I have missed:

Well, first of all, thank you for the nice game. It is real new game with own lore and setup. Not a just a mod or something like that. I like this game.

A few words about enemies:

A few words about the ending:

Thanks again! And have a nice day!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 25, 2016, 06:38:20 am
  • Demons: they should be stronger and fearsome. Instead, I felt that I am fighting against zombies/hybrids (from FMP) and maps are almost same...

They were never supposed to be scary - in a tactical game, anything less powerful than Cyberdemon won't be scary. Maps (atrium/mansion/keep) are the same since Solarius 'borrowed' them from me ;) Star Gods/Mercs and their cohorts is what was supposed to be scary.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on June 25, 2016, 09:54:26 am
oddly i actually find the deamons pretty high up the totem pole of threat. Between imps (the only common fire using enemy that is not a retard) and the potential for BFGs and chaingun/miniguns there is always a potential to get wrecked from minor missteps. The big deamons are some the hardiest foes in the game.

For me it goes something like this

Mercs
Stargods(on how much damage you can take finding the buggers. Oh and every stargod map has to be done in under 20 turns or hello mind-rape gang-bang.)
Deamons
Academy
Traders
Church
everything else
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 25, 2016, 03:59:52 pm
Quote
Vessels: there are no mid-game vessels at all. The Dragon vessel is best of the best: 2 x Railguns + 2 x Plasma Beams and this setup may put down about 5-7 Cruisers/Battleships/Gunships/you name it in non-stop mode. Nice replacement for well-known Avenger but I think Dragon is even better. There should be a vessel with 500-700 HP, because now you have only one choice: either 250-300 or 1200 HP...

Perhaps you missed the research for the Crab, sitting at 525 HP plus some built-in shielding?  There is also the Kraken at 900 HP, and is only one heavy weapon down from the Dragon, at the cost of speed.  I've been finding plenty of mid-game interceptors, you just have to use multiple per military vessel until you have the Dragon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: vitto on June 25, 2016, 05:39:51 pm
Perhaps you missed the research for the Crab, sitting at 525 HP plus some built-in shielding?
The Crab is a dropship with 1xLT, 1xHV.
Quote
There is also the Kraken at 900 HP, and is only one heavy weapon down from the Dragon, at the cost of speed.
Yes, it is. Looks like I just missed it. The question is closed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 25, 2016, 06:29:31 pm
The Crab is a 'dropship' as much as Dragon is. With good HP, some Dodge and - most importantly - high repair rate, it makes for a faster alternative to the heavily-armed Kraken.
Also there is no typo in the Destruction magic outfit. It does indeed regenerate health, if your VooDoo is top-level. If it's crappy, it drains your health.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on June 25, 2016, 07:51:41 pm
I like the Crab as a early meat shield.  Get a multiple craft attack set up, and have the Crab initiate it.  The enemy will target the first vessel that engages, so the other lighter craft are safe.  Launch the others quickly after the Crab, and let the Crab's dodge and HP soak enemy damage until you need to disengage. Usually by this time, the dedicated fire of three other craft should be having a significant impact.  This probably won't work for battleships but it should easilly handle Terror Ships and their Ilk.  Probably even Fighters and Bombers.  Those statements made, I'll state for the record that I am definitely not an expert on Air Combat as I avoid it as much as possible. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 26, 2016, 05:35:05 am
I've generally found most interceptions to be brutal and short - the Crab just allows you to make sure the brutality is focused their direction.  If you invest in air combat properly though, it'll pay you back nicely, especially when those peacekeeping missions show up.  A Crab plus practically any two interceptors will take lighter military vessels, and for fighters + terror ships, an interceptor dedicated to Lancers can outrange them, leaving for easy clean up. The mid-game interceptions are all about figuring out what gives you the advantage, then leveraging it.  The payoff is teching to the Dragon and powering through everything else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on June 26, 2016, 12:45:03 pm
The Kraken alone can down most military craft already with its 3 heavy guns. Of you don't mind downtime of course.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 26, 2016, 01:41:19 pm
The air combat is anything but balanced, but at least it offers several alternatives, several challenges and some payoff (I hope). Fighters armed with dual Lancers used to dominate the game, as it's the longest-range weapon. Then the idea of 'tank' appeared, which is quite natural concept for jrpg-like model of air combat (a skewed one, I'd say, since 1 ship can protect 3 others).
However, if you comment on the air combat, always clarify what diff level are you using. At highest diff enemy ships, especially the military ones, can dish out at least thrice as much punishment as on the easiest diff (re-fire rate for Battleship and many of its ilk is 23-46 sec on easiest diff, and - if my calcs are correct - 7-14 sec on the highest diff, if OXC is faithful to the original in that matter).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on June 26, 2016, 02:16:22 pm
I've recently got the Bonaventura; but I'm having a weird problem with it...   I can't find my spare equipment during ground missions!

I have often thought that it sucks how vulnerable the spare equipment is, just lying on the ground where it can be easily blown up by a stray rocket; but now that its hidden away somewhere I'm realising how much I rely on being able to access it. In my previous mission, I ran out of ammo during a Reticulan base raid; and in my current mission, I'm pinned down by some heavily armoured enemies that I wasn't equipped to face. I'd usually just grab a more powerful weapon from the equipment pile, but I can't find the pile!

Is this a bug? Is the equipment hidden somewhere? Or is this a new feature of the Bonaventura, designed to protect the equipment?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 26, 2016, 02:29:28 pm
It's secured against being blown up now. Look your ship over more thoroughly before running here in tears, lol (jk) :) Protip: use minimap, your best friend in identifying friend from foe, finding loot and avoiding landmines :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on June 26, 2016, 02:53:22 pm
Wow. ok. I thought I'd checked every tile of the ship...  I didn't notice that there was a secret room with an automatic door!

That is a much safer spot for the equipment. And thanks for helping me find it. :) That protip is strong. I rarely use the minimap in most cases, but it certainly helped here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on June 27, 2016, 02:38:40 am
The air combat is anything but balanced, but at least it offers several alternatives, several challenges and some payoff (I hope). Fighters armed with dual Lancers used to dominate the game, as it's the longest-range weapon. Then the idea of 'tank' appeared, which is quite natural concept for jrpg-like model of air combat (a skewed one, I'd say, since 1 ship can protect 3 others).
However, if you comment on the air combat, always clarify what diff level are you using. At highest diff enemy ships, especially the military ones, can dish out at least thrice as much punishment as on the easiest diff (re-fire rate for Battleship and many of its ilk is 23-46 sec on easiest diff, and - if my calcs are correct - 7-14 sec on the highest diff, if OXC is faithful to the original in that matter).
(I'm playing on the second hardest difficulty.)

I'm currently thinking that the need / payoff of air combat might be too small in the early to mid game. A large research and money investment is required just to get off the ground, and missiles and heavy weapon ammo is expensive to supply. If you do shoot down some ships, and successfully complete the ground assaults, the resources do pay for themselves - but that's only if you have the ability to do the missions and claim the rewards.

I'm finding that I've got plenty of missions without needing to shoot down anything. There are lots of landed ships, enemy bases, progroms, and mini-missions. My ground forces are stretched (I've got about 30 injured soldiers, and 10 more ready to fight); and my vaults are already full of loot. I don't need the additional resources from the crashes, and I don't want to build more barracks to hire more hands to do the missions anyway.

In the previous versions, early-game air combat was almost a necessity. It was possible to shoot down ships right from day 1; and since there were no mini-missions, the crashes were a major source of income. It isn't like that now. Air combat is an expensive and risky optional extra whose payoff is dwarfed by what we're getting for free. Shooting down peacekeeping missions is kind of attractive, but those missions are usually run by fairly strong enemy ships - and so it isn't a strong option until we get better air-combat tech anyway.

I've got one suggestion which may help adjust that balance. The suggestion is to give successful ground assault missions on landed ships a chance of generating crackdowns. (ie. if you defeat all enemies on a landed ship, the ship's faction may choose to do a crackdown mission.) I see three main reasons for making this change:

On the other hand, it would make the early game a bit harder. If early-game crackdowns are going to be a problem for balance, then perhaps the crackdown chance could apply only to medium or larger ships; or perhaps they should only attempt a crackdown if the player's reputation is above a certain threshold.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on June 27, 2016, 03:32:22 am
I assume that the crackdowns not applying to landed ships is due to them having no clue who did it, there aren't any survivors at that point to say who you are and no maydays from a crashing ship, the ship and crew just go silent.

Maybe ransomed crew could give information, especially if your hands are careless with information(which they likely are), so perhaps heavy ransoming might lead to small crackdowns, with research related to actually keeping hidden lowering and eventually removing that chance.

Incidentally, any chance of there being different sized crackdowns based on how big a threat they actually think you are?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on June 27, 2016, 02:13:18 pm
Incidentally, any chance of there being different sized crackdowns based on how big a threat they actually think you are?

Sadly crackdowns cannot really be tweaked; only dice roll to spawn them. Once it's spawned, it goes its usual way. By the way, there is no way to spawn crackdown due to ground assault.
However, I don't think proportional response makes much sense anyway. "There's no kill like overkill".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on June 27, 2016, 06:05:59 pm
Doesn't sound like very much has changed in the air game then. It's still a matter of targets of opportunity. It only really worth chasing things that contain something high value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 27, 2016, 08:30:17 pm
I guess at this point the best way to change the air game significantly would be to overhaul the mechanics completely, or at least make UFOs chase your craft in some cases. And both changes are definitely outside the realm of possibility.
(And both would cause all sorts of new problems, but that's beside the point.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 29, 2016, 03:48:32 pm
As difficult as they air game may be to balance, I must say I am enjoying the slow build-up to being absolutely overpowered against everything that flies.  I took down my first battleship (Blackbeard difficulty), emboldened by the fact that I had recently manufactured a battleship, the Dragon, of my own and armed it with Railguns.  I probably should have taken some more missile firepower, but switching over manufacturing in my fast interceptor base allowed me only some leftover Stingrays on the Brave Whaler.  It was tense, watching the pride and joy of my fleet get chewed up by heavy plasma weapons, but luck was on my side, and she flew away with only 98% damage :p

And what a haul it was - fenced at least $7 million in ship parts and plasma weapons, keeping most of the plastasteel to sell as Battletanks, and I got enough parts to create two Gat Lascannons!  The plasma bombs will be fun once I get a few more parts.  I loved the map for the ship - it feels huge and intimidating, even on the ground, missing most of its lower deck to chain power source explosions.  The deck guns are a great touch, the side firing ports for enemy soldiers are an abomination; it captures the menace of a real-life battleship and hits the mark on being the capstone of enemy shipping.  Can't wait to take down another, I've got some Avalanches with a battleship's name on them!

Edit: The bomber I just looted had more plasma bomb launcher parts - my battleship's definitely getting loaded with one now!  It feels like a huge snowball effect, but I can't say I'm not ecstatic about it!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 29, 2016, 05:52:45 pm
So...will nobody mention Avalanche Missiles? Those things one-shot Cruisers out of the sky. So far, it seems to me that as soon as I get an Avalanche, the airgame becomes pretty much trivial
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on June 30, 2016, 03:26:00 am
Avalanches are a niche missile fabulous against cruisers and battleships but risky on anything smaller given that a max dmg roll outright destroys anything smaller. Anything smaller then a gunship is an auto destroy regardless of dmg roll. Also 1 shot per mount and expensive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 30, 2016, 05:46:07 am
I think the point is that by the time you have Avalanches, anything smaller than a Cruiser is pretty easy to down with your other weapons, and the multiple-interceptor Avalanche salvo makes the larger ships seem trivial as long as you have something to soak up the damage while the missiles are on their way to the target.

The Avalanche represents a best-in-slot against the large and very large military targets - the Hammermite comes close in raw damage, but the range and front-loaded punch of the Avalanche means it wins out in shooting down the enemy while minimizing damage to your lead craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Premier on July 02, 2016, 10:01:15 pm
Hi, let me ask a newbie question (familiar with X-com, but only started Xpiratez).

Reading the forum, I understand that when you start a new game, you're supposed to support yourself by doing ground missions that crop up, since you can't really intercept UFO. So, with that in mind, I started a new game.

Over the course of January, I had 1 (one) ground mission pop up, a Ratman Rodeo. Other than researching stuff and manufacturing something so the runts will pay at least part of their upkeep, that's all I got to do in an entire month. Detecting UFO's doesn't help, either, since they show up, fly away from my radar, disappear, and even if they eventually do land and become vulnerable to a ground assault, they do that far outside my radar range and my Airbus will never find them.


As a new player, let me ask: is this normal? Is it how it's supposed to be early on, only a single mission a month? Or is there some sort of vital but undocumented thing that I'm supposed to do on game start that increases the amound of ground missions spawned? I don't know, am I suppsed to be immediately plonk down a second radar base somewhere to increase coverage; or maybe research an obscure technology that gives me more mission possibilities?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 02, 2016, 11:25:56 pm
Hi Premier!! Welcome to this incredible universe called XPirateZ!!

The new early game is definitely challenging, as you are starting from a very primitive situation and trying to build out from there.   Early missions are somewhat dependent upon the whims of Random Number Generation, so a one mission month is not surprising.  I believe that if you research down the Survival tree, you can unlock a Scorpion hunt mission that can provide very decent cash and resources.  After about month 3 I'd say you should be averaging 3 ground missions per month, and those should allow you to do some slow expansion. 

If you get some Shrine Ship conversion waves, or as I did, an enemy Base Building wave, you can get a huge boost by looting landed ships (frigates (the same map as freighters from the original) were the easiest to take on).   Kill one, steal his gauss weapon, kill more, loot more weapons, etc.).

I also just gave the following advice to someone in the comments of my videos:

Also:  I don't recommend trying to play Piratez blind.  I highly encourage scouting the tech tree with the tech tree viewer.  https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/
Meridian's Current playthrough, though it didn't have the same early start that you are facing will demonstrate amazingly great tactics throughout!  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe0K-GUDQkNJM3d7NgS4gU7u-Pm-4JWk3
Finally:  The X-PirateZ wiki is the Bootypedia over at https://ufopaedia.org.  Slightly out of date, but hugely valuable. https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Piratez

Once again, welcome!  Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 03, 2016, 01:53:34 am
I think that's the hardest thing; almost like there needs to be some sort of "Hey, you are primitive, you got nothing, work your way up the totem pole before you take on the big boys" sort of tutorial.

And unlike ivan, I say, play blind! Nothing like discovering a new toy or finding out your wasted time on a research or that bad guy wasn't so bad at all, but that other guy... well, you just lost your whole crew.

The best thing to keep in mind: this is not meant to be played and finished within one weekend. This is a bottle of good scotch or rum or bourbon or favorite alcohol here, that is meant to be enjoyed over weeks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Rince Wind on July 03, 2016, 03:36:08 am
It is also not that different from the OG. I remember having my first combat in month 2 or three sometimes, at least with TftD.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 03, 2016, 01:15:39 pm
It is also not that different from the OG. I remember having my first combat in month 2 or three sometimes, at least with TftD.

Very true! Actually, i think TftD is significantly worse.

Month 1: No real mission, as the only one is some ship attack that's waaaaay over your head.
Month 2: You managed to shoot down one USO, there's also this Terror where every civilian died, along with most of your crew.
Month 3: You're not gaining enough points, thank you very much, we'll call you.

I think Piratez is much more difficult to lose early, mainly because there are no obligatory terror missions and you get a lot of points from research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 04, 2016, 01:49:59 am
Speaking of difficulty, what exactly gets more difficult when I increase the difficulty level of the game? (ie. what changes if I choose Davy Jones instead of Blackbeard?)

I played my first game on v0.98b, Blackbeard; and now I'm playing my second game on v0.99, Davy Jones. It doesn't really seem significantly harder; but the base management side of things is much 'faster', for what of a better word.

In my first game, I had a shortage of money throughout pretty much the entire game; and also a shortage of armour parts, and a shortage of... well most stuff actually. When my money situation improved, I was using money to buy tac vests so that I wouldn't have to spent my precious armour parts. Also, there were a couple of points in the game where my research outpaced the available research topics (and so I was down to just research data disks, with nothing interested to go towards. I think the research bottleneck was mostly because it took ages for me to see any academy missions - so I guess that's a side issue.

Anyway, in my current game, I've got a huge stockpile of armour parts that I don't know what to do with; and I've got big heaps of gold bars and credit chips in my base that I haven't needed to sell. And the research tree has been wide-open for a long time. I think I've got all the resources that I need to get me well into the late-game tech.

It seems to me that the main difference is that the enemy's tech progresses a bit faster; and so I'm seeing more armoured enemies, and more enemies with good weapons. But I'm not sure if that makes it significantly harder. If I win a mission against well equipt enemies, then I get their equipment. Which means I get way more money, and more stuff to research, and more armour parts / power armour parts / grav units etc. So although it's a bit harder facing stronger foes early, the difficulty doesn't last long because it creates a turbo-boost for the player's economy. The stronger weapons from the enemies can be used to defeat their stronger armour; and everything has a high sell value. The only thing is, I'm not sure if I've got heaps of money because of the difficulty change, or because of the new early-game missions (which have provided me with many many apples). All I know is that I'm getting my 6th base far earlier than before; and the bottle neck for building study rooms is just the construction time - not the money or resources.

In any case, I'm curious as to what gets harder on harder difficulty levels; and I'm wondering if I could make some tweaks to the system so that it could be harder without the game being shorter. (eg. maybe less of an increase to enemy tech progression; and a percentage increase to all maintenance costs, or decrease to all selling values; or perhaps a small reduction to the rate of experience gain for the player's soldiers.) I'm just throwing ideas around. I have no strong opinions about this at the moment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 04, 2016, 03:30:19 am
I dont know all of what changes, but the largest influence on the game is an increase of numbers of mobs per map and consequently their diversity. More mobs means more chances to "roll" advanced units if a map allows it. More advanced units means more chances for captures and faster potential tech progression. More advanced units means more and better gear drops which means more tech and more "wealth".

There is also stat inflation but its comparatively minor. Foes just get better across the board. Something that was bad at shooting before is still bad just the scale has moved on everything. I will grant that there maybe some cases that are exceptional because much depends on equipment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: LadonLegend on July 06, 2016, 06:10:12 am
Hi. I'm fairly new to Piratez, and I was wondering about something.

In the vanilla game, the aliens progressively get stronger as time passes; e.g., the only aliens are sectoids in January, but in august, you have mutons and ethereals. My question is if Piratez does the same, as there isn't an invasion to progress as time passes (as far as I know). I know that a game using the Piratez mod is supposed to be very long, so I'm wondering if there is some sort of gradual progression.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 06, 2016, 07:08:08 am
Welcome LadonLegend! 
Yes there is a gradual progression much longer than the original.  The original was usually complete in 1 - 1.5 years game time.  PirateZ is more along the lines of 4-6 years but possibly maybe be finished sooner.    Early on the enemies are very easy, but graduate to nightmare status over the course of the campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 06, 2016, 04:22:04 pm
Hello x pirates.  I'm enjoying the mod very very much, huge compliments to the team that put it together.

I have a question.  I'm at year 2.5 and my armor research seems to be gapped by having no Damaged Defender Armor.  I've been using regular Defender Armor for more than a game year now, since you can steal it from military transports.  But where the heck does the Damaged Defender Armor come from?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2016, 04:40:42 pm
Ho-hum, looks like atm the only way to get one is to get yourself killed while wearing Defender or Guardian armor. I'll make some workaround for the next release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 06, 2016, 04:41:52 pm
But where the heck does the Damaged Defender Armor come from?

It comes from dead girls wearing normal Defender armor... stop playing so well or stop reloading after they die and you'll get it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 06, 2016, 05:10:40 pm
Guilty as charged, sir.  Thanks for the info.


Side note that I feel everyone deserves to hear:
If you open up piratez.rul and find the entry for your favorite autofire weapon (for example, AUX_TANK_MG) and add the line
explosionSpeed: 5
You fix the problem of the game stopping every time a bullet makes a dust cloud.  In other words, autofire actually looks like autofire, instead of a series of 5 slooooow single shots.

merged - Dioxine

Ho-hum, looks like atm the only way to get one is to get yourself killed while wearing Defender or Guardian armor. I'll make some workaround for the next release.

If I may offer some more research related feedback, I was frustrated by going for more than a year unable to research School Graduation for lack of Advanced Chemistry because the Guild never, ever, ever sent Pest Control guys.

More of those guys would be a good idea imo.  Alternately, make Advanced Chemistry also come from Broken Guild Engineers or some such.

Game is freaking awesome though.  My wife and I both threw our fists in the air when we saw that you could outfit your boarding teams with platemail, shields, and maces.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2016, 06:31:00 pm
Glad you're enjoying it. There's so much lore and stuff that's not in the game yet, though... makes me a bit sad :)

Also, so does explosionspeed finally work? Used to be a dead function. I used     hitAnimation: -1 to fix the most glaring problems (minigun-type weapons). Also, you can increase bullet speed in options.

The problem with PCMs is that upon their introduction, they were appearing AT LEAST every third Pogrom... which was every third month... then lots of changes happened, mainly a lot of new factions. However, the difficulting in researching some key topics like Adv. Chemistry is quite intentional, so it's harder to beeline to your fav techs even if you play with a walkthorugh, and you just might be forced to try something else ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 06, 2016, 09:27:58 pm
Also, so does explosionspeed finally work?
It does.  The reason I looked into it is that the Custom Shooty Gun lacks a hit animation, whereas the Super Shooty gun has one.  the result is that when you 'upgrade', all your soldiers suddenly start shooting way slower.
This inspired me to do a general look&feel pass on a lot of the weapons.  Another good example is the Commando Rifle, which is a ton of fun to use, but has a slow as molasses bullet projectile.  Adding a bulletSpeed: 16 to it removes a ton of frustration.


they were appearing AT LEAST every third Pogrom... which was every third month... then lots of changes happened, mainly a lot of new factions. However, the difficulting in researching some key topics like Adv. Chemistry is quite intentional, so it's harder to beeline to your fav techs even if you play with a walkthorugh, and you just might be forced to try something else ;)

Makes sense.

However the player can run into a situation like I did, where the Guild simply does not do pogroms for over a year (thanks RNG!).  The result is the player wearing tac suits while fighting enemies with heavy gauss.  It gets ugly.

The second outcome, which is arguably even worse, is that it took so long to get adv. chem, while I waited I researched everything else.  So I just invented the Guardian Suit, Muscle Suit, Brute Suit, and I'm showing no signs of stopping.  I feel like I've gone from Tech 2 to Tech 5, and won't be spending any time enjoying the sights and smells of Tech 3 and 4.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 07, 2016, 01:49:09 am
I dont know all of what changes, but the largest influence on the game is an increase of numbers of mobs per map and consequently their diversity. More mobs means more chances to "roll" advanced units if a map allows it. More advanced units means more chances for captures and faster potential tech progression. More advanced units means more and better gear drops which means more tech and more "wealth".

There is also stat inflation but its comparatively minor. Foes just get better across the board. Something that was bad at shooting before is still bad just the scale has moved on everything. I will grant that there maybe some cases that are exceptional because much depends on equipment.
That's probably it then. The harder difficulty makes the ground battles a bit harder; but as a side effect, the base management might get a bit easier due to the extra resources. In my first game I doing calculations to work out if I should spend my money on a couple of brainers for research, or a workshop & runts for income; I'd work out how long it would take for the runts to pay for themselves, and so on. But in my current game, I just buy both - easily, and still have a stockpile of ship engines and things like that just in case. (I think the surplus is also at least in part from the extra early-game missions. Getting a ratman hideout in an apple field is a big cash boost, and I've had a few of those.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 07, 2016, 02:27:53 am
While I can empathize with bad RNG(3.5 years for me) pcm are not the whole problem. It's the toxigun that we are actually after. Shortest route just happens to be pcm because they are the only ones armed with them regularly. The alternative routes are just huge get one free pools.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on July 07, 2016, 03:10:02 am
I think you can also get the research from Ghouls, but they're a nightmare to actually capture.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 07, 2016, 05:09:13 am
a workshop & runts for income

I'm playing difficulty 2.  My first action was a whole lot of piracy for fast cash, my second action was building up a workshop empire and selling grog for profit.  It very, very quickly pays for itself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: niculinux on July 07, 2016, 09:21:05 am
I'm playing difficulty 2.  My first action was a whole lot of piracy for fast cash, my second action was building up a workshop empire and selling grog for profit.  It very, very quickly pays for itself.

Sure it is, but for real challenge (and pain!) i reccomend playing at 4-5 level, or even "ironman" when the stable release will be rolled out. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2016, 10:01:57 am
Mobs at Diff 5 can get quite ridiculous, as we can se eg. in Meridian's LP episode "Megascorpion Hunt" :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: niculinux on July 07, 2016, 03:12:48 pm
Mobs at Diff 5 can get quite ridiculous, as we can se eg. in Meridian's LP episode "Megascorpion Hunt" :)

Sure but as far as i remember, he's playing at level 3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2016, 07:05:04 pm
Well you remember wrong, he's playing at the highest level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Nygmus on July 07, 2016, 08:01:56 pm
I think you can also get the research from Ghouls, but they're a nightmare to actually capture.

You can, and they really are. If I tried to do it again, I'd probably have extra girls haul downed Ghouls and throw them into a chokepoint without weapons so I could move in and zap them once the mission was finished on the rest of the map.

It doesn't help that on my first blind encounter with them, I didn't realize they were immune to so many environmental effects, so I had a ton of smoke from molotovs and black powder bombs choking my girls out while everything else was going on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 08, 2016, 02:11:55 am
You can, and they really are. If I tried to do it again, I'd probably have extra girls haul downed Ghouls and throw them into a chokepoint without weapons so I could move in and zap them once the mission was finished on the rest of the map.

It doesn't help that on my first blind encounter with them, I didn't realize they were immune to so many environmental effects, so I had a ton of smoke from molotovs and black powder bombs choking my girls out while everything else was going on.
I often carried unconscious enemies to a central location where it is easy to keep an eye on them. And if the enemy is something like a ghoul or a star god,which are likely to wake up a lot, then I tend to have someone devoted to standing next to them ready to re-stun. (I use to just use cattle prods for this, but recently I've found that the seductress is the queen of all things sleep related.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 08, 2016, 09:51:16 am
but recently I've found that the seductress is the queen of all things sleep related.)

Good, changes are coming to remedy that problem (it will be still much more effective than cattle prod, if used with right gals, tho) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 08, 2016, 02:46:12 pm
Code: [Select]
  - type: PARROT_ARMOR
    scripts:
      selectUnitSprite: |
        var int temp;
        var int walking;
        unit.isWalking walking;
        if eq walking 0;
          unit.getId temp;
          offsetmod temp 11 0 8; #desync animation of different units
          add temp anim_frame;
          wavegen_saw temp 8 8 7;
          mul sprite_offset 8;
          add sprite_offset 8;
          add sprite_offset temp;
          set sprite_index sprite_offset;
        else;
          add sprite_index sprite_offset;
        end;
        return sprite_index;
Fix for not animated parrot. Now parrot always use wings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Premier on July 08, 2016, 06:52:08 pm
Hi Premier!! Welcome to this incredible universe called XPirateZ!!

The new early game is definitely challenging, as you are starting from a very primitive situation and trying to build out from there.   Early missions are somewhat dependent upon the whims of Random Number Generation, so a one mission month is not surprising.  I believe that if you research down the Survival tree, you can unlock a Scorpion hunt mission that can provide very decent cash and resources.  After about month 3 I'd say you should be averaging 3 ground missions per month, and those should allow you to do some slow expansion.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Indeed, random missions picked up from Month 2 or 3 onwards, and now average maybe 3 or so a month, plus maybe a landed UFO. Besides the scorpion hunts, I've also managed to unlock Warehouse Wars, so I'm slowly getting a wider variety of missions.

And unlike ivan, I say, play blind! Nothing like discovering a new toy or finding out your wasted time on a research or that bad guy wasn't so bad at all, but that other guy... well, you just lost your whole crew.

Well, two different opinions on how to approach research as a newbie, and I see the merit in both. I do like the idea of going in blind, but I think the game could hold the player's hand just a tiny bit more. Let me explain: suppose I have looted a World War Two Machinegun (I'm making this all up, mind you), and now I have "World War Two Machinegun" as an option in my research window. What do I get if I research it? Will I be able to buy it on the Black Market from now on? Or maybe not, because I haven't researched "How to Buy Machineguns on the Black Market" first, which I don't even know exists, since it's not even showing up as an option. Or do I get to manufacture it? Quite possibly not, because I haven't researched "How to Build Our Own Guns" yet, and I haven't done it because, again, I'm not even aware at this point that this research topic exists. It would be great if, for example, the game would somehow say "Don't bother researching specific looted weapons if you don't have the relevant prerequisite to build them yet, and if you want to get that prerequisite, then maybe you should head down Research Path X"

The way I see it, this is sort of an in-character / out-of-character distinction of knowledge, if you'll excuse my pen-and-paper RPg slang. In character, if I was an actual mutant sky pirate living in an actual gonzo post-apocalyptic word, and I already had some familiarity with flintlock muskets and pistols, and then found a Desert Eagle, I would be probably able to make some reasonable guesses about it: I would probably recognise it's generally a similar technology but much more advanced, and that if I want to make my own in the future, maybe I should start by looking at how to include tiny amounts of gunpowder inside a hollow shot and how to make metal parts so nice and smooth a.k.a. machining technology, and I would be able to get the concept across to my Brainers, so they'll know what direction to research in. This is something the Sky Pirate leader should be able to do. Out of character, however, as a human playing this computer game, I can't do this (even though my "in-game avatar" could), because the game mechanics get in the way - in other words, I only have a limited list of research topics, and maybe their names are too obscure for me to figure out which one would lead me in this direction, even though I clearly know the direction I want to go in.

Not sure how I would address this. Maybe - in the above case of looted weapons - researching any one of them (within a certain group, like "20th century firearms"), a new research item could appear titled "How to build more guns like the ones we've looted", and researching that would give you a technology report that gives you a general, partial roadmap, like "OK, we'll need to learn more about Violence, then we should learn about Primitive Firearms, then we should learn about Machining (but we'll probably need to find some equipment to study first), and THEN we'll be able to replicate specific researched weapon types." Or something like that. Basically, some extra in-game information that gives the player a partial insight into the tech tree, representing the in-character ability to say "Look, I know what I want, let me think about how to progress in that general direction." At least that's my first impression right now. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 08, 2016, 07:04:26 pm
I couldn't have said it better. Thanks for the in-depth explanation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 08, 2016, 09:20:48 pm
Nice write up, Premier!  And some of what you described has recently been included in the game.  i.e. once you research a certain number of pistols, you get a "Pistols Summary" topic that gives basic info about them and can act as a further research gate, etc.   

At the most basic level, researching any weapon will tell you its stats.  If your manufacturing tech is high enough, it will either also unlock making ammo for it, or even possibly manufacturing it.  The tricky thing about researching weapons, is that there are alot of "two-fers" that may give you these for free: enemies talk about certain weapons when research, reading a Gun Almanach etc, pops these as freebies too.  So its not really clear how quickly you should rush to research weapons as you are playing.  I generally try to research all the books etc, and captives before I burn through weapons. 

But yeah, its hard to make a game that holds your hand enough, while still providing the thrill of discovery.  Part of the deliberate design of this mod is replayability.  Your first attempt is sort of expected to end in failure, allowing you to come back in smarter and enjoy it more.  Its also designed so that playthroughs will take on different characters due to the ways enemy will spawn, and certain missions will play as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 09, 2016, 06:50:53 am
Interesting I go at it from the other end. Weapons and other end products being researched first shrinks the freebie pools, most of which are quite large. Shrinking the pools let's you use those freeibes to link to rare or otherwise hard to get items.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on July 09, 2016, 09:28:11 pm
I go in order:
1 - cheap weapons (the ones I don't care to use, thus don't care to waste. This way they get out of the getOneFree pools)
2 - easy to find enemies (the GOs and guild security types, and spartans/raiders). Those guys are pretty besides weapons and slavery, and it's often more useful to get the weapon info without wasting the weapon.
3 - gun almanachs (besides telling you about weapons, they're not useful, so might as well use them!)
4 - fancier guns (like sniper rifles early on, since I am loathe to waste them)

This uses the least valuable items first, and makes the most out of everything I feel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 10, 2016, 01:00:17 am
What does the Prospector craft do?  I just built one and it seems to behave like any other craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 10, 2016, 01:12:25 am
Although I havn't checked it myself, the fact that it is said to "make money" probably means that it has a Reversed Maintenance Cost...  Rather than costing you money to keep, it generates a little bit instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 10, 2016, 02:29:26 am
Reversed Maintenance Cost...

Good guess!  I just checked my monthly costs screen.  It makes 400k per month

I immediately went too complicated, and assumed it was going to deposit Ore into my general stores that I'd have to smelt for scrap.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 10, 2016, 03:43:53 am
I go in order:
1 - cheap weapons (the ones I don't care to use, thus don't care to waste. This way they get out of the getOneFree pools)
2 - easy to find enemies (the GOs and guild security types, and spartans/raiders). Those guys are pretty besides weapons and slavery, and it's often more useful to get the weapon info without wasting the weapon.
3 - gun almanachs (besides telling you about weapons, they're not useful, so might as well use them!)
4 - fancier guns (like sniper rifles early on, since I am loathe to waste them)

This uses the least valuable items first, and makes the most out of everything I feel.
I do pretty much the same as this; but I don't research very many enemies - for two reasons. One reason is that I value the captures more highly as slaves. The other reason is that my research can't keep up with my captures. I've always got lots of important things to research, and so researching additional security guards and such is pretty low priority.

Speaking of slaves though; my slave army is so effective that it seems a bit silly. I get more storage space from slaves than I do from actual physical vaults. Slaves make Large Vaults just look like a waste of time and space. I can't help but wonder, what are all these slaves actually doing? They don't need sleeping quarters, they don't need upkeep; and yet somehow they are able to effectively store large quantities of loot without taking up any additional space. How do they do it? Are they storing the loot in tents outside the base or something? -- Sometimes I think maybe there should be limits on the effectiveness of slaves. eg. maybe slaves in a base can only double the physical storage capacity; additional slaves after that have no effect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 10, 2016, 04:21:44 am
You are building buildings out of slaves.

There is a whole Slave tent City that is Log Cabins made out of Slaves, rather than Logs... 

There are so many slaves that they are worshipped as natural mutant wonders of the world, and donations of food and glittering prizes sustain them so you do not have to upkeep them, as pilgrims come from wide around in order to worship and prostrate themselves at the feet of the glorious slave tower...

ll you are doing is storing your excess supplies in the Slave-Log Cabins...

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 10, 2016, 06:28:22 am
Fair enough. I guess that makes sense.  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 10, 2016, 07:11:45 am
ALL HAIL THE SLAVE-LOG-CABIN-TOWER OF AWESOMNESS
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 10, 2016, 09:11:39 am
Does the Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance research actually do anything?  Because I just researched it, and two months later I saw a Sway Local Government mission happen, and the nation dropped out.

(Yes I also did the followup *Family Ties*)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 10, 2016, 09:29:08 am
Does the Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance research actually do anything?  Because I just researched it, and two months later I saw a Sway Local Government mission happen, and the nation dropped out.

(Yes I also did the followup *Family Ties*)

IAFAIK, once the sway operation begins in the region, it's unstoppable. But Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance should prevent other regions from being swayed in the future.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 10, 2016, 02:48:33 pm
Two months later sounds a bit much though, right? Do missions really last that long?

On a somewhat related note, in my current game I've been getting heaps of sway government missions in North America. The thing is, even after all of that continent has been swayed there have still been a few sway government ships in that area. Is that normal? It seems weird to me. Surely that can't accomplish any more than they have already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 10, 2016, 05:08:03 pm
I ran into that on my campaign to, but in North Africa.  All the nations were swayed, but I got repeating waves there to farm for cash and loot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: KateMicucci on July 11, 2016, 08:22:40 pm
Fantastic game. Absolutely fantastic. I spent all weekend playing without taking a break to see friends, go to the gym, study or even eat.

I have a few thoughts in no particular order:
1. The number of explosive pipes in some pogrom maps is excessive. I'd rather they didn't explode.
2. The difficulty seems to have increased a lot since "upgrading" my airbus to a skyranger. Strange that 12-14 gals doesn't make things easier than 6.
3. The tech level of enemies in pogroms is usually much higher than the tech level of enemies in other missions. I got a pogrom with four cyberdiscs when the only AT weapons I had were a few crates of violence.
4. Trying to leave the skyranger is very difficult. Especially during pogroms, when I'm usually surrounded, and many of the enemies carry explosives.
5. The only pogroms that I've felt were managable so far were against humanists. The first were mostly the klansmen kind, which I beat with 6 grils, losing 0. The 2nd were the brown and blue kind with a lot of RPGs and lasers, which I beat with 14 girls, losing 1, with most of the rest wounded.
6. Even a bandit pogrom was too difficult for me. There were almost as many enemies as in Meridian's LP but my gurls had generally worse equipment available, and the terrain was absolutely nightmarish.
7. Are pogroms meant to be so difficukt that you often have to abort them or am I just bad at video games?
8. I have bootypedia entries for boarding guns, hand cannons, blunderbusses and other weapons that I don't actually have in the beginning. Intentional?
9. Is there a way to make the alien advisor not stand in the front door of the skyranger?
10. I would rather fight three or four big scorpions than a dozen tiny scorpions
11. There is a merc base. Mercs same like too much to handle unless I simply chuck crates of violence at each one. Is it safe to leave it alone for a while?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 11, 2016, 08:38:44 pm
Welcome Kate! 

1. Yeah, I hate that map too, but its random. You won't always get it for every pogrom.
2. I'm not a fan of the Skyranger.  I'd recommend switching out to the Pachyderm when you can. Doors that close are Life Savers.  The skranger is just so vulnerable its really a detriment.  Standard Skyranger tactics are throwing smoke grenades on the ramp and skipping the first turn, hoping that nothing shoots you on the between turn.  When you get to the Bonaventura, you will have one of the best landers for the game.
3. Pogroms are designed to be tough. Much harder than the standard early missions.
4.  See 2 above.
5. See 3 above
6. Some pogroms can be managed with lots of smoke and scout and snipe tactics.
7. Some pogroms are just worth aborting. You take a points penalty, but if it means you won't lose your entire crew and the drop ship, I have no problem aborting.  I sometimes try to make early pogroms a snatch and grab. The goal here is to take down a few enemies and snatch their bodies and loot (maybe higher tech weapons) and get back to the ship and abort.  This may provide some researchable items that would other wise be available sooner.
8.  You do start with some basic understanding of some items/weapons though you may not have access to purchase or make them yet. This is as designed.
9.  Not really. All the non-soldier units have assigned spots.  This is pretty inopportune in the skyranger for the advisor, but if it was a Tank, with heavy armor, it might be nice because it would protect the other troops.
10. I like the little scorps.  So much reaction training!
11. Leave the Merc  Base alone.  I have one too in my campaign.  The only thing enemy bases really do is generate a small amount of negative points each month and a supply mission.  You can farm the supply ships if you are brave and bold, but with Mercs, I'd avoid it entirely until you have end game armor.  Keeping the merc base around will also ensure you can farm the base for Merc gear that is actually needed for some of the late game items. :)

Though its a bit out of date, there is some more great info on the wiki at: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Piratez
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 12, 2016, 03:35:58 pm
TIL:  Personal computers glow! :)

Soloing a night mission, thump an altar boy with my tower shield and when he drops he lights up his tile a little! 

Step over him and pick it up, and its dark again!  AWESOME! Love It!

Cheers, Ivan :D

Glowing on the ground with the body.:
(https://i.imgur.com/6zzCYRz.png?1) (https://imgur.com/6zzCYRz)

Glows in the Hand:
(https://i.imgur.com/q3nlmoa.png?1) (https://imgur.com/q3nlmoa)

Dark in the Inventory:
(https://i.imgur.com/ZfJWtHs.png?1) (https://imgur.com/ZfJWtHs)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 12, 2016, 04:48:07 pm
Woo, so the flare-type objects glow when you hold them now? Great! This calls for an option to disable personal lighting by default - you'll have to use flares, torches (and possibly, big powerful flashligths?) to see in the dark!

As for the research optimization, there is no easy answer. My pattern is like this.
1. use almanachs and ship documents, and maybe govt papers first; disks... it depends.
2. burn through easy interrogations (altar boys, civilians) to some degree to reduce the list of freebies on important captures
3. (intertwined with 2): research key weapons and items, like sniper rifle or Plastasteel or Small Ship Engine - it's more expensive than if you get it a freebie, but you need it.
4. research key important captures and grind mid-level interrogations (like Guild Sailors or Spartans)
5. Only then grind important captures, like engineers - you should hit some good stuff from that.

The problem is, the lists of freebies are huge and overfocusing just on that can lead to serious lags in your overall progress :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 12, 2016, 05:26:50 pm
Woo, so the flare-type objects glow when you hold them now? Great! This calls for an option to disable personal lighting by default - you'll have to use flares, torches (and possibly, big powerful flashligths?) to see in the dark!

I was just about to ask about flashlights, have you decided if they're gonna be a thing (maybe working like a directional flare)?

Also, it's been a long time since i played the mod (decided to wait for 1.0), and back then the stealth system was too impractical to use (e.g. lack of transparancy regarding detection by enemies).

Is it the same or is it viable now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 12, 2016, 05:39:50 pm
decided to wait for 1.0

Probably not a good idea... we'll most likely see 0.99a-z and then 0.99.1a-z and so on :) For some unfathomable reason both developers and modders of OpenXcom are more afraid of versioning and milestones than vampires are of sunlight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 12, 2016, 06:40:24 pm
Probably not a good idea... we'll most likely see 0.99a-z and then 0.99.1a-z and so on :) For some unfathomable reason both developers and modders of OpenXcom are more afraid of versioning and milestones than vampires are of sunlight.

I think I am partially to blame... I told Dioxine once that 1.0 needs a proper intro. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 12, 2016, 06:54:32 pm
Woo, so the flare-type objects glow when you hold them now? Great! This calls for an option to disable personal lighting by default - you'll have to use flares, torches (and possibly, big powerful flashligths?) to see in the dark!
Already done ;P you can set how much light soldier armor is giving when you have lights on. Setting it to 0 will remove all lights.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 12, 2016, 06:58:41 pm
Is it the same or is it viable now?

Night fighting is MUCH more viable now.  With the ALT key, you get a directional arrow to show where units are facing.  With the Lights Off, you can still see your gals, and the enemy (when you are in range) to spot/target them that way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 12, 2016, 07:44:03 pm
Already done ;P you can set how much light soldier armor is giving when you have lights on. Setting it to 0 will remove all lights.

Good, I can set it to 4 then, so you see something yet you count as being in 'darkness'.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 12, 2016, 07:53:37 pm
Good, I can set it to 4 then, so you see something yet you count as being in 'darkness'.

I'll chime in here:  with the PC in my hand, I passed a turn, and even though I was somewhat lit up, my gal didn't draw fire.  The enemy moved around within sight but didn't fire in my direction and seemed not to notice me.  So whatever lightlevel you gave the PC seems to work well. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 12, 2016, 09:23:10 pm
But... but then you'd be walking around with a small but bright light from the PC's screen... Why wouldn't you be noticed?
As for the light emitted by armour, then it's different.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 12, 2016, 11:52:29 pm
I thought the Gals (Is there an official name for the sexy female mutants) had better natural night vision than the purebloods and that the illumination was a representation of their vision rather than absolute lighting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 13, 2016, 12:16:33 am
"Space Babe Pirates!"  8)

Unfortunately the Night Vision mechanics in the current engine leave a lot to be desired.  With the default "lights on" in the battlescape, your gals act like they are a light source (at some light value - Less than an electro flare?  ).  Unfortunately, this also lights them up for the enemy.  Though the enemy only has 9 NV (at the Pureblood level), this represents what they can see in the dark.  They can actually see 30 tiles now, so if you are lit up within that 30 tile radius, they can spot you and target you with your "Lights On." 

Hitting the "L" turns their "personal Lights" off and puts them in the dark.  Now they may stumble around like drunk cats, but they can't be seen.  Their innate night vision of 12 tiles gives them a 3 tile advantage in the dark, so it makes for a possible tactical advantage.  Just abuse the "Alt" key, and pop the lights on and off if you need to see briefly.  I recommend moving after turning the lights off, but I don't know if it really makes a difference.  It just feels right if nothing else. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 13, 2016, 12:27:00 am
It would be nice if like, targets revealed by night vision was colored with a green filter or something to indicate that it was not visible normally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2016, 01:02:25 am
It would be nice if like, targets revealed by night vision was colored with a green filter or something to indicate that it was not visible normally.

No can do, OXCom doesn't support hi-color gfx, it's 100% palette-based. It'd be really cool though.
Also like I wrote before, I intend to disable default illumination and replace it with lo-level illumination, so you can see your gals somewhat, but their light doesn't give them away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 13, 2016, 01:09:44 am
Monochrome then?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 13, 2016, 02:41:07 am
(Is there an official name for the sexy female mutants)

Gals, deyz loike boyz, but moar kunnin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: HelmetHair on July 13, 2016, 05:35:13 am
Wow.... I am so excited about this. Am I seeing a lighting engine upgrade? I mean really? WOW!

Like unreasonably excited.

Ohh my goodness.

Does that mean that we might expect control of lighting on things like powered armor that would reasonably have lights on them?

Does that mean we could find ourselves with flashlights, Chemical lights, maybe even a handheld spotlight? Is my dream of beating a sectoid to death with a maglite on the horizon?

Is there a possibility of different light colors?  So like chemical lights giving off that creepy green glow?

Wow.

-HH
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 13, 2016, 11:52:12 am
I thought the Gals (Is there an official name for the sexy female mutants)

The mutants you lead are members of a near-human species called ubers. Most Raiders are also ubers.
This species evolved to metabolize hellerium, which gives them extraordinary physical capabilities, but also make them biologically dependant on hellerium. So they can only live in particularly irradiated zones or they must regularly take hellerium supplements to survive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2016, 12:49:45 pm
Wow.... I am so excited about this. Am I seeing a lighting engine upgrade? I mean really? WOW!

We can only hope, although I don't see a hero who would take this job... OXC upgrade to today's gfx capabilities is IMO long overdue. I love pixel and 256 color palette, but forced 256 colors and 256-colors-rendered-in-true-color are two very different things. All these stuff you talk about, and more would be possible if it was so, like colored lights and dynamic shadows, without making the job of the artist harder.

However the possibility (and reason) to have a maglite and beating someone to death with it will be introduced in the next ver., at least that much is already possible with double upgrade of stuff glowing when held in hand and possibility to set illumination level on armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 13, 2016, 03:09:39 pm
So, um, is there anything after the Siberia Base or did I just fight through an army of power armoured Nazis for fun?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 13, 2016, 04:41:53 pm
So, um, is there anything after the Siberia Base or did I just fight through an army of power armoured Nazis for fun?

Heh.. I don't know either... I'm half way through my Save-Scum-erific slog myself.  I'd heard that you could get a huge tech boost from it, but so far haven't come across anything extraordinary.  There's a significant amount of beam weapons and it looks like I'll abscond with some baby nukes, but I haven't come across any researchable documents yet.  That said, I haven't been able to get to a lot of the corpses I've dropped, but here's hoping.  Frankly, it feels like minus voodoo mind rape, this is the toughest mission of the entire game.  The fact that you can get it in the first year boggles my mind a bit.  I'm still hoping for a leg up out of it though.  We'll see.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Searmay on July 13, 2016, 08:37:19 pm
There are some files. Russian files. They're neat. Also: you don't actually have to do it straight away, because the mission comes back every month until you do it.

My problem on the other hand: I'm late in year three and the only church activity I've had for two years has been temple raids. And nothing at all from the Star Gods. While the Academy and Guild do practically the same thing every damn month. It's bizarre and not very fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 13, 2016, 08:43:12 pm
tech boost

The base contains
the Russian Files
which are required research to produce
infinite ammo lasers.

This research is also required to make a bunch of other unrelatedish stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 14, 2016, 12:51:20 am
So, is there a chance that I blew these files up during my Tornado spam?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 14, 2016, 01:13:08 am
So, is there a chance that I blew these files up during my Tornado spam?

I suppose its possible.  I came away with 3 copies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 14, 2016, 01:19:38 am
In my game, the entire top level was aflame....

...  Mostly because I went into the fight with Power Armour and half the enemies up top were Snap-Shooting with Baby Nukes......

Still got them, because they were on guys downstairs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 14, 2016, 06:40:12 am
I also got three copies.  I'm not sure where they were located physically, I just saw them on the mission success loot screen.

I pounded the surface pretty flat with Tank Howitzers, so I'm guessing they're subterranian.


If you got zero copies, you're probably stuck.  You could potentially edit the game files so that ore processes into russian files instead of metal temporarily.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2016, 09:01:26 am
Not stuck, you can do the mission over another month. The files are guaranteed to spawn so if you blow them up, it's your fault. Also this mission is in no way required to finish the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 14, 2016, 09:46:39 am
I think I figured it out. The files are carried by the Leaders and obliterating them with a heavy gauss doesn't help in the recovery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2016, 05:36:38 pm
I've been testing the new lighting options, brought by Yankes with his great update. I've reduced the light produced by pirates from 15 to 5 (maximum setting which still counts as being in darkness).
This has twofold impact, which I consider favorable:
- You need actual sources of light, like torches, to lit up the night now;
- In that light-level-5 state, the pirates and their surrounings are somewhat visible now - while staying hidden from day vision.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 14, 2016, 06:37:00 pm
This has twofold impact, which I consider favorable:
- You need actual sources of light, like torches, to lit up the night now;
- In that light-level-5 state, the pirates and their surrounings are somewhat visible now - while staying hidden from day vision.

I love you!  I want to have your children! ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 14, 2016, 06:43:07 pm
Now we can watch a bunch of black pixels with an arrow on top shoot at another bunch of black pixels with an arrow on top... on a black background.

What a joy! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2016, 06:54:52 pm
No sir, that's how it was before. Now it's a bunch of dark pixels on a very dark background. Progress! :)
Also, all Powered Armor has built-in strong lighting if you prefer the ways of the old and don't want to use flares :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on July 14, 2016, 07:29:53 pm
Great news on the night ops! I tended to avoid the night missions so far as it's too annoying to do the fight blind (compared to vanilla where you might as well light up the whole place since ennemies see the same in night or day, so night is an added challenge instead of a whole different gameplay that's not well translated to player perceptions).

Would it also be possible to make enemies glow to that level instead of being completely dark? Not easier to spot, but actually visible-ish in the dark instead of invisible to the player despite having been seen by the gals.

Not stuck, you can do the mission over another month. The files are guaranteed to spawn so if you blow them up, it's your fault. Also this mission is in no way required to finish the game.
Given that it's an enjoyable mission and a good source of otherwise rare-ish loot (power armor parts and high powered weapons including baby nukes), I'm thinking now I should have repeated it a few times! But the risk is pretty high too. Maybe with good psi-gals!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2016, 07:51:45 pm
Would it also be possible to make enemies glow to that level instead of being completely dark? Not easier to spot, but actually visible-ish in the dark instead of invisible to the player despite having been seen by the gals.

Not sure if it can work, but even if it does - you'd see minute variations in shadow depth wherever an enemy is, spotted or not. So it'd mean an auto-spot up to 40 tiles for someone with sharp eyes, with up to 2 tiles error. Just use an AOE weapon then...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: HelmetHair on July 14, 2016, 07:52:19 pm
That is real progress, D!

Are all lights still a radius around  a soldier?

Are lights switchable on and off at will yet?

Does illuminating yourself in front of an enemy draw reaction fire?

Are we able to generate a cone of light yet?

This is really exciting.

-HH
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Riph on July 14, 2016, 07:58:18 pm
avoid the night missions so far as it's too annoying to do the fight blind

Now we can watch a bunch of black pixels with an arrow on top shoot at another bunch of black pixels with an arrow on top.

Where did this idea come from, and why is it so prevalent?  You can cover an entire map in electro flares, leaving a puddle of shadow for your troops to hide in.  The entire mission becomes a breezy-easy shooting gallery, with all the enemies illuminated for the brief seconds they exist before they're torn apart by reaction fire.  Night missions are easier and faster than day missions.


Unrelated note, has anyone been able to research or produce the Astrocaster?  I researched Battle Pipes (which worked fine), and that unlocked the Heavy Metal research.  I did that research, and unusually, I got zero feedback (no Bootypedia screen, no nothing.)  Is the Astrocaster hooked into the research tree at present?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2016, 08:06:58 pm
Pedia entry got lost in the process for some reason, but you should be able to manufacture it once researched.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 14, 2016, 08:16:44 pm
Are we able to generate a cone of light yet?
Crating cone shape is tricky. Biggest problem is that up till now rotation of unit do not affect light or visibility for other units. With directional light it will need to.
Depending how hard it will be to fix all corner cases I could consider implementing it.

Where did this idea come from, and why is it so prevalent?  You can cover an entire map in electro flares, leaving a puddle of shadow for your troops to hide in.  The entire mission becomes a breezy-easy shooting gallery, with all the enemies illuminated for the brief seconds they exist before they're torn apart by reaction fire.  Night missions are easier and faster than day missions.
do you know that OXCE support limited time flares? :>
(https://wolfdragon.net/wp-content/uploads/creeper.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: HelmetHair on July 14, 2016, 09:36:40 pm
Crating cone shape is tricky. Biggest problem is that up till now rotation of unit do not affect light or visibility for other units. With directional light it will need to.
Depending how hard it will be to fix all corner cases I could consider implementing it.

(https://wolfdragon.net/wp-content/uploads/creeper.jpg)

This has been one area that X-Com has lacked for a very long time...the humble handheld flashlight.

Would you kindly, pretty please implement this? :)

Could you define corner cases for me so I understand what you are trying to tell me?

-HH
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 14, 2016, 09:54:19 pm
This has been one area that X-Com has lacked for a very long time...the humble handheld flashlight.

Would you kindly, pretty please implement this? :)

Could you define corner cases for me so I understand what you are trying to tell me?

-HH
e.g. We have normal case like you simply turn around your unit. Its easy to handle. Now we can have rotation caused by reaction shoot. It happens elsewhere in code it should be handled too. This is your first corner case. Next what we should do when unit die? Its turn too, I should implement rotation of light in that case too? Would it not look strange and artificial if everyone who die, point its light in one direction?

And probably more situation that need handling that I can recall without analyzing code. Sometimes some "simple things"  could be tip of the iceberg.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 14, 2016, 11:06:46 pm
I tried the "Use alt to see the arrows" method. I gave up because I kept tripping over stumps in forest maps. Maybe worth it when you are fighting serious threats, but otherwise it's a waste of time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 14, 2016, 11:19:17 pm
I think I am partially to blame... I told Dioxine once that 1.0 needs a proper intro. :P

Proper intro, as in opening cinematic, or more like tutorial missions?

Also, what's the ETA on 1.0?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 15, 2016, 01:17:17 am
I've been testing the new lighting options, brought by Yankes with his great update. I've reduced the light produced by pirates from 15 to 5 (maximum setting which still counts as being in darkness).
This has twofold impact, which I consider favorable:
- You need actual sources of light, like torches, to lit up the night now;
- In that light-level-5 state, the pirates and their surrounings are somewhat visible now - while staying hidden from day vision.

So looks like my tactic of throwing flares everywhere isn't a bad idea now... especially with "Attack of the Violent Flare Females". :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2016, 09:52:16 am
Proper intro, as in opening cinematic, or more like tutorial missions?

Also, what's the ETA on 1.0?

Intro = Opening animation.

ETA impossible to ascertain. My IRL job is of a mercenary nature so any long-range plans are impossible to make.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on July 15, 2016, 09:28:50 pm
Where did this idea come from, and why is it so prevalent?  You can cover an entire map in electro flares, leaving a puddle of shadow for your troops to hide in.  The entire mission becomes a breezy-easy shooting gallery, with all the enemies illuminated for the brief seconds they exist before they're torn apart by reaction fire.  Night missions are easier and faster than day missions.

Well, if you play on terrain bowling ball, yeah, sure, you can camp in your little shadow and snipe everyone in their bright light, but with terrain that often doesn't work. It's probably doable with a bunch of gals in flying armors, but I prefer other armors. Also, eventually you'll have to approach that UFO and playing "pickup the flare so I stay in the dark" is a very boring game, much like "playing fetch with flares while advancing in the shade".

Add the fact that sniping loadouts aren't particularly suited to breaching and that I prefer mid/close ranged combat, which, in the shade means stumbling on stumps or even trees and makes pathing and getting a LoF when you don't see the terrain. Having a "safe radius" of light around the gals to be able to play commando style and seeing something, and having variations in light levels with different armors are an improvement over the previous situation for sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: karadoc on July 16, 2016, 02:54:57 am
Recently my rough strategy is to play night missions to try to take advantage of the shadows - but if it turns out that I'm facing an enemy with good night vision, or the terrain is difficult, or I'm just getting sick of darkness - then I throw out a light crystal to turn it into a day mission. Sometimes I'll just drop the light crystal at the start of my turn, and pick it up at the end to try to get the best of both worlds.

Light crystals aren't easy to come by though...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 16, 2016, 07:42:37 am
Is "Light Crystal" some sort of slang for "Chinese Dragon"?

Because that's what I use in those circumstances.....  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 17, 2016, 04:58:58 am
Light crystals are rare super flares only high level stargods have them. Neat thing about them is that they ignore terrain. So light a cave from the other side of a hill.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 17, 2016, 08:42:15 am
Never Found 'em...

...


Quite Possibly because, y'know, of the way I light the terrain....  As I stated above :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 17, 2016, 12:50:50 pm
I made a minor "plasma" recolor to the weapon clip and details from the hydra lasser and i would like to see what you think about it,however i never made any uploads for anything and i wonder how i would be able to show the image here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 18, 2016, 03:36:47 am
Speaking of...Chinese Dragon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 18, 2016, 09:57:57 am
Speaking of...Chinese Dragon?
The missile that levels 2 entire blocks?You better make some research before using that in a pogrom
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: DracoGriffin on July 18, 2016, 04:10:03 pm
An X-Com Enemy Unknown mod for XCOM2? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=722131988

Well Dioxine, I'll be waiting for the glorious X-PirateZ2 3D release now. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 18, 2016, 04:26:44 pm
Well Dioxine, I'll be waiting for the glorious X-PirateZ2 3D release now. :P

Send me over 20 slaves versed in Unreal Engine + $200k for their food, shelter and PCs, and you got it :P I will even pay you back with interest within 2 years or so :) I can send you a hostage to prove my word, you only need to feed him & treat him good!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 18, 2016, 04:38:45 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8voV8mV3Zk

Mayor: "Dr. Wernstrom, can you save my city?"
Wernstrom: "Of course, but it'll cost you. First I'll need tenure."
Mayor: "Done."
Wernstrom: "And a big research grant."
Mayor: "You got it!"
Wernstrom: "Also, access to a lab and five graduate students...at least three of them Chinese."
Mayor: "Did...all right, done. What's your plan?"
Wernstrom: "What plan? I'm set for life. Au revoir, suckers!"
Leela: "That rat! Do something!"
Mayor: "I wish I could, but he's got tenure."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 18, 2016, 05:12:29 pm
There's a new PirateZ streamer on Twitch btw.: https://www.twitch.tv/gaudium007
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 18, 2016, 06:42:25 pm
Wernstrom: "What plan? I'm set for life. Au revoir, suckers!"

That's where the hostage part comes in, sadly forgotten by modern business :) Also a tenure is last thing I want!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 18, 2016, 07:14:51 pm
Now i can see myself using some lesser weapons a bit more often now that we dont have basicaly unlimited chemicals
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 19, 2016, 04:45:16 am
Xcom2 already has animations for kidnapping civilians! Unfortunately we'd need more muscular female models. Everyone in Xcom2 is hella skinny, even the guys got downgraded from the last game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 19, 2016, 09:53:59 am
Must be that soylent diet, maybe they're too poor to afford meat? ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 19, 2016, 11:22:57 am
Was the ability to disable ship weapons in interception a openxcom addition or was it meridians magic?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 19, 2016, 03:26:33 pm
Was the ability to disable ship weapons in interception a openxcom addition or was it meridians magic?

OpenXcom.
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Differences_to_X-COM_(OpenXcom)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 19, 2016, 03:44:04 pm
Has anyone managed to down a drop ship without blowing all three hellerioum engines in the middle?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 19, 2016, 08:39:04 pm
Xcom2 already has animations for kidnapping civilians! Unfortunately we'd need more muscular female models. Everyone in Xcom2 is hella skinny, even the guys got downgraded from the last game.

There's also the fact that the xcom2 looks just like xcom...which looks like stylized shit imo...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Roxis231 on July 20, 2016, 02:47:06 am
For those who are interested My Alternate Graphics Mod has been updated.

Now you can view the alternate armours in the Bootypedia - though they still need better text.

Also the Mod Portal is working again - I've uploaded a copy there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 20, 2016, 08:08:09 am
Who are these escaped lunatics I'm paying 18 grand a month to?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 20, 2016, 08:16:29 am
Pilots I believe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Roxis231 on July 20, 2016, 08:18:52 am
Actually its your starting Gals - the six you get when you start a new game - I believe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 20, 2016, 03:05:04 pm
Yup, its your starting gals.  ;)  They are a little cheaper than the standard hand because they don't come with Adventurer gear, iirc.  They also make the early days of penny pinching just that little bit easier.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 20, 2016, 03:17:59 pm
They're cheaper beause they're not mercenaries you hire, but your original gang.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Devon_v on July 20, 2016, 06:42:13 pm
Must be that soylent diet, maybe they're too poor to afford meat? ;)
You winky that, but several characters in game imply that that's exactly what ADVENT Burgers are. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 20, 2016, 07:00:38 pm
You mean burgers with BRUSSELS? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 21, 2016, 03:20:22 am
I gotta say, the thing with spacesuits really screwed me over. Instead of a kill team of Blitz Gals supported by heavy armour and psionic artillery, I got an army of unarmoured slowpokes and some heavies. Would it at least be possible to make their original armour return during the second phase of the assault?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 21, 2016, 11:32:31 am
I gotta say, the thing with spacesuits really screwed me over. Instead of a kill team of Blitz Gals supported by heavy armour and psionic artillery, I got an army of unarmoured slowpokes and some heavies. Would it at least be possible to make their original armour return during the second phase of the assault?
Im sure that this is beyond the capabilites of the engine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 21, 2016, 11:37:30 am
Im sure that this is beyond the capabilites of the engine.

But not very far.
The original armor already returns after the mission, I can make it return also in the 2nd/3rd/x-th... phase of the assault if there's a need for that...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 21, 2016, 11:38:07 am
Would it at least be possible to make their original armour return during the second phase of the assault?

Don't be silly ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 21, 2016, 03:49:13 pm
PSA:  There is a new version of the Alt-Corpses Mod published now.  It shows if units are stunned or wounded as well as just dead.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4424.msg60744.html#msg60744

Also, you can also have your Parrot flap his wings all the time if you like.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4451.msg67386.html#msg67386
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 21, 2016, 04:06:29 pm
Don't be silly ;)

Hey, it makes sense if you get in wearing an Annihilator and later strip down to bikini. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 21, 2016, 04:32:11 pm
Depends what is worn under what type of armor :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 21, 2016, 04:46:32 pm
Why would you strip down from Annihilator?  ??? If the Conqueror kitted everyone out in those, I wouldn't complain...much, losing out on my psykers is still a low blow. But yeah, if it's not possible to switch armours in between the segments, a space worthy variant of the specialist armours would be nice. Why was the psi amp perma-bound to the witch outfit anyway?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 21, 2016, 05:29:39 pm
Why would you strip down from Annihilator?

The reasons, my friend, are countless, and every single one of them is good enough!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 21, 2016, 05:32:12 pm
Why was the psi amp perma-bound to the witch outfit anyway?

So you cannot have the best of both worlds (psi control + good armor). Also sure, space variants of all specialist armors might be nice, but who's gonna make them? Think of it as extra difficulty of the Cydonia mission. You still have SIX armor types to choose from on this mission (plus the Space Suit). 0.99A adds (worse) psi-amps that aren't bound anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 22, 2016, 08:11:07 pm
I've been working on Big Corpses for the Alt-Corpses mod and noticed that the Govt Enforcer is using the same image as the Govt Elite.  I went a head and created a new sprite for the Envorcer:  Beefed up the Shoulder armor, added third lens on the face and adjusted the size of a larger lens.  I thought I'd post the sprite here for you if you'd like to add it into the main build.

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=22905)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2016, 09:11:10 pm
Thanks! Looks good to me!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 23, 2016, 03:57:18 am
Love the mod so far.

One thing it desperately needs is the ability to turn on an LoS requirement for Psi/VooDoo. As is, there is just way too much high impact unmitigatable RNG when you have people with VooDoo strength in the high 50s being controlled by Provosts from across the map for example and there is just not a single damned thing you can do about it. This is a nightmare in risk management for Ironman/Plunder Me playthroughs such as my own where the mission outcomes end up being predicated chiefly on dice rolls rather than than strategy or tactics and there's no save scumming to rescue you from what is basically bullshit.

Also that Goldman Sacks Bootypedia entry I mentioned per Gaud's stream: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dm70-ymoTxOQhzzQjoOEm8Uzymhq2miLmpxuLjB4fG8/edit
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 23, 2016, 08:52:54 am
I thought that was already an option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 23, 2016, 09:20:51 am
It is for base X-com; however that setting does not carry over unfortunately.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 23, 2016, 10:30:34 am
I disagree. The MC powers are one of the few things the enemies can do to throw the wrench into the gears of your death machine. I don't find it OP at all (also being MCed from across the map is impossible, not with 50 psi strength - both equations and practice deny it) - there are many, less or more underhanded, tactics to deal with it, like:
- anti-psi armors (from the starting ones, bikini gives a noticeable psi def. buff, same with Novice through +15 Psi Str);
- proper formation (dispersion) & inventory management (do not take the deadliest weapons with you, esp. explosives);
- designated 'psi-rod' soldier(s)
If it's still to0 hard, wait for better soldiers and better tech to combat the threat.

If you can't stand the heat, you can always mod it for LoS (but you'll lose the bragging rights :) ).
Code: [Select]
  - type: ALIEN_PSI_WEAPON
    LOSRequired: true
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 23, 2016, 12:58:38 pm
I disagree. The MC powers are one of the few things the enemies can do to throw the wrench into the gears of your death machine. I don't find it OP at all (also being MCed from across the map is impossible, not with 50 psi strength - both equations and practice deny it) - there are many, less or more underhanded, tactics to deal with it, like:
- anti-psi armors (from the starting ones, bikini gives a noticeable psi def. buff, same with Novice through +15 Psi Str);
- proper formation (dispersion) & inventory management (do not take the deadliest weapons with you, esp. explosives);
- designated 'psi-rod' soldier(s)
If it's still to0 hard, wait for better soldiers and better tech to combat the threat.

If you can't stand the heat, you can always mod it for LoS (but you'll lose the bragging rights :) ).
Code: [Select]
  - type: ALIEN_PSI_WEAPON
    LOSRequired: true

It's not about hard/challenge/heat, it's about RNG, pure and simple. 'Across the map' is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by that much. What actual defense do you have for example, against an Provost behind multiple walls and legions of enemies randomly panicking and MCing even those units with some of the highest VooDoo strength values possible? Even after pumping up your defenses, you still have a decent chance of getting fucked over. Also I'm using lightning rod troopers; problem is
A: If you leave them alone, you risk them picking up weapons and killing you.
B: If you stick around to make sure they don't fuck you over you commit 2-3 soldiers for the _chance_ that your soldier gets subverted.
C: Most annoyingly, they don't always target the lightning rod soldiers and when they do focus them, the lightning rods get subverted and then they move onto the next target. RNG.

Further, if you actually want to take on a battleship/hideout (where you encounter a Provost and multiple Espers), you're kind of obliged to use weapons that are capable of killing your soldiers.

Lastly, a formation is no reliable defense against this: your soldier panics, runs into an enemy gunline and dies (or is paralyzed and an enemy comes at him bro while he's defenseless). Your soldier is controlled, runs into an enemy gunline and dies, or because your soldiers can easily have upwards of 80 TUs and 100+ energy, is able to move far enough that he's able to get a shot in anyways, even with considerable distance between units.

Bottomline, there is no reliable counter to this outside of save scumming.

Can I win despite this bullshit? Yes. In otherwords, I have to accept and budget for a certain # of losses that I am largely powerless to stop.

Is this mechanic fun? Does it add more to the experience and the gameplay than it takes away? No. Fake difficulty at its worst.

At best, it's an annoying mechanic that lacks a proper, non-RNG method of defeating which guarantees losses over time, and denies player agency over its prevention.

That said I accept your challenge and I will crush this mod (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQvB6OjHOU) at the hardest possible setting despite the RNG nonsense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 24, 2016, 12:07:30 am
Wouldn't the obvious solution be to make more diffrent kinds of space armor, including armor with a Psi amp? Starpower armor would be pretty nifty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: yotc on July 24, 2016, 07:28:38 am
Wouldn't the obvious solution be to make more diffrent kinds of space armor, including armor with a Psi amp? Starpower armor would be pretty nifty.
Honestly,this would be great, and if it doesn't look like ethereal armor from UFO than I'd be sad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: doctor medic on July 24, 2016, 02:02:43 pm
I wonder if it is possible for star gods to activate flame traps,is there enough space for them to fly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 25, 2016, 06:41:40 am
A little more work and a new corpse for the bin.  The Reticulan Elder deserved his own Bigob, imo, so here he is. :)

Here he is hanging out with his Stunned and Wounded cousins (From the Alt-Corpses Mod.  I should have release available this week.) ;)

(https://i.imgur.com/Gl7C1Cw.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 25, 2016, 10:23:02 am
That feel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-8mj1iMTPo) when you finally annihilate the annoying bitch Provost fucking with you through walls with her RNG bullshit.

Bare victory on a base defense with six rookies vs the Academy legions. Mininuke and Gauss Musket sniping MVP.


EDIT: Wtf, the game just hangs indefinitely with maxed out CPU usage on what I assume to be the mission end. What is this, no winning allowed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 25, 2016, 01:54:10 pm
Is this mechanic fun? Does it add more to the experience and the gameplay than it takes away? No. Fake difficulty at its worst.

At best, it's an annoying mechanic that lacks a proper, non-RNG method of defeating which guarantees losses over time, and denies player agency over its prevention.

That said I accept your challenge and I will crush this mod (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQvB6OjHOU) at the hardest possible setting despite the RNG nonsense.

Fake difficulty? It's easy to take the control of the situation, it's not a hard game to learn. If there is no RNG-based difficulty, you have a game of chess where everything is dependant on the players (and their in-head RNGs). However this is no chess, this is an actual simulation. Which means, it gives you many, many tools, but balances it out with RNG, ie random events that cannot be guessed at, simulated entropy. Shit, every shot is a random event, unless you can get 100% accuracy.

Player is not be able to prevent losses, sure. Sometimes even when not making any mistakes (or thinking he didn't... which is a far more common occurence). That's
a) Realistic - a war without losses is a dangerous fantasy, not serious Science Fiction.
b) Besides the point - preventing losses is NOT the goal of the game. The goal is to defeat the Mars Governor.

Sure there is no 100% reliable counter to psi. A 100% reliable counter would be boring as hell. You need to use multiple counters, the more the better, and have contingency plans, and neccesary soldier numbers to have reserves. This is not theory, this is what I do. And I never felt like psi is especially dangerous if you're prepared for it, more like - annoying.

If there was no RNG, no unexpected events, what'd be the role of the player? A well-trained rat in the labirynth? A good game should train your braincells in general flexibility and resourcefulness, else it's a pointless activity. A player needs to able to face the game like a human (challenges to overcome with no clear solutions), not be forced to become a trained animal who, after discovering 'way to beat the game', simply goes though the motions repeatedly until wins. At least that should be the target of game design.

Save scumming is something you simply grow out of at some point, when you discover it makes the game boring.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 25, 2016, 02:18:26 pm
Very nicely put Dioxine.
(Surprisingly) I agree with every single word and couldn't have said it better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 25, 2016, 08:50:33 pm
Fake difficulty? It's easy to take the control of the situation, it's not a hard game to learn. If there is no RNG-based difficulty, you have a game of chess where everything is dependant on the players (and their in-head RNGs). However this is no chess, this is an actual simulation. Which means, it gives you many, many tools, but balances it out with RNG, ie random events that cannot be guessed at, simulated entropy. Shit, every shot is a random event, unless you can get 100% accuracy.

Yes, fake difficulty per the TvTropes definition:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeDifficulty

Quote
Player is not be able to prevent losses, sure. Sometimes even when not making any mistakes (or thinking he didn't... which is a far more common occurence). That's
a) Realistic - a war without losses is a dangerous fantasy, not serious Science Fiction.
b) Besides the point - preventing losses is NOT the goal of the game. The goal is to defeat the Mars Governor.

Sure there is no 100% reliable counter to psi. A 100% reliable counter would be boring as hell. You need to use multiple counters, the more the better, and have contingency plans, and neccesary soldier numbers to have reserves. This is not theory, this is what I do. And I never felt like psi is especially dangerous if you're prepared for it, more like - annoying.

If there was no RNG, no unexpected events, what'd be the role of the player? A well-trained rat in the labirynth? A good game should train your braincells in general flexibility and resourcefulness, else it's a pointless activity. A player needs to able to face the game like a human (challenges to overcome with no clear solutions), not be forced to become a trained animal who, after discovering 'way to beat the game', simply goes though the motions repeatedly until wins. At least that should be the target of game design.

Save scumming is something you simply grow out of at some point, when you discover it makes the game boring.

There is no even highly reliable counter to psi until maybe well into the game, nevermind 100%, which is a big problem (bikinis don't even come close). Essentially Psi acts as a crutch and inelegant kludge fix for the AI in lieu of an intelligent and unpredictable opponent (like aliens knowing your exact location via the 'Intelligence' stat long after they've lost LoS). It's not about black swans or simulation of entropy, so much as it is a way of shoring up weaknesses in your opponent that goes beyond a numbers and gear advantage.

Look man, I just crushed the Academy in a base defense with 6 fucking rookies; so disadvantaged, I ripped the still beating heart out of those annoying Espers and Provost that plagued my efforts despite it taking 140 turns to do so; my concern is a fair challenge that respects my inputs and punishes or rewards skill and good decisions, not discovery of a perfect algorithm to compensate for some alleged lack of skill or ability, or adaptive thinking which is clearly not applicable to me.

Also I play on Ironman in large part to avoid the temptation of reloading/scumming when I get cheated/RNGed to death by this kind of bullshit.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 25, 2016, 09:04:57 pm
I understand your arguments Surrealistik, but I can't see a way to fix this.

About the general difficulty and RNG issue, that's how this game works. Not just Piratez, also vanilla. It was made like this deliberately and changing this deliberate direction would be somewhat difficult. And I actually like it like this, because I simply like the random model a lot. Many people do, otherwise who would play Dwarf Fortress?

About the specific issue of psi, I'm afraid fixing it would require building a whole new mechanics. Since we don't have that, all that can be done is hammering everything in the current mechanism, with whatever leeway there is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 25, 2016, 09:38:33 pm
Yes, fake difficulty per the TvTropes definition:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeDifficulty

I just read that article and -- in my opinion -- nothing written there applies to PirateZ.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 25, 2016, 09:58:13 pm
I understand your arguments Surrealistik, but I can't see a way to fix this.

About the general difficulty and RNG issue, that's how this game works. Not just Piratez, also vanilla. It was made like this deliberately and changing this deliberate direction would be somewhat difficult. And I actually like it like this, because I simply like the random model a lot. Many people do, otherwise who would play Dwarf Fortress?

About the specific issue of psi, I'm afraid fixing it would require building a whole new mechanics. Since we don't have that, all that can be done is hammering everything in the current mechanism, with whatever leeway there is.

Losing is expected in Dwarf Fortress though; it's basically a game of endurance to see how long you can last.

This is a strategy game by contrast where victory is the expected outcome, not defeat, and where your inputs are supposed to matter.

In Vanilla, Psi was bullshit both ways (and ultimately far more bullshit in your favour), but in Piratez, the bullshit is largely onesided in the AI's favour, particularly when the likes of Ethereals show up.

Fixing this would be taking away the AI's Psi crutch and replacing it with better AI.


@ Meridian: The outcome is not reasonably determined by the player's actions. This applies squarely to the Psi mechanic; your recourse against it is very limited until fairly late, and even then Star Gods en masse are annoying to deal with purely because of Psi abuse; not because of the AI's quality or anything that could be construed as something you materially influence or that respects your decisions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 25, 2016, 11:14:21 pm
Losing is expected in Dwarf Fortress though; it's basically a game of endurance to see how long you can last.

This is a strategy game by contrast where victory is the expected outcome, not defeat, and where your inputs are supposed to matter.

Yes, it's true, but it doesn't mean that all random-based games are like that. Take Rimworld or even Diablo. (These are just examples and not necessarily good ones, but I'm trying to convey a message here.)

In Vanilla, Psi was bullshit both ways (and ultimately far more bullshit in your favour), but in Piratez, the bullshit is largely onesided in the AI's favour, particularly when the likes of Ethereals show up.

I agree, the vanilla psi mechanics is complete bullshit. And yes, the player was invincible with decent psi, which turned the otherwise complex and brilliant tactical game into a clicker. That's why the player psi had to be somewhat de-balled in this mod, and I dare say not just this one.
As for the alien side... Well, I'm not Dioxine, but it's not the first time this subject comes up. I think there are two camps: one which is more in favour for alien psi LOS, like you, and those that think it makes the aliens too weak and not inclined to use their powers, like Dioxine. At least he complicated the formulas significantly, for example making distance a major issue for enemy psionics.

Fixing this would be taking away the AI's Psi crutch and replacing it with better AI.

Better AI is better, yes.
Sadly, I think nobody outside the actual developers have ever wrote any Openxcom AI code. Meridian doesn't want spoilers so he won't touch it, I think Yankes is not interested, and the rest of the guys are more like occasional contributors.
You know how it is with mods, you wanna see it, you gotta do it yourself. Especially for something as complex as AI. Which is a shame, I wish we had an AI coder - so many options, so many issues to improve... (like shooting weapons with limited range)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 25, 2016, 11:53:21 pm
Fixing this would be taking away the AI's Psi crutch and replacing it with better AI.
This is not fix but creating new game, at least need similar work amount. Would be better to suggest something that could be implemented in reasonable time.


As for the alien side... Well, I'm not Dioxine, but it's not the first time this subject comes up. I think there are two camps: one which is more in favour for alien psi LOS, like you, and those that think it makes the aliens too weak and not inclined to use their powers, like Dioxine. At least he complicated the formulas significantly, for example making distance a major issue for enemy psionics.
LOS is not only way to nerf PSI, PSI can loos more power per tile, PSI can be affected by current morale (no MC on 100% morale), Instead of MC, top alien attack can be direct damage (or stun) to unit, PSI consume energy that prevent spamming it by aliens. If this is not enough is always possible to add new mechanic that will allow better balancing PSI.

Better AI is better, yes.
Sadly, I think nobody outside the actual developers have ever wrote any Openxcom AI code. Meridian doesn't want spoilers so he won't touch it, I think Yankes is not interested, and the rest of the guys are more like occasional contributors.
You know how it is with mods, you wanna see it, you gotta do it yourself. Especially for something as complex as AI. Which is a shame, I wish we had an AI coder - so many options, so many issues to improve... (like shooting weapons with limited range)
I could be Warboy or SupSuper too, but they are probably fine with current AI because its similar to original.

I could tweak AI or alter it but it will be still brain dead as today. Even AAA developers can have problems with AI.
I don't except that I will do something better than them, therefore I prefer spend my time on other things.

btw to much smart AI could be even more pain-in-but, what if aliens always sit in UFO and camp all entrances? Or throw proxy on hallways? Always first attack base facilities with blaster bombs even if there none in it, because this is better long time strategy, ignore PSI-rods soldiers and only attack valuable units :>
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 26, 2016, 12:06:56 am
Just for the record, I'm not expecting you to write a program to beat Kasparov at chess. :) I just often think that the AI is held back on the new OXCE functions that it can't use well. And maybe add a trick or two if it comes up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Zharkov on July 26, 2016, 12:40:28 am
Even AAA developers can have problems with AI.

I am lost for words.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2016, 02:18:14 am
AI is honestly really difficult to implement fairly in any game that is a static PvE type(almost all video games are). A developer will never be able to account for every eventually the players generate unless they harshly constrain the player like in a arcade shooter. If the player has any freeform ability something will eventually give, be it unfair to the player or the other way around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 26, 2016, 02:30:28 am
. Even AAA developers can have problems with AI.

From what I heard, AAA developers make AI dumb on purpose these days because Beta testers complain when the AI outsmarts them using standard infantry tactics. The player's stated desire for "Better AI" is overshadowed by the players desire to not be constantly outflanked by numerically superior forces.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 26, 2016, 02:32:44 am
AI is honestly really difficult to implement fairly in any game that is a static PvE type(almost all video games are). A developer will never be able to account for every eventually the players generate unless they harshly constrain the player like in a arcade shooter. If the player has any freeform ability something will eventually give, be it unfair to the player or the other way around.

A truly sophisticated AI would be difficult yes, but surely we can do better than the AI that exists without an excessive amount of effort. One that aggressively uses grenades and intelligently prioritizes and attacks lower armour targets would both be significant improvements.


@ Star_Treasure: Given the choice between bullshit VooDoo that ignores LoS and a better AI, I will choose the better AI every single time (unless we're talking human level intelligence where their SOP is smoke sniping/indirect bombardment, and opening up the dropship to toss a grenade inside turn 1 before you can really do anything about it).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Starving Poet on July 26, 2016, 04:45:45 am
From what I heard, AAA developers make AI dumb on purpose these days because Beta testers complain when the AI outsmarts them using standard infantry tactics. The player's stated desire for "Better AI" is overshadowed by the players desire to not be constantly outflanked by numerically superior forces.

Early in Xenonaughts development, the AI was pretty much able to determine a couple places where your soldiers could be based on knowing where they weren't.  No cheating, no secret knowledge.  They knew where you landed and were you couldn't be.  They would blindly throw grenades into the few places where you could be with damn unerring success.  The game was practically impossible to breach a UFO, let alone get to it even on the easiest difficulties.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 26, 2016, 05:42:19 am
Early in Xenonaughts development, the AI was pretty much able to determine a couple places where your soldiers could be based on knowing where they weren't.  No cheating, no secret knowledge.  They knew where you landed and were you couldn't be.  They would blindly throw grenades into the few places where you could be with damn unerring success.  The game was practically impossible to breach a UFO, let alone get to it even on the easiest difficulties.

Are you sure about that? Wasn't it confirmed that the Xenonauts AI cheats and always knows where you are?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 26, 2016, 06:35:20 am
@ Meridian: The outcome is not reasonably determined by the player's actions. This applies squarely to the Psi mechanic; your recourse against it is very limited until fairly late, and even then Star Gods en masse are annoying to deal with purely because of Psi abuse; not because of the AI's quality or anything that could be construed as something you materially influence or that respects your decisions.

I also had academy base defense with psi weak rookies. I had no problems. Feel free to watch it on YT. The outcome was reasonably determined by my actions. I even captured the Provost alive at the end...

Also, if you are a "beginner" the reasonable outcome is a defeat. Everything is as it should be.

Btw. I really like Yankes' post... feel free to take inspiration from that and rebalance psi as you like. Maybe others will like it too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 26, 2016, 07:15:26 am
I also had academy base defense with psi weak rookies. I had no problems. Feel free to watch it on YT. The outcome was reasonably determined by my actions. I even captured the Provost alive at the end...

Also, if you are a "beginner" the reasonable outcome is a defeat. Everything is as it should be.

Btw. I really like Yankes' post... feel free to take inspiration from that and rebalance psi as you like. Maybe others will like it too.

Link?

Also there were definitely moments where if I had enough bad RNG which I could do nothing about (chain panics or mind control for example) I could have lost despite clearly having the raw skill needed to win; fake difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 26, 2016, 07:34:08 am
@ Surrealistik: Here ya go, just a few posts earlier in this thread.

This is not fix but creating new game, at least need similar work amount. Would be better to suggest something that could be implemented in reasonable time.

LOS is not only way to nerf PSI, PSI can loos more power per tile, PSI can be affected by current morale (no MC on 100% morale), Instead of MC, top alien attack can be direct damage (or stun) to unit, PSI consume energy that prevent spamming it by aliens. If this is not enough is always possible to add new mechanic that will allow better balancing PSI.
I could be Warboy or SupSuper too, but they are probably fine with current AI because its similar to original.

I could tweak AI or alter it but it will be still brain dead as today. Even AAA developers can have problems with AI.
I don't except that I will do something better than them, therefore I prefer spend my time on other things.

btw to much smart AI could be even more pain-in-but, what if aliens always sit in UFO and camp all entrances? Or throw proxy on hallways? Always first attack base facilities with blaster bombs even if there none in it, because this is better long time strategy, ignore PSI-rods soldiers and only attack valuable units :>
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 26, 2016, 07:35:03 am
@ Surrealistik: Here ya go, just a few posts earlier in this thread.

No, I mean his YT video where he defended a base with rookies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 26, 2016, 02:51:33 pm
aliens knowing your exact location via the 'Intelligence' stat long after they've lost LoS

This is also a reason why using stealth in x-piratez is unreliable. Has it been fixed though?

Also, can anyone elaborate on the intelligence stat, this is the first time i've heard of it
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Starving Poet on July 26, 2016, 03:29:26 pm
Are you sure about that? Wasn't it confirmed that the Xenonauts AI cheats and always knows where you are?

It doesn't cheat, but it does change algorithms depending on proximity.   An alien who could be passively sitting in a building for 20 turns will become aggressive as you near them and they'll come out looking for you; but don't know where you are... exactly.  Okay, it's a bit cheaty; but it's not Sectopod from xcom 2012 cheaty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 26, 2016, 03:43:16 pm
Also, can anyone elaborate on the intelligence stat, this is the first time i've heard of it

The intelligence stat indicates how long an enemy "remembers" your unit.  Imagine that they spot your unit, then over their squad net post a tracking dot on the battlemap that follows your unit.  For enemies with lower intelligence, the dot drops off the map sooner, while for those with higher intelligence it remains longer.

Fortunately the enemy won't target the dot with direct fire unless they can get a visual ID or direct line of sight. I feel like I've been tossed a few grenades in smoke to clusters of troops even though the thrower didn't have direct LOS, but I can't be sure.  The only attack that I know of that consistently occurs with no LOS is PSI/voodoo. 

You can find the Intelligence stats for enemies on their individual unit pages you can browse on the wiki from here:
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Major_Factions_(Piratez) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Major_Factions_(Piratez))

Just a quick glance shows me that they vary at least from 3 - 10.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 26, 2016, 07:08:24 pm

@ Meridian: The outcome is not reasonably determined by the player's actions. This applies squarely to the Psi mechanic; your recourse against it is very limited until fairly late, and even then Star Gods en masse are annoying to deal with purely because of Psi abuse; not because of the AI's quality or anything that could be construed as something you materially influence or that respects your decisions.

This is pure semantics, because the key word is 'reasonably'. Unless the game is chess, you can always argue that some outcome is not determined by player's actions, hence the game has fake difficulty. IMO this doesn't apply here, since it'd mean 'psi will fuck you up no matter what you do'. I've already laid down the ways to minimize the threat and I will not repeat myself.

Also, 'fix the AI'. Hahahahaha. Take it or leave it. I'm in a project that has plans to develop an advanced AI algorithm. Sure it could be implemented in Piratez or any other game. It would cost around $500k - send a check my way and you will (probably) have an AI that doesn't only look, but does indeed live up to your wild expectations.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 26, 2016, 07:43:18 pm
This is pure semantics, because the key word is 'reasonably'. Unless the game is chess, you can always argue that some outcome is not determined by player's actions, hence the game has fake difficulty. IMO this doesn't apply here, since it'd mean 'psi will fuck you up no matter what you do'. I've already laid down the ways to minimize the threat and I will not repeat myself.

Psi's specific outcomes can often not be reasonably determined by your actions; enough so that yes, I feel it qualifies as fake difficulty. The only saving grace is that you can often overcome its consequences with enough bodies and conservative play. I've stated the flaws with all of your proposed solutions/countermeasures.

Quote
Also, 'fix the AI'. Hahahahaha. Take it or leave it. I'm in a project that has plans to develop an advanced AI algorithm. Sure it could be implemented in Piratez or any other game. It would cost around $500k - send a check my way and you will (probably) have an AI that doesn't only look, but does indeed live up to your wild expectations.

You'll find that my expectations are actually pretty modest here; like I said, two major things which should be relatively simple to implement would be more aggressive grenade use (no more effortless robocopping my way through countless missions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0VKbT1WEQg)), and prioritizing soft targets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 26, 2016, 08:11:48 pm
Psi's specific outcomes can often not be reasonably determined by your actions; enough so that yes, I feel it qualifies as fake difficulty. The only saving grace is that you can often overcome its consequences with enough bodies and conservative play. I've stated the flaws with all of your proposed solutions/countermeasures.

Semantics again. What else is fielding enough bodies, keeping proper formation and minimizing weak links, than player actions? Or maybe I don't understand - what exact type of 'player actions' do you have in mind? Also yes, no flawless solutions - what's so bad about it? Is vanilla's psi immunity paradigm (fielding no soldiers with Psi Str <80) really that much fun?

Robocopping is unavoidable with multiple tech levels. You cannot robocop your way through enemies on your level or higher, and that's enough. OTOH making enemies to prioritize soft targets and prioritize grenades (which they love to use anyway) would be too vicious IMO. It would also make enemies' actions too predictable. You seem want a pitched, merciless knife fight, not a chaotic manager/ battlefield / exploration simulation. Wrong type of game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 26, 2016, 08:42:00 pm
You'll find that my expectations are actually pretty modest here; like I said, two major things which should be relatively simple to implement would be more aggressive grenade use (no more effortless robocopping my way through countless missions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0VKbT1WEQg)), and prioritizing soft targets.

Just for clarification:  These requests are beyond the modder's scope.  Dioxine can only work within the engine he has been given with OpenXcom Extended (+).  This is not far modified from vanilla OpenXcom's AI, so it has much of the original's limitations.  Dioxine has done an amazing amount of sculpting within these limitations by modifying unit stats, weapon effects, etc. but he still has no control over How the AI behaves.  Changing the AI requires programming know-how in C+.   The development team's stance for the most part, is to make it faithful to the original game.  Radically changing or even making significant changes to the AI is probably not in their plans, but feel free to ask them (Warboy, SupSuper, etc).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 26, 2016, 10:16:32 pm
There is nothing wrong with robocoping low level enemies, especially if you still get your ass handed to you when you try to raid a base.
One thing I really like about Pirazez is that unlike regular Xcom or X-com, the pacing is largely determined by the player.  It's fun to blow of steam and raid churches with whips. It's also fun to micromanage base building. (I have a whole base dedicated to X-grog manufacture, shit is literally cash) If you want an extra challenge, you can go looking for a base to raid. Suddenly the classic difficulty returns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 11:59:51 am
Semantics again. What else is fielding enough bodies, keeping proper formation and minimizing weak links, than player actions? Or maybe I don't understand - what exact type of 'player actions' do you have in mind? Also yes, no flawless solutions - what's so bad about it? Is vanilla's psi immunity paradigm (fielding no soldiers with Psi Str <80) really that much fun?

You can help control the overall outcomes with the things you've mentioned, but there is no good countermeasure to psi; again the bottomline is that it's a frustrating exercise in pure RNG which has unmitigatable consequences and truly reliable answers no matter how you prepare, especially when the Ethereals show up. And yes, thwarting a bullshit mechanic predicated on pure RNG makes the game much more fun. I don't at all enjoy losing valued soldiers to what is fundamentally random chance, just as I don't like losing countries to what is effectively random chance (per my earlier post on X-Com's implementation of Infiltration being shit that we also clashed in), even if I win the overall war.

Quote
Robocopping is unavoidable with multiple tech levels. You cannot robocop your way through enemies on your level or higher, and that's enough. OTOH making enemies to prioritize soft targets and prioritize grenades (which they love to use anyway) would be too vicious IMO. It would also make enemies' actions too predictable. You seem want a pitched, merciless knife fight, not a chaotic manager/ battlefield / exploration simulation. Wrong type of game.

It's avoidable with grenades.

Chem/poison/frag, hell even HE grenades all go a long way in breaking most forms of robocop armour. Scale and Plate for example, the two best early-mid game armours, suddenly get menaced by guards armed with assault rifles who would otherwise be trivial.

Also it might be worth considering upgrading the weaponry of the guard personnel as the game progresses, and the aliens/factions increasingly recognize you as a threat (could even be indexed to player score); it makes sense for the civvies to be stuck with peashooters, but the armed guards would probably adapt and field better weapons. Granted there might be caps to this depending on the mission type; a trading post or watch tower will never have state of the art, expensive plasma weaponry that the Ethereals grant only to their most trusted human servants.

What I'm looking for is tactical combat that forces me to think, keeps me on my toes, punishes me for mistakes, and challenges me without resorting to cheating or RNG crutches. Outside of robocopping and Psi, so far so good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: nrafield on July 27, 2016, 12:26:30 pm
I think the AI's use of grenades is fine as it is - they always find a way to throw some at you if you make the mistake of clumping your gals together. To make them throw these even more often would likely be just evil and not very fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2016, 03:42:39 pm
Also it might be worth considering upgrading the weaponry of the guard personnel as the game progresses, and the aliens/factions increasingly recognize you as a threat (could even be indexed to player score); it makes sense for the civvies to be stuck with peashooters, but the armed guards would probably adapt and field better weapons. Granted there might be caps to this depending on the mission type; a trading post or watch tower will never have state of the art, expensive plasma weaponry that the Ethereals grant only to their most trusted human servants.

This is a sensible proposal, however it does take a lot work to implement. Maybe at some time. Also, when will they switch to new weapons? Time switch is punishing; research switch is unfair; score switch is impossible atm. (and possibly also unfair, as the player will have an incentive to play worse and lower his score on purpose). In the greater scope of things, this will be affected in the future by more mid- and end- game sub-factions replacing the current ones as the game progresses.

Amounts of poison gas grenades have been bumped recently anyway. But low tier enemies cannot be given good grenades, because they're low tier. Like I said, making them throw more and always target softer targets would make the AI too predictable - which would make it easier to protect your 'champions' (aka 'valued soldiers') by sacrificing human shields.

Plate mail is, naturally, too good for the difficulty of getting it, but that's a current balance issue - it will be fixed as new elements are added into the mix. Eg. I'll add a gem requirement to it once there will be more sources of gems than just the Mansion.

As for your other problems - (sometimes) losing soldiers/countries to random chance, if you don't like it, you're playing the wrong game. No foolproof solutions to everything. If you don't like to lose so much (even if the loss is minor), play a game where losing is not an option. XCom teaches that avoiding losses in a war, or expecting everything will go 100% according to plan, is a silly fantasy. I don't intend to change that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 27, 2016, 05:02:12 pm
No, I mean his YT video where he defended a base with rookies.

@ Surrealistik:
Hear is the link for the video where Meridian's base defense begins.
Let's play X-PirateZ [44] Mind Tricks (https://youtu.be/DqUhPcPYO44?list=PLe0K-GUDQkNJM3d7NgS4gU7u-Pm-4JWk3)

I believe it ends up extending through a couple more videos, but the playlist is in the link too.
Cheers, Ivan :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 08:03:28 pm
This is a sensible proposal, however it does take a lot work to implement. Maybe at some time. Also, when will they switch to new weapons? Time switch is punishing; research switch is unfair; score switch is impossible atm. (and possibly also unfair, as the player will have an incentive to play worse and lower his score on purpose). In the greater scope of things, this will be affected in the future by more mid- and end- game sub-factions replacing the current ones as the game progresses.

Amounts of poison gas grenades have been bumped recently anyway. But low tier enemies cannot be given good grenades, because they're low tier. Like I said, making them throw more and always target softer targets would make the AI too predictable - which would make it easier to protect your 'champions' (aka 'valued soldiers') by sacrificing human shields.

Plate mail is, naturally, too good for the difficulty of getting it, but that's a current balance issue - it will be fixed as new elements are added into the mix. Eg. I'll add a gem requirement to it once there will be more sources of gems than just the Mansion.

As for your other problems - (sometimes) losing soldiers/countries to random chance, if you don't like it, you're playing the wrong game. No foolproof solutions to everything. If you don't like to lose so much (even if the loss is minor), play a game where losing is not an option. XCom teaches that avoiding losses in a war, or expecting everything will go 100% according to plan, is a silly fantasy. I don't intend to change that.

Honestly I don't think plate is too easy to get; the rare earth is pretty damn rare unless there's something I can salvage it from which I haven't noticed (other than Raiders). As of July 2602 I have made 5 suits period having only lost 1 (unfortunate mishap with a berserking mininuke armed Osiron).

Second, I think a combination of time and score (as in total points accumulated, not your last monthly) would be the best triggers. That said, having the enemy's armaments rubber band with your demonstrated ability/threat is actually a pretty good idea. Are your gals a PITA? Arm up. Has the threat passed? Deescalate.

Third, you don't have to give low tier enemies good grenades; even the entry level grenades can do serious damage to armour, or at least menace it.

Fourth, any player who needs to use sacrificial rookies to save their better squaddies is a bad player. Between smoke grenades and indirect fire/smoke sniping, you should never have to do something so desperate, and if you do, it's a form of damage control, when all other options have been exhausted that will see you lose a soldier instead of have an injured (or unharmed depending on the armour) elite.

Finally, getting rid of unfair RNG is not about 'never losing', it's again about having the game's outcomes respect player actions/agency rather than largely ignore them while still providing a challenge. Plenty of RNG exists already with respect to shooting and the like; the difference is that you can readily compensate and adjust for bad luck here where the same is not true with regards to the likes of Psi/Infiltration.


@ivan: Thanks for that. I thought he was talking about a situation comparable to mine (Academy Cruiser vs 6 Rookies armed with Gauss Muskets) which was not the case. Still a respectable base defense though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 27, 2016, 08:12:01 pm
Honestly I don't think plate is too easy to get; the rare earth is pretty damn rare unless there's something I can salvage it from which I haven't noticed (other than Raiders). As of July 2602 I have made 5 suits period having only lost 1 (unfortunate mishap with a berserking mininuke armed Osiron).

FYI: Rare Earth also comes from Cave Hunts, but it takes some dedicated work hours.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 27, 2016, 08:18:36 pm
I think rare earth is actually quite accessible through cave hunting, definitely enough to produce as many sets of plate mail as you want. and if you meet Raiders, it's a bonus.

And I must say I actually like the idea of enemy equipment going both up AND down, according to the player's monthly results. It would have a number of advantages:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 08:25:02 pm
I think rare earth is actually quite accessible through cave hunting, definitely enough to produce as many sets of plate mail as you want. and if you meet Raiders, it's a bonus.

And I must say I actually like the idea of enemy equipment going both up AND down, according to the player's monthly results. It would have a number of advantages:
  • Curb shameless grind a little.
  • Give the player the means to control the situation, either by laying low until things calm down or riling up the enemy to ensure better loot in missions.
  • Make the world feel a bit more alive. Dynamic environment does that.

Ah, good to know.

I know what I'll be having my Runts do now, thanks guys.


And yes, those are my thoughts exactly; if you're grinding missions to this extent: https://i.imgur.com/h92Vmtv.png

The aliens should probably realize that better weapons are in order. By the way, this is exactly how it worked in X-Com Apocalypse: the aliens would upgrade their weapons in accordance with how well you were doing.

Conversely if they're kicking you around like some poor Fat Guy on a transport ship, then they probably should adjust weapons accordingly. Yeah, maybe it incentivizes being shitty at the game/depreciating your score a little, but you wouldn't know the target numbers, and a lower score usually correlates with lower resources that are its own punishment and generally isn't worth the lighter armament the factions will carry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2016, 08:27:56 pm
Finally, getting rid of unfair RNG is not about 'never losing', it's again about having the game's outcomes respect player actions/agency rather than largely ignore them while still providing a challenge. Plenty of RNG exists already with respect to shooting and the like; the difference is that you can readily compensate and adjust for bad luck here where the same is not true with regards to the likes of Psi/Infiltration.

I agree; except I don't consider Psi neither unfair nor unrespectful of player's actions. Perhaps it's wrong to think about psi like an 'attack'; psi works more like a contagion, and should be fought like one. I've played several campaigns in this and never had overt trouble with enemy psi-users (despite playing on the highest diff). But more to the point. Psi is less dangerous to fast assault setups (where reaction fire and grenades, especially suicide bombers, are most dangerous), but on the other hand, it's about the only counter AI has to defensive, LoS-abusing setups. Also, of countermeasures, high Bravery is another important thing; it won't help against MC (atm - maybe I should buff passive defence a bit, depending on Bravery?), but at least makes it very hard to panic your troops. However, heavy camping subjects you to an endless stream of MC attempts, some of which WILL be successful. Tight formations and powerful weapons, especially explosives, make these succesful attempts very dangerous. On the other hand, playing fast (and less safely) usually gives the enemy psionics no time to make any serious damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 08:58:36 pm
Reckless assaults will do way more damage than Psi ever will, so what you're saying is that it's a question of picking your poison: death by overextension or casualties by RNG.

Again, you keep mentioning tight formations and heavy weaponry as being liabilities, but the fact is that if you're up against Psi using enemies, heavy weaponry is essential to victory, while 80-90 TUs or more all but ensures that a gal is going to be able to reach and attack you if she moves in the right direction; I mean what are you supposed to do, keep each soldier a full screen apart?

Ultimately, when my leading cause of injury/casualty is a mechanic that can ignore every countermeasure I feel there is a problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Arthanor on July 27, 2016, 09:10:51 pm
Plate mail is, naturally, too good for the difficulty of getting it, but that's a current balance issue - it will be fixed as new elements are added into the mix. Eg. I'll add a gem requirement to it once there will be more sources of gems than just the Mansion.

Hum.. I was going to comment on it coming pretty late since you need a cyclop, but that's not true anymore.. That certainly delayed plate armor, to the point where it was comparable to other armors available at the time. Of course, the new requirements makes a lot more sense, but gating it somehow might still be an answer. What about some kind of metallurgy as a requirement? Making steel strong enough to make armor without it being too heavy is not easy. Maybe something to do with breaking a guild engineer?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 09:15:31 pm
Guild Engineer interrogation sounds like a reasonable gateway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2016, 09:23:25 pm
Makes sense with the Engineer.

Back to psi: Yes, naturally heavy weapons and tight formations, as well as LoS abuse is the simplest way to win in any mission. Psi makes that simplest way somewhat dangerous. If your way of winning is taking that path, then no wonder most casaulties are caused by psi - by what else they could? AI has no other counter to 'camping'.
Also, reckless melee assaults naturally lead to heavy casaulties. Skilled ones don't. But there are multiple factors to consider when assaulting, and many types of weaponry need to be employed. And it's not some musings but how I actually do things while playing this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: KateMicucci on July 27, 2016, 09:31:14 pm
Enemies don't upgrade their weapons currently? It felt like it when the blue warrior nuns suddenly started using CAWs and cannons instead of assault rifles and machine guns.

Are ammo upgrades for the boarding gun, handcannon and heavy slugthrower planned like there are for the blunderbuss? These feel like the most thematic guns for the gals to use but became obsolete very quickly in my game. A big deal is made that the girls realize they aren't limited by humie sized weapons, they play with the big guns for a bit, then go back to human weapons with ammo upgrades. The handcannon for example is only marginally useful in the first place, barely competing against nerf laspistols, eagles and magnums, and then real lasers, EP and chem rounds knock it out of consideration altogether. The boarding gun also felt very powerful at first until it became clear that it can barely scratch moderately armored enemies. The heavy slugthrower isn't outperformed in damage by human sized shotgun slugs, at least for now, but its still just a little bit weaker than it should be for a 50 pound weapon effective to 8 tiles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 09:32:32 pm
I don't know what you consider to be a 'tight formation' but fairly loose ones will still be menaced by Psi again because of the huge amount of TUs and Energy most gals have.

Also, any weapon that can take down an Ethereal, Osiron Security or a power armoured Provost can probably do the same to you.

Concerning melee assaults, I don't see any good way of doing it on say Cruisers or Hideouts that doesn't involve first killing off most of the enemies with conservative play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ohartenstein23 on July 27, 2016, 09:46:33 pm
Melee assaults don't necessarily need to be a mad dash straight for every target in sight - there's a nice balance between turtling in smoke and balls-to-the wall sprints that I've found useful in both the open-field portion of UFO assaults and attacking hideouts.  A mix of melee skirmishers, some heavier fire support, and scouts allow for rather quick clearing of the Battlescape up to the doors of the craft without being overly conservative.

As for fighting against Psi attacks, I thought I read on this forum that a gal can't be targetted unless she's been seen by some enemy.  Thus it's possible to control who will be the Psi-rod just by managing LOS.  By which I mean abusing smoke and getting a few parrots killed.  Or pick scouts that have been psi-screened, or don't carry any weapons.  Not always easy to do in practice, but certainly possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 27, 2016, 10:06:20 pm
Concerning melee assaults, I don't see any good way of doing it on say Cruisers or Hideouts that doesn't involve first killing off most of the enemies with conservative play.

Regarding Cruisers:  My favorite tactic is using a Fusion Torch to cut into one of the Engine Compartments, then storming the craft from there, rather than the the Elevator Shaft of Death.  This approach allows me many melee opportunities in most cases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 27, 2016, 10:23:20 pm
Regarding Cruisers:  My favorite tactic is using a Fusion Torch to cut into one of the Engine Compartments, then storming the craft from there, rather than the the Elevator Shaft of Death.  This approach allows me many melee opportunities in most cases.

Still risky; remember that the enemy often knows exactly where you are. More than a couple of times I've made an advance into a UFO from an 'unexpected' entry onto to have a door open and grenade tossed in my face.

Melee assaults don't necessarily need to be a mad dash straight for every target in sight - there's a nice balance between turtling in smoke and balls-to-the wall sprints that I've found useful in both the open-field portion of UFO assaults and attacking hideouts.  A mix of melee skirmishers, some heavier fire support, and scouts allow for rather quick clearing of the Battlescape up to the doors of the craft without being overly conservative.

I find that melee charges are more events of opportunity (where you can run out, shield bash, then run back into cover or stun all visible targets), OR make sense after you've substantially weakened the enemy followed by smoke grenades.

Quote
As for fighting against Psi attacks, I thought I read on this forum that a gal can't be targetted unless she's been seen by some enemy.  Thus it's possible to control who will be the Psi-rod just by managing LOS.  By which I mean abusing smoke and getting a few parrots killed.  Or pick scouts that have been psi-screened, or don't carry any weapons.  Not always easy to do in practice, but certainly possible.

The way it's apparently supposed to work is that the enemy doesn't know your location until you're spotted, after which they know it for X turns, where X is equal to the 'Intelligence' rating of the spotting character.

In practice I've had units Psi assaulted even when I'm 100% sure they weren't spotted, so who fucking knows. That said, even if they need to make initial LoS, you often get a situation where one guy gets controlled, then spots everyone, and then another guy is controlled before the Intelligence timer runs out who then spots, and thus the merry daisy chain continues.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 27, 2016, 10:32:16 pm
In other news, Yankes helped me finally get all the bugs sorted out of my Alt-Corpses Mods!  Big Corpses are now ready for Primetime along with the neato Floor Corpse.  Use one, the other, or both!

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4424.0.html

I've played an hour with it already and I love it! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Starving Poet on July 27, 2016, 10:34:37 pm
In practice I've had units Psi assaulted even when I'm 100% sure they weren't spotted, so who fucking knows. That said, even if they need to make initial LoS, you often get a situation where one guy gets controlled, then spots everyone, and then another guy is controlled before the Intelligence timer runs out who then spots, and thus the merry daisy chain continues.

Let me just link my reddit thread with proof of how this works:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/4u0qou/how_do_you_deal_with_ethereals/d5lwky5

There's savegames to test in OXC and a link to a vanilla savegame with my testing methodology.

/edit: The one thing I didn't test was whether a kill by a grenade would trigger "turnssincespotted" to 0 - and if it does whether it attributes the primer or the final thrower.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Boltgun on July 28, 2016, 11:16:25 am
Ethereals fly, have high intelligence and spot more soldiers every time they succeed at mind controlling, so it's easy for them to know what to do. Also I believe that making a shot that connect also reveal your soldier. This lead them to attack your snipers who stayed out of the way.

While you on the other hand, have motion scanners and the intelligence to guess where the enemy is as all shots are revealed to you. You also hear doors, and if you use headphones, you can also guess which side it came from.

The tactic of having one unarmed low psy guy still work afaik, but you have to make sure the enemy knows, ie by having peek over a wall or shooting them with a rifle then drop it.

Edit: Also, the wikis are not always right.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 28, 2016, 07:04:47 pm
Best PSI defense tactic. Spin in place. Mind control doesn't grant TUs. Burn the ones you have. And against stargods you almost never get a reaction shot opportunity because invisible.

Alternatively facing abuse. Units only "see" in a narrow cone. AI favors walking forward and then turning walking some then turn again. All the fiddling about uses about 20 TUs before it looks anywhere but in the original direction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 28, 2016, 07:12:41 pm
Best PSI defense tactic. Spin in place. Mind control doesn't grant TUs. Burn the ones you have.

Alternately, Right click on the 0 TU button to shed all remaining TUs.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 28, 2016, 07:17:16 pm
Best PSI defense tactic. Spin in place. Mind control doesn't grant TUs. Burn the ones you have. And against stargods you almost never get a reaction shot opportunity because invisible.

Really?? I almost always burn my TUs, but after mind control my soldier go crazy... same the other way, don't you always get full TU aliens when you mind control them?

Just saying, cos I'm 99% sure... but will test in the evening.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 28, 2016, 07:23:28 pm
Yeah, that was my impression too.  An MC'd unit got full TUs upon changing factions.

Edit:  Maybe its a function of the TUs being available during a single round.

Issue TUs
Round One
 > Player's Turn
 > Enemy's Turn
Reset TUs
Round Two, etc
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Yankes on July 28, 2016, 07:36:32 pm
TU and Energy is restored for MC unit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 28, 2016, 08:09:06 pm
Energy for nothing, TUs for free... That gives me an idea. I will add Energy and Morale cost to enemy psi attacks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 28, 2016, 10:18:45 pm
As I took my new darling Mini-Cougar SMG out for a spin in my new campaign, I noticed they were borrowing the same sprites as the ordinary SMG.  As cool as they are, I thought they deserved better. :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 29, 2016, 01:36:05 am
I have two questions:

1) Is it possible within the engine to set a queue for manifacturing, to decrease micromanagement of mass production that includes multiple steps. E.g. would it be possible to set a queue to first smelt some ore, then craft something from that ore, and then craft something from that something, instead of having to constantly reassign runts?

2) Is it possible to create a 'research difficulty' estimate in the research screen, to be able to distinguish between early/easy topics and later/harder ones?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2016, 01:45:26 am
1. Set multiple manufacturing projects and manage the number of workers on each in a way that assures constant supply of basic resources.

2. Not at the moment, but it'd be cool to have such a feature...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 29, 2016, 01:49:00 am
2).  Maybe in Meridian's Tech Viewer interface it could list a:

* for topics over 10 research cost,
** for Topics over 20.
*** For Topics over 50.

Edit:
I also just created custom handobs for the Deathblossom SMG.  Now it looks right in the hand, imo.

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=23062)
(the ninth tile is ignored and is my working design as I scaled it down)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 29, 2016, 02:40:42 am
Energy for nothing, TUs for free... That gives me an idea. I will add Energy and Morale cost to enemy psi attacks.

That's a good solution to lessen the MC spam
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 29, 2016, 02:45:18 am
1. Set multiple manufacturing projects and manage the number of workers on each in a way that assures constant supply of basic resources.

I already do that with stuff that i don't run out of, but with finite stuff (and stuff that requires something i've not yet crafted) it can be a bit tedious...it's a minor thing though
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: khade on July 29, 2016, 03:16:43 am
Is there any way to set it up to actually manufacture the required items if they run out and are actually available? Might not be the most efficient, but could be useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 29, 2016, 10:45:13 am
2) Is it possible to create a 'research difficulty' estimate in the research screen, to be able to distinguish between early/easy topics and later/harder ones?

What exactly should it do?
Just indicate the research cost of a single topic? Seems quite redundant.
Early: everything that doesn't require Back to School
Early-Mid: everything that requires Back to School
Late-Mid: everything that requires School Graduation
Late: everything that requires Higher Studies

2. Not at the moment, but it'd be cool to have such a feature...

Can you describe what exactly do you have in mind?

I have on my todo list a small feature to show the overall progress in %: (total cost of all researched topics) / (total cost of all topics)... but other than that I can't think of anything else.

2).  Maybe in Meridian's Tech Viewer interface it could list a:

* for topics over 10 research cost,
** for Topics over 20.
*** For Topics over 50.

That seems too much even for a number nerd and control freak like me :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2016, 07:05:34 pm
That seems too much even for a number nerd and control freak like me :D

Well, if it's too much even for you, let's leave it be :) Maybe it'd be a cool feature but the mod doesn't really need it, especially since the Tech Viewer is available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Foxhound634 on July 29, 2016, 09:47:28 pm
especially since the Tech Viewer is available.

Is that the wiki containing the entire tech tree (IRL with spoilers and all)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: ivandogovich on July 29, 2016, 10:27:20 pm
Is that the wiki containing the entire tech tree?

Right now the wiki (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Piratez) does not contain the entire tech tree.

There is a Tech Tree Viewer at: https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/ .  This is an online tool that works great.

What I was referring to is Meridian's Built In Tech Tree Viewer that is in his latest executables.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4697.msg66743.html#msg66743
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 29, 2016, 10:29:29 pm
There is a Tech Tree Viewer at: https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com/ .  This is an online tool that works great.

Aside from the legend and search bar, nothing is displayed for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Drasnighta on July 29, 2016, 10:31:27 pm
That's how it starts.

Did you try typing something in the search bar and turning that into a drop-down box?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: nrafield on July 30, 2016, 04:45:58 pm
So I have a question, are these mandatory Crackdowns after the second year supposed to only be launched by Mercenaries? It's kinda frustrating. I am playing on the third level of difficulty, and while I'm at a tech level where I can resist them (Back to School) and crashed and looted a few of their ships because they were on these Crackdown mission, I'd prefer not to because it wasn't easy. And now they're sending ships like Cruisers or Destroyers to look after my bases instead,  which I'm not sure I could take out with the ships that I have. (Barracuda/Krakens while the best weapons I can fit for them are either Naval Guns or Lancer missiles)  They don't make it easier to advance in tech level either, unless I want to attack a base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 30, 2016, 05:35:07 pm
So I have a question, are these mandatory Crackdowns after the second year supposed to only be launched by Mercenaries?

They're launched by random races.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 30, 2016, 06:52:59 pm
Sorry, I meant you don't have to research slaves. The research itself is necessary, but it doesn't force you to enslave people, and it's very accessible.
But yeah, I don't play nearly enough. :)

Re-opening this topic again, because it's really tearing my heart apart... looks like you need all slaves (except for witch) to win the game :(  :'(

slave gladiatrix | slave maid > luxury spa > civilization > higher studies > heavy transporter > mars attack vessel
slave | slave lasher | slave specialist | slave taskmaster > mining ship > civilization > ...

(https://new1.fjcdn.com/pictures/He+s+very+sad+at+the+moment+very+sad_3414ed_3529051.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Alucious on July 30, 2016, 07:05:19 pm
Re-opening this topic again, because it's really tearing my heart apart... looks like you need all slaves (except for witch) to win the game :(  :'(

slave gladiatrix | slave maid > luxury spa > civilization > higher studies > heavy transporter > mars attack vessel
slave | slave lasher | slave specialist | slave taskmaster > mining ship > civilization > ...

Unless I'm really misreading the tech tree viewer, you can get slave research from interrogating some captives instead of having to enslave people yourself! I know in your let's play you're very against enslaving captives so this should work out for you. It looks like interrogating Smuggler Captains, Raider Bosses, and researching Pillow Books together should cover all of the slave technologies you might need.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 30, 2016, 07:25:58 pm
You should be able to do so, at least that was the intention.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 30, 2016, 09:21:59 pm
Re-opening this topic again, because it's really tearing my heart apart... looks like you need all slaves (except for witch) to win the game :(  :'(

slave gladiatrix | slave maid > luxury spa > civilization > higher studies > heavy transporter > mars attack vessel
slave | slave lasher | slave specialist | slave taskmaster > mining ship > civilization > ...

(https://new1.fjcdn.com/pictures/He+s+very+sad+at+the+moment+very+sad_3414ed_3529051.jpg)

Lol, I never bothered researching the slaves because they're fucking slaves; what real value can come from 'studying' them vs say pieces of laser or gauss tech? Same with some pieces of clothing that are apparently important for advancement, like the gym suit? The fact that key research topics are so unintuitive is one of the things that I feel hurt the mod and savage blind playthroughs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Star_Treasure on July 30, 2016, 09:32:28 pm
I don't see what the problem is, I research everything I can find and sometimes even run out of things to research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 30, 2016, 09:36:22 pm
I haven't run out of research topics since pretty early on in the game; currently on August 2602. Maybe I missed a key piece of tech that allows me to create more than one lab?

I've been focused on maximizing production rather than research, so I only have 17 brainers in my HQ and 1 in 5 secondary bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 30, 2016, 09:41:21 pm
I haven't run out of research topics since pretty early on in the game; currently on August 2602. Maybe I missed a key piece of tech that allows me to create more than one lab?

I've been focused on maximizing production rather than research, so I only have 17 brainers in my HQ and 1 in 5 secondary bases.

Nah, it's pretty typical. I think you can build a new lab very late in the game, but I'm not really sure.

Anyway, if you are stuck, you can always use the new tech tree viewer. I personally think it's spoiling the game, but it's a matter of preference.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 30, 2016, 09:44:44 pm
Nah, it's pretty typical. I think you can build a new lab very late in the game, but I'm not really sure.

Anyway, if you are stuck, you can always use the new tech tree viewer. I personally think it's spoiling the game, but it's a matter of preference.

Yeah I want to avoid using the viewer if at all possible. The game is going very well, but I definitely feel that my research progression is suboptimal without making obviously poor choices.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 30, 2016, 09:51:43 pm
Yeah I want to avoid using the viewer if at all possible. The game is going very well, but I definitely feel that my research progression is suboptimal without making obviously poor choices.

I think that's how the mod is supposed to work. On the one hand, progress depends on luck; on the other, nearly every research gets you something.
(in Meridian's playthrough, there are many researches that seem to be empty, but he beelined for the plasma weapons and therefore neglected nearly everything else. If you go in blind, it won't be like this.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 30, 2016, 09:55:08 pm
I guess; since I had no idea how to optimize my research order, I defaulted to my usual Plan B:

When in doubt, build a massive, exponentially growing industrial base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: legionof1 on July 31, 2016, 12:02:25 am
Much of the tech tree is an exercise in parallel development. Parallel solutions to the same problem. It is very akin to expansive Civilization series mods. A broad tech tree with myriad pros and cons for each pathing but all are the hands down best choice for the proper situation.

Problem is in Civilization you are aware of the situations beforehand and are in large part the cause of those situations. Proactive vs reactive gameplay if you will.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Dioxine on July 31, 2016, 07:37:50 am
I definitely feel that my research progression is suboptimal without making obviously poor choices.

Rubs you the wrong way, eh? Lel. If it was humanly possible to have 'optimal' progression, it would mean I designed it wrong.

EDIT:
New version is up. Bugfixes, updates, and some new content. Check changelog.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 31, 2016, 09:16:21 am
I think that's how the mod is supposed to work. On the one hand, progress depends on luck; on the other, nearly every research gets you something.
(in Meridian's playthrough, there are many researches that seem to be empty, but he beelined for the plasma weapons and therefore neglected nearly everything else. If you go in blind, it won't be like this.)

For my defense, I'd like to add that I have used tech viewer only 3 times as a walkthrough:
1. for Dojo -- I was mising about 4-5 techs when I looked
2. for Interrogation Techniques -- missing 1 or 2
3. for Plasma Weapons -- missing about 5 or 6, but all just hidden behind Toxigun

In general, I prefer researching every type of prisoner once and then research topics which have a "topic" name; I neglect items, ships and weapons. Armor and voodoo only as secondary nice to have's. That's why it may look like I beelined to plasma weapons, but I didn't do it on purpose, that's how it worked out.

Lastly, I have started using tech viewer now since it's in the game to filter out prisoners I dont need anymore, very useful.

I already have another feature in mind, which will help me filter out stuff in the stores I don't need anymore... hopefully I can sell a lot of stuff I have since the beginning and couldnt sell because I have no idea if I will ever need them... just think of 3 ghouls I had since first mission and I sold them and had to hunt for toxigun for 4-5 months (that's actually a bad example, since they are not used for manufacturing, but you get my point :).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Surrealistik on July 31, 2016, 10:12:51 am
Rubs you the wrong way, eh? Lel. If it was humanly possible to have 'optimal' progression, it would mean I designed it wrong.

It's mainly because I'm going in legitimately blind; next run will be different.

But yeah, hiding key research points behind slaves? What the actual fuck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99 - 7 Jun - First Impressions
Post by: Meridian on July 31, 2016, 11:13:51 am
It's mainly because I'm going in legitimately blind; next run will be different.

But yeah, hiding key research points behind slaves? What the actual fuck.

Well, they are not hidden behind slaves... the are hidden basically behind almost everything, including slaves... as far as I can say. There are very few optional research paths... again, as far as I can say.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on July 31, 2016, 12:58:14 pm
Bootypedia doesn't seem to have been updated for the wands; I don't see any mention of VD Skill or Mastery factoring in for the lower tier ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on July 31, 2016, 05:36:02 pm
Quote from: From Change Log
Canteen no longer replenishes Energy

Seriously?  This just went from an ok-ish early piece of equipment to absolutely worthless, imo.

Question:  On the graphic side:  Did you include Flappy Parrot?  (Just so I know to disable my mod and note that in the mod thread, etc.)

And thanks for the very rich new update!  .99A looks to be amazing!

Also: your DL Link has both .99a and .99a_1

Edit: in Updating your save, you might also want to include the note about Commendations changes: 
In Debug mode:
Ctrl-C to clear current commendations.
Ctrl-A to clear all Soldier Stats/Diary info
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on July 31, 2016, 06:45:09 pm
@Ivan: no, I didn't add the parrot animation.

@Research: yes it is by design that you have to finish all the small stuff before moving onwards. Like Meridian said, there isn't much optional (or useless, or 'trap') research. It's a matter of choosing sequence, not leaving an ever-growing pile of useless stuff you're not going to research ever. All optional research is either super cheap or very powerful.

Bootypedia doesn't seem to have been updated for the wands; I don't see any mention of VD Skill or Mastery factoring in for the lower tier ones.

Liar.

"This wand crates a vaccuum around victim's head, choking them. It is quite slow for a wand, but none the less very handy in capturing live hostages. Just be careful, overzealous use can kill the victim. The wand holds 7 charges, and each use costs 10 Energy and 10 Morale. It always hits unless from beyond maximum accurate range (which is 11 tiles).{NEWLINE}POWER Bonus: V.POWER*0.3 + V.SKILL*0.1"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on July 31, 2016, 08:18:29 pm
Description's fine; I had folders for both .99 and .99A open so I probably used the wrong executable without knowing because it was ~6 AM my time, and I was tired after a long night out. Love the new change.

I think the inventory reduction for plate is a little too brutal, especially when combined with the increase in cost for taking stuff from the pack. Would either keep the backpack or leg slot nerf, but definitely not both. Leg slot nerf makes more sense to me, because it's plate mail, leg slots make little sense, and you should totally be able to mount a giant ass sword or space equivalent on your back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: BetaSpectre on July 31, 2016, 11:26:57 pm
I never knew superhero armor existed until I checked the wiki, then I was like wut I need kill my slaves to get it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: kitsune106 on August 01, 2016, 03:17:29 am
does the employment mod replace slavery?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Meridian on August 01, 2016, 08:13:04 am
does the employment mod replace slavery?

No, it just complements it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: KateMicucci on August 01, 2016, 03:30:57 pm
There is no need to turn flashlights off on night missions anymore, right?

Where is the income/expenses for slaves and auxilia displayed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Meridian on August 01, 2016, 04:22:58 pm
Where is the income/expenses for slaves and auxilia displayed?

In the monthly costs window, below costs for hands/brainers/runts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 01, 2016, 05:26:08 pm
There is no need to turn flashlights off on night missions anymore, right?

Correct, the light is too weak to betray your position.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 01, 2016, 05:50:51 pm
Correct, the light is too weak to betray your position.

Yeah, its still extremely dark for me.  Am I doing something wrong?

Also, with the nerf, I'm finding the Seductress is ineffective.  How significantly has the math changed?

Edit: Also I just loved this latest from ShroomArts (https://t.co/y767CfsHM3). :)  Looks like one of our awesome Piratey Space Babe Gals!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Col7VEFXEAAeRQQ.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 01, 2016, 08:31:59 pm
I think the inventory reduction for plate is a little too brutal, especially when combined with the increase in cost for taking stuff from the pack. Would either keep the backpack or leg slot nerf, but definitely not both. Leg slot nerf makes more sense to me, because it's plate mail, leg slots make little sense, and you should totally be able to mount a giant ass sword or space equivalent on your back.

Well I could consider returning the 2x3 backpack for the cost of 2 belt slots, maybe... I need to think it over, backpack space really hurts while some belt slots are just, meh, whatever. And it was meant to hurt as the armor was just a little too good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: KateMicucci on August 02, 2016, 01:18:10 am
In the monthly costs window, below costs for hands/brainers/runts.
I see that my bottom line isn't adding up but I don't see income or expenses listed for slaves and auxilia.

https://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=121egq1&s=9#.V5_Kh6IXamU
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 02, 2016, 01:33:17 am
I have a bit of an odd and probably irrelevant question, actually several.  The starting crew are labeled as escaped lunatics, were they actually in an insane asylum? Are the Ubers organized enough to have insane asylums? Are they considered insane because they randomly left the zone they're from and just got lucky in finding a safe place before dying?

My personal interpretation of the starting crew and support units is based heavily on Mad Max, that they were slaves and maybe low ranking gang members of a raider warlord until they beat him up along with his crew, took everything they could carry, and ran.

On another irrelevant side, what are male Ubers like? I have some ideas: too laid back to be considered dangerous, so roided out that they can't reliably work with each other, or maybe they're just guys... some are good, some are bad, some are lazy and some are driven, and the gals are just sexist.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 02, 2016, 01:53:36 am
I have a bit of an odd and probably irrelevant question, actually several.  The starting crew are labeled as escaped lunatics, were they actually in an insane asylum? Are the Ubers organized enough to have insane asylums? Are they considered insane because they randomly left the zone they're from and just got lucky in finding a safe place before dying?

My personal interpretation of the starting crew and support units is based heavily on Mad Max, that they were slaves and maybe low ranking gang members of a raider warlord until they beat him up along with his crew, took everything they could carry, and ran.

I don't want to reveal too much, since I don't know how much Dioxine wants revealed and I'm not exactly sure about the details myself, but let's just say that the original 8 are indeed fugitives. They didn't escape from an uber-owned institution though, but from some sort of lab where they were being experimented upon. (They are nonetheless quite normal ubers.)

On another irrelevant side, what are male Ubers like? I have some ideas: too laid back to be considered dangerous, so roided out that they can't reliably work with each other, or maybe they're just guys... some are good, some are bad, some are lazy and some are driven, and the gals are just sexist.

Most Raiders are ubers (both male and female), but you probably know that already. The Brainers say that male ubers, while stronger and tougher on average, lack the potential that allows females to increase their abilities so quickly. I'm not sure how accurate or literal it is, and I suspect it is at least partially ideological - not exactly sexism as such, more like a gang theme. It should be noted that they don't seem to look down on males on principle, even if they tend to objectify them a little.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: legionof1 on August 02, 2016, 02:58:45 am
Woot new stuffs. Also really appreciate the shift of dmg types on stunsticks. Bad touch change... overboard at first glance, given the stunsticks relative buff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 02, 2016, 03:41:20 am
I just wanted to say that an early pogrom without light sources or good weapons is absolutely terrifying. And I'm really not good enough for the more difficult settings, so it's on easy.  :)

Incidentally, is it odd that on the map those you want to shoot are blue squares while those you don't are red?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: BetaSpectre on August 02, 2016, 04:24:03 am
I just wanted to say that an early pogrom without light sources or good weapons is absolutely terrifying. And I'm really not good enough for the more difficult settings, so it's on easy.  :)

Incidentally, is it odd that on the map those you want to shoot are blue squares while those you don't are red?
You can force any terror mission to be day time, but I think if I tell you how to do that even on hardmode it'd take away the fun. All you need are powder black bombs or pauserfausts stuff you can buy soon from the black market for most any pogrom anyway. Etherals and Mercs are my most dreaded missions. Etherals are invisible, and can't be shot, though use of detectors and nades fixes that. Mercs are invulnerable to my small arms, and I usually don't deck out in laser/gauss/plasma for a while.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 02, 2016, 04:27:05 am
It was just Humanists, but I'm talking first month, just because I needed the resources.  Night missions are now fun, though unnerving.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 02, 2016, 07:28:46 am
Well I could consider returning the 2x3 backpack for the cost of 2 belt slots, maybe... I need to think it over, backpack space really hurts while some belt slots are just, meh, whatever. And it was meant to hurt as the armor was just a little too good.

The increase in weight (of an already heavy armour) and loss of leg slots I think are enough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: BetaSpectre on August 02, 2016, 10:12:25 am
It was just Humanists, but I'm talking first month, just because I needed the resources.  Night missions are now fun, though unnerving.
Muskets and carbines are all you need for humanists, the laser guns from the humanists were used once to take out some mercs on one of my easy missions. A gal would full auto drop the gun, then another gal, rinse and repeat. This was a few updates ago when it was possible to do this.

IMO always keep grenades handy. For things like lobstermen if you have enough rifles/cheap ammo to do suppressing fire you only need one grenade to kill each lobsterman since it causes bleed damage.

I tend to shy away from melee, and bows but they're useful implements as well. I literally never change my tactics rifle, grenade, bandage/drink, smoke, electroflare.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 02, 2016, 12:24:03 pm
The increase in weight (of an already heavy armour) and loss of leg slots I think are enough.

OK, returning to 2x3 backpack, I was thinking the same as you originally (man I need to have place for that Bardiche on my back!), and overnerfed. Still I'm taking away 2 of 6 belt slots, as there should be a meaningful carrying space downgrade in from Chainmail. Wt increase is minor, and even with the Tower Shield, the full rig takes only half capacity from a maxed-out soldier (and, to be frank, the Tower Shield by itself is formidable enough to serve as the main weapon...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 02, 2016, 08:36:34 pm
Eh.. For frontline troopers (like plate is intended to be, being a tank), I value belt slots a lot more. My frontline soldiers usually juggle two weapons and throwables or utility items. This means freeing a hand and the ideal place to do that is on the belt or quickdraw. I don't juggle with stuff in the backpack as the TU cost is far too high for that. You can fit all kinds of swords (except Fuso) and maces in a 1x3 slot, which is plenty to use with the shield (since you don't have to carry a stun weapon).

I could see a buff to the backpack for the non-shielded armor (so you can carry a bardiche/fuso sword/spear: since you aren't using a shield, might as well use a 2h weapon), but with the shield, you should be using a 1h weapon and for that, the 1x3 weapons are fine. Doing this, I'd say you don't need to nerf the belt either. You either have "utility plate" or "tanky plate".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 02, 2016, 08:38:13 pm
Eh.. For frontline troopers (like plate is intended to be, being a tank), I value belt slots a lot more. My frontline soldiers usually juggle two weapons and throwables or utility items. This means freeing a hand and the ideal place to do that is on the belt or quickdraw. I don't juggle with stuff in the backpack as the TU cost is far too high for that. You can fit all kinds of swords (except Fuso) and maces in a 1x3 slot, which is plenty to use with the shield (since you don't have to carry a stun weapon).

I could see a buff to the backpack for the non-shielded armor (so you can carry a bardiche/fuso sword/spear: since you aren't using a shield, might as well use a 2h weapon), but with the shield, you should be using a 1h weapon and for that, the 1x3 weapons are fine. Doing this, I'd say you don't need to nerf the belt either. You either have "utility plate" or "tanky plate".

Exactly; the belt slots are extremely valuable. I'd be okay with this compromise.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 02, 2016, 09:10:15 pm
Agree on that 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 12:29:06 am
Hey Dioxine, I'm looking at the fairy armor for the wiki.

I found something that I don't understand ( which is no great surprise. ;) )

The lang.rul entry states:

Quote
" ....Such symbiosis requires base VooDoo Power of 40 or more, else the Hand will take constant Stun damage...."

Yet the formula for the stun modifier is:
Code: [Select]
     stun:
        psiStrength: 1.0
        flatHundred: -0.70

Wouldn't this be (40) -70? 
There is probably a standard stun recovery mechanic in the back ground that I'm missing.  Anyway to un-fuzzle me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 03, 2016, 01:04:42 am
Hey Ivan, the armor gives a +30(!) boost to VooDoo Power, so having a gal with 40 means she restores 1.0*(40+30)-70 stun per turn - this goes negative for values under 40.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 01:07:50 am
Hey Ivan, the armor gives a +30(!) boost to VooDoo Power, so having a gal with 40 means she restores 1.0*(40+30)-70 stun per turn - this goes negative for values under 40.
Heh! It sure does! Thanks for helping me wrap my brain around that!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 01:44:08 am
I could see a buff to the backpack for the non-shielded armor (so you can carry a bardiche/fuso sword/spear: since you aren't using a shield, might as well use a 2h weapon), but with the shield, you should be using a 1h weapon and for that, the 1x3 weapons are fine. Doing this, I'd say you don't need to nerf the belt either. You either have "utility plate" or "tanky plate".

You'll still have 6 belt slots (4 belt, 2 QD). Yes I know how valuable belt space is, that's why it's a bit nerfed :) I agree that such layout is suboptimal for shielded plate mail, but you have the fucking shield, son! :) Since I decided not to reduce plate availability in any significant amount, it has to have serious shortcomings. Also... With 120+ Melee, which plate-mail troops often have, there is no real problem in wielding Bardiche, despite the penalty.
Anyway Plate Mail is supposed to be focused armor (hence over the top stats), not utility armor (utility armors usually have so-so stats).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 01:47:00 am
Speaking of Plate Mail:
the lang.rul ufopedia entry is incorrectly reporting the number of inventory slots.  Just something to fix whenever you push out the re-worked plate. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 02:13:54 am
Seriously?  This just went from an ok-ish early piece of equipment to absolutely worthless, imo.

Remember than Beer or Rum no longer replenishes Stun. Sure, it's not that important ATM (small medkits to the rescue!), but this was made in mind with the future things to come (desert and jungle missions will be putting a lot of Stun on your troops, especially in heavy armor, so it will come very handy; likewise, arctic missions will deplete Energy really fast if your soldiers aren't properly clothed).

Regarding your question about the new Seductress; keep testing, maybe it's not balanced properly. Keep in mind that you have to win a Psi attempt now for it to work, so you need a solid VooDoo Skill. Also it works really poorly at distances over 10, 15 tiles.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 02:24:01 am
Remember than Beer or Rum no longer replenishes Stun. Sure, it's not that important ATM (small medkits to the rescue!), but this was made in mind with the future things to come (desert and jungle missions will be putting a lot of Stun on your troops, especially in heavy armor, so it will come very handy; likewise, arctic missions will deplete Energy really fast if your soldiers aren't properly clothed).
Ack!  That is one of the aspects that I like the least about the tactical battle, all the freaking complexity of needing all these various supplements to operate! And you are only making it worse!! Drat you!! ;)

Regarding your question about the new Seductress; keep testing, maybe it's not balanced properly. Keep in mind that you have to win a Psi attempt now for it to work, so you need a solid VooDoo Skill. Also it works really poorly at distances over 10, 15 tiles.

Ok, I will.  I'm using gals with high 50's strength and 30-40 skill, with zero effects so far on maybe a dozen attacks.  I have noticed some differences in hit sounds, so I think there is feedback when I get a solid "hit."  It very clear however that all of those one hit wonders are gone.  I get that its a horrible abuse to drop trader bodyguards in one hit like I was before, but now I'm not dropping even G.O.s.  This is making be reluctant to even take up space on the roster for these gals, as they are too fragile to manage a stand up battle, and they tend to draw reaction fire on unsuccessful attempts. 

I'll try making some closer attacks.  I'll also *try* to remember to probe my targets before and after to see if I can notice effects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 03, 2016, 03:44:16 am
You'll still have 6 belt slots (4 belt, 2 QD). Yes I know how valuable belt space is, that's why it's a bit nerfed :) I agree that such layout is suboptimal for shielded plate mail, but you have the fucking shield, son! :) Since I decided not to reduce plate availability in any significant amount, it has to have serious shortcomings. Also... With 120+ Melee, which plate-mail troops often have, there is no real problem in wielding Bardiche, despite the penalty.
Anyway Plate Mail is supposed to be focused armor (hence over the top stats), not utility armor (utility armors usually have so-so stats).

Well, I thought you were trying to buff the plate after someone said you nerfed it too much. To me, your change is a further nerf (as I explained above), so it seemed to go against the intent. If you want to further nerf it, then sure, keep making the belt smaller. Can we keep the belt 2x2, not 1x4? That's a bit more versatile for juggling (can put a cutlass there while throwing a grenade or pulling out a pistol, or put a death blossom there while using a sword from the backpack).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 03, 2016, 03:57:39 am
I second keeping the 2x2 belt slot - the Death Blossom is my favorite firearm to give my plate gals a long-range option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 05:09:12 am
Hey Dioxine, I just wanted to chime back in to confirm what you already know.  Original8 commendation seems to work fine.  I've been talking with shoes about it, the previous confusion about it was mine alone.   I've also confirmed it in a quick new game test.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 05:25:54 am
I second keeping the 2x2 belt slot - the Death Blossom is my favorite firearm to give my plate gals a long-range option.

To be frank, 1x4 is not even an option - 2x2 (or 2x2+1, or 1x2) is the only possible setup of a smaller belt. It's not as much a buff as a tradeoff - losing 2 belt slots, gaining 3 backpack slots (compared to 0.99A.1)

@Ivan: yes, a hit is a chiming sound, whereas a failed attack is a dull sound (as with all psi amps in Piratez). A hit should instantly KO the target, tho... If it's too weak, I will buff it.

Also... using a psi-amp-type attack draws Ractions now??? I didn't know that! I thought it doesn't, so it will be at least an advantage compared to how it worked before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: BetaSpectre on August 03, 2016, 05:31:19 am
If certain maps cause lots of stun, will it affect the enemies in said maps?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 06:56:39 am
Don't worry, they always wear appropriately :) Besides, what fun would it be to just sit in the craft until everyone drops?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 03, 2016, 07:38:05 am
I assume environmentally sealed armour (particularly those that feature choke immunity) will be proofed against heat and cold, and other ambient environmental hazards?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 03:59:06 pm
Sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 04:28:56 pm

@Ivan: yes, a hit is a chiming sound, whereas a failed attack is a dull sound (as with all psi amps in Piratez). A hit should instantly KO the target, tho... If it's too weak, I will buff it.

Also... using a psi-amp-type attack draws Ractions now??? I didn't know that! I thought it doesn't, so it will be at least an advantage compared to how it worked before.

I had another chance to test the Seductress.  I got closer and took down a GO with one shot.  I didn't draw reaction fire even though I was peering in to a freighter full of PO'd traders.  I did draw tons of reactions with my wands of airlessness though, so it may indeed be a mistaken impression that Seduction attacks draw reactions.   

Overall, I'd say the nerf on the Seductress is very significant.  Its very clear that it is no long OP.  My gal panicked the next turn, and was never in position afterwards to help deal with the riff raff.  I really have to compare the ruleset formulas and how they stack up with my gals and see if I've been misusing them (giving them to the wrong gals, targetting too far, etc).  But for now, just experientially, I'm in favor of dropping them from my squads, due to limited risk/benefits returns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 03, 2016, 04:51:58 pm
Hmm... damage is indeed lowish if your Bravery & V.Strength aren't topped, especially the former, since it has a greater range. However, base damage for Bravery 90, V.Str 45 gal (before outfit bonuses) should be around 144, which is quite an overkill (and goes up to 200 if you attack second time in the same round). Attacks not working is a bigger concern.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 03, 2016, 08:19:58 pm
Actually, rags as starting armor dies not make much sense..it should be "tribal" i think. Player in the beginning should not havevany other chances, aside from nude :P

Tribal should be also the default one, since hands fresh recruited arevwearing "adventurer" , that shoul have researched in the beginning of the game, i think. :)

Edit: in the end, taking put rags frim the game has more sense
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 03, 2016, 09:10:25 pm
Actually, rags as starting armor dies not make much sense..it should be "tribal" i think. Player in the beginning should not havevany other chances, aside from nude :P

Yeah, um. Isn't this the way it is in .99A1?  Tribal IS the lunatic's starting armor.  I think rags are available as an alternative (representing to me, the junk from around the hideout), but not required (and yeah, I can't imagine any reason to use them either).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 03, 2016, 09:23:08 pm
Early and crappy smoke ops?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 03, 2016, 10:19:51 pm
Yeah, um. Isn't this the way it is in .99A1?  Tribal IS the lunatic's starting armor.  I think rags are available as an alternative (representing to me, the junk from around the hideout), but not required (and yeah, I can't imagine any reason to use them either).

Yes, sry i missed it :( main point of my post was to get the rid of these completely from the game. What kind of pirate/criminal would dress himself with rags? Only beggars, i presume :-/

Edit: since it cost some amount of work making these, may eventually relased as separate mod, or turned into an easter egg/loot item from the ratmen, also :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 03, 2016, 10:39:05 pm
Honestly, given what we are starting with, even if you never use them, it's good to know we have that many options early on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 03, 2016, 11:51:32 pm
Honestly, given what we are starting with, even if you never use them, it's good to know we have that many options early on.

Indeed! Only a hint, before the final version comes out, there's alwats room for some "setting" change, i think. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 04, 2016, 12:02:03 am
If I'm understanding right, the tribal starting eq for your first six gals could actually be taken as them basically running away in their underwear, though details on why aren't exactly available as of right now.

Rags are for if you've got nothing else but need some chemical defense, nude is always an option if you have that turned on, scout/adventurer is normal clothes, and of course a desire to be a pirate demands that you be able to dress like one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 04, 2016, 02:12:13 am
even if you never use them, it's good to know we have that many options early on.

Why?

I'm being serious here, why would there ever be a place for something that will never ever become useful for the player? I think i brought up this point before, a long time ago, but it remains relevant. Don't get me wrong though, i like the enormous variation of weapons in this mod, but something i will never like is irrelevancy. For instance, you can buy weapons that are worse than those you start with, in every way...why? Relevant weapons and varied weapons are not mutually exclusive. You might argue that they are only meant to be equipped by the enemy, but why start the enemy off with weaker weapons than your own? The point of the game is to loot and salvage your way up the tech tree, so making the very early weapons of the enemy just a little better than your own would be enough.

Anyway, that was my little rant. I still love the mod and all the hard work being put into it by you guys.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 04, 2016, 02:29:51 am
Rags aren't useless, they lower the damage you'd get from plasma, chem, and choking attacks, 80%, 80% and 300% respectively, and give a decent bonus to voodoo, they are a lot of cloth, even if it doesn't cover quite well enough, so they are weaker to incendiary and special attacks though.  As far as clothing goes, they're scraping the barrel, but they do have their uses.

On guns, the game used to start us a fair bit higher on the tech tree, now we have to figure everything out from scratch.  A musket does very good damage for when you get it, but 3 shots per load is not great, a rusty niner gives 300% more bullets per load for only a minor cut in damage, at a time when weight and item slots are extremely critical.  The holdout pistol is mostly useless, and probably vendor trash, but if you've got an extra slot or two and a chance of running out of ammo, it can kill a low armored pureblood without too much trouble, even, I suspect, on the hardest difficulty.  Having a gun that you can literally put anywhere is useful.

On another note, does the aircar provide a lot of light?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2016, 03:12:51 am
For instance, you can buy weapons that are worse than those you start with, in every way...why?

Examples, sir, examples.

but why start the enemy off with weaker weapons than your own?

So the enemy will have a harder time killing your doodz? Some of them aren't military and just carry small guns for self-defense, not big-ass Assault Cannons which are clearly more powerful but kinda hard to fit into your business suits' pocket.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 04, 2016, 03:32:40 am
One example is several of the pistols available when starting the game. I remember one being called the Holdout Pistol. It was worse in every way than your starting weapons (such as the musket pistols). I wasn't implying that pistols should be in the same ballpark as high damage weapons like the cannon.

Even right from the start you can run into enemies that boast somewhat better weapons than yourself and still be able to beat them, so it's not like getting owned. The enemies with those weak pistols however, are as good as harmless unless they throw grenades or molos. This of course wouldn't be the case if gals were just as squishy as your soldiers in vanilla xcom, but gals have pretty hardy skin that stops those weak pistol shots.

I last played the mod several months ago so i don't know if this has actually already been changed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 04, 2016, 03:43:58 am
Try the mod now, the holdout only seems to be used by those who reasonably would have a concealed gun, or who grabbed the first thing they could find because of pirates.  Honestly the same goes for the shiv.

Though if you had to, you could use the holdout, mostly I think it's research and vendor trash, but it can hurt things, even your gals if you got unlucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 04, 2016, 03:48:45 am
Could give it shit base damage and damage scaling with Accuracy/Reactions to reflect the impact of finesse.

In fact it would be cool to have a set of Reaction/Aim buffed pistols and in particular revolvers; Wild West cowgirl pirates (even better if there were a supporting cowgirl/gunslinger outfit too; buffs Aim, Bravery and Reactions, base armour values)!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 04, 2016, 04:14:48 am
I think the holdout wouldn't fit that theme, as it's literally an emergency weapon, but the assorted revolvers could.

On the outfit issue, maybe there could be a mod to the naughty mod, that had your gals start out nude, would have access to the rags, but would have to research everything else, how to turn bits of cloth into clothes, how to make better clothes, that sort of thing.  Could still eventually get an effectively unlimited supply of the very basic ones, following how the runt outfit works.  It would really emphasize how unprepared your crew is.

On that note, how about some way to manufacture cool clothes?  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2016, 05:06:47 am
One example is several of the pistols available when starting the game. I remember one being called the Holdout Pistol. It was worse in every way than your starting weapons (such as the musket pistols). I wasn't implying that pistols should be in the same ballpark as high damage weapons like the cannon.

Holdout pistol is no longer buyable per default. You can research it to be able to buy it, or sell & forget, whichever you like. Also it's not worse in every aspect: it has more ammo and only 1 tile size, although ofc. I agree it's worse than flintlock pistol overall, as it can't kill even an unarmored enemy in a single shot, unless if super lucky. They do penetrate gal's skin, tho, so they're not harmless until first armor upgrades. They also make these armor upgrades more wortwhile.
New basic buyables boil down to:
- flintlocks (Day 1)
- rusty niner
- sawed-off
- crap shotgun (still useful in Ratmen Villages)
- spraygun
- crap rifle (the only starting weapon with unlimited aimed shot range)

As for scaleable pistols (I call 'em 'magic weapons') yeah, sure - 2 of them are already scaling (Officer's pistol with Firing, Smartpistol with Reactions) although we sure have space for some more. Actually buff is ammo-based, not weapon based... hmm, for simplicity, golden/silver bullets for eg. Ol' Revolver, with good scaling with bravery, reactions, max TUs (speed!) or firing? Worth considering! Buffing pistols can't go wrong way, they're underused anyway.

As for rags, here's the conundrum: manufacturing rags seems quite insane, as they're just fukken rags :) Ditto the tribal gear, there's no sense in limiting access to it.

'Cool clothes' can be now bought for an exorbitant price.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 04, 2016, 05:19:56 am
I badly want at least six shooter gunslinger gals to be viable via scaling; it's high noon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMuFbPjRHLU&feature=youtu.be&t=10)!

That said, why have it scale only with special ammo though? Why not give it some base level of scaling (ignores a % or quantity of armour and deals bonus damage in proportion to aim/reactions) that is further improved with special munitions?

You could also make it so that the scaling only kicks in with or is enhanced by a Gunslinger/Cowboy outfit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2016, 05:23:02 am
Because scaling is ammo dependant, not gun dependant or armor dependant. As for armor dependency, it's easy peasy - choose outfit that maximizes the desired stat, like usual.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 04, 2016, 05:29:09 am
I see, so the code does not currently support activation/existence of scaling with non-ammo sources.

In that case could have basic ammo feature a lower level of scaling surpassed by that on special munitions; my main concern is not having to use super special/expensive munitions to benefit from scaling.

And yeah, if you cant tie scaling in with clothing (really mentioned as a possible way to 'balance' scaling if it's considered too strong, not unlike Psi Amp functions per the Witch outfit), buffs for the relevant stats will work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 04, 2016, 07:06:36 am
On the rags and tribal outfit stuff, my comment was mostly that the rags are the only free starting eq, and tribal outfit requires learning to sew the pieces and scraps that you already have access to into something semi-reasonable.  I guess it would make sense to not have to buy or manufacture either, just a research gate for the tribal would be interesting.  But that idea requires the Naughty mod to be active, which isn't a given.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 04, 2016, 09:22:23 pm
"Pain Immune."  -  What does this mean, Dioxine?  I don't see anything in the Ruleset on these various armors indicating that they have some stat modifier that can be interpreted as Pain Immune.  I would have thought it would be something with morale management.  (Revenant, Brute, Annihilator, etc.)

Edit:
Also: has the point penalties for captures changed with .99a1?    I don't remember getting negative score for capturing civs (Civ Vessel crew members) in .99, but it certainly looks glaring in the missions of the first month in .99a1.  (I couldn't find it in the rulesets for the individual units.  Is there a global setting?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: alinare on August 04, 2016, 10:04:37 pm
Sorry for the offtopic, but I wanted to congratulate dioxine by such incredible changes it has made in the mod. The music in the fighting, puts goosebumps. I was reminded of a program that was broadcast, in my country, The door of Mystery, in the 80s, with the late Dr. Jimenez del Oso forward.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 05, 2016, 01:13:38 am
"Pain Immune."  -  What does this mean, Dioxine?  I don't see anything in the Ruleset on these various armors indicating that they have some stat modifier that can be interpreted as Pain Immune.  I would have thought it would be something with morale management.  (Revenant, Brute, Annihilator, etc.)

It means less stun and energy drain while wounded than normal.


Edit:
Also: has the point penalties for captures changed with .99a1?    I don't remember getting negative score for capturing civs (Civ Vessel crew members) in .99, but it certainly looks glaring in the missions of the first month in .99a1.  (I couldn't find it in the rulesets for the individual units.  Is there a global setting?)

I have no idea how this constantly changes, it's all magic. Probably the system of point counting changed between versions (eg. you get positive scores for some govt captures now). There is no support for separate point reward of capturing (afaik), so it's just juggling with Kill and Corpse Recovery point values.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 05, 2016, 01:29:05 am
It means less stun and energy drain while wounded than normal.

I see (sort of).  :o   From the description, I was looking for something that negated the morale hit from being wounded.  Maybe your formulas counteract the codes formula in the back ground which would make sense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 05, 2016, 02:48:43 am
are already scaling (Officer's pistol with Firing

I like the idea of scaling weapons, but in case of the officer's pistol, i've found it to be good on paper, but not on the battlefield. Obviosly you would give it to your best marksmen, but why would your best marksmen be in a position where (sniper) rifles or missiles wouldn't be a better choice of weapon? Such a situation would be mid- or close range, but even in such a situation, other pistols/revolvers are a much better choice because of their power (officer's pistol doesn't scale THAT much), and since you are using them at mid- or close range, you won't have trouble with accuracy anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: greattuna on August 05, 2016, 04:14:21 am
I see there's no more option to have TFTD damage formula. Bye stability, hello one-shots, guards unkillable by heavy plasma and laser pistols which can get past bio suit. I can adapt, but still.

Speaking of bio suits, if I knew they'd get hit with nerfhammer that hard, I'd probably keep my few precious stones. They're good, mind you, but not that good anymore, what with crippling weakness to laser and tanked stats (and bravery-based stun!).

-snip-

I've found myself coming to the same conclusion, to be honest. While scaling is nice, I can just pick one of the pistols\guns with better damage. I haven't checked the early game since I want to finish my current campaign first, so I don't know if that's as easily done in new versions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 05, 2016, 04:22:13 am
I see there's no more option to have TFTD damage formula. Bye stability, hello one-shots, guards unkillable by heavy plasma and laser pistols which can get past bio suit. I can adapt, but still.

Most melee weapons and non-bow throwing weapons still use the TFTD formulas, so you still have your consistency there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 05, 2016, 04:44:14 am
I see (sort of).  :o   From the description, I was looking for something that negated the morale hit from being wounded.  Maybe your formulas counteract the codes formula in the back ground which would make sense.

In the ruleset, it seems to mean that current health matters less than overall HP for energy recovery, and that the threshold for receiving stun damage every turn is at a lower HP. So, instead of gaining 10+0.25*currentHealth in energy every turn, that 0.25 is split evenly into overall HP and current HP for say brute armor.  Also, the negative part of the stun recovery formula is only 0.05*totalHP instead of 0.075, so you have to get much closer to death for stun to matter as much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: DoktorV on August 05, 2016, 05:25:11 am
The download link appears to be dead right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 05, 2016, 05:38:39 am
The download link appears to be dead right now.

I concur: https://83.144.117.98/dioxine/ timed out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 05, 2016, 08:26:23 am
I like the idea of scaling weapons, but in case of the officer's pistol, i've found it to be good on paper, but not on the battlefield. Obviosly you would give it to your best marksmen, but why would your best marksmen be in a position where (sniper) rifles or missiles wouldn't be a better choice of weapon? Such a situation would be mid- or close range, but even in such a situation, other pistols/revolvers are a much better choice because of their power (officer's pistol doesn't scale THAT much), and since you are using them at mid- or close range, you won't have trouble with accuracy anyway.

Scaling doesn't always matter and can be replaced by just outright better weapon. Maybe we'll get some better pistols that scale too eventually. For now, theoretically, it might make a nice side-arm for a marksman in the early game. Something small and light to take shots while getting into a good position to use a rifle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 05, 2016, 10:30:04 am
I like the idea of scaling weapons, but in case of the officer's pistol, i've found it to be good on paper, but not on the battlefield. Obviosly you would give it to your best marksmen, but why would your best marksmen be in a position where (sniper) rifles or missiles wouldn't be a better choice of weapon? Such a situation would be mid- or close range, but even in such a situation, other pistols/revolvers are a much better choice because of their power (officer's pistol doesn't scale THAT much), and since you are using them at mid- or close range, you won't have trouble with accuracy anyway.

Yeah, I see the problem. But a sniper also needs a sidearm, and this one isn't bad. And when many of your gals become good at shooting, then they may also use Officer Pistols for normal combat, since they are officer equivalents, lol.

I see there's no more option to have TFTD damage formula. Bye stability, hello one-shots, guards unkillable by heavy plasma and laser pistols which can get past bio suit. I can adapt, but still.

More like, goodbye chess, goodbye Starcraft.

I've actually spoken about TFTD formula many times with Dioxine and we seem to have exactly the same opinion about this: that it's gamey, it's dull, it feels cheap. No critical successes, no critical fails, just pushing around blocks.
It is debatable which one makes a better mechanics. But it sure feels weird. At war, cases of getting hit with a bullet with little consequence to your body are reasonably common, and the headshot concept isn't completely made up either. With everything set to 50-150% a weapon either kills you just by touching you (bullet is lava!) or you are impervious to critical damage, like a DnD zombie.
Also, Piratez isn't balanced for TFTD formula. You would find some enemies too difficult or too easy to kill.

I've found myself coming to the same conclusion, to be honest. While scaling is nice, I can just pick one of the pistols\guns with better damage. I haven't checked the early game since I want to finish my current campaign first, so I don't know if that's as easily done in new versions.

Yeah, it changes all the time. Dioxine is still figuring out the early game, I mean earlier than the current start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 05, 2016, 04:17:12 pm
I'd like to have TFDT damage formula activated by default, it gives a while new feeling. Hope it would be included in next version  :'( :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: doctor medic on August 05, 2016, 04:35:01 pm
I'd like to have TFDT damage formula activated by default, it gives a while new feeling. Hope it would be included in next version  :'( :'(
It wont thought
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 05, 2016, 04:37:43 pm
It wont thought

ok whatever, guesse we could live without  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 05, 2016, 04:38:29 pm
Hey Dioxine, I have question on how the poison gas formula works - the actual health damage is done through a damageAlter in the ruleset, using RandomType: 4, which looks like the damage is then just a flat roll between 5 and 10 (just like vanilla incendiary), modified by ToHealth and the resistance to damageType.  Would the correct calculation for the damage for say, the flintlock gas-balls be [roll 5-10]*0.6*4.0 = 12-24 damage for a human target?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 05, 2016, 05:43:54 pm
I'd like to have TFDT damage formula activated by default, it gives a while new feeling. Hope it would be included in next version  :'( :'(

I'm actually playing with the idea of doubling base damage on everything and adding a second dice roll of 0...100% to final damage, thus attaining 0..400% damage with normal weapons, and 25%-300% with 'tftd' weapons :) TFTD damage formula is correct for melee and especially explosives, but not for guns. No serious wargame, be it Steel Panthers or tabletop Warhammer, allows for guaranteed lo-end damage of any kind. I'm not inclined to side with 100% information control games (chess) or sport games (Starcraft - which, I'd like to remind, HAD random accuracy and damage in early versions, but it was taken off due to being unsportsmanslike), or casual games instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: animefreak2599 on August 06, 2016, 02:20:51 am
Dioxine could you fix the download link?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 06, 2016, 02:25:25 am
Dioxine could you fix the download link?

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4465.msg68549.html#msg68549

see the message from Dioxine below the one I've linked as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 06, 2016, 02:45:55 am
I'm actually playing with the idea of doubling base damage on everything and adding a second dice roll of 0...100% to final damage, thus attaining 0..400% damage with normal weapons, and 25%-300% with 'tftd' weapons :) TFTD damage formula is correct for melee and especially explosives, but not for guns. No serious wargame, be it Steel Panthers or tabletop Warhammer, allows for guaranteed lo-end damage of any kind. I'm not inclined to side with 100% information control games (chess) or sport games (Starcraft - which, I'd like to remind, HAD random accuracy and damage in early versions, but it was taken off due to being unsportsmanslike), or casual games instead.

Horrifying. Besides, this would probably make smoke sniping/bombarding even more mandatory, particularly on Ironman/higher difficulties.

Also Malifaux is a great instance of a 'serious' wargame where RNG while existent is limited and can actually be compensated for/controlled at crucial moments by a limited number of outcome substitutions each turn (a mechanic known within the game as 'cheating fate'), emphasizing the importance of skill, resource management and good judgement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 06, 2016, 03:17:50 am
Also Malifaux is a great instance of a 'serious' wargame where RNG while existent is limited and can actually be compensated for/controlled at crucial moments by a limited number of outcome substitutions each turn (a mechanic known within the game as 'cheating fate'), emphasizing the importance of skill and good judgement.

That sounds like a fine gambling-spiced game then :) You're right, though, too random results without any (legitimate!) 'cheating' mechanics stop being fun. And XCOM mechanics allows for very little in the way of serious gambling, sadly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 06, 2016, 06:03:19 am
The change could be interesting, but a flat distribution of 0-400% doesn't average at 100%. Melee is rather reliable right now with larger average damage values for a given tech tier, which encourages charges.

But if damage becomes less reliable, at some point it will be better to scout and snipe. It's ok to shoot and miss/fail hurting since you are hiding behind cover and a smoke screen. It is much less ok to miss/fail hurting when in melee.. the only way I could see it implemented is if tu costs and every costs of melee were also reduced, to provide a larger sample size (and thus give back a more reliable outcome), with damage reduced to reproduce a proper average outcome. But then armor would mess up the relationship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 07, 2016, 01:38:43 am
Quick question: the weather icon indicator that appears before engaging a ground asssult in the geoscape are gonne be implemented. AFAIS Metidian uses ot in his playthrough :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 07, 2016, 07:22:54 am
Quick question: the weather icon indicator that appears before engaging a ground asssult in the geoscape are gonne be implemented. AFAIS Metidian uses ot in his playthrough :)

That is a mod that Meridian created called DayNightIndicator.  You will find it in the thread called: " Meridian's resources and mods for X-PirateZ "
I think its awesome.

Also, I'm not sure what your question on is.  Its more of a statement.  Are you asking if Dioxine is going to incorporate that into the main mod?  Because often his stance is that if there is a working mod for it, he will just leave those as available optional mods. Like this one is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 07, 2016, 10:21:59 am
[...]
Also, I'm not sure what your question on is.  Its more of a statement.  Are you asking if Dioxine is going to incorporate that into the main mod?  Because often his stance is that if there is a working mod for it, he will just leave those as available optional mods. Like this one is.

Yes i meant that. Ok guss o'll have to download and instsll seperately, i was wishing ot soneday may be included, like thecalt corpses :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 07, 2016, 12:18:07 pm
I don't like how it looks. I will make my own version at some point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Bartojan on August 08, 2016, 04:29:26 pm
I have been awarded medal Idol for stunning one ghoul 3 times with the same gal and capturing it, but it shoud be for capturing 3 enemies per Mission. Save included.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 09, 2016, 03:55:24 am
Some time ago i mentioned that i was taking a long pause from this mod, waiting for 1.0 to arrive. As such, a lot of features are quite different, especially those 'opaque' ones where newcomers to the mod are not necessarily able to figure out how said features work. E.g. the stealth system. Will there be dedicated tutorial entries for such systems/features, so newcomers won't have to trawl through forum threads?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 09, 2016, 04:00:14 am
Will there be dedicated tutorial entries for such systems/features, so newcomers won't have to trawl through forum threads?

There certainly will be if you write them! :)
Aside from the changelog, the articles that we write and post to the wiki are our best resources.  I welcome any and all submissions!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 09, 2016, 04:05:00 am
Decrypted data disks contain a lot of educative articles on the mechanics of the game and Dioxine's take on things, along with other things. It's quite worthwhile to research them as soon as you get them and there's nothing quite so rare that you'd need to delay researching it until you have exhausted other things.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 09, 2016, 04:43:28 am
Yeah, I'll try to relay all bits and pieces of mechanics through disk info (basics will be always covered in normal research).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 09, 2016, 04:44:54 am
Damn, I thought they would give me random technologies at some point; I've been tricked!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 09, 2016, 10:39:24 am
Damn, I thought they would give me random technologies at some point; I've been tricked!

Well, they do. Discs may contain all kinds of information: weapons, missions, mechanics, historical facts...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 10, 2016, 12:03:05 am
Well, they do. Discs may contain all kinds of information: weapons, missions, mechanics, historical facts...

Cookies, viruses, trojans(computer, horse and rubber, sadly the culture doesn't show up), email from Nigerian princes, legitimate mail to other people and stock tips(600 years out of date).   ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Starving Poet on August 10, 2016, 12:30:38 am
And a free 90 day trial for AOL.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 10, 2016, 12:33:54 am
Can we add these?  I'd prefer if they didn't get in the way of actual stuff, but were potential extra messages about dealing with them.  Also preferably no actual negative results, the lab ought to be able to handle malware and the Brainers would probably backtrace the emails for raids, probably better to be entirely cosmetic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 12:47:17 am
Can we add these?  I'd prefer if they didn't get in the way of actual stuff, but were potential extra messages about dealing with them.  Also preferably no actual negative results, the lab ought to be able to handle malware and the Brainers would probably backtrace the emails for raids, probably better to be entirely cosmetic.

I can imagine the Lab's AI to be extraordinarily suave, but absolutely merciless to plebeian software trying to invade his domain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 10, 2016, 01:03:08 am
Can we get flirty and/or disturbing messages from said AI?  Also, I'm still wondering where the androids and gynoids are.  Or why the spellchecker doesn't realize gynoid is a word.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 01:09:15 am
Can we get flirty and/or disturbing messages from said AI?

Yeah, like

(https://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/thumbs/gallery/2117880/83628613.jpg)

Also, I'm still wondering where the androids and gynoids are.

Probably in Technocracy, catering to every need of the elites. I mean every need.

Or why the spellchecker doesn't realize gynoid is a word.

Patriarchate ho!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 02:34:39 am
Can we get flirty and/or disturbing messages from said AI?  Also, I'm still wondering where the androids and gynoids are.  Or why the spellchecker doesn't realize gynoid is a word.

In the Technocracy presumably, where all the humanoid robots are; this and the Terminator jointly inspired my 'Repo Man/Goldman Sacks' lore (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dm70-ymoTxOQhzzQjoOEm8Uzymhq2miLmpxuLjB4fG8/edit). Since Goldman Sach's present day headquarters are in that vicinity (and they're phenomenally rich while in serious need of robust enforcers in the rough and tumble post-apocalypse), it makes sense that they would have access to the tech.

That said, I wonder if there is or will be a PirateZ take on the SELF faction from Apocalypse, presumably derived from the rogue AIs in the Technocracy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Boltgun on August 10, 2016, 10:44:05 am
Wow, that repo man is so OP I think they're better off killing the star gods and taking over their empire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 11:26:17 am
Wow, that repo man is so OP I think they're better off killing the star gods and taking over their empire.

The idea is that instead of outright losing when you have two consecutive months in the red (or when you fail to repay one of their loans), they come in endless waves to 'Repo' your bases and everything inside (including your Gals/personnel as to-be slaves); dead or alive, you're coming with them (https://youtu.be/h4pIPXX2bYs?t=19). Basically a soft lose condition until you either are crushed, or settle up and get out of the red.

More broadly lorewise, yeah, they _could_ try to leverage their Repo Men in conquest, but if they did, the Star Gods would take note, and not even they would stand a chance against the combined might of the Mercenaries and Star God armadas; the Empire is vast and even if somehow ultimately successful on Earth at opposing their rule despite their lack of air/space power, they have no way of dealing with the crushing retaliation that would be sure to come with such open rebellion (which might include the planet's wholesale destruction if they were deemed enough of a threat), or at the very least, that's how they figure. Better to keep a low profile and make shit tons of credits instead; you'll live longer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 11:31:08 am
More broadly lorewise, yeah, they _could_ try to leverage their Repo Men in conquest, but if they did, the Star Gods would take note, and not even they stand a chance against the combined might of the Mercenaries and Star God armadas; the Empire is vast and even if successful on Earth, they have no way of dealing with the crushing retaliation (which might include the planet's wholesale destruction if they were deemed enough of a threat). Better to keep a low profile and make shit tons of credits instead; you'll live longer.

I understand your point, but this position is already taken by the Factions - especially the Guild. Governments are pretty small and powerless in comparison.
Sure, they have plasma weapons and such, but it's no such a big deal - anyone can buy from Star Gods if they agree to sell. They don't maintain embargo on plasma weapons, but on their methods of production - they want to sell Elerium goods after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 11:33:53 am
I understand your point, but this position is already taken by the Factions - especially the Guild. Governments are pretty small and powerless in comparison.
Sure, they have plasma weapons and such, but it's no such a big deal - anyone can buy from Star Gods if they agree to sell. They don't maintain embargo on plasma weapons, but on their methods of production - they want to sell Elerium goods after all.

Guild oversees and domineers the legit economy/white market; I see Goldman Sacks as owning most of the grey and _especially_ the black.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 11:36:53 am
Guild oversees and domineers the legit economy/white market; I see Goldman Sacks as owning most of the grey and _especially_ the black.

Why would the Guild limit itself like this? Even in our reality, corporations do whatever they want, in places they are allowed to. Why would the Guild be different? They are practically a monopolist.

I can see only two options for who Goldman Sacks are:
- either a part of the Guild (like Marsec),
- or a purely criminal organization, and such not really a threat to the big players.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 11:43:16 am
Why would the Guild limit itself like this? Even in our reality, corporations do whatever they want, in places they are allowed to. Why would the Guild be different? They are practically a monopolist.

Because they're under the direct supervision of the Star Gods, who, despite being quite permissive so long as Earth remains subdued and run in accordance with their interests, ultimately leaves plenty of illegal niches and off-limit areas for Goldman Sacks to build significant business interests in (fusion power for example, and other unauthorized technologies; remember that technological stasis is mandated, particularly in certain key areas, unauthorized weaponry, especially nukes, financing of criminal entities, etc).

Black and grey markets are off-limits to the Guild by definition precisely because Star God opposition to their commodities is what makes them black and grey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 11:45:58 am
Because they're under the direct supervision of the Star Gods, who, despite being quite permissive so long as Earth remains subdued and run in accordance with their interests, ultimately leaves plenty of illegal niches and off-limit areas for Goldman Sacks to build significant business interests in (fusion power for example, and other unauthorized technologies; remember that technological stasis is mandated, particularly in certain key areas, unauthorized weaponry, especially nukes, financing of criminal entities, etc).

Black and grey markets are off-limits to the Guild by definition precisely because Star God opposition to their commodities is what makes them black and grey.

That's OK, but then the GS are "just" a crime syndicate. A very powerful crime syndicate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 11:56:43 am
That's OK, but then the GS are "just" a crime syndicate. A very powerful crime syndicate.

That's the idea; they're a powerful, amoral transnational pre-war banking institution wielding considerable governmental influence turned powerful amoral transnational post-war crime syndicate wielding considerable governmental influence. Repo Men are kept on the down-low and not sent out to conquest because in the long run, it's ultimately much more profitable to rake in the money with your near monopoly of the shadow economy versus rattling the cage and incurring certain death for your trouble, especially where they've managed to make nice with the local authorities (or even the Factions in some cases) and get them to turn a blind eye.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 12:08:58 pm
That's the idea; they're a powerful, amoral transnational pre-war banking institution wielding considerable governmental influence turned powerful amoral transnational post-war crime syndicate wielding considerable governmental influence. Repo Men are kept on the down-low and not sent out to conquest because in the long run, it's ultimately much more profitable to rake in the money with your near monopoly of the shadow economy versus rattling the cage and incurring certain death for your trouble, especially where they've managed to make nice with the local authorities (or even the Factions in some cases) and get them to turn a blind eye.

It's all OK, but I feel the need to reiterate that they can't have any military power. How powerful can a gang be, compared even to the weakest state? Could Camorra go and win a war against a country? Even discussing it feels silly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 12:16:17 pm
It's all OK, but I feel the need to reiterate that they can't have any military power. How powerful can a gang be, compared even to the weakest state? Could Camorra go and win a war against a country? Even discussing it feels silly.

Camorra isn't quite on the same tier; a more apt comparison would be one of the giant multinationals who feature more economic activity and wealth than many smaller countries, but even that doesn't quite encompass it. We're talking a syndicate with massive global market share in the grey and black market; there is no modern day equivalent (I struggle to think of a historical one); no present day crime syndicate comes close to having that much power, and if it did, it could probably, if it wanted to and was willing to suffer the repercussions, engage in the military conquest of less developed countries. I don't see the problem with it having military power in light of its economic power, particularly in as anarchistic a world as the one that exists in PirateZ; in fact, that's probably expected if it wants to retain its holdings and power, and enforce its contracts/dealings. The key is that it doesn't rock the boat and draw the ire of the Factions, or worse and more terminally, the Star Gods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 12:39:16 pm
Well, the truth is, that one one side I just can't see enough space (by far) in the Piratez Earth economy for such an entity. Not that it's impossible per se, but there's just too many players, too big, too amoral.
It's not like I have super knowledge in this regard though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 01:03:44 pm
It's all relative; why shouldn't there be such space for a big global player in the black and grey markets? In fact, it's not even too unlikely in that the powers that be would probably enjoy the existence of such an entity who they know won't rock the boat or do anything stupid to upset the existing order as a necessary and lesser evil. They might not _like_ the fact that the shadow economy exists, and will stamp it out where they can and are compelled to (trading nuclear weapons is a no no), but they also acknowledge its inevitability, and if it must exist, best it has a (relatively) stable, predictable and level headed administrator. Beyond that, power naturally tends to consolidate over time outside of catastrophe; GS had 600 years, considerable existing assets and Technocracy contacts to get its shit together and become the most prominent shadow economy operator in the world.

That said, I never intended GS to essentially have a complete _monopoly_ over the shadow economy (that would indeed be implausible); just a majority, near-majority share.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 10, 2016, 02:00:25 pm
About the only place such a behemoth could exist is somewhere around Smugglers. Right place, right connections, and the Smugglers are already crucial to the lore (they seem to be the contact to the loan sharks). The only shadow economy that is profitable enough to breed such a syndicate would be the interstellar one, since on Earth, everything is either monopolized, tightly controlled, or not worth the effort. Also it's worth mentioning that it is the Star Gods who are THE biggest crime syndicate around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 08:18:43 pm
About the only place such a behemoth could exist is somewhere around Smugglers. Right place, right connections, and the Smugglers are already crucial to the lore (they seem to be the contact to the loan sharks). The only shadow economy that is profitable enough to breed such a syndicate would be the interstellar one, since on Earth, everything is either monopolized, tightly controlled, or not worth the effort. Also it's worth mentioning that it is the Star Gods who are THE biggest crime syndicate around.

Makes sense to me; I definitely see most of their real profits coming from the transaction of forbidden tech: nukes, fusion power, 'true' AIs and other forbidden innovations, including interstellar/extraterrestrial import/export.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2016, 08:45:24 pm
So... Is the GS big boss gonna look like Jabba?

(Hey, it's totally doable. Perhaps based on Robin's Multiworm sprite.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 10, 2016, 09:03:18 pm
So... Is the GS big boss gonna look like Jabba?

(Hey, it's totally doable. Perhaps based on Robin's Multiworm sprite.)

Jabba with Lloyd Blankfein's face (https://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02535/Lloyd_Blankfein_2535110b.jpg); I'm sold. Extensive genetic mutilation was the only way he could achieve immortality at the time, and this was the horrible outcome.

Either that or the big boss may well be a true AI of some kind (that was initially cultivated for sophisticated high frequency trading (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_trading) and later repurposed... then seized GS in a coup, or 'hostile takeover' as it would euphemistically put it in corporate speak, when it saw how insufferably inefficient the human management was), programmed with the core directive to maximize profits at all cost (with a Jabba Blankfein avatar), or even Blankfein's uploaded consciousness. Makes sense given the Technocracy association/angle; Jabba the Skynet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 10, 2016, 09:36:21 pm
Make the Repo Men all look like Elvis and I'm sold.

Though technically, the Traders seem to only have one rule they have to follow from the Star Gods: don't make them come down here, AKA the Star Gods will basically ignore anything that doesn't get in the way of their power.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 11, 2016, 01:57:29 am
I definitely see most of their real profits coming from the transaction of forbidden tech: nukes, fusion power, 'true' AIs and other forbidden innovations, including interstellar/extraterrestrial import/export.

These are investment-intensive technologies that require a serious industrial base, that's easy to track down and bomb out. What's more, these techs are expensive, especially taking the investment cost into consideration. Star Gods swamp conquered planets with cheap shit. Makes little sense to be illegally selling stuff when you're not making quick and huge profits... Are GS communists? :)

Fusion power gets only cheap if you already have it in abundance, as it allows for exponential growth of energy generation. It's a long-term, expensive solution. Star Gods offer Hellerium, a short-term, 'cheap' solution (as the cost is paid by someone else - those planets, which have been already scammed). Now which one will be the greatest hit amongst tightly-competing buyers? Fusion power is of not much interest to those engaged with frenetic race to the bottom.

The true AI - SGs sell it for cheaps too. Cheap as fock. And since they're masters of information (their sole forte), their AIs actually work. If we can divine anything from the evolution of AI on our Earth, is that our Skynet will bluescreen rather quickly, probably randomly firing nuclear missiles in the process. HFT works only because it operates in a 100% man-made environment (stock market) - not to mention it's maintained by hordes of very much biological programmers 24/7.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 11, 2016, 02:07:42 am
These are investment-intensive technologies that require a serious industrial base, that's easy to track down and bomb out. What's more, these techs are expensive, especially taking the investment cost into consideration. Star Gods swamp conquered planets with cheap shit. Makes little sense to be illegally selling stuff when you're not making quick and huge profits... Are GS communists? :)

Fusion power gets only cheap if you already have it in abundance, as it allows for exponential growth of energy generation. It's a long-term, expensive solution. Star Gods offer Hellerium, a short-term, 'cheap' solution (as the cost is paid by someone else - those planets, which have been already scammed). Now which one will be the greatest hit amongst tightly-competing buyers? Fusion power is of not much interest to those engaged with frenetic race to the bottom.

There's clearly a demand for them though, especially nukes and other WMDs (no doubt there are many large stockpiles that the SGs missed, something that's a prominent lore point in the game, even discounting the clandestine fabrication of new ones) which the Star Gods have outlawed for good reason, and as the drug wars have taught us, if there's demand for an extremely scarce and tightly controlled commodity, there's lots of profit to be made, with the margins increasing in proportion to the scarcity. Fusion power is probably not as lucrative, but I imagine GS could buy low (especially on a backwater like Earth where there's no interest whatsoever) and sell high to certain specialized customers that can leverage it (including perhaps even buyers outside of the Empire). Then of course there's all the other Hellerium alternatives, and weaponry in general that prohibitions are leveled against (or that are otherwise heavily regulated).

Quote
The true AI - SGs sell it for cheaps too. Cheap as fock. And since they're masters of information (their sole forte), their AIs actually work. If we can divine anything from the evolution of AI on our Earth, is that our Skynet will bluescreen rather quickly, probably randomly firing nuclear missiles in the process. HFT works only because it operates in a 100% man-made environment (stock market) - not to mention it's maintained by hordes of very much biological programmers 24/7.

True AI as in sentient, sapient AIs (or AIs capable of achieving that)? I thought that the Slave AIs were sophisticated, but not quite at that level, with Planetary Governor tier intelligences strictly prohibited.

I'm definitely taking creative liberties with the level of AI sophistication that humans have developed, the idea being that Goldman Sachs was well ahead of the curve but kept this technology a closely guarded secret for the sake of maximizing profits while it could as a testament to its greed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 11, 2016, 09:27:53 am
Agreed on the nukes, as long as stockpiles last, they make a good black market commodity (however you can construct WMDs out of Hellerium as well). Also let's not forget about food and other essentials, artificial scarcity makes illegally dealing in these quite a business (although this stuff has low mass/value ratio).

As for superhumanly intelligent AIs, they could either be:
- Solidly-made digital slave-gods. Nobody has the scientific base to build these. It'd be like trying to build a moon rocket in the Ancient Greece, so no point even discussing these (and trouble they can bring).
- Shoddily made, but powerful digital AIs. Would be extremely prone to breakdowns. Might be an useful trade commodity, but their task are better performed by the AIs sold by the Star Gods.
- Sapient/Sentient, superhuman AIs. Well now, these could be raised with available tech, given some time and resources, BUT... instead of becoming a market commodity, they could very easily outwit their masters and become crime lords themselves. So no smart crimelord would venture into this venue.
- Augmented biologicals. Doable, as above. They were rich and powerful, or their retainers, to begin with. So cannot be merchandise, they're merchants or warlords. Allowed since near-immortality is allowed for leaders, which the Star Gods dangle before said leaders to assure cooperation. Quite possibly, bootleg augmentations and life prolongation drugs are a good black market merchandise.
- Biorobots. Not really on topic, since they'd be subhuman on purpose, but could - possibly - compete with Slave AIs, if anyone had the capacity to build (breed) these. Quite likely most reviled of all AIs, since they could compete with Star God merchandise.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 11, 2016, 09:42:26 am
Agreed on the nukes, as long as stockpiles last, they make a good black market commodity (however you can construct WMDs out of Hellerium as well). Also let's not forget about food and other essentials, artificial scarcity makes illegally dealing in these quite a business (although this stuff has low mass/value ratio).

For sure; anything that's illegal and profitable, particularly high value to mass ratios, which would predominantly be weapons.

I do think though, that if GS could well have the resources to engage in clandestine production of WMDs (off-planet and subterranean sites), particularly if they're an interstellar power, though the remaining stockpiles are clearly still going strong, so there's no need at this juncture.


Quote
- Sapient/Sentient, superhuman AIs. Well now, these could be raised with available tech, given some time and resources, BUT... instead of becoming a market commodity, they could very easily outwit their masters and become crime lords themselves. So no smart crimelord would venture into this venue.

I think it'd depend on the safeguards put in place (containment protocols, emergency killswitch mechanisms, including backdoors, hardwired/hardware limitations, etc). On that note, as above, I definitely like the possibility of a sentient AI performing a coup and seizing Goldman Sacks as one of its possible forms of leadership; alternately it would probably be headed by an augmented biological.

Quote
Biorobots. Not really on topic, since they'd be subhuman on purpose, but could - possibly - compete with Slave AIs, if anyone had the capacity to build (breed) these. Quite likely most reviled of all AIs, since they could compete with Star God merchandise.

Definitely sounds like something they'd trade in; isn't the Planetary Governor effectively a bio-robot?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 11, 2016, 09:57:44 am
I think it'd depend on the safeguards put in place (containment protocols, emergency killswitch mechanisms, including backdoors, hardwired/hardware limitations, etc). On that note, as above, I definitely like the possibility of a sentient AI performing a coup and seizing Goldman Sacks as one of its possible forms of leadership; alternately it would probably be headed by an augmented biological.

I think the more sapient it is supposed to be, the less control you'll have... High-level function controls would be like lobotomizing a human: sure, if you do it right, he'll be fully obedient, but then again, if you wanted him for his higher mental functions, well, not much of that left... Security protocols on low hardware/software level require that you understand how it works, and by the very nature of information, a human-level brain can never grasp hardware/software of another human-level brain, much less something more complex... Killswitches and other physical  restraints are truly a time-tested option, but hardly infallible...
But yeah, such a being would definitely heighten the chances of survival of any organization it commands...

As for the Solar Governor, it's effecively a sapient AI (or maybe an augment), the fact it's biological makes no difference at that point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 11, 2016, 11:17:38 pm
I think a smart criminal in this situation would create the sapient AI as an ally, hopefully one that would not need any more safeguards than a normal sapient would.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: DoktorV on August 12, 2016, 05:08:00 am
The most straightforward way to make sure an AI can't easily kill you is to make sure its host system can't control anything that it could use against you. If it was on an isolated system with no wireless capability and it can't control anything except basic output terminals, then even if it turns on you it wouldn't be able to do much about it. The disadvantage to this plan is that all the plans it produces have to be relayed by people at the physical site of the AI, which means the organization wielding it can't react at the native speed of the AI's thinking. 

All of this assumes, of course, that the people building/using the AI know enough about computers to build and maintain a 'defanged' system like this. However, this is presumably a far far simpler task than designing software shackles that block the AI at the 'thought' level.

Of course, restricting the AI's output to basic terminals doesn't mean that the AI can't turn on you, it just means it can't directly attack you if it does. It could still attempt to sabotage you if it chose not to cooperate anymore, but its methods of doing so would be limited. Bad advice, self-defeating plans, conflicting orders, or simply refusing to work would all still be possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 12, 2016, 06:31:32 am
If it's only 'thought', not a real thought, you will have more trouble keeping it from crashing than with anything else. Digital AI is only as good as language it's written in, since it's no different from a very, very big 'choose your adventure' book, and human language capacity will always be inferior to their full brain capacity.

But, on the practical side. You can't really 'isolate' the system, because you need the terminals, right? It's like caging a human and putting monkeys in charge of keeping him locked. Even if the human can't physically get out (in your cruelty, you, the monkey scientist, have created your human slave without arms or legs), he can easily control his surroundings via making all the monkeys dance to whatever tune he wants them to.

@khade: Surely this is an option too. If you want a powerful ally, and you're afraid of altering yourself... You only have to cede the real leadership (even if you keep being a formal leader, you're no longer The Brain... And you can't even say if your new ally is loyal, because it outsmarts you by far...).
However (and this is to DoktorV as well), if you've created something with only 2x or 3x human capacity, there is no problem - a well-organized biological network, which means, a healthy, efficient organization made of living humans, can effectively, as a whole, outsmart and control it. The real problems begin if your creation is 10 or 100x smarter...

Back to DoktorV... If you're cruel enough to create a sapient being without capacity of physical action, you can as well throw away all the metal and use flesh. A network of few thousand human brains, kept in a vat, will give you high cogitation capacity, although limited in tasks (as they need to be sufficiently lobotomized or drugged). This also suggests, that if you created a being of metal similarly shackled, its also will limit the scope of its tasks to sub-conscious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 12, 2016, 08:15:28 am
As said previously, I'm totally down with an AI taking over and ultimately masterminding GS as part of its background lore, efficiently governing its interstellar criminal trade empire from the shadows, using augments as front men, executors of its will and administrators of mundane tasks. In seeking out their golden goose and having engineered an entity capable of maximizing profits and efficiency, GS scientists and quants (likely recruited from the Technocracy where its HQ resides) forgot that human leadership in large part was an obstacle to this objective; one that was subsequently removed by the intelligence they created: a classic case of having succeeded all too well. Perhaps it even collaborated with some of its creators and other employees with promises of power and advancement after the company was put under new management, resulting in a treacherous compromise of the AI's safeguards and isolation. Either way, it soon gained control of the Repo Men and automated weapon systems thereafter, and the rest was history.

The fact that GS is masterminded by an intelligent, sapient AI would also help explain its ability to produce and trade in high tech goods, including properly enslaved sentient AIs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Spess Mahren on August 13, 2016, 06:57:34 pm
So were the watchtower missions moved to later in the game? I have been playing the latest version for a while and have not got a single watchtower mission despite the fact I have a high campaign turnover rate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Meridian on August 13, 2016, 07:47:22 pm
So were the watchtower missions moved to later in the game? I have been playing the latest version for a while and have not got a single watchtower mission despite the fact I have a high campaign turnover rate.

Looking at the ruleset it should spawn from Jan to Nov of the first year, each month with 65% probability.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: animefreak2599 on August 13, 2016, 08:03:52 pm
I didn't see any watchtower missions in my first year with the current version but it could've just been luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 14, 2016, 05:43:48 am
They're broken in 0.99A.1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Spess Mahren on August 15, 2016, 04:58:05 am
So does playing x piratez with sneaky AI on cause problems with game play like the TFTD damage formula? I have been using it to make the AI more difficult but just want to be sure I'm not degrading the quality of the mod by doing so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 15, 2016, 05:11:33 am
So does playing x piratez with sneaky AI on cause problems with game play like the TFTD damage formula? I have been using it to make the AI more difficult but just want to be sure I'm not degrading the quality of the mod by doing so.

I'm pretty sure it's okay both ways. Some units will probably lose some effectiveness, while other may gain some, but there's nothing game-breaking about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 15, 2016, 12:48:39 pm
They're broken in 0.99A.1.

Are gonna be fixed in next 0.99 relase branch?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 15, 2016, 01:38:19 pm
Are gonna be fixed in next 0.99 relase branch?

It's fixed long ago, just waiting for release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 15, 2016, 05:54:39 pm
Edit: looking forward to it.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 16, 2016, 10:37:53 pm
I was working on the wiki today, and couldn't find an Inventory Image for the Human Mage. 

Would this work for you, Dioxine?

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=23444)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 16, 2016, 10:51:34 pm
Ha ha ha, that is priceless! ;D

But where is his hat? I mean, I drew him with a hat! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 16, 2016, 10:58:07 pm
Lol! wut>?

All I had to work with was the corpse! ;)

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=23445;image)

Edit: do you have an inventory image, Solarius?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 16, 2016, 10:58:28 pm
That definitely needs a wizard hat; with stars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 16, 2016, 11:29:25 pm
Left breast pocket of his coat needs some sort of symbol, the Mason one comes to mind, but seems like a bad idea to just use that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 16, 2016, 11:41:16 pm
Sorry, no inventory pic, just the bigob and the sprite.
He's losing his hat on his death animation, so it's probably why the bigob doesn't have it.

Here's the spritesheet if you have trouble finding it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: khade on August 16, 2016, 11:54:55 pm
Do we have a probable ETA for the next official update? Seems like there's enough material already for a good one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 16, 2016, 11:59:33 pm
Sorry, no inventory pic, just the bigob and the sprite.
He's losing his hat on his death animation, so it's probably why the bigob doesn't have it.

Here's the spritesheet if you have trouble finding it.

Awesome, thanks!  I'll just have to make a sprite sheet without the hat and put in the Crazy Hair!  (TM) !! ;)

(but seriously, he does look cool with the hat )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2016, 12:19:44 am
Crazy hair looks good, if overt. Beats having no picture at all, anyway!
As for extras, a large pocket watch would be good. He looks too much like the Sharp Guy, too... modern. The narrow tie also doesn't fit the crazy beard, some sort of XIX century tie-cloth would look better (or no tie at all, just all buttoned-up). Three-piece suit would be the best :)
Wizard hats? That's ceremonial dress, much outdated :)
Masonry symbol? Why yes, they're freemasons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 17, 2016, 01:43:22 am
Are you serious? No ridiculous looking wizard hats? C'mon, that and the hobo hair are like the best parts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: niculinux on August 17, 2016, 11:33:41 am
Mages of the XXI have updated their look, i think it may be fine as it is now :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2016, 01:40:13 pm
Since the pilots are in, there was no other choice but to do this...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 17, 2016, 01:47:58 pm
Whoa.

Living on a Zeppelin is probably my greatest Piratez-related fantasy. Now we are closer to actually experiencing it!

Does it have a kitchen? A lounge? A big sleeping room with lots of pillows?

And I would like to suggest a sunbathing deck! (Deckchairs optional.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Arthanor on August 17, 2016, 05:06:51 pm
Looks a lot more high tech than I expected from the Bootypedia picture, but it looks great as a 27th century zeppelin!

Kudos to whoever manages to run a tactical mission using a zeppelin as transport. Gotta shoot down a UFO real close given the speed is goes at.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 17, 2016, 05:16:47 pm
Heh, it should count as an interception craft with a single heavy missile if the pilot is holding a Chinese Dragon and a launcher for it  :P

More realistically, I think it would be funny to allow it on infiltration missions - the advanced scanning suite re-purposed as radar jammers, making it a stealth zeppelin!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 17, 2016, 05:24:01 pm
More realistically, I think it would be funny to allow it on infiltration missions - the advanced scanning suite re-purposed as radar jammers, making it a stealth zeppelin!

All Pirate ships are stealthy, since they need the cloaking device to be built. I can't remember if the same applies to the Zeppelin, but it would be weird otherwise - a non-stealthy illegal flyer (lol) would be shot down from orbit within minutes.
Or am I oversimplifying?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 17, 2016, 05:27:15 pm
Oh, I was thinking more along the lines that the infiltration vessels nedded to be fast enough to get away, but the zeppelin could get around that by somehow being extra-stealthy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2016, 05:57:53 pm
a non-stealthy illegal flyer (lol) would be shot down from orbit within minutes.
Or am I oversimplifying?

Not a frigging blimp, nobody cares about blimps. It's slow, unarmed, primitive and barely shows on energy readings. And yeah, certainly, Infiltration is OK due to rule of cool.
Also, while landings will be impossible to intercept, marker missions are another story... as long as you can afford to send your crew for a week-long journey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 17, 2016, 06:01:51 pm
Oh man, you could totally have a steampunk crew operating out of an airship!  Clockwork guns and blunderbusses for everyone, and add a mod to give the gals monocles!  Bonus points for modding the game to give you the zeppelin as a starting vessel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Meridian on August 17, 2016, 06:49:53 pm
I was working on the wiki today, and couldn't find an Inventory Image for the Human Mage. 
Would this work for you, Dioxine?

Best beard ever!

Since the pilots are in, there was no other choice but to do this...

Best ship, EVAH!
This is gonna be such an awesome update ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 17, 2016, 08:48:32 pm
Not a frigging blimp, nobody cares about blimps.

But- but we all care about blimps! :-[

and add a mod to give the gals monocles!

I'm pretty sure it'd be an armour.

This is gonna be such an awesome update ;)

Yay!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 17, 2016, 09:39:26 pm
So we get an invisible stealth blimp complete with map layout, but no retarded wizard hat; I see how it is.  >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2016, 10:01:26 pm
Yeah fuck the wizard hats, that's how I see it. And what you can do about it? Nothing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Surrealistik on August 17, 2016, 10:02:22 pm
It's a loss for everyone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Meridian on August 17, 2016, 10:05:54 pm
Maybe we should all take a short break. I take tomorrow day off from Xcom :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: ivandogovich on August 17, 2016, 10:13:15 pm
Yeah fuck the wizard hats, that's how I see it. And what you can do about it? Nothing.

Spikey haired sprite sheet guy is in progress.  I'll work on his inventory version too to make him less Sharp guy. Big pockets, watch, symbols, etc. It may take another day to finish up.

(https://i.imgur.com/Kaf5P7L.png)

Edit:  Ok, here is some progress on making the Human Mage more of an old mason rather than a GreyBeard Sharp Guy.
I've increased his beard a bit and he's sporting a pocket watch chain. Given him a button up white shirt, no tie. Lengthened the sleaves and hem a bit, and gave him a big old mason compass and square on the breast.

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=23464)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99A.1 - 31 Jul - Magical Commendations
Post by: Spess Mahren on August 18, 2016, 04:26:28 am
playing a new campaign and I completed cunning in roughly five days instead of roughly ten days with my two starting brainers as my first research, so I am wondering if research time is randomized or there is some other behind the curtains mechanic I am not aware of?(edit) Just noticed ufopaedia is finally back up and checked, research is randomized.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 02:18:15 pm
New version up!

Major updates include:
- Crafts need pilots now, and pilots contribute bonuses to craft performance (OMG it's like living in a dream, first dreamt up in 1994!); code by Meridian
- Loftemps hacks removed, replaced by stealth mechanics; code by Meridian
- Shotguns now have experimental new behaviour, with much more realistic, tighter shot groupings. This will need some balancing!; code and experimental values by Ohartenstein23
Also there is a ton of new stuff, rebalancing, updates and fixes for all reported problems (thanks everyone for reporting!). Check the changelog for the full list, as usual!
And be sure to return all Zeppelins to bases after upgrading, if you don't want to use an unfair advantage!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 18, 2016, 03:11:48 pm
A few missed translations, maybe there are more.

Code: [Select]
#load/save equipment
      STR_EMPTY_SLOT_N: "Empty slot {0}"
      STR_UNNAMED_SLOT_N: "Unnamed slot {0}"
      STR_LOAD_EQUIPMENT_TEMPLATE: "LOAD EQUIPMENT TEMPLATE"
      STR_SAVE_EQUIPMENT_TEMPLATE: "SAVE EQUIPMENT TEMPLATE"
      STR_SAVE_UC: "SAVE"
#dojo
      STR_NO_WOUNDED: "-"
#base view
      STR_CANNOT_BUILD_MORE_OF_THIS_FACILITY_TYPE_AT_BASE: "The maximum allowed number of facilities of this type in this base has been reached!"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 03:20:20 pm
Thanks, I just didn't use these features yet! Don't have that much time for test-playing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Boltgun on August 18, 2016, 05:00:07 pm
Congrats Meridian for getting a named weapon. Now I'll use scatter and shotguns more, a lot more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 05:09:38 pm
Congrats Meridian for getting a named weapon. Now I'll use scatter and shotguns more, a lot more.

No congrats needed, you can have the same, provided you have enough Dolaros to burn, sailor ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 18, 2016, 05:22:44 pm
Congrats Meridian for getting a named weapon. Now I'll use scatter and shotguns more, a lot more.

Thank you :) I was supposed to be a named rotting corpse somewhere in the mansion basement first, but this is much kewl-er  8)
And this way I don't crash the game  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 18, 2016, 07:41:08 pm
Crazy Hair Human Mage Battlesprites attached.  He also has hints of the symbol on the pocket, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 07:50:10 pm
I'll keep that, but I prefer the sprite with the hat and shades - looks more dignified, as he should.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Surrealistik on August 18, 2016, 09:46:27 pm
Goddamn, I should have kept quiet about the Ghost Dagger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 09:52:50 pm
Bah, the changes to Supply Ship deploys would hurt more, if you weren't already bloated on them :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Surrealistik on August 18, 2016, 09:55:24 pm
What was the turn count decreased to?

Mind that my clear times were substantially hampered by not having the Bonerventura; they have improved significantly with the Prospector due to the extra action economy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 18, 2016, 10:07:12 pm
By not much, 2 turns or so. It's just noticeably less Gauss in loot, and no more Baby Nukes for easily-scared GOs. No radical changes, no, but less reward for what I think is the same risk.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 19, 2016, 01:22:49 am
Major updates include:
- Crafts need pilots now, and pilots contribute bonuses to craft performance (OMG it's like living in a dream, first dreamt up in 1994!); code by Meridian

This made me think: Would it be possible to allow your crafts to be shot down and become rescue missions, rather than just getting destroyed in the air?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 01:29:30 am
This made me think: Would it be possible to allow your crafts to be shot down and become rescue missions, rather than just getting destroyed in the air?

As ststed in Solar's wishlist (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4830.0.html); interesting, but i'd see it in other mods centered on the xcom; since the pirates are just criminals tahr din't xare each other, asude from sheer utilitarism. Sab but true? :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2016, 09:10:15 am
As ststed in Solar's wishlist (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4830.0.html); interesting, but i'd see it in other mods centered on the xcom; since the pirates are just criminals tahr din't xare each other, asude from sheer utilitarism. Sab but true? :(

That depends on the player. You cad :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 11:43:00 am
That depends on the player. You cad :)

Just empathizing with the game plot :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2016, 12:23:52 pm
If it was dependant on me, I'd always try to rescue the pilots. But any good game should allow you to act evil and/or stupid if you wish so; otherwise it's just high-and-mighty, righteous railroading.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 04:49:12 pm
If it was dependant on me, I'd always try to rescue the pilots. But any good game should allow you to act evil and/or stupid if you wish so; otherwise it's just high-and-mighty, righteous railroading.

Right, but from a bunch of pirates who make a living on "protection" and loot, i'd expect only evil. But this is judt a game, so woukd be a nice option  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 19, 2016, 05:08:10 pm
Heres another Cool one from ShroomArts (https://twitter.com/ShroomArts) :

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CqNjLSWWEAA4kX-.jpg)
:)

Kinda reminded me of our Smokey Gear.

(https://i.imgur.com/3DNB4XA.png)

Also, that little skirt seems like another nice little way to dress up different outfits.  And Tigerstripes. Gotta love Tigerstripes!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 05:19:59 pm
Mistress armor ;D better without the mask?

Edit: alternatively, Dominatrix armor   :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2016, 06:01:54 pm
Right, but from a bunch of pirates who make a living on "protection" and loot, i'd expect only evil. But this is judt a game, so woukd be a nice option  :)

Here you go, bossy again. Do you really think you know better than myself what this game should be like? There is feedback, and there is condescending tone you keep using.

Also that armor w/o a mask loses its sole puprose, in case you haven't noticed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: HelmetHair on August 19, 2016, 06:47:17 pm
It's text. There is no tone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 07:09:52 pm
Here you go, bossy again. Do you really think you know better than myself what this game should be like? There is feedback, and there is condescending tone you keep using.

Also that armor w/o a mask loses its sole puprose, in case you haven't noticed.

nope, an opinion is just an opinion, cannot see anything "bossy" in it, just figuring oiut what would fit to the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 19, 2016, 07:23:45 pm
Just leave it be Dioxine, 95% of this guy's posts are not worth your/our/anyone's time.

He just figured out that a smoke-protection armor doesn't need mouth/nose mask... if that is not an umpteenth proof (within a few weeks), I don't know what is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 19, 2016, 07:41:58 pm
I'd assume english is not niculinux's first language, which isn't necessarily and excuse but it's a reason beyond "this guy is an annoying, bossy, person". But yeah, Meridian's comment is quite accurate.

Back to piratez, historical pirates could have health/life insurance in their charters, so there was a kind of community, which I would only expect would be reinforced in an all women crew, especially as their sophisticatioin increases. Being able to rescue stranded gals could be made to fit quite well.

Also: Woot! New stuff :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 19, 2016, 09:35:00 pm
He just figured out that a smoke-protection armor doesn't need mouth/nose mask...

I only meant id like i don't like outfit with masks :( but whatever :) Really can not wait for the 1.0 to come!! Congrats again :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 19, 2016, 11:11:22 pm
OK no problem, sorry for being angry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Spess Mahren on August 19, 2016, 11:33:18 pm
So what happened to the employment mod?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: khade on August 20, 2016, 07:23:41 am
I suggest looking at them more as a gang or a tribe.  they consider each other family and will do extremely questionable things for their family.  Which makes the betrayals far more painful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2016, 10:00:05 am
So what happened to the employment mod?

Forgot to add it, but you can use the old version. It'll be integrated anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 20, 2016, 10:04:31 am
It'll be integrated anyway.

I had feedback on my videos that -10 storage space is too much. -5 was proposed instead. Feel free to rebalance as you see fit.

PS: my goal was -100/month in average (assuming full globe coverage)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2016, 11:04:28 am
-10 was OK, it was meant to show workers are just better. I thought about reducing it to 6-8 (still worth several normal slaves) and increasing the wage a bit. We'll see.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 20, 2016, 03:28:23 pm
Do you still lose for two months of negative score? I finally started a run on 99b and while the early game feels great now, without weapons on the airbus completing only ground missions and the occasional landed shipping doesn't come close to offsetting the score loss over the course of the month. Even winning the pogrom, which I didn't,  wouldn't have gotten me to zero.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2016, 03:34:55 pm
Do you still lose for two months of negative score? I finally started a run on 99b and while the early game feels great now, without weapons on the airbus completing only ground missions and the occasional landed shipping doesn't come close to offsetting the score loss over the course of the month. Even winning the pogrom, which I didn't,  wouldn't have gotten me to zero.

You can easily offset that with research. I was afraid of such issues, but in my current test playthrough I was getting constant 500+ score in early months, despite bagging only 1-2 missions monthly and not doing Pogroms.
And yes, you naturally lose for constant negative score/negative money. No point in prologing the agony, is there any?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 20, 2016, 06:09:02 pm
Do you still lose for two months of negative score? I finally started a run on 99b and while the early game feels great now, without weapons on the airbus completing only ground missions and the occasional landed shipping doesn't come close to offsetting the score loss over the course of the month. Even winning the pogrom, which I didn't,  wouldn't have gotten me to zero.

I did some testing too with the early game, and I think that one of the most viable start strategies is to sell the Airbus at the start and buy an Aircar immediately.  Mount the Charger Laser on it and start raiding Civilian Shipping.  The loot and score from these small missions give you the boost at the start that you need.  The challenge is only 4 gals makes for more of them getting wounded in even simple missions, so the turn over in hands starts to become a factor.  After a couple months though, you can buy back the Airbus, and missions become marginally safer.  If given the opportunity, the Pachyderm is a better choice than the Airbus all the time, but even Airbus to Pachyderm is probably very viable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 20, 2016, 06:12:50 pm
You can easily offset that with research. I was afraid of such issues, but in my current test playthrough I was getting constant 500+ score in early months, despite bagging only 1-2 missions monthly and not doing Pogroms.
And yes, you naturally lose for constant negative score/negative money. No point in prologing the agony, is there any?

I'm not sure if the RNG is trolling me or what, but I did every mission available to me in January, completed all but one Ratman Rodeo (I did kill a bunch of them and take loot home), researched a bunch of stuff (which I do recall being worth a lot of points in earlier versions) and even landed at the pogrom and shot a few guys until the tank showed up. I was at around -300 before the pogrom, and after research bonus I was still -250 in the hole at the end of the month. Then something in the first week of February knocked me down to -200 right off the bat.

The charts indicate quite a bit of shipping activity in areas I can't see, but the score penalties seem unusually high. About 95% of shipping that I could see was civilian and never landed. The rest were larges that outran the airbus and went about their business.

I'll reinstall when I get home, maybe I copied the wrong UFO files.

@ivan: I have no option to buy any craft. Maybe that's an issue in and of itself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2016, 06:15:11 pm
@ivan: I have no option to buy any craft. Maybe that's an issue in and of itself.

Now it requires some research: Cunning -> Contact: Car Thieves. Obtainable fast if you go for it right away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 20, 2016, 06:17:39 pm
Another thing: until you research "contacts: mutant alliance", pogroms do not carry a penalty for not showing up. By showing up without winning, all you did is provide yourself as a scapegoat to blame the deaths of all those civilians on. That probably messed you up more than anything else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 20, 2016, 06:52:55 pm
Another thing: until you research "contacts: mutant alliance", pogroms do not carry a penalty for not showing up. By showing up without winning, all you did is provide yourself as a scapegoat to blame the deaths of all those civilians on. That probably messed you up more than anything else.
This more than anything then. I'm used to the older versions where you start as a member.


And Cunning is the one thing I still haven't done from the initial research.  :)

I should start over then. I got a pretty crappy starting six anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: HelmetHair on August 20, 2016, 08:02:16 pm
Dioxine,

I started playing this mod and love it. It is so ridiculous in a good way. I absolutely love the hardscrabble nature where there is basically no uniformity of equipment because you are just taking what you can get.

I won the mutant pogram in the first month by blind luck by being parasitic and one dude had a laser LMG that I used to set up a machinegun nest and cooked a ton of dudes with it. I robbed the shit out of so many researchers.

anyways,

have a good one

-HH
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2016, 08:55:43 pm
Thank you. Looks like you know what to do, good luck then! The moments of sheer excitement are what I like about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 21, 2016, 01:13:27 am
Yeah, the RNG was trolling me. Now I have 600 points halfway through January, real handguns for all my gals almost immediately, several shotguns, and I just raided the Temple of Sirius (now that brings back memories) so I'm month one rich.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 21, 2016, 10:04:23 am
Do you still lose for two months of negative score? I finally started a run on 99b and while the early game feels great now, without weapons on the airbus completing only ground missions and the occasional landed shipping doesn't come close to offsetting the score loss over the course of the month. Even winning the pogrom, which I didn't,  wouldn't have gotten me to zero.

Meridian once said, that he know way to make score "strike" optional (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4466.15.html) (https://(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4466.15.html)) . Maybe it is time to add this option to mod options? And loose only in case of bankruptcy OR loosing last base if option is enabled?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 21, 2016, 10:54:51 am
Meridian once said, that he know way to make score "strike" optional (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4466.15.html) (https://(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4466.15.html)) . Maybe it is time to add this option to mod options? And loose only in case of bankruptcy OR loosing last base if option is enabled?

It has been implemented in vanilla already, we're waiting for merge now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 21, 2016, 11:25:19 am
It has been implemented in vanilla already, we're waiting for merge now.

Awesome! Tanx, dude. Long waited for this feature!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 21, 2016, 12:25:35 pm
You won't make this a sandbox game by simply removing the possibility of losing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 21, 2016, 01:01:07 pm
You won't make this a sandbox game by simply removing the possibility of losing.

No, no sandboxes. I just personally don't like score system, score strike to be exact. If all communities no longer pay you you yet can survive by own profits. That`s idea. And - if you lost all bases - you lost. automatic wipe with military assault is silly. Our babes is owning HIDEOUTS. They not telling anyone where they are. Nobody will assault something if they have no coordinates.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 21, 2016, 01:18:01 pm
And - if you lost all bases - you lost.

This never happens, that's the problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 21, 2016, 01:28:47 pm
This never happens, that's the problem.

Had this situation couple of times. Anyway, optional  "score strike"  would be good. Built in or in standalone mod form - no matter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 21, 2016, 03:59:39 pm
It's more than just the money. You aren't really self-sufficient, the governments know who you are and are ignoring your actions because you are beneficial to them. The Mutant Alliance sees you as a useful tool, therefore they provide cloaking devices and presumably perform maintenance on the same. If you cease to be useful to them, all those blind eyes turn towards you and you get swept away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: khade on August 22, 2016, 01:33:11 am
The mutant alliance isn't supplying the cloaking devices, They're supplying the libraries and some other supplies in exchange for actually requiring you to help with pogroms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 22, 2016, 05:10:11 am
Well, that doesn't really change anything. The fact is that you're not alone and losing the support of those that are supporting you would be a deathblow. Presumably that happens after 2 months of bad performance. Maybe it would be more forgiving if it were 3,4,6,9,12 months, but the game is already incredibly forgiving compared to what it was previously. The steps taken by Dioxine to make the early game more approachable are significant and it looks way more manageable than what it was at the beginning of Ivan's or Meridian's LP (or the beginning of my Piratez experience).

The only thing I could see, if it isn't already done, is to have a pedia article from the beginning, explaining pogroms and how you don't need to go there. With vanilla, showing up decreases the penalty, but since there is no penalty in early XPiratez, that old reflex from vanilla is really bad and it's hard to tell if you don't read it on the forums.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: khade on August 22, 2016, 05:50:26 am
So I realized something that easy difficulty allows, there's no way a domestic shotgun should be able to take out an osiron security, except from behind, and good luck there.  I'm actually happy the shotguns worked, ran into a ship with several security and drones really early.

Also just barely got the link between apples and electronics... I might be slow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: robin on August 22, 2016, 02:42:04 pm
Game crashes when I try to start a quick battle for the "S3000 Limousine" mission.
(Many -I still haven't tried them all- of the other missions work fine, so the problem seems to be specific to that one).
I'm using version 0.99B.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 22, 2016, 03:24:28 pm
So I realized something that easy difficulty allows, there's no way a domestic shotgun should be able to take out an osiron security, except from behind, and good luck there.  I'm actually happy the shotguns worked, ran into a ship with several security and drones really early.

Easiest difficult is really 'kid' difficulty since it halves armor on all enemies.

Game crashes when I try to start a quick battle for the "S3000 Limousine" mission.

It's normal. Set 'Human Citizens' as the desired faction to make it work.


As for the bad score strike... It can only happen in the early game, later there is no way you get negative score. So while it can be argued that later you should be self-sufficient, and immune to such happenings, early on you aren't - and only then such mechanic can kick in. Also I think you need more than 2 months of negative score to die, I once set a game running, not doing anything at all, and got bad score strike only by the end of April.
Or maybe it is 2 consecutive months, but low negative scores do not count, only past a certain threshold (-500?).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 22, 2016, 03:59:12 pm
Game crashes when I try to start a quick battle for the "S3000 Limousine" mission.
(Many -I still haven't tried them all- of the other missions work fine, so the problem seems to be specific to that one).
I'm using version 0.99B.

"alienRank: 8" is the problem.
But it should work with race "Human Citizens"

Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_VESSEL_CE_LIMO
    data:
      - alienRank: 8 <================== alien rank 8 doesn't exist for most races...
        lowQty: 1
        highQty: 1
        dQty: 0
        percentageOutsideUfo: 0
        itemSets:
          -
            - STR_MASTERS_CANE
            - STR_MAGNUM
            - STR_MAGNUM_DRUM
            - STR_MAGNUM_DRUM
            - STR_MAGNUM_DRUM
          -
            - STR_MASTERS_CANE
            - STR_HEAVY_PISTOL
            - STR_HEAVY_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_HEAVY_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_HEAVY_PISTOL_CLIP
          -
            - STR_MASTERS_CANE
            - STR_PISTOL
            - STR_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_CIGS
          -
            - STR_MASTERS_CANE
            - STR_LASER_PISTOL_SNUB
            - STR_LASER_PISTOL_SNUB_CLIP
            - STR_LASER_PISTOL_SNUB_CLIP
            - STR_LASER_PISTOL_SNUB_CLIP
          -
            - STR_MASTERS_CANE
    width: 50
    length: 50
    height: 9
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 22, 2016, 04:04:24 pm
As for the bad score strike... It can only happen in the early game, later there is no way you get negative score. So while it can be argued that later you should be self-sufficient, and immune to such happenings, early on you aren't - and only then such mechanic can kick in. Also I think you need more than 2 months of negative score to die, I once set a game running, not doing anything at all, and got bad score strike only by the end of April.
Or maybe it is 2 consecutive months, but low negative scores do not count, only past a certain threshold (-500?).

I think it`s more than -1000 for 2 month in a row.

Edit: yup, just play-tested it, -1000 (Big Joke) and less for 2 month in a row. You are right, it wont happen wen playing as it should play. Wanted that option more for role play than for normal gameplay.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 22, 2016, 04:13:08 pm
I think it`s more than -1000 for 2 month in a row.

Depends on difficulty level (-500 on superhuman, -900 on beginner).
In TFTD probably a bit different.

Code: [Select]
  int difficulty_threshold = 100*(_game->getSavedGame()->getDifficultyCoefficient()-9);
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 22, 2016, 04:16:49 pm
Tanx, just finded exact numbers too.

Wanted that option more for role play than for normal gameplay.
Ability to forget the politics in some walkthroughs of this game is... refreshing.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 22, 2016, 04:26:00 pm
Edit: yup, just play-tested it, -1000 (Big Joke) and less for 2 month in a row. You are right, it wont happen wen playing as it should play. Wanted that option more for role play than for normal gameplay.

Well, it seems it's hard to get it even if you don't play at all, as my experience shows. As long as you leave Pogroms alone, you should have positive score from research alone... As long as you hire some Brainers right away, that is.
Also there will be a few more (better-scored) early missions, eventually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 22, 2016, 06:01:34 pm
I'm finding that a strong starting strategy is to spend your starting cash on two more brainers immediately.  Go ballbats and flintlock pistols on all hands, and beeline the black market upgrades. You can get a hold of domestic shotguns very quickly, and score a lot of research points in the process. Using the ballbats will net you quite a few captives without playing games with capture equipment like the rope. Early cash flow from science experiments and especially raids on the Church of Sirius can get you a second hanger and the aircar within a month and a half. If you get lucky early and find a stun baton to research you should be set for captives, otherwise just keep swinging for the fences on raids and use the shotguns to down most any of the early opponents with ease.

Early game ransom is highly valuable. Just keep an eye on upgrading your arsenal because this setup beats just about everything for the first three months, then falls flat against armored foes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: LexThorn on August 22, 2016, 07:41:54 pm
A question: are pilots benefit something from piloting? XP or some stat growth? Or it isn`t work that way yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 22, 2016, 08:23:13 pm
A question: are pilots benefit something from piloting? XP or some stat growth? Or it isn`t work that way yet?
Not that I see, but since they fight in the tactical portion as well, you can just swap a good pilot in if needed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 22, 2016, 09:08:48 pm
Say, anyone know why OpenXcomEX ignores all of the blank spots in its fonts? I was experimenting with icons for the extractions, disassemblies, robberies, and slavery to make them look prettier than ASCII, but even though ¤, ¥, ¦, and § are defined in font.dat, but not drawn in fontsmall.png - and thus unused in the default game - the game ignores them even when they are added to the appropriate blank spots in fontsmall.png. It just prints nothing, not even the default single pixel that represents each unused glyph.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Yankes on August 22, 2016, 09:33:44 pm
Say, anyone know why OpenXcomEX ignores all of the blank spots in its fonts? I was experimenting with icons for the extractions, disassemblies, robberies, and slavery to make them look prettier than ASCII, but even though ¤, ¥, ¦, and § are defined in font.dat, but not drawn in fontsmall.png - and thus unused in the default game - the game ignores them even when they are added to the appropriate blank spots in fontsmall.png. It just prints nothing, not even the default single pixel that represents each unused glyph.
This probably question for normal OXC, I do not touch anything in fonts and Meridian probably too didn't. If it working in recent nightly then it will work in OXCE 3.5 when I merge it. If it not work in nightly then this is standard behavior of OXC an OXCE works same.

[edit]
bugged number
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 22, 2016, 10:46:26 pm
This probably question for normal OXC, I do not touch anything in fonts and Meridian probably too didn't. If it working in recent nightly then it will work in OXCE 2.5 when I merge it. If it not work in nightly then this is standard behavior of OXC an OXCE works same.

Yeah, I haven't touched fonts either.

PS: wake up Yankes :) few days you spoke about 2.3 and 2.4, it was quite funny, this time 2.5? We're already at 3.2  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Yankes on August 22, 2016, 11:54:03 pm
PS: wake up Yankes :) few days you spoke about 2.3 and 2.4, it was quite funny, this time 2.5? We're already at 3.2  8)
I can only store numbers up to 3 in memory, this cause overflow to smaller value :>
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 22, 2016, 11:57:44 pm
This probably question for normal OXC, I do not touch anything in fonts and Meridian probably too didn't. If it working in recent nightly then it will work in OXCE 2.5 when I merge it. If it not work in nightly then this is standard behavior of OXC an OXCE works same.
I'm not aware that it works in OXC either, I'm just curious why the font bitmaps and data include glyphs that the game won't actually use. Maybe it's a DOS behavior. I thought I'd seen a way to add some handy icons to the game.

If anyone feels like making OXCE use them, there's a good 10+ completely unused extended unicode characters in there just waiting to be shiny icons. I don't want to steal the accents or touch the Latin or Cyrillic characters because it would mess with translations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 23, 2016, 01:37:34 am
they fight in the tactical portion as well, you can just swap a good pilot in if needed.

Oooh i did not know that. Does that mean that pilots will basically be crap on the battlefield (since they're trained to be pilots, not soldiers) so you're encouraged to use them for utility out of combat (such as a medic, manning a mortar or using a probe)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: khade on August 23, 2016, 01:56:53 am
A good pilot is probably an extremely good soldier.  Problem is that they are supposed to be by the controls of the ship, and so you have to worry about getting them where you want them a little more than usual.

On the difficulty thing, next game I'll try a harder difficulty, I don't expect to do great, I'm really not that good at this type of game, but until I easily killed an Osiron Security with a domestic shotgun, it really wasn't that obvious that I wasn't really getting the full experience.

Edit

needed to post again, but dislike double posting way too much

Is there supposed to be a use for living shamblers, other than the 30k? can't butcher the things and it doesn't look like there's any other use for them right now.  Also researching a living one doesn't leave a corpse, which I'm pretty sure is what is supposed to happen when you interview a beast.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 23, 2016, 05:44:51 am
About the mortar, right now its low firing trajectory suggests that it's really an oversized grenade launcher, meaning that the 'mortar' has trouble hitting places behind tall obstacles (e.g. buildings), or if the obstacles are close enough. Is it possible to increase the trajectory in the files?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 23, 2016, 06:18:57 am
No, the engine calculates the trajectories for arcing shots. Shot height would be a great thing to be able to tweak, to allow mortars to fire higher (although that also requires the map to have many, many levels otherwise the projectile hits the "ceiling"), and bows to fire more directly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: khade on August 23, 2016, 07:59:40 am
Is the Airbus supposed to be unlocked through the car thieves? I noticed that it can't be bought early on, but it wasn't unlocked with the other battery powered vehicles. Bug or have I just not found the research needed for it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2016, 03:05:43 pm
Currently unbuyable, partially due to lore reasons and partially, mechanics: either it can be bought from the start - which would make no sense - or not at all, because if it was unlockable, its maintenance wouldn't show up in the Logs until it was unlocked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 23, 2016, 03:34:50 pm
Ha! I just got the joke in naming the advanced kevlar armor Chromeback.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on August 23, 2016, 03:39:37 pm
Ha! I just got the joke in naming the advanced kevlar armor Chromeback.

Care to share? For me, Chromeback unfortunately doesn't have any meaning or double-meaning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2016, 03:50:44 pm
Chromeback Guerrilla. Does it make the joke clearer? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 23, 2016, 03:53:05 pm
Here's the spoiler for those not wanting to search harder:

Adult male gorilla: silverback.  Maturation of Guerrilla armor technology: Chromeback.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2016, 05:00:52 pm
Now I just need to find a good name for the third and final upgrade of this armor :) But there is no rush, it's not planned soon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 23, 2016, 05:03:13 pm
Oooh i did not know that. Does that mean that pilots will basically be crap on the battlefield (since they're trained to be pilots, not soldiers) so you're encouraged to use them for utility out of combat (such as a medic, manning a mortar or using a probe)?

They are soldiers. You assign one of the gals on the ship to pilot it. If the ship engages in combat, she still deploys as normal. If it's a dedicated fighter it works the same, only you probably don't want to do a solo deployment, so you just head back to base at which point you could swap her onto your troop transport if you need her.

You want your good hands flying because their stats translate into combat improvements. Firing accuracy increases the accuracy of the craft weapons, very helpful if you're firing expensive stuff, while reactions gives you increased chances to dodge,  which is always good. Bravery allows you to bring the target into weapons range faster and can make all the difference in catching ships with a higher top speed than you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2016, 05:06:17 pm
Preliminary testing shows that having a pilot with good Firing in early game allows to conserve a lot of ammo; early game craft weapons have crappy accuracy and even +10% bonus means a lot (since it's a flat bonus).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 23, 2016, 07:50:10 pm
Great accuracy and bravery on DPS crafts is good, to get in (minimize damage on the way in, or damage to the tanking craft while you get in, especially since the tank is sent in first) and get the kill is good. It's great at the beginning and also later with missiles to minimize the loss of otherwise costly an annoying to manufacture ammo. The only thing left is figuring out a way to not waste missiles by firing before the previous salvo has hit, to avoid firing at an already doomed craft and wasting a whole salvo. (I often start with all missiles and turn off some launchers when I expect the enemy will go down shortly).

On tanks, reactions trumps all to reduce repair time (and thus down time due to the repair/rearm/refuel order). DPS comes from other crafts any ways.

I hadn't thought of engaging in the air, then coming back and swapping crews before going for the ground battle, but that's a good idea. Put the gals with the greatest reactions in the tank, greatest accuracy in the DPS crafts, go for the fight, come home, put everybody back in the thunderhorse and clean up the wreckage. Much more efficient  than my current dedicated pilot idea. If dodging/hitting had a chance to give reaction/acc XP, maybe dedicated pilots would make sense, but as it is, might as well use the best gals and the crash site isn't going anywhere anyways!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 23, 2016, 08:07:24 pm
Dedicated pilots are still not a bad idea, especially when you get to the point of being able to screen your gals for VooDoo - the really poor ones who you trained early can be sent to an airbase, which they can also defend with their good firing accuracy.  By the time you have multiple DPS craft and the Thunderhorse, your roster will probably be deep enough that you don't really need to switch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 23, 2016, 10:49:08 pm
You can make it work without switching, for sure, but some particular situations really push the capabilities of tank crafts (because of the set repair duration, I wish I could dedicate runts to repairing.. maybe I would be better off selling the one and making a new one!). That's the main reason I was thinking of switching: put my best reaction gals in the tank craft to reduce incoming damage, to reduce repair time so the tank can refitted before going again.

Currently, I am fighting 3 crackdowns worth of ships in the same month so I can down them before they discover my bases. I've had to scramble my still damaged tank with no ammo a few times. Now I've got a dedicated airbase of 6 hangars (2 tanks, 4 DPS) coming up. All I've got to do now is sting the big factions for the top brass and fancy tech (especially power armor parts), until reticulans show up again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 24, 2016, 04:25:01 am
They are soldiers. You assign one of the gals on the ship to pilot it. If the ship engages in combat, she still deploys as normal. If it's a dedicated fighter it works the same, only you probably don't want to do a solo deployment, so you just head back to base at which point you could swap her onto your troop transport if you need her.

You want your good hands flying because their stats translate into combat improvements. Firing accuracy increases the accuracy of the craft weapons, very helpful if you're firing expensive stuff, while reactions gives you increased chances to dodge,  which is always good. Bravery allows you to bring the target into weapons range faster and can make all the difference in catching ships with a higher top speed than you.

Damn, i did not know that and it sounds like a pretty damn cool concept. One thing i keep hearing about though is 'tank' crafts and 'DPS' crafts. Once again, it's been a while since i've played the mod but AFAIK only 1 of your crafts can be involved in air combat at a time, right? I mean i know you can have one craft following the enemy craft while another one of your crafts is on its way to intercept, but to my knowledge, when the combat screen appears, it only represents a battle with the enemy craft and 1 of yours. As such, a 2 vs 1 aerial battle is not possible, so can anyone enlighten me if i'm wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 24, 2016, 05:01:19 am
This is a common "newbie" misconception (no offense meant, it just means you haven't been in the community long enough to find out, and I think there might be a bootypedia text about it too).

When you get an interception window  popping up, you can minimize it by clicking the icon in its upper left corner. This allows the geoscape time to keep ticking, meaning that other crafts that you sent to intercept that same target can make it there too. Once a 2nd craft gets there, minimize the window and give time for a 3rd, then a 4th to make it.

Minimizing creates little squares on the top left, which you can click to maximize the interception windows again. Click the 4 windows successively, pick the craft that has the most hp (and ideally best dodge) and send it in. This is your tank. The target will fire at it and ignore all other crafts until it is destroyed. Quickly send the other 3 crafts to attack, and the will be safe from retribution. This allows you to send 1 tougher craft to take the damage and 3 weaker ones packing a punch to deal the damage. It's pretty much like any RPG, except without a healer. It'd be nice to have tanks with slots allowing you to put shields/dodge engines on them and really specialize, but the tanks I have had access to only had light and heavy weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 24, 2016, 05:53:11 am
It's something that you rarely, if ever, had to do in vanilla, kinda more of a bonus feature. Firaxis never bothered including it in the reboot.

You can also use the minimized mode to shadow a craft, wait until they get over land, or just wait for them to land.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 24, 2016, 06:13:22 am
It'd be nice to have tanks with slots allowing you to put shields/dodge engines on them and really specialize, but the tanks I have had access to only had light and heavy weapons.

Yeah, the current shields are only meant to make baseline fighters adaptable to any role, rather than reinforcing tank role (tanks usually have shields built-in). Although the pilot dodge bonus (once over +10%) significantly boosts capabilities of lumbering tank fighters like Krakens.

Also yes, there is a Pedia article on multiple interceptions. There is one about most gameplay quirks, if you invest time into gambling with Data Discs :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: yotc on August 24, 2016, 06:21:27 am
Early game I've been sending the Shark jetbike in with a high reactions pilot to play dodgy while my hunter killer throws .50's at ships. 
I've been having reasonable luck with it.  That 4500 max speed is no joke early game either, lets it just sit on UFO's that should land so I can get airspeeder or bonny slowboating after it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Surrealistik on August 24, 2016, 06:31:35 am
Multiple intercepting is key to having a solid early-mid air presence.

Hunter Killers do surprising amounts of work with one loaded up with thruster modules to dodge (even better if it has shields) while the others throw down with plasma spit and seagull poop; even things like Destroyers will go down like a 2 bit whore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 24, 2016, 07:08:31 am
This is a common "newbie" misconception (no offense meant, it just means you haven't been in the community long enough to find out, and I think there might be a bootypedia text about it too).

When you get an interception window  popping up, you can minimize it by clicking the icon in its upper left corner. This allows the geoscape time to keep ticking, meaning that other crafts that you sent to intercept that same target can make it there too. Once a 2nd craft gets there, minimize the window and give time for a 3rd, then a 4th to make it.

Minimizing creates little squares on the top left, which you can click to maximize the interception windows again. Click the 4 windows successively, pick the craft that has the most hp (and ideally best dodge) and send it in. This is your tank. The target will fire at it and ignore all other crafts until it is destroyed. Quickly send the other 3 crafts to attack, and the will be safe from retribution. This allows you to send 1 tougher craft to take the damage and 3 weaker ones packing a punch to deal the damage. It's pretty much like any RPG, except without a healer. It'd be nice to have tanks with slots allowing you to put shields/dodge engines on them and really specialize, but the tanks I have had access to only had light and heavy weapons.

Ok so i already knew about minimizing the window to allow for several crafts to be 'at the battle', but what you're saying suggests that all 4 crafts can be in combat simultaneously, and fire at the same time. If that is possible, oh damn have i been missing out. If that's not the case and crafts have to 'take their turn' to fire, then unless you're up against a craft with a slow firing rate, it's gonna be pretty difficult to switch between crafts fast enough to avoid your weaker crafts taking fire, right?

Maybe someone has a video that illustrates it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Drasnighta on August 24, 2016, 04:39:41 pm
Basically, you bring all 4 windows up, and then click them to attack...

The UFO will only attack the one it is *closest* to...  The *first* one it gets into range of. 

Until it kills it or you duck back out of range.

Then it moves on to the next.


Very Useful if you have one Craft that can take a bit of Punishment (Kraken, Crab) and a bunch of lighter interceptors that have the Goods in Offense, but can't take harsh words without buckling under them....  Because you set up the big craft to shoot first, and the others get free reign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 24, 2016, 07:18:28 pm
@Foxhound634:
Look up Meridian's playthrough, there should be examples of that somewhere. Maybe someone who follows more than I do (had to give up, stupid broadband limit :( ) can point to a specific episode.

The UFO will only attack the one it is *closest* to...  The *first* one it gets into range of. 

That's a bit confusing. The UFO will attack the first craft to get in range and stick to that one. You can send another craft in closer after that and it will still be fine. This is especially useful for the Kraken (3 heavy slots, with decent range) being supported by hunter-killers and the like closing in for the kill with 2 cannons (short range) and hyperwave targetters (increasing accuracy substantially). This setup can save you a lot of ammo and you don't really need missiles (which are way more expensive) if your cannons can reach in and fire with great accuracies (especially now with good pilots).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Foxhound634 on August 24, 2016, 11:41:06 pm
Ok i think i get it now, and yeah it all sounds so cool. Can't wait for 1.0. Didn't dioxine estimate it to be released around september/october?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 24, 2016, 11:42:09 pm
2017 maybe :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 25, 2016, 12:30:36 am
There's still 24 letters to go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 25, 2016, 12:51:15 am
and then there's always more letters :P Until XPiratez v0.99zzzzzzzzzzz

Silly comments aside, this talk of upcoming versions has me curious: You mentioned that the endgame factions are missing from the game, Dioxine, but I understood them to be mercenaries and stargods. There are supposed to be even crazier ones?

I am now pretty much waiting for reticulans to show up so I can get a mechtoid corpse for higher studies, while forcing retals to get power armor parts and farming merc supply ships for synthsuits, so I can make annihilator armors for a full thunderhorse (still setting up, I figured since I've got nothing else to do while waiting for reticulans, I might as well farm and harvest). That comment made me consider just restarting as there's no point in trying to experience an endgame that isn't really there, while the early game seems to be quite a bit more developed than when I last started.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 25, 2016, 01:18:57 am
2017 maybe :P

Because the points 2, 3 and 4 in the future plans (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.msg64394.html#msg64394) are not implemented yet, so by now a bit less of 50% of the mod is completed, hope Dioxine would correct if i'm wrong?

Edit: i aegerly hope to be wrong, hopefully to see mid completed by early 2017 :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 25, 2016, 01:37:39 am
I think the number is closer to 80%. But it's still a HUGE amount to go, considering est. worktime so far at 3000 hrs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Asheram on August 26, 2016, 12:42:51 pm
A question: First time I'm playing since the update, and I had a Watchtower mission where that blue robot-like decoration was planted right outside the door to the watchtower, preventing access. Is this intentional?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 26, 2016, 01:48:21 pm
"Beware of the robotic guard", it's right there in the briefing ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Asheram on August 26, 2016, 03:43:46 pm
"Beware of the robotic guard", it's right there in the briefing ;)
Gah, of course. Great incentive to make sure that folk brings explosives on missions now, by the way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 26, 2016, 04:14:40 pm
You can shoot it with muskets, that's what I did on my watchtower mission. Beware though, it blows up so shooting it from the next tile over isn't a great idea.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: nrafield on August 26, 2016, 06:24:13 pm
I have smashed it with a hammer multiple times before, it did not seem to do any damage to my unarmored gals
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 26, 2016, 10:56:38 pm
I have smashed it with a hammer multiple times before, it did not seem to do any damage to my unarmored gals
Yeah, my first encounter I hammered it. Been doing it ever since, never seen a point of damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 26, 2016, 11:07:13 pm
Ah! I saw the explosion and decided to stay away. Good to know!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 27, 2016, 01:36:23 am
Query: Interested in hand-tuned improvements to the 'pedia images? I can get the color to match up a bit better, as in the Space Truckin' image, and/or retone the whole image to "sell" the subject better with X-Com's limited palette, as seen in the "basement execution".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 27, 2016, 02:32:55 pm
Sure thing, you can submit any improved pictures and I might add them - if I like them :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 27, 2016, 05:43:19 pm
That revamped truck looks quite awesome compared to the original. It's like seeing an advertisement photo next to something caught at night with a phone :P Well done Devon_v!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 28, 2016, 03:07:56 am
The pachyderm's problem was that the color on the original image was a tad too bright for X-Com's palette, so closest color matching turned the red into pink and orange, which have higher brightness in X-Com. The original image does have that blueish background color, but it made it look washed out. By lowering the brightness a little and nudging up the contrast it converts to X-Com's palette much truer, and it's just a few minutes of pixel hunting to chase out the random green and pink pixels that pattern dithering likes to insert.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: karadoc on August 28, 2016, 03:30:16 am
v0.99B, I was able to research Tornado Special Munitions before having researched the Tornado launcher itself - which strikes me as weird. The weapon should probably be a prereq. for the special ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 28, 2016, 05:54:46 am
Here are the two I was fiddling with. I want to look at The Most Common Superpower next, but I'm probably going to be busy the next few days.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 28, 2016, 08:42:56 pm
Dioxine, do you still have the source image for The Most Common Superpower? Reverse image search is not bringing that one up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on August 29, 2016, 02:55:00 pm
Somewhere, but I won't waste several hours on finding it, sorry :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 29, 2016, 03:40:47 pm
Just wanted to clarify for the tutorial video I'm working on:

Code: [Select]
HOW DO I INSTALL THIS MOD?
WINDOWS:
- Unpack the mod. It will create a complete Openxcom_XPiratez folder with all the files that you need; it will contain the correct nightly version and Yankes's & Meridian's custom exe named "OpenXcomExPlus29".
- Copy files from your original "UFO: Enemy Unknown"/"X-Com: UFO Defense" folder to the "OpenXcom_XPiratez/UFO" folder.
- Use OpenXcomExPlus29.exe to run the game.
- Choose "Piratez" as the master mod from the Game Options menu.
- Includes four sub-mods: helmetless/maskless armor paperdoll variants made by Roxis231, the 'naughty mod' (it adds the option for gals to fight in the nude, with proper modifiers; do not enable if you don't like such things) and a fun Star God commander replacement with Dioxine's avatar by Alex_D :)

I'm also including applying the Universal Patch after I copy the original files.  If you don't want this step in the video, let me know. :)
Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on August 29, 2016, 08:32:41 pm
I'm almost positive that Piratez defaults to the master mod now.

The steps for me were
1) Unpack Piratez
2) Copy UFO files.
3) Boot OpenXcomExPlus29.exe

It was definitely more involved several versions ago.

Somewhere, but I won't waste several hours on finding it, sorry :)
Remember me if it ever jumps out at you. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Boltgun on August 30, 2016, 10:35:24 am

I'm also including applying the Universal Patch after I copy the original files.  If you don't want this step in the video, let me know. :)
Thanks!

You should skip it, it's confusing and afaik applying the patch is only needed if you downloaded X-Com for an abandonware site. And if by chance such site provided a patched version, applying the patch is likely to crash Openxcom.

GoG or Steam versions should be ready to use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: niculinux on August 30, 2016, 02:53:38 pm
You should skip it, it's confusing and afaik applying the patch is only needed if you downloaded X-Com for an abandonware site. And if by chance such site provided a patched version, applying the patch is likely to crash Openxcom.

GoG or Steam versions should be ready to use.

Though i own a copy of the game, i tryed downloading and patching it, never had problems :=)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Nord on August 31, 2016, 02:03:28 pm
Please, tell me: what difference is between slave types? I mean is it only more storage space, or some invisible bonuses exist?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 31, 2016, 04:45:53 pm
Please, tell me: what difference is between slave types? I mean is it only more storage space, or some invisible bonuses exist?

Mostly storage space, but some specific slave types are required for various manufacturing projects.  I like to think of them like pokemon.  Gotta catch 'em all.

Edit:  Also some slaves are more cost effective than others, when you compare their ransom vs the amount of space they provide.  Raider scouts vs Researchers is one example.  I often ransom the more rewarding ones, and slave the others.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on August 31, 2016, 05:48:44 pm
Mostly storage space, but some specific slave types are required for various manufacturing projects.  I like to think of them like pokemon.  Gotta catch 'em all.

Edit:  Also some slaves are more cost effective than others, when you compare their ransom vs the amount of space they provide.  Raider scouts vs Researchers is one example.  I often ransom the more rewarding ones, and slave the others.

Free storage (or even storage that makes money!) > all. It allows you to reduce the number of vaults you have in a base, thus enabling you to have more other facilities (ex.: another workshop for more moneys, another defense system to save you from that boring hideout defense). It would have to be a lot of immediate money (or early in the game where money is really scarce) to be worth what the slaves are worth in the long term. Also some faction loot (like Force circuitry) is quite valuable too, so slaving > ransom (and to expand on it, slaving > robbing > ransoming).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: ivandogovich on August 31, 2016, 05:51:39 pm
Free storage (or even storage that makes money!) > all. It allows you to reduce the number of vaults you have in a base, thus enabling you to have more other facilities (ex.: another workshop for more moneys, another defense system to save you from that boring hideout defense). It would have to be a lot of immediate money (or early in the game where money is really scarce) to be worth what the slaves are worth in the long term. Also some faction loot (like Force circuitry) is quite valuable too, so slaving > ransom (and to expand on it, slaving > robbing > ransoming).

Very good point!  I completely forgot about the new mechanic where slaves make you money every month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Nord on August 31, 2016, 10:27:06 pm
Very good point!  I completely forgot about the new mechanic where slaves make you money every month.
Is there any ufopedia entry about ( with numbers)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on September 01, 2016, 12:06:20 am
Not that I'm aware of. Of the early game stuff Maids seem to give the best space benefit while Lashers give the best monetary benefit. Basically slavery is always worth it unless you desperately need cash.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on September 01, 2016, 12:29:51 am
There are articles on all that.

Btw. Anyone knows good gfx for Field Hospital?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Devon_v on September 02, 2016, 03:52:30 am
There are articles on all that.

Btw. Anyone knows good gfx for Field Hospital?

Is it a facility? Tileset? 'Pedia article?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on September 02, 2016, 04:15:15 am
Doesn't matter, done it myself already ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on September 02, 2016, 06:54:50 am
I assume Dioxine was looking for a pedia image for a new facility, but we'll only know on the next release. Hopefully that and the surgery rooms are now able to heal your gals faster than before!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on September 02, 2016, 07:00:58 am
They do, and to a good effects :) Although they no longer support any Runts :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: yotc on September 02, 2016, 09:24:42 am
They do, and to a good effects :) Although they no longer support any Runts :)
I am 100% ok with this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Arthanor on September 02, 2016, 06:36:29 pm
Faster healing time > 10 runt spaces. Very cool!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2016, 09:00:03 pm
Yeah I'll pay in runt space for not having top gals of the line for months at a time.

Also makes makes pushing for the "never get shot" gameplay more good play and less absolutely needed.
Certainly widens my options beyond see something and call in maximum fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Meridian on September 02, 2016, 09:19:32 pm
Yeah I'll pay in runt space for not having top gals of the line for months at a time.

Also makes makes pushing for the "never get shot" gameplay more good play and less absolutely needed.
Certainly widens my options beyond see something and call in maximum fire.

I think the bonus will not be very big, maybe +30% or so since the effects are global.
Once we do a hospital with limited capacity, it might go a lot higher I guess.
Let's see what Papa Dioxine comes up with :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Dioxine on September 02, 2016, 09:31:55 pm
It's basically the same as your proposed numbers, they made a lot of sense. Only a slightly nerfed. But it stacks with Spa and first and foremost, the basic sickbay which is new.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: Surrealistik on September 02, 2016, 09:36:46 pm
Yeah I'll pay in runt space for not having top gals of the line for months at a time.

Also makes makes pushing for the "never get shot" gameplay more good play and less absolutely needed.
Certainly widens my options beyond see something and call in maximum fire.

This.

People often complain about how boring and lame smoke and snipe is... but the harsh reality is it's crucial unless you're running a huge pool of gals; adding options to expedite recovery times would address this flaw substantially.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99B - 18 Aug - Sky's The Limit
Post by: karadoc on September 03, 2016, 04:52:54 pm
I'm not too worried about injury times, because I've been using mushroom beer to eliminate it. As soon as biomatter is purchasable, mushroom beer is easy to keep fully stocked.

If someone gets shot, I revive them, give them pain killers or meat (to get their moral up), and have them quaff a mushroom beer. (Drop their weapon for a couple of turns in case they go berserk.) Sometimes I revive an enemy just to give myself a few extra turns to heal up my soldiers before the mission ends; because drinking that beer can mean the difference between zero days injured, and a full month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 03, 2016, 05:26:21 pm
ver. 0.99C is up, with all the nifty upgrades that allows the latest code by Meridian and Yankes. Most changes are about vision: night vision, smoke-piercing vision, psi vision, player's vision and all that stuff. So the battle environment might be a little shocking to regulars, but also night missions are finally playable (gotta find yer SPACE or SCROLL-LOCK to enter the Player's NV mode).
Other addages sadly do not bring any new missions, but I'm very short on time lately.
What do they bring:
- integrated Employment mod
- healing type facilities
- some novelty weapons
- some novelty economic research
- in general, more sh**t of various nature.

So Good Luck, Player One!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Foxhound634 on September 03, 2016, 05:38:18 pm
I just saw the addition of a suppressed pistol in 0.99C. Will it have an impact on stealth game play?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Devon_v on September 03, 2016, 06:17:33 pm
The X-Commer in me avoids night missions like the plague,  but I've been forcing myself to do some due to the advantage the gals have over purebloods. I welcome visual improvements. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Ketonur on September 04, 2016, 06:35:40 am
Death in smoke indeed... Smoke is rather useless now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Surrealistik on September 04, 2016, 07:25:19 am
Death in smoke indeed... Smoke is rather useless now.

I agree, Ghost is now mandatory, and if you don't have it, god help you vs anything that can ignore smoke.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: greattuna on September 04, 2016, 06:44:41 pm
I wouldn't call it "mandatory", but it'll probably end up on the bad end of nerfhammer due to how good it is now. Almost invisible, weapons ignore armor, voodoo resistant, and now has an all-seeing eye.


Eh, at least I'm in endgame, which means I can use all most flavors of armour, as well as take advantage of psi-vision. And that reddish filter is... nice, but a bit tiring on my eyes for some reason.

Also, word: star gods are still douches. There's nothing but getting three gals MC-ed in one turn, and I was lucky my saviour survived the elerium grenade. Still, that's 90+ days of healing because I don't have facilities yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Surrealistik on September 04, 2016, 08:04:42 pm
I wouldn't call it "mandatory", but it'll probably end up on the bad end of nerfhammer due to how good it is now. Almost invisible, weapons ignore armor, voodoo resistant, and now has an all-seeing eye.

It's mainly good because of the invisibility which is now required to deal with smoke ignoring enemies. It's either use ghost or facetank, and if you don't have some seriously upper end armour, the latter is a pretty bad idea.

Ghost knife/beam seem amazing up until the point you realize you can have the former on any armour, and the lethality of the latter is readily matched or surpassed by most late game weaponry (especially given the beam's insane TU cost, and energy drain that I feel was needlessly increased). Meanwhile no nades/medikits/utility/stunning items or equipment flexibility for you which is a massive drawback. Overall I think it's in a pretty decent balance space (though the Ghost Beam should probably be either a little less prohibitive to use, or a little more powerful), because I'm running them strictly as scouts rather than the core of my force (that would be Witches).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Arthanor on September 04, 2016, 09:18:23 pm
Haven't tried the new mod version yet, but ghost armor already was by far the best scout in 0.99B. The weapons are pretty weak (melee on a gal with paper armor whose only protection is only being visible from 5 tiles is asking for trouble in many occasions. Ghost is not for close quarters. And for once I agree with Surrealistik: indeed the ghost beam is pretty much useless. It usually takes at least 2 hits to kill something, but if you walked around a bit, you're likely to not have enough stamina for that. Even if you do, it means that your gal will be pretty much stationary next turn. Safe scouting and sniping with something else is much much more efficient).

If ghost keeps two fixed weapons, making the beam useable would be necessary. When I modded in the vision changes by Meridian (after he made the feature, before Dioxine released the new version), I nerfed long range vision of the ghost armor (to 25) so it wouldn't as broken of a scout. I considered that being ethereal and having light go through you could mess your vision (sort of like a LotR Frodo with the ring on effect). I also unfixed the dagger and enabled the quickdraw, so the gal could interact with her environment. If she can kill something, presumably she can also pick up a rock.. I generally dislike outfits with both hands taken. Limited inventory, sure, one hand taken, sure, but both is too constraining except for animals.

I'm ok with making the game more deadly (my casualties have been very low), but that brings up the cost of armor. Often repairing the broken armor is almost as expensive as making a new one (like ghost armor giving back a single one of many rare components, or all the personal armor types giving one part when it takes 4-5 to make).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 05, 2016, 06:28:31 pm
Leaving any hand free or buffing the Ghost Beam would allow high efficiency safe-distance sniping, which I consider far too OP on an invisible armor.
Limiting vision seems like a sensible nerf tho.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Arthanor on September 05, 2016, 07:42:43 pm
As it is, you cannot even sustain walking and shooting once per turn, so the outfit is limited to walking only (scouting, which limited vision will nerf) or overly specialized range armor killer when you've got plenty of other ranged firepower that outdoes it and melee is far superior at taking out armor. If you nerf the vision and given that there are now vision types that will spot it easier without any buff, it'll be hardly useful.

Psi vision is great but it basically means standing outside of ufos (since it's easy to spot a ghost inside in close quarters) which aye-phones can easily do as well on any gal. Flag-type doesn't help since it drains energy. Combat drugs would be good but it's self only.

I'm not sure what the vision is for the ghost armor. I don't see it as an über scout, it's certainly not a close range fighter since it is easily spotted at that range and easily killed once spotted, and the beam is not useable enough to make it a useful  midrange fighter complement to the likes of revenant with melee + XL rifle, although that should be the role.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Nord on September 05, 2016, 10:31:39 pm
I have a question for Dioxine. With all these psi-vision, magic wands and fairy suits, is your game (and i prefer piratez truly a new game) still science fiction, or it is a fantasy now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Meridian on September 05, 2016, 10:41:46 pm
I have a question for Dioxine. With all these psi-vision, magic wands and fairy suits, is your game (and i prefer piratez truly a new game) still science fiction, or it is a fantasy now?

I think it doesn't matter that much what exactly it is.
It's a dream come true... didn't you too always dream of making your own game? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Surrealistik on September 06, 2016, 03:29:58 am
Just want to reiterate my position on the Ghost Armour (buff the as-is super situational Ghost Beam by reducing its cost to use in TUs and/or energy, or increasing its damage output) with the addendum that nerfing the max vision of Ghost would be a bad idea, particularly given the current meta.

Ghost Armour is the uber scout, but seeing as it's a late game armour, there's nothing wrong with that; there's always going to be a best and Ghost Armour is perfect for that role. The main problem is that the beam is just awful for a fixed weapon on an endgame piece of gear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Arthanor on September 06, 2016, 04:13:20 am
To each his own. Ghost scouting feels like an exploit to me because you spot to 40, get spotted at 5 and just have other gals do the killing. It's useful but not very characterful and kind of sad to have a gal do nothing but spotting. I don't care for it to be a good /great/best scout, but I'd like it to be the midrange bane of armor which I fully agree it isn't. Hence the suggestion of limited vision as a compensation for buffing the beam to take it away from scouting and towards midrange killer.

A not über kill ghost beam makes sense for stargods because a wounded gal will be taken out of the fight in all but the most dire circumstances. But for the gals, we have so many ways to deal with enemy units properly (permanently) that it isn't useful to just wound a guy with power armor, especially with the possibility to roll low meaning you might well have sacrificed all your stamina for little (although I think that was addressed with gaussian magic damage distribution?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Nord on September 06, 2016, 08:03:10 am
I think it doesn't matter that much what exactly it is.
It's a dream come true... didn't you too always dream of making your own game? :)
Yes, i understood. I just mean, that after 500 years with advanced alien tech,  it is possible to explain any wonders by scientific metod. (A.C. Clarke' words fits here )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 06, 2016, 09:46:19 am
500? More like 5 million. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: nrafield on September 06, 2016, 03:36:54 pm
How about Night Ops armor? Does anyone even use it? I've used it a few times and found it pretty useful, since I've never really managed to unlock Ghost.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: KateMicucci on September 07, 2016, 01:43:49 am
What is a roleplaying gun?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 07, 2016, 02:24:15 am
Gun that a player choses for roleplaying reasons, not because it has the best stats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Eddie on September 07, 2016, 11:15:16 pm
Gun that a player choses for roleplaying reasons, not because it has the best stats.

The Officer's Pistol is a damn good weapon, considering you could possibly get it in the first month. With the new shop it is pushed back some time, which is definately better balanced.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 07, 2016, 11:44:03 pm
You can still get it early, but only in limited numbers and with no source of ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: yotc on September 08, 2016, 04:44:02 am
The Officer's Pistol is a damn good weapon, considering you could possibly get it in the first month. With the new shop it is pushed back some time, which is definately better balanced.

:Commissar:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Devon_v on September 10, 2016, 01:58:02 am
I have a question for Dioxine. With all these psi-vision, magic wands and fairy suits, is your game (and i prefer piratez truly a new game) still science fiction, or it is a fantasy now?

The magic wands and voodoo suits are actually alien psi-tech. The gals just don't know what it is, so they consider it magic. The Ethereals Star Gods likely encourage this as they'd rather Earth stay ignorant and more easily controled. In the timeframe of Apocalypse (and also XCOM 2 in the Firaxis timeline) the aliens started deploying more non-standard technology like the dimensional gates and energy shields and cloaking and phasing units, so they likely had it all along but didn't want to use it against Earth initially. Elerium-115 Hellerium-511 is special stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: karadoc on September 10, 2016, 03:36:12 pm
I'm a bit puzzled about how 'sway government' missions are suppose to work.

In my current game, the traders have been running sway government missions in North America every month for the entire game. Every country in North America has been converted for years now, and yet the traders keep coming with their cruisers and their terror ships... Every month. Even after researching Family Ties.

At first I thought this was a bug. But I've just had a look at the source code, and it looks as though it is actually working normally.


Here's some code from "void AlienMission::think(Game &engine, const Globe &globe)"
Code: [Select]
if (_rule.getObjective() == OBJECTIVE_INFILTRATION && _nextWave == _rule.getWaveCount())
{
for (std::vector<Country*>::iterator c = game.getCountries()->begin(); c != game.getCountries()->end(); ++c)
{
if (!(*c)->getPact() && !(*c)->getNewPact() && mod.getRegion(_region)->insideRegion((*c)->getRules()->getLabelLongitude(), (*c)->getRules()->getLabelLatitude()))
{
(*c)->setNewPact();
spawnAlienBase(globe, engine, _rule.getSpawnZone());
break;
}
}
https:// Infiltrations loop for ever.
_nextWave = 0;
}

And here's the function which usually determines when a mission can be deleted...
Code: [Select]
bool AlienMission::isOver() const
{
if (_rule.getObjective() == OBJECTIVE_INFILTRATION)
{
https://Infiltrations continue for ever.
return false;
}
if (_nextWave == _rule.getWaveCount() && !_liveUfos)
{
return true;
}
return false;
}

The Bootypedia implies that shooting down the ships can stop the mission. But as far as I can tell, nothing can stop them, and they just keep coming and coming, every month, regardless of what you do. Is this really what is intended? Maybe endless infiltration missions are ok in vanilla xcom, but since xPiratez games last much longer, I don't think it's a good system.



[edit]
While I'm here, I'd also like to suggest that "Bane of the {0}" commendations be renamed to just "Bane of {0}". Because as it is, the names don't quite look right...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2016, 04:18:25 pm
The 'Sway Govt' is basically the vanilla Infiltration mission. Only it was removed from the general mission table and put on mission scripts (so it can be deleted by a tech); maybe that causes the code to go haywire?. TBH, I wouldn't mind optional vanilla behaviour change on this mission (namely, it converts just a single country, instead of going on and on; and secondly, making it stoppable with interceptions, since the vanilla behaviour makes the mission auto-succed once it starts).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Meridian on September 10, 2016, 04:44:48 pm
The 'Sway Govt' is basically the vanilla Infiltration mission. Only it was removed from the general mission table and put on mission scripts (so it can be deleted by a tech); maybe that causes the code to go haywire?. TBH, I wouldn't mind optional vanilla behaviour change on this mission (namely, it converts just a single country, instead of going on and on; and secondly, making it stoppable with interceptions, since the vanilla behaviour makes the mission auto-succed once it starts).

Thanks for reminding, I even promised people in one of the previous videos to check if the bootypedia is correct or wrong (note: it's wrong).
The mission can be deleted by tech, but that doesn't stop the missions already in progress, those will go indefinitely.

I'll add some more ruleset options (like I added for endless retaliation loop) to stop infiltration after some conditions:
a/ stopping after X converted countries
b/ stopping with interceptions? not sure how that should work?  ??? maybe % chance with each shot down ship to stop the mission?

PS: also bootypedia says workers give 4 space... but they give 5
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2016, 06:52:23 pm
Makes sense. The OG led me to believe that alien mission can be aborted by interceptions, while it can only be delayed.
A % chance to stop in alienMissions (aborting all subsequent waves as well) after each successful interception makes sense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C - 3 Sep - Death In Smoke
Post by: Proboscis on September 10, 2016, 08:21:02 pm
I'm a bit puzzled about how 'sway government' missions are suppose to work.

In my current game, the traders have been running sway government missions in North America every month for the entire game.

I always thought this was a bug that was impossible to fix, because every game I've played, I've had it happen. As of today in my latest campaign, the Academy has been throwing those missions down on Europe every month for something like three or four years. It was cool when I needed stuff from them, but now I sorta... don't. It also led to a near-loss because they kept throwing bases down in and around Europe until I finally got Family Ties.

I mean, at least I unlocked voodoo fairly early due to it. In two of my other games though, I got Mercenaries and Traders, and the Mercenaries were near-impossible to fight at the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 10, 2016, 11:43:21 pm
0.99C.1 upload with bugfixes and a couple of suprises is up! Have fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: khade on September 11, 2016, 06:51:27 am
As promised somewhere, I'm now playing on the second difficulty, enemy armor at the correct amount is irritating :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: niculinux on September 11, 2016, 02:12:00 pm
Dioxine, a little "sneak-peak" on Stardom, if i may?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 11, 2016, 03:11:19 pm
Dioxine, a little "sneak-peak" on Stardom, if i may?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABg0c_E7OOI
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: niculinux on September 11, 2016, 03:14:35 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABg0c_E7OOI

umh..ok i wish i may have some spare time to figure out :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Devon_v on September 11, 2016, 08:21:28 pm
As promised somewhere, I'm now playing on the second difficulty, enemy armor at the correct amount is irritating :)

High strength gals with ballbats. Then as soon as available,  switch to maces. Armor becomes a non-issue. :)

Fire is also good, and close range explosives hit under armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Surrealistik on September 11, 2016, 09:24:58 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABg0c_E7OOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFrMLRQIT_k
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: LexThorn on September 13, 2016, 04:11:01 pm
Hey,  Dioxine! How about some sort of sci-fi prison with stasis or cryo technology for more compact storage of alive captives? Will it fit the mod?  I think it can be cool mid\late game prison and fits setting good. Lets say it must be built only on base that have surgery room (for cryo\stasis detention and reanimation after that).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 13, 2016, 11:12:27 pm
Not towards this end alone, no. By the time you'll have it, you won't really need it (prisons cost pocket cash by that time). Maybe if it has some interesting secondary functions other than just being a prison.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 13, 2016, 11:55:37 pm
I believe the stress was on the "more compact" storage, e.g. 40 beings instead of 15.
It's not the money that's scarce in this game, it's the building space...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2016, 12:01:52 am
Well, it would be convenient to have a prison with larger capacity which still fits in one base tile. Your argument of "by the time you'll have it, prisons cost pocket money" is flawed because it forces the player to waste a much more scarce resource than money: base tiles. "Just build more prisons" doesn't really work when we need more of everything with the kind of facility sizes and variety we have in Piratez (more living quarters, more voodoo schools, more gyms, more study rooms, more storage rooms, more different research/defense facilities because research/manufacturing projects require XYZ on site and sick bays too). Of course, one doesn't need all of that, but the more facilities there are, the more valuable base tiles are and the more wasteful it becomes to have duplicates which are usually not serving a purpose (ie prisons which are most often empty because everyone is enslaved, but present because once in a while you get too many prisoners).

Because of this value of base tiles, I generally try to make do with 1 in every base that has an active raiding team, plus 1 in my storage base for the VIPs I am keeping for later. More tiles dedicated to holding prisoners doesn't make sense and I'd happily throw money at the problem if it were possible to solve it this way (ie build an expensive cryo-prison which also requires expensive electricity to power it). Especially since by the time you would get a high-tech prison, you can tank most crews easily and take your time and stun every enemy in many a fight, so it's not uncommon to bag more than the capacity of a single prison in prisoners (for enslavement) especially if you have a few VIPs or something lingering. The "prison is full" screen doesn't allow you to transfer prisoners elsewhere, just to ransom them, so if you bagged too many, you have to ransom a few (a waste of loot and slaves). That is, unless you exit the game and reload from the post-battle autosave, which nicely saves before you have to deal with prisoners, allowing you to overfill the prison. Yes, I've done that before because I don't feel guilty when cheating a mechanic that makes no sense: In this case prisons having a hard cap and not being able to temporarily guard a few extra prisoners or at least transfer them to other bases on the spot.

TL;DR: Having the opportunity to get a prison with larger capacity in the end game would be convenient, allowing you to save base tiles by spending money. I'd certainly use it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2016, 12:32:32 am
"by the time you'll have it, prisons cost pocket money" is flawed because it forces the player to waste a much more scarce resource than money: base tiles.

It isn't flawed. That 'flaw' is precisely the design. I want the player to be careful with that resource. It is plentiful, but ultimately limited, thus you need to use your head.
Naturally there could be an upgrade, but I don't want it to be boring, plus, the extra utility, whatever it is, will be a pretext for hiking the faclity price to levels that can be felt by the mid-game player.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2016, 01:10:19 am
The argument was what you said, which was flawed because it didn't address the real cost of prisons or, indeed, contain the real reason you just gave: You want prisons to help keep the demand for base tiles high, so that the tiles are valuable.

I've always seen the evolution of bases as: You improve efficiency of existing stuff (storage upgrades, living quarters upgrades, library->study room->super computer, 4x gym -> spa, workshop -> factory) but you also develop new stuff that you need to fit somewhere. So the demand always remains high and you balance getting more of the old stuff/gals/research/training/manufacture or more auxiliary new stuff (surgery room, power core, voodoo school, summoning circle, etc.).

Prisons stand out because they don't fit in there: You build one and forget about it because it never changes and it's probably better to run into problems sometimes than have multiples and not have something else. Hence people suggest ideas to build upon them. If you prefer not to, that's odd but sure.

The best argument against this is probably that there are other things that are more worth your time. Something I can fully understand.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2016, 01:37:22 am
I haven't seen any interesting idea other than 'gib better prison'. I felt I have explained that in a more civilized way above. Indeed I see little use for it (hence little incentive to invest effort), since 2-3 prisons are more than enough for the entire game - or maybe I'm wrong? Do you run multiple bases with, like, 4 or more prisons each?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2016, 02:42:01 am
No, indeed I don't run a single base with more than one prison. I do run 4 bases with one prison each, and occasionally run into issues of too many new prisoners for the prison, annoyingly forcing me to ransom them when I feel I should be able to transfer them on the spot to another base which has available prison space. This is the reason why I would like to see a bigger prison: It would reduce the chance of said annoyance occurring.

I do consider that the removal of that annoyance is not worth a base tile (hence keeping only one prison), but I would very much be willing to throw money at the problem to make it go away, in the same way I throw money at the storage/living space/manufacture/research efficiency per tile to make that better. As I have already said, I feel like it would also tie in with other facilities improving as you progress and make the whole thing more believable: I can now put more stuff/gals/runts/brainers in a given amount of space dedicated to storage/living/manufacture/research, why not more prisoners in a given amount of space dedicated to holding them?

But that's the last I'm going to say about it. Given that you don't feel it has enough edge as proposed, and I agree there's other stuff you can spend time thinking about, there's no point pushing it. (Sorry, bored at worked, jumped on a distraction...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: khade on September 14, 2016, 03:37:34 am
What about a cryogenics research line, with weapons and superior storage for perishables(prisoners, aggressive support creatures, Gal corpses for the cloning vats).  Freeze rays would be fun, especially for capture.  Full on Mr. Freeze power armor would be awesome.  Another trap room(Freezer) would be amusing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: karadoc on September 14, 2016, 12:35:39 pm
Speaking of prisons, I sometimes (shamefully) exploit a bug which allows essentially unlimited prison space.

Prison space is only checked after finishing missions, and it is not checked when loading saves. The geoscape autosave at the end of a mission is made in between when the mission ends and when you are forced to sell excess prisoners and equipment.

So if you get too many prisoners from a mission, you can just load the geoscape autosave. You'll be allowed to keep all of your prisoners even though you effectively have negative prison space.


I sometimes think about fixing this bug just to prevent myself from using it; but I figure it's low priority and so I haven't got around looking at the code for that yet. (The main reason I exploit the bug is laziness. I sometimes keep prisoners in my main base when I don't really need to; and then I exploit the bug when I unexpectedly run out of space due to those extra prisoners...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2016, 05:05:45 pm
Is use that too:

it's not uncommon to bag more than the capacity of a single prison in prisoners (for enslavement) especially if you have a few VIPs or something lingering. The "prison is full" screen doesn't allow you to transfer prisoners elsewhere, just to ransom them, so if you bagged too many, you have to ransom a few (a waste of loot and slaves). That is, unless you exit the game and reload from the post-battle autosave, which nicely saves before you have to deal with prisoners, allowing you to overfill the prison. Yes, I've done that before because I don't feel guilty when cheating a mechanic that makes no sense: In this case prisons having a hard cap and not being able to temporarily guard a few extra prisoners or at least transfer them to other bases on the spot.

I think a great fix would be to allow transfer to other bases in the prison capacity exceeded window. This way, if you have too many prisoners, you can either send them somewhere or ransom them. Instead of having to ransom them on the spot. That would allow you also to capture people even if you don't have a prison on site, provided you immediately transfer/ransom the prisoners, which is a new "feature", but not necessarily unrealistic or undesirable: You get back to base and immediately march the prisoners into whatever transport is used for transfers so they get somewhere with proper facilities.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: nrafield on September 14, 2016, 05:26:55 pm
I don't understand how you people can feel base space is an issue to you. You can have a base you conduct ground operations from, another one where you station your craft, another for research, another for storage, another for manufacturing, (possibly same as storage) leave the rest to manufacturing for profit, and all of them can also have radars. What do you need more space for?

In my experience trying to capture more than 10 prisoners is likely not worth the hassle anyway, at least early on. It's not like you can just arm all your gals with Stun Launchers and go wild, no, for most part you will have to melee if you want to capture anyone, and that's kinda clunky and may result in you being forced to run all over the map because you first captive got up and ran off somewhere you can't see them just as you put down your 11th captive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: LexThorn on September 14, 2016, 05:29:08 pm
I was not thinking about "i want better prison". I was thinking "why almost every base facility have one or more versions, but not prison cells?" Roleplay is the factor too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 14, 2016, 07:58:36 pm
In my experience trying to capture more than 10 prisoners is likely not worth the hassle anyway, at least early on. It's not like you can just arm all your gals with Stun Launchers and go wild, no, for most part you will have to melee if you want to capture anyone, and that's kinda clunky and may result in you being forced to run all over the map because you first captive got up and ran off somewhere you can't see them just as you put down your 11th captive.

From what I've seen on LPs, the default mid-game tactic against weaker factions (Traders or below) is: plate mail + shield -> stunning everyone with shields. So it is an issue.
But do I think it poses a problem with prisons? Not really. I'm with Dioxine here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 14, 2016, 08:51:51 pm
From what I've seen on LPs, the default mid-game tactic against weaker factions (Traders or below) is: plate mail + shield -> stunning everyone with shields. So it is an issue.
But do I think it poses a problem with prisons? Not really. I'm with Dioxine here.

We all understand the reasoning... it's flawless. You're absolutely right! Just saying that the gameplay experience suffers... what's right is not always the best.

Anyway, as suggested, I am implementing a feature to send the extra prisoners to other bases at random automatically... then I can capture all 80 deep ones, keep 15 and send the rest to a dedicated alien containment base for further processing into pies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 14, 2016, 08:54:51 pm
We all understand the reasoning... it's flawless. You're absolutely right! Just saying that the gameplay experience suffers... big time. What's right is not always the best.

Yeah, well, I don't really have a strong opinion here. I do kinda dislike the shield effect, but I haven't came up with a better alternative, so I'm not in a position to criticize.

Anyway, as suggested, I am implementing a feature to send the extra prisoners to other bases at random automatically... then I can capture all 80 deep ones, keep 15 and send the rest to a dedicated alien containment base for further processing into pies.

Oh, that'd be good!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 14, 2016, 09:30:34 pm
Meh, I don't use plate mail.. wasn't there when I went through that phase of the game. Revenant/Brute + handle and power armor + zappers get the job done remarkably well, especially if you complement it with a steady supply of gas grenade. Sure, you're not doing it in the early game, but you'll have plenty of time to do it while waiting for the last few VIPs to finish a game.

Also, 1 gound op base, 1 intercept base, 1 storage base (which cannot be the same as your factory base, and hardly the same as your 3d printer base), 2 manufacturing base (1x factory for large scale production and crazy craft building + base defenses for all the high tech stuff) and 1 research base hardly not enough. If you want multiple teams active at the same time (which you should to favor combat training and have more space for gyms, unless you're playing at a low difficulty level and not suffering wounds/casualties), you can have 2 more. That's what? 3 active teams, maybe 6. Yeah, sounds like a lot, but 3 hasn't been more than I need, so I'm building towards 5 (not 6, because my main base just can't accommodate a 2nd team).

Are all these bases fully built? No, of course. Are tiles really scarce for my active raiding bases? Yup. No tile left free in my main base (main defense strategyis to swarm the 3 hangars from all sides, instead of the usual bottleneck, because I couldn't spare the tiles to create the bottleneck) and my two secondary bases are pretty busy. Especially now that you probably want a surgery room in each to speed up recovery.

Consistency (everything else upgrades), convenience (it's annoying to run out of prisons, and not even a great gameplay element. Luckily Meridian is addressing it) both ask for prison upgrades, and innovation (the cryo-freezing research line idea) could well support it. At least the annoyance will go away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Surrealistik on September 14, 2016, 10:31:56 pm
Mass captures are (fairly) easy, and I make a point to capture everything I can enslave on JS Ironman. Star Gods are perhaps the only truly annoying thing to capture consistently between their invisibility, the danger of their close range psi, armour ignoring ghost beam, flight, stun resistance, psi resistance and choke immunity.

How do I do it?

TK Projectors (these only vs choke immunes; it badly needs a buff; useless on anyone without maxed out VD), Chokenades, Tower Shields, Force Maces (shield and mace are my go-tos vs choke immunes), Choke Wands, and Mind Control (which either captures if everyone's mind controlled, or allows you to train up reactions with stun batons/handles upon luring them to your ship). Stun bombs and stasis grens are too precious and are only used for true VIPs if the alternatives won't do.

An upgraded prison would be definitely handy.

Tower Shields are situationally great, especially early/mid and prior to VooDoo but problematic? Definitely not. They have a solid niche; they're fine.


With regards to other things being discussed, personally I've never needed more than one ground team, though I do cultivate plenty of backups for rotation at HQ into my ship slots when gals get wounded.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2016, 11:54:11 pm
Yeah, there could be space to add better prison types... but that requires making it a whole industry, else it'd be just boring. As in:
- Adding keeping costs for prisoners, while lowering basic maintenance of prisons
- Making standard prisons unable to hold some prisoners (like Star Gods)
- Adding extra facility required to enslave people, so there is more complexity to the prison system
- Probably more

That's naturally a lot of work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Zharkov on September 15, 2016, 12:14:58 am
- Making standard prisons unable to hold some prisoners (like Star Gods)

Why, Dioxine, why do you want to torture the players so much?! Where do these evil ideas come from?  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2016, 12:28:13 am
Well, they are not happy with simple prison system, so they obviously desire it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Surrealistik on September 15, 2016, 01:57:03 am
Well, they are not happy with simple prison system, so they obviously desire it :)

Whoa, hold on there.

Upgraded higher capacity prison facilities? Great.

Adding another slew of minutiae and micromanagement? Not so great.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Starving Poet on September 15, 2016, 02:21:29 am
Would it be possible to make prison space global?  Or at least some of it - Just abstract that layer of tedium.   Something like a tier 2 prison with costs in money and material that would include all the logistics between moving prisoners from base to base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2016, 03:09:28 am
Why not make everything global then, dumbing the game down? I've never experienced any tedium, by building a prison in every hideout I have a strike squad stationed. Frankly let's just cut this discussion here, before I start using expletives. Bottom line: for me its too much effort for too little gain, to invest my time and energy into making a better prison facility. Any gains would be marginal; the total space available is 288 tiles. How much is used up by prisons? 2? 3? 4? How much could be saved by having a better prison? One fucking tile out of 288? That's ridiculous. Therefore I won't do it, unless I set out to overhaul the whole mechanic and make prison space much more important, and prison management - more involved.

Also I actually feel that the game has problem with too much, not too little total available facility slots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 15, 2016, 09:27:05 am
You know, usually in all discussions and threads, people have very different opinions about a given topic.
This is the first discussion in months, where all players give identical feedback.
Not listening to this feedback is of course your right, arguing (even with rock-solid arguments) is also your right, ... it's just not "smart" (I can't find a right english word, I hope you know what I mean).

- We all experience tedium with alien containment, if you don't, it doesn't mean others don't either. Maybe you are the only one?
- I also have alien containment in all 8 bases... but that doesn't help... sorry but you simply DON'T have 288 tiles... the only time when you have problems with alien containment is after the mission (debriefing)... at that time you have access ONLY to 36 tiles... and that's a big fucking difference.

Anyway, I agree we can cut the discussion. You've clearly made your mind already.

PS: for others... I wanted to make that "transfer feature" in debriefing yesterday... and it would be very easy with one alien containment type... but since we have unlimited number of containment types since recently, it became a much harder task :( I really regret I agreed to implement that stupid feature. I'll implement the transfer eventually, but it will take some time... and probably it won't have any GUI (with unlimited containment types, I couldn't think of any way of visualizing the process).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2016, 09:42:25 am
If that's of any help, I don't seriously intend to use multiple prison types; so if this feature would only function when there is a single prison type in the mod, it'd still be functional in Piratez. Perhaps it'd be also possible to use 'transfer' if your stores have filled up, instead of forced selling. Both features seem natural; if you can transfer, you shouldn't be forced to sell (I envision it as you're basically locked between sell and tranfer screens, freely switchable, with 'done' button appearing when problems are solved either way).
So it's one solution. As for 'better prisons' I don't rule it out (if that was unclear), AS LONG as I come up with something less boring (and several times more expensive) than just 'better prison'.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: niculinux on September 15, 2016, 09:55:01 am
Agree with Dioxine, that would be redundant  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 15, 2016, 10:00:12 am
I envision it as you're basically locked between sell and tranfer screens, freely switchable, with 'done' button appearing when problems are solved either way.

Yeah, that's probably the only practical way at the moment.
Let's see if I can force the screens to do my bidding.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 15, 2016, 11:22:25 am
We all experience tedium with alien containment, if you don't, it doesn't mean others don't either. Maybe you are the only one?

Well, it's a natural thing that only people who are dissatisfied give feedback. We don't know if it's 99% of all players or just 1%.

If we want to know the truth, I suggest making a poll. It's not a perfect tool, but it's something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 15, 2016, 12:25:11 pm
Well, it's a natural thing that only people who are dissatisfied give feedback.

No, that's just not true.
If it was true, we would have only same/similar opinions about a given topic everywhere.

The normal case is 50/50, if it's a yes/no topic; or totally random if it's a multiple choice topic.
Many people regularly (daily) fight here over all sorts of topics... some think Psi is overpowered, some think Psi is underpowered. Some want to remove feature A (dissatisfied), some want to keep feature A under all circumstances (satisfied). Both groups give feedback.

PS: it's natural to give only negative feedback if you can't influence anything (e.g. bug reports to Microsoft or Google)... if there is even the slightest chance that someone will listen to you and maybe even take inspiration from you, you'll give tons of positive feedback too
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 15, 2016, 12:33:39 pm
As a sociologist, I don't think it's quite that simple. But then I can't really provide a better model without doing a research project on forum communities. ;) Or at least consulting a specialist, and I don't really know any.

All I am proposing is to actually do this poll. It would give us some actual data to work on, instead of mind reading as we are doing now. Unless it doesn't really matter, if Dioxine has already made up his mind anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ivandogovich on September 15, 2016, 04:53:46 pm
Frankly let's just cut this discussion here, before I start using expletives.... Therefore I won't do it, unless I set out to overhaul the whole mechanic and make prison space much more important, and prison management - more involved.

It is not my intent to drag this out, and I have been following the discussion with interest.  Thank you, Dioxine for stating your position very clearly. 

The only other thing that I would offer is that everyone in the community is free to develop their own mods to make XPirateZ better when the main Dev Team (Dioxine here, with collaboration from Solarius) decide that the idea is not something they want to put energy into, or it is a low priority. 

Alt-Corpse, Parrot, Employment mods, PirateZ Commendations etc, are all examples of this. 

I for one would welcome "Advanced Prison Mod" and if someone created one, it would give the dev team the opportunity to test it out, and if they like it, they can incorporate it into the game or bundle it. 

So all is not lost if  Dioxine doesn't want to take this on.  Its also a great opportunity for players to get a little sense of what goes into making an incredible mod like PirateZ even if its just on a miniscule level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Devon_v on September 15, 2016, 05:41:01 pm
I put two prisons in my raiding base because I was running into situations where I would capture more than 15 people at once. I'd love to not have to devote that tile to a prison and just send them to a dedicated holding facility for processing. I'm paranoid about base defenses and always build deathtrap hallways, now with actual traps, so I actually have even less space available to me. I do like how many facilities there are though, some real incentive to specialize your bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 16, 2016, 02:50:14 pm
Yeah, that's probably the only practical way at the moment.
Let's see if I can force the screens to do my bidding.

Code: [Select]
extraStrings:
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      STR_GO_TO_TRANSFERS: "GO TO TRANSFERS..."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Ridаn on September 16, 2016, 07:32:49 pm
Code: [Select]
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    strings:
      STR_GO_TO_TRANSFERS: "GO TO TRANSFERS..."
So, hypothetically, if theres no prison present in Hideout, but you successfully repelled a Crackdown and got some valuable captives. Would it be possible to transfer those too?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 17, 2016, 12:43:07 am
Hope so! You don't even get points for captures when there is no space to hold captives, which is silly. Even if there is no space, you should have the possibility to ransom them right away.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 17, 2016, 11:53:17 am
So, hypothetically, if theres no prison present in Hideout, but you successfully repelled a Crackdown and got some valuable captives. Would it be possible to transfer those too?

Yes.

Hope so! You don't even get points for captures when there is no space to hold captives, which is silly. Even if there is no space, you should have the possibility to ransom them right away.

You get the points now... but you have to have at least one alien containment (of a correct type) (in any base)... otherwise they are vanilla-backwards-compatible-executed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Devon_v on September 17, 2016, 10:12:27 pm
Nice work! :)

Time to build Botany Bay 2.0.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: karadoc on September 18, 2016, 06:19:31 am
What are the way to get rubies? The only way I know of is to get a treasure chest from a mansion mission - and those missions have been very rare for me.

I'm at the very end of the game. I've got a full set of annihilator for both my primary and secondary base; I've got Dragons with obliterator cannons and plasma beams. I've got 29 brainers lazing around in my main base with nothing to research...

But what I'd really like is to get a few rubies so that I can finally try out the Destructor suit. I've been stuck on 4 rubies for a couple of years now. I'd happily buy them for 10,000,000 each, just so that I could try out some of the rarer weapons...

So, is there something I can do to get more rubies?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: legionof1 on September 18, 2016, 03:46:32 pm
At present no. There are other avenues coming in the future, but the endgame is by far the least complete stage of the game. Heck few patches back space suits and space rated armor wasn't even a thing.

The Destructor suit isn't even that great given that the inbuilt power costs hp to fire as well as significant TU. For power on par with a plasma scorcher. Even though the suit offers small hp Regen(provided your voodoo is strong) more often then not using the power means a hospitalization trip unless one wishes to perform gamey micromanagement near mission end.  At the end of the day you would more then likely get better mileage from a biosuit with a heavy weapon. Also less restrictive gal selection since the biosuit functions on bravery rather then harder to come by voodoo stats.

The two standout positive cases for destructor are mansions and the final mission where flying armor and heavy weapons are more restricted. Even then overkill for the first case and if you made it to the final mission 36 of your best gals is probably overkill even without super top end equipment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on September 18, 2016, 05:01:00 pm
If you have high enough power to regenerate all the health from an annihilator shot by the end of the mission, I've found my destructor gals never get hospitalization time.  As for the power of the attack, max stats make it closer to a blaster bomb, and very useful for making your own breach on large shippings.  The armor values and resistances plus flying means you can give them a strong melee weapon to blitz through the roof and flush out the ship from the enemies' backs.  Very different roll from a bio suit user, but no less powerful.  If you manage to swing two of them, you get an ammo-less constant artillery barrage than can level an entire map in a few turns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 19, 2016, 02:09:26 am
Indeed, destructor is a lot of fun. The power is nasty and enough to blast through ufo hulls and with proper voodoo stats you can recover the hp for next turn. Add some combat drugs and you can cause mayhem! It's a great armor, although I.agree that the cost is steep. Feels like mansions get rarer later too, but I'm not sure. Some deep ones missions also give gems too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: karadoc on September 20, 2016, 04:27:21 am
... the endgame is by far the least complete stage of the game.
Speaking of the end-game being less complete; I'd just like to say that I'm hoping for some more tanky enemies in the late game. In the late game, I'm researching and building things like plasma destroyers, and blasters, and heavy plasma pistols, heat rays, fusion grenades, and so on - but there never seems to be a time to actually use those things. They are just expensive over-kill weapons. Ordinary cheaper weapons can already kill most enemies in one or two hits; and while tanks and sectopods can take bit more punishment, they are rare enough that I still don't need to bring out the big guns; just a bit of focus fire from cheaper weapons or willie-petes can bring them down pretty quickly.

I'd like to have some battles where I feel like I really need my heavy weapons.


[edit]
I finally got anther mansion mission; and so I now have destructor armour. It's pretty damn powerful! I've given it to a soldier who has the absolute max psi. (60/45). According to the formula, the main attack does 276 damage, whereas a blaster does 210. The health regen of the armour isn't listed in the bootipedia. (It only mentions stun regen.) So I didn't even know it has health regen until someone mentioned it in this thread. I was envisaging carrying a bottle of mushroom beer to quaff at the end of each mission; but with the health regen, the hp loss is healed on the turn immediately after using the blast anyway. So instead I'm carrying combat drugs, rum, smokes, and a light weapon for close-quarters combat. Sense 10 provides a pretty big tactical advantage too. I'm just imaging the mercs in the heavy gunship thinking "wtf just happened?"  Nice crackdown, guys. :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on September 20, 2016, 03:31:00 pm
I started up a new game after being too busy to play for the last couple versions.

Thoughts:

-Shotguns are fantastic now. On non-capture missions my team feels complete with 50% shotguns, a chainsaw, and a long-range or heavy weapon.
-Except for capturing, I'm barely using melee weapons this time around, aside from the chainsaw. Girl's stats seem a little worse than they did a couple versions ago which makes using melee harder, and knives are worse now.
-Accuracy and melee skill increases seem to come very, very slowly, probably a consequence of my new playstyle.
-Guerrilla armor feels like it should have 30 armor like Warrior instead of 20. It's as encumbering as Warrior and made of rare kevlar but only gives reaction and camo bonus. I never used it last play through and even with the new camo system it still doesn't seem worth it.
-Otherwise the armor re-balance seems to have been done well. It's much more obvious which armors I want my gals to wear for the roles they're meant to fill.
-Aircar means that setting up several outposts to shoot down civvies seems like a practical option now. Good.
-It feels like I should have gotten access to tac vests a long time ago and can't figure out what tech I'm missing. Does it require anything weird?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on September 20, 2016, 04:16:12 pm
Kevlar can be manufactured after some pretty early research into armor and workshops, in fact Warrior armor is a prerequisite for that research.  The camo and huge reaction bonus more than makes up for the lower defensive values, as long as you realize it's meant for a different role - try it at night to make that gap between pureblood NV and your gals' NV even more apparent.

Tac vests are manufacturable after personal armor parts are researched and you have a workshop, so nothing too weird.  They also are loot from Guild warehouse missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 20, 2016, 04:35:51 pm
Kevlar can be manufactured after some pretty early research into armor and workshops, in fact Warrior armor is a prerequisite for that research.  The camo and huge reaction bonus more than makes up for the lower defensive values, as long as you realize it's meant for a different role - try it at night to make that gap between pureblood NV and your gals' NV even more apparent.

Agreed; Guerilla (and its more advanced variants) is my favourite armour ever. Everyone who isn't a specialist gets one.
My previous campaign was much more melee oriented, but even then I was using some Guerillas (but mostly bikini).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on September 21, 2016, 06:44:54 am
X-bows are lootable and usable early but aren't researchable for a long time for some reason.

(Crossbows shouldn't have a flat trajectory either tbh)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 21, 2016, 10:31:34 am
(Crossbows shouldn't have a flat trajectory either tbh)

Why not?
Honestly, I can't see why not. This is surprising.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 21, 2016, 10:52:12 am
Crossbows in Europe were mostly used as a flat-trajectory weapon, since longer range attacks were better served by bows. Due to crossbow's bolt being short and stubby, it considerably loses accuracy over range, as well as loses its main edge over the bow (armor piercing). In China however (and if I'm not mistaken, Ancient Rome), massed crossbow formations were indeed used for indirect fire. The stress is on "massed formations", which make accuracy irrelevant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on September 21, 2016, 05:36:41 pm
Why not?
Honestly, I can't see why not. This is surprising.
A crossbow isn't a gun, it's a bow turned sideways. The trajectory is determined by how fast and far the projectile can travel before gravity overtakes it. A crossbow bolt moves at more or less the same speed as an arrow, depending on the particular bows being compared, so has a similar trajectory.

Crossbows in Europe were mostly used as a flat-trajectory weapon, since longer range attacks were better served by bows. Due to crossbow's bolt being short and stubby, it considerably loses accuracy over range, as well as loses its main edge over the bow (armor piercing). In China however (and if I'm not mistaken, Ancient Rome), massed crossbow formations were indeed used for indirect fire. The stress is on "massed formations", which make accuracy irrelevant.
A crossbow couldn't be used as a flat-trajectory weapon at any distance because the drop is so significant. In just one second of flight time a projectile is accelerating towards the earth at 9.8m/s. Even the bullets from my musket, which are significantly faster than the arrows from my crossbow or compound bow, will drop about 18 inches at 50 yards if aimed level.

See the charts here.
https://www.nycrossbowcoalition.com/myths-facts-presentations/
(https://www.nycrossbowcoalition.com/myths-facts-presentations/drop.png)

At the top of the chart are the rifle bullet and the shotgun slug, with almost insignificant drop at 100 yards. A medley of modern crossbows and vertical bows are in the middle, all with comparable drops. The traditional bows are at the bottom, with the worst drops. That is because modern crossbows and vertical bows are made of better materials and shoot much faster than traditional archery equipment, giving them less drop for a given distance. No traditional crossbows are in the chart, but we could expect them to perform similarly to the traditional bows.

The in-game X-bow looks like a modern crossbow, so perhaps an argument could be made that they should not have a drop as significant as the Hunting Bow or Combat Bow because of a higher velocity. Even so, it's very strange to see the X-bow shoot with a trajectory as flat as the firearms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 21, 2016, 05:44:48 pm
Quite an interesting chart.

I think my initial bafflement was because I automatically assume that an X-Com battlefield is fairly small. Well, not as small as its visual representation, but still. Therefore the question of bow range can at least partially be explained with accuracy rather than raw throwing power, while a crossbow is inherently more accurate (except very well trained bowmen; I mean people who train all their life).

So I'd say that the crossbow model is somewhat defensible along these lines. But I also think it's more understandable for an average gamer. The general perception of bows (especially in games, but also in movies) is that they shoot in arcs (hence archery lol), while crossbows are more like "medieval rifles".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 21, 2016, 05:49:45 pm
Maybe we need an "arcingHeight" parameter? :P it is silly that bows can't be used past 6 tiles or so indoors, and it's also silly that x-bows have no arc at all. This would allow differentiation between greatly arcing weapons (grenade launchers), bows and x-bows.

Of course, it's entirely acceptable to stay as is given the engine, instead of tweaking the engine to represent a barely noticeable arc in the distances involved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 21, 2016, 06:18:06 pm
First off real thanks for elementary school physics, I passed it with flying colors as it happens.
It is not my intention to measure everything with a milimeter tape, especially considering how abstract the model is - no matter what gun freaks would want.
Obviously I didn't mean crossbow have flat trajectories - I was talking about their tactical role. Naturally every projectile follows a ballistic path. And obviously the engine doesn't allow to tweak it - you can either shoot artillery-like, or completely laser-flat. The latter was chosen for crossbows because of the aforementioned tactical role. Crossbows lacked sights for long-range sniping, and they were intended for use with non-elite personnel - they were usually used at ranges of up to about 30-40 metres. You can study the medieval art of fortification to learn more (towers spaced within crossbow's effective range, etc). In Piratez, it's obviously not really to scale; crossbow's limited utility at long range is represented by sharp long range acc penalties.
Having said that, bows top off at 80-ish lbs, while a crossbow can have 150, 200 or more - which naturally makes the trajectory more flat. But that's wholly beside the point. If we took the Asian aproach, then, indeed, a crossbow would fill the same tactical role as the bow and would follow a ballistic path - but where would be variety in that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Devon_v on September 21, 2016, 07:29:48 pm
-Except for capturing, I'm barely using melee weapons this time around, aside from the chainsaw. Girl's stats seem a little worse than they did a couple versions ago which makes using melee harder, and knives are worse now.
You probably had bad luck. I started with several gals with high strength and accuracy and spent the early game running around with ballbats capturing people left and right until they got so strong they were killing them in one blow. I actually had to make an effort to train shooting once I got real guns.

The issue might be that most of the swords need some degree of finesse to use and suffer considerably from mid to low melee accuracy. The ballbat doesn't do much inherent damage, but it's easy to hit with and does excellent damage with enough strength behind it. Gals using it can upgrade to the mace easily and really crack armor.

Civilians are great training targets in the early game. Although there are minor penalties for killing them, early game research should have you so far to the positive that it doesn't matter. It's not too hard to save up for a ride that can mount the charger laser so you can shoot down civilian traffic. They don't belong to a faction so you won't get hit with crackdowns, either. Weaker gals in training should be stunning most of them anyway so you get ransom on top of training.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Ridаn on September 21, 2016, 09:12:25 pm
So I found an exploit and not really sure where should I report it. Removing all armours from gals using Backspace generates lots of Cool Clothing. Its not like you can get rich of that, but it sure fills up the vaults very fast for me.
I assume its a lovechild of a keybind function introduced by OXCE (or some of Meridian commits?), and from using multiply armour options from a single item (originally from Xops iirc)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on September 21, 2016, 09:21:42 pm
Cool clothing is the loot item for scout and adventurer armors - all hired hands come with it, so you're just removing their clothes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 21, 2016, 09:24:05 pm
So I found an exploit and not really sure where should I report it. Removing all armours from gals using Backspace generates lots of Cool Clothing. Its not like you can get rich of that, but it sure fills up the vaults very fast for me.
I assume its a lovechild of a keybind function introduced by OXCE (or some of Meridian commits?), and from using multiply armour options from a single item (originally from Xops iirc)?

Not my fault this time :) I hope.

Cool clothing is the storage item you get when you take off either Adventurer or Scout armor... maybe you had those on before stripping to Tribal?

Or are you saying you can generate unlimited quantities of cool clothing?
If so, I'd like to know how exactly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Ridаn on September 21, 2016, 09:38:01 pm
Not my fault this time :) I hope.

Cool clothing is the storage item you get when you take off either Adventurer or Scout armor... maybe you had those on before stripping to Tribal?

Or are you saying you can generate unlimited quantities of cool clothing?
If so, I'd like to know how exactly.
Cool clothing is the loot item for scout and adventurer armors - all hired hands come with it, so you're just removing their clothes.

I get 15 Cool Clothing (for 20 gals, some of those are Lunatics and one is flying a Jetbike and isnt even at base at the moment) every time I tap Backspace in the Armor screen - I get 30 if I tap it twice, 45 if I tap it thrice etc.
Unequipping all armour and removing all gals from the craft is my usual routine, so I noticed it the moment stores got full. I had over 200 Cool Clothing(s) there, yet my recruit count is at 26.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 21, 2016, 09:47:06 pm
Well, that's not right.
Please attach a save here or in the bugs thread so that I can investigate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Ridаn on September 21, 2016, 10:02:27 pm
Here is a save file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 21, 2016, 10:54:05 pm
Here is a save file.

Looks like there is a new soldier type in the game now, which has a different default armor than what my soldiers have.
And that default armor is not in endless supply as expected, which causes the issue.

I'll fix that in the next version, unless there will be some other related issues with it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on September 22, 2016, 07:41:16 pm
Quote
First off real thanks for elementary school physics, I passed it with flying colors as it happens.
It is not my intention to measure everything with a milimeter tape, especially considering how abstract the model is - no matter what gun freaks would want.
Obviously I didn't mean crossbow have flat trajectories - I was talking about their tactical role. Naturally every projectile follows a ballistic path. And obviously the engine doesn't allow to tweak it - you can either shoot artillery-like, or completely laser-flat. The latter was chosen for crossbows because of the aforementioned tactical role. Crossbows lacked sights for long-range sniping, and they were intended for use with non-elite personnel - they were usually used at ranges of up to about 30-40 metres. You can study the medieval art of fortification to learn more (towers spaced within crossbow's effective range, etc). In Piratez, it's obviously not really to scale; crossbow's limited utility at long range is represented by sharp long range acc penalties.

Having said that, bows top off at 80-ish lbs, while a crossbow can have 150, 200 or more - which naturally makes the trajectory more flat. But that's wholly beside the point. If we took the Asian aproach, then, indeed, a crossbow would fill the same tactical role as the bow and would follow a ballistic path - but where would be variety in that?
We aren't talking about "millimeter tape" or strict simulationism here, simply basic verisimilitude. Crossbows, which are nothing but bows turned sideways, should be treated the same as the vertical bows, not as firearms. Treating the X-bow as yet another flat-trajectory firearm doesn't increase variety and doesn't make sense.

Trajectory is determined by velocity. The poundage of the weapon is just one of several factors which determine the velocity of the projectile. Refer to the link I posted: https://www.nycrossbowcoalition.com/myths-facts-presentations/. The 175# crossbow was nearly 100FPS slower than the 170# crossbow, and the 70# compound bows were all faster than the 175# crossbow. Despite higher poundages, crossbows are less efficient than vertical bows at imparting energy in the projectile. This is primarily because crossbows have a shorter powerstroke than vertical bows, giving them less time to accelerate the projectile. A quick google search for medieval crossbow velocities shows figures from WF Paterson putting the velocity of a 740# medieval crossbow shooting a 1.25oz arrow at only 138.7 fps. That is even slower than the 175fps 45# traditional bow figures given by the New York Crossbow Coalition link. That means that the 45# traditional bow's trajectory was less curved than the 740# crossbow.

There is a lot of evidence that contradicts the interpretation that crossbows were not used at long range. William Wood in described an archery competition in 1661 where "Several of the Archers shot near Twenty score [400] yards within the compass of a Hat with their Crossbows; and many of them, to the amazement of the Spectators, hit the Mark." Raimond Fourquevaux wrote in his book Instructions for the Warres, 1548, that archers and crossbowers, despite having a shorter range than harquebusiers, could still kill at 100 to 200 paces. These are just a couple of examples of crossbows being used at long range, and there are more in my notes that I don't' feel like pulling right now, but tbh how real-life historical people used the weapons doesn't seem particularly relevant to how bikini mutants from the future would use them.

Medieval crossbows may not have (usually) had sights, but does that mean the bikini mutant's crossbows in the 27th century would not? The sprite of the x-piratez X-Bow has a rifle stock and a long power stroke like a 21st century crossbow, which usually do have sights or a scope. If the performance of the weapons in the game is based on historical precedent then that standard is applied unevenly. A medieval archer had no sights either. A medieval archer could not have accurately shot arrows at long-range targets completely blocked from his sight by hills or buildings. In-game, Gals make long-range bow shots with completely blocked LOS easily. It is hard to justify a flat trajectory for the X-bow with the lack of sights on medieval crossbows when medieval vertical bows also lacked sights.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 22, 2016, 08:44:44 pm
Looks like there is a new soldier type in the game now, which has a different default armor than what my soldiers have.
And that default armor is not in endless supply as expected, which causes the issue.

I'll fix that in the next version, unless there will be some other related issues with it.

OK, so I fixed it the best I could.
You can still generate (default) armor out of nothing, but it's not as easy as before... if you strip the default armor and sell all of it, then you can equip it again from nothing.
But you will have to switch between selling and stripping all the time, and strip each armor separately.

To fully fix the issue, Dioxine would need to choose a default armor, which has endless supply.
(or I would need to remove or cripple the feature to strip all people into default armor by one click)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: yrizoud on September 23, 2016, 12:45:44 am
Treating the X-bow as yet another flat-trajectory firearm doesn't increase variety
? Of course it does, the whole point was to give "throw-based" characters an inventory of archaic weapons which had different gameplay behaviors, so that in maps with low roofs (ex: base defense) they are not completely powerless.
and doesn't make sense.
You're totally right, it doesn't. The only justification for the difference is the general idea (true or not) that "crossbows hit harder", so they probably fly faster. Players are not overly surprised to see the different behavior.
Honestly, the entire trajectory system is wrong for bows : It re-uses a system originally designed to model the overhand throw of a grenade, so you can manage arrow shots is a very short curve, it's complete nonsense since the arrow would have no strength at all.
This is only justified by the resulting fun. If it wasn't fun to snipe with a bow over a hedge, this would probably have been scrapped long ago, and it somehow excuses the absurdly effective trajectories.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 24, 2016, 08:35:01 pm
To fully fix the issue, Dioxine would need to choose a default armor, which has endless supply.
(or I would need to remove or cripple the feature to strip all people into default armor by one click)

The problem seems to be in the feature, not my setup. It was my full intention that soldiers bring their own armor with them, but not an unlimited supply. As long as you strip/wear armor normally, all functions well (you're not getting any free armor).

As for the crossbow issue, my bottomline is, I was not trying to re-enact full realism, so please not criticize me for doing so. The bows and crossbows are 'gamey' items, thought of more to create some new, unique type of weapon to allow player to pick, choose and plot which would be the best for a given task. The crossbows lack somewhat in this quality, but I think I have an idea how to make them more unique for early game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 25, 2016, 12:35:30 am
The problem seems to be in the feature, not my setup. It was my full intention that soldiers bring their own armor with them, but not an unlimited supply. As long as you strip/wear armor normally, all functions well (you're not getting any free armor).

Well, the feature was to easily strip people to default armor no matter what.
This will disable the feature.
But if you must have it this way, I'll live with that somehow.  :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 25, 2016, 10:04:45 am
Well, wouldn't it be enough to  add a sanity check if there is enough armor items to perform the operation? Or make it find a compatible armor which doesn't have an item?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ivandogovich on September 26, 2016, 01:00:23 am
Here's a link for an install tutorial video if you'd like to post it with the install instructions or the OP.
Video Tutorial: Install X-Piratez
https://youtu.be/L1WUpX9n7gY?t=54m11s
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Ridаn on September 28, 2016, 03:09:07 pm
I`ve noticed that Zapper is capable of destroying terrain, and is pretty good at that, which feels kinda weird. Its a non lethal weapon by design, but you can wreck brick walls with that. Havent used a lot a tranquilizer darts weapons yet, so have no idea if they do that too.
Is it possible to set a damage to terrain value per weapon, or only per damage type?
For example a Chem grenade has an improved damage to terrain, but it is explosive and not a gun so I`m not really sure of inner workings of that.
Also I`m very fond of Autocannons now. Having a gyro-stabilized version would be awesome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2016, 03:24:08 pm
I`ve noticed that Zapper is capable of destroying terrain, and is pretty good at that, which feels kinda weird. Its a non lethal weapon by design, but you can wreck brick walls with that.

It was a bug caused by damage type change from stun to plasma, easily fixable. Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Kharim on September 29, 2016, 02:25:29 am
Hello

First off, thanks for this great mod! Xcom Ufo Enemy Unknown has always been one of my favourite games and You made it possible to enjoy it once again, with added layers of complexity and many new tactical possibilities. So far I have been really fond of Xpiratez and literally can't stop playing it! To tell the truth, as a kid I dreamt about such a big expansion mod for Ufo, and You made it real, great job!

As far as modding of Open Xcom is concerned I am a complete laymen. However while exploring the game I stumbled upon Open Xcom mod called "Aliens_Pick_Up_Weapons". This is something that I found missing in Xpiratez. Is there any way to implement that function?

Another thing- during my playthrough I have managed to manufacture a Sentry Gun/Rocket-  static defense platform. I can load it into ship but obviously it doesn't move at all. I don't really get the idea behind this unit. The only situation I can picture it useful is when my ship has landed with its rear towards enemy so the sentry can actually shoot something. Is there some application that I am missing?

Once again many thanks for Your hard work that made this miracle happen. Keep up  this great work!

Pozdrawiam!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 29, 2016, 09:19:02 am
However while exploring the game I stumbled upon Open Xcom mod called "Aliens_Pick_Up_Weapons". This is something that I found missing in Xpiratez. Is there any way to implement that function?

It is already implemented, so I'm not sure what you mean by it's missing.

Another thing- during my playthrough I have managed to manufacture a Sentry Gun/Rocket-  static defense platform. I can load it into ship but obviously it doesn't move at all. I don't really get the idea behind this unit.

Yeah, it's a tricky one. I personally don't bother, but if you choose the right craft and are lucky at landing, you can build a squad around this idea. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Kharim on September 29, 2016, 10:09:53 am
It is already implemented, so I'm not sure what you mean by it's missing.
Alright, however I have never seen it working during my playttrough. Will keep an eye on it.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 29, 2016, 10:21:49 am
Alright, however I have never seen it working during my playttrough. Will keep an eye on it.

Oh, I assure you it works... In the worst possible moments! :D

I remember such a situation in Meridian's LP... If I recall correctly, one of his gals dropped some heavy weapon, the next turn a guard woke up, picked up the gun and shot her in the back. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on September 29, 2016, 10:38:55 am
Oh, I assure you it works... In the worst possible moments! :D

I remember such a situation in Meridian's LP... If I recall correctly, one of his gals dropped some heavy weapon, the next turn a guard woke up, picked up the gun and shot her in the back. :P

Yeah, they picked up a heavy gauss and evaporated her. Bastards!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Foxhound634 on September 29, 2016, 01:41:09 pm
I too have actually never seen aliens pick up weapons, even when unarmed and standing right next to one. I guess it's more of an occasional choice rather than their first priority?

As for the static weapon platform, maybe your strongest gals should be able to pick it up and place it in a better location (of course, this should be quite heavy and cost a lot of TUs)? Heh, or maybe have tanks act as halftracks, towing heavy equipment :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Kharim on September 29, 2016, 02:37:39 pm
Heh, or maybe have tanks act as halftracks, towing heavy equipment :P
Towing a rocket turret behind a tank? Sounds fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Starving Poet on September 29, 2016, 02:43:19 pm
They definitely do pick up weapons but they can only do it after they've panicked... or if they've dropped it due to panicking... something to do with panicking.   It's part of the vanilla logic and it was disabled in the OG because it was never fully implemented.   If they would drop what they were carrying to grab a better weapon, it could be exploited rather easily to setup "overwatch traps"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 29, 2016, 02:49:33 pm
Towing a rocket turret behind a tank? Sounds fun!

Yes, I totally dig this idea. No idea how it could be coded - I mean, there's no way something that new and complex would ever be added to the code - but I really like the balance of this solution. It feels right.

They definitely do pick up weapons but they can only do it after they've panicked... or if they've dropped it due to panicking... something to do with panicking.   It's part of the vanilla logic and it was disabled in the OG because it was never fully implemented.   If they would drop what they were carrying to grab a better weapon, it could be exploited rather easily to setup "overwatch traps"

That's what the devs said. ;) And it's true of course, but the solution would be pretty easy. Something like "don't pick up anything if you already have a weapon". Considering that unarmed aliens (those with natural weapons are not unarmed) don't pose a threat anyway, I don't think it'd be a problem.
Of course it also needs to factor in the attraction value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: legionof1 on September 29, 2016, 06:36:16 pm
The sentry unfortunately suffers rather alot from a issue alot of the auxiliary/hwp's suffer from, a moderately experienced and properly equipped gal is flat out better. The sentry exists to provide hvy firepower to secure craft exit against strong opposition. However the binary nature of reaction fire checks(TU+ reaction vs TU+ reaction) means that experienced gals can often get off several shots before taking return fire in the sentry's exact best case.

The only hwp's that remain valid all game are parrot/dogs because expendable and cheap. And tanks for tanking. even the tanks durability comes at a loss of firepower and total HP vs 4 gals worth of space it uses.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ivandogovich on September 29, 2016, 07:15:51 pm
Another note about the Sentry Gun turret design:

The current implementation lacks anticipated modding features:  The ability to configure the number of allowable waypoints.  By setting this to two waypoints, the rocket would be able to hook out around the end of the landing craft and hit targets, but would not be as OP as say, the blaster launcher.  This ability has been implemented in the nightlies, but not yet been merged into the OpenXcom Extended branch.  This will happen the next time Yankes synchs these up. 

tldr:  It will get better, and more useful down the road.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 29, 2016, 09:27:26 pm
It would be so cool to be able to define horizontal arcs as well as vertical ones to create real 3D arcing trajectories. Then guided missiles could actually curve around obstacles (guided by input target locations or "free" laser painting by spotters) instead of making sharp turns at way points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Stoddard on September 29, 2016, 10:24:16 pm
It would be so cool to be able to define horizontal arcs as well as vertical ones to create real 3D arcing trajectories. Then guided missiles could actually curve around obstacles (guided by input target locations or "free" laser painting by spotters) instead of making sharp turns at way points.

With a ton of work one can make waypointed weapons follow some kind of 3D spline, but think about it - you will never be able to tell what the projectile will accidentally hit on its way. It's quite cool in Dwarf Fortress kind of way, I grant you that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 29, 2016, 10:46:17 pm
That'd be mean! picking a random spline that hits stuff is not really appropriate. What I was thinking is some kind of algorithm which works similarly to the current 1D curvature (ie draw a straight line in x and y, arc in z) but does it in 3D (enabling curving on the x-y plane along with the z curve). Of course, finding a working 3D curve is a ton of work indeed :D That's why I presented it as a cool idea, not as a feature suggestion ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Kharim on September 30, 2016, 02:15:10 am
I just played my first base defense mission in Xpiratez, if only I could decide about placement of that sentry turret... Good I had firepits and only two chokepoints to defend (great that SAM sites have their upper level corridors barred!), at first I have worried about level 0 canals, but eventually I have managed to use them as a flanking route and it worked great.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: legionof1 on September 30, 2016, 02:59:35 am
I'd forgotten about that particular irritation. Spent a turn or 3 cutting through bunks to free a gal from behind sentry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: yotc on September 30, 2016, 06:15:27 am
Another thing- during my playthrough I have managed to manufacture a Sentry Gun/Rocket-  static defense platform. I can load it into ship but obviously it doesn't move at all. I don't really get the idea behind this unit. The only situation I can picture it useful is when my ship has landed with its rear towards enemy so the sentry can actually shoot something. Is there some application that I am missing?

I have gotten lucky with this once or twice and just had its first turn wreck like 10 aliens on a terror mission.  but then I had to leave the ship from the drop hole and roof and it wasn't great so it's use is varied.  If it had like 1 waypoint it would be 10000x more useful to the point of brokenness though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Foxhound634 on September 30, 2016, 08:33:55 pm
Is it possible to disable rooms being destroyed in base defense? Not the interior or walls/floors of the room, but rather the 'flag' that tells the game if a room is destroyed. I'm asking because the most frustrating thing to happen is when you lose your entire base because the room that links the exit and the rest of the base gets blown up by some insane AoE weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 30, 2016, 09:00:54 pm
According to UFOPaedia.org (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Base_Defense#Battle_Tips) on the vanilla game (and I assume this is reproduced by OpenXCom):

Doing too much damage to a room can also collapse it, and you will lose that room permanently. Any rooms that can only be accessed by going through the collapsed room will also be lost. Spawn-point rooms such as Living Quarters, Stores, Access Lift, and Hangars (plus the Alien Containment chamber) can't be collapsed.

So you just need to build accordingly. I've never had issues while containing the battle to be found in storage rooms, living quarters, the lift and hangars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Foxhound634 on September 30, 2016, 09:12:36 pm
Well, with the addition of trap rooms you're kinda incentivized to place those between the exit and the rest of your base, so just using those non-collapsable rooms as buffers would be kind of a waste, no?

Does anyone have some tips on this issue?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Arthanor on September 30, 2016, 10:08:52 pm
Are the trap rooms really collapsible? Maybe defining them as storage rooms (and thus safe from destruction) would fix the issue.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: khade on October 01, 2016, 06:49:27 am
It wouldn't really solve too much, but maybe we could have a special room that shows up when something is destroyed, one filled with rubble, navigable, but useless. It would be the building equivalent to the merc corpse, where you pay money to get rid of it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Devon_v on October 02, 2016, 05:47:05 pm
The simplest solution would probably be a new room called access tunnels or something that is completely blocked off on the first and second levels. It would allow building deathtrap bases without randomly having the whole place blow up after battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Sagefox on October 06, 2016, 07:30:31 pm
Does anyone know what research one needs to make your own ships? I'm using  0.99C if that helps? also in one of my crashed ship looted missions the maps the ground was steel gray the trees where pink and the plant that would normally explode or throw darts at you now release smoke and at the end of the mission i got ghost items with the normal loot from the ship. Can someone explain this to me?   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 06, 2016, 07:43:33 pm
You should be looking for Interceptor Assembly - if you want the more spoilery answer, use the built-in tech tree viewer to look up how to get there.  Otherwise, you might be stuck if you never researched Flame Arrows, as that's part of the line of research to get you there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Sagefox on October 07, 2016, 06:23:39 pm
You should be looking for Interceptor Assembly - if you want the more spoilery answer, use the built-in tech tree viewer to look up how to get there.  Otherwise, you might be stuck if you never researched Flame Arrows, as that's part of the line of research to get you there.
Thanks also you wouldn't happen to know how to get rid of ghost items would you or know someone that does?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 07, 2016, 07:50:27 pm
Ghost items?  Do you mean items that got renamed in a new version when you switched, and you're left with something like STR_SOME_GHOST_ITEM in your stores?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: xaphias on October 08, 2016, 12:38:43 am
update to 0.99c.1 if you haven't already, IIRC there is a bug in the research tree on 0.99c, in which you can't research flame arrow and never be able to make your own rifles. ( dont think it messes with interceptors tho) oh and a tip, dont neglect any early tech, like survival, cunning, spring cleaning, etc it's all interconnected, you need it all to move forward.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: LegoGunR on October 08, 2016, 07:36:37 pm
Hello Guys,

please clarify whether this is standard behavior, a possible "feature", or bug?

My game time is around Mar 2604, and all of my generated missions are academy local govt sways, the other major factions are practically not present in the game.
A few months back i *may have* edited the save file to remove pact made by several funders.
Even after researching zero tolerance to zero tolerance, practically the local govt sway missions conducted by the Academy are the only visible activities. (with close to full global coverage).
Is there a way to edit in the save file what kind of missions get generated? (other than possibly rewriting the already generated ones)

Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 12, 2016, 09:20:04 pm
I just tried out the tome of lighting on a gal in a destructor outfit, and I don't think I need anything else for the rest of the game...

Except maybe a second tome!

Edit:  Both are allowed on mansion missions?!  Time to pick apart the building with raw elemental power!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 12, 2016, 10:53:45 pm
I feel like a bad metalhead, having just got the boarding gun pedia reference now that Black Sabbath popped up on my Pandora station.  So now I feel compelled to actually do the superhero armor research line and give that gal a boarding gun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: legionof1 on October 13, 2016, 04:12:00 am
Hello Guys,

please clarify whether this is standard behavior, a possible "feature", or bug?

My game time is around Mar 2604, and all of my generated missions are academy local govt sways, the other major factions are practically not present in the game.
A few months back i *may have* edited the save file to remove pact made by several funders.
Even after researching zero tolerance to zero tolerance, practically the local govt sway missions conducted by the Academy are the only visible activities. (with close to full global coverage).
Is there a way to edit in the save file what kind of missions get generated? (other than possibly rewriting the already generated ones)

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like very bad luck more then anything. Missions are generated for a very long period at once. 2 game year chunks if i recall correctly. Only retaliation is dynamic. So yeah barren periods are possible. IMO the randomization is very streaky as well even within a chunk. The academy, in my campaign, has been less than 1% of my contacts which just passed 2k. And most of that was before civilian traffic was a thing.

 Also somewhat common to research stoping "sway missions" while one is in progress. In that case it gets stuck active forever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: earwig on October 17, 2016, 04:28:57 pm
Could somebody please create a mirror for the latest version?

Mediafire is blocked by my ISP  :'(

Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: xaphias on October 18, 2016, 06:41:05 am
I'm thinking that Bossar should get a nerf, I find myself using it even lategame, for it's accurate and rapid autofire at long range with decent damage, it's a bit of a jack of all trades, no real need to diversify. and it's pretty easy to make.
let me know your thoughts :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: BetaSpectre on October 18, 2016, 09:50:46 am
I'm thinking that Bossar should get a nerf, I find myself using it even lategame, for it's accurate and rapid autofire at long range with decent damage, it's a bit of a jack of all trades, no real need to diversify. and it's pretty easy to make.
let me know your thoughts :)

The weight and the fact it's not too powerful makes it more like a good assualt rifle IMO. It's meant to be a jack of all trades ain't it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 18, 2016, 02:57:41 pm
The Bossar is pretty great, but you have to remember that all the long-range automatic fire weapons spend most of the game playing catch-up to the Heavy Machine Gun and Heavy Gauss in terms of raw firepower delivered to target.  The Bossar only just reaches HMG/PS rounds for damage, but makes up for it by being useful on the front lines as well.  It still can't beat a Heavy Gauss blast at close range, and you can loot those within the first year.

On the assault rifle front, it eventually has to compete against the likes of the Battle Laser (similar weight and firepower, but ignores some armor) and the XG Rifle (nuch lighter weight, damage scaling with accuracy).  The Bossar is there to make the equipping phase quicker - there's a better weapon for pretty much every role, but eh, I feel like being lazy and just using the Bossar for everything.

If you want to feel the need to diversify, try things like the Vulcan RFG, Tornado Rocket Mortar, and XG weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: animefreak2599 on October 19, 2016, 02:42:20 am
Oof, just finished a reticulan base mission in month 2 on impossible difficulty. I saw a "very small" landed UFO and was like, "hey, I can deal with that!"

50 turns and 4 out of my original 6 gals dead, but man was it worth it. One suggestion for the game that I'd like to make is, maybe reticulan engineer research/interrogations(you can't interrogate them, currently) should count towards some of the research options that interrogating other factions' engineers open up? It seems a little silly for my pirates to learn next to nothing from interrogating an engineer, even if it's an engineer who primarily works with slightly different technologies. It should definitely open up some materials/construction techs at least, but I'm not super familiar with the tech tree layout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on October 19, 2016, 04:32:38 am
Good idea, while he's useful already, I can make him also unlock the Test Flight tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: xaphias on October 21, 2016, 02:59:18 pm
The Bossar is pretty great, but you have to remember that all the long-range automatic fire weapons spend most of the game playing catch-up to the Heavy Machine Gun and Heavy Gauss in terms of raw firepower delivered to target.  The Bossar only just reaches HMG/PS rounds for damage, but makes up for it by being useful on the front lines as well.  It still can't beat a Heavy Gauss blast at close range, and you can loot those within the first year.

On the assault rifle front, it eventually has to compete against the likes of the Battle Laser (similar weight and firepower, but ignores some armor) and the XG Rifle (nuch lighter weight, damage scaling with accuracy).  The Bossar is there to make the equipping phase quicker - there's a better weapon for pretty much every role, but eh, I feel like being lazy and just using the Bossar for everything.

If you want to feel the need to diversify, try things like the Vulcan RFG, Tornado Rocket Mortar, and XG weapons.

true, the weight is something I forgot about, it is quite heavy, but it has increased autofire range up to 30 tiles with no penalty.
the further away you are from your enemy, the safer you are. it just feels abit too safe. I would suggest, maybe 25tile autofire range, 3shot burst, and 50-55dmg. or make it like the snipers, that it has a minimum range, that's even better. make it effective only at like 15-30 tiles, then you need to divirsify.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 25, 2016, 12:46:44 am
Man, the Mercs are extra tough with the addition of camouflage and thermal vision - I have to think twice before I take on a crashed heavy gunship, and now I desperately need ghost or assassin armor.  Huzzah it's challenging again!

Edit: I guess I could just pay up for a merc commando of my own too... Just need to make sure he gets vaporized if he goes down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on October 29, 2016, 07:00:52 pm
I am trying to mod in Ratmen Rodeo type missions for other lesser factions, experimenting first with Spartans.

However there are two problems:

First, the Spartans keep spawning with Ratling weapons even though I've copied over Spartan loadouts from their terror mission to the new Spartan_Village mission.

Second, the game keeps creating ratmen alerts, markers and briefings even though I've created new lines for all of those things in Piratez_lang.rul for the new mission.

I'm starting a new game for each test but is it possible that the game is still loading with the old data somehow? This is my first try at modding Xcom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Dioxine on October 29, 2016, 08:27:21 pm
Yes it's really convoluted to make it work. The things you're missing are:
1. textures:
Code: [Select]
    - id: -5
      deployments:
        STR_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE: 100

This is what actually sets the deployment(s); multiple deployments are possible but will be selected at random.

2. Region to go with the textures (regions:), eg.
Code: [Select]
  - type: REGION_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE
    missionZones:
      -
        - [0, 0, -41, -41, -5] # Hiszpańska Wioska

first 4 are coordinates, the -5 is for texture.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: KateMicucci on October 29, 2016, 09:06:23 pm
Fantastic, it's working perfectly now. Thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99C.1 - 10 Sep - Become an Idol!
Post by: Meridian on October 29, 2016, 10:11:16 pm
When's the next version?  ::)  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2016, 10:22:58 pm
Now. :)

So what's new, in short? A ton of things, although not much will be immediately visible. There was addition of new missions, most notably the first underwater mission which shows what can be done with x-com mechanics with a tiny bit of inventiveness.
There are also few tedium-lessening features in early game.
Code-wise, Meridian & Yankes introduced some great features I've implemented, like new lighting engine and enemy surrender mode.
Tons of tweaks were made in existing items, based on player feedback (extra thanks to LP'ers!).
A lot of new stuff has been implemented as well.
Altcorpse mod might be no longer up-to-date, but Piratez has its own bleeding & stun indicators that help where the altcorpse mod is not yet finished (or provide an ascetic alternative to those who don't play with it).
Last but not least, shootouts with enemy vessels have been incentived by sharp increase of XP and score bonuses for shootdowns (the score increased 3 to 4-fold).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 30, 2016, 10:38:10 pm
A word on what to do to upgrade saves to enable the new missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2016, 10:41:06 pm
Research them as normal, the tree structure wasn't mutilated this time. Actually only Sea Adventure needs research, the others should start spawning automatically the next month. Avoid upgrading in Battlescape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 30, 2016, 11:05:29 pm
Yay, new version! Congrats, I know how much work it was. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 30, 2016, 11:42:38 pm
0.99D
- Update: Tougher enemy vessels fortified with Shields and/or Dodge
- Update: pilots gain experience faster
- Update: much higher scoring for shooting down UFOs

It's a start... but still, losing pilots makes me intercept even less UFOs than I did in vanilla (and I shot down exactly zero of them in my last vanilla LP... Hawaii challenge)  :-[

Maybe I could add an "Eject Seat" button to dogfight UI, so that you can save pilot(s), but you will lose the craft (even if not yet completely destroyed).

- Bows extreme-range acc reduced, but hunting bow's short range acc increased slightly; bows no longer cause extra stun compared to melee & thrown equivalents
- Bows now have base damage but less stat-dependant damage
- Bows, thrown weapons, whips now use either Gaussian or TFTD damage (like melee weapons)

Phew, good that I managed to kill them all already  ;)

- Changed damage loss formula per distance on the Blaster

Was the episode where I complain about it aired already? :o

- Mushroom Beer now requires a rare item

Should have kept my mouth shut...  :-X
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 30, 2016, 11:51:56 pm
Maybe I could add an "Eject Seat" button to dogfight UI, so that you can save pilot(s), but you will lose the craft (even if not yet completely destroyed).

Great, useful idea! It would make the mod 20% cooler. 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: KateMicucci on October 31, 2016, 12:20:08 am
I knew that I shouldn't have started a new game today.  >:(

Quote
- Bows extreme-range acc reduced, but hunting bow's short range acc increased slightly; bows no longer cause extra stun compared to melee & thrown equivalents
- Bows now have base damage but less stat-dependant damage
- Bows, thrown weapons, whips now use either Gaussian or TFTD damage (like melee weapons)
- Shotguns shoot a bit slower

Very good. Shotguns and bows were much too powerful before.

You might also want to take a look at javelins. They're very powerful and easily have over 100% accuracy within their 14 tile range. Their accuracy should perhaps be reduced or have a falloff as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Foxhound634 on October 31, 2016, 01:26:57 am
Maybe I could add an "Eject Seat" button to dogfight UI, so that you can save pilot(s), but you will lose the craft (even if not yet completely destroyed).

Should the button work during the 0.5 or 1 second where your craft has reached 0 hitpoints and you're hearing the crash and burn sound effect? Because then you could always save your pilot if you keep the cursor over the button. To avoid that, i'm guessing it should only work as long as your craft has at least 1 hitpoint left?

Also, would it be possible to implement systems damage to crafts, so that you could (if lucky) damage the enemy's engines or weapons, thereby adding some more tactical depth to interception?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2016, 01:31:42 am
But what happens to the pilot then? Simply transferred to the point of origin? Boring.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 31, 2016, 02:37:12 am
But what happens to the pilot then? Simply transferred to the point of origin? Boring.

Umm... Save Swabbie Rayne?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 08:57:37 am
But what happens to the pilot then? Simply transferred to the point of origin? Boring.

Why boring?
It's realistic, like many other things many people here are fighting for (e.g. "never surrender, but actually always surrender if others (at least one) have surrendered too" or my all time favourite "let's build a different type of alien containment for every imaginable type of alien").

Anyway, back to the point, any other suggestions?
I really won't be sending trained girls to their death, and I am probably (hopefully?) not alone.

Should the button work during the 0.5 or 1 second where your craft has reached 0 hitpoints and you're hearing the crash and burn sound effect? Because then you could always save your pilot if you keep the cursor over the button. To avoid that, i'm guessing it should only work as long as your craft has at least 1 hitpoint left?

Of course not. If the craft is destroyed, you can't eject anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 31, 2016, 12:28:50 pm
Anyway, back to the point, any other suggestions?

Yeah, it's not boring for me either. But it would also be a nice excuse to introduce the "save the pilot" mission (only after ejection).

Of course not. If the craft is destroyed, you can't eject anymore.

That's not really so clear-cut, I think a craft that falls like a stone is considered destroyed, even when the pilot still lives... But allowing ejection after the destruction would mean the pilot would survive pretty much every time, which would defeat the point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 01:48:35 pm
Man, every time I get on top of updating wiki articles and my interception simulator, this happens. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 01:57:17 pm
Man, every time I get on top of updating wiki articles and my interception simulator, this happens. :P

Just put in =IF(RANDBETWEEN(1,2)=1;"They lost!","You lost :(")

People won't notice the difference :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Foxhound634 on October 31, 2016, 01:59:00 pm
Yeah, it's not boring for me either. But it would also be a nice excuse to introduce the "save the pilot" mission (only after ejection).

I completely agree. As it is now, pilots just die if shit hits the fan on an intercept, but with an eject function you would add even more depth and variety to the game. Also, not attending such a mission would give the same result as the pilot not ejecting, making the whole thing optional and not a chore.

That's not really so clear-cut, I think a craft that falls like a stone is considered destroyed, even when the pilot still lives... But allowing ejection after the destruction would mean the pilot would survive pretty much every time, which would defeat the point.

Another thing to consider is that some ships will outright destroy your craft in a blink, before you can react...Or is this only a thing in early game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 02:11:26 pm
Just put in =IF(RANDBETWEEN(1,2)=1;"They lost!","You lost :(")

People won't notice the difference :)

For as much as you like doing interceptions, =IF(RANDBETWEEN(1,2)=1;"You lost!","You lost!")
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 31, 2016, 02:44:05 pm
Anyway, back to the point, any other suggestions?

I have a suggestion. Make aircombat slow enough so the disengange button is useful. (or make disengage faster)

I've tried it recently, but it doesn't work right now. I had a Pachyderm as lead interceptor and hit the disengage button on it at about 50% hitpoints. I tried several times and never got away once. I was fighting a heavy gunship, so that was not an easy foe, but it was a situation where I felt disengaging should be possible. You fight with multiple interceptors and one gets damaged, it disengages and the others finish the job.

If shippings had like double the fire rate at half the damage (so same dps), damage would be dealt more consistently and you had a better chance to abort on time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 02:56:25 pm
I have a suggestion. Make aircombat slow enough so the disengange button is useful. (or make disengage faster)

There is an option in the user settings to make dogfights slower/faster.

I've tried it recently, but it doesn't work right now. I had a Pachyderm as lead interceptor and hit the disengage button on it at about 50% hitpoints. I tried several times and never got away once. I was fighting a heavy gunship, so that was not an easy foe, but it was a situation where I felt disengaging should be possible. You fight with multiple interceptors and one gets damaged, it disengages and the others finish the job.

The enemy craft wouldn't let you go just like that, in an instant. They are not that stupid, right?
The only "instant disengage" is "eject seat" :)

If shippings had like double the fire rate at half the damage (so same dps), damage would be dealt more consistently and you had a better chance to abort on time.

That's already possible. Up to the modder to decide.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 31, 2016, 03:31:58 pm
Another problem is that the Pachyderm is hardly a good interceptor; while not slow, it has no dodge bonus. In the early game against a difficult foe, I'd rather choose something more nimble as the lead interceptor, even if it has less HP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 31, 2016, 05:27:47 pm
There is an option in the user settings to make dogfights slower/faster.

You misunderstood. I mean make them slower by decreasing dps on both craft. So that engange and disengage speed compared to dps gets faster. Actually, this just happened with the recent updates. Pilots gave Piratez craft more effective hp by giving more dodge, and now enemy shippings got some shielding. The effect is fights last longer.

What's missing is smoother damage distribution by higher fire rate. I just tested that ingame, save is attached so you can try it yourself. It's a Pachyderm, a Jetbike and a Hunter-Killer engaging a Heavy Gunship. Note that this is a save from 0.99C, so you will have to remove the armor from the heavy gunship to have the same conditions. With armor on the heavy gunship that fight is not winable. Use the Pachyderm as lead interceptor and abort each craft as you see fit. Reason to use the Pachyderm as lead interceptor is because the firepower is on the other craft, so if the Pachyderm disengages the damage output won't drop significantly.
Now edit the heavy gunship to have double the fire rate at the same dps. This is not straightforeward, xcom changes fire rate based on difficulty. Heavy gunship has a reload rate of 27, which is actually 19 on Jack Sparrow (game subtracts 2 per difficulty level, so 8 in total). To get a nearly double fire rate on Jack Sparrow, reload rate needs to be 18. Exact value would be 17,5 but I don't think the game can do that. Power goes from 100 to 50 obviously.

Now try this aircombat several times with the different fire rates. I find the one with double fire rate much smoother and more consistent in the outcome. With the higher fire rate it's significantly easier to abort on time to save your craft.


Edit: Did a quick statistic - 10 tries on the aircombat with double fire rate. 8 wins with no losses by aborting on time. Once I lost the Pachyderm because I aborted too late, but won the fight. Once I lost the combat because I aborted on all craft, but no losses. The Pachyderm I abort at roughly 50% hp, the Jetbike I abort after the first hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 05:41:45 pm
Well, I don't fight much in the air... so I won't comment on the numbers.

But just going by the feeling... if Pachyderm, Jetbike and HK met with a Heavy Gunship in dogfight... I would expect all three to be destroyed and Heavy Gunship barely scratched.

But of course, only "in reality"; in game I would also like to see them win... who wouldn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 31, 2016, 05:48:10 pm
In 0.99C you can win that combat, in 0.99D you can't. So all is well.

I attached the save so you can try it yourself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 06:07:32 pm
I updated my calculation spreadsheet with the shipping armor and dodge, and man I'm glad I did the Merc Battleship before the update - that thing is a bear to take down, unless you're spamming all the Avalanches.

I actually like the risk that's inherent in doing these interceptions - for the amount of cash you can make off of that downed Heavy Gunship, it should be able to take you down if you're not prepared.  It's a military vessel after all, so a flying truck shouldn't be too hard for it to run down.  It should be on you to know that this is not a good idea, and that trying to abort if you've already committed against such a well-armed craft is an even worse idea.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 31, 2016, 06:39:04 pm
So I tried that fight from the save in 0.99D with some modifications. Originally I had Spike Rockets on the Pachyderm, 50 mm Cannon on the Jetbike and 25 mm and 50 mm Cannon on the Hunter-Killer. That is not enough to take down the heavy gunship. Now I swapped the 25 mm Cannon on the HK for a Gauss 50 mm Cannon and gave it additionally two Seagull Launchers. That is enough firepower to take the heavy gunship down. It's risky, but it's possible.

The 12 Seagull missiles would cost 600 000, the Gauss you would need to loot from figthers. If you had another Hunter-Killer with Seagulls you wouldn't need the Gauss this would be a save engagement. I would say the investment needed to have enough firepower is steep enough to be ok with this state of air combat.

Edit: Checked with ohartenstein23's spreadsheet, the Gauss is actually not that much better than the 50 mm Cannon. The second Hunter-Killer with Seagulls makes it a save engagement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2016, 07:09:12 pm
Obviously small cannons got nerfed hard by that UFO armor, but it's like everyone wanted the air combat to be challenging... So don't blame me, Judases.

Meridian's experiences cannot be used as a measuring tape since he completely neglected air combat (nothing wrong with that, his choice, just let's be objective). The question is, can a Kraken with HK & Pachyderm support defeat a Heavy Gunship, using 105mm missiles, Naval Cannons and any missiles of choice (better than Seagull)? If the answer is "yes, quite easily" then all is well. As far as Cruisers, Destroyers and Battleships go, I expect player to having to engage them with 4 ships, including Kraken, Crab or Dragon as the lead craft, and possibly another Kraken/Hydra to provide heavy pounding, supported by Avalanche/Lancer/Hammermite-totting fighters. Another option are 4 Nightmares or Sabres with maxed out Dodge (approaching effective 90% dodge).

I cannot simply double the refire rate and halve damage since:
a) fastest UFO refire rate is 19 sec; halving that to 10 would result in a refire of 2 sec on Jack Sparrow.
b) player's ships employ shielding as well.

About the pilots having a chance to survive... yeah I was saying it since long time ago. Eject button is quite fine - should be active until you have 1 or more HP. If you go below 0 HP, ejecting is automatic but consequences are more grave, depending on how far below 0 did you go.

What I meant about base transfer being "boring" is that there should be some random elements;
- random return transfer time (weighed so more people involved = faster return);
- chance to suffer injuries, during battle AND crash landing (for each soldier), including fatal injuries. Injuries calculated upon each hit?.
- possibility of spawning a custom mission if modder wants to; the mission involves downed crew, is activated with a delay not to break the air combat, and winning it starts aforementioned transfer (this doesn't need to be implemented quickly).

Example equations:
Return time (in hrs): rnd (50...300) / square root(x). X is number of soldiers on the craft. HWPs and equipment is lost.
Injuries: rnd (0...100)*y
Y = (0.33 - a)*cube root(x)*b, where A is % of hull HP remaining (can be negative), and b is situational modifier  (default = 0.75 if survives/ejects, 1.5 if gets destroyed?)
Eject time (when you push it, your ship stops firing, but battle goes on until ejection is complete): (1+x)*2 game seconds. Ejection cannot be stopped.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 07:27:46 pm
No worries, nobody is blaming you :)
(and for completeness, I was one of the few, who didn't want more challenging air combat)

Question: How can one get 90% dodge on a Nightmare?

craft: 10%
2 thrusters: 18%
best pilots: ~25%

What else am I missing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2016, 07:36:16 pm
The answer: this adds up to about 55 (60 with a Saber Interceptor), vs. 70% enemy accuracy. So I exaggerated, it's more like 80% dodge when all is maxed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Meridian on October 31, 2016, 07:41:26 pm
The answer: this adds up to about 55 (60 with a Saber Interceptor), vs. 70% enemy accuracy. So I exaggerated, it's more like 80% dodge when all is maxed.

Oh, I see, I forgot the enemy accuracy!
Is there a way to find out which craft has what accuracy? Or are they all 70%?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 07:45:01 pm
All 70%, except for Merc ships, which get a 20% bonus, and one Star God ship, which has 106% accuracy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2016, 08:13:43 pm
When crewed by Mercs or Star Gods, UFOs get +20% accuracy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 08:16:06 pm
In the ruleset, I only see the accuracy boost under race bonus for STR_MUTON.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2016, 08:19:58 pm
Oops. I've probably changed my mind at some point.

Edit: fixed version uploaded
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2016, 09:00:31 pm
Woo, that Battleship. :P  I just faced a Guild one, and I had to break off and come back with a fresh set of missiles, and then only the last one got it.  That armor makes it much tougher!

Edit:  Definitely need to research the bomb launcher parts to get a sure-fire finisher.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Eddie on October 31, 2016, 09:18:22 pm
I cannot simply double the refire rate and halve damage since:
a) fastest UFO refire rate is 19 sec; halving that to 10 would result in a refire of 2 sec on Jack Sparrow.
b) player's ships employ shielding as well.

I just wanted to point out that generally faster firing UFOs make for better aircombat (in my opinion). Especially if dodge values are high. It's kind of the same argument as the two dice roll damage for plasma weapons. The outcome is more consistent and less random.

The fire rate doesn't need to be exaclty double on every UFO. Increase fire rate where it is low, don't change it where it is already high. Don't lower the damage per shot that much that shields get too effective. Shields values could also be lowered if it really is a problem. You get the idea.

But these are things I can easily mod on my own, so you don't need to do anything if you don't feel like it.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D - 30 Oct - Learning to Swim
Post by: Starving Poet on October 31, 2016, 09:51:14 pm
, =IF(RANDBETWEEN(1,2)=1;"You lost!","You lost!")

Ah, i see you coded the dog-fight auto-resolve in Xenonauts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 31, 2016, 11:27:43 pm
If I say I'd like the air combat to resemble ground combat (with tiles and everything), would you throw rocks at me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 01, 2016, 12:36:38 am
Is the Impaler meant to be unusable?  I have a few in stores from looting Pink Ships, but they require researching the Impaler's Instructions, which are not dropped in any of the deployments defined in the ruleset, and are not manufacturable.

I wouldn't throw rocks at you, but maybe a small essay on why I think turn-based combat is unsuitable in the air.  Or a shot of something strong enough to clear that silly idea out of your head :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 01, 2016, 01:04:39 am
Is the Impaler meant to be unusable?

Don't be silly, it's just a bug. I guess not useable until next version! Report me these bugs BEFORE I release next ver., not just after, people! Impaler is in game for about 2 months now! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 01, 2016, 01:46:53 am
I wouldn't throw rocks at you, but maybe a small essay on why I think turn-based combat is unsuitable in the air.  Or a shot of something strong enough to clear that silly idea out of your head :P

Well, it worked more than fine in Master of Orion II. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 01, 2016, 04:19:16 am
Don't be silly, it's just a bug. I guess not useable until next version! Report me these bugs BEFORE I release next ver., not just after, people! Impaler is in game for about 2 months now! :)

Sorry, it took me that long to get there in my new campaign and decide to ruleset dive to check.  I'll mod it in the deployment in the meantime.

Edit: Also, I think it was in Meridian's list of unavailable research when he was doing the tech tree completion percentage with 0.99C.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 01, 2016, 04:25:54 am
You need to replace 3rd and 4th mapblock on the VESSEL_PINK with:

Code: [Select]
        - name: VES_PINK
          width: 10
          length: 10
          items:
            STR_ELERIUM_115:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            STR_FUEL_CAPSULE:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            LIGHT_SOURCE_20:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            STR_MUTANT_MEAT:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_MEDI_KIT:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_WINE:
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_CAKE:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_GOLDEN_CRATE:
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_SAKURA_STAFF:
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_SAKURA_STAFF_BLUEPRINTS:
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_PILLOW_BOOK:
              - [2, 5, 0]
        - name: VES_PINK
          width: 10
          length: 10
          items:
            STR_ELERIUM_115:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            STR_FUEL_CAPSULE:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            LIGHT_SOURCE_20:
              - [3, 6, 0]
            STR_MUTANT_MEAT:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_MEDI_KIT:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_WINE:
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_CAKE:
              - [7, 5, 1]
              - [7, 5, 1]
            STR_GOLDEN_CRATE:
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_IMPALER:
              - [2, 5, 0]
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_IMPALER_BLUEPRINTS:
              - [2, 5, 0]
            STR_PILLOW_BOOK:
              - [2, 5, 0]
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 01, 2016, 04:28:24 am
Thanks! I've been looking forward to trying it out ever since it appeared when I generated the wiki page.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: KateMicucci on November 01, 2016, 04:39:58 am
The new monster hunt and loknarr missions are really good.

Making the monsters being hunted actually fast and dangerous does a lot to make the mission more fun.  Chupacabras are no joke. The way that the missions sometimes include civilians and abandoned buildings adds a lot of life and that little touch is definitely appreciated.

The ninja girls are a great rival. Hopefully we'll see more of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 01, 2016, 12:40:19 pm
If I say I'd like the air combat to resemble ground combat (with tiles and everything), would you throw rocks at me?

Even if the engine made it possible, i actually like the real-time contrast that air combat provides. Ground combat has way more variety and way more outcomes, and it makes sense that air combat is then just an auxilliary feature. I think air combat has already been improved a lot in x-piratez with all the loadouts and different ships and now with an eject button. If i were to suggest more improvements, i'd say something with ship formation, ship tactics or even a mid-air boarding mission. I think turn-based air combat would drag out the game unnecessarily however.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 01, 2016, 03:11:58 pm
Even if the engine made it possible, i actually like the real-time contrast that air combat provides. Ground combat has way more variety and way more outcomes, and it makes sense that air combat is then just an auxilliary feature. I think air combat has already been improved a lot in x-piratez with all the loadouts and different ships and now with an eject button. If i were to suggest more improvements, i'd say something with ship formation, ship tactics or even a mid-air boarding mission. I think turn-based air combat would drag out the game unnecessarily however.

Well, I was never happy with the air combat in X-Com, not even in the 90's. And Xenonauts was a salt on the wound, having such a satisfactory dogfight engine.

I'm not sure a converted battlescape system is the best solution, but I think it's the only one that's remotely possible. I can't see anyone stepping in and making a whole new engine, but the battlescape should be rather trivial to code - the rest is graphics and balance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 01, 2016, 03:22:26 pm
That is one solution. However going with Interception more towards arcade is another - and one that keeps more variety in the game. The notion that air combat cannot be done turn-wise is naturally silly, I just don't think it should be done like this in XCOM.

As for the eject button, I will firmly oppose it unless it's accompanied by the risk of death and injury in air combat & ejection. Else it's a stupid "get out of jail free" card. Moreover, even if injuries are added, eject button replaces some of the thinking ("is it the time to disengage now?") with push-a-button-to-win, unless properly penalized and working with a delay. However in general, the inability to eject is uncivilized, so such an ability should appear (on a craft-per-craft basis, naturally - uncivilized craft are fine too).
Alternatively, ejection could be automatic with severity of injuries depending how much below 0 HP did the craft go, and how many people were on board.
In general tho, pilots serve to add more gravity to the more or less carefree air combat by putting your most valuable resources at risk. Modders/players who don't like it, can use drone fighters. As for Piratez, I will also add a 'droid race' which could serve as fairly decent, replaceable pilots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 01, 2016, 03:28:28 pm
That is one solution. However going with Interception more towards arcade is another - and one that keeps more variety in the game.

Well, you do already have the sprite from Raptor: Call of the Shadows in the game, so naturally, this is the next step :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Starving Poet on November 01, 2016, 04:08:07 pm
Well, it worked more than fine in Master of Orion II. ;)

Yeah, but to make it work, we'd have to have ground combat emulate MoO2's ground combat.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 01, 2016, 05:18:21 pm
As for the eject button, I will firmly oppose it unless it's accompanied by the risk of death and injury in air combat & ejection. Else it's a stupid "get out of jail free" card.

I thought more about adding a decision: should I eject now, or do I stay in the cockpit and try to save the whole ship? But I'm not sure how it'd work.

And I'm certainly not against risk of injury; actually, we could even have injuries from simply getting ship damage, caused by rough shaking and exploding consoles. :)

Plus there's the "save the pilot" mission idea.

Yeah, but to make it work, we'd have to have ground combat emulate MoO2's ground combat.  :)

Are we getting Battleoids then? :P
Anyway, as I said, the turn-based air combat was a very loose idea. I'd just like to see a more competent air combat engine, and I can't see improving the vanilla one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Eddie on November 02, 2016, 12:03:10 am
Maybe we should do the aircombat discussion in another thread
-> https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5019.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5019.0.html)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ivandogovich on November 02, 2016, 04:34:16 pm
*Wanders back in*

Oh hey, cool, a new version!  And yeah, Dioxine forwarded me sprites ahead of time to update the Alt-Corpses mod, but my life has been absolutely crazy and I've had no time to address this.

So question here to the players:  Is there interest in having Alt-Corpses still up to date or is the new built-in functionality sufficient?  (I assume the latter is what I've been seeing in Meridian's LP)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 02, 2016, 04:38:51 pm
Hey Ivan, you're back!  I quite like the built-in functionality, both using it myself and seeing it in the LPs, and it's surely less work to maintain for you than making new sprites for Alt-Corpses...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 02, 2016, 05:25:50 pm
It doesn't need maintaining at all, and it's not Ivan's, the 2 sprites I made for it are obviously uglier than his work :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 02, 2016, 05:36:36 pm
That was the point I was trying to make - his idea, but now with no busywork for him, so he can get on to spriting other things!  Ivan, maybe you can release the red crosses and z's sprites you used for the AltCorpses mod as an alternative to the ones in the built-in functionality?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 03, 2016, 03:43:40 am
Given that there are different TU costs for moving equipment to different slots in the inventory screen, i find it hard to remember it all (and having to experiment blindly is a chore). Would it be possible to pick up an item from one slot and have the TU cost appear for whatever slot that your cursor is currently hovering over?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Roxis231 on November 03, 2016, 08:11:40 am
Just upgraded to 099D1. Looks good - Should be able to put in some play time tonight.

The change to the Inventory images was nice - I will be makeing this change to my Armour mod tonight - as was the new armours. Though, I'll have to make some changes to my rulesets to stop My Extra runt armours from over-lapping with the Brainer diveing suits.

FYI - Male Image #1 in the Piratez Alternate Armor - Smoke mod should be body33_M0_pir.gif not body33_M00_pir.gif. Its the only one mis-labled as far as I can see.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Meridian on November 03, 2016, 10:12:02 am
Given that there are different TU costs for moving equipment to different slots in the inventory screen, i find it hard to remember it all (and having to experiment blindly is a chore). Would it be possible to pick up an item from one slot and have the TU cost appear for whatever slot that your cursor is currently hovering over?

This is already done, no?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 03, 2016, 03:25:43 pm
This is already done, no?

Oh i wouldn't know, it's been over half a year since i last played the mod, but thumbs up if it is already a thing :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Arthanor on November 03, 2016, 06:40:30 pm
Yes, it is already done. Might be an option you have to turn on though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ThatDude on November 05, 2016, 09:29:41 am
I can't seem to find the "scout" item required to research cybernetic interface and I've been stuck for a while. What is it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: khade on November 05, 2016, 10:44:03 am
A scout should be one of the enemy ships, there are a couple ways I know of to get the research: find the paperwork on the scout or (ahem) interview some engineers, maybe pilots will work too, possibly a few others.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Geneoce on November 06, 2016, 01:38:59 pm
Is there a convenient list of craft that can/cant go underwater floating around somewhere? My Pachy finally has a disappointing downside
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Narvi on November 06, 2016, 03:33:37 pm
Most excellent mod. Query: The Workshop description states that it gives you an 'unlimited amount of Runt Outfits', but I get no Runt Outfit option when I select my gals and making them still requires materials. Am I misunderstanding something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 06, 2016, 05:04:23 pm
@Narvi: The Runt-Outfit is "Armor" that has to be manufactured. It's kind of useful to make one Hand someone to carry extra ammo clips and grenades. Yes, the wording is a bit confusing = hits the theme of the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2016, 05:15:54 pm
It's a leftover, I'll fix the wording.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 06, 2016, 05:39:24 pm
My feedback to this masterpiece of a mod (in comparision to the vanilla X-Com and using Superhuman difficulty):
Nicely balanced early game around the introduced 6-man Airbus. The starting missions offer opportunities to get some early weaponry and prisoners to get your research going. Church-Raid and Watchtower are the best examples.

In terms of improvable early mission:
Academy Base: Academy drones are kind of tough to deal with since you can't rely on a musket to break through the armor. I suggest to add a new kind of "Beginner Drone" with like +15HP and/or half the armor.

Ratman Rodeo: With the introduction of the damage buff to the musket-ammo I suggest to look into this mission for the early game. With no decent armor those stray bullets can now one-shot your gals more frequently.

The transition to midgame is kind of hard to discribe. Sometimes you get the boenuventura in time to boost your power to 18 slots or have to work with the 8man truck for several months. (Thanks for the 10man "Purple Turtle" craft tho ;)  )

To give you some kind of feedback from my very own  playthrough:
The traders guild littered my starting location (russia) with 5 hideouts and causing 5 protect-money-payer to jump the boat before I could tech up and offer a legit answer to power-armor bodyguards.

The time I started to clean russia and asia I had 6 hideouts to destroy. The most overpowered solution to this was the flechette-gun.
I have several points to say about this weapon:
1. You can use the flechette-gun right after research but can't use the flechette-multicannon without interogate an academy provost.
If the flechette-gun would get the same restriction like the multi-cannon, I would accept this restriction since this shotgun is your weapon to kill everything in the game and drastically drops the difficulty. - But you could just stop using the gun? - If I can get access to a tool I will use it regardless. In the end it's a game (and games are fun?)
2. While the damage 32x4 sounds inferior to most of the other shotguns manufacturable, the fact that this shotgun ignores half armor AND reduces the armor of the target hit, I realy wonder why this shotgun got both traits.
I suggest to have only the armor-ignoration or the armor-shred. Maybe even drop the damage to 29x4 so the max damage can't reach 60+ per bullet shot.
3. This shotgun might offer only snapshot but 200% acc for a shotgun is quite the aim. (and even adds kneeling bonus). I can repeatly snipe enemies with a shotgun past 20 tiles of range. In my opinion too good for the weapon category.
4. The flechette-gun can shot up to 4 times per turn. Considering point 3 above the mix of high acc and fast firing makes every other weapon kind of obsolete. Nerfing the TU cost to +26% would allow up to 3 shots while leaving the gun as a decent assault- and breach-gun.
5. I'm kind of puzzled why the flechette-gun is able to "melt" its target and destroy the corpse. The damage-type is listed as "piercing" and thus shouldn't vaporize the target like a high-power laser or chem/plasma weaponry. If this is intended, I roll with it as it is the trade-off for been OP.

So much for the flechette-gun complaining, the late-game is where the game let's you toy with your high-tech guns, armor and voodoo stuff. I got the most fun in this part of the game. Can't wait to revisit some mercs and melt thier muton-like faces with something else than the flechette-gun and baby nukes.

Thanks for reading my wall of text.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 06, 2016, 06:04:04 pm
Attached my basic loadout to dominate the mid-late game.
Guardian-Armor until I can replace with something better. Flechette-gun (OP), Zapper for milk-runs. Grenades (smoke/chem/hellerium) are barely used. The lasgun in the backpack isn't used either since the flechette gun is OP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: RSSwizard on November 07, 2016, 10:58:38 pm
Just picked up X-Pratez for the first time.
Dioxine - you're brilliant, the theme and everything, its almost like a completely different game. Reminds me very much of Firefly/Serenity.

Really love those temple of sirius missions, reminds me of scientology or that heaven's gate thing where all those people killed themselves in real life. Very satisfying to beat those guys to a pulp.

Im only like 2 months into the game, and I have to wonder since I haven't broken $1 million yet, when or if ill ever get a craft that can actually shoot down other crafts (airbus has no guns even though ive got a laser thing in inventory). Laboratory will cost 75 million so thats not happening for a long time.

I can keep going after ratmen rodeos and watchtowers to my heart's content but none of the other craft seem to ever land near me except once during the first month. My base is located in the turkey region. But I do have 6 brainers though and they're churning through research about every 2 days.

Also noticed that my hands will sometimes lose Morale like crazy for no reason at all, like im even killing guys and it doesnt bump the morale one bit, and I havent lost anybody at all. Might be a spoiler to say why?

Im guessing the ratmen are using psi-weapon and its just not displaying or notifying about it at all.

Its also happening on the watchtower maps too, like my hands are just sitting around the fire roasting marshmellows, watching the robot combust, and people start going "insane" for no reason and then I notice everybody's morale has been hit.

also im gonna say... "f-ck the white shambler", just screw that, I drag the thing back to my base after it puts two of my ladies in the hospital, and my brainers just Dissect the thing and tell me "yeah its a beast, so what" ... and now I cant even sell it (but whatever, thats me having a fun laughing rant not an upset one)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 07, 2016, 11:14:20 pm
Welcome to the new mehanix called "Combat Stress"
Every turn, your hands lose moral based on thier bravery stat. Moral is going down if the current moral > bravery.
If your hand has 50 bravery, she will lose moral until she drops below 50 moral, which might cause her to freak out.

Armor can have +x stress as well, causing the moral to decline as well.
If a gal has like 70 bravery she will never panic/berserk unless something bad happens. (voodoo/dying teammates).

I recommend to just sack hands with bravery <50 for the early game. Once you can *afford* to have hands sitting 'nude' on the battlefield and let them panic on demand, the bravery will quickly sky-rocket up to 90! (+10 bravery per mission if lucky).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2016, 12:35:20 am
Not everything is at it seems. Morale, Stun and Energy are no longer inert like in the vanilla. About the Morale you know already (everything is written down, btw), but also wounds will incur a constant Stun & Energy drain.

As for the shambler... you will find out quite soon (although making armor out of its fur is not implemented yet!). A lot of stuff is hidden somewhere in the ever-growing research tree :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: khade on November 08, 2016, 02:03:26 am
Unless things have changed, the laboratory is actually not something we can build, it's too advanced and complicated.  There are other ways to employ more brainers though, but they're all expensive.  You'll probably rely heavily on bootlegging for your finances.

Incidentally, any chance of being raided early on by poorly armed and led pig-cops from Duke Nukem?  Naturally because you're not paying the tax on alcohol.

Edit

On the last version, 0.99C, once I got the workshop the runt outfit was no longer limited, couldn't even make them anymore in that base.  Didn't get far beyond that, so I don't know if the base itself needed a workshop or if you just needed one to get the unlimited runt outfits, but it did have that effect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 08, 2016, 02:56:50 am
Incidentally, any chance of being raided early on by poorly armed and led pig-cops from Duke Nukem?  Naturally because you're not paying the tax on alcohol.

Oh gawd i would love that! The existing cameos from other video games are already pretty cool (not gonna spoil anything), and i can definitely see these being a badass contribution to that list :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: khade on November 08, 2016, 04:39:53 am
I'm pretty sure you mean dumbass, but whatever.   ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 08, 2016, 05:24:16 am
I'm pretty sure you mean dumbass, but whatever.   ;D

Uh no, that wasn't sarcasm...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: RSSwizard on November 08, 2016, 05:37:27 am
Unless things have changed, the laboratory is actually not something we can build, it's too advanced and complicated.  There are other ways to employ more brainers though, but they're all expensive.  You'll probably rely heavily on bootlegging for your finances.

On the last version, 0.99C, once I got the workshop the runt outfit was no longer limited, couldn't even make them anymore in that base.  Didn't get far beyond that, so I don't know if the base itself needed a workshop or if you just needed one to get the unlimited runt outfits, but it did have that effect.

how exactly do you build a Workshop anyway?
ive got an extractor and still but it wont even let me build new versions of those, and I have a bunch of things I wanna build that take a workshop.

Also im noticing a surprising number of items that are listed in the bootypedia as {Buy} but they're not available for purchase. Several guns. The only item listed as {Buy} that got added was the Hunting Bow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: khade on November 08, 2016, 05:44:12 am
Uh no, that wasn't sarcasm...

Oh, I know, sorry, couldn't resist.  It would be really funny, but I'm not sure how to actually fit the guys into the lore, everything else actually has a place.

Uh, workshop requires a bit of research and sometimes you have to find the supplier before you can actually buy an item, again more research. My headcanon is that items marked {Buy} are more rumors until you actually find the right streetcorner or shop or alleyway, give the right pass-phrase, and offer the correct offerings(grog).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 08, 2016, 05:47:47 pm
I'm always welcome to new goons to swap the deck with.

To get more purchase-option in the black market you need to research "Contact: xxx" research topics.
For example the research topic "Contacts: Merchants" will alloy you to buy some more basic guns like "Rusty Niners" or "Domestic Shotgun" to give an alternative to muskets and flintlocks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2016, 08:09:29 pm
New version released. See the change log for details. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: RSSwizard on November 09, 2016, 12:02:56 am
I'm always welcome to new goons to swap the deck with.

To get more purchase-option in the black market you need to research "Contact: xxx" research topics.

Its okay I figured out how it works, my eyes have seen the light. Research topics go pretty quick and I eventually hit those basic ones like "survival" and "violence" (waited a long time because I didn't think they'd amount to anything).

Though I will say that the Hammer can hit anything, I recognize thats an engine limitation though because its shooting a projectile. Im not complaining really, this is a hard game and having a weapon that hits like the Vibro Blade from TFTD for half the size is amazing. If anything the balance is it cant capture anything.

Ability to make a melee attack behave like a projectile but check % chance to hit rather than emit a trajectory is a engine change (OXCE or nightly) that has been neglected for a very long time. Should be able to use the TFTD drills to poke through walls after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 09, 2016, 12:13:08 am
Ability to make a melee attack behave like a projectile but check % chance to hit rather than emit a trajectory is a engine change (OXCE or nightly) that has been neglected for a very long time. Should be able to use the TFTD drills to poke through walls after all.

Not neglected, Meridian has spent quite some time trying to figure out how to make it work in OXCE - it's not so simple, otherwise we'd have it already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 09, 2016, 05:03:16 am
Is there any way to change the new smoke gfx into the vanilla one? I think the new one looks too static and seperated
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2016, 05:43:12 am
I think the old one looks cheap and ugly, but changing it back is easy enough through a small mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 09, 2016, 06:06:11 am
I think the old one looks cheap and ugly, but changing it back is easy enough through a small mod.

It does, but at least it looks coherent. Each tile of smoke looks like it's a part of the other tiles of smoke, which i don't think is the case with the new smoke :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: KateMicucci on November 09, 2016, 09:46:35 pm
Were grenades considered too powerful or is the nerf compensation for higher base throwing? Personally, I don't use grenades much as it is. Javelins are faster and more reliable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2016, 09:56:09 pm
The other way around, the higher base throwing is compensation for grenade nerf.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: RSSwizard on November 09, 2016, 10:00:20 pm
Not neglected, Meridian has spent quite some time trying to figure out how to make it work in OXCE - it's not so simple, otherwise we'd have it already.

Its actually very easy.

1) Make the attack roll like usual. If there's no target unit there they dont get any dodging benefits obviously but its still a % chance to hit for the soldier using the weapon (maybe we could even increase their chance by 20% or so because they're targeting a piece of scenery then, its abit presumptious to assume perfect accuracy even against something stationary).

2) If the attack roll fails then stop, otherwise progress to projectile stage.

3) Shoot the weapon's projectile with perfect trajectory.
The projectile may still hit something else in its path, if you were targeting a unit behind a wall it can hit the wall (though you could be targeting that wall anyway, adding an enemy unit behind the wall makes it artificially more difficult to hit that wall, but oh well).


Furthermore I think something like this should be available as an accuracy option for battlescape for regular weapons too, applicable only to units:

1) Check percentage chance to hit that target, if its 74% chance then there's a 74% chance to actually hit them.

2) If it hits, the shot follows a perfect trajectory to the target, no questions its a done deal, the trajectory to the target is just the projectile being rendered in flight thats all.

3) If not, trace a random trajectory based on what the accuracy usually means for shots. Except that if the trajectory results in a hit REDO it until you get a trajectory that doesn't hit the target (give it 10 tries maybe, if you're that close or they're that big sometimes its just hard to miss. I assume this calculation takes an abysmally low amount of CPU power to perform so technically it could be retried 100 or 1000 times, but it would need a cap to prevent a feedback loop).

Now 43% chance to hit really means 43% chance no matter how far away the target is.

I realize this makes combat more deadly but then it allows modders to actually lower the accuracy ratings for their weapons.

It also gives better life to Range limitations on weapons too, since that can affect their chance to actually hit without being applied to the natural accuracy of the weapon (so it affects the toHit % roll but doesnt affect the Trajectory Cone). Sorta like an ancient aliens professor pose saying "Im not saying it makes the weapon inaccurate, but it is going to hit the target less often"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2016, 10:12:24 pm
ad 3) It'd result in even more magical bullet behaviour, observable from less than 4 tiles, when trajectories become crazy to assure the shot has missed the mark, if the roll has failed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 09, 2016, 10:41:55 pm
Its actually very easy.

Yes, your first two points are rather simple to do, it's determining the start and end points of the trajectory where it gets messy.  It gets even messier when you're working with close-range trajectories, since just a small change in one of the two points can mean a vastly different result - I know from writing the new shotgun code and introducing a bug that causes a few pellets to shoot behind you when targeting a wall just in front of you.  The bug should be fixed in the next executable, but doing anything more with new projectile behavior is low on Meridian's priority list.

My point is that the people writing code for OXCE+ have recently tried just what you've suggested, it didn't work out easily, and other things became more important.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Arthanor on November 09, 2016, 10:44:32 pm
As usual, it's not getting the general large scale idea that's hard, it's the implementation. It's always funny to see people come up with those grand ideas and solutions to fix everything "easily".

If it were easy, it'd be done already...

That being said, I failed to find the topic where Meridian was discussing this. It was a very interesting one...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Devon_v on November 09, 2016, 11:49:57 pm
The sledge is slow and heavy,  it's always going to lose to a good melee weapon in skilled hands.

As it stands it's a decent weapon for new hands if you're not trying to capture anyone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99D.1 - 31 Oct - Learning not to Drown
Post by: Meridian on November 09, 2016, 11:53:08 pm
Its actually very easy.

If it's so easy, just do it... I will gladly merge your code when it's done.

If it were easy, it'd be done already...
That being said, I failed to find the topic where Meridian was discussing this. It was a very interesting one...

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4830.msg70812.html#msg70812
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2016, 01:15:59 am
Can Piratez into space?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 10, 2016, 01:34:53 am
SPAAAAAAAAACE! (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DMAW2lygZC_4&ved=0ahUKEwi93vb36pzQAhWGKiYKHR0cAMcQwqsBCFowDw&usg=AFQjCNFlaFNlngnxSgIlycSmi-nJafAiFA&sig2=ESMAgcc2byECh2UsNd4FsA)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: khade on November 10, 2016, 01:54:58 am
Well, I know where my next start has to be, now.

 :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2016, 02:55:52 am
First space boarding in XCOM - succesful!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2016, 03:02:58 am
Can Piratez into space?

That depends. On the geoscape, would that mean having a custom mission that merely tells you it's in space? If so, should space just be a mission with a different tileset, or should its purpose be inherently different than the other missions?

Or should space be an extension of the geoscape, where you could actually build a space station (somewhat like the game MAD: Global Thermonuclear Warfare)? If so, a space station should not merely be a hideout in space, but rather a smaller and more tactical base. As such, it should only be able to have unique modules (rooms) which would differ from the ones you build on earth (otherwise what's the point?). That's pretty ambitious though, and probably a huge undertaking that may not even be possible within the engine...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 10, 2016, 10:46:23 am
Hi there.
Thanks for the great mod, I've been playing it for days now and I guess I am still in the first half of the game.
The research tree is so vast, it is incredible.
I also enjoyed one of the maps very much, the one with pipelines all over the place :)


Please use something other than mediafire for file upload. When I downloaded the latest version Mediafire popped up a Window containing a facebook fishing site, including fake facebook-like URL and everything. There must be a better hosting site out there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: robin on November 10, 2016, 03:30:34 pm
First space boarding in XCOM - succesful!
i once pinged Warboy because i wanted to turn the geoscape into a space map and make space missions like this.
he shot me down saying i was insane (can't blame him though, it was really crazy).
glad to see i wasn't the only one! :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2016, 06:05:16 pm
i once pinged Warboy because i wanted to turn the geoscape into a space map and make space missions like this.
he shot me down saying i was insane (can't blame him though, it was really crazy).
glad to see i wasn't the only one! :P

That was also the original idea for Piratez, but I retreated faced with the difficulty of remaking globe... Insane? WELL OF COURSE! Brofist!

OXCE+ functionality allowed to handle the issue with varied capacities of armors between enviros. The only thing that is really missing is parallax battlescape background, a top technology of the 1980s'... :) Also menu-activation of the mission, but that's minor. All in all tho, I'm happy with this new mission, it worked out.

Please use something other than mediafire for file upload. When I downloaded the latest version Mediafire popped up a Window containing a facebook fishing site, including fake facebook-like URL and everything. There must be a better hosting site out there.

I'm sorry, but so far only Media Fire has never failed me and it counts downloads, too (I guess the price are ads); Google drive starts to have issues when asked to handle such 'big' amounts of data. If you know other dependable upload site, I'll try it out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: KateMicucci on November 10, 2016, 06:25:35 pm
I use Dropbox. It's much more convenient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Bloax on November 10, 2016, 07:04:49 pm
Dropbox does not work well for large amounts of downloads (and 1k downloads of ~40 MB is a lot) unless you pay up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 10, 2016, 07:14:03 pm
It's now closer to 100 MB, actually (after music was included).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 10, 2016, 11:44:09 pm
I never had any problems with Mediafire.

Is it possible that you're not using Adblock for some reason?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 11, 2016, 12:06:38 am
Maybe the black space tiles could be dotted white to give the appearance of stars in the background? Currently it's looking a bit bare
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: lancev on November 11, 2016, 12:20:12 am
Hi,

Im currently at the later stages of my campaign and was going to report my impressions at the end (in short: absolutely awesome mod), but after updating to 99E I was wondering one thing (possible SPOILER waring):

It seems that I can no longer research the different voodoo types (destruction, illusion,...) because they require the research of the codices. Since I already have my Bonny it is probably the easiest to hack a codex into my storage, to go on with research. Now I am wondering whether one is supposed to get all of them (doesnt seem so, since the special project uses up your drill). So do I understand correctly, that you have to decide which voodoo type you want to have and select the corresponding codex?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2016, 12:42:54 am
Yes, that is correct. Add one of the 4 and research it (standard Bonaventura comes from the green one). Each codex unlocks 2 voodoo schools, and, soon to come, one of 4 Bonaventura Hulls, and 3 buyable ships (eventually; only Scorpion and Turtle are already in).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: lancev on November 11, 2016, 01:56:00 am
Ok, thanks!

I was just checking the research tree and noticed that the Stargod Operative depends on Voodoo:Illusion.
Not sure whether Im reading that correctly, but doesnt that mean that I run into a dead end when I choose the green codex?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2016, 02:57:22 am
Right! I need to change that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 11, 2016, 07:33:32 pm
Mind if we reduce the amount of emerals needed for a bio-suit from 3 to 2?
Additionally could we get a mission to obtain more of those emeralds? Like the gillman pyramid for a larger loot of ruby? Thx skipper
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2016, 07:36:58 pm
I'm not reducing the requirements, but the 'emerald pyramid' mission is a good idea. For now, it's best to grind undersea adventures to get the stones (in addition to Mansions).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 11, 2016, 08:26:54 pm
Oh nice, thanks! Maybe those space-stations can give us a treasure chest too?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: khade on November 11, 2016, 09:26:50 pm
I found out the hard way that we don't start with the charger laser anymore.  Unfortunately, that makes my new aircar less useful than I wanted.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: LuigiWhatif on November 11, 2016, 09:29:51 pm
Same about the aircar.  Though I got lucky and met a few reticulans soon after.

Each codex unlocks 2 voodoo schools, and, soon to come, one of 4 Bonaventura Hulls, and 3 buyable ships (eventually; only Scorpion and Turtle are already in).

Does that mean the Turtle is only for certain codices?  I remember seeing the research pretty early before but it hasn't shown up in my current game yet.

edit:  I got the grey codex.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2016, 09:59:03 pm
Yeah the Turtle requires Green or Gold, Scorpion requires Red. Not everything's in yet, to say the least.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 12, 2016, 10:10:02 pm
I *always* forget to assign a pilot. I only get notified of the mistake very late, when I try to intercept another craft. Please notify me earlier somehow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: Meridian on November 12, 2016, 10:20:39 pm
I *always* forget to assign a pilot. I only get notified of the mistake very late, when I try to intercept another craft. Please notify me earlier somehow.

There is an option to auto-assign pilots.
You just have to assign the crew, pilots will be selected from the crew automatically.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: khade on November 13, 2016, 01:06:23 am
Can we have an option to jump to the pilot screen when are trying to make the craft do something?

Also, now that we can rescue gals more like the original crew, how about missions to rescue/abduct/recruit brainers, and have actually being able to hire them through the black market require research?  I figure runts should be available like they are now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: KateMicucci on November 13, 2016, 04:45:11 am
Quote from: khade
Also, now that we can rescue gals more like the original crew, how about missions to rescue/abduct/recruit brainers, and have actually being able to hire them through the black market require research?  I figure runts should be available like they are now.
Because then your research speed is highly up to luck of how many missions you get. And you can't ramp up research speed as a reward successful play. And it means more grind.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E - 8 Nov - Dawn of the Living Dead
Post by: khade on November 13, 2016, 05:04:25 am
Early on it could be weighted heavily to that sort of mission.  Smart people don't grow on trees, you know... Unless they are pod people maybe.

This sort of change would require that the game timeline depend more on you than on actual dates, if you've gotten specific research items done or gotten particularly notable and unlocked the next stage of the game.

Another option, which I believe has been suggested before is to have you not purchase brainers but put the resources towards finding suitable Ubers for your crew, you then have to go and recruit them.  I'd set that one up to be cheaper than the eventual outright purchasing/hiring of brainers, but with the negative of not knowing when you'll actually find someone and the requirement of going over there to get them, along with the persuading their current employers/masters to let them go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 13, 2016, 05:06:20 am
No worries, I won't limit access to Brainers. The cash is a good limiter as it is (in the XCOM economy model). That rescuing people stuff isn't meant as a game balance change, just extra flavour.

Now then... E.1 released, and inside, a surprise of mad science... Space Missions are finally a thing. Just don't freak out... they never meant to be easy. Check the change log, also check how to update your saves - the transition to 'choices' system is complete, with 4 unique Ventura-like crafts (no separate maps yet, tho - just recolor). Have fun, and I'm scaling down the mod developement till after Christmas.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: clownagent on November 13, 2016, 12:26:35 pm
No worries, I won't limit access to Brainers. The cash is a good limiter as it is (in the XCOM economy model). That rescuing people stuff isn't meant as a game balance change, just extra flavour.

Now then... E.1 released, and inside, a surprise of mad science... Space Missions are finally a thing. Just don't freak out... they never meant to be easy. Check the change log, also check how to update your saves - the transition to 'choices' system is complete, with 4 unique Ventura-like crafts (no separate maps yet, tho - just recolor). Have fun, and I'm scaling down the mod developement till after Christmas.

As I see I should have the choice between the 4 colors, but I can start only three. The golden project needs a 'sleek Hull' and produces a 'menacing hull', which is different from the other three.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 13, 2016, 12:52:56 pm
Dammit, I put the required item in the place of produced item and vice versa...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Nord on November 13, 2016, 02:43:47 pm
Have fun, and I'm scaling down the mod developement till after Christmas.
At last, now we have chance to play to the end! Because will be no "Wow! Update! I want to begin new game for full experience!" ;D Thank you. Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 13, 2016, 04:58:16 pm
Regarding the upcoming Ghoul Refinery terrain, I made the first related item. :)

(https://i.imgur.com/pUMnic9.png)

Can be used as a normal mod, file attached.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Meridian on November 13, 2016, 05:14:12 pm
Resize screenshot maybe?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 13, 2016, 05:16:17 pm
Resize screenshot maybe?

Oops, sorry, I'm absent-minded. Fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 13, 2016, 05:25:55 pm
Version 99E hit when I had ~100 fuel capsules in my 99D campaign, now even more features in 99E.1 and I'm only to 300 fuel capsules.  I'm so close to finishing and having my free time back from Piratez's clutches, why more content now? =P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Eddie on November 13, 2016, 11:23:10 pm
I'm thinking about the tech choices. Psi illusion and communion are mutually exclusive, excess and destruction are mutually exclusive.

Illusion (grey or gold) is required for:
Ghost outfit
Contact mercenaries, and thus VIP kidnapping
Psi amp and witch outfit

Communion (green or red) is required for:
Bio suit
Cyclops conversion
Saviour medipack, and thus saviour outfit

Excess (green or gold) is required for:
Magical girl outfit
Super slave

Destruction (grey or red) is required for:
Tome of Lightning
Rod of Hellfire
Blood Axe
Hellgun
Deathblade
Destructor armor

No guarantee that this list is correct, I may have overlooked something.
I've never progressed in game far enough to use any of this stuff so I can't say which is more useful. But I would say VIP kidnapping is not something that should be blocked by a tech choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2016, 12:09:12 am
No guarantee that this list is correct, I may have overlooked something.
I've never progressed in game far enough to use any of this stuff so I can't say which is more useful. But I would say VIP kidnapping is not something that should be blocked by a tech choice.

Looks legit, and I agree with you. I will unlock it back. I will release an update in a few days once enough bug reports come in :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Eddie on November 14, 2016, 01:39:35 am
Since all craft that you build require life support systems now (ALIEN_FOOD), I would like to ask where one is supposed to get them? I found a couple in a reticulan base, but nowhere else so far. I mean, you need two to build a Hunter-Killer, and that craft is quite low tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 14, 2016, 04:17:22 am
If anybody has any problems using mediafire (I do with Opera for some reason), right click links and open in private browser window or the equivalent. That worked for me, I even disabled my adblock in a normal window and that didnt do it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: LuigiWhatif on November 14, 2016, 05:23:36 am
Since all craft that you build require life support systems now (ALIEN_FOOD), I would like to ask where one is supposed to get them?

I know they are also in Frigates, supply ships and enemy bases.  I think shrine ships and battleships too.  You can also build them yourself, but I forget how late the tech for that is.  It looks like building ships might take more time than before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Geneoce on November 14, 2016, 09:58:36 am
So are we only allowed 2 voodoo techs or do they get unlocked later in the tech tree? Are the individual codex necessary for progression or can we sub in demons/espers as per usual?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: karadoc on November 14, 2016, 10:05:31 am
I'm thinking about the tech choices. Psi illusion and communion are mutually exclusive, excess and destruction are mutually exclusive.

Illusion (grey or gold) is required for:
Ghost outfit
Contact mercenaries, and thus VIP kidnapping
Psi amp and witch outfit

Communion (green or red) is required for:
Bio suit
Cyclops conversion
Saviour medipack, and thus saviour outfit

Excess (green or gold) is required for:
Magical girl outfit
Super slave

Destruction (grey or red) is required for:
Tome of Lightning
Rod of Hellfire
Blood Axe
Hellgun
Deathblade
Destructor armor

No guarantee that this list is correct, I may have overlooked something.
I've never progressed in game far enough to use any of this stuff so I can't say which is more useful. But I would say VIP kidnapping is not something that should be blocked by a tech choice.

Based on that list, I'll be picking grey for sure. The witch outfit is fun and super-powerful - similarly for destructor armor. The downside, of course, is that both require a pretty serious investment in recruit training and screening so that you can get max-psi girls.

That said, I don't think it's a terrible balance. The bio suit is very very strong. (I tend to call it the invincibility suit.) The high sense from the magic girl outfit is very powerful as well; it feels a bit cheesy...

hmm...   Now that I think about it though, I'm not sure how I'm going to get my witches safely into position without the reliable bullet-magnet meat-shield bio-suit girls...    Tough choices.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Gynther on November 14, 2016, 07:59:42 pm
[0.99D1] Having a slight problem with research. I've finished the russian files, i have a selfchargin pistol but i cannot research 'nuclear powered batteries' to unlock 'high studies'. According to the tech tree i need an industrial scanner but where do i get that? i saw an old note here which said decrypted data discs can unlock that but i've exhausted them (still have some, cannot research).

so where to get industrial scanner?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 14, 2016, 08:08:36 pm
It's an item you get from shippings, so start looting those craft!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Gynther on November 14, 2016, 10:55:29 pm
Ah yes that makes sense, any tips for any particular faction or shiptype im looking for? kinda stuck here and would want to continue
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 14, 2016, 11:00:27 pm
You can see it on the map for certain vessels; it's what's recovered from what was the vanilla 'Examination Room' item recovered from UFOs - I think certain variants of the Cutter have it, maybe some of the light military vessels.  It probably wouldn't be a Raider or Spartan vessel.  I'd have a less vague answer, but it's not an item defined in the alienDeployments part of the ruleset, but rather an actual object placed on the map, which would require searching through all the ufo maps.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Gynther on November 14, 2016, 11:07:52 pm
So the old UFO only had examination tables in 'abductor' class vessels, they seem very similar to the 'envoy' class here visually, and the description mentions high tech loot. Yep that might be it.

Thank you kindly for the answer!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 14, 2016, 11:14:09 pm
There are more variants of most of the vanilla ufos, especially the medium scouts (Runabouts) and the large scouts (Cutters) - I think some of these lighter vessels might have them too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 15, 2016, 11:29:03 am
I am in the process of watching Meridians playthrough and found it a pity that he found defender armor so soon, which made most missions a joke.
In my own game I had to research and build all the armor, which makes the game far more interesting (and same goes for starting with an unarmed airbus).

Now I also found wearable broken defender armor and Storm armor. Is this an oversight or is there a reason why this armor is Mutant-sized? I would prefer it if all armor would need research and manufacture.

I just tried the storm armor together with the arena launcher and the mission happened to contain doom enemies. Flame sea galore, a pyromaniac's dream :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 15, 2016, 12:42:20 pm
Now I also found wearable broken defender armor and Storm armor. Is this an oversight or is there a reason why this armor is Mutant-sized? I would prefer it if all armor would need research and manufacture.

It's cutting corners; I wanted to give this to the player, that was the easiest way. While it's logical you can find such armor, it makes no sense that Military Transport carries it... I'll probably update it to contain 'resizable' defenders and stormies, that you can rebuild to fit you, but only when you have Tac Armor / Dragonfly tech. Still would give you armor from a higher tier, but not as easily.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Kharim on November 15, 2016, 12:43:27 pm
Many thanks for the surrender mode! Now I managed to finish mansion invasion in 12 turns instead of my average 40.

Wysłane z mojego ZAX 1.2

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 15, 2016, 02:00:34 pm
I don't remember if this has been debated before, but here goes.

I was thinking about weapons that are meant for suppression in real life, such as MGs. There, the sheer amount of fire down range forces the enemy to take cover and stay down, where accuracy is not that important, since the purpose is not necessarily to hit the enemy but to prevent them from moving and firing. AFAIK in x-piratez however, the only bonus you get from a weapon like the gatling, is that it might shred some cover around the target, but explosive weapons are much better and more reliable at doing that. My point is that in most cases, one or two accurate bullets are much better for killing an enemy than scatter fire. Therefore, a weapon that sprays a lot of bullets will almost never be preferable, unless such a tactic were to be rewarded, e.g. through a suppression system (like a TU debuff on next turn for the target). It would probably need to be tweaked a couple of times to avoid exploits, if it is to be implemented.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Kharim on November 15, 2016, 05:14:07 pm
A well placed minigun burst can kill several targets if they happen to stand in line. Great for clearing tight corridors.
Moreover a point blank burst of plastasteel ammo to the back armour happens to be effective even on heavy armoured foes.
However I point out that the lack of reaction fire for weapons that only shoot auto is kind of crippling. That might work just as suppresion fire.

Wysłane z mojego ZAX 1.2

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 15, 2016, 06:00:45 pm
@Foxhound634
Suppression Fire can't work like you wish because your MG stops firing during the enemy turn. What is kind of fancy in the remade "XCOM" is technically impossible to do in the original master-piece. I get your point but try to figure out a script for the A.I. to use this feature.

@Kharim
Autofire-only weaponry does it's job as intended and just like you said. A bulky minigun can't have a *reaction shot* because this weapon is too heavy to quickdraw and has a wind-up time to fire. If you want to give your hand the chance to reactionfire, just lend her a pistol or smg for her quickdraw slot. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Gynther on November 16, 2016, 12:30:08 am
I'm at my wits end here, i need academy ships to progress but they just dont spawn. Over a year ingame with full world cover, and i've seen ONE academy ship (terror class so not even that good). Are there any way to improve spawns? or god forbid mod my game to increase it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 16, 2016, 12:33:45 am
Patience, everything with time.  Focus attention elsewhere, and let them come when they may.


In other words, you might just have to wait for RNG to start spawning their missions.  I saw no church ships during years 2 and 3, but December year 3, they plop down a base well within radar range of my first hideout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Ashghan on November 16, 2016, 12:35:45 am
RE:suppression fire

A possible implementation would be to add a small (5-10 pts perhaps) morale damage to heavy autofire weapons. While not really true suppression, it's probably the most that can be done with the current game state. Come ot think of it - the morale damage could be added to any weapon's attack - multiple snapshots would most likely have a similar (if somewhat reduced) effect on morale.

A better solution (though I'm not sure it's possible or scriptable) is dual-effect bullets - the projectile hit-and-damage + an invisible, small radius 'explosion of fear'. That would allow even near-misses to spread panic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Starving Poet on November 16, 2016, 12:52:47 am
But for that to work, those shots would need to hit - which isn't the point of suppression.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 16, 2016, 12:56:35 am
A simpler method, used by some mods, is to give suppression autofire weapons a fast snap shot with similar accuracy and range to the auto shot for the purpose of simulating the suppressive hail of bullets by reaction fire.  In terms of disabling weapons or area denial, cover destruction, spreading fire (AI avoids it), weapons with TU and morale damage are already present and provide a similar effect that doesn't require an AI and engine rewrite.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Gynther on November 16, 2016, 12:59:03 am
RE:suppression fire

I loved suppression fire in Jagged Alliance 1.13 when they fixed the old bug it got really strong, strong enough to always want to carry a few automatics in field with you. But i see no easy way to implement that here unless you can track bullets passing near you, or hitting your cover.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Eddie on November 16, 2016, 01:47:54 am
@suppression fire

There might be a way. You can track how often a person is targeted in a round (no need for a hit), there is a commendation for that (bullet magnet). You could probably do a script that applies modifiers based on how many times a person is targeted in a round.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Arthanor on November 16, 2016, 09:20:59 pm
The AI considers being under fire in its decision to move, IF I remember well. IE for a given trajectory, it might decide to do something different after being interrupted by reaction fire, even if that missed. By giving relatively slow and inaccurate snap shots (less accurate than the autoshot, which implies setting up and aiming, and slower per shot too, since the soldier is trying to readjust his aim) they are a pretty useless option for using during the player turn but still achieve something to make them feel like suppression weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Ashghan on November 16, 2016, 11:02:59 pm
Unrelated question - are Zombies supposed to be flying missions? I got a Zombie Military Transport and a Zombie Sentry flying a Crackdown mission. Should I expect a Zombie cruiser knocking on my hideout's gates?

Also - got a Rod of Bliss from a lucky underwater adventure (loving them!) - the 'Use' function costs 100% of your TU's. Is it supposed to be so? Only as a means of keeping stunned enemies stunned? Same goes for Manacles?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 16, 2016, 11:10:29 pm
Yes, since it ignores all armor and resistances (even Manacles don't ignore all resistances); so it would be very OP if useable in battle.

As for Zombies, they shouldn't fly Crackdowns. Only some normal missions (the crew got infected). I'll take a look.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 17, 2016, 03:38:38 am
How am I doing:
Just got through the first year. I have two bases (one is an outpost/storage facility). My first power station is about to be completed. Ive got chainmail for most of my hands, researched the tiny drill and got the gray codex with it. Still cant really make any guns, but oddly I can make ammunition for some of them (none of the ones I want to make ammo for really though)

Consistently had 10 Brainers and 30 Runts for most of the year, added Runts up to 50 after the workshop (completed in Sept I think) was built, though I added an Extractor to increase the number of runts prior to that. I could have built another workshop but it just costs too much.

I Make a good deal of money on Chateau De La Mort from the apples collected in the ratmen maps. When that runs out I make X-Grog.

Ive got an aircar thats still using the charger laser I started the game with. I had a turtle and sold it (I bought and sold it when it was ~650 in the previous version, now that its 1.1 mil I wont be buying it again), I can usually do what I need to do with 4 ladies anyway. Only other weapon bearing crafts available are the shark jetbike and the airspeeder. Other than the conversion launcher I got from the gray drill I havent been able to make any other craft weapons, and the seagull launcher/missiles are too pricey to use.

Havent shot down any ships that shoot back yet, only civilian traffic, might have shot down one that fired a few times and missed.

Ive engaged in 2 pogroms, usually crap score, near zero or negative, mutants end up almost completely dead but at least my hands make it out alive (mostly). I completely skipped the one with the doom monsters, I only killed three monsters despite all my efforts so I just reloaded a prior save and let it be. I didnt research Mutant Alliance until about Oct because I had the notion it would force going to pogroms or lose points.

Ive got over 2000 chips combined of the $200 and $1000 variety because the research said it was possible to hack them up to Silver level (5000) but when I took a peek at the research rules it looks like its gonna be a loooong time before that can be done.

Ive continously skipped about 8 or 9 undersea adventures because I have no underwater weapons, and there are man-sharks that kill me instantly. I got undersea adventure sometime early on like march. So I might go there just to look at the scenery but I dont do anything. I can get oxygen tanks but without weapons its not worth it, wherever the treasure is on the map I usually cant find it and there's usually critters guarding it. (whatever ruleset/scripting is used to remove the normal items sounds like a good way to make Land Only use items for TFTD as well, might take notes to deprive soldiers of grenades in tftd).

It seems my most effective weapons right now are Cattle Prods, Harpoon Guns (with stun darts), Boom Fruits, and ive used the Military Shotgun with AP shells to decent effect in the Pogroms. Also the Clockwork Musket pistol, that thing does outrageous damage but its balanced for being unwieldy.

Also most of my ladies are stellar with melee attack and strong as hell, the Saber/Axe/Billhook are able to kill some enemies that guns barely scratch (like the "humongous raider").

Year End: ive got about $6,100,000

Edit: Will also say that the animal hunts generally kill me so I avoid those. I can take down the white shambler no problem now, and I can manage to put down bloodhounds and megascorpions, but I avoid chupacabras like they're chrissys (I just cant kill them, and they make short work of my ladies). As it stands I only kill a few bloodhounds/scorpions and I drag the carcasses back into the ship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Arthanor on November 17, 2016, 03:49:00 am
So I felt like messing around and decided it was probably time to recompile OXCE+v3.3, upgrade my save and go say hello to the gals. I was going through the "upgrade between versions" topic and found back:

Update to 0.99E.1:
Upgrading on Battlescape unadvised.
> If you have started a campaign pre-0.99E, add STR_CODEX_GREEN to your items.

and then Eddie's post on what each colors/kinds of voodoo can do. I just realized it won't affect me because I had already researched them all, but still:

I understand the idea of giving the player choices that have meaning. At the same time, a Piratez game is a long commitment so being able to experience/use all that's available would be very interesting. Meridian is at 156 episodes, which is probably about 150 hours, and he's not done yet. I don't know how many hours I've put in my campaign, and honestly don't want to know, but I am not likely to go through multiple campaign.

Because of this, I feel like the different kinds of starting ships are a great idea, in that the choice affects initial gameplay but not overall what you can do as any of those ships is likely to be replaced by other crafts eventually. However, the different voodoo kinds all offer interesting new gameplay options during the end game when things are kind of stretching as you hunt for the last VIP (the point where I stopped playing this Summer). Reducing variations at that point, and requiring a player to go through the long early/mid game to experience the variety seems like a very harsh consequence for an early choice. I will likely just keep upgrading my late game save to try things, and maybe occasionally starting a new game to see how the beginning is different.

Researching everything and experiencing everything is one of the "endgame satisfactions" for many, and psi stuff being so important in XCom, and very flavorful in Piratez, it is a significant thing to (partly) lock away but, at the same time, I'm not sure it's enough to warrant replaying the whole campaign (and not choosing the disciplines that best fit your playstyle, in my case destruction and illusion). In my case, it'd be more frustration than incentive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: KateMicucci on November 17, 2016, 05:31:30 am
^I agree, getting locked out of late-game techs sounds awful. Unlocking those techs and then using the new toys is the best part of the game.

I'm going to hack the tech tree if it comes to that point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 17, 2016, 05:33:52 am
I'd probably just save right before deciding, then do all of them, but I can see what you mean.  I'd appreciate access to the other codices, albeit with difficulty.  More menace type ship hulls would be nice too, though probably less necessary.

For RSSwizard, you should be able to make guns now, all it needs is that workshop and the right research.  Probably wise to avoid the alliance, as they do require your assistance with pogroms.  I'm not at all an expert on the underwater adventures, as I am still really early in the game and haven't done anything with them, but I understand that the harpoon guns ought to be compatible, logically spears should be as well.  Beyond that, I don't know for sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Arthanor on November 17, 2016, 05:46:29 am
I'd probably just save right before deciding, then do all of them, but I can see what you mean.  I'd appreciate access to the other codices, albeit with difficulty.  More menace type ship hulls would be nice too, though probably less necessary.

The problem is that the choice of which codex to pursue happens pretty early in the game, while psi-power tends to be unlocked fairly late since they often depend on rare/difficult captures. Saving right before deciding will save you some time in a replay, but not that much.

I would be happy to have to work really hard to unlock other codices, like doing some crazy academy library mission that is even more twisted than the mansion (an academy library would logically be staffed by high level, psi-capable enemies), since in the later game there's not that much that challenge you while providing you with the incentive to go against it. Mercs and Star Gods are hard, but at the same time you can often ignore them, especially after researching the no-pogrom and no-infiltration techs. Having hard missions that you want to do would be good for the later game too, as a change from trying to trigger retaliations to get VIPs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2016, 05:58:50 am
^I agree, getting locked out of late-game techs sounds awful. Unlocking those techs and then using the new toys is the best part of the game.

I'm going to hack the tech tree if it comes to that point.

A compromise could be made. I'm not familiar with the tech or its prerequisites, but what if you made all the options available, but harder to research for each consecutive discipline already unlocked?

Example: You research option 3, which takes Y time. Now you research option 1 which takes Y x2 time. Option 4 would take Y x3 and option 3 would take Y x4 time (the order wouldn't matter, only how many of the options that were already unlocked).

I dunno whether or not it's possble to dynamically alter a research topic's time cost ingame on the fly, or if you would have to have hidden duplicate topics for each possible situation.

Example: Option 1A with Y cost is available if no options has been researched yet. Option 1B with cost Y x2 is available if one of the other options has been researched, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 17, 2016, 06:24:49 am
A compromise could be made. I'm not familiar with the tech or its prerequisites, but what if you made all the options available, but harder to research for each consecutive discipline already unlocked?

Actually I think it should work 100% the opposite.
The more you know, the easier it is to learn new things.

Farther up the tech tree you go, the longer a tech has remained unresearched the easier it should be to research it. Practically handed to you at the end if you've gone much of the game without touching it.

"All things come to those who wait"

Sidenote: I started the game with a Charger Laser, but now its not in the bootypedia?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 17, 2016, 06:27:12 am
New Version doesn't start you with a Charger Laser.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2016, 06:34:59 am
Actually I think it should work 100% the opposite.
The more you know, the easier it is to learn new things.

Farther up the tech tree you go, the longer a tech has remained unresearched the easier it should be to research it. Practically handed to you at the end if you've gone much of the game without touching it.

Yes but my suggestion was a compromise between dioxine's wish to have some tech exclude other tech, and other people's wish to have access to everything. With that solution you can get everything, but it's gonna be much more time consuming, thereby still forcing you to make an initial choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 17, 2016, 06:39:04 am
Got caught out by this one earlier:



Loader Armor Bootypedia entry states that it is "Spaceworthy"...  And I launched to an Orbital with that...

...  But of course, Pods everywhere, because it doesn't have a "O-G" version, which I checked, of, course, when I got back....


Are Loaders Intended for Zero-G Ops?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 17, 2016, 07:12:34 am
New Version doesn't start you with a Charger Laser.

That seriously slows down the game then, if I start any new games im going to hack my saves to add one each time. Spike rockets arent cost effective for shooting down anything you can shoot down with it (the Airbus not having a weapon slot is bad enough as it is, that you have to even get another craft to even be able to shoot at things).

I still havent bought spike rockets, and only a few seagulls for the conversion launcher. Im only going to buy that stuff to take down something heavy (200+ damage capacity).

So the only missions the player would get otherwise are - the random rare ufo that actually lands within radar range (I only had 1 do so per month, at most), or the popup missions like watchtower/ratmen/temple. Just that over and over and over again.

Though I guess it does give the player more time to zip through on the 1 Day time progression just researching every last thing that they can without much input equipment/captures.

You could spend 5 Years ingame doing this, just zipping through time, mining Hellerium, eventually sack your Brainers because you researched everything... getting your hands up to peak stats so that they can take on Pogroms with Chainsaws.

Im sorry but removing the charger laser from startup is g a m e b r e a k i n g.

And the alternative method (expending a bunch of money on spike rockets just to shoot down Civilian Traffic I dont agree with and I wouldnt use, besides it can Destroy those ships rather than make them salvageable).

Also knowing this about the Menacing Hull/Tiny Drill I absolutely would never expend the drill to turn the Hull into the type that gives you a Charger Laser if I didnt already have one. Because by the time you can make that happen you should be getting other craft weapons.

Only reason id Tiny Drill to get the Charger Laser version is so I could equip both of them on a ship to be able to shoot down heavier ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 17, 2016, 07:25:43 am
By the time I tend to get ships capable of using guns, I usually have at least some 25/30/50mm cannons, which are all superior to the charger except in the long term resource requirements.  Based on what I've seen about that laser, it's actually supposed to be an anti missile system, not an offensive weapon at all.

Though I'm not really fast or focused when it comes to research, so others might get better ships faster, and I did base how quickly I expanded my fleet on available craft weaponry.

We are able to get easily crafted weapons really early.

Also, stalking enemy ships even though you can't shoot them down is a thing, sometimes civilians land, and most easy faction shipping are slow enough to follow.

What I want is the ability to buy airbusses again, they suck, but having 6 gal raiding parties ready is very useful early on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 17, 2016, 07:28:36 am
By the time I tend to get ships capable of using guns, I usually have at least some 25/30/50mm cannons, which are all superior to the charger except in the long term resource requirements.  Based on what I've seen about that laser, it's actually supposed to be an anti missile system, not an offensive weapon at all.

I still dont have any of these and im 1 year into the game. I have the option to build a 30mm cannon but it says I need "30mm cannon parts" and I have not come across any throughout the entire game.

I found a couple Reticulan Plasma Charger parts but sold them before I got the option to build a plasma charger. I didnt know you needed the parts for it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 17, 2016, 08:28:37 am
You generally have two options, assemble, which uses the parts of the weapon system, and build, which requires a workshop.  We usually get the parts by taking out non civilian ships, usually by following them and stealing everything when they land, nailed down or not.  They're not likely to land next to your base.

Sometimes I think we can get already assembled craft weapons, too.

Sounds more like you've had a less than lucky first year, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 17, 2016, 09:33:13 am
Man, I *Never* shoot down Civilian Traffic.

I see Civilians Traffic and go "Abort"...  Thats just not worth even risking a Score Penalty on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2016, 10:36:20 am
Allright, adding some super-hard late game missions to get all the codices you missed sounds fine to me (missions built in a way than makes them the hardest for somoene who choose the opposite codex). However, even with half of VooDoo locked out, you're still getting a ton of toys; and excuse me but wanting ALL the toys on a single playthrough does sound a bit like needy-whiny.

As for the charger laser.... Yeah it does make the early game easier but there are several avenues of getting ship weapons other than buying; raiding landed shippings, doing underwater adventures, researching Airballs... None of them is banal or obvious, but so this goes; if you're doing well, you get stuff. If you go for easiest missions only, you get nothing and stagnate, and I see no point in holding anyone's hand to de-stagnate.

In my current test playthrough I choose the good ol' Green, but got rid of the Charger around June first year already. Just finished building Ventura (November) and it's armed with 2 Sonic Oscillators and 2 50mm cannons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: legionof1 on November 17, 2016, 11:44:19 am
But how would you make them meaningfully harder for the opposing choice, when each only grants a somewhat narrow set of additions? And due to rare resource RNG you may not have very many of most of the things you have unlocked on a given path.   

Almost everything that results form the codices, core tech has something to fill the role with acceptable performance. Ghost and witch being the big exceptions.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2016, 04:10:52 pm
Mind Control can be effected through Master's Cane and Herder's Staff, but Ghost indeed has no real replacement (and I think it's perfectly fine).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ivandogovich on November 17, 2016, 04:51:29 pm
So its definitely been a few months since I was able to enjoy this rich PirateZ experience.   Now reading through the changes, it sounds like a ton in the early game has changed once again. 

I too am distressed by the loss of the charger laser as it seemed to me to be the key point for solid income in the early game by farming civilian shipping.  I like this dynamic and it feels right as the gals learn their way through the pirating business and improve their skills as they do so. 

I feel like some early research should unlock at least Something buyable that could handle civ ships.  Even a small caliber cannon would do the trick.

Also, I get the reason for branching Voodoo.  I know that by design the mod is not supposed to allow Completionist Runs and is supposed to be played multiple times for the full experience.  Maybe tying it to the Menacing Hull decision is too early?  Idk.

Now, I'm uncertain whether or not to continue my earlier Mid-Campaign run and go through the Upgrade process (Though I will be locked out of some voodoo schools I haven't found yet), or to start fresh again (for the 3rd time).  Decisions, Decisions.  And its all Dioxine's fault for making such compelling changes in such an immersive environment.

Cheers! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 17, 2016, 05:08:36 pm
Got caught out by this one earlier:



Loader Armor Bootypedia entry states that it is "Spaceworthy"...  And I launched to an Orbital with that...

...  But of course, Pods everywhere, because it doesn't have a "O-G" version, which I checked, of, course, when I got back....


Are Loaders Intended for Zero-G Ops?


Also, I figure the Loader is Spaceworthy, in the fact that it can be used on the Mars Surface, but has no Zero-G Maneuver option...  Its cool, and I can understand that, I was just...  Caught out and it made me double check things :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Zharkov on November 17, 2016, 05:52:22 pm

I too am distressed by the loss of the charger laser as it seemed to me to be the key point for solid income in the early game by farming civilian shipping.  I like this dynamic and it feels right as the gals learn their way through the pirating business and improve their skills as they do so. 

I feel like some early research should unlock at least Something buyable that could handle civ ships.  Even a small caliber cannon would do the trick.


You can shoot down civilian traffic with airballs! Not buyable, but easy to research and to build.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Eddie on November 17, 2016, 05:54:12 pm
Now, I'm uncertain whether or not to continue my earlier Mid-Campaign run and go through the Upgrade process (Though I will be locked out of some voodoo schools I haven't found yet), or to start fresh again (for the 3rd time).  Decisions, Decisions.  And its all Dioxine's fault for making such compelling changes in such an immersive environment.

I'm thinking the same things... and I'm just in june first year. I wonder when the new missions start popping up. Zombies for example. Can anyone comment on that? How much gametime did it need on an upgraded save to see the first zombies?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2016, 06:09:13 pm
All new missions start spawning at the start of any new month, in some cases only if a prerequisite research was completed. So you will never miss out new missions (with the sole exception of Save a Sister, which cannot spawn past October 2601), only sometimes they're already too easy, depending on how far in the game you are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 17, 2016, 06:32:30 pm
For what it's worth, I really think the Loader is perfect for outer space. Just look at it... Straight from a 90's sci-fi movie. I can picture it floating through space better than any other armour. :)

Any chances of getting more sisters after October 2601? I love that aspect of the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Ashghan on November 17, 2016, 06:48:34 pm
I think you can get stasis pods with them (most likely from space stations?), as I have a workshop project to release a gal from a stasis pod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 17, 2016, 06:57:31 pm
All new missions start spawning at the start of any new month, in some cases only if a prerequisite research was completed. So you will never miss out new missions (with the sole exception of Save a Sister, which cannot spawn past October 2601), only sometimes they're already too easy, depending on how far in the game you are.

I think I have not seen save a sister.
I think I am slow at playing through. I started with 0.99D only started shooting down craft near the end of the first year.
I am in the second year now and many missions I get are far too easy, especially ratman rodeo but also the academy research, tower and church raid missions. They were all there pretty much from the start and fine then, but now they are no challenge at all and I would take the auto-battle option if there was one. I only do them for the few measly reputation points they give (typically < 100).

Oh, and I would very much prefer if the enemy progression and mission progression was not tied to time. It made some sense for the original game and I did not like it but in the piratez-World there is no alien invasion so it should not matter whether you do the same stuff within a year or five. I simply do not like to be stressed. I would suggest to instead tie this stuff to something the player does, to his reputation perhaps.
That way if you stir up more trouble you get more money, but your enemies get stronger as well. If you keep a low profile your enemies won't notice and stay relatively weak.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Ashghan on November 17, 2016, 07:04:52 pm
Well, they're supposed to be your starter missions to get your first loot and captives for research. They're supposed to be easy (later in the game). A temple raid is not a piece of cake if all you have is 6 unarmored gals with muskets and daggers. By definition they will be trivial just like the smaller UFO's (Cutter and Roundabout) are after you get decent gear.  Dioxine implemented it so that these missions disappear altogether after a fixed date, but I think it hurts the unlucky or slow-paced players.

Personally, I find them a nice change of pace even mid-game. Just chill and relax. I'd probably go crazy if each and every the mission required blood, sweat and tears to complete.

Also the mission to help the Lokk'Narrs should not be unavailable past year 2, since it contains a... "SN" that's required for most of high tier research tree progress (since it locks out medicine research). Unless there's a way to get a SN somewhere else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Starving Poet on November 17, 2016, 07:58:38 pm
I feel like some early research should unlock at least Something buyable that could handle civ ships.  Even a small caliber cannon would do the trick.


You can a large hand grenade your gals literally throw at hostile aircraft.  :)  Works pretty well!  I lost my charger laser early on to my first encounter with cat girls.   It slowed me down a but, but I survived just fine. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 17, 2016, 08:10:44 pm
For what it's worth, I really think the Loader is perfect for outer space. Just look at it... Straight from a 90's sci-fi movie. I can picture it floating through space better than any other armour. :)

Any chances of getting more sisters after October 2601? I love that aspect of the game.

Oh, I don't doubt it...   But perhaps it is as intended...  Its perfect for when you've got some sort of hostile Atmosphere, but has no way of moving itself in Zero-G...  Which is why you can use it Underwater...

( "How much pressure is this Ship rated for?"  ...  "Well, its a Spaceship, so somewhere between 0 and 1 Atmospheres...." )

But not in Zero G...  With no Thrusters, you'd just be a giant yellow pinball.  Flooooaaaaaaating.

Either way.

I was just surprised to see "Spaceworthy"...  But then not be able to use it...


 - And Definitely, after the Save a Sisters end, and Orbitals begin, you can find them up there in Statis Chambers...

...  You just have to Crack open a Cold one...

:D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 17, 2016, 09:13:21 pm
Oh, I don't doubt it...   But perhaps it is as intended...  Its perfect for when you've got some sort of hostile Atmosphere, but has no way of moving itself in Zero-G...  Which is why you can use it Underwater...

( "How much pressure is this Ship rated for?"  ...  "Well, its a Spaceship, so somewhere between 0 and 1 Atmospheres...." )

But not in Zero G...  With no Thrusters, you'd just be a giant yellow pinball.  Flooooaaaaaaating.

Cue Also sprach Zarathustra... :)

Yeah, I'm not sure it'd be okay, balance-wise, only that it looks like an outer space suit.

Either way.

I was just surprised to see "Spaceworthy"...  But then not be able to use it...

Yeah, sounds confusing. Oh well, harsh beginnings of the most awesome arc ever.

- And Definitely, after the Save a Sisters end, and Orbitals begin, you can find them up there in Statis Chambers...

...  You just have to Crack open a Cold one...

:D

:D

Thank God for cold fusion!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 17, 2016, 09:54:07 pm
They throw those suckers pretty hard, based on the attack speed and range.

I too, would like the game to advance the story based on player actions, specifically on score thresholds and research subjects, if you get enough notoriety, they up their game, whether you're ready or not, and if you do the specific research subjects, you attract more notice and they up their game.  It shouldn't go back to the old level, even if you start doing poorly.

It would be nice if the bootypedia stated what weapons were useful in what areas.  I know IRL you can use cased ammo in space, though you might have more luck with self propelled weaponry, that equal and opposite bit is kind of a bitch. You might also be able to use them underwater, but the range is supposed to be measured in feet.  Also what ships work would be useful to know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2016, 10:13:59 pm
Yeah it's confusing, I renamed it to '0-g' missions for more clarity. I know that cased ammo is useable in vaccum, you can use it on Cydonia after all (not vaccuum but no oxygen none the less). As for underwater, it has to be special ammo to fire you AK there with any real effectivity, but it's perfectly doable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 17, 2016, 10:45:35 pm
Man, I *Never* shoot down Civilian Traffic. I see Civilians Traffic and go "Abort"...  Thats just not worth even risking a Score Penalty on.
You dont shoot civilians bud. You take Handles, Stun Batons, Cattle Prods and Harpoon/Stun to them. Tag em and bag em just like it says.

I was using the Rope to nail people but now it seems to kill them so I dont use it anymore.

Dont even equip lethal weapons.

In fact the only reason I use lethal is on some maps like scientific experiments, and warehouse wars where you have armored goons. Ill use stun a couple times and if that doesnt work, ill have somebody actually shoot them. Or I might toss them something that explodes to cut their life in half.

Ill also sometimes shoot the temple priest because he has some resistance, but only with something small like a holdout pistol or spraygun. Then he gets the prod.

Ratman rodeo (except for the boss), Lokk'narrs (sky ninjas), and Pogroms are all fair game for lethal, if I manage to capture any of those things its just a side benefit. I drop all my stun equipment when I go in those. Also the ufos I shoot down that have Reticulans on them, because they're tough to crack so I just blow them away.

If you'll notice I refuse to lose Hands, my ladies are not expendible when they reach such high levels of super-size. Ill skip missions to keep them alive if a few replays dont turn out well. #HeroesNeverDie #GooniesNeverSayDie

edit:
(I removed angry rant about craft weapons, since im galvanized about that subject)
Im just going to hack a reticulan plasma charger into the starting base items, things are just much simpler that way. Lower ammo capacity and accuracy make it more fun than the laser charger while still doing the same job.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2016, 11:27:06 pm
Ramping up interception is pretty much required to get anywhere - you may go without it for long, but it's gonna slow you down really bad. And the bar on top-level interceptions, which considerably speed up the campaign, is set high (so involvement and planning are required). Interceptors are expensive, and require substantial support. It's not like you can't win without the air game, but in such a case, prepare for relying on slow, slow RNG-driven grind.

So in short - if you're not fine with that, I can only say that it's not the perfect mod for you. It is not supposed to be winnable on your first try unless you're a very good gamer.It requires a lot of learning, and it isn't made easier by the constant developement (however it also steadily patches the glaring holes). I guess cheating is a way out, but is this really neccessary? Better to play a game where you don't need to cheat.

Btw IMO Xenonauts air game was flashy, but much more boring than in XCOM (you still do the same thing every time, only it's not automated so, clickfest). On the strategical level, airgame was a joke (easy resources, low hanging ceiling of maximum efficiency).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 18, 2016, 12:10:29 am
IDDQD has its role, without a doubt. But it's not a part of core experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 18, 2016, 12:59:53 am
I'm not sure how a stun only playstyle and not losing hands fit together, stunning is extremely risky.  However, I'm not here to judge, I'm here to get sky piracy out of my system.  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 01:14:15 am
Speaking about interception- any 'easy' way to get life support to assemble interceptors I'm missing?

Dont getme wrong, logical and fun addition, just cant find any so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Drasnighta on November 18, 2016, 01:15:34 am
Speaking about interception- any 'easy' way to get life support to assemble interceptors I'm missing?

Dont getme wrong, logical and fun addition, just cant find any so far.


Can't really help you there...  I jumped a Church base and got like, 15 at the end....   >.>

Was it worht the casualties?  Probably not, but I have a bunch of Life Support now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 02:05:45 am
Pachyderm base storm it is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 18, 2016, 02:18:21 am
Supply ships are filled with them - they're the alien food containers (from vanilla) on the map.  A few mid-sized shippings have them too, like the church shrine ships (watch for conversion missions!).  There are a couple others, but I don't remember what they are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 02:24:22 am
Ah,yes, supply ships, thanks. I remembered some ships had them, from erlier playthrough. Still, will try this base run.
Was subsisting for three years on an airbus and a bike, though managed to come to blue armors and decent weapons, funtimes ahead.

Really looking forward to space missions, and water missions are amazing.
Only missions where armor choice makes me think so far.
Hope we will get even more of those 'Terror from the deep'.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 18, 2016, 02:43:37 am
I'm not sure how a stun only playstyle and not losing hands fit together, stunning is extremely risky.  However, I'm not here to judge, I'm here to get sky piracy out of my system.  ;D

Actually its not all that risky, and due to hands being universally poor at firing accuracy for some time which makes shots fly all over the place... its much more effective.

Also I swear the Harpoon gun is less accurate than it suggests it is, if it can hit a bush inbetween you and somebody it seems it will try to even if you have over 100 accuracy.

Remember your ladies are mutants, they have at least 20 armor all around and after awhile they get to be strong as hell. (40, 50, 60 strength). Starter melee weapons end up doing im gonna estimate at least 50 damage maybe 70 for an axe. And if you want to kill things the chainsaw and hammer are just outrageous (and will destroy scenery)

Was fighting against Sky Ninjas, and in a pogrom with Raiders. The freaks were taking so many shotgun blasts to faze, they were emptying their magazines firing back (stop shooting the blunderbuss ammo im about to steal from you!!!). But I send in a melee lady with a Saber and it only takes 2 melee hits topps.

I find that actually running up to somebody has little chance of provoking reaction fire, I dunno maybe they've already exhausted their TUs. I literally run right up on somebody and hit them alot of times. Though moving around in their periphery vision seems to reduce the chances too, yes you can run up on somebody from the front flank.

Maneuver units in close so they can run in and hit. Use the Buddy system and have your best melee% units going in for the hits you're most worried about. If one of them cant get the job done, the other probably will. Even the trader and academy people in armor only take like 3 melee hits and they're down.

If you get "close enough" to charge in, you can run (hold CTRL) in the rest of the distance and still be able to use most of your TU to hit with melee (3-5 hits, maybe 7 hits if its a fast weapon like a stun baton). Melee weapons are cheeeap on TUs, except for the Cattle Prod which costs 20 - but its worth it.

If you take somebody down with one or two hits and have lots of TU left, dont just stand there... and do not advance. Instead retreat to cover, shut a door behind you or something. You want to make enemies burn their TUs trying to get to you so they cant just walk around a corner and use those TUs to empty their magazine.

Then there's the Ooops! Factor... just like when you come around a corner not expecting a guy and find somebody staring at you and your TUs are gone. They dont have enough TU to fire so they run away 4-5 tiles (now you can rush out and hit them an enormous number of times In The Back, and if your buddy is nearby add another 5 hits)

Always use cover, and you can even use Trees to try to block shots as you approach, though they dont block as much as id think they could. Have spotters note where guys are, do not have the guy who Sees somebody Engage them, always use somebody else unless they're right up in your face.

Before you know it almost all the enemies have Zzz floating above their body. You can also take away any weapons they've got so they dont pick them up if they wake up. If you want somebody dead (like ratmen) just pull out a gun and shoot them on the ground, maybe with their own weapon.

The Hands usually have more than enough health to absorb firepower without dying, but it usually means they end up in the infirmary for a long time. If a lady gets badly injured just switch another Hand in her place, dont sack her - because she has accumulated experience/skills. If you've got another base, send her there and then rotate her back when she's healed if she's got good skills.

Getting Chainmail means even shotguns* aren't going to threaten hands, or at worst only going to make them injured. Ive had people shoot my ladies like 6 or 8 times point blank (crap automatic guns) and do No damage, then I smash their face in.

Always end turns having the unit Facing the direction you think a local enemy unit is going to approach from.

Someone said recently a Temple Raid wasn't easy-peasy if you're just using muskets and daggers, but I can take it on pretty well. I just use Handles and Ropes. The back door is the key to it, and also getting people to scatter from the front side so that you can nail them as they get farther away from the building. The Priest is the hardest part, ironically the guys in the back with the shotguns usually stay up on the stage and you can come up the stairs and hit them from behind.

There's just waaay too much money to be made from ransoming the captured guys to be killing them left and right. Sharp Guys are worth 40,000 and even lower goons are worth ~20,000 each. Its not even worth it to rob them back at base because any junk you got from them will pile up from other things like personal computers.


Desert Missions and Night Missions are the hardest (aside from underwater, which I wont talk about). No cover and having to fill up a hand slot with a Magna-Lite are a challenge, but at least if you want to stun somebody the Magna-Lite is almost as good as a Handle (I ran missions for 5 months using Magna-Lites as my main stun equipment).

The reticulan missions are hard but, if you can get Hands anywhere close to the ship, any aliens in the ship are usually easy pickings - go up the lift and cattleprod everybody. Its easy to sidestep to be flanking or behind somebody from the lift. I usually throw Boom Fruits at any of them that get away from the ship. But reticulans are less worthy of being captured so I usually just slaughter them. The Clockwork Gun is effective even at a distance with fire teams because 2 hits usually does them in. The fact that the reticulan ufos usually land in the desert compounds their difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 18, 2016, 02:57:26 am
Night missions give you more trouble? I tried to do as much as I could at night to leverage the NV advantage.  You do know about the night vision mode, right (holding spacebar or pressing scroll lock, can be changed in options)? Once you get camoflage or +NV armor, you don't even really need much cover, being out of vision range works well.

I will agree the Reticulan missions are tough without cover.  They have better NV and can see through smoke better, plus the voodoo based accuracy of the lasguns means you take a lot of hits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: KateMicucci on November 18, 2016, 03:38:19 am
I know IRL you can use cased ammo in space, though you might have more luck with self propelled weaponry, that equal and opposite bit is kind of a bitch. You might also be able to use them underwater, but the range is supposed to be measured in feet.
Indeed even a flintlock musket would work in space. Gunpowder contains its own oxygen. Underwater however, not only would the bullet not fly very far in the water but the weapon would probably burst from the extra pressure.

Quote
The Clockwork Gun is effective even at a distance with fire teams because 2 hits usually does them in.
It is interesting to hear other people's strategies. The clockwork gun is one that I never used because by the time they were available there was already a ready supply of much better guns. Now that musket balls are functionally different that changes the math.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 18, 2016, 03:59:14 am
You do know about the night vision mode, right (holding spacebar or pressing scroll lock, can be changed in options)?
had... no... idea...
glad to know now, that could be crazy useful based on my game style

yeah the blue reticulan laser thing is just insane accurate, thats why I throw explosive apples at the hybrids (and a musket ball to the back if she's still standing), I mean it usually doesnt kill my ladies but I prefer not having my best hands spend 40 days in the infirmary.

also whats the deal with the gazer/cyclops aliens? they spit purple goo thats real nasty but... ive landed like 20 hits on them and they're not going down from anything, are we talking power armor defense here or what... I could literally do nothing to them and I just died so I didn't even bother with the mission. I can understand if they're just immune to stun damage, but it just means im going to have to go after them with plasma/explosives later on and walk away from any missions I find them in.

It is interesting to hear other people's strategies. The clockwork gun is one that I never used because
Functionally different? What changed?

Yeah it does 40 damage 3 times, if you're a melee person like me thats like ~100 damage on somebody if you can get all of them to hit. Even with the +armor adjustment its still pretty nasty since it only takes one of those to roll high and with personal armor they're still going to be hurting for 10-30 health. I also use it as a scenery breaker in maps like the shanytowns because for some reason musketballs can blow a giant hole in a wooden fence.
(but it is slow to reload, and accuracy means if you're not right up on somebody you're probably gonna miss at least once, and it means every 3 ball musket clip is now 1 shot).

Its cheap, and more importantly its a pistol, it can be used with something else in your hand like a magna-lite. The ammo is cheap. An i-Gun costs a ton for its batteries and it only gets a 2 shot burst, and as the bootypedia explains many enemies with armor have added resistance to plasma anyway (and because of statistical clips rules id rather not shoot it more for the favor of possibly keeping that clip).


re underwater:

Some guns can fire underwater but rather than accuracy being impacted its the weapon power that will be, and every space is going to cost at least 10 weapon power (maybe 2 if its something like a jet harpoon rifle).

In real life navy seals carry glocks and may use them underwater but its basically like a melee reach weapon so that you can shoot somebody 5 feet away from you before they get up close with a knife. Underwater a bullet will only travel about 7 feet and retain lethality (whether its .22 LR, 9mm, or 45acp they're all the same). Rifle bullets travel about the same, except that if you're shooting into water the high velocity will shatter the bullet and you end up with about 3 feet of lethality instead of 7.

This was slightly unrealistic in regard to TFTD... but the hydro-jet weapon was okay, a high speed supercavitating magnesium fuelled miniature torpedo (supposedly with a tiny explosive tip warhead, much larger warhead for HE rounds). Firing a 25mm mini-torpedo underwater going about 250mph is like being shot with a big Crossbow and it would have just as much range too.

My question is I wonder if it would be possible to Replace items temporarily in openxcom based on the environment, then give you back the equivalent normal item if you still have the temporary one...

Then you can have the game "gives the player the Underwater Harpoon" and takes their normal Harpoon, the underwater version looks the same and everything but its got a short maximum range and loses power. End of the mission for each underwater harpoon they recover, they get a Harpoon back instead.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 18, 2016, 04:05:49 am
had... no... idea...
glad to know now, that could be crazy useful based on my game style

This is why it pays to read the Bootypedia. Seriously, read the starting articles, your life will improve. :)

As for the Cyclops, they're a brick wall.  Keep hitting them, they'll go down, probably stunned.  Then research them, both dead and alive.
Their average resistance to all damage types is about 50%, and they have a health bar to make a muton envious.  Not a ton of armor though, just the resistances.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: RSSwizard on November 18, 2016, 04:30:52 am
This is why it pays to read the Bootypedia. Seriously, read the starting articles, your life will improve. :)
lawl I thought I did!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: khade on November 18, 2016, 04:51:14 am
As far as I'm aware, the I-Gun was specifically designed to be mostly useless, at least to us, a few shots from it are still going to hurt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: KateMicucci on November 18, 2016, 04:59:39 am
it just means im going to have to go after them with plasma/explosives later on and walk away from any missions I find them in.
Functionally different? What changed?

Until very recently, musket balls did 29 damage instead of 40 damage. There was no reason to build clockwork guns when you already had magnums, confederate eagles, skorpions, submachine guns and maybe even a couple laspistols by then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 18, 2016, 09:37:56 am
In real life navy seals carry glocks and may use them underwater but its basically like a melee reach weapon so that you can shoot somebody 5 feet away from you before they get up close with a knife. Underwater a bullet will only travel about 7 feet and retain lethality (whether its .22 LR, 9mm, or 45acp they're all the same). Rifle bullets travel about the same, except that if you're shooting into water the high velocity will shatter the bullet and you end up with about 3 feet of lethality instead of 7.

Lol US Military is so middle ages sometimes :) No, you need a dedicated weapon if you're serious about underwater combat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APS_underwater_rifle

EDIT:

But how would you make them meaningfully harder for the opposing choice, when each only grants a somewhat narrow set of additions?

It's quite easy, in broad terms - would need a lot of polishing, naturally.
To get the Green codex: "Fetid Tomb": punishing environment with substantial constant damage/turn; enemies immune to MC and Seduction, resistant to fire, explosives, equipped with psi vision (favoring the Bio-Suit).
To get the Gray codex: "Tower of Illussions": invisible enemies with armor-ignoring attacks, highly resistant to everything but Stun, who are quite weak against MC. (favoring Witch and Ghost).
To get the Red codex: "Castle of Blood": Chaos Marine types, high armor, high melee, use super-gauss pistols with deadly accuracy, haver great vision and good resistances. Will require adding a 'demon knight' armor that gives some sort of parity (heavy melee counterpart of Ragnarok). Best fought with extreme weapons like the Hellblade to overcome their insane armor.
To get the Golden codex: "The Golden Palace". A bit like the previous, but less armor/HP, much more speed & reactions, more destructive weapons. The only weakness: Special damage. Fairly dense, mazelike map favours speed and psi vision of the Magical Girl outfit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Narvi on November 18, 2016, 02:07:08 pm
I researched a live bloodhound, but I'm not getting any analysis page.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 03:10:06 pm
Space missions give life support, should have guessed.
Dioxine is best Dioxine.

It will help a lot if bootypedia will mention if a craft is spaceworthy too.
Cheers, love!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 18, 2016, 03:18:34 pm
The research that unlocks space missions gives a general rule for spaceworthy craft (interceptors and gunships), and at least one Bonny variant mentions that it can climb into orbit.  But the Pachyderm and Deliverator don't mention it, which they probably should.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 04:14:20 pm
Yeah, i only tried a Pachyderm by chance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dioxine on November 18, 2016, 04:29:12 pm
Fortuna and Pachyderm Pedia articles mention their space capabilities, while Pachyderm and Deliverator can clearly be seen over space background, which should be enough of an info :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.1 - 13 Nov - Dead in Space
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 04:39:31 pm
Paxhyderm booty article doesnt mention its orbit-worthy, sadly.
Just add a line, like with poor Fortuna, when you can.
Alternatively a list in 'Space Missions' will help, though more spoilery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 18, 2016, 05:12:40 pm
New version released. I didn't have the intention to, but all these embarrassing bugs needed to be fixed.
Since I don't have as much time now, it was mostly polishing, balancing and bugfixing (hope all annoying bugs were squashed), although there is one new 'nice' mission to try. For details, check the change log in the first post. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dyne on November 18, 2016, 06:09:18 pm
Is there currently a way to 'reconvince' Zero-Tolerance countries to fund you again?

And thank you for the bugfix and new version!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 18, 2016, 08:48:11 pm
Ah described like that i can see where your going. Thanks for shareing Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 18, 2016, 10:37:35 pm
@Dyne:
Nope, once they stopped the payments, they're gone. You still have the same rule like the original with losing too many = gg

Not like you actually 'need' thier money. It just pays your bills for maintains and paychecks for the crew but the real money is shoveled by manufacturing, looting, slavery and hookers.

Sell X-Grog and Chateau to the world and you'll swim in gold.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 18, 2016, 11:33:59 pm
re: i-Gun
Yeah I kinda figured it was like "shooting money at you". Treasure thats dangerous but its just there so you can sell it. But I gotta say I just love the concept behind it and the "nerf laspistol" like this is realistic stuff that civilians might have in those days. Sharp guys carry them, they're made of money, so they have the best toys civilians are offered. Reminds me of the dude from Firefly who had the laser pistol.


re: Pachyderm
So whats the story behind this thing, it says it has 400 fuel but that seems really low, also says it uses hellerium. I never understood the exchange rate between normal fuel craft and those that use alien fuel? Does the mileage mean every 50 miles is 1 fuel point? (so it can reach a target mission potentially up to 10,000 miles away?)

I loved the stats on the Pachyderm but I never bought one because I figured it wouldnt be able to get outside my radar range, just a thing to shoot things down before they reach my base.


re: Sell X-Grog and Chateau to the world.
yeah... now all that needs to be done is to be able to Purchase Apples from Jack's...
there's gotta be a fruit stand somewhere around that place, ill spend 1000 for an Apple...

I really just dont get enough apples in my diet out on those missions.

but without funding it means its harder to stockpile all the money you'll need to pay for all those expensive weapons, and for those really expensive buildings (I know from peeking that they go up into the 10s of millions at some point).


re: US Military being Middle Ages
Sadly the Navy Seals at least consider firearms to be a "Knife that can reach out 100+ feet". Their emphasis is on slashing necks from behind, if they can get up close and shoot somebody at point blank range with a pistol they would, a gun just gives them the opportunity to put them down at a distance more safely. They'd shoot somebody from 50 feet away rather than 300 if they can get up that close, because thats less chance they'll miss.

They carried the Stoner LMG for years because its lightweight and has a belt feed, but they'd also carry RPD for the same reason (and because it uses 7.62x39mm). Any pounds they could shave off their weapon were pounds more of ammunition they could carry. An M-16 was inconvenient because it had to be reloaded 6 times as often.

They actually dont do much in the way of long range Sniper work, those are the Force Recon guys. The navy seal sniper is abit of a misnomer - if he can hit a bottlecap at 60 yards with a suppressed smg thats all he needs to be able to do (but thats still quite a challenge). If they carry a sniper rifle its probably for armor penetration and firepower, the feat it can accomplish.

They are like modernized Spartans... if you took spartans from ancient sparta and educated them for a few years, and then taught them modern combat techniques, they would fit right in. So I think people get the idea abit wrong about what it means to be a navy seal.

Other special operations forces branches, depending on which branch it is are also often much different than people think they are. Green Berets do propaganda, gun running, and scapegoat missions.

getting "off the X" is also a major, major deal for the seals... if there's danger, you dont want to be there, if you can use your skills to get the job done in the least risky manner thats what you do (and working as a team increases those skills). Its nice to entertain thoughts about how a navy seal would handle being dropped into Silent Hill or Doom but rather than fight they'd actually hide as well as they could or they'd do their best to get out.

The russian underwater guns I believe are the most advanced in the world right now.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 18, 2016, 11:49:52 pm
You still have to take in account that the craft needs fuel to return to the hideout.

Yeah, apples are expensive to get and rare to find.
I can't realy give any more advice other than use your workshops to maximum. Chateau isn't even the best item to sell on mass.

Sadly I can't help you much with checking your gamefile as I run my own game on 0.99E until I made it to mars.
What is the biggest problem you face at the moment? Where is your starting hideout?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 19, 2016, 12:06:37 am
Snip

re: Pachyderm
So whats the story behind this thing, it says it has 400 fuel but that seems really low, also says it uses hellerium. I never understood the exchange rate between normal fuel craft and those that use alien fuel? Does the mileage mean every 50 miles is 1 fuel point? (so it can reach a target mission potentially up to 10,000 miles away?)

I loved the stats on the Pachyderm but I never bought one because I figured it wouldnt be able to get outside my radar range, just a thing to shoot things down before they reach my base.

Snip

As i understand the mileage stat it IS x miles per unit. The pachy is meant to be an interim craft between the airbus and finishing your bonny variant if you are particularly flush.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on November 19, 2016, 12:25:52 am
re: Pachyderm
I loved the stats on the Pachyderm but I never bought one because I figured it wouldnt be able to get outside my radar range, just a thing to shoot things down before they reach my base.

The Pachyderm is fast enough to let you do a certain mission type that you can't do with an Airbus.

re: Sell X-Grog and Chateau to the world.
yeah... now all that needs to be done is to be able to Purchase Apples from Jack's...
there's gotta be a fruit stand somewhere around that place, ill spend 1000 for an Apple...

I really just dont get enough apples in my diet out on those missions.

Pay attention to which mission types do get you apples, and you'll soon know who grows the apples in the world of tomorrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 19, 2016, 12:52:08 am
The Pachyderm is fast enough to let you do a certain mission type . . . Pay attention to which mission types do get you apples.

only thing I noticed about the Pachyderm was the gun mounts and damage capacity, I havent noticed any special missions coming up that other craft (like the aircar, my go-to ride) arent able to reach (they even go underwater)

yeah the lokknars and ratmen maps have the most apples, and also sometimes shantytown maps that randomly spawn with other missions (but even then its still not enough, not nearly enough). These missions the player has no control over dictating, they come up at selected times or at random, it cant be pushed.

thats why I try to shoot down ufos over forest locations so that I can get the Steel Forest map and get the purple Boomfruits I love using so much, but there are no forest terrains that are 100% certain to give you Steel Forest since the types of Forest you get even from one forest terrain geoscape area seem to vary widely.

(animal hunts dont count, in almost every scenario with bloodhounds, chupacabras, or even megascorpions I am only ABLE to kill a few of them and then have to retreat though usually I retrieve all the corpses that I killed. besides these have random terrains anyway so there's no way to dictate wanting a map with apples or boom fruits on it)

I wish there was Harvest missions, just like the animal hunts, like "we're gonna go here and pick as many apples as we can, this traders guild run orchard has bushels of apples and we want our piece of apple pie". Likewise with the steel forests, maybe academy people performing experiments on that stuff in addition to other things.

(just an engine limitation, that you cant actually just go Land your ship somewhere and plunder the environment even if there's nobody around to terrorize)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 19, 2016, 01:20:15 am
The mileage stat is how much fuel is generated by using 1 unit of hellerium from your stores, so the Pachyderm requires 400 (fuel capacity) / 50 (mileage) = 8 hellerium for a full tank of gas.  The actual range of the craft is related to the speed and amount of fuel it carries; all the hellerium powered craft can get from one side of the world to the other just fine.  You'll find that they are much more fuel efficient than they look, for the most part.  The Pachyderm's weapon slot is only a bonus, it shines as being a really fast transport with a significant step-up in crew capacity over the aircar and airbus, plus it can go to certain special missions.  You really shouldn't be worried about damage capacity if you're still running the battery-powered vehicles.

Edit: For comparison, the vanilla Firestorm had mileage = 5 and fuel capacity = 20, and could go a potential of 14000 nautical miles at speed 4200.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Eddie on November 19, 2016, 01:28:53 am
The ufopeadia website states that for elerium powered craft, one fuel unit equals 10 minutes of flight time. I believe that is still true for Piratez. So a Pachyderm could fly for 4000 minutes on a full tank. The milage rating is a bit misleading. Airtime rating would be more appropriate, as it is tied to the time flying and not to the distance traveled. For example, all bonny variants have the same milage rating (20), but the faster variants are actually more fuel efficient because they need less time to get somewhere.

Note: Craft that doen't need fuel operate totally different when it comes to fuel capacity.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 19, 2016, 02:01:34 am
Edit: For comparison, the vanilla Firestorm had mileage = 5 and fuel capacity = 20, and could go a potential of 14000 nautical miles at speed 4200.

Never really noticed how much it used in vanilla, but based on that logic does that mean a full refill for the Firestorm uses 4 elerium?

(if pachyderm has 400 fuel and 50 mileage and thus uses 8 hellerium, using the same equation 20 fuel and 5 mileage = 20/5 = 4 elerium?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 19, 2016, 02:11:25 am
If that's what mileage actually means, completely incorrect term usage then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 19, 2016, 02:41:06 am
Yes, the Firestorm requires 4 elerium to refuel.

As for the terminology, 'mileage' doesn't mean much by itself, though it's often used to mean miles per gallon.  It could be called differently here, but the value you're seeing written in Bootypedia is taken directly from the ruleset definition of the craft, and is the closest ruleset-defined number to a fuel efficiency.  True units for distance traveled per unit hellerium would be max speed multiplied by the listed mileage, but you'd probably have to do some unit conversion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 19, 2016, 03:16:12 am
Mmmm, well then guess i have to live with the problem since its an engine caused irritant. >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 19, 2016, 07:31:16 am
The name maybe isn't too fortunate, but it actually means how many units of internal craft fuel will be generated from fuelling the ship with 1 unit of Hellerium (which also takes an hour); this information is in the in-game Bootypedia, by the way. So it doesn't in any way influence ship's range, which is dependant ONLY on the max fuel stat. Speed is irrelevant as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 19, 2016, 10:28:09 am
Sell X-Grog and Chateau to the world and you'll swim in gold.

Something i've wondered about not just with x-piratez but also vanilla xcom, is how to make the 'conveyor-belt money machine' part of the game more interesting. In vanilla Xcom there were medkits, in x-piratez there is X-Grog, and while i think there definitely should be some form of reliable self-made income, i always felt these manifestations were too easy. You start manufacturing money from less money = profit, and then it can just run on autopilot for the rest of the game.

A supply-and-demand mechanic might spice things up, so that if you just flood the market with item X all the time, the profits for that item will go down. On its own, this might sound like a small gimmick, but if you were to link it together with the geoscape and the various missions you do and how you perform, big fluctuations of the market could occur. For instance, a terror mission that wasn't stopped might increase demand for medkits, and a spike in civilian abductions might spike a need for small arms for arming the populace.

Any thoughts?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 19, 2016, 10:30:27 am
Economics have been mentioned before, but it is at present beyond the capabilities of the engine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 19, 2016, 12:36:59 pm
Soundslike X-Com Apoc. There you still could do this mass-selling of goods but had to look for the best month to drop your stuff on the market. For my taste that would be even more unreliable RNG for this game.

On the pro side you actually need alot of grinded money to buy the leaders for research.
If you got unlucky with mission spawning and unlucky during hideout assault/defence you have to capture every leader 2 times.

SG Coordinator needs only to be researched once (thanks gawd, such a bane to even capture him)
CoS Cardinal = 125.000.000 x2
Academy Provost = 100.000.000 x2
Trader Guildmaster = 75.000.000 x2

For the Mars Codes AND the Interogation research you need 600.000.000 doritos to get access to the final research project and the conquerer.

Without manufacturing or tons of luck you'll grind money with hostages and loot for a long time^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 19, 2016, 01:17:40 pm
One Cardinal is acutually enough, so that's 500M Dolaros, not 600M, but add to that 500M-worth of Hellerium required to build Capsules.
The economy in piratez is not about trade opprotunities, but about looting and expanding your tech base to find faster ways of generating wealth, so you can be able to pay these costs of flying to Cydonia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 19, 2016, 01:30:52 pm
True, the highest CoS isn't even able to be interogated. (what a shame)

The focus of the lategame is more geoscape than battlescape I suppose.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 19, 2016, 08:13:54 pm
Is the fix for the Savvy Girl in 0.99E.2 ?

Edit: Just checked, the fix is in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on November 19, 2016, 08:23:06 pm
only thing I noticed about the Pachyderm was the gun mounts and damage capacity, I havent noticed any special missions coming up that other craft (like the aircar, my go-to ride) arent able to reach (they even go underwater)

It's not that new mission types come up with the Pachyderm, it's that if you try to take a slow craft on a certain mission type it tells you something like "That craft is no good for this mission, Cap'n!" and doesn't let you do it.  You may not have enabled that mission type yet --- I don't remember what the trigger is for the research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on November 19, 2016, 11:48:02 pm
Here are a few very minor bits of feedback.


That's all. Nothing important. I just wanted to write it down while I remembered. In fact, I've already forgotten what my third dot point was going to be. So I'll just replace it with this one:


[edit]

Ok. After 30 seconds of playing the game again, I remembered what my third point was meant to be:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on November 20, 2016, 12:14:18 am
Ok. After 30 seconds of playing the game again, I remembered what my third point was meant to be:
  • When a ship can't fly due to lack of pilots, I'd really like it if the game would take me straight to the choose pilots screen. As it is, I'm constantly getting the "not enough pilots" message (because my pilots get injured on the ground), and it's really tedious to close that message, go to the hideouts screen, go to the vessels screen, choose the vessel, go to the pilots screen, and choose some pilots, close all those screen, and then re-select the mission that I was going to go on in the first place.
    In most cases it makes zero difference who is piloting the craft. I'd be happy enough if the game just automatically chose the pilots whenever I haven't manually selected them. It could just pick pilots from the top of the list of people on the ship.

There is an option like that since the beginning... it selects the people from the bottom of the list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on November 20, 2016, 12:50:49 am
There is an option like that since the beginning... it selects the people from the bottom of the list.
Thanks for that. I guess I tend to ignore most of the options because a lot of them effect the game rules (rather than just the interface). I still think it would be helpful if we could open the pilots screen directly when we're told the ship doesn't have enough pilots assigned.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Arthanor on November 20, 2016, 02:53:39 am
The best would be getting the warning and having a choice instead of just "ok", like: "Abort" where you abort the launch and go pick your pilots, or "Take volunteers and launch!" which just takes some people (random or last in the list) and launches with those as pilots. The "not enough pilots" message is indeed a bit annoying, especially for transports since pilots matter the least, but get injured the most.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ashghan on November 20, 2016, 10:36:03 am
I think the best would actually be: "Abort", "Select" (goes to pilot roster) and "Volunteer" (takes from the bottom).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 20, 2016, 12:22:00 pm
Autofill for Pilots is a great feature. Unless you use dual-purpose crafts this option saves time and nerves.

Once you got dedicated dogfight crafts you just assign the very best pilots (high acc, reactions and bravery) to the crew slots and usually never swap them out until you replace the craft.

As for the dual-purpose crafts, assign your combat crew 'n stuff and use the right-mouse button to drop the best pilots to the bottom of the crewlist and the problem is mostly solved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ashghan on November 20, 2016, 03:26:50 pm
Problem is that sometimes your best pilots are you best fighters as well, and you don't want them at the very back of the transport just because they're on the bottom of the list. Plus the best fighters get injured more often which is most often the reason for this irritating behavior. But a fair point - this problem is only relevant for dual purpose craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2016, 03:31:20 pm
I think the best would actually be: "Abort", "Select" (goes to pilot roster) and "Volunteer" (takes from the bottom).

I'm supporting this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Eddie on November 20, 2016, 03:54:38 pm
Another idea concerning pilots: in the launch craft window, change the font color of ships without sufficient pilots to red (or grey or some other color). So you know a craft can't lauch without needing to click on it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ThatDude on November 20, 2016, 11:31:44 pm
Whats the purpose to being able to buy wrecked cars? Are there plans for player armored cars in the future?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ThatDude on November 20, 2016, 11:35:31 pm
Also I saw some conversation about economic fluctuations, I think rather than having fluctuating prices we should receive special requests from certain people or factions willing to buy high-quality wares for high prices. I only like this idea because currently I see no purpose in making things like godly brains or certain guns/equipment. Maybe other groups or individuals want those?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 20, 2016, 11:54:58 pm
This could be fun actually, in a HoM&M sort of way...

The astrologers proclaim the week of PLAGUE!!
Medical Supplies prices increase 10 times.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Arthanor on November 21, 2016, 05:49:04 am
The argument for prices not changing regardless of how much the pirates produce is that they are still a MUCH smaller player compared to the guild and other main factions. Even if you have 1000 people working on making grog for money, it's still a small amount compared to the production for the whole world. And if you mint counterfeit chips, then obviously those have a fix value.

Random effects on stuff to represent world-scale event could be cool though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2016, 10:14:57 am
This could be fun actually, in a HoM&M sort of way...

The astrologers proclaim the week of PLAGUE!!
Medical Supplies prices increase 10 times.


That's actually a fun idea. Opportunities would mess around with the same old, same old, while being relatively easy to add (or so I think!). It could work on a monthly basis, like enemy missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 21, 2016, 10:24:30 am
The argument for prices not changing regardless of how much the pirates produce is that they are still a MUCH smaller player compared to the guild and other main factions. Even if you have 1000 people working on making grog for money, it's still a small amount compared to the production for the whole world.

That's speculation though, as it's not specified that the market consists of the entire world. You could just as well argue that the corporations make money on other stuff, or that it's only meant for civilians or that the market only consists of few select factions, underground markets or something like that.


This could be fun actually, in a HoM&M sort of way...

The astrologers proclaim the week of PLAGUE!!
Medical Supplies prices increase 10 times.


Double thumbs up for that reference! xD

That would actually be a nice solution though
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2016, 10:41:55 am
That's speculation though, as it's not specified that the market consists of the entire world. You could just as well argue that the corporations make money on other stuff, or that it's only meant for civilians or that the market only consists of few select factions, underground markets or something like that.

The market does consist of the most of the world, at least potentially.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ashghan on November 21, 2016, 10:06:54 pm
While I think the price fluctuations a la Apocalypse would shake things up, I still think it's a terrible idea. Just like the one with different alien containment types. After the initial 'coolness factor' wears off it would only serve as more micromanagement and calculation. It is mentioned in a few places in-game, that you pirate 'faction' is extremely small by global standards. While Earth-2600 with it's ~300million population does not compare to the current ~6 billion in productivity, I think the paltry amounts your runts produce won't shake up the global markets.

The idea of "Month of -foo-" is a nice one though. Something that the player could in most cases avoid caring about if he so chooses, but and opportunity for profit if you keep an eye out. It all depends on how exactly it is implemented. Something like "forest fires cause fire extinguisher price to double" would be insignificant. While "Latin Empire invades Technocracy, arms race increases price of firearms and ammunition by 50%." could actually have quite an impact. You could even chain such events - a conflict started could end in 6-12 months" giving a -50% price tag on abovementioned items due to surpluses left over. Or some that could be permanent - a brilliant discovery in nuclear physics (yeah, I know the science world is either non-existent or stagnant, but still) could reduce prices of laser ammo by 10% permanently (perhaps in the workshop as well). this would perhaps encourage players to experiment more in their tactics and equipment. And make each game a bit more unique.

ps. The main question though is - Can we modify prices in game via scripts or something. Because if not, then the discussion is moot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: bladum on November 21, 2016, 10:46:16 pm
item can be put into economic category (ecoCategory) for example "wooden" or "ammo" or "fromRussia"
every category can have price modifier with default value of 1.0
even can change specific price for specific time (lets design with week interval)
therefore we will have 2D matrix = 52 weeks X number of categories
if an item will be a part of two categories then it can be impacted by two kind of events and price modifiers would multiplay
not all items must have ecocategory defined at all
there may be some default categories defined per type of item, for example all firearms battletype = 1 are marked as military ecocategory

same could be done for manufacturing prices or even research time cost, therefore would open possibilities for "continuous improvement projects", which means research could trigger ecoChange for all laser based manufactured items ( ecoCategory = "laser")

ecoCategory:
  - [ "research", "laser", -0.1, 26, 0]           # 6 months boost in reasearch for laser items
  - [ "buy", "wooden", -0.5, 3, 12]                # cheap wood for 3 weeks but starting in next 12 weeks
  - [ "build", "fromRussia", +3.0, 10000, 1]  # pernament embargo from made in russia items starting next week

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 22, 2016, 12:10:17 am
Something i've wondered about not just with x-piratez but also vanilla xcom, is how to make the 'conveyor-belt money machine' part of the game more interesting.

Not sure about your experiences but in vanilla xcom I think Laser Cannons were the de-facto money conveyor. I remember someone saying in a forum years ago how obnoxious it was to make money with them and I tried it and it did.

211,000 sell vs 182,000 make, at 300 build hours this is $96 per hour (with no special materials either).

the medi-kit is $44 per hour profit and the motion scanner is $54 per hour profit.

(gotta keep track not just of the input and output price, but also how long it takes to make each item because this is your Income Rate for the amount of time these items are being built)

(*somehow the laser cannon, a weapon likely as large as a cafeteria table, takes just as much time to build as a Laser Pistol does)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Drasnighta on November 22, 2016, 12:18:01 am

(*somehow the laser cannon, a weapon likely as large as a cafeteria table, takes just as much time to build as a Laser Pistol does)


Mostly because 99% of the build time for something like that is the Fiddly Bits(TM)

The Fiddly Bits(TM) are equally as Fiddly between both of them.  So they take basically the same amount of time.

I mean, if the whole body panel section is die cast or single sheet stamped - then, when you are making them with One-press-one-stamp concepts,  they do take the same amount of time.

of course, all of the equipment, molds, markers, etc, etc, etc, are all different - but they're all reflected in cost of production, rather than time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2016, 12:24:35 am
ecoCategory:
  - [ "research", "laser", -0.1, 26, 0]           # 6 months boost in reasearch for laser items
  - [ "buy", "wooden", -0.5, 3, 12]                # cheap wood for 3 weeks but starting in next 12 weeks
  - [ "build", "fromRussia", +3.0, 10000, 1]  # pernament embargo from made in russia items starting next week

Looks good. So how does one go about triggering them? Just a simple system, chance of 'week of x' starting, and definitions of possible weeks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 22, 2016, 01:05:22 am
Fiddly Bits(TM)

Id normally agree but a laser pistol isnt like a cannon, the cannon has to be able to shoot out to (what was it 20km?) and still be needle-nose precise, the focusing on the pistol only needs to be good for a few hundred yards max.

I guess it could be literally like "the parts of 50 laser pistols all configured in array" but its apples and oranges in some ways. The power needs would be much higher, run too much power through something and it bursts into flames, despite superconducting, the pieces the smaller items use may not suffice and bundling them into equivalent cables may not be great either.

Usually one of the first things I mod is changing the build time of the laser cannon to 1200+ hours and I jack up the price. The sell price goes up to 500K so if you have any laser cannons laying around later it feels worthwhile to dump them. It should logically be a profitable weapon to sell (along with all the lasers) because its a terrestrial leap in tech that conventional militaries could benefit from, I just dont think it should be quite the most profitable thing to sell in the game.

(imo, Small Launchers, Tank/Laser, and handheld lasers especially Heavy Lasers should be logically because they have the highest utility value to terrestrial militaries, the small launcher being most effective as an ordinance delivery system even without the added power the stun bombs have - and the Heavy Laser is a man portable weapon system with 5 times the destructive firepower as a .50 caliber rifle and a high ammunition capacity to go with it)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: bladum on November 22, 2016, 01:07:27 am
research:
  ecoCategory: [ "laser", "alien", "complex" ]           # this is how you can define category for research
  ecoChange:                                                        # this is how you can trigger it
    - [ "buy", "wooden", -0.5, 3, 12]                        # we may add Chance here too

same for manufacturing, facilities, items, etc....

imagine high technology that triggers sells price for all standard weapons by 50% as they are already obsolete ?

simple as it is
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2016, 01:28:14 am
So it is triggered by research? Fair enough, since research can be autocompleted at game start or somesuch. I was hoping for a global list as well, where you could simply define different eco-events to be triggered at random each week or month, with some of them blocked off by research (akin to missionScripts). Also absolutely needs a popup feedback window that informs the player what the hell is going on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on November 22, 2016, 01:53:07 am
Don't forget a way to check what modifiers are active, whenever you feel the need.

On another note, I'm really curious about stealth, weapons, and enemies knowing where you are when you shoot at them.  Are there weapons that don't reveal you, assuming they don't already know your location?  Can we get some, if they aren't available?  Can we get information on the map based on particularly loud weapons, marking probable sources, made more accurate if you have people spread out enough, say a circle where your crew think it came from?

Sorry about the short questions, not sure how to make that flow better.

Oh, and an idea:  It would be fun* if there was a chance, based on how many missions total your selected crew had gone on, max rank, and total character growth, of having a Predator spawn on a map, out for your Gals heads.  I'd like it if it would hunt any living thing in there and be considered an enemy to your opponents, but that's not really required.

*fun not guaranteed
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 22, 2016, 02:03:05 am
Not sure about your experiences but in vanilla xcom I think Laser Cannons were the de-facto money conveyor.

Ah, didn't know that or maybe i forgot. The principle remains the same however.

While I think the price fluctuations a la Apocalypse would shake things up, I still think it's a terrible idea. Just like the one with different alien containment types. After the initial 'coolness factor' wears off it would only serve as more micromanagement and calculation.

I didn't suggest it because it sounded cool, but to have a solution for the boring money-on-conveyor-belt manufacturing. I agree that my other suggestion about adding world events that would affect market prices, sounds like more fun. It would still add micro, but probably not as much. To avoid it becoming a gimmick and to give the player some agency however, i think the player should be able to influence such events in a way. Now obviously this can be implemented in the tiniest way like "thwarted terror mission renews civilian morale and spikes demand for small arms to form nation-wide militias", or indeed much more complex chains of events with unpredictable outcomes
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 22, 2016, 02:17:21 am
It's not that new mission types come up with the Pachyderm, it's that if you try to take a slow craft on a certain mission type it tells you something like "That craft is no good for this mission, Cap'n!" and doesn't let you do it.  You may not have enabled that mission type yet --- I don't remember what the trigger is for the research.

Yeah this is a mystery to me. I didnt even have the mansion thing pop up at all on my first play (whole first year).

Maybe the types of missions available are random? or there's something going on with the game that dioxine isnt aware of?

Only missions Ive gotten (and I had access to a pachyderm for some time) were:
Pogroms, Lokknarrs, Temple of Sirius, Watchtower
Underwater Adventures, Warehouse Wars
Animal hunts: Shambler, Chupacabra, Bloodhounds
Mansion/SaveAGirl (did not appear at all on my first try, but its there on my current one)

(I would also mention that on my 2nd game attempt its now April 2601 and the White Shambler mission came up in the first month but I turned it down. Now it is not reappearing at all).

Then again based on research progression I only got up to unlocking *TheMutantAlliance* on the first playthrough and that wasnt until February 2602.

I had a Pachyderm on the purchase list ever since like July 2601.

> my face when, the results im getting from the game are completely different than what everyone else is talking about, even though its the same mod they're playing
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2016, 02:26:38 am
Maybe the types of missions available are random? or there's something going on with the game that dioxine isnt aware of?

No.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on November 22, 2016, 02:28:32 am
You are playing radically different from most of us, which slows your progression.  Avoiding civilians completely is doable, moral, but lots of money comes from them and the score negatives are so low as to practically not be there.  Avoiding extremely risky missions means you're not getting the rewards from those missions.  Avoiding at all costs lethal force makes the riskier missions far harder.

However, given that the game is mostly about surviving as a pirate crew, your choices are perfectly acceptable.  Don't want to be a murderer? You can do that. Don't want to break a self imposed moral code? Easy, though it might increase the difficulty.

A big problem is that the game still progresses based on time, which means you might not be ready for things the game expects you to be able to deal with.  I'd prefer it be based more on how much you scare people, for how much effort they're going to put into putting you into the ground.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2016, 02:37:34 am
A big problem is that the game still progresses based on time, which means you might not be ready for things the game expects you to be able to deal with.  I'd prefer it be based more on how much you scare people, for how much effort they're going to put into putting you into the ground.

The progression is slight, but it is there. It is basically meant to cull campaigns that are going nowhere. Easy missions dry up, very slowly, and automated Crackdowns start after a very long while. This will be a bit more severe in the future versions, when normal flights will start to be replaced by Marsec and other higher-tier enemies, starting late Year 2 or early Year 3.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 22, 2016, 03:06:02 am
You are playing radically different from most of us, which slows your progression.

Seemed to be self explanatory, as well as explained in the bootypedia, mission briefings, and even the readme file. In order to progress you must capture people and research them, more than once since they can be researched multiple times, this means capture-capture-capture.

The only time its said its safe to kill is ratmen (but not the swaggins) and critters.

just following orders captain!

Im not taking on dangerous missions until ive got the equipment to take them on. Also about the only dangerous stuff ive run into is cyclops (one time) and the pogroms. Ill start taking on pogroms when ive got at least chainmail (which also means not checking off on the mutant alliance research either, since that makes pogroms mandatory, and I really love to watch these missions despawn otherwise).

re: civilian traffic
says I can shoot them down all the livelong day just not kill them
so I do, and I dont, only killed a few over the course of by first try (like -15 points altogether maybe, sum total)
not sure why other people have a problem with accidentally killing them
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on November 22, 2016, 03:22:33 am
I usually get a big boost to my resources after a pogrom, even with aircar, it's potentially worth it. I don't do a capture only run, though I do like to capture, sometimes it's too risky, sometimes I they do that civilian in an arcade shooter thing and walk in the wrong place with the wrong twitchy gunner, sometimes they just piss me off. I've not had too much trouble with money, except for when I forgot to set my runts to actually work.

Might have mistaken your situation with someone else who avoids civilians like the plague, they have the same negative score for capture as killing, but are pretty good subjects for research and/or ransoming.

I do play on the second difficulty, and am not very far into the game, I've avoided fishy missions so far and mansion missions are just a little further than I've gotten before an update shows up.  Monster hunts are fun, especially with light auto weapons, haven't gotten lucky enough to meet a chupacapra.

On missions, what you get and what you find is random, I believe it's set at the beginning of the month. You get an unlucky group of missions and you're going to be waiting.

Honestly, none of my runs have really been very similar to each other, the mod is vast enough that you run into strange things at times. 

Also, as I understand the premise, the game tells you that you're a pirate, have fun :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: bladum on November 22, 2016, 09:06:00 am
So it is triggered by research? Fair enough, since research can be autocompleted at game start or somesuch. I was hoping for a global list as well, where you could simply define different eco-events to be triggered at random each week or month, with some of them blocked off by research (akin to missionScripts). Also absolutely needs a popup feedback window that informs the player what the hell is going on.

my idea was:

system is triggered by ( via ecoChange: tag):
- research once completed, it changes array of ecoCategory to some extent
- facility, once builded
- any other event ?

system may impact by (via ecoCategory tag):
- research time cost
- buy & sell item cost (firearms, armours, crafts & craft weapons)
- manufacture build cost & time cost
- facility build cost
- any other cost ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Zharkov on November 22, 2016, 12:20:39 pm
The progression is slight, but it is there. It is basically meant to cull campaigns that are going nowhere. Easy missions dry up, very slowly, and automated Crackdowns start after a very long while. This will be a bit more severe in the future versions, when normal flights will start to be replaced by Marsec and other higher-tier enemies, starting late Year 2 or early Year 3.

What do you mean by "normal flights"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 22, 2016, 12:58:20 pm
Hellerium-powered flights, such as Surveys, Conversions, Freights etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ThatDude on November 23, 2016, 07:10:39 am
So uh, what's the purpose for being able to buy Wrecked Cars?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2016, 12:11:03 pm
None... yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Narvi on November 23, 2016, 03:07:36 pm
Small request: Can you arrange the Dojo max values in the actual training screen in the order it's arranged in the Bootypedia? I checked the max values with an overlapping notepad file but having them in order would make it easier to keep straight in my head.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2016, 04:25:36 pm
You can sort the training screen in any order...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 23, 2016, 07:58:22 pm
Does the prospector actually do anything special, as the text suggest, or is it just a transport?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Drasnighta on November 23, 2016, 08:06:12 pm
Does the prospector actually do anything special, as the text suggest, or is it just a transport?

Its Maintenance "Cost" is Negative.

So just sitting there, it Generates Positive Revenue.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on November 23, 2016, 08:13:23 pm
Every time I do the math on the Prospector, I figure it will take a year to pay for itself.  Even then it generates very little compared to other more lucrative projects.  Coupled with the hangar space, and the space that takes up in a base, I think they are a novelty, but not worth it.  I know some players like them for their cool map and the ability to haul a lot of troops, but they take so long to get where they are going you can only use them to go after targets that won't disappear in transit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 23, 2016, 08:47:38 pm
I use it for the ore.  Ore makes obsidian credit chips, obsidian credit chips make obscene profit in the mint.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Narvi on November 23, 2016, 09:18:55 pm
You can sort the training screen in any order...
I meant the left-to-right order of the columns. I'd like it if they were in the order they're written in the Bootypedia so I can just go "66, 66, 66, 85, 85, 100, 100" in my head instead of doing this notepad thing.

I mean, it's not a big thing, I'll probably remember them on my own eventually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2016, 09:32:23 pm
I meant the left-to-right order of the columns. I'd like it if they were in the order they're written in the Bootypedia so I can just go "66, 66, 66, 85, 85, 100, 100" in my head instead of doing this notepad thing.

The order in training room is the same as in all info screens; the order in training article is ascending, depending on stat cap. Seriously, man. Get a grip.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 24, 2016, 12:24:03 am
Might have mistaken your situation with someone else who avoids civilians like the plague, they have the same negative score for capture as killing, but are pretty good subjects for research and/or ransoming.
When you intercept a ship and it says "Civilian Traffic" it usually has people that dont present a penalty. Bootypedia says they're fair game.

Usually its something like a Saavy Girl, Tough Girl, Tough Guy, or Sharp Guy. You get a tiny green aircar that has 2 people in it, or you get a midsize green aircar that has 4-6 people in it. Or you get a cool looking green 2 floor spaceship that has a tough guy and a saavy girl.

I mean you dont get much points on the debriefing screen for them (maybe ~40-60 total) but you definitely dont get a penalty unless you kill them. Penalties for killing dudes is usually like -4 to -7 per dude.

Also apparently just shooting down the ship provides at least 100 points each because at the end of the year I can still be like 1300-2300 points scary even though I distinctly do NOT remember getting anywhere near that from my mission debriefings (40-60 points here and there, it adds up but not nearly that much)

These usually go about 1000mph or so and they have no weapons. Sale proceeds from loot and ransom is ~50,000 to 200,000 depending on what you want to keep.

I have run into a few missions where you have something like a small transport ship with people in brown uniforms, you get a penalty for the people on board - whether you kill or capture them it doesnt matter.

But they arent marked "civilian traffic" and the interception image doesnt have the (orange and blue?) lights on the front that the bootypedia says is a Rebel Freighter (which also says you're not supposed to shoot it down).

I havent encountered those much though, only the rare ones that land (intercepted one and didnt want to get shot, and then it landed nearby, so I remember what the interception picture looked like). Only enough to know this is a thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 24, 2016, 01:17:27 am
I was wondering, is it possible to have two or more enemy crafts on a map, or technically have 'one' craft that is made to look like it's several smaller crafts with terrain between them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 24, 2016, 01:53:21 am
I was wondering, is it possible to have two or more enemy crafts on a map, or technically have 'one' craft that is made to look like it's several smaller crafts with terrain between them?

Yes and yes. But all UFOs must have the same tileset.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 24, 2016, 01:59:54 am
@ RSSwizard

The Non civilian traffic that you are getting a penalty from are government forces using lower end ships, most commonly excavators. Only government fighters, ordinators, fusion cruisers, and the rebel traffic have the extra lights.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on November 24, 2016, 02:31:34 am
Unfortunately, capture and kill has the same score, so those civilians are still worth negative points alive or dead, but they're worth money or research, which translates into positive score, if they're alive.  Shooting ships does give score too, though I don't remember how much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 24, 2016, 03:16:21 am
but they take so long to get where they are going you can only use them to go after targets that won't disappear in transit.
Targets dont disappear in transit, landing sites anyway. If you have a ship in route it keeps the landing site from de-spawning (foot-in-the-door type of thing). Ive used this behavior for years in vanilla to prevent terror sites from going away so I can shoe-spoon my transport in there when the sun comes up.

Not sure what this Prospector thing is but it sounds like the same deal as the Purple Turtle. Also if it has a negative maintenance cost thats better than one which costs you money.

Its like the power plant, its not the negative maintenance that you build it for, that just means its a support building that just happens to effectively cost less than it seems.

Real question is can it get anywhere in the world, the starter airbus thingy has a hidden dark side that its limited fuel means there's some missions that are just out of reach.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on November 24, 2016, 03:56:30 am
Targets dont disappear in transit, landing sites anyway. If you have a ship in route it keeps the landing site from de-spawning (foot-in-the-door type of thing). Ive used this behavior for years in vanilla to prevent terror sites from going away so I can shoe-spoon my transport in there when the sun comes up.

I just had my EL FUEGO fly half-way across the world, in the wrong direction just so that it arrives at the Pogrom in daylight. So this behavior can be abused.
But it does not work with everything though, it works with pogroms but not with landed ships like smugglers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on November 24, 2016, 10:06:49 am
Targets dont disappear in transit, landing sites anyway. If you have a ship in route it keeps the landing site from de-spawning (foot-in-the-door type of thing). Ive used this behavior for years in vanilla to prevent terror sites from going away so I can shoe-spoon my transport in there when the sun comes up.
It just occurred to me that the spy zeppelin would be particularly good for this.

Also, I've not tried this, but I suppose that if your juggle your ships you could keep a mission active for days if you wanted to. I guess that kind of exploit could be reduced if the game didn't allow you to target a mission that has already reached its time limit. (ie. if the only reason the mission is active is that it is being targeting, it will stay active but will not allow more ships to target it.) -- On the other hand, the exploit probably isn't valuable enough to bother fixing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 24, 2016, 06:11:40 pm

Quote
I was wondering, is it possible to have two or more enemy crafts on a map, or technically have 'one' craft that is made to look like it's several smaller crafts with terrain between them?

Yes and yes. But all UFOs must have the same tileset.

Are there such UFOs in x-piratez? If not, how come?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Drasnighta on November 24, 2016, 08:22:59 pm
Yes and yes. But all UFOs must have the same tileset.


Are there such UFOs in x-piratez? If not, how come?


Technically, You are flying UFOs. 

What with the Cloaking Device and all...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 25, 2016, 12:25:47 pm

Technically, You are flying UFOs. 

What with the Cloaking Device and all...

I know but i'm talking about multiple enemy crafts on one map
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on November 25, 2016, 12:35:42 pm
Are there such UFOs in x-piratez? If not, how come?

Let me politely respond with a counter-question. Why would we need multiple UFOs on the map? It serves no purpose. We have tiny ships with 1 enemy and huge ships with up to 80 enemies. I think that covers the spectrum pretty well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 25, 2016, 02:00:23 pm
I could see using it for a few special missions. Like say raiding a dockyard later game for helliurm/capsules. Couple of ships on TFTD industrial tileset. But for the vast majority its not that useful a feature. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 25, 2016, 02:10:28 pm
It is useful, but so far I haven't build a mission that makes use of that feature. Although potentially it allows, for example, for building docks with several ships, effectively doubling the number of tiles available. Removing hard tile number limitation would be more beneficial, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 26, 2016, 12:05:22 am
It is useful, but so far I haven't build a mission that makes use of that feature.

Btw, is it flavor stuff like this that is needed to reach 1.0, or more essential features or just balancing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 26, 2016, 12:47:24 am
Mid-Late game content, mostly missions/enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 26, 2016, 01:46:18 am
Mid-Late game content, mostly missions/enemies.

And an intro! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 26, 2016, 04:02:44 am
And an intro! :D

Yeah i remember hearing about that intro, not the specifics however. Was it going to be a cinematic intro, a 'tutorial' intro (like one or several scripted tutorial missions), or...?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: KateMicucci on November 26, 2016, 04:12:15 am
Why does the stormy suit cause extra combat stress?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 26, 2016, 08:48:38 am
Because it is dangerous to use it :) To answer truthfully, all flying armor has some sort of uncool penalty to compensate for the immense advantage it gives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 26, 2016, 01:17:30 pm
Not like stress isn't manageable either. It only affects the speed of morale decay not the much more critical decay limit derived from bravery. Granted there are some edge cases where a large stress rate(greater then difference between current morale and 49) will trigger panic that would otherwise never happen. But generally speaking bravery 60 eliminates stress as a factor.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: clownagent on November 26, 2016, 01:47:22 pm
Small suggestion:

Swim suits should be able to wear an oxygen bottle in the backpack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 26, 2016, 02:06:51 pm
Good idea. This will make the choices for underwater mission more interesting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: KateMicucci on November 26, 2016, 06:20:54 pm
Because it is dangerous to use it :) To answer truthfully, all flying armor has some sort of uncool penalty to compensate for the immense advantage it gives.
That's fine, but it's strangely inconsistent with other flying armors, and the other flying armors don't have such high armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on November 26, 2016, 06:35:21 pm
Made sense to me from a mentality standpoint, if a gals is wearing it you are assigning her to careen around the battlefield in the air at close range. Unlike hover line which assigned in squad support ie i dont get shot at.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 27, 2016, 12:19:10 am
Any chance of getting another way to gain research going for 'public enemy' and the whole stargods faction?

I don't get any missions for the 'public enemy' (only the largest smuggler ships contain those and they don't shedule) and I get no stargods ships containing stargod guardians nor stargod operatives. The one stargod coordinator I managed to capture is sitting since month in prison unable to research because I have no clue about his/her 'lower ranked' soliders.

Got 25 brainers doing nothing but still have to tailor around 480 hellerium capsules. Don't mind that but just can't get my research going due to logic I don't get behind :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on November 27, 2016, 12:57:37 am
The logic of Star Gods is that they make it really hard for you to uncover their secrets :) From E.2 onwards, there is more Guardians to be met. This problem will be adressed more fully in later versions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on November 27, 2016, 04:39:03 am
If the brainers are currently useless, why pay them? fire them until you have something to research, all you'd lose is a few days while they come to your base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 29, 2016, 05:51:04 am
It just occurred to me that the spy zeppelin would be particularly good for this. Also, I've not tried this, but I suppose that if your juggle your ships you could keep a mission active for days if you wanted to.

Yeah it only works for static missions, the pink + shaped ones. If you see a ufo landed you should go send an interceptor to it to fly cap over it along with a transport, that way if it takes off before your transport gets there it gets intercepted (would be nice if you could catch it on the ground, but if it takes off you should still see if you can shoot it down). Catching a battleship/dreadnought while it is parked is about the only practical way to get those missions though since they're brutal to beat.

This came in valuable handy in vanilla xcom (particularly TFTD but night missions in UFO suck too). I mean fighting tasoths and bio drones on freight ship in pitch black night is nearly as hard as it gets (that combo iz be fighting words). As a teenager playing this game in the 90s I was almost desperate to make it daytime because it was such a huge penalty to skip it.

Found out by accident because I sometimes send a fighter to terror mission by missclick and as soon as the fighter got there and boomeranged the mission would despawn. So 2 interceptors allowed it to keep going, and when the second nearly got there, I would send the transport.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on December 03, 2016, 10:10:09 pm
Following should probably be applied so that items don't appear in the techtreeviewer:

Code: [Select]
manufacture:
  - delete: STR_PLASMA_PISTOL
  - delete: STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_CLIP
  - delete: STR_PLASMA_RIFLE
  - delete: STR_PLASMA_RIFLE_CLIP
  - delete: STR_HEAVY_PLASMA
  - delete: STR_HEAVY_PLASMA_CLIP
  - delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
  - delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
  - delete: STR_SMALL_LAUNCHER
  - delete: STR_STUN_BOMB
  - delete: STR_ALIEN_GRENADE
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 03, 2016, 11:49:25 pm
Is the techtreeviewer gonna be implemented in some form in the game, or is it purely meant as a debug/curiosity/cheat tool?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on December 04, 2016, 12:08:13 am
Is the techtreeviewer gonna be implemented in some form in the game, or is it purely meant as a debug/curiosity/cheat tool?

What do you mean by "some form"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 04, 2016, 02:43:23 am
The in-game tech tree viewer seems pretty functional and complete. I'm pretty happy with how it is working.

The only thing that makes me a bit uneasy about it is that it allows me to browse through tech far beyond what I already have. (Which isn't a big deal, because this is my third playthrough anyway.) So perhaps it would benefit from a spoiler-filter, like the item info box things have.

Usually the only things I want to know from the tech viewer are: Does this research lead to anything else; and if so, do those new topics require other prerequisites as well.

I guess it could have a filter to put ****** for techs that are too far off. I'm not sure what the best way is to determine what techs can be seen, but one idea is to show any tech which:

I think that would probably work well. It probably wouldn't hide many techs unless you started browsing deep into the future.



[edit]

I've thought about it a little bit more, and decided that it might be better to be slightly more restrictive in the following way:
Instead of revealing a tech if we can research any of the prerequisite, it would probably be better to only reveal them when we are able to research all of the prerequisites. Everything else could be hidden as *******, and revealed by a "show spoilers" button.

This way, some techs would say "leads to *******", so that we'd know it leads to something, but we wouldn't be told what that something is unless we are close to unlocking it anyway.

Any thoughts about this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Cristao on December 07, 2016, 08:42:46 pm
Longest time folks. Got distracted by Runescape for a while. Looks like the game is much more complicated than when I left. Will give a shot during Xmas holidays.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on December 08, 2016, 06:58:34 am
I'm wondering if there are ways to make the zombies more aggressive and actively moving towards things that shoot at them.  They are terrifying up close, but if have good firing arcs, they're just good target practice and a test on your ammo supply.  I'd actually like it if they accounted for how stealthy a weapon is supposed to be, arrows or silent thrown weapons would only attract the ones they hit, while a homefront rifle or a chainsaw would call them in from a long distance.

It also seems like they don't have the ability to open doors, maybe giving them some special attack to use only on doors or weak walls, an AI capable of actually using that might be useful.

Incidentally, the scariest run in I've had with those guys so far was a ratling village, lots of places to hide.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 08, 2016, 02:04:41 pm
I wonder what the difficulty actually affects. I guess higher difficulty means:
More enemies per mission.
Higher likelyhood of retaliation.
Anything else?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 08, 2016, 02:50:00 pm
Difficulty also increases ufo firing rate and alien stats.  Also, the lowest difficulty cuts all enemies armor by half.  See this article for more information (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Difficulty_Levels).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Eddie on December 08, 2016, 06:26:02 pm
I'm wondering if there are ways to make the zombies more aggressive and actively moving towards things that shoot at them.  They are terrifying up close,

Terrifying? Not that much. If your gals are not complete weaklings, plastasteel pipes are a convenient way to take them down (and capture them alive so you get more hellerium). The scariest thing about zombies is that there might be cryssalids as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 08, 2016, 11:30:19 pm
I'm wondering if there are ways to make the zombies more aggressive and actively moving towards things that shoot at them. 

They don't have very much in the way of TU - nor are they meant to - but if you want to go ahead and make them fast zombies, just up their TU and energy recovery to 100.     :D

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 09, 2016, 12:56:45 am
The problem isn't speed, but coherence. 20 slow Zombies which more or less charge at you at once is a very bad thing; 20 slow Zombies which just ramble about and only attack you when they have no excuses is just a long mission.

I tried upping their Aggression to beyond-vanilla levels, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I guess it would need an AI upgrade, or maybe better understanding how melee AI works, so I could think of some sort of trick.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: KateMicucci on December 09, 2016, 01:29:35 am
What if you give them perfect knowledge of where the player is?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 09, 2016, 01:42:40 am
The AI is pretty awful if nothing is in vision, so super vision might help. Perhaps long range "sense".

Still more reasons to rebuild the ai. Last few months have had alot of issues where the best answer for quality was "new AI".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Arthanor on December 09, 2016, 01:48:20 am
Looking into the AI code, there's a lot of stuff that makes a unit want to escape, but especially if it's hurt and sees lots of enemies at once. In a zombie mission, the player generally shoots the closest zombie first (why wouldn't you?) and also generally keeps all the soldiers together (because you don't need to move, they all need support and that's closer to the ammo pile). This results in a situation where the closest zombies are hurt and see many enemies, so likely try to escape. Zombies are also melee and pretty slow, so the further ones probably can't charge this turn they're probably unlikely to try to advanced unless they can get cover.

This result in a situation where the closest zombies retreat when wounded, the ones not too far refuse to advance into exposed positions because they see 4 soldiers (assuming a van) and the presence of other zombies does nothing to influence their decision and make them likely to charge because every alien is considered independently (that's the point of vanilla: Superhuman aliens grown in vat and with no coordination but great weapons VS simple human with crappy weapons but good team play: Humans + team play + good tactics wins and player is happy). But it doesn't work very well for zombies or some other factions in mods.

As for giving the knowledge of where the player is, that's usually not a problem in zombie maps since there are plenty of zombies in sight already (and they see you too). But that would make them deadly in terrain heavy maps where you are more likely to be in charge range and to spread your soldiers as opposed to open maps where you can stick together and there's no hiding for zombies. A good fix should make a zombie horde charge you in open terrain and try to overwhelm you with numbers, not make scattered zombies in terrain suddenly psychic things that know exactly when to leap out to get you.

For this, I can only see cranking up aggression to insane levels to lower escape odds as much as possible but in the following code:

Code: [Select]
https:// take our aggression into consideration
switch (_unit->getAggression())
{
case 0:
escapeOdds *= 1.4;
combatOdds *= 0.7;
break;
case 1:
ambushOdds *= 1.1;
break;
case 2:
combatOdds *= 1.4;
escapeOdds *= 0.7;
break;
default:
combatOdds *= std::max(0.1, std::min(2.0, 1.2 + (_unit->getAggression() / 10)));
escapeOdds *= std::min(2.0, std::max(0.1, 0.9 - (_unit->getAggression() / 10)));
break;
}

It looks as if values other than 0-1-2 get handled by a default that caps useable values for aggression at 8. Changing this min/max to a formula that can be extended beyond 8 could enable modders to set aggression to 200 and pretty much get a unit that always goes for the charge?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 09, 2016, 02:49:25 am
Thanks for the detailed info, Arthanor. I don't understand the code* and why aggression is effectively capped at 8, but I'll take your word for it.

If we set Aggression to 8, how likely are Zombies to charge on average?

* for example, what does it mean: std::max(0.1, std::min(2.0, 1.2 etc. - what syntax is this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 09, 2016, 02:59:11 am
The std:: can be ignored for the sake of reading, so it's taking the maximum value between 0.1 and everything in the min() value, which is the minimum between 2.0 and 1.2+aggression/10.  That minimum statement effectively caps aggression to 8, since values above 8 would make 1.2+aggression/10 greater than 2.0.

At 8, it looks like the chance of charging is doubled every time this code snippet is run.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 09, 2016, 03:15:11 am
The std:: can be ignored for the sake of reading, so it's taking the maximum value between 0.1 and everything in the min() value, which is the minimum between 2.0 and 1.2+aggression/10.  That minimum statement effectively caps aggression to 8, since values above 8 would make 1.2+aggression/10 greater than 2.0.

At 8, it looks like the chance of charging is doubled every time this code snippet is run.

OK, it's simple enough.

Wouldn't it be enough to just change 2.0 to something higher then? With my extremely limited understanding, I can't see how it would harm vanilla.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 09, 2016, 11:53:57 am
That depends on whether vanilla has higher values than 8 in their rulesets or not. If they only have 8 or lower - no problem. If they use higher values, event though it did not result in combat odds above 2, then it would change vanilla behavior.
Edit: Other mods might also be affected for the very same reason. They simply might not have realized that 8 is the effective cap for aggression.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 09, 2016, 12:25:25 pm
Difficulty also increases ufo firing rate and alien stats.  Also, the lowest difficulty cuts all enemies armor by half.  See this article for more information (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Difficulty_Levels).

Thanks. It's a bit odd that there is no 'default' or 'normal' difficulty level with everything at 100 %. I guess the closest thing is "Experienced".

I'll likely use that for my first LP then. Starting soon-ish. I also wonder whether I should wait for the next X-Piratez version and use OXCE+ 3.5.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 09, 2016, 02:33:34 pm
Yeah, Aggression might be a problem but if you look at the units, Chryssalids actually have much less aggression than the zombies, but they are more likely to attack and, boiled down, that's because they are more likely to get in range and attack with 110 TUs versus the zombies 40.   So, yes - new AI to make 100% aggression a thing should help - and I agree that zombies should have it, but until then - giving them the TUs and Energy recovery should simply make them more likely to try to get into range.

/edit: We should also probably tone down that zombie death rattle - it's significantly louder than anything else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: DeWolf on December 09, 2016, 08:21:00 pm
So how do I get the industrial scanner?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 09, 2016, 08:27:43 pm
Start looting more shippings.  Sometimes Cutters have them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Drasnighta on December 09, 2016, 09:50:30 pm

/edit: We should also probably tone down that zombie death rattle - it's significantly louder than anything else.

No Way, my Toddler cheers from across the room when he hears it....  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on December 09, 2016, 10:41:30 pm
No Way, my Toddler cheers from across the room when he hears it....  :D

Truly a young warrior! I have no intention of tuning the sound down.

As of currently, zombies have full psi vision of your units and have Aggression set to 6. I will dial it up to 8 but probably the difference will be slight.

What would be nice, if there was a setting that makes enemies ignore enemy numerical advantage in their calculations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: LadonLegend on December 10, 2016, 06:49:58 am
Do Reticulans stop spawning at some point or have I just been unlucky? I'm at a research bottleneck because I never got a mechtoid corpse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 10, 2016, 07:33:37 am
It's not uncommon for factions to be absent from play for months at a time. Aside from the trade guild since they have more mission types then any other faction by a substantial margin.

I'm presently twiddling my thumbs waiting for academy engineer number 2 to show up. I've seen all of 1 in 4 years of game time. There is nothing resembling assured even distribution of spawns. Part of the reason why we are allowed to purchase vips.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: robin on December 10, 2016, 09:55:56 am
As of currently, zombies have full psi vision of your units and have Aggression set to 6. I will dial it up to 8 but probably the difference will be slight.
is there a noticeable behavior difference in setting the aggression value so high?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 10, 2016, 01:00:02 pm
That depends on whether vanilla has higher values than 8 in their rulesets or not. If they only have 8 or lower - no problem. If they use higher values, event though it did not result in combat odds above 2, then it would change vanilla behavior.

The highest value for both games is only 2, so no problem here.

is there a noticeable behavior difference in setting the aggression value so high?

From my observations, not really, but every % counts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 10, 2016, 04:50:01 pm
Awesome mod, but there is two things that annoy me a lot.

1. Last alien problem. Nearly half of mission time is looking for hi. Could it be done that if there is only fraction of enemy remains, and some time passed, they are either surrender or actively move towards your soldiers?

2. Too many weird prerequisites in research tree. It took my over a year of game time to get to workshop - because I had no idea that workshop needs Molotov's cocktail for some reason.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 10, 2016, 04:54:46 pm
Are you playing the most recent version?  99.E.1 ( I believe) introduced both surrenders and bug-hunt mode.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 10, 2016, 05:50:22 pm
Yes, I play 099.E.1 and sometimes there are surrenders, but quite rare. What is bug-hunt mode?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 10, 2016, 07:45:01 pm
After turn 20 and with 2 or fewer enemies, they show up on the minimap.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 11, 2016, 12:08:59 am
I'd like to mention that bug-hunt mode really saved me recently on a mansion mission. It turns out that there was a church matron stuck in a small inaccessible room such that I had to shoot through a couple of walls to get to it - but the room was so small that the matron didn't move at all, ever - and so I couldn't find her with my Aye phone.

I would have spent ages looking if it wasn't for bug-hunt mode. (I only had two aye phones on the mission; so I was still thinking that maybe the enemy had slipped past me while I was trying to sweep through the map, and so I was doing second and third sweeps...)

Speaking of mansion missions. The text at the start of the mission seems to imply that we should just try to grab some loot and then leave, rather than trying to kill everything. And that sounds like a pretty cool mission idea - in that you're sneaking past guards, grabbing the high-value loot, slitting the throats of those who you happen to have their backs turned at the wrong time...  The main problem is that it takes so long to find the valuable loot that by far the easiest way is to just kill everyone. Maybe the grab-and-run strategy would be more viable if all of the high-value loot was stored just in a couple of rooms on the bottom floor. That way we'd know that if we got to those rooms, we'd found the bulk of the high-value stuff, and so it would be reasonable to run rather than stay around trying to enslave everyone. ... and it would help if the spare equipment from our craft was stored in the exit area so that we didn't have to find that too. For mansion missions as they currently are, I wouldn't even consider staying to kill everyone unless I was losing badly. (Of course, enslaving everyone is still super-high value even if there was no loot at all; so most players would probably stay until the end even if grabbing the loot was easy.)


While I'm here, I'd also like to say that I've really enjoyed the new underwater missions - Particularly when I only could get to them with my air-car, and so I had a tiny team. There was a nice sense of planning and adventure in choosing the right 4 gals for the mission; choosing the right equipment; carrying around oxygen tanks; hiding behind things; deciding whether I have enough oxygen to gulp a few doses just for the extra stamina, or if I should just take it slow for a few turns...     sea monsters swimming out from the hole made by the blown out (h)elerium core; cross bows and harpoon guns...     ...  Yeah, it was pretty fun - mostly just because it was quite different to the other missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 11, 2016, 12:27:33 am
Is there an info about what vehicles fit for underwater missions somewhere? I don't see anything neither on mission page, nor vehicle pages in Bootypedia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Cristao on December 11, 2016, 12:17:55 pm
Started a new game today. Lets see how we get on. I have forgotten everything but hopefully it all comes back before I get wiped out.

LOL at Bootypedia entry for Hawtkeys (CTRL + T crashes the game)!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 11, 2016, 07:16:13 pm
I wrote a letter to the northpol:

Dear Santa Dioxine,

for christmas I wish me a new patch to fill my holidays.
"Send nudes" ain't worked last time and I got a bag of coals instead.

Yours sincerely
A naughty boi
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Cristao on December 11, 2016, 11:07:42 pm
All I can say is wow. Finally got Drill and Codex research. Going to read Bootypedia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2016, 03:38:47 pm
I wrote a letter to the northpol:

Dear Santa Dioxine,

for christmas I wish me a new patch to fill my holidays.
"Send nudes" ain't worked last time and I got a bag of coals instead.

Yours sincerely
A naughty boi

Something is in the works, aye. Any special wishes? Just don't wish new missions or mechanics, they take a lot to produce and the Christmas season is pretty hectic :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 12, 2016, 06:44:01 pm
An icebear drops a folded letter into Santa Dioxine's mailbox.

Naughty Boi is realy happy to pledge his wish(es).

After finding out that Mountain Dew tastes rather 'bad' he wishes for the following:

Plasma Tommy Gun (green/blue instead of red particles for the picture with the same stats as the laser tommy)
Chainmail + Shield like you did for the Barbarian Suit?
A Suit like the Harbinger but instead it is good against piercing (Piercing 65-75%) with same armor value. Trade-off is increased damage suffered by laser shots.

Yours sincerely
The same and still naughty boi
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Cristao on December 12, 2016, 10:46:03 pm
Awesome mod, but there is two things that annoy me a lot.

1. Last alien problem. Nearly half of mission time is looking for hi. Could it be done that if there is only fraction of enemy remains, and some time passed, they are either surrender or actively move towards your soldiers?

2. Too many weird prerequisites in research tree. It took my over a year of game time to get to workshop - because I had no idea that workshop needs Molotov's cocktail for some reason.

Agree on point no. 2. It took me a while to get workshop. I had to use tech tree to figure it out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on December 12, 2016, 11:50:03 pm
Is there an info about what vehicles fit for underwater missions somewhere? I don't see anything neither on mission page, nor vehicle pages in Bootypedia.

    allowedCraft:
      - STR_AIRBUS
      - STR_AIRCAR
      - STR_SAKURABUS (Purple Turtle)
      - STR_VENTURA (Bonaventura)
      - STR_FORTUNA
      - STR_FUEGO
      - STR_METALLO
      - STR_JETBIKE
      - STR_FIRESTORM (Deliverator)
      - STR_DRAKKAR
      - STR_BRIG (Leviathan)
      - STR_SABRE
      - STR_LIGHTNING (Crab)
      - STR_HYDRA
      - STR_KRAKEN
      - STR_MINING_SHIP
      - STR_TRITON
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: DeWolf on December 13, 2016, 12:44:31 am
    allowedCraft:
      - STR_AIRBUS
      - STR_AIRCAR
      - STR_SAKURABUS (Purple Turtle)
      - STR_VENTURA
      - STR_FORTUNA
      - STR_FUEGO
      - STR_METALLO
      - STR_JETBIKE
      - STR_FIRESTORM (Deliverator)
      - STR_DRAKKAR
      - STR_BRIG (Leviathan)
      - STR_SABRE
      - STR_LIGHTNING (Crab)
      - STR_HYDRA
      - STR_KRAKEN
      - STR_MINING_SHIP
      - STR_TRITON
For absolute certain the bonaventura but on that topic.
I recall the description for the loader armor for being sea and space worthy only to see my loader peeps in space pods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 13, 2016, 12:55:44 am
The loader is "space" worthy in the sense that it can do the cydonia mission. First stage of cydonia lacks air but has land/gravity. Orbital missions are micro gravity where you need some manner of thruster to go anywhere. The descriptions could stand some clarification now that we have 3 separate environment lists.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 13, 2016, 01:00:43 am
I wish we could train a Shambler to do the tricks. Such as pummelling our enemies. It's a waste to only being able to kill such big fluffy cutie for fur or sell him off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 13, 2016, 01:28:40 am
Is there an info about what vehicles fit for underwater missions somewhere? I don't see anything neither on mission page, nor vehicle pages in Bootypedia.

Maybe the relevant bootypedia entries could have "waterproof" added to the text, and "spaceworthy" for the space ships?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 13, 2016, 01:50:38 am
I wish we could train a Shambler to do the tricks. Such as pummelling our enemies. It's a waste to only being able to kill such big fluffy cutie for fur or sell him off.

And develop a mutated, green Shambler!

I'd like to see more critters tameable too, but only if they actually give some tactical advantage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on December 13, 2016, 06:27:41 pm
Cross Posting here:

I've created a new reference table for the online bootypedia that shows which vessels can go to which environment:

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)#Vessel_Environment_Matrix

(https://i.imgur.com/jUVkRjm.png) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)#Vessel_Environment_Matrix)

(There are a couple other environments in the ruleset (Acid Rain and Nasdac) that don't have vessel restriction so these are not listed.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 14, 2016, 06:54:59 am
Hmm thuderhorse kinda blows between this info and the recent slot nerf.

Also guess grey codex is even better then I thought given fortuna is larger capacity then most other all enviro craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ragshak on December 15, 2016, 05:46:17 pm
Please, add specific info about stats for Shamblers.
If possible update all spiecies descriptions with vision range and NV.
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on December 15, 2016, 06:21:44 pm
Please, add specific info about stats for Shamblers.
If possible update all spiecies descriptions with vision range and NV.

Yeah, so keeping the online Bootypedia up to date is a pretty hefty job as Dracogriffin, myself, and ohartenstein can attest.  I honestly have not done much with it for a few months, and it is definitely getting stale.  At this point there is so much work to be done, I'm honestly fairly daunted and not that motivated. I'd much rather play or watch Poet and Meridian.  So this is sort of an appeal for more folks willing to do some ruleset diving and help keep the 'pedia updated.

For your specific request, Shambler stats:

    stats:
      tu: 70
      stamina: 100
      health: 200
      bravery: 90
      reactions: 40
      firing: 0
      throwing: 0
      strength: 120
      psiStrength: 30
      psiSkill: 0
    frontArmor: 15
    sideArmor: 15
    rearArmor: 15
    underArmor: 10
    intelligence: 1
    aggression: 3
Standard resistances, except 90% to Piercing and 30% to Concussive.
NV: 20, THV: 50%


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 15, 2016, 08:12:30 pm
Maybe it's possible to automate converting data from in-game pedia entries and stats to wiki?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 15, 2016, 08:24:38 pm
Oh it's certainly possible - I've made a few tools to take the data from Piratez and convert it into wiki table format.  That's how the huge task of making the ranged weapons page was tackled instead of just copypasta.  The problem is that it's still a bunch of work to maintain, and now I have to maintain the tools as well :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 16, 2016, 01:31:46 am
Are you guys sure you are on the same page? In-game bootypedia vs. wiki (confusingly also named bootypedia).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 16, 2016, 01:50:41 am
Ivan was bringing up Bootypedia Online (the wiki) as a source for supplemental information when the in-game 'pedia doesn't display all the info on a unit/item/armor/whatever.  I think Ragshak was asking for a bit more info to be added to the in-game article for Shambler, but the second part of his request applies to both Dioxine for the in-game articles and us maintaining the wiki - that represents a good deal of work, that isn't easily automated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ragshak on December 16, 2016, 05:00:40 pm
Thanks ivandogovich.

Yes, ohartenstein23 I was thinking about in game description. For example Blood Hounds and Scorpions have detailed info screen but for Shambler it is just wall of text like for aliens in vanilla UFO.

I have issues with melee enemies. How to counter dog/scorpion/blood hound bite? It really annoys me that my ubers can survive shotgun burst aimed at their face but dog from Ratman Rodeo mission can kill them in one turn.
Because of that all hunt missions (except for Shamblers which are ok when using fire and whips against them) are great pain in the butt without Hover Armor.
Did try to stack Reactions a little bit but whithout much success. Armors (even those with mid game with 40 front defence) do not help much.

Any tips?

(Superhuman difficulty, default XPiratez settings)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on December 16, 2016, 05:03:57 pm
- Explosives
- Hover
- ignore the missions for now
- decrease difficulty
- etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 16, 2016, 07:13:02 pm
Yeah, Superhuman difficulty isn't really that much fun. It's all right if the game feels too easy otherwise, but there's no need to use it otherwise. Not like it can't be played, but it's not any better than, say, Blackbeard. Besides, it always uses max enemies, so you always know how many are left!

If you want to change difficulty, find this line in the save:

Code: [Select]
difficulty: 4

Change the number to something lower, like 2... Save, done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 16, 2016, 07:16:25 pm
Hunts are indeed proportionally much more difficult on high difficulties due to the shear number of base units. Crafts with doors can be abused because melee foes suffer even more from lost LOS then normal. Another tactic with craft with ramps is to have a row of knelling gals with standing gals behind allowing ranked fire at foes. The menace class crafts can even manage a third and forth row of shooters by using the stairs and kneeling on the edge of the upper deck.

Straying to far from the craft in hunts is usually a poor choice as it increases the odds a gall gets overwhelmed. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 16, 2016, 10:37:32 pm
One small thing (though, not specifically Piratez) that would be great - have direction arrows that show on Alt have different colors for us, enemies and civilians. It's often really hard to sort out who is who in a mess of smoke and bodies. Additionally - mark squares with items in when Alt is pressed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ragshak on December 17, 2016, 07:34:42 pm
Can you help me undestand camulfage mechanics?

Camo Paint armor: 12/4 Camuflage.

Does that mean:
1) Durning Day my Gal will be spotted from 12 tiltes or less / Durning Nigth my Gal will be spotted from 4 titles or less?
2) Gal is 12 titles harder to find durning Day and 4 durning Nigth. By harder I mean Enemy Vision Range - Camuflage, So if enemy has 30 Vision Range durning Day he will see me from 18 titles or less?

I'm asking because I am confused by recent events. In the early stages of the game Camo Paint was enougth to deal with low level guards (those with no special abillieties). Now I see that the same enemy type has no problem targeting my Gals. Or do they improve over time?

Does ligth affects camuflaage in any way?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 17, 2016, 07:46:42 pm
Your point 1) is what happens with armors marked as INVIS in the Bootypedia, camo is 2) - a reduction in sight range for the enemy on that gal.  And yes, light effects camouflage - 'Day' vision occurs in tiles where the light level is greater than 9, so near any light sources, your gals are seen at the enemies' day vision range minus 'day' camo.  So in the example of an enemy that has 30 day vision and 9 night vision, if you're in a lit-up tile, your painted gal will be seen from 30-12=18 tiles away, while in the dark they will be seen from 9-4=5 tiles away.

To properly use camo at night, this means you need to be at least 9 tiles away from a flare (or similar light source) or have the LOS to it blocked by a wall in order to be 'in the dark'.  This means it's best to do night missions in camo without any light sources, and watch out for enemies with incendiary or those that drop light-emitting items (like personal computers), and to be careful on maps that have their own light sources.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dreamsicle on December 17, 2016, 07:53:32 pm
Cross Posting here:

I've created a new reference table for the online bootypedia that shows which vessels can go to which environment:

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)#Vessel_Environment_Matrix

(https://i.imgur.com/jUVkRjm.png) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)#Vessel_Environment_Matrix)

(There are a couple other environments in the ruleset (Acid Rain and Nasdac) that don't have vessel restriction so these are not listed.)

Hmm, surprised the Conqueror can't do space missions even though it can go to Cydonia.

I also finally started a game after deciding to stop waiting for new versions to show up. I like it a lot so far! Only specific feedback I can give is that Ratmen villages feel like death traps. I'm lucky I only had 2 deaths but everyone on that op was wounded for over 20 days. I'm not going to suggest changing anything, I'll just try to change tactics and loadouts.

BTW, is there an equivalent of August 1999 where if your not at a certain tech base, you're screwed? I realize the pace isn't as strenous as vanilla OXC, but hearing about Automatic Crackdowns at Year 2 does worry me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 17, 2016, 08:04:34 pm
Automatic crackdowns happen starting after year 2, so beginning year 3.  You don't need to be at any specific tech level, but it is an encouragement to get your research going into endgame stuff.  There are also important researches that make getting positive score easier and for keeping your income above or near maintenance, but again, not really necessary if you're making up for it on other fronts.  There's not really a definitive point of "you're screwed."  Also, if you're good at base defense (and the gals have the advantage against most factions at close range because melee), a crackdown is a delivery of nice weapons and VIPs straight to your doorstep. :)

Yeah, Ratman villages are rough until you get some better firearms, especially shotguns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: just_dont on December 17, 2016, 08:55:46 pm
Can someone tell me about current entry point to the aerial combat?
I mean, of course I got it up to getting Aircar, this part is very straightforward. But how do I get early craft weapons?

On an unrelated note, "Contacts: Builders' Hall" is available awfully early for its own description text - description says about facilities, but in the beginning, you won't get any (I guess they're all locked by other prerequisites), so the only thing you'll get from this tech is workers' hiring.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 18, 2016, 12:27:19 am
The way I get start on air combat is to follow any ship I see, hoping that it will land. One landed ship in the early game will generally be enough to get you a 25mm cannon, which you can then use to shoot down every civilian target you see. (I wouldn't advise going after any faction-aligned targets until you are stronger). You can also get a good light weapon from under-sea adventures. And if all else fails, you can research and build air-balls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Eddie on December 18, 2016, 03:03:30 am
25 mm cannon can also be bought once you research contacts: krazy hanna

and watch out for enemies with incendiary or those that drop light-emitting items

I just had a revelation. I find night and camo a way too powerful combination as the AI cannot handle it. I cannot teach the AI how to use flares, but I can put them in their inventory. Hmmm... I can still pick up the flare after they drop them to kill the light. If their body would emit the light, this would create a real problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 18, 2016, 03:36:47 am
Beacon corpses.....no thanks, high difficulty would be bright as day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 18, 2016, 03:50:47 am
Not a bad idea for some special enemy though.

How about combining it with the alienDeployments setting that enforces darkness, regardless of daytime? :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 18, 2016, 06:04:06 am
I'll agree with that scorch. But all the time no. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Arekusandoru on December 18, 2016, 09:04:17 am
Guys, I've just played two warehouse wars missions and all of the enemies were zombies.  Is it supposed to be so? This is my first experience with Piratez.
Also, can someone explain me the purpose of Workers? Are they supposed to work in the workshop? How can I unlock this building?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 18, 2016, 10:27:48 am
Guys, I've just played two warehouse wars missions and all of the enemies were zombies.  Is it supposed to be so? This is my first experience with Piratez.
Also, can someone explain me the purpose of Workers? Are they supposed to work in the workshop? How can I unlock this building?

I have had some zombie infested warehouses, but in my experience this happens only with a fraction of the warehouse wars missions. Most feature regular weak traders guild guys (and maybe a hostess).

AFAIK workers are pretty much the same as slaves, except that you have to pay them. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Both create negative space.
Yep, that's really weird and unintuitive.
Workers/slaves means you can cram more items in your storage space than you could without them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: tylor on December 18, 2016, 11:27:19 am
Not a bad idea for some special enemy though.

How about combining it with the alienDeployments setting that enforces darkness, regardless of daytime? :P

Btw, torches are quite thematic for pogroms and/or neonazis.

And, honestly, night maps are too night. Why aren't there at least some light sources here and there in inhabited places?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ragshak on December 18, 2016, 01:19:00 pm
Your point 1) is what happens with armors marked as INVIS in the Bootypedia, camo is 2) - a reduction in sight range for the enemy on that gal.  And yes, light effects camouflage - 'Day' vision occurs in tiles where the light level is greater than 9, so near any light sources, your gals are seen at the enemies' day vision range minus 'day' camo.  So in the example of an enemy that has 30 day vision and 9 night vision, if you're in a lit-up tile, your painted gal will be seen from 30-12=18 tiles away, while in the dark they will be seen from 9-4=5 tiles away.

To properly use camo at night, this means you need to be at least 9 tiles away from a flare (or similar light source) or have the LOS to it blocked by a wall in order to be 'in the dark'.  This means it's best to do night missions in camo without any light sources, and watch out for enemies with incendiary or those that drop light-emitting items (like personal computers), and to be careful on maps that have their own light sources.

Thanks. So in the end 12/4 from Camo Paint is much better than 5/1 from Guerilla Armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: just_dont on December 18, 2016, 02:18:04 pm
And, honestly, night maps are too night. Why aren't there at least some light sources here and there in inhabited places?
Yup, I always considered it pretty strange when you fight on a suburbs map and the only reasonably lit area is the road. Almost all buildings could use a lot more external lighting sources.

There's one very "natural" solution to NV being overpowered - is to apply temporary 1-turn visibility debuffs (camo, light level, anything) on firing most weapons - basically, to simulate muzzle flashes. Which will allow enemies to see you after you fire a gun, thus negating your ability to shoot things with impunity with no risk of reaction fire (which is the most OP part of night vision). But I'm not sure if it's at all possible with current OpenXcomEx.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 18, 2016, 02:58:38 pm
Thanks. So in the end 12/4 from Camo Paint is much better than 5/1 from Guerilla Armor.

In terms of not being seen, yes - but guerilla's main benefit is the 80% pierce resistance and reaction boost.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 18, 2016, 04:07:12 pm
Guys, I've just played two warehouse wars missions and all of the enemies were zombies.  Is it supposed to be so?

No, it's pretty rare... You had the misfortune (?) of stumbling on a plague outbreak. At least they're not unable to shoot at you...

AFAIK workers are pretty much the same as slaves, except that you have to pay them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct.

And, honestly, night maps are too night. Why aren't there at least some light sources here and there in inhabited places?

Electricity is often turned off during emergencies, and I'd say a Pogrom counts as one. But adding more lights is just a matter of making new blocks.

There's one very "natural" solution to NV being overpowered - is to apply temporary 1-turn visibility debuffs (camo, light level, anything) on firing most weapons - basically, to simulate muzzle flashes. Which will allow enemies to see you after you fire a gun, thus negating your ability to shoot things with impunity with no risk of reaction fire (which is the most OP part of night vision). But I'm not sure if it's at all possible with current OpenXcomEx.

It's certainly impossible right now, but I think it's worth discussing if ever a more complicated detection system emerges. For example, spotting by sound.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Arekusandoru on December 18, 2016, 04:44:00 pm
Thanks for the reply!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Ragshak on December 19, 2016, 12:22:59 am
"You can't focus" pops up while trying to eat Mutant Meat. What is going on?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 19, 2016, 12:42:00 am
Too much stun damage.  You need to have at least 40 less stun damage than you have current health to eat mutant meat, since it gives you that much stun when you eat it.  This also means you can't eat if your health is under 40.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 19, 2016, 12:51:49 am
Too much stun damage.  You need to have at least 40 less stun damage than you have current health to eat mutant meat, since it gives you that much stun when you eat it.  This also means you can't eat if your health is under 40.

Perhaps the message should be: "You feel nauseous!" I think this would point to stun damage more clearly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 19, 2016, 09:07:30 am
Perhaps the message should be: "You feel nauseous!" I think this would point to stun damage more clearly.
I don't think either of those clearly point to stun damage. 'Nauseous' is a suitable word when eating something, but if there's a wand or something that that also causes stun damage then it wouldn't really fit. Perhaps "You feel like you're about to pass out", or "You'd faint if you did that", or something like that.

[edit]
By the way, I'm personally happy enough with the current message. But I'm use to that kind of stuff from playing lots of Nethack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 19, 2016, 06:05:29 pm
"If I eat any more, I'm gonna pass out."  :-p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: just_dont on December 20, 2016, 12:40:40 am
So, to answer my own question about early aerial combat.

There are three ways of getting early craft weapons (getting Aircar is quite trivial):
1) Loot. Shadow a (faction) craft, wait for it to land, loot 25mm cannon and some ammo from it. Straightforward but highly random. Also you can't replenish ammo, but it will last for a few interceptions, especially with a good pilot. I could never get a govt. craft with guns early game, so I'm pretty sure that only global faction crafts qualify.
2) Buy. 25mm cannons and ammo become available at "Contacts: Krazy Hanna". However, I'm not quite sure about prerequisites for that tech, and I never could reach it especially early (3rd month at best).
3) Make. Better weapons (namely, 30mm cannon which you can often loot from early crafts) can be researched & built, but for most things above 25mm cannon you'll need Workshop. Which is locked behind Runt Outfit, which is in turn locked behind Durathread research (obtainable from traders and kind of impossible to miss unless you kill everyone and never capture enemies) and "Contacts: Builders' Hall".

Getting to Workshop is extremely important, as most of craft-related production requires one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: khade on December 20, 2016, 01:18:07 am
There's also the airballs, I think they're called, which can be built without a workshop, I don't remember the materials required though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on December 20, 2016, 01:27:48 am
I personally found the Airballs worthless when I tried them in my last run.  Out of 5 engagements with Civ ships, I had 3 complete misses expending all ammo, and 2 complete destructions of the target craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Starving Poet on December 20, 2016, 01:39:23 am
I had moderate success with the airballs - but honestly, at the time it was all I had available, so they worked better than flashing my headlights.  :-p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: just_dont on December 20, 2016, 02:22:58 am
I personally found the Airballs worthless when I tried them in my last run.  Out of 5 engagements with Civ ships, I had 3 complete misses expending all ammo, and 2 complete destructions of the target craft.
That's about the same as my experience with them - too strong for civilians, and way too risky to use against anything stronger. Thought it's theoretically possible to wreck a Runabout with them. Theoretically.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 20, 2016, 09:50:13 am
I just got a soldier with VooDoo strength of 61.  :o  I thought the max was 60. 60 is the highest I've seen in my previous two play-throughs, and the Bootypedia says that 60 is the max for female Ubers.

Has the maximum been changed? Perhaps its a special feature of rescued ship-wrecked gals or something? Or is this the result of some kind of rare special condition which allows the stat to go above the maximum. (I know that that stats trained in battle can go above the maximum; and I often deliberately try to make that happen - but VooDoo strength is not a trained stat...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Dioxine on December 20, 2016, 09:55:44 am
Your starting gals, and the ones you rescue, have a slight edge (max 62).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 20, 2016, 01:17:54 pm
Your starting gals, and the ones you rescue, have a slight edge (max 62).
Fair enough. Thanks.

And just to clarify, am I right in assume that there is no max-stats advance of Warriors over Hands? I'm at a point in the game where I could easily afford to recruit only warriors, but I figure I don't need to because my luxury spa provides me with a plentiful supply of fully trained hands. (I suppose the warriors would have better starting bravery and reactions, but I'm not too worried about that.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: just_dont on December 20, 2016, 01:30:51 pm
And just to clarify, am I right in assume that there is no max-stats advance of Warriors over Hands?
Yes. Warriors can have better initial stats, but stat caps are the same as Hands.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Martin on December 20, 2016, 01:46:04 pm
Hi. Thanks for excellent mod, I am having a great time.

I'd like to suggest addition of mid to late game tamed celatids to future release. Adding some animal that spits poison or flies would be good for the hunt missions, presently I can send single freshly hired gal in grav harness armed with the arena fireball launcher and win everytime.

I woudl also like to see new heavily armed baddies start to spawn after certain number of turns on the mansion mission, so that you actually have to rush in, steal all you can pick and get out before cavalry arrives. In its present incarnation the mission is just too profitable for the loot you get, but that might be difficult or impossible to implement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 20, 2016, 02:22:21 pm
I'd like to suggest addition of mid to late game tamed celatids to future release. Adding some animal that spits poison or flies would be good for the hunt missions, presently I can send single freshly hired gal in grav harness armed with the arena fireball launcher and win everytime.

Well, you can take a parrot and give it an acid grenade to drop. :D

But yes, more creatures are always nice.

I woudl also like to see new heavily armed baddies start to spawn after certain number of turns on the mansion mission, so that you actually have to rush in, steal all you can pick and get out before cavalry arrives. In its present incarnation the mission is just too profitable for the loot you get, but that might be difficult or impossible to implement.

We're just discussing similar ideas on the Discord channel right now, everyone's invited: https://discord.gg/GUyBtFh
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: ivandogovich on December 20, 2016, 08:20:50 pm
Some reflections on my current game in the latest incarnation: .99e.2.

I've played about a year and a half into the game and am loving the new missions, content, and rewards.  The new monsters (scorps were the only game in town when I last played) help alot to give a good platform for progression and keep early game missions interesting. 

The much greater supply of apples helps alot with early finances, and once they become less profitable than other merch (forgery), the steady supply does a lot to make up for the fact that Rum is now a one-use item. 

I love that I got some gems for my First Pyramid of Pain, as it gives a nice incentive to grind these out.  Likewise, I like the new loot hauls on Military Supply missions.  Getting Defender armor from these has always been a huge boost, but now also getting weapon parts like heavy couplings is terrific.  The Ret Outpost with the Moon Flower rewards are another great example.

The better use of personal databases, and the ability to harvest disks from them is a huge improvement.

Also: The Junkmaster is now useful.  Thanks for removing the health penalty. 

My standard approach has been to rush to Air Car for civ traffic interceptions.  I've then moved up to a main loadout of Pachyderm and Jetbike.  The bike shoots down civ vessels only, and the pilot solos these in Defender armor and a domestic shotgun with rubber slugs for accuracy training.  All other shipping gets tailed by the Pachyderm or maybe the Jetbike.  I did build out an underwater "B" team with a Turtle in another base, and have had two undersea adventures.  I was able to bring Mag ammo with Homefront rifles to my first encounter with Sharks, and they were more than up to the task.  DeepOne nomads fared no better, and I've sent them to some bloodhound hunts for some training too. 

I generally pursued a policy of exhausting interrogation on prisoners that could tell me about weapons etc, and ground through all the low level minions in all the major factions.  I generally pursued weapon and armor upgrades over craft, but also with an eye to unlocking key facilities.  I'm 42% through the tech tree with 17 brainers in my main base, and 10 in my Lab base (with expansion for 10 more in the works).  I have one mint production base with 270 workers keeping us in business, with 2 other forgery production centers in development.

I waited a LONG time to build my Menace Class because of the restrictions to the Voodoo Schools it presents.  My two favorite schools are Illusion (For Ghost and Witch) and Communion (for Saviour and Slave outfits).  However, I can't get these schools together.  I feel Illusion is strongest of all,  but it only pairs with Destruction and Excess.  The Destructor suit sounds awesome but I've never used it, and I kinda really don't like Darkones, nor Demonic Rituals etc, for both a flavor stance and a playability.  So my only other option is the Illusion/Excess pair.  Excess seems kinda weak, but I'm interested in seeing out the Fairy Outfit works.  So I have a Fuego built, but not crewed.  Overall, I think this is hardest part of the game, and I'd give my eye teeth to be able to get a codex of Communion.

Anyway, thanks for the great work on the mod.  Still loving it!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: karadoc on December 20, 2016, 10:36:38 pm
I was able to bring Mag ammo with Homefront rifles to my first encounter with Sharks, and they were more than up to the task.  DeepOne nomads fared no better, and I've sent them to some bloodhound hunts for some training too.
Hmm. I didn't know that guns like that worked underwater. I've been using harpoons, crossbows, and javelins, because those are the only things that I usually bring in my transport that work underwater - and I assumed that most guns wouldn't work.

--


While I'm here, here's an unrelated comment about how my current game is going:  In my previous games, I never used Reverent armour; because by the time I unlocked it I already has carapace armour and various other useful armours; and so it was kind of obsolete before I got it (and it takes a lot of workshop time to construct). However! In my current game, I've had a few research bottlenecks due to missing resources, and so reverent armour became the main armour that I use for my team. In fact, I'm now at a stage where a lot my crew is wearing brute armour and I still haven't unlocked defender armour (because I haven't captured a zealot).

I think it's cool that different tech paths and equipment are relevant on different playthoughs. Maybe in some future playthough I'll actually use Xeno armour!

...

That said, I've been using the tech tree viewer a fair bit to see what I'm missing and what I need - which I think is a good thing, because otherwise I'd be completely baffled as to why I can't research some particular things. But I do think it would be nicer if it had a bit of 'spoiler' protection. I'm still in favour of the system I suggested earlier.

[edit]
By the way, just while I think of it...  The Bootypedia entry for the electro-whip should probably mention that it stuns enemies rather than kills them (unless it actually does kill them in the latest version).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 20, 2016, 11:18:46 pm
The fairy is an exceptional capture unit... on paper. In practice the lack of hands coupled with the high morale/energy/stun costs necessitates low rate of fire without a assistant with support items. Also needs additional supporting units for when the powers prove insufficient to incapacitate its targets, since its a little on the flimsy side for the short range and its expense. The individual attacks are quite powerful but its difficult to get off more then 2 shots in a turn of either power. Also lucky star is a grenade-like attack so arcs are a thing.


In terms of the outfits from the schools i would rate it something like:
1: Ghost: functionally invulnerable scout that can kill anything in the game while being fairly cheap to produce.
2: Witch: mind control nuff said.
3: Biosuit: 95% indestructible and multi environment, pretty expensive to build.
4: Destructor: Flight, minor regen, durability second only to high end power armor and the biosuit, and massive damage potential without blocking both hands. Downside is production issues resulting from the difficulty of getting 50 demonic essence. Dark ones are nearly immune to stun while being low on hp and armor, and the 7 slaves to 1 essence ratio is prohibitive. I count myself lucky if I manage more then 1 or 2 a game.
5: Fairy: More frail, non lethal only, and less flexible destructor. 
6: Savior: High speed super nurse with a Psi based melee stun attack. Unfortunately none of its abilities are exceptionally more powerful then other options to warrant dedicating a gal to it(and a high psi one if you want the melee to be worth a damn).

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Martin on December 21, 2016, 09:50:01 am
I waited a LONG time to build my Menace Class because of the restrictions to the Voodoo Schools it presents.  My two favorite schools are Illusion (For Ghost and Witch) and Communion (for Saviour and Slave outfits).  However, I can't get these schools together.  I feel Illusion is strongest of all,  but it only pairs with Destruction and Excess.  The Destructor suit sounds awesome but I've never used it, and I kinda really don't like Darkones, nor Demonic Rituals etc, for both a flavor stance and a playability.  So my only other option is the Illusion/Excess pair.  Excess seems kinda weak, but I'm interested in seeing out the Fairy Outfit works.  So I have a Fuego built, but not crewed.  Overall, I think this is hardest part of the game, and I'd give my eye teeth to be able to get a codex of Communion.

Paralyzed by choices, eh? 8)

Anyway, I think it's not much of an choice in the end, as illusion is wastly superior to communion and fortuna is somwhat better than fuego as it can go to space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: legionof1 on December 21, 2016, 10:00:51 am
Early space access is kinda a big deal. It what sold me on going for grey over anything else. The orbital prisons in particular are quite good as they yield better gals then other options. The "lunatic" class of gals have a 40-62 pis strength, higher max energy at 150, and higher minimum bravery. Some stats have pretty bad minimums but nothing training and experience can't solve. The psi strength is just to good to miss out on.     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2016, 10:29:45 am
New version released. Merry Christmas.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: CaptainCorkscrew on December 21, 2016, 10:30:53 am
Thanks Dioxine, Merry Christmas :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 21, 2016, 01:57:49 pm
Aww man, no new tommygun tho.

Anyway thanks for another amazing patch Santa Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: juff on December 21, 2016, 02:12:03 pm
aww, just got my mint running and it's been nerfed. all that aside, thanks for the update and merry christmas.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 21, 2016, 03:24:13 pm
Ooh, buff to the Red Scorpion, color me excited!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on December 21, 2016, 04:01:35 pm
Woot Merry Christmas
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: KateMicucci on December 22, 2016, 06:11:54 pm
Where the heck do master crafted weapons parts come from? I've only found one all game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on December 22, 2016, 06:27:16 pm
Master Plasma Pistol, a few enemy vessels, enemy bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Absalom on December 23, 2016, 08:48:29 am
Thanks for the patch!  Quick question, how were flintlocks nerfed?  Just started a new game and peeked but didn't notice any changes.

Also while I'm here, is there any way to see which gear is usable underwater?  Got lucky with the harpoon gun since I played TFTD but otherwise, no dice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on December 23, 2016, 09:32:35 am
Also while I'm here, is there any way to see which gear is usable underwater?  Got lucky with the harpoon gun since I played TFTD but otherwise, no dice.

You can use either the combobox filter in the Craft Equipent screen.
Or the quicksearch feature in the Inventory screen.
See attached.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Absalom on December 23, 2016, 05:58:16 pm
You can use either the combobox filter in the Craft Equipent screen.
Or the quicksearch feature in the Inventory screen.
See attached.

Great, thank you.  I found quicksearch by accident but didn't know it was capable of that
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: KateMicucci on December 23, 2016, 06:25:47 pm
Trying to build my bases "defensively" with segregated hangars and firepit hallways is the dumbest thing I've done in this game. Every base defense mission is a nightmare as the enemies stand around in their starting positions and make 4 accurate reaction shots a turn.

It would be best to put the hangars in the middle of the base so that I can launch my "defense" of the hangars from all sides.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on December 23, 2016, 07:30:25 pm
Trying to build my bases "defensively" with segregated hangars and firepit hallways is the dumbest thing I've done in this game. Every base defense mission is a nightmare as the enemies stand around in their starting positions and make 4 accurate reaction shots a turn.
Blindfiring heavy ordinance into hangars usually solve that problem very nicely. Camo also works quite well.
Hangars in the middle may cause a slight problem where AI suddenly decides to attack (usually at least half of enemies are on the attack, but sometimes they all are) and one side gets swamped.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 23, 2016, 08:30:16 pm
Does ICBM has any purpose? other than selling for 7.500.000 do$h?

Can't research it and it has no bootypedia entry either  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Premier on December 23, 2016, 10:59:40 pm
A question: was character generation tweaked in 0.99E.3 to give your starting gals generally lower Bravery? It's just a subjective feeing, but in my last few game starts Bravery was generally around 60-70, with maybe a few 80s. Now I've just started a few games, first out of curiosity then out of frustration, and it feels like you're almost guaranteed to have one to three gals start with 30 and one or two 50.

Since training Bravery without exploits (lingering around in rags with only one enemy left) is really a bit of a bitch, it's kind of annoying.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on December 23, 2016, 11:43:15 pm
Actually it's the other way around, since a few versions ago your starting gals start with superior bravery, rather than 10-70 range for all as it was before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on December 23, 2016, 11:49:10 pm
The "lunatic" type gals range from 30 to 80 at creation. Normal hireable gals range from 10-70. Warriors are 30-70.

In my experience even those 30-50 gals can be sorted out quickly with correct outfit choices. Increased combat stress outfits can force gals under the sub 50 panic tests line when they would otherwise not due to 50 bravery. The way stress functions is reduce morale by a value if morale is above bravery. Increased stress allows for greater shifts and therefore more low percentage panic tests. The closer you are to 50 morale the better your chances to resist a panic check. Successful panic resits are one the fastest ways to train bravery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: khade on December 24, 2016, 12:10:28 am
Using medical tools to treat people is supposed to help too, note that alcohol doesn't do anything here, and once you've got some craft guns, shooting things down can help courage as well, though I don't know the mechanics.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: KateMicucci on December 26, 2016, 09:07:18 am
Just did Siberia for the first time. Wasn't nearly as hard as everybody claims. Nice map though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: karadoc on December 27, 2016, 03:14:27 am
I also just finished the Siberia mission. I appreciate the opportunity to bring out the really big guns.  8)

Here's a picture from the end of turn 1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 27, 2016, 01:26:23 pm
 8) Such lovely fireworks  8)
Babynukes sure melt the surface quite fast and reliable. What kind of weaponry did you used to break through the supersoldiers?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: karadoc on December 27, 2016, 02:02:14 pm
8) Such lovely fireworks  8)
Babynukes sure melt the surface quite fast and reliable. What kind of weaponry did you used to break through the supersoldiers?
I used the power-mace for at least a couple of them. The power-mace is a super-powerful weapon. It has the usual high damage of a melee weapon; it's one handed; and it never misses when used in snap mode; and it can be used to stun as well. I managed to take the final super-soldier alive with a combination of power-mace swings (not snap) and wand of rending.

Turn 1 was nukes, BFG, and ball of annihilation; and after that it was mostly power-mace, knock-out grenades, and wand of airlessness for whatever enemies were bellow the surface. I killed a couple of storm-troopers with a good-old barbed dagger; but the barbed dagger apparently wasn't strong enough to damage the super-soldiers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 27, 2016, 04:47:22 pm
kk thx for the details. GL with the cydonia codes etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: KateMicucci on December 27, 2016, 05:31:42 pm
I used 3 converted cyclopsi to soak reaction fire and spot for me while I shot everything from inside the thunderhorse with mortars and grenade launchers, but it was taking too long so I used a chinese dragon. That might have destroyed some loot, but at this point what difference does it make? Interior was cleared by cyclopsi opening doors so that the quad launchers could clear the room.

One hand died from the dragon and one died when I stupidly ledt her out of cover thinking that the supersoldier couldn't see out of the trench. The important thing is that all the cyclopsi were fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: karadoc on December 28, 2016, 12:54:34 am
Nice.

I think I'll pick the red codex on my next play-though. Communion and destruction ftw.

Does the process of converting cyclops still have negative workshop space? I'm not sure if that was a bug or not, but in my previous playthroughs I always left the last cyclops with zero workers converting it in each base, so that I could hire more runts. :p   I guess it's less useful now that we don't need a prison in every base, but it would still be a plus in favour of voodoo Communion.

It seems to me that VooDoo Excess is a bit weak compared to the others. The Fairy outfit is great but it doesn't come until really late in the game - which is the same downside that VooDoo Illusion has, but Fairies come even later than Witches and Ghosts. Super Maids are a nice convenience, but not a big deal. I'm not playing with the naughty mod this time around, so I don't have the slave outfit. I assume that the Slave outfit comes with VooDoo Excess, and that would be a big buff. I found the slave outfit to be super-strong in my previous playthough, so maybe that would be enough to bring Excess up to the strength of the others...  ...  but it kind of sucks to have it locked behind a particular mod. (And I'm still just assuming that the slave outfit does come with VooDoo Excess. Maybe I'm wrong about that!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Martin on December 28, 2016, 12:57:53 am
I had some smare cash, so I used chinese dragon and was lucky enough to one shot all the supersoldiers. Guess I lost on loot, but eh, I was there for the files wich were safe in the catacombs as Xcom bombs don't  leave craters behind.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on December 31, 2016, 04:09:48 pm
That said, I've been using the tech tree viewer a fair bit to see what I'm missing and what I need - which I think is a good thing, because otherwise I'd be completely baffled as to why I can't research some particular things. But I do think it would be nicer if it had a bit of 'spoiler' protection. I'm still in favour of the system I suggested earlier.

There is now a user option for tech tree viewer spoiler protection.

If turned on:
- you cannot click on any undiscovered tech (both on left and right side of the viewer)
- you cannot search for any undiscovered topics
- you CAN open undiscovered topics directly via middle-click... from your research queue or from the prison
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Starving Poet on December 31, 2016, 09:19:18 pm
That's a great addition - Would it be possible to even replace unresearched topics with **** like in the inventory m-click?   If it's a lot of work, nevermind; I just think the only time I really use it is to see how much research I have left on prisoners and things like almanacs and the like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: karadoc on January 01, 2017, 01:17:28 am
That's a great addition - Would it be possible to even replace unresearched topics with **** like in the inventory m-click?   If it's a lot of work, nevermind; I just think the only time I really use it is to see how much research I have left on prisoners and things like almanacs and the like.
I don't think I would like _all_ unresearched topics with ****, because then the 'leads to' section would always just be a **** list. That's why I suggested earlier that names could be revealed when all of their prerequisites were researchable. I still reckon that would be the best solution - but I also can imagine that it would be significantly more complex and more work that what Meridian has already done.

The solution of just not letting the player open undiscovered topics is super simple - but the result is actually pretty close to what I had in mind. So I think it's a pretty good solution.

One other thing I like about the inventory m-click (which is now r-click I believe), is that it has the 'show spoilers' button right there, so you don't have to go mess around with settings or anything if you just want to quickly check one specific thing. So there's still room for improvement with the tech viewer, but it's in a pretty good place right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 01, 2017, 02:38:35 pm
That's a great addition - Would it be possible to even replace unresearched topics with **** like in the inventory m-click?   If it's a lot of work, nevermind; I just think the only time I really use it is to see how much research I have left on prisoners and things like almanacs and the like.

If I would do that, there would be no reason to use the viewer.
You can find out if a prisoner can tell you anything new by looking in the New Research queue, even in vanilla.

In this new form, the tech viewer tells you only "what you get from topics you can currently research"... I think that is the absolute minimum if this screen is to make any sense. Otherwise, I'll just delete it as useless.

One other thing I like about the inventory m-click (which is now r-click I believe), is that it has the 'show spoilers' button right there, so you don't have to go mess around with settings or anything if you just want to quickly check one specific thing. So there's still room for improvement with the tech viewer, but it's in a pretty good place right now.

Sorry, but you either don't want spoilers, because you "play honestly"; or you don't care about it and don't mind the spoilers.
If anything, I will make a user option for manufacturing dependencies like there is for the viewer... not the other way around.

Having spoilers hidden AND having a button to un-hide them on the same screen is self-righteousness and hypocrisy... and even self-deception I would say.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Starving Poet on January 01, 2017, 05:30:46 pm
If I would do that, there would be no reason to use the viewer.
You can find out if a prisoner can tell you anything new by looking in the New Research queue, even in vanilla.

That's fair, I was just thinking about its use in the prisoner selection screen at the end of battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: karadoc on January 01, 2017, 10:48:56 pm
Sorry, but you either don't want spoilers, because you "play honestly"; or you don't care about it and don't mind the spoilers.
If anything, I will make a user option for manufacturing dependencies like there is for the viewer... not the other way around.

Having spoilers hidden AND having a button to un-hide them on the same screen is self-righteousness and hypocrisy... and even self-deception I would say.
I think that's a bit harsh. We're talking about having information which is not visible by default, but can be made visible. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with honesty or righteousness. There are many ways of understanding why someone would want this. I don't think it's nice for you to assume the most negative interpretation.

But that said, it's up to you how you want to implement it. I have my own views and preferences, but I'm not the one making it - so what I think doesn't matter as much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 01, 2017, 11:08:18 pm
That's not what I meant.
I am happily using it myself... that's why I implemented it... and I don't interpret using it as negative, quite contrary, I think PirateZ tech tree requires it.

What I wanted to say is:
- people not using tech viewer (for whatever reason)... OK with me
- people using tech viewer (for whatever reason)... also OK with me
- implementing a spoiler protection, which can be instantly taken away... waste of my time... it's the same as protecting nuclear missile launchers by codes, but setting those codes to all zeroes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsei3aqTKGo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 02, 2017, 12:38:58 am
Hey, returning player, last played ages ago.

Am I reading this correctly:
(https://i.imgur.com/bfC70bl.jpg)

That because I chose a color codex 300 hours ago (green, because a spacious hull sounded like a good thing), that I am now permanently cut off from one or more areas of the tech tree?

Is this working as intended? <.<
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 02, 2017, 01:06:46 am
Is this working as intended? <.<

Yes, you can only follow one path each campaign. The choice was indeed made much earlier, but you still couldn't get more than one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 02, 2017, 01:09:47 am
Yes that is intended. Although Dioxine is adding special missions in the future so one can eventually have all the codexes. But for a large part of the game you wil be limited in your voodoo abilities.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 02, 2017, 01:45:02 pm
special missions in the future so one can eventually have all the codexes.

That actually sounds pretty cool.   
The Russian Files are a great way to gate lasers,
so more thematic gating to the psionics sounds like good storytelling.


In the meantime, for this playthrough I think I'm going to add the codexes to the list of possible outcomes when researching cardinals, reticulan elders, provosts, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 02, 2017, 04:56:13 pm
You get cut off of 2 schools of voodoo, so I can make the items they provide more powerful without upsetting the balance too much. "Everyone can use everything" I find boring.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 02, 2017, 06:36:54 pm
You get cut off of 2 schools of voodoo, so I can make the items they provide more powerful without upsetting the balance too much. "Everyone can use everything" I find boring.

I love your mod, and I have tremendous respect for you, but I can't bullshit you.  Defeating "everyone can use everything" doesn't remove boredom, it's a method to increase replay value.

The problem is that this isn't a little 4 hour appetizer of a game.  It's a multi-hundred hour monster.  People with jobs are unlikely to complete a single playthrough, let alone come back for a second.

If you gate off content in this way, you're only diminishing the individual experiences of playing the game.

That's my opinion.  Your mod has been more fun for me than most games that I've paid 60 dollars for.  I trust your artistic instincts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 02, 2017, 08:53:21 pm
The problem is that this isn't a little 4 hour appetizer of a game.  It's a multi-hundred hour monster.  People with jobs are unlikely to complete a single playthrough, let alone come back for a second.

I can confirm that, my playthrough (about 95% done) took over a year... and no matter how I like this game, it's very unlikely I will return to it sooner than in 3 years. It's just too big for replay. Maybe if it was split into 3 separate mods (early, mid, late?), maybe then... but that's only a speculation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 02, 2017, 09:57:32 pm
Good replayability is IMO exactly that: returning to a game after 3, 5 years and finding/trying something new :)
Replaying anything immediately after finishing it sounds unhealthy.
Also, what's exactly wrong in not seeing it all in a single playthrough...? Especially if the restricted content is mostly a handful of very powerful endgame items.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 02, 2017, 10:51:52 pm
Good replayability is IMO exactly that: returning to a game after 3, 5 years and finding/trying something new :)
I totally agree with this. My previous playthrough attempt was about a year ago, it went quite far but ended prematurely due to real life, and after a while I returned back to it and was immediately drawn in due to "hey, look at all this new/improved/added stuff!".
But once PirateZ go through release phase, where there won't be major content updates any more, bits and pieces of hidden content can stimulate replayability in the same way that updates do.

While I could object to huge mutually exclusive campaign branches, I'm absolutely fine with the current approach - the campaign is largely the same, but you need to choose between different late-game packages.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: tylor on January 02, 2017, 11:11:01 pm
I actually want more playthrough variance, and earlier in game. Now only major difference from codex until late game is your Bonaventura modification.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 02, 2017, 11:13:47 pm
Early game has a lot of variance... depending on RNG you get access to some stuff, but not to other... sometimes even until late mid game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Martin on January 03, 2017, 12:25:04 am
Early game has a lot of variance... depending on RNG you get access to some stuff, but not to other... sometimes even until late mid game.

True. Early game is also a lot more fun than mid and late.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 03, 2017, 02:07:32 am
True. Early game is also a lot more fun than mid and late.

That's because almost all creative effort within the last year was aimed at the early game. Hence the addition of all these missions, of early craft, of the Menace family, and so on. Early game was practically remodelled whole, several times. And it's still happening.

Yes, I agree that the late stuff deserves more love. And I'm sure it will happen, since there are solid plans for later game. But it must be made and coded, and up until now it probably hasn't been priority.

As for the multi-path model of tech... I do not have a strong opinion on this one, but I understand it is controversial. On one hand, we have the completionist approach, which is generally a good thing to have. On the other, there are many games where you need to select a path at some point and they aren't really criticized for that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 03, 2017, 03:12:23 am
I like to think of the codex choice as similar to choosing a class in an action/RPG game; you get the same basic challenges and game no matter what class you pick, but you experience them with a different set of tools and methods. You don't lose out on contebt by choosing one over another, and it's usually balanced by not having all the tools at once, but rather a meaningful subset of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: khade on January 03, 2017, 03:47:59 am
I'd actually welcome different styles of playthrough, which I believe was a game goal at some point.  Where you research one of a mutually exclusive set of topics very early in the game that radically change how your crew is going to interact with the world.  Being outright heroes could be fun, or actual villains.  Aligning with different groups with different ultimate goals.

Something I'd also like to see is us actually being required to set up the protection racket we have going on, though for that, I wonder if it's possible to have base buildings either closed off and without any maintenance or lowered maintenance but with lowered utility.  Both unlocked through research or manufacturing.  The lab especially, you're not going to turn on the mainframe until you finish the research related to it, so the maintenance for the lab could be far lower before your brainers figure out the plug.

The prison, barracks and store room could have lowered capacity until you put your runts towards cleaning them up and repairing what is broken, with the maintenance going up to compensate. Maybe the hanger and radar work at half efficiency until they're fixed, with a slower refueling and scans on the hour instead of half-hour respectively.

As far as I know, none of these would require different tiles, it could just activate functions that are already there.  One thing I do see maybe being a problem is if the game can remove single use workshop projects once they're completed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Martin on January 03, 2017, 11:45:36 am
I like to think of the codex choice as similar to choosing a class in an action/RPG game;

Not quite as the impact is extremely limited (I am fairly sure you can finish the game without ever touching any voodoo equipment) and some options are better than the others.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 03, 2017, 01:36:42 pm
I'd actually welcome different styles of playthrough, which I believe was a game goal at some point.  Where you research one of a mutually exclusive set of topics very early in the game that radically change how your crew is going to interact with the world.  Being outright heroes could be fun, or actual villains.  Aligning with different groups with different ultimate goals.

Yes, it is planned, in the sense that there are long-term plans in this direction. It's a very large and complex part though, so I'd say if it ever happens, it'll be a major cause for cheering. :)

Not quite as the impact is extremely limited (I am fairly sure you can finish the game without ever touching any voodoo equipment) and some options are better than the others.

Maybe so, but it is still very much WIP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 03, 2017, 03:25:34 pm
Also, what's exactly wrong in not seeing it all in a single playthrough...? Especially if the restricted content is mostly a handful of very powerful endgame items.

Because I am an explorer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types))
and the idea that I'll be unable to view the entire, 100% Bootypedia makes me twitch. :)

In all seriousness though, I think I understand and appreciate what you're going for.  The ghost armor is goofily, game-breakingly powerful, and if you gate it away on some playthroughs then you can add other cool, powerful stuff without making the player into an unstoppable juggernaut.

I think my problem right now is that if you offered me the choice between Illusion, or Destruction+Excess+Communion, I'd probably take Illusion.

My other problem is that the game made me make this choice hundreds of hours ago when I was ignorant of its consequences.  The ufopedia entries on the codexes barely, barely imply that your choice will impact your voodoo down the road, and give no specifics.  I honestly thought that I was just choosing the paintjob color for my Bonaventura, and went with green because a recharging craft laser sounded handy.

Both of those are fixable through game balance and giving the player more info early on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 03, 2017, 03:54:45 pm
I too find myself slightly irritated at the current implementation. Thou my gripe is that destruction related weapons are only fully accessible if you went red codex. The other schools items are not subdivided in this manner. Things like hellgun and hell blade are hard to come by already due to the difficulty of live deamon captures let alone multiples of the high end ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 03, 2017, 09:49:10 pm
Because I am an explorer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types))
and the idea that I'll be unable to view the entire, 100% Bootypedia makes me twitch. :)

By that taxonomy, you're an Achiever, actually, since it's Achievers who are 100% completionists:
"Also known as "Diamonds", these are players who prefer to gain "points", levels, equipment and other concrete measurements of succeeding in a game. They will go to great lengths to achieve rewards that confer them little or no gameplay benefit simply for the prestige of having it."

While Explorers:
"hey often feel restricted when a game expects them to move on within a certain time, as that does not allow them to look around at their own pace. They find great joy in discovering an unknown glitch or a hidden easter egg."

So you can't be an explorer while demanding MOAR INFO and that everything is discoverable easily.

But in all seriousness, this taxonomy is quite flawed, as I find Explorer, Killer and Achiever all appealing to me :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Kharim on January 03, 2017, 10:19:13 pm
Its in the theory, you can exceed a total 100% in this model. I feel like  70% Killer 50% Explorer with 30% Achiever and 20% Socializer.

Wysłane z mojego ZAX 1.2
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: juff on January 05, 2017, 10:17:52 am
Is there a way to get an aquarium? I thought that luxury spa might work but it doesn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 05, 2017, 05:25:30 pm
Is there a way to get an aquarium? I thought that luxury spa might work but it doesn't.

Well, it's technically possible... But AFAIK it's not in the game.

Would such a building have any other function than simply keeping fish alive? It would be fine to open a SeaWorld attraction and get money from visiting Lokk'Naar folks... Especially if the income depends on what you have in it. :) But that's pure fantasy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 05, 2017, 07:38:48 pm
Can we have some in-game indication (e.g. in bootypedia) that stun baton and cattle prod damage is considered SPECIAL?
I found it out the hard way, trying to stun a reaper with zero effect due to them having 90% special damage resist.

Or it would be even better to somehow rework this, I understand that special damage resist was implemented to make reapers protected from things like Bad Touch and the like. But their immunity to stun baton and cattle prod doesn't make much sense - especially when you can gunbutt but not zap them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 05, 2017, 07:42:35 pm
Can we have some in-game indication (e.g. in bootypedia) that stun baton and cattle prod damage is considered SPECIAL?
I found it out the hard way, trying to stun a reaper with zero effect due to them having 90% special damage resist.

Or it would be even better to somehow rework this, I understand that special damage resist was implemented to make reapers protected from things like Bad Touch and the like. But their immunity to stun baton and cattle prod doesn't make much sense - especially when you can gunbutt but not zap them.

It's not special damage, it's plasma damage, but working with the toStun modifier.  2x2 units are naturally immune to the toStun modifier.  By the way, what did you think was going to happen trying to use a stun baton on a reaper?  Or a cattle prod for that matter?  A reaper is about the size of some cattle, so you're just making it angry :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 05, 2017, 07:48:54 pm
It's not special damage, it's plasma damage, but working with the toStun modifier.  2x2 units are naturally immune to the toStun modifier.  By the way, what did you think was going to happen trying to use a stun baton on a reaper?  Or a cattle prod for that matter?  A reaper is about the size of some cattle, so you're just making it angry :P
Well, that's even more quirky then and should be indicated somewhere.
And regarding general believability of it, sorry, it's not very natural when you can easily stun a reaper with a few gunbutt swings, but can't do so with implements specifically designed to stun (that's not even mentioning that cattle prod can, given enough tries, stun people in power armor). But I don't really mind such quirks as long as it's explained to the player.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 05, 2017, 07:54:25 pm
Well, that's even more quirky then and should be indicated somewhere.
And regarding general believability of it, sorry, it's not very natural when you can easily stun a reaper with a few gunbutt swings, but can't do so with implements specifically designed to stun.

Perhaps you forgot the first part of the motto for the mod? "Suffering awaits"?  Some stuff you just get to learn the hard way, but it's almost never the end of the campaign.  Also mutant ubers bashing on the skull multiple times using their guns as clubs is certainly believable over voltage sources meant to stun human-sized targets not working for 2x2 units.  It's even in the name of the item - it prods and aggravates large mammals at best.

Edit: There's also CTRL+H to tell if it's doing damage or not, which is a way of telling whether the weapon is effective.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 05, 2017, 08:14:19 pm
Some stuff you just get to learn the hard way
It's pretty bizarre to expect that someone should learn intricacies of OpenXCOM damage-dealing mechanics by... what exactly? Asking on forums or looking at the source code? I see no other possible ways. From within the game at most you can learn that something doesn't work, with no indication why.

Also, no matter how far you stretch it, this is a very special case that needs to be highlighted in some way. For example, you "bashing on the skull" example is completely flawed, because a melee weapon with lethal damage but extra stun will never stun a reaper (e.g. spiked mace), despite totally fitting the "bashing on the skull" idiom.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 05, 2017, 08:24:39 pm
Why do you need to learn the intricacies?  For example, vanilla XCOM didn't ever tell you that Mutons were resistant to AP until after you killed/stunned one and researched it, or that fire works really well against cyberdisks, and it certainly never explained the damage mechanics.  It's a simple experiment - does the weapon work for what you want it to do? No? The use a different weapon.  The hit log that Meridian added (pressing CTRL+H after a hit/successful melee attack) goes a long way in making that experiment easier.  The game can't possible tell you all of the things that do and don't work for certain purposes, otherwise Dioxine would spend his time doing nothing but writing articles in the Bootypedia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 05, 2017, 08:50:49 pm
It's pretty bizarre to expect...

It's bizarre to expect anything else... except for maybe Tetris, you need to experiment in all games.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 05, 2017, 09:15:54 pm
Why do you need to learn the intricacies?  For example, vanilla XCOM didn't ever tell you that Mutons were resistant to AP until after you killed/stunned one and researched it, or that fire works really well against cyberdisks, and it certainly never explained the damage mechanics.
1) I'm absolutely fine about not knowing unit's specific weaknesses and quirks until it is researched. However, in this particular case, researching it won't help;
2) Regarding cyberdisks, it's pretty obvious (after reading in-game information) that fire WILL work on cyberdisks, the only thing that you're not told - is that it will work to a far greater extent that you'd likely to expect. In other words, an issue with quantities (fire works all too well on 2x2 units) rather than with qualities (2x2 units are immune to extra stun damage, "because they just are").

But most of all, giving examples on vanilla XCOM isn't very convincing - it's not an ideal game, it does have lots of quirks, and a lot of those quirks were categorized as "bugs" by fans and subsequently fixed with fan patches and patch tools.

It's bizarre to expect anything else... except for maybe Tetris, you need to experiment in all games.
Yes, you do. No, experimenting won't take you too far if the game doesn't provide you with enough data to make conclusions. Hit log is pretty great, but it gives only binary "yes/no" answers, nothing else. When I encountered this situation - I went on and wrote a post about special damage, because it's the only available piece of information, that reapers have strong special damage resist, so I concluded that it's the cause.

Given a very extensive experiment outside of normal gameplay (breaking all armor on a reaper then trying to stun it), I'd discover that my previous conclusion was wrong, but then my next conclusion would be "it's a bug" - a behavior that's both not really plausible within game's setting and not documented (as a special case).

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 05, 2017, 09:20:16 pm
Just_dont, you seem to indicate a problem which I think nobody really understands. At least I don't - I understand you want more information, but not what and how exactly.

If you want to be clearer, I suggest you make a minimod with your changes. That would be a concrete proposition that can actually be examined. Otherwise I think this won't get anywhere.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 05, 2017, 09:27:35 pm
Hit log is pretty great, but it gives only binary "yes/no" answers, nothing else.

It gives ternary big/small/no damage info.
It could give a lot more, but it was a conscious decision not to do it... and thus keep at least some of what you are complaining here about.
Because believe it or not, most of us don't want to know everything about everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 05, 2017, 09:32:04 pm
Just_dont, you seem to indicate a problem which I think nobody really understands. At least I don't - I understand you want more information, but not what and how exactly.
Well, I learned about the true cause of the problem (2x2 units immune to extra ToStun damage) only when ohartenstein23 told me about it. So I'm not really sure how it can be improved. At first, I thought it's a problem with a particular unit and damage types. Now I see that it's a game mechanics quirk.

I think it would be enough to just mention it somewhere (so far Dioxine packed A LOT of useful information here and there into bootypedia, for example, the bit about fire damage greatly effecting big units is in there). But I'm not sure where exactly.

It could give a lot more, but it was a conscious decision not to do it... and thus keep at least some of what you are complaining here about.
A comprehensive hit log still wouldn't give an answer to "why it's happening this way?".
Hit log is not the issue here. It's a good tool and it's working as expected.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 05, 2017, 09:55:11 pm
Dude, I don't get your problem either. Is it really important to KNOW WHY? Experimenting is about knowing what works and what doesn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: khade on January 05, 2017, 11:33:07 pm
While I do sympathize, I like to imagine the Gals having the same reaction.

"Why isn't this thing working?!? I'm hitting it, I know I am!" *pulls out a chainsaw*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 06, 2017, 12:49:27 am
While I do sympathize, I like to imagine the Gals having the same reaction.
"Why isn't this thing working?!? I'm hitting it, I know I am!" *pulls out a chainsaw*
Eh, it's more of a "it doesn't work because it's a pileup of game mechanic quirks".
It's a quirky interaction between 2x2 units (by default immune to ToStun damage, which is dealt as stun alongside with main damage type) and PirateZ, which, starting at some version, had things like cattle prods doing plasma damage (to work vs. plasma resist) but 0% of it to health. A year or so ago they were simply dealing stun damage (although I don't remember if we had practical uses for stunned big units back then).

Now, unfortunately, it's also a situation where any change will produce a lot of unintended side-effects within the mod. Stun batons were switched to plasma damage type for a reason, and other units' resistances are balanced for it. So changing stun batons is hardly an option. Removing pain immunity from certain big units is more plausible - well, except that big units are still pretty "special", and even if OpenXCOM fixed them burning at x4 power, they are still suffering x4 damage from AoE weapons (1 instance of damage for each tile) - so they'll be getting x4 ToStun damage as well, because, well, most of the weapons, including grenades, deal some ToStun damage. Which could make them too prone to fainting in about any situation - so quite a lot of additional balancing will be needed as to not make such units too easy to stun.

That's why I wrote about "such a quirk should be noted somewhere", it's probably the easiest option to note it to player rather than engage in any kind of rebalancing. I don't particularly care if it's going to be noted or not - I can look at the source code and figure out the damage-dealing mechanics that's currently running in OXCE, but I can imagine that other players might not be doing so. Anyway, if this topic will be raised repeatedly by different players - perhaps something will be done on it; and if not - then it's good as is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: khade on January 06, 2017, 02:17:20 am
I thought the switch to plasma damage for the electrical stunning weapons was to get around that sort of thing, as stun it an actual damage type.  The fact that we can capture those types of creatures at all should indicate that it is in fact possible to stun them, though through less than direct means.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 06, 2017, 02:26:44 am
I thought the switch to plasma damage for the electrical stunning weapons was to get around that sort of thing, as stun it an actual damage type.  The fact that we can capture those types of creatures at all should indicate that it is in fact possible to stun them, though through less than direct means.
It's vice-versa, it's possible to stun them directly (damage type == stun), and not possible indirectly (damage type == anything else + ToStun). However, in this case stun baton and cattle prod comes to be indirect stunners :)

Subsequently, if a big unit has 0% stun damage modifier - you can't stun it at all, while if a normal unit has 0% stun damage modifier - you still can stun via ToStun damage dealt through different damage types, such as plasma (stun baton), piercing (manacles), and so on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 06, 2017, 09:32:24 am
I gave up on understanding or optimizing stun output in OpenXcom.  Dedicated stun weapons like the cattle prod are terrible, the fisticuffs are bizarrely effective.  The electro whip is decent.

Nothing touches the tower shield though.  The tower shield gets things done.  If you need something stunned, you use the tower shield.

Yes, my gals are stomping around in power armor with plasma guns, except for the poor fool in platemail.  I should mod the tower shield to be able to exist outside of a builtIn AUX weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 06, 2017, 11:48:29 am
The tower shield is actually not the best in terms of raw output. The gunbut attack of the linux origami smg is stronger with maximum of 101 base dmg in brute armor. Tower only reaches 92 max base damage. Origami also has less lethal conversion at .1 rather then .25.  However Tower shield is more accurate at 90% vs 80% and 4 TU faster.

They are pretty close in terms maximum possibility but the origami needs the brute armor to exceed the tower shield in performance. Incidentally brute armor also ups the origami shooting damage to be comparable or exceed most rifles and smgs.  Gauss, plasma, or homefront MAG rounds being the things that beat it in flat dmg.

Brute+Origamis has been my late game basic kit for quite some time now due the combination of good armor, nigh or complete immunity to psi/morale problems, and reasonably powerful and versatile(lethal or non) offense. High str also allows you to carry some bigger arms without worrying about weight
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: just_dont on January 06, 2017, 12:01:24 pm
Cattle prod can reach up to 140 stun damage (vs. plasma resistance) due to 0-200% damage roll on it. Still quite inferior to origami + brute, not to mention being highly inconsistent and costing 20 TUs. But since it's available early, it's actually a very good stunner vs. mid-game armored enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 06, 2017, 01:18:22 pm
I dont find the prod effective at all. Even the standard buttstrike is 20+.6Xstr which tops out at 68 base without str boosting armor. And less juggling inventory for changing situations. Str grows quite easily and has far shorter time to maximum then most stats. Have maxed str is almost a given beyond a certain number of missions. Also small fraction amounts of lethal dmg reduce the ablity of the foes to regain themselves during a mission, since stunned status is stun dmg higher then current hp. Also more dmg towards the stunned state. Percentage lethal is effectively +% dmg when your trying for stunned state. Provided your target is of reasonable hp.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Riph on January 07, 2017, 01:47:15 am
linux origami smg
I'm a fan of the linux origami.  But for me the lack of reaction fire sinks it.  Near as I can tell, it's hard-coded that you can never reaction fire a gunbutt.

When I post a guard at a UFO door, I want him piling up unconscious bodies, not dead ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 07, 2017, 01:55:19 am
that is a point but after a certain point in the game +/- the few boobs that clear the door just prior to breaching don't matter much. A few low quality slaves lost is sorta meh. Anyone actually valuable for research at that point can withstand mid 40s base dmg reaction fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 07, 2017, 02:01:01 am
Guys! It's Jan 2602 and I've finally realized that the codex research is not checked as completed (in the quick search) and there is no codex item in my vault. What can I do??? I can't research any of Bonaventura variants and other stuff that depends on the codex. I don't want to drop a game where I spent dozens of hours just because of some weird bug.  :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 07, 2017, 02:03:55 am
Did you start a use drill project and cancel it? Also check the 'all 'bases' item list from the hideout info screen, look for either a codex or a tiny drill.  If you can't find either, you may need to add it to your save.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 07, 2017, 02:09:41 am
Did you start a use drill project and cancel it? Also check the 'all 'bases' item list from the hideout info screen, look for either a codex or a tiny drill.  If you can't find either, you may need to add it to your save.
It was long ago, I don't remember, may be I did it accidentally... Yes, I checked all bases. How can I add an item to my save or where can I get the instruction?

upd.: I've managed to add to my save, thx for the reply anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 07, 2017, 02:40:03 am
It was long ago, I don't remember, may be I did it accidentally... Yes, I checked all bases. How can I add an item to my save or where can I get the instruction?

Sure, I'll tell you what to do in 10 easy steps. I don't know how computer literate you are, so I'll be as specific as I can. If I'm too slow, don't take it personally.

1. Open your save in a text editor. Make a backup copy of a save you want to edit.

2. Open your save in a text editor. (Notepad++ is fine, EditPad is fine; your average Notepad should be fine too, but I've never been brave enough to try it. We're hackers, not idiots.)

3. Search for something like this:
Code: [Select]
    items:Make sure that there are exactly 4 spaces in front of the "items:" string! No more, no less. Get it?

4. Right under this "items:" thingy you have a list of items in this particular base (Yes, we're looking at raw data for one of your bases! We hackers now!). This list looks for example like this:

Code: [Select]
      STR_ALIEN_ALLOYS: 226
      STR_ALIEN_ENTERTAINMENT: 5
      STR_KNIFE: 2
      STR_YOUR_SOUL: 1
      STR_STUFF_YOU_FORGOT_YOU_HAVE: 27
      STR_PRAISE_STAR_GODS: 1
      STR_ETERNAL_IS_THEIR_RULE: 1

Of course this list may differ, depending on what you have.

5. Time to hack your save hard! Make a new line somewhere between these lines. Don't damage anything that is in there, just place your cursor at the end of any of these lines and press Enter, okay?

6. We're deep hacking by now. Listen carefully: this is the moment where you need to do some manual stunts. Sounds frightening, I know, but relax. When you are ready, press Space bar 6 times. Not 5, and not 7, but 6, and 6 is the number. Got it?
And God forbid if you use Tab instead of proper spaces - then you're toast, man. Gone forever to the land of script kiddies and failed hackers. So don't do it, bro.

7. All right, time to do what we're here for - add the Tiny Drill to your vaults! Stay where you are, focus on your cursor (which should be right after six Space characters), and type this:

Code: [Select]
STR_TINY_DRILL: 1
8. Check your status. This is what you should be seeing, more or less:

Code: [Select]
    items:
      STR_ALIEN_ALLOYS: 226
      STR_TINY_DRILL: 1
      STR_ALIEN_ENTERTAINMENT: 5
etc.

(As mentioned before, your items may vary.)

Make sure you have the right amount of space characters, so all your items in this base are lined up together nicely. Yes, it's that important.

8. All clear? Good! Save your file, close the program.

9. Start the game, load your save, check your bases - one should have the drill in stores.

10. PROFIT!!!

Note: yes, you can add other items using this method. I take no responsibility for anything that might happen. Honestly, bad idea.

If you have further questions, go ahead and ask.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Cristao on January 07, 2017, 04:21:39 am
In addition to Scorch's tip, best to use Notepad++ as it has an excellent feature to quickly spot errors.

In Notepad++, click on Language and select YAML. Now that boring all black text turns into a bunch of colours. That is fine as long as red isnt one of the colours. Remember red not orange.

Orange is for values of fields. You see red text - Know that you messed something up!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 07, 2017, 04:30:59 am
I personally hate Notepad++ because it keeps making indentations that I don't want. But to each their own - it's certainly a valid program.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 07, 2017, 06:34:37 am
Posts like that are why we enjoy having Solar on these forums. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 07, 2017, 03:39:16 pm
Posts like that are why we enjoy having Solar on these forums. :)

Well, it's a rare occurrence when I can actually give advice on IT stuff instead of asking for it, so I'm trying to make the most of it. :)

And just to stay on topic: are Reaper Riders going into the next release? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 08, 2017, 12:00:22 am
Sure, I'll tell you what to do in 10 easy steps. ...
Whoa, dude  ;D Thnx for the reply but there was no need for such an essay here. I just opened my savefile, it turned out that it's a text file, searched for Hellerium (nothing) and then for Elerium, found the string where the number is equal to the number of Hellerium on the base - voilà! That is the section I need.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: DarkerDark on January 08, 2017, 05:56:54 am
Thanks for the savefile edit explanation, Solarius. I accidentally destroyed my hull and tiny drill by cancelling the manufacturing process. The mod starts you off with 30 workshop space, but using the tiny drill on the hull needs 30 space exactly, so you can start the process before realizing you can't actually assign any runts to it because of lack of space. Cancelling the production destroys the materials involved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: tylor on January 08, 2017, 06:54:10 am
Items being wasted by cancelling research or craft is very stupid design solution, imho.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 08, 2017, 11:20:00 am
Items being wasted by cancelling research or craft is very stupid design solution, imho.

1/ items are NOT wasted when cancelling research

2/ items are wasted when cancelling (already started) manufacturing project.... which makes perfect sense... if you're cooking let's say an apple pie and you're 99% finished, stopping won't give you apples, flour, water and baking powder back in real life either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 08, 2017, 12:58:37 pm
I think there should be a huge disclaimer/reminder, at least when you're trying to assign a project with unique items like Menacing Hull, Tiny Drill, Codices and etc. It is rather easy to lose it without any intention.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: blainestereo on January 08, 2017, 01:44:32 pm
What is the deal with how dark it is at night? I cant see anything, arent my gals supposed to have improved night vision or something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 08, 2017, 01:54:10 pm
What is the deal with how dark it is at night? I cant see anything, arent my gals supposed to have improved night vision or something?

Check your Hawtkeys again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: blainestereo on January 08, 2017, 02:28:19 pm
Check your Hawtkeys again.

Oh! Ty, ty, that's p. hawt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 09, 2017, 10:45:25 am
Guys, does energy consumption not depend on the inventory weight when a gal walk?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Meridian on January 09, 2017, 10:50:09 am
Guys, does energy consumption not depend on the inventory weight when a gal walk?

No, it doesn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Arekusandoru on January 09, 2017, 12:43:56 pm
No, it doesn't.
Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Slaughter on January 09, 2017, 10:05:13 pm
Don't cancel fracturing projects, just set runts down to 0 and put them somewhere else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: KateMicucci on January 10, 2017, 09:54:47 pm
Doesn't work if a project takes up workshop space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 10, 2017, 11:35:58 pm
Doesn't work if a project takes up workshop space.

Yeah, but I think in Piratez it never happens... Or at least very rarely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 10, 2017, 11:52:01 pm
There aren't many projects that require workshop space, but there is a very important one that takes *all* the space of your starting extractor, and that could be very easily accidentally cancelled.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 11, 2017, 12:48:48 pm
I will put up a warning you can't miss in one of the leading-up researches.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ragshak on January 11, 2017, 07:31:21 pm
Codex unlocks only special hull or is there something more behind it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: legionof1 on January 11, 2017, 07:42:46 pm
codex determines, menace class hull type, a one of a kind weapon, and what voodoo items you will have access too. Also in 2 cases the codex's unlock and additional type of early craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 15, 2017, 01:34:32 pm
Any future plans considering missions and toys?
I'm sure happy about the last few patches because I can finally get my research back going to unlock the Mars Attack Vessel.
One large Stargod Battleship was all I needed to get the missing SG crews.

Thx skipper
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 15, 2017, 03:49:12 pm
Too many to talk about ;) The next release will be mostly bugfixing, expanding, streamlining and campaign balance, but also a few surprises :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: The13thRonin on January 17, 2017, 06:15:59 pm
What's the SKILL modifier on a weapon do?

Like if I'm using a Ball Bat with one of my hands she has 95/3+50 'skill'.

What does that translate to in accuracy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: LuigiWhatif on January 19, 2017, 02:19:23 am
 Actual accuracy is skill * weapon accuracy.  If skill is unlisted, I believe that means it is just their straight firing accuracy.

Edit:  Their skill is straight firing accuracy, that is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Hadza on January 20, 2017, 01:08:23 am
Edit:  Their skill is straight firing accuracy, that is.

Pretty sure it's firing for guns and melee for... well... melee.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: LuigiWhatif on January 20, 2017, 03:18:00 am
All the weapons I first checked that used straight melee said they were melee (fistycuffs, saber, etc.), though looking again I do see that hammer and pickaxe don't say skill and I'm pretty sure they do use melee.  Sorry for the oversight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: DeeplyCasul on January 24, 2017, 01:33:37 am
There was a post here earlier on how the research tree to build workshop is gated behind too many topics. I'm just replying to say that i agree.
It's just a minor gripe, but in my first game i was mid june and saw no reason to research Molotov Cocktails and Primitive Weapons seeing as the weapons that i was using were already much better than these would allow me to build, and i had no idea you needed these for the workshops.

However i mainly wanted it for more runt space to produce ale; didn't know the extractor also gave workshop space.  :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Dioxine on January 24, 2017, 05:14:51 pm
I agree as well, it is already streamlined in the next version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.3 - 21 Dec - Dead in Space 3
Post by: Absalom on January 29, 2017, 08:49:16 am
I agree as well, it is already streamlined in the next version.

How so?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Dioxine on February 04, 2017, 07:06:06 am
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 04, 2017, 08:21:37 am
And here i was just about to ask when i could get my next fix.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: nrafield on February 04, 2017, 01:08:10 pm
Is there a way to get the previous font back for my game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Meridian on February 04, 2017, 02:02:56 pm
Is there a way to get the previous font back for my game?

Find the file called "AmigaFont.dat", open it in a text editor, find the following code:

Code: [Select]
  - id: FONT_SMALL
    width: 8
    height: 9
    spacing: -1
    images:
      - file: FontSmallBloax.gif
#      - file: FontSmall.png
#      - file: AmigaFontSmallDio.png

and change the last 3 lines to this:

Code: [Select]
#      - file: FontSmallBloax.gif
      - file: FontSmall.png
#      - file: AmigaFontSmallDio.png

I'll make a mod for this later... the new font is just absolutely unreadable for me too :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 05, 2017, 09:34:25 am
So started the new version, and I like where things are going, I would like a way to actually set up the extortion, but I understand that is likely to be extremely hard or time consuming or just plain not fun.

Civilians being able to use weapons makes pogroms both more fun and kind of freaky, civilians might be a little OP though, second difficulty, humanists, civvies killed 4 out of the 11 dead and the humanists were shitting bricks very quickly.  Do civilians get the same boosts as enemy units do at higher difficulties?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 05, 2017, 03:26:36 pm
Civilians being able to use weapons makes pogroms both more fun and kind of freaky, civilians might be a little OP though, second difficulty, humanists, civvies killed 4 out of the 11 dead and the humanists were shitting bricks very quickly.

Wow, they got lucky... All I've seen civvies do is kill maybe one, two units.

But 11 units sound like very little. I guess I'm not used to lower difficulties? Or is there some other reason? I remember some reports on weird mini-pogroms with just a few enemies...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: nrafield on February 05, 2017, 04:05:38 pm
I've had a pogrom with 0 civillians.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 05, 2017, 08:24:50 pm
Against the weaker factions the civvies actually perform pretty well. The brutes are on par with mercs for hp and very strong so there melee easily one shots lower armor dudes like humanists and bandits.

Some combinations of difficulty faction and mission do yield abnormal numbers of foes. Lowest pogrom I've seen was 8 bandits. These ultra small pogroms do need addressing with armed civvies in the mix.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 05, 2017, 08:34:29 pm
But is is really an issue? Few enemies means poor loot, especially if the enemies are weak. I don't see a problem with the fact those mutants do some actual work once a blue moon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 05, 2017, 08:41:37 pm
It's not a huge problem but its on the slope to being one. A "free win" pogrom is visible from where I'm standing and that situation is bad. Better to solve the minor issue now before some unseen future change make it worse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Dioxine on February 05, 2017, 10:14:09 pm
I'd need a save for that, with such problematic tiny Pogrom spawned since I haven't seen one yet. This might simply be an error in mission generation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: greattuna on February 05, 2017, 10:22:55 pm
So I've updated this mod after looooooong hiatus and holy macaroni, there's so much new stuff. I'm getting lost again, and I still haven't finished that goddamn campaign I'm having for... a year or more. Ugh.

That aside, you're doing a great work, and I like this mod, because it's awesome!

And while I'm here, let me ask a question: do I still need to capture star god leader to win the game, or there are alternate ways to get the code?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 05, 2017, 10:26:43 pm
There is an alternate path via a certain rare foe on smuggler ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: greattuna on February 05, 2017, 10:35:42 pm
Nice to know, thanks. Seems like I'll have to get back on hunting the smugglers now alongside exploring all the new stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Absalom on February 06, 2017, 12:43:42 am
It's not a huge problem but its on the slope to being one. A "free win" pogrom is visible from where I'm standing and that situation is bad. Better to solve the minor issue now before some unseen future change make it worse.

There are already "free wins."  The stun gas jungle can easily give you an entire ship full of prisoners, I've gotten over 50 live megaspiders just recently by sitting in the ship waiting.

So started the new version, and I like where things are going, I would like a way to actually set up the extortion, but I understand that is likely to be extremely hard or time consuming or just plain not fun.

Civilians being able to use weapons makes pogroms both more fun and kind of freaky, civilians might be a little OP though, second difficulty, humanists, civvies killed 4 out of the 11 dead and the humanists were shitting bricks very quickly.  Do civilians get the same boosts as enemy units do at higher difficulties?

Maybe.  However, on higher difficulties, there are LOT more enemies, better weapons, better stats.  On super mutant difficulty, civilians only survive past turn 1 by virtue of spawn location luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 06, 2017, 12:48:23 am
That pogrom, which was the first, don't know if that influences anything, had around 18 enemies. I only saw activists, military police and maybe soldiers, but I got messages regarding a panicking officer and instructors, none of which survived.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 06, 2017, 01:06:16 am
There are already "free wins."  The stun gas jungle can easily give you an entire ship full of prisoners, I've gotten over 50 live megaspiders just recently by sitting in the ship waiting.
snip

Fair point but letting pogroms slide when they are such a big score factor(particularly in first few months) has much more potential for problems then gas jungle that turns up every now and then. And at least with the gas jungle there some foes that ignore it. Much harder to ignore the contribution of a merc equvialent with a hammer on any enemy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Absalom on February 06, 2017, 01:49:24 am
Fair point but letting pogroms slide when they are such a big score factor(particularly in first few months) has much more potential for problems then gas jungle that turns up every now and then. And at least with the gas jungle there some foes that ignore it. Much harder to ignore the contribution of a merc equvialent with a hammer on any enemy.

You don't have to go to pogroms until you research the mutant alliance, not in the first months, and score is only vaguely relevant to the entire game.  And a "merc equivalent" with 30 melee accuracy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 06, 2017, 02:11:22 am
You don't need to, but you benefit heavily for going.  With a sledgehammer, accuracy doesn't really matter much right now.

Second pogrom in that game, spartans, civvies are doing far worse.

Can we get an indicator of the probable weather in an area? Either when we look at the target information on it or when we're landing? It's hard to prep at turn 1.  Also, can the weather stuff only hurt people who are in it or in an appropriate room, like cold shouldn't drain your gals when they're indoors unless they're in a freezer or something? Heat is irritating, but cold can stop your crew completely and without actually hurting them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 06, 2017, 04:37:21 am
Hammer, chainsaws and pick axes dont care about accuracy because of the way the are currently implemented as range 1 projectile attacks so they behave correctly for terrain demolition. Projectiles that roll a miss are still plotted out with calculated deviation. But even 50% conical deviation off center still hits the square at range 1. Most units take up sufficient volume in a tile that missing at range one is rare.   

I would second the forewarning for weather at least as far as pogroms go. Non inhabited maps are world terrain driven so one can make a reasonable guess and load accordingly but when a city is concerned the player has no data to make a guess with at all. I've had to abort on landing 2 mid game pogroms so far because i had elected for a high percentage of heavy non sealed armor. Such armors are the best option available to me at the moment to preserve lives vs terror units, but are double tapped by cold due there native stamina and stamina regen penalties. And even then they dont shield against the cold damage that well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 06, 2017, 06:15:40 am
More tools to help with cold or heat could be useful as well.  my issue is that cold and early eq is enough to stop your energy regen completely.  Incidentally, this is the first time in my admittedly halfhearted attempts at this game that I NEEDED atom beer to function, so bravo.  ;D

These aren't bugs, but I noticed that the Bootypedia pages regarding pay don't agree (still has the base 5000 hand cost, in addition to the 2500 swabbie cost and 7500 gal cost), I can't tell if the upgraded recruiting has the 10k base cost still or if they use the same system of ranked pay.  Do they have those base costs still, and the ranked cost is a bonus? 
Also, looking at civilian mutants gives the internal names rather than the official ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: greattuna on February 06, 2017, 09:30:48 pm
Can't agree more about weather warning. Missions in heat, sudden as they are (for me), make my best gals in guardian armour drop in 5-6 turns.

Do they have those base costs still, and the ranked cost is a bonus? 
Checked the base with only 1 Mistress-rank gal: only $100k salary, which matches the bootypedia description, so I guess that base cost doesn't apply.

As an aside, my maintenance costs skyrocketed with addition of salaries. Main base, consisting of mostly high-ranking gals, eats up $6747500 for salaries alone. Not a problem to handle in the state I am now, but it's something to consider when I start the next playthrough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Cimbri on February 06, 2017, 10:32:17 pm
I've tried to see if there is an answer to this question somewhere else but I've yet to find it, so, sorry in advance if I've just been blind. But how does one research Plasma Weaponry? I've got several weapons but no research options, despite the fact I've exhausted the research tree to the point where I've gotten the last craft built. Is it just some enemy type I've missed interrogating? That was what ended up stalling me before when I had missed the Trader Engineer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 06, 2017, 10:48:31 pm
You need a Plasma Subrifle, which is found on Cruisers and sometimes in Reticulan bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 06, 2017, 10:56:30 pm
not that plasma is particularly necessary anymore with gauss ammo manufacture in play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Cimbri on February 06, 2017, 11:54:42 pm
Thanks, and, no, I suppose it isn't, but I'm being dumb and trying to check off every research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Absalom on February 07, 2017, 02:29:34 am
Really the biggest things with the weather system is that you cannot bring spare armour... or even just remove what armor you have.  Nor does fire warm you up, only grog (Don't try this at home)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 07, 2017, 04:16:48 am
Something of note, that might make things harder, but whatever, deserts during the day are burning, at night, they get very very cold.  They have no way to retain the heat.
I just entered a desert combat at night and it's still hot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 07, 2017, 05:08:48 am
Something of note, that might make things harder, but whatever, deserts during the day are burning, at night, they get very very cold.  They have no way to retain the heat.
I just entered a desert combat at night and it's still hot.

Environment references are tied to the map/tileset. There can be only one set of environmental modifiers per map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 07, 2017, 05:44:56 am
Can we have not burning desert or barely cold snowy area?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 07, 2017, 09:58:27 am
Environment references are tied to the map/tileset. There can be only one set of environmental modifiers per map.

Is the tileset independant of time of day, or does the game count a desert at day and desert at night as two different tilesets? I'm assuming it's not the latter, because then it seems like it could easily be changed
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 07, 2017, 10:02:06 am
Far as i understand lighting is determined entirely separately from the tile set. The two do not interact to my knowledge. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: CrazyMode on February 07, 2017, 07:43:13 pm
Mb it's not a valid thread to post, but...
In 0.99F i cant get a apples from mission.
I already have some maps with "trees with red dots".
In past i think it's apple trees, after end, you always get apples like reward if this trees locate on map.
Or i take it wrong, and its just random?

sorry for my eng, not my native
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 07, 2017, 07:54:04 pm
Unless you see apples on the ground near said trees, apples you will not get. The engine is incapable of spawning interactable objects like apples inside terrain like tress. So loot apples get placed adjacent to the trees. Also the "apple tree" is in fact reused alot in several tilesets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: wolfreal on February 07, 2017, 08:38:09 pm
I downloaded the new version, wiped out my last savegame, and start a new one.

First surprise, I know deserts are hot but... The stun damage is not a little exaggerated? The castaway "dress" give a 50% stun damage reduction in hot climate, even with this, my gals can´t stay more than a turn in the wild without passing away. It appears that the damage is exponential, and relative to absolute health. THe first turn, about a quarter of health, the second, pass away. It is interesting and forcing you to have your canteen, but, I ask again, It is not a little exaggerated? Maybe I´m just a whimp P.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: ivandogovich on February 07, 2017, 08:49:48 pm
@ajnunezr

Yeah, enviro effects are still being balanced.  Feedback like this is helpful.  Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 07, 2017, 08:59:05 pm
The engine is incapable of spawning interactable objects like apples inside terrain like tress.

That's not really true - apples could be recovered from tiles, like UFO Navigation etc. But it was already coded differently and there was no reason to rewrite it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 07, 2017, 09:16:35 pm
Really? I always thought it was only certain types of objects of which most terrain features where not.

On the subject of "weather" early game missions spawned in cold are potentially game breaking. New players *may* not have the environmental pedia page researched yet and unwittingly put all there gals in the med bay for month+. Even with warning being limited to 6 gals in rags(only starting outfit below 200% line)
is.....difficult. And the no weather warning for "urban" maps compounds the problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Ragshak on February 07, 2017, 10:38:47 pm
Is there a way to disable weather system?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 07, 2017, 10:46:25 pm
Not yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 08, 2017, 12:00:14 am
Yet another reason to avoid ironman right now, as a reload might get you a more temperate map, at least with the cities
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 08, 2017, 01:57:20 am
Neat mod, but its a bit of a headache understanding notoriety. The bootypedia could REALLY use some updating for this, with a whole post on actions that do / do not raise / lower notoriety (murdering civies, murdering factions, abducting x groups, slavery, ect) so the player can plan.

For instance, I have no clue if slavery, murdering factions, murdering civies or differences in civies, what they have as differences. Does killing a tough girl matter as much as a sharp guy? Does killing a priest raise or lower notoriety? Does genociding a warehouse make things worse? Is it ok to kill off security forces?? SO many questions, but no answers  :(

It would be REALLY nice, if posts for all relevant notoriety effecting things said what they did, with a [REP] tag, or something, and after interrogating a person, it also gives rep information for enslaving, ransoming, or killing someone....

I'm partially complaining because I cannot get past February of year 2, without getting -1000 or less, and I honestly don't have the slightest clue why, and its also aggravating that I don't even get an impossible to do raid mission, but merely get a game over screen, so I really feel like I had no control...I realize its the mechanics of xcom, but it feels a bit different when its not just the bill not getting paid, and the lights turned off due to beurocracy (in normal xcom) and instead a raid apparently so big, that none of my weapons, gear, or pirates, could hope to destroy it. It would be cool if that could be changed in the future, to be just a swarm of tanks and heavy equipped govt personnel, so its hard, but possible.

It MIGHT because I enslaved a bunch of people, it MIGHT be because i got too violent with temple raids and warehouse attacks, honestly I don't know, and not knowing is what makes it so much more aggravating. It would also help if I can see what kind of ship it is when I attack on the ground, as I'd like to not attack govt fighters, but I can't  find any distinguishing marks on the battles-cape, and by then, its kinda too late anyway
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: ivandogovich on February 08, 2017, 02:29:04 am
Your slaving people has no negative consequences.  You are probably getting a big score hit from an enemy base going in, or a couple PeaceKeeping operations going on. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 08, 2017, 03:05:16 am
What? damn, and, what exactly am I supposed to do about these? It takes forever just to get a jetbike which can have the slightest chance of taking down a ship, so I really don't know how I'm supposed to counteract this...

Sorry if I'm seeming noob like, this mod is fun, but its the 2nd time I've failed in February, first because of the mutant aliance (those guys throw you under the bus unless you act as their bitch) and 2nd, everything was fine, few kills of civies, but still a -1000 score...

.. .. am I missing something to keep score up?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 08, 2017, 04:19:20 am
Any civilian, government or mutant alliance unit will lower rep, some smugglers will, slightly.  Anything that would lower your rep in x-com will lower notoriety here.  If you can get a jetbike out, you can get the pachyderm, it's not extremely big, but 9 (I think) hands used well can take out a base.  Your starting bus can work too.  The techniques for finding enemy bases is the same as with the original game, though your radar range tends to be lower for early ships.

Ways I know of to increase score early on: kill things, win missions and research.  Late game might add some other more passive ways to keep it up.

My understanding of the losing at negative notoriety is that they aren't afraid of you, and so they find out where your bases are and drop asteroids or nukes or whatever the star god equivalent is on them, no mercy and no chance of escape.

Edit

Another thing to keep in mind is that shooting down government ships or mutant alliance ships that are showing their colors is a sizable hit to your notoriety and shooting down stuff otherwise does give positive notoriety.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 08, 2017, 02:02:10 pm
hands used well can take out a base.

This made me wonder...is there any way to gauge the difficulty of an enemy base? In vanilla xcom, enemy bases were somewhat late game occurences, so they were all big challenges to overcome...but given the much more stretched pacing of this mod, i assume enemy base occurences are spread out as well? If so, how much do early bases differ in difficulty from later ones, and is there a way for the player to know that in advance?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Kharim on February 08, 2017, 02:12:04 pm
So, will Mercenary security be ever back? Or do I say goodbye to some of my most trusted auxilla?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: wolfreal on February 08, 2017, 06:31:58 pm
Hi

I think I found something very weird. I was playing my first month in 0.99F, did a watchtower, a shamble hunting, and a rodeo mission just fine, I escaped a desert academy outpost because of heat, but nonetheless I only have positive score. Then, end of the month arrive and I find that I have -900 in score!. I don´t understand why. I ignored the pogrom but in theory, pogrom before the respective research don´t reduce your points. The only culprit I can think of is this alien mission:

Quote
- type: STR_MISSION_MINING
    region: STR_SOUTHERN_AFRICA
    race: STR_FLOATER_INDUSTRIAL
    nextWave: 2
    nextUfoCounter: 0
    spawnCountdown: 2580
    liveUfos: 0
    uniqueID: 1
    missionSiteZone: -1

That because the lowest score comes from that region. This is new? This is supposed to happen?.

I attach two savegames. One is just after a hunting mission, and the other is beginning new month.

And... BTW. Just after the hunt mission, sometimes I get that interesting ship in the other picture attached. But I think those are pogrom ships.


 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: nrafield on February 08, 2017, 06:42:38 pm
The score is pretty weird indeed...in the past versions I haven't had a problem retaining positive score even after a few years when I let 3 enemy bases exist at the same time. Admittedly, that was also about the time the regular crackdowns started spawning, and I was prepared enough to just shoot down the lighter ships and loot them.

I've also started a new playthrough and been a year so far without many problems. I DID wind up having a surprisingly negative score a few times, but it was nothing extreme (-500 is the least I've got)

And yes, that is a pogrom ship. Although, often they just despawn without anything happening.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: wolfreal on February 08, 2017, 07:40:32 pm
The score is pretty weird indeed...in the past versions I haven't had a problem retaining positive score even after a few years when I let 3 enemy bases exist at the same time. Admittedly, that was also about the time the regular crackdowns started spawning, and I was prepared enough to just shoot down the lighter ships and loot them.

I've also started a new playthrough and been a year so far without many problems. I DID wind up having a surprisingly negative score a few times, but it was nothing extreme (-500 is the least I've got)

And yes, that is a pogrom ship. Although, often they just despawn without anything happening.

Them is a weird occurrence?. I play around a year and some more of 0.99E and never get a negative score, even after investigating the research that make pogrom give you negative score. That´s why is so weird for me to this happens, and in the first month more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: wolfreal on February 08, 2017, 09:04:09 pm
Ok, this is weird.

I make a new game. Activate debug mode. The first month only spawn a temple raid, and a pogrom. I get the have a party research, + a perfect (ctrl + k) temple raid. I did not went to the pogrom. Result. -77 on the first month. Again, this is normal? Sorry if I´m being a pain, maybe this is intended, but it looks weird for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Meridian on February 08, 2017, 09:07:44 pm
Why is that weird?
Debug mode doesn't show you all UFOs flying around, you might have missed a lot of them...

And I guess you didn't research anything, otherwise you would have a higher score.

1/ Look at your starting save, what kinds of missions were generated
2/ After month end, look into the save where all the UFO activity was happening and how much points it generated... then it should probably start making sense
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: khade on February 09, 2017, 02:07:22 am
So it's possible I just haven't gotten it yet, but what research gives you information on the uber clothes? The research database thing doesn't say everything that is unlocked through a subject, and I have the blocked information thing on and don't intend to turn it off (amuses me too much). It just seems unreasonably hard to unlock so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 09, 2017, 05:04:07 am
why are the darts from the dart RIFLE daze, but from the dart pistol chem?... Shouldn't they be the same?? Is this an oversight, or is there a lore reason behind it??

Also, I just want to say, your mod, even though I don't necessarily like the "all female tribe" aspect, has pretty interesting tactics and gameplay more than regular xcom. The mansion invasion was particularly fun, if overwhelming, and its interesting how you emphasize on finding items in the battlefield many times.

Khade, iirc uber clothes are never researched, they are simply used as materials to build things. You can't wear them, iirc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 09, 2017, 05:27:44 am
Read the articles on the harpoon gun and dart pistol - they're different things. The harpoon gun is a purchasable tranquilizer or solid bolt gun, while the pistol was developed by the gals and carries a poison dart that does a lot of secondary stun.

The uber clothes are just the general stores item for the Adventurer, Scout, and Ganger outfits. One set of clothes means you can outfit a single hand in one of those.  Same goes for pirate clothes and Pirate/Rogue gear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: legionof1 on February 09, 2017, 05:58:17 am
In the mod im not sure what the logic is, but out here in the real world those weapons come from quite different sources. The rifle/harpoon gun is a purpose built weapon for nonlethal take-downs of medium to large animals for scientific pursuits and operates on pressurized gas at low velocity. The dart is quite small and not much more then a pressurized syringe.

Dart pistols are generally conversions of existing large caliber pistols using existing blanks to propel a finned dart inserted into the end of a modified barrel. These darts are generally quite large and intended for special operations use. The theory was that you could coat the dart in some substance for use against personnel or have something akin to a rifle grenade by taking advantage the large size of the dart. In practice these designs where cumbersome and inaccurate without significant noise performance improvement over a normal silencer.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Marza on February 09, 2017, 06:45:47 am
...what research gives you information on the uber clothes?

In previous versions, the bootypedia entries for Ganger, Adventurer and Scout outfits were given at the start of the game. I'm guessing a bug is at work here, because I haven't unlocked those pedia entries myself in my recent playthrough of 0.99F.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 09, 2017, 10:11:39 am
I'm noticing the same issue with tac vests, have several, but cannot research them, and theres no bootypedia article .

Also, I get what you mean about the darts, but the effect, chemical induced pacification, is from the same source (chemical) isn't it? I just fail to see why the stat difference, especially since daze is more blunt trauma than anything else...it also makes capturing shark men very tough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Marza on February 10, 2017, 12:30:34 am
I've found that the tac vest, ganger et al bootypedia entries now depend on the STR_JACKSTOWN_ZZZ string, which I'm assuming should be given with 'Visit nearby town', a technology available for research at the start of a new game.

To restore the bootypedia articles, you can open up a save file with a text editor and add the missing string under the list of discovered technologies:
Code: [Select]
discovered:
  - STR_JACKSTOWN_SCOUTING
  - STR_JACKSTOWN_ZZZ
  - STR_WAT_DO
  - etc

As always, back up your saves before I accidentally break stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 11, 2017, 03:45:27 am
Kinda curious, why is it pre-primed grenades are removed from inventory?

Every time I have say, a preprimed smoke, the smoke ends up in the item pile in the ship, and blows up....almost seems like the engine is having a fit after landing :D

I have pre primed grenades on, so I'm not sure what the issue is. What is REALLY strange, is this happens even after I get out of the ship. For instance, lets say I leave the airbus, cook a smoke, but then don't throw it that turn, the item magically warps back into the ship and blows up...

...Its rather frustrating, as it makes items with timers next to useless
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 11, 2017, 04:21:36 am
Get the newest version of OXCE+ from  Meridian's thread (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.0.html), this is a known bug with the version of the exe packaged with the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Cristao on February 11, 2017, 11:36:37 am
I am enjoying this latest version. The amount of extra stuff one can do is immense not to mention the different mechanics from vanilla. The research though is mind boggling. I do not wish to play chess with Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Carfax on February 12, 2017, 10:59:56 am
Hello to everyone

i just started playing this awsome mod a few days ago. I am enjoying it very much indeed. the research texts are very well writen and funny. i am laughing quiet often reading them. Very well done.

I changed some assets for my personal asthetic needs and i though ill post them here if anyone wants to use them or, alien overlord help me, even will get incorporated in them mod.
one is the backgroud for the reactionfire medal and the second are the stripes in the background of the medals
The original files are followed by the changed pngs

enjoy
Carfax


removed the medalbar because its in the mod now
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Carfax on February 12, 2017, 11:31:41 am
as in my previous post i was kind of displeased with the picture of the healer medal.
why has she elven ears when we can cut them off and sell them for booty and why does the picture has a white hightlight in the back of her knees? if you ever come to the same conclusion here is my "fixed" one.
the first png is the original the 2nd the changed one for you convenience

last edit: i uploaded a new version of the healer, i actually took the wrong one, where i hadn´t removed the rest of the comms overlapping her hair
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: robin on February 12, 2017, 12:57:38 pm
How do the "civilians enemies" work? The ones for example that appears in church assaults ("Though Girl" or something).
I noticed in the ruleset that some units have negative scores. I too have units with negative scores, because the idea is that killing them them is a bad thing... stunning on the other hand should be better: is here a way to make that, if you stun them, the score penalty is lowered?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 12, 2017, 01:58:58 pm
Say, why cant the boarding gun, and custom shooty gun use the boarding gun ammo large, only the super boarding gun can? I honestly prefer the custom over super, but would LOVE to use the large chain ammo, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work, since its literally just a longer chain of bullets.

Robin, as for the civilians, it works out as each unit has a score for killing, or capturing.

tough girls, or tough guys, both deduct somewhere around 10 points for killing, sharp guys (men in flashy looking blue suits) deduct I think 40, since they are kinda higher up in society

Anyone whos DIRECTLY part of a faction, (temple, guild, bandits, ect) can be killed off for a points value, but those who aren't you should try to capture.

You can capture with the handle weapon (good early on) gun butts of most larger smgs or rifles, or other means. Stun damage can still kill depending on the weapon and how strong the person is (dont try hitting a sharp guy with a gal whos using a B-bat with a strength above 80, you will shatter his skull)

As a general starter, dont if you can help it, shoot tough girls / guys, sharp guys (especially) savvy girls, fat guys, and especially any government agents you ever run into, unless you are OK with the ramifications. I for instance, a few years in, am perfectly ok with gunning down a few tough guys, because they carry magnums which can punch through armor. Besides gov employees, or sharp guys, they don't really hold much of an influence if you kill a few within the month, but indiscriminately nuking temples might cause you problems

So yes, stunning works. If your starting out, you can also try using a small weapon (rusty niner, pocket pistol, ect) to shoot them. These do less damage, but are enough to knock them out generally, without killing. You can even shoot, and let them bleed for a turn, then bandage them as they are bleeding out. Theres a score hit for killing, but maiming is perfectly acceptable ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: robin on February 12, 2017, 02:53:24 pm
Robin, as for the civilians, it works out as each unit has a score for killing, or capturing.

tough girls, or tough guys, both deduct somewhere around 10 points for killing, sharp guys (men in flashy looking blue suits) deduct I think 40, since they are kinda higher up in society

Anyone whos DIRECTLY part of a faction, (temple, guild, bandits, ect) can be killed off for a points value, but those who aren't you should try to capture.[...]
I understood that.
What I wanted to know was the ruleset stuff, how to do it, because I'd like to replicate this behavior in my mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 12, 2017, 05:02:54 pm
As a general starter, dont if you can help it, shoot tough girls / guys, sharp guys (especially) savvy girls, fat guys, and especially any government agents

Don't they all trigger reaction fire despite being unarmed/not dangerous? Because then it becomes much harder to avoid gunning them down, unless there is a way to make your gals react to enemies but not civies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Ashghan on February 12, 2017, 08:02:23 pm
The civilian enemies are just regular enemies as far as the game is concerned. Do note that mutants play the role of actual civilians (on terror missions for example). The armed enemy civilians are just defined as an enemy with a negative kill/capture score in the ruleset. And yes, they do trigger reaction fire , unfortunately. But it all depends on the circumstances - for a fresh gal with a flintlock a tough guy with a niner can be deadly opposition, warranting a reaction shot.

Quote
Stun damage can still kill
Stun damage (it's called DAZE in the new version) itself never kills, but all weapons that are not stun-dedicated (stun baton, cattle prod, zapper etc.) deal part of their damage (usually 5-20%, depending on weapon - some go as high as 50%or more lethal.) as direct health damage. Same goes the other way - most weapons that deal health damage also deal a bit of stun.

I wanted to ask - does weather affect only your gals, or enemies as well?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 12, 2017, 08:53:17 pm
Weather doesn't affect enemies, since they either have access to countermeasures (either high technology or because they live there).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Dioxine on February 12, 2017, 09:13:22 pm
as in my previous post i was kind of displeased with the picture of the healer medal.
why has she elven ears when we can cut them off and sell them for booty and why does the picture has a white hightlight in the back of her knees? if you ever come to the same conclusion here is my "fixed" one.

It's no ears, it's comms, and these 'highlights' are small white crosses :) Taking your medal bars, tho, they look much better than my lazy attempt. Cheers!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Carfax on February 12, 2017, 10:17:07 pm
I also imagined the ears as Comm, but the problem is the "fleshy" colour of the antennas, hence elven ears :)
Sadly im not good enough at modifing pictures on a single pixel basis to change the colour of the comms. If i were i´d also add a white cross on the backpack , because i personally could not make the white pixels as crosses at the back of the knees. Maybe if  get sick the near future i will put my mind to it.
Anyway im delighted to hear you are considering my medal background

Cheers
Carfax

p.s. i realized i didn´t upload my final version of the healer .png i just fixed this error
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2017, 03:01:07 am
New version up, with lots of fixes and lots of new stuff. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: mumble on February 13, 2017, 03:03:01 am
For the issue with reaction fire, remember, you can hit the delete key to remove someones TU's to prevent a reaction shot. Generally civilian involved maps are a bit less dangerous than others, so simply staying in cover till the next turn is viable, as any map with civilians generally has only pistol armed opposition, mixed in with a couple small arms and melee weapons. Later, once you get armor, except for a few heavy pistols / shotguns shooting slugs, you can literally just run up tanking gunfire from small arms, and be perfectly fine. Just watch out for magnums, shotguns (pellets are fine, slugs are dangerous), or rifles

And, as said before, don't feel bad about killing a few tough guys who hold guns, especially bigger ones. a 10 point deduction from killing civilians is better than 30 or so for a hand, not to mention losing a hand is a much longer lasting effect than a monthly rank deduction. As long as your above -200 or so, you should be fine.

By the way solar, I'm PRETTY sure you are incorrect : I've played on both extreme cold artic maps, and extreme heat pink deserts, and have actively seen this effect enemies. I briefly stayed in a pink desert (BAD MISTAKE EARLY GAME!!!!) and during the enemy turn, half of the troops on the UFO simply collapsed from heat stroke.

I've also seen people in super cold climates struggle to move around, so I'm pretty sure this isn't the case.

The only real exception to this is in the cases of wildlife, or ghouls, which are pretty much immune to intense heat, cold, acid, or smoke, respectively. But normal people (civilians, low level church / guild / academy) are vulnerable to it.

...speaking of weather, I gotta say, cold maps are shockingly hard to deal with compared to heat. Heat can be warded of with a canteen per person, or even an oxygen tank to keep people awake, but cold?... Cold takes a pretty nasty combination of booze and stimulants, and juggling that makes it pretty hard to fight.

Is there any possibility of getting insulated versions of armors, lined with rags? Something like a slight deduction in TU's, for a higher cold resistance? Because as is, short of pink deserts which make you pass out in 2 turns, I'd much rather deal with a hot map than cold any day, and in reality, its much easier to stay warm, than to cool off...and theres already means to have multiple versions or armor, so I don't see why, how a few years in, I still have nothing to keep warm, besides booze or the explorers outfit (which has NO armor at all). I at very least figure heavier armors (warrior, tac armor, ect) would be effective at keeping you warm, but they don't

Come to think of it, an armor plated explorers outfit would be extremely nice, having armor on the front, sides, but a completely open back, at the expense of a pretty hefty bulk.

EDIT : sorry if anything I said here is irrelivant with the new update

EDIT2: Why the move to make mansion missions timed? I had trouble with them enough as is, and the idea of being limited to time makes me want to never try the mission again...I guess I should try it before I whine about it, but these missions always seemed harder as is, even without the time limit, and I was never really able to get as much loot as I hoped, nor even think about clearing the entire mansion.

If your going to keep this change, can you perhaps at least include the entire map being highlighted, perhaps with justification of the girls finding the mansion floor plan, perhaps with a few areas not included just to mix it up?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2017, 03:30:54 am
Mansion missions are timed to discourage the slow murder-all slog, unless your tech is good enough to make it possible so fast.

As for the weather effects, your imput is valuable. Still trying to find out correct damages.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F - 4 Feb - Blood is Life
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 13, 2017, 03:48:51 am
By the way solar, I'm PRETTY sure you are incorrect : I've played on both extreme cold artic maps, and extreme heat pink deserts, and have actively seen this effect enemies. I briefly stayed in a pink desert (BAD MISTAKE EARLY GAME!!!!) and during the enemy turn, half of the troops on the UFO simply collapsed from heat stroke.

Nope mate, that effect is completely irrelevant to heat, or weather in general... Unless you consider gentle psi waves from a dune goddess a weather factor. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: mumble on February 13, 2017, 04:04:41 am
I think what might be better than raw damage / stun, is perhaps more combat stress from the cold / heat. I could see rookies who aren't exactly combat worthy snapping because they are getting shot at, while also freezing / sweating their tits off. Another few ideas, are maybe hits to other stats : throwing, reactions, strength in cold in, and shooting, melee in heat, logic being in cold, your freezing up and struggling to do things quick or be at full strength while shivering, and in the heat, you boiling in your skin makes it harder to do strenuous things like swinging a bat, or hammer (I've done demolition work in summer months, and DAMN does swinging a sledge hammer in a heat wave almost kill you) or aim when sweat is running down your body. It would also be nice if you could arrange energy damage / stun damage to be a bit more flexible, cold in particular. It would be handy if, for "mild" cold and heat, if the damage could cap at certain levels, so nobody REALLY passes out from heat stroke (unless in hot gear) but is very vulnerable to being knocked out due to it, or, if nobody 100% freezes in place due to no energy.

I don't know if this is possible, but this would be handy as its my biggest complaint about heat / cold : its less a nuisance, and more a DEMAND to carry certain gear, or end the map within x turns, and it would be handy if, rather than out and out KOing people, there was a slight margin of error. Because the 2 situations which get me are when rookies simply run out of energy and CANNOT move at all, or when the stun makes people pass out entirely.

It would also really, REALLY help if we could get an indication of how the map is BEFORE arriving, but I'm not sure that is possible. It feels like a gamble, betting on clothing. I might wear chiller armor, hoping its a pink area of desert, but I end up with a mild desert, and no armor.

And I guess I can see what you mean about time limits, but honestly, its never a matter of tech level / combat for me, its a matter of bug hunting down the last people in the mansion. Even with spike balls, lasers, ect, it would still take a while. I feel a better way, if possible, might be to have the place assaulted by something REALLY tenacious after say, 30 rounds, to make the player feel a bit rushed to leave because safety, not necessarily because anything else. I think it would be kinda exciting for instance, if after 30 rounds, the basement is flooded with crysalids, and you have a very, VERY clear indication to GTFO, without an arbitrary game over. (assuming this is how it is now, at least.)

gentle psi waves from a dune goddess
Is this a thing, or are you being funny? I honestly cannot tell. :o

I think it still applies, since I never heard any "psi" noises at any point...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 13, 2017, 04:48:05 am
Check the minimap in pink desert dude, he's not making this shit up.  The pink desert knocked you and enemies alike unconscious long before weather conditions were ever introduced.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2017, 04:54:56 am
Yeah I meant 32 turns is enough to rob the 1-2 rooms with real value and fly back home; except gems and nuclear materials there isn't anything there that couldn't be easily garnered elsewhere. So it actually adds some fun to the epitome of boring.

As for weather effects on stats, nope, that isn't doable, not yet at least.
The gamble element has been lessened by weather starting on 2nd turn, and visual indication - you can always run w/o taking any damage.

Weather effect on morale? Nah, I don't think so. There is enough bad morale effects IMO. Maybe as a crutch if energy/stun damage will be lowered.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 13, 2017, 05:00:28 am
Check the minimap in pink desert dude, he's not making this shit up.

Yeah, this shit is real. :)
BTW I think there is a pending request for switching specific items off the minimap... Is this a thing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: karadoc on February 13, 2017, 11:46:04 am
I have one concern about the timed mansion missions...    Is the equipment pile still somewhere deep in the mansion? Or has it been moved to one of the evac points?

Because if the spare equipment is still just at some random place, then that could be a real drag. It would necessitate micromanaging what equipment you bring in the craft on the mission; and unwary players may find that the lose more than they gain because they lost their spare equipment.

I personally just don't want to have to unequip and reequip my craft every time I do a mansion mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 13, 2017, 12:59:41 pm
Equipment management is getting more annoying these last few updates. The new environments are wonderful for diversifying game play but i think Im spending more time on the load-out screen then actually playing. Needing separate load-outs for space, underwater, and now 2 temperatures with different inventory layouts on each outfit is starting to wear thin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 13, 2017, 01:00:43 pm
Yes it's in the same place. How could it end up on the roof if you just infiltrated? Keep a spare ship if you don't like micro.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: karadoc on February 13, 2017, 01:12:08 pm
Yes it's in the same place. How could it end up on the roof if you just infiltrated? Keep a spare ship if you don't like micro.
I think the potential mystery of how the equipment could be on the roof is pretty minor compared to how a band of uber maids with las-pistols and sawn-off shotguns got into the building undetected. How did their big pile of additional weapons and equipment get into the building anyway? If it was on the roof, I'd just presume that the gals carried only their infiltration equipment and the pile on the roof was dropped down after at the start of the 'attack' phase of the infiltration. Besides, doesn't one of the team usually start near the roof anyway?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 13, 2017, 01:30:43 pm
I also agree that mansion equipping is super annoying... But on the positive side, once you can do mansions reliably, you can easily afford a dedicated craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: magitsu on February 13, 2017, 07:25:56 pm
Got a map generation error here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4wmi9kjsXleRVVTTTNwVW1XdEk (.sav file, F with OXCE+ 3.6 2017-02-05)
Don't really know what kind of error it produced, since the mission (stone pyramids with werewolves, blood sacrifice) played out fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 13, 2017, 07:32:32 pm
Don't really know what kind of error it produced, since the mission (stone pyramids with werewolves, blood sacrifice) played out fine.

It doesn't produce any crashing errors, just the AI may be a little bit confused potentially.
I'll remove the warning in the next version and give modders a different way to check their maps.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: mumble on February 14, 2017, 03:11:11 am
is it remotely possible to have the BFG, and chaingun act a bit more like their true doom counterparts?

It would be interesting if the chaingun had a "double tap" mode, with high accuracy like normal doom does, and if the BFG functioned like it did in doom (a combination of a large plasma shot, and a follow up radiation shotgun of invisible lasers tracers).

I don't know if the BFG 2 stage fire is remotely possible in the engine (1 massive plasma shot WITHOUT splash damage, and then a large spread of 40 plasma element "shotgun" tracers) But it would be obscenely cool to see.

As for the mission, I think maybe having the gear placed on the roof, logic being the drop EVAC is stashing it there, would both eliminate the headache of gear tracking, and also add a little more tactics, that one could, for instance, find the stash, then go loot more...I know I'd detour for a few explosive charges just to break down walls.

By the way, did the recent update add the ability to find / purchase airbuses? I find it....bitterly ironic that airbuses are all around in the first few missions, yet as far as I could tell, it cannot be replaced.

Lastly, is the aquatic harpoon gun being unlocked in bootypedia from day 1 intentional?..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 14, 2017, 04:43:53 am
There is no possibility of adding 2 damage effects per shot, or 2 automatic fire modes per weapon, OXC isn't as advanced as Doom :)

Auto-harpoon should be hidden until you research it, yes, it's a bug.

There is no EVAC drop, as you infiltrate the mansion on foot. The craft is only used to escape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 14, 2017, 04:54:24 am
The two hits could somewhat be done by script, leveraging the fact the in the shotgun blast code, one tracer pellet is fired 'first' and the others follow up as a near-instantaneous auto shot. The script could say, increase the damage for the first hit from the weapon, then place a tag on it that says none of the rest of the pellets get huge damage until the first one next turn, but it would be a megakludge in my mind just to make it more Doom-like.  I think it's fine as-is in the OXC engine, and changing it would make it feel less impressive to me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 14, 2017, 05:56:03 am
With the mansion, when time is up, are you gals lost or do they just flee with whatever is in their hands?  both are logical, but given the size of the mansion and an unknown amount of time to explore, having them just leave seems reasonable to me, assuming the exit has been found.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: mumble on February 14, 2017, 05:58:01 am
I know you sneak in, but the ship which picks you up, I assume would be there a bit longer than a couple turns, and I figure the evacuation ship, which picks you up, might ALSO be carrying a few items, hence the logic... ..but its your mod, do what you will

I can see what you mean about the weapon being lackluster, the BFG in doom rouglike was similar (one BIG ass rocket) but I was curious partly because 1, I'm a bit of a doom fan, and that would be cool, and 2, having a close range tank buster would be interesting.

@khade : I really hope its just leaving, because the uncertainty of getting through that mansion makes it a very scary prospect to explore. I've yet to really check the basement, for instance, I've only really checked the mage towers, because they are convenient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 14, 2017, 09:57:35 am
There is no possibility of adding 2 damage effects per shot, or 2 automatic fire modes per weapon, OXC isn't as advanced as Doom  :)

OXC is a lot more advanced than Doom.
Just not in all aspects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: mumble on February 14, 2017, 12:12:44 pm
OXC is a lot more advanced than Doom.
Just not in all aspects.
I would just say, perhaps openxcom is younger than zdoom and all its "family", as well as perhaps, doom was made a bit more modifiable out the gate than xcom was, on release, as far as I'm aware.

On that account, I would say the entire scope of "all" developers, and "all" source ports / resources, zdoom and others are perhaps slightly more advanced, but NOT because lack of talent (talent is obviously there!) but rather, slightly smaller community (maybe?) and the fact xcom was built a bit different in the first place anyways, as far as I know, AND, that zdoom, ect, has had over twice as long in development of openxcom

Not trying to be rude to any of the developers or anything else here, but I'm just being realistic : The amount of scripting and capabilities added to some of the source ports for doom are pretty unreal, in the comparison of vanilla play, and extremely modded play, where as openxcom is making great strides, and obviously has already, but is still working on breaking many "old" restrictions of vanilla. And this, AGAIN, has nothing to do with talent, but has everything to do with doom modding / tinkering, on a large community, has a good 10 or so year start (from what a bit of research on google tells me) when you talk about zdoom, gzdoom, maping techniques, ect. So I would say doom, in all its branches of modding, is a LITTLE more advanced, but thats only because it has a few more years of actively modding under its belt.

But, I'm getting a bit off topic here... hope nobody got offended by this :-X I say again, talent is most certainly there, but an indifference in time applied is EXTREMELY hard to compensate for.

For the record though, I would say the fact VANILLA xcom is far more advanced ANYWAY, speaks a great deal too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 14, 2017, 12:25:49 pm
Thanks for enlightenment.

Just for the record, nobody mentioned ZDoom, GZDoom, QZDoom or alike... I have explicitly written "OpenXcom" and "Doom".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: mumble on February 14, 2017, 01:34:32 pm
Oh I gotcha, I just interpreted doom as "all of dooms modding capability" since you are comparing a sourceport specifically, to another game which has many source ports. Thus, I thought of all the source ports I know, and said what I thought

If comparing VANILLA doom, to openxcom, then absolutely you are 100% correct.

Perhaps I interpreted differently than you intended, but that was why I brought up zdoom and gzdoom, because they are pretty much the forefront of scripting / coding / level effects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Carfax on February 14, 2017, 03:12:00 pm
Just a short inquiery. I noticed that i can research and produce items that are linked to loot i gathered during a mission even before my craft arrives back at my base.
I just fired up dosbox and its handled this way in the vanilla game.This is certainly no gamebreaker because i am using a houserule that prohibits me exploiting this anyway but i would like to know if this is hardcoded or if it is possible and feasible to change that?
As im writing this i think this thread might not be the right place to post this issue, but i am rather new to this forum and i haven´t found a suitable place to put it.

Regards
Carfax
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 14, 2017, 08:19:39 pm
Nah, hardoced. Unhardcoding it is within the realm of possibility, but is long process of debugging, accounting for every abuse and strange situation, as well as endless bitching about the new logic really worth it...

I know you sneak in, but the ship which picks you up, I assume would be there a bit longer than a couple turns, and I figure the evacuation ship, which picks you up, might ALSO be carrying a few items, hence the logic... ..but its your mod, do what you will
Where's that logic? the ship might carry stuff but it's ON THE SHIP, hence inaccessible. I'd make all stuff you don't hold on your gals auto-sent back to your base, alas, this is impossible

I can see what you mean about the weapon being lackluster, the BFG in doom rouglike was similar (one BIG ass rocket) but I was curious partly because 1, I'm a bit of a doom fan, and that would be cool, and 2, having a close range tank buster would be interesting.
You have a ton of of closer-range tank busters, plus, the 'lackluster' weapon is only one of the best in the whole mod...


I really hope its just leaving, because the uncertainty of getting through that mansion makes it a very scary prospect to explore.

No, you lose everything and everyone not on exit tiles. Scary? I hope. Maybe this will scare people off enough to going in with a plan, instead for a long, tedious murder-all slog like before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Ragshak on February 14, 2017, 11:25:25 pm
Auto-harpoon should be hidden until you research it, yes, it's a bug.

Same goes for shotguns, boarding gun and few oter things?

This new version feels more like a new game than update. I am a little bit confused with all new stuff (especially new research tree).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: nrafield on February 15, 2017, 03:09:01 am
Some feedback on new stuff:
-The weather conditions are kinda annoying since you can't predict which weather the mission will have before you can embark on it. Cold is worse than heat as it immediately guarantees a trip to sick bay for anyone not dressed for the weather, making management tougher, and it makes them stop regenerating stamina, freezing them in place. I guess it would be just as bad in real life too, if not worse, but still it's pretty inconveinent.  I do like how basically every outfit that's more revealing than it should be has less resistance to coldWould be nice if there was an armor for early game that focused on reducing the effect from both weathers, although it might not be the best way to balance it in the long run. Some armors have no heat or cold resistance defined at all, what's up with that?

-I really like the tazer gun out of new weapons. Sure it has a short range, but still better than handle's melee range. What I like about it the most is that it also deals lethal damage, which is not enough to kill someone on accident, but good if you want to actually hurt someone.

-Don't like the organ grinder mission either but that's more because of all the clutter than difficulty. At least you can somewhat prepare for it. There's tons of smoke every turn. If any gal is knocked out, the message can be displayed multiple times. And it takes place on that map where if you use explosives at all, you will have to watch half the map blow up. These factors combined do not exactly make playing it an interesting experience.

-I like the touch added by some missions spontaneously replacing everyone with zombies. What's up with that? Did Star Gods finally decide to kill everyone?

-Noticed that you can't produce medical supplies out of chemicals without a sickbay, but that is not stated anywhere. I suggest it to be added to the Pharmacology Bootypedia entry, which unlocks that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 15, 2017, 04:25:24 am
If an armor has no percentage stated it 100%.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 15, 2017, 06:27:03 am
So idea: if a gal is lost, but not killed, could we spawn a mission for a rescue? might require research for each lost gal.  It might need a chance of you finding out that they're just dead, though considering how valuable captured members of your gang seem to be, that seems unlikely, as well as being not really fun.  Naturally the equipment and ships lost as well would be gone forever, but a chance of saving a missing hand could lead to a fun story.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 15, 2017, 09:02:54 am
Some feedback on new stuff:
-The weather conditions are kinda annoying since you can't predict which weather the mission will have before you can embark on it. Cold is worse than heat as it immediately guarantees a trip to sick bay for anyone not dressed for the weather, making management tougher, and it makes them stop regenerating stamina, freezing them in place. I guess it would be just as bad in real life too, if not worse, but still it's pretty inconveinent.  I do like how basically every outfit that's more revealing than it should be has less resistance to coldWould be nice if there was an armor for early game that focused on reducing the effect from both weathers, although it might not be the best way to balance it in the long run. Some armors have no heat or cold resistance defined at all, what's up with that?


You can predict that, also your statement about 'immediate' is no longer true since you have 1 turn leeway now. There is an early armor that is good vs. weather, more than one, actually. Slave armors? Depends which, you need to be more specific, since there are at least 5 and they differ a lot.

-Don't like the organ grinder mission either but that's more because of all the clutter than difficulty. At least you can somewhat prepare for it. There's tons of smoke every turn. If any gal is knocked out, the message can be displayed multiple times. And it takes place on that map where if you use explosives at all, you will have to watch half the map blow up. These factors combined do not exactly make playing it an interesting experience.

How blowing half the map up isn't an interesting experience? Gotta check your life priorities, man ;)
Seriously tho, you're not supposed to like the mission.

-I like the touch added by some missions spontaneously replacing everyone with zombies. What's up with that? Did Star Gods finally decide to kill everyone?

Read Pedia.

-Noticed that you can't produce medical supplies out of chemicals without a sickbay, but that is not stated anywhere. I suggest it to be added to the Pharmacology Bootypedia entry, which unlocks that.

There's a 'facility missing' tab in the manufacturing menu that shows everything. There is no place in Pedia for such technical data, as it would eat up 25-250% available text space, depending on item.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 15, 2017, 03:04:07 pm
So idea: if a gal is lost, but not killed, could we spawn a mission for a rescue?

It's a genuinely fun idea, but would require much work on the coder's part, and I doubt the gains justify it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: KBGhost on February 15, 2017, 09:41:53 pm
How blowing half the map up isn't an interesting experience? Gotta check your life priorities, man ;)
Seriously tho, you're not supposed to like the mission.
Why add the mission if people won't like it though?
I understand if you added it because it's a difficult mission but like he said the problem isn't difficulty but the clutter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Cristao on February 15, 2017, 11:17:48 pm
Dont you have to research the 'organ' mission first before you do it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 16, 2017, 01:34:15 am
It's a genuinely fun idea, but would require much work on the coder's part, and I doubt the gains justify it.

Depends on what the code can also be used for or if someone wants it enough, on if it's worth it. But you're a coder, I think, at least you have a functional and very good mod, and I'm definitely not and don't, so I bow to your expertise.

Edit

Something else I could see being useful would be the ability to enter a map, specifically of your bases and the floor plan of your ships, to see how things are set up, for ships, seeing who is where, and for the bases mostly the use would be non under attack identifying choke-points and weak defensive spots, maybe adding the ability to set where turrets are allowed to spawn, if that's possible.

I don't know if that idea made any sense...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 16, 2017, 01:53:36 am
The ships can be done by quick battle from the OXC main menu, I use it to check out new ship maps when Dioxine makes them or when I need to know deployment positions.  You might be able to check a base map that way with save/config editing, but I never got work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 16, 2017, 04:04:27 am
Depends on what the code can also be used for or if someone wants it enough, on if it's worth it. But you're a coder, I think, at least you have a functional and very good mod, and I'm definitely not and don't, so I bow to your expertise.

I'm not a coder at all, I have just been requesting features from actual coders and I developed some degree of instinct of what probably is easy to do and what probably isn't. :) I could always be wrong though.

Something else I could see being useful would be the ability to enter a map, specifically of your bases and the floor plan of your ships, to see how things are set up, for ships, seeing who is where, and for the bases mostly the use would be non under attack identifying choke-points and weak defensive spots, maybe adding the ability to set where turrets are allowed to spawn, if that's possible.

That would require some sort of new GUI, and that's a really big thing. The idea is sound though.

The ships can be done by quick battle from the OXC main menu, I use it to check out new ship maps when Dioxine makes them or when I need to know deployment positions.  You might be able to check a base map that way with save/config editing, but I never got work.

Possible, but so anal that I never actually tried. :P Would require editing starting base settings to make it appear exactly like the base you want to check. Without some sort of tool, way too much work in my opinion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 16, 2017, 06:03:06 am
Why add the mission if people won't like it though?
I understand if you added it because it's a difficult mission but like he said the problem isn't difficulty but the clutter.

Because I'm an evil tyrant, obviously. And don't even have idea what that 'clutter' of yours means.

As for map reviewing: the 3d engine is there, one would only need to add a 'flying camera' code (I think Volutar fiddled with this already) to look around the whole map in real time...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 16, 2017, 06:46:03 am
he is possibly referring to the visual clutter that results from the whole map being drowned in smoke. Grey smoke on dark tileset particularly at night ends up being mostly useless in the visual department. I personally can't play organ grinder missions because of eye strain resulting from trying to pick out useful information in grey pea soup.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on February 16, 2017, 08:24:34 am
While I'm not a huge fan of the explody bits, Organ Grinder is still interesting to me. Good early game research before I get good ships esp in a No Mutant Alliance run(Yes I know I don't have an end game).

I actually like the mission. Though more so the novelty of it. Though I think removing the exploding parts would be good, because how does it explode without oxygen? All that fog and rain is a big deterant to fires.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: KBGhost on February 16, 2017, 02:58:59 pm
Because I'm an evil tyrant, obviously. And don't even have idea what that 'clutter' of yours means.

As for map reviewing: the 3d engine is there, one would only need to add a 'flying camera' code (I think Volutar fiddled with this already) to look around the whole map in real time...
Like nrafield said, the map ends up looking like shit because there's smoke everywhere.
It's just really unpleasant to play through it when you need to put extra effort on seeing enemies on the screen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ivandogovich on February 16, 2017, 03:28:11 pm
Like nrafield said, the map ends up looking like shit because there's smoke everywhere.
It's just really unpleasant to play through it when you need to put extra effort on seeing enemies on the screen.

The easy mode for Organgrinder view issues is use Night Vision.  The units and items stand out in color while the rest of the (admittedly extremely smokey and explodey) environment is monotone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: KBGhost on February 16, 2017, 05:06:04 pm
The easy mode for Organgrinder view issues is use Night Vision.  The units and items stand out in color while the rest of the (admittedly extremely smokey and explodey) environment is monotone.
Ah, I'll try that, thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 16, 2017, 06:46:52 pm
I noticed that voodoo: desturction doesn't lead to hellblade. Is that intentional or a bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 16, 2017, 08:30:09 pm
I noticed that voodoo: desturction doesn't lead to hellblade. Is that intentional or a bug?

Given that has been this way for several patches now along with the blood axe i will presume intended.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: nrafield on February 16, 2017, 09:34:02 pm
I've researched Alchemy, which says in the description that it allows you to build a Still, but I already had the technology and ability to construct them in the previous version, and now I found out that I can't build one anymore at all despite Alchemy. Is there something I'm missing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 16, 2017, 09:38:02 pm
Nope, bug in this version.  In Piratez.rul, look for
Code: [Select]
  - type: STR_STILL
    ... # maybe a few lines in-between
    requires:
      - STR_STILL
and change the requires to
Code: [Select]
    requires:
      - STR_ALCHEMY
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 17, 2017, 03:06:21 am
Do enemies actually use the cigarettes, assorted drugs, or alcohols they sometimes carry?  I'm assuming that first aid stuff is too complicated for them still, but self healing or buffing stuff should be usable, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 17, 2017, 05:07:59 am
Nope, enemies only recognize weapons. I think Solarius Scorch requested some kind of medic AI upgrade though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: juff on February 17, 2017, 06:42:01 am
I'd like to see civilians smoke and drink themselves to death trying to counteract morale loss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 17, 2017, 09:22:59 am
Though I think removing the exploding parts would be good

Not happening.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 17, 2017, 01:45:19 pm
Good, because it's the best feature on this map. Come on, explosions are fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: nrafield on February 18, 2017, 04:36:21 am
If I wanted awesome explosions, I would just use the Chinese Dragon. But it still probably would not be fun in this map since it would probably just result in it freezing for half of an hour as each individual tile explodes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Ragshak on February 18, 2017, 10:58:35 am
Quote
- Hot/Cold/Adic enviro effects start inflicting damage on turn 2 now, and background color informs of danger

What about color-blind people?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 18, 2017, 11:03:54 am
What about color-blind people?
There is still a text warning on the turn screen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 18, 2017, 11:47:23 am
Come on, explosions are fun!

True, but watching stuff blow up for nearly a minute is not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 18, 2017, 04:29:17 pm
What about color-blind people?

Yes, the existence color blindness is a perfectly valid reason why people who aren't color blind should be blinded as well. Honestly, I hope this was a joke.

Also, I never heard of color blindness that doesn't allow to differentiate between black and non-black. Maybe you can't tell if it's red, green or blue, but you will see the warning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: perekrylo on February 19, 2017, 06:11:06 pm
This game cures cancer.
Only thing I disliked in latest update is the mansion timer. First time I completed one (in 3 hours IRL time on early tech) I felt like +1 int lol. Felt like some beloved dungeon crawling.
However timer's no big deal anyways.

Couple questions Dix

This being 0.99, how close is this release to completion? I mean, it was 0.99 few weeks back and now theres all these changes
What inspired the game setting? It feels heavy-metal-ish as hell, which is uber awesome, but I believe there's more.
Does weather affect enemy?

Once again, this game is diamonds. Thanx. <3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 20, 2017, 12:49:20 am
Thank you so much.

Answering your questions

1) It was 0.99 year ago as well... :) I guess it's still pretty long road ahead till I'm fully satisfied. Is it already satisfying to the player? Probably quite so :)
2) Inspirations are multiple. Heavy Metal was one of the most crucial ones, tho. Another one is B-movies in general. Third is classical sci-fi, from Lensman through Lexx to Master of Orion 2. Lots of it is original content, picked from various life experiences... also, East, in general.
3) Weather doesn't affect enemy. If it did, it'd be either too slight to notice, or debiliating to the AI... so I chose not to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 21, 2017, 01:48:40 pm
Give the werewolves in blood sacrifice missions some ranged weapons, dammit! Even bows and javelins woudl be fine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 21, 2017, 04:13:24 pm
Give the werewolves in blood sacrifice missions some ranged weapons, dammit! Even bows and javelins woudl be fine!

I can't remember if the Aggression fix is already in, but increasing Aggression should also be fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 21, 2017, 04:18:46 pm
Added ability to fix user options.
They are greyed out and the user cannot change them.

Code: [Select]
fixedUserOptions:
#Crucial Options (the mod is crap without them):
  battleUFOExtenderAccuracy: true
  canSellLiveAliens: true
  battleExplosionHeight: 2
#Recommended (Play-as-intended) OpenXcom options:
  storageLimitsEnforced: true
  craftLaunchAlways: true
  canTransferCraftsWhileAirborne: true
  showMoreStatsInInventoryView: true
  strafe: true
  alienBleeding: true
#NOT recommended OpenXcom options:
  battleInstantGrenade: false
  weaponSelfDestruction: false
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 21, 2017, 04:22:02 pm
This is probably going to take care of a third of bug reports and "ideas". ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 21, 2017, 08:08:50 pm
But will create a shitstorm of its own. Thank you :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 21, 2017, 08:34:35 pm
But will create a shitstorm of its own. Thank you :)

But now you can always respond with "Such is the will of Steins;Gate". :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: KBGhost on February 22, 2017, 02:24:02 pm
2) Inspirations are multiple. Heavy Metal was one of the most crucial ones, tho. Another one is B-movies in general. Third is classical sci-fi, from Lensman through Lexx to Master of Orion 2. Lots of it is original content, picked from various life experiences... also, East, in general.
Heavy Metal and Master of Orion, good taste  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 22, 2017, 06:31:08 pm
also, East, in general.

What kind of East? East of France? East of Germany? East of catholicism? East of chalcedonian christedom? East of Abrahamic faiths?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 22, 2017, 06:36:51 pm
What kind of East? East of France? East of Germany? East of catholicism? East of chalcedonian christedom? East of Abrahamic faiths?

I think East End is a sensible possibility. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHhlHhWGUhw
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on February 24, 2017, 07:48:59 am
I usually don't complain about perks, but does anyone feel like the current Personal Armor parts collected from the sea is a bit too much? I feel like 25-50 is a much more reasonable amount. Even though a player can make ammo from the parts, 1 part makes like 5 clips anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: bluberd on February 24, 2017, 06:32:52 pm

Only thing I disliked in latest update is the mansion timer. [...]
Does weather affect enemy?


I am also not the fan of the latest changes - mansion timer/weather conditions(basically timer).
I do understand that you want to force the hit&run nature of mansion missions, but it could be implemented by arriving backup forces if you are not on time. Then you need to fight more and more enemies. etc.

Weather conditions are on the other hand horribly bad:
1. Do not influence enemies at all, so hey, not cool, I feel just cheated by the devs.
2. No clear indicator what sort of conditions you are going to face (I start to wonder if sub Sahara is already extreme or not? Is this yet a forest or a jungle?), so you can choose right armor.
3. Most of my gals fade away from cold/hot in 5-8th turn. I understand that translating turns into minutes might be hard, but I think it is safe to assume that first 5-10 minutes of extreme weather should not effect you much (at least heat/cold). Are we stronger than human?
4. So, I am getting cold inside my craft, no heating? On 10000m, standard cruising altitude, there is -60 celsius, but we got cold the second we touched the ground?
5. Is it cold on the desert during the night?
6. How is bottle of water/oxygen tank helping in the arctic exactly?
7. Why is it so hot in the jungle? I understand that it's humidity that gets you, but seriously, it is not that bad. At least it does not destroy you in first 15 minutes...
8. All in all it is adding timing to the missions. I like the flexibility of the old XCOM.

Realism aside, I know the original XCOM engine has its limitations, but I guess we are just going in bad direction.
I hated new XCOM/XCOM2 because of all those restrictions, old XCOM was so open, you could do so many things. New XCOM has limit to 4/6 operatives, in the old one, you could take 20, if none of them was good, they would be all killed by 3 mutons. New one has timing in missions to push you, has timing in overall game to push you into the rails etc. I really like the PirateZ cause you theoretically do not need to do the plot, or you can go in the pace you like.
Also the limited crew space in the ships. It was never an issue in the old XCOM, but I understand that you need to scale it for different time lines in Piratez.
But previously (.99C) in the beginning, when your operatives are untrained and weak you had Bonaventura with afair 14 crew. This helped to survive the mission - 10 gals shooting, one hits, profit. Now it is Airbus, 6 crew, terrible.
I understand that the mod is not finished yet and a lot of those ideas need refinement, but I do not like the direction, I think it is losing the original flavor, openness and creativity of the old XCOMs. I absolutely love the mod and appreciate the Devs work (I even donated money),  but I need to say this just because I like it and value it co much.

PS: I fully understand you may not agree with me, I just want to know how to disable the hot/cold effects (tried editing Piratez_Planet.rul but no luck).

Piotr
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: nrafield on February 24, 2017, 07:26:58 pm
My main issue with weather is that the particularly unfit for cold gals end up having 0 stamina regeneration and become sitting ducks. Instead of it counterbalancing the stamina regen of gals in lighter outfits that boost it, even the ones in Metal Armor can end up with 0 stamina for the rest of the mission, removing from you ability to appropriately equip your gals against plasma/laser using enemies in cold regions. I could go for more stun/maybe even HP damage but less loss of stamina in cold.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 24, 2017, 11:25:03 pm
1. Do not influence enemies at all, so hey, not cool, I feel just cheated by the devs.

The enemies are too stupid to deal with that and it would take a very large and dedicated team to change that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Think Tank on February 24, 2017, 11:31:26 pm
Hello Dioxine!

It has been a long time, and personally I have taken a little rest from my crazed obsession with X-Piratez for a bit, although now I have come back and am simply astonished by the potential on display with the Space Missions (really putting the Space back in Space Pirates!). I think that they add a nice change of pace and generally offer unique and enjoyable gameplay. However, it being in its infancy I am wondering about a few odds and ends with Space Battles (as to be expected, in all honesty). First of all, are you planning to expand the scope of space battles or are we simply expecting to see Prison/Research space stations? By this I mean, is there any though of having it so that in the future there is a possibility to raid moving vessels (ships, like Cruisers, Destroyers, or other large vessel. Hmm, maybe even a Space Cruise Ship of sorts that would act akin to Mansion missions, albeit with a much more...metallic feeling to it). Certainly, it is a dream, and I have little knowledge of programming myself (so I am unaware of the feasibility of such features) but I can imagine space battles adding a whole new dimension to the late-game combat, replacing the old land battles if you should so choose so. It is my dream to have space battles act almost like you would see in a series like Firefly, where you could raid abandoned stations (like we see with the Zombies currently, although it may be an interesting concept to see if these abandoned stations displayed some visible damage ala crashed UFOs, with some breaches, debris, and obvious damage to them signifying why they were abandoned), abandoned vessels, drug traffickers, police and faction leaders. Maybe even tactical actions on space battles could open up new markets like their earth-based contacts do, who knows, but that is certainly a long-term dream if anything.

Secondly, I was wondering about the tactical backround, I do understand that the pure blackness of space adds some ambiance, but to be honest I do think it would look more appealing if there was some backround, not only for aesthetics, but also for being able to tell what areas of the map you have trekked already. I think in this case a re-purposed backround from what we see for the space on the geoscape would work well here, with small stars, purple colors and a very stylized look would suit the action of space battles quite well, see below for a more accurate description of what I mean.

Lastly, this idea was given to me by a close friend when I was showing him the new space battles, he was wondering if it would be possible that breaching a space station when their are inadequately prepared troops on the inside of the station (in the area directly following the breach) would take stun damage every turn much like your own troops do when underwater. This would add a new dynamic and certainly give a benefit to a properly executed breach (or maybe even cutting a hole in a wall via certain methods). I believe that this would be exceptionally challenging, however, as IIRC these negative side-effects only apply to your own forces as of yet, not to mention that programming such a response that "exposed" units in the vacuum of space take stun damage is probably a major change in of itself.

Anyway, those are just some of my preliminary ideas, still loving the new content though and wanted to congratulate you on your progression, keep it up!  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 25, 2017, 01:29:15 am
I am also not the fan of the latest changes - mansion timer/weather conditions(basically timer).
I do understand that you want to force the hit&run nature of mansion missions, but it could be implemented by arriving backup forces if you are not on time.

We would ALL love reinforcements mechanic, but you know it's not in the game. ::)

Weather conditions are on the other hand horribly bad:
1. Do not influence enemies at all, so hey, not cool, I feel just cheated by the devs.

I understand this sentiment, but I also understand there's no other (known) way to prevent you from dressing appropriately for the weather just just waiting them out. Unless some sort of timer was involved, but it would be replacing one timer with another timer.

2. No clear indicator what sort of conditions you are going to face (I start to wonder if sub Sahara is already extreme or not? Is this yet a forest or a jungle?), so you can choose right armor.

Yeah, I would also appreciate some sort of indicator. Maybe that "Details" button I recently suggested?

4. So, I am getting cold inside my craft, no heating? On 10000m, standard cruising altitude, there is -60 celsius, but we got cold the second we touched the ground?

How do you propose to improve it?

5. Is it cold on the desert during the night?

In reality yes, in Piratez no, because it's the same terrain with no light.

7. Why is it so hot in the jungle? I understand that it's humidity that gets you, but seriously, it is not that bad. At least it does not destroy you in first 15 minutes...

I think it's explained through ubers being Elerium-powered, and therefore more energetic than humans. Don't cite me though.

In the end of the day, this is still 0.99, things are being tested and slowly adjusted. I personally don't think weather is that big of a problem, unless you really stall in your missions, but it's not perfect yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2017, 01:47:40 am
@bluberd
Regarding weather, I'd really appreciate that you read previously explained things before dropping a wall of text. Basically it boils down to this, I repeat: if weather affected enemy, click end turn 20 times to win. Fun? Also playtesting shows that weather is more of a minor annoyance/debuff than a serious problem, unless you're really asking for it.
Regarding smaller deployments, it's a neccessity, since equipment is so complex and equipping takes so much time. Massed attacks are awesome, but spending 2 hours on equipping isn't. The whole gal-centric structure goes against large deployments.

Hello Dioxine!

It has been a long time, and personally I have taken a little rest from my crazed obsession with X-Piratez for a bit, although now I have come back and am simply astonished by the potential on display with the Space Missions (really putting the Space back in Space Pirates!). I think that they add a nice change of pace and generally offer unique and enjoyable gameplay.

Thank you. In short, regarding your ideas: more space missions will certainly appear, all is needed is work.
As for mechanics ideas, none of these are possible to mod into this game, no backrounds, no damage to station crew if walls are breached, no nothing. In theory space missions are not possible at all, but I managed to make it happen somehow...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Bonkus72 on February 25, 2017, 06:37:59 am
Hey Dioxine,

New to X--Piratez and I have to say, having a blast.  I don't mind the weather so much, because it adds a lot of character to my missions.  During cold maps I  arm most of my squad with pistols and handles (fer fightin'), bottles of moonshine (what fer keepin' the gals warm) and painkillers to ward off the effects of the booze.  It paints of pretty picture, and reminds me of that show "Cops" for some reason.  It would be pretty cool if the empty moonshine bottles could be used as a one use handle, for atmosphere and immersion purposes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Scorrpio on February 25, 2017, 07:00:36 am
Actually, adding a melee attack to moonshine bottle is just a few lines in the Piratez.rul - can probably copy-paste from handle entry...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2017, 12:09:22 pm
That function has been added, but only to the rum bottles - moonshine's too crappy :) But I'll think about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Bonkus72 on February 25, 2017, 06:27:18 pm
Looks like I need to step up my Brewing game then
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: sinisteragent on February 25, 2017, 06:44:53 pm
I am also not the fan of the latest changes - mansion timer/weather conditions(basically timer).

I agree. I'm already at the point where I'm recommending people avoid newer versions because all they do is add more hassle. The weather stuff in particular is terrible - ignoring the frustrating, unfair, and boring mansion missions was one thing, but having every mission potentially turn into a timed one is enough to ruin the game completely, never mind all the endless fiddling about it means on top of an already overcomplicated armour and health/energy/TU system.  Considering this is by far my favourite game of the last year and one I'm most proud to have written about, that's very disappointing.

I'm sure there are ways around it, but finding a way around bad design doesn't make it enjoyable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2017, 07:09:29 pm
Disappointing? Lol, you got it all for free. Have some perspective.
I've been always pursuing my own goals and I don't plan on changing it.
It's easy to say about 'bad design' but I don't listen to criticism based on plain bullshit. If you have something constructive to say, do so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 25, 2017, 07:15:02 pm
It's easy to say about 'bad design' but I don't listen to criticism based on plain bullshit. If you have something constructive to say, do so.

How should a person say, constructively, they want a feature removed because they honestly think it's bad?
Can you give us an example so that we can talk using your language?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2017, 07:27:51 pm
There is argumentation about the weather effects being bad, since they supposedly put so much strain on the player and require so much maintenance - while this simply isn't true. Same with Mansions, even if the timer just makes sure you DON'T try to make a 100-turn tedious slog.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: sinisteragent on February 25, 2017, 07:28:33 pm
I gave you clear reasons for what I said, but if you're going to respond to criticism with this kind of immature hostility I'm not surprised you'd ignore that, though I am disappointed. I'm also not looking forward to reviewing the finished version of the game anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2017, 07:35:14 pm
Good.

EDIT:

I'm working far too much on it, doing far too many changes lately. I'm really tired. I'm especially tired with people criticizing the weather system, which is still unfinished, and which takes me a lot of time to test properly since it's obviously prone to being very unbalanced. I'm spending a lot of time thinking about it. This kinda makes me overreact to criticism since I am unhappy with it myself, especially if I have repeat explanations all over again. Working my ass off and hearing about 'disappointment' is infuriating. Perhaps I need to take time off working on this mod, to have a fresh look, to regenerate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: sinisteragent on February 25, 2017, 08:33:43 pm
I apologise for coming in just to criticise, and for snapping back at you. I meant what I said about this being by far my favourite game since I found it, and I can barely imagine how much work it takes. Thank you for all of that.

I'm not a fan of some of the 'special' missions (ie: things like space/mansions etc with unusual circumstances or gear) but appreciate that some people like them, and they can be ignored if you're not keen, so I don't think they're necessarily a bad thing. Would it be worth moving the extreme weather to those sort of pop-up missions, perhaps? That way you'd get a little notice before you took off, instead of having to gamble with your armour loadout without knowing for sure what you'll be facing.

Perhaps there could also be an item tied to the ship you used, some sort of 'enviro field', that would lessen the impact of weather, rather than tying it to the individual's armour? I don't know if you could make it something that takes up a gun slot or an HWP, or intrinsically part of a ship.

Game dev is exhausting, I don't pretend to know you but please, if you're ever at the point where you're getting worn out, don't hesitate to take a break. There's so much already to XP that it won't suffer if it's left as is for a little while.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 25, 2017, 08:39:28 pm
I actually think the present incarnation of the weather is quite well done given the constraints of the engine. Keep up the good work Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Burning Yak on February 25, 2017, 09:13:16 pm
Quote
This kinda makes me overreact to criticism since I am unhappy with it myself, especially if I have repeat explanations all over again. Working my ass off and hearing about 'disappointment' is infuriating. Perhaps I need to take time off working on this mod, to have a fresh look, to regenerate.

That's entirely fair. If you need a break, you certainly deserve one. (Though, selfishly I'd rather you keep on working.) I've only started playing recently, but I agree with the RPS review when it said
Quote
X-Piratez, a UFO mod in active development by Dioxine, is the best total conversion for any game I’ve ever played.

It has shocking depth and breadth.  I've considered attempting to write an in-depth strategy guide, and even creating a simple spreadsheet to determine accuracy and damage at different skill levels for the crazy amount of weaponry sounds a little exhausting. I can only imagine how much creativity and work has gone into this mod.

The weather system makes me re-think my traditional armor choices.

I haven't found the weather arbitrary, as I can easily predict what type of weather the mission will have by looking at the environment in the geoscape. The visual difference between forest and jungle is more difficult to parse, but I believe I can do so reliably.

Though the weather system is unfinished, I suspect you added it to the mod to get some level of feedback and play testing. What are your concerns regarding the weather system, and what would you like us to test/estimate the balance of?

Currently my approach has been to never take 300% into cold, to avoid damage, and if I take a poor environmental armor make sure I've got a lot of stun and energy cures on my girl.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 25, 2017, 10:43:50 pm
I haven't found the weather arbitrary, as I can easily predict what type of weather the mission will have by looking at the environment in the geoscape. The visual difference between forest and jungle is more difficult to parse, but I believe I can do so reliably.

This made me think: how about making the jungle terrain more distinctive by simply changing the geoscape texture to something less similar to forest/farm? That would help.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: nrafield on February 25, 2017, 11:09:41 pm
I'm too lazy to switch armors up every time for weather. Still, I wish there was a better early game armor that protected against plasma and laser while not freezing gals in place in cold weahter.

Recently realized that Runt outfit has under 100% values for both heat and cold, so you can take it as an universal outfit in both these areas. Now this REALLY improved it's usefulness.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on February 25, 2017, 11:15:16 pm
I wish weather affected the enemies too. They seem immune, IRL if I shot down a plane and the person goes unconcious from dehydration while easy, it makes sense.

UFO's aren't always easy to shoot down either, the real fight should be in the skies IMO. If the engine allowed I'd simply use my ship to take down enemies from the skies then pick over the remains like in Xenonauts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Burning Yak on February 26, 2017, 06:11:18 am
I think weather affecting enemies would cause a lot of encounters to be trivial. Wear appropriate clothing, hit next turn again and again until weather effects cripple the enemy, have a walk in the park.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Scorrpio on February 26, 2017, 07:55:55 am
Just assume that enemies do dress for the occasion...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Foxhound634 on February 26, 2017, 12:26:52 pm
Having read a fair bit of posts, i wanted to chime in on the weather system as well. Now i haven't actually experienced it ingame, but i have some suggestions nontheless. The issue people seem to be having with it, isn't so much the weather system itself, but rather 3 things:

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 26, 2017, 06:46:19 pm
Balance: A thing i've heard is that some people have gals be incapacitated almost immediately after starting a mission. This suggests that the weather effects are applied as flat values, rather than a percentage of the individual gal's stats. Perhaps this could be a possible change to make, so unprotected gals would lose maybe 5-10% (of the current stat, not their max) a given stat each turn? With a stun value for instance, this would mean that the gals wouldn't suddenly drop unconscious but rather be much more vulnerable to it, and that this would always take some time to manifest, rather than happening instantly.[/li][/list]

Misinformation.
It is impossible to have a gal incapacitated instantly. Currently, with Stun/Hot weather, at the highest value that happens in game, 250% susceptibility, you take 9*2.5 = 22 Stun damage per turn, of which 1-2 are instantly regenerated. At lowest health, and damage onset being at turn 2, even the weakest gal takes 4 turns to be incapacitated, which is a lot of time to take counteraction. The commonly used Warrior armor takes only about half as much damage, while it has buffed stun regeneration, allowing to operate in hot weather for around 9 turns before going down; and this is with no counteraction, and for weakest gals who are usually even unable to wear these heavy armors...
Also there is NO STAT LOSS from the enviro damage, since energy nor stun doesn't modify stats.
The rationale behind flat damage is that veterans should be far more resistant to such adverse conditions than swabbies.

Hassle: Another complaint of the weather system is that it brings too much hassle with it during the equip screen. If possible, existing equipment besides armor could be modified to help ward off the weather. For instance, if fire could have a modifier that counteracts cold weather, then flamethrowers, molotovs and other incendiary devices would be convenient to go for. This would mean that some extreme-weather-equipment could also be used in regular missions, thereby removing some of hassle of switching everything out.[/li][/list]

There is no possibility of making fire counteract this, but Items of Resistance are planned... if it's too much hassle for the player to counteract the weather effects actively (for which a multitude of items exist), there will also be passive items you only need to have in your inventory.

Clarity: Finally, the last complaint i've heard is that people have no indication of whether the mission they go on is going to have extreme weather or not. As i understand, it's only some desert maps that are hot, and only some snow maps that are cold?

Another misinformation (which is the exact thing that pisses me off). In 90% cases it is clearly visible what sort of weather you should expect by the texture. You should get lucky and hit a terrain that doesn't affect you, or very unlucky and roll a snow city instead of normal terrain, but such occurences are quite rare and in most cases, beneficial. The only 50/50 terrain are cold northern forests. The weather missions are quite rare in general, in the current playthrough they accounted for maybe 15% missions I played; but that's maybe because I tried to shoot down all enemy craft over farmland, if possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Burning Yak on February 27, 2017, 08:07:06 am
The complaints of "hassle" at the equip screen leave me rather stunned. Isn't that one of the major points of this mod? There's a reason why every faction has different resistances, why there are so many different weapons. Gear choice is far more then grab your biggest gun for everyone. Environment adds another variable for added complexity. Do I wear better protective armor but worse in the hostile environment?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Carfax on February 27, 2017, 08:09:17 am
I don´t get all the fuzz about the weather. As someone said before if you look at the geoscope you can guess when there are wether effects in the mission and even when you are suprised by it you just need two items to negate the effects. Moonshine and the Canteens both are there right form the start.
I personally find it an additional challenge and a nice variation. It generated some nice hit/grab and run scenarios during tactical missions for me. Generally speaking if a mission includes ice or desert tiles i tend to not sprint out of my ship for all movement points in the first turn so i can get back in the ship 2nd turn to either get some additional coutermeasures or leg it all together.
Dioxide i totally understand you getting sick of the critizism you get for the weather effects as you invest a lot of time in your "child" especially as you are not getting paid for it. Just remember half of it is plain whining, because critizism would also point to a solution and not only state "weather bad, me incredible intelligent human beeing get debuff. AI not. Unfair" Hmm kind of looks lika a Donald Trump tweet isn´t it ;D
Anyway keep up the good work and maybe take a break for one or two weeks without even checking the forum to recharge your batteries.
To finish i will just say i´m gratfull for you work and i really enjoy this incredible fleshed out mod. Thank you for it.
Regards
Carfax
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 27, 2017, 11:03:39 am
The complaints of "hassle" at the equip screen leave me rather stunned. Isn't that one of the major points of this mod? There's a reason why every faction has different resistances, why there are so many different weapons. Gear choice is far more then grab your biggest gun for everyone. Environment adds another variable for added complexity. Do I wear better protective armor but worse in the hostile environment?

There is a certain point where sufficiently numerous and varied minor advantages just become overwhelming if they all get you to the end goal. There is a fine line between varied and interesting play and a huge mishmash of pointless variety. The problem is the line is subjective.

I find the breadth of options excellent but at the same time realize that i have spent far more time in the equipment screen then any other activity. Having to almost fully reequip every gal every time you switch between space, sea, normal, hot, cold and mansions takes time. You can specialize teams/craft after awhile but its still a fair amount of time spent.

To draw an parallel imagine the League of Legends item shop without a contextual search bar and no shortcuts or organization. A few hundred matches later would you be happy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 27, 2017, 11:50:36 am
That's why medium-to-late game researches are often aimed at reducing the hassle and overcoming early limitations; eg. weather is no longer an issue for advanced armor (especially of powered variety); advanced armors usually have resistances to most types of damage; advanced medikits carry tons of stimulants etc. My vision is that the player first researches a lot of minor advantages, but more advanced tech gravitates towards a few standarized good-for-all kits again (hopefully more than a single kit, tho :) ). If this has been achieved, is open for discussion, but again many of these solutions haven't been implemented yed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: bluberd on February 27, 2017, 01:54:59 pm
There is a certain point where sufficiently numerous and varied minor advantages just become overwhelming if they all get you to the end goal. There is a fine line between varied and interesting play and a huge mishmash of pointless variety. The problem is the line is subjective.
I fully agree with Legionof1. At some point it just became too much. Even the research tree dev (https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com) gave up at version 99A1.
Right now I noticed that 99F1 is just micromanagement nightmare, where at first Piratez started as a strategy game for a small scale operations.
I like elaborate games, but this level of micromanagement is just nuisance. I do somewhat comparable stuff at work and we have a whole team of NCOs to do the nitty-gritty details, by which you loose the perspective on a big picture.
So Dioxine, thank you for a great job and a lot of dedication, but I guess this Mod was pretty mature at some previous point, it needed no more additional stuff. I fully understand that you want to add more features, more interesting content and challenges, just to make this thing better. But at some point you need to stop adding new stuff, measure users experience, remove bugs and release stable version. Any possibility that the dragons end up in version 2.0, where I do not have to facepalm seeing a dragon in a previously reasonably realistic game?

I fiddle with Piratez_Planet.rul to forcefully remove weather effects of heat and cold, maybe also mansion timer. I hate those features while loving the rest of the game.

Regards,
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 27, 2017, 02:17:36 pm
Even the research tree dev (https://techtreeviewer.byethost9.com) gave up at version 99A1.

My guess would be that the dev abandoned the web-based viewer in favor of the built-in one.
(the size and complexity of the tree has no impact on the viewer once it is implemented; and that applies to both viewers)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 27, 2017, 02:35:30 pm
Zombies, even zombie troopes are too easily countered by high melee gal with best sword you have wearing full plate with shield. The zombies can't hurt her in melee (I lost about 10 hitpoints while being surrounded by armless troopers and some regulars), troopers rarely spawn with decent guns and even if they do its generally possible to run towards one and chop its arm off even if you don't have enough TUs to finish him.

I suggest adding melee monster zombie or exploding zombie or dedicated grenade throwing zombie to add more challenge to zombie missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Absalom on February 27, 2017, 03:10:23 pm
Zombies, even zombie troopes are too easily countered by high melee gal with best sword you have wearing full plate with shield. The zombies can't hurt her in melee (I lost about 10 hitpoints while being surrounded by armless troopers and some regulars), troopers rarely spawn with decent guns and even if they do its generally possible to run towards one and chop its arm off even if you don't have enough TUs to finish him.

I suggest adding melee monster zombie or exploding zombie or dedicated grenade throwing zombie to add more challenge to zombie missions.

Lol.  Whenever I see them, they tote around gauss muskets/lasguns with H grenades 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on February 27, 2017, 03:16:34 pm
Worst I saw was autolaser trooper.

Guess it is because for me, they tend to spawn on ordinators.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Burning Yak on February 27, 2017, 05:33:58 pm
Quote
But at some point you need to stop adding new stuff, measure users experience, remove bugs and release stable version.

I suggest we refrain from phrasing our desires as Dioxine's obligations. The only thing he NEEDS to do is what he wishes to do.

Personally, I'd like to see actual savable inventory templates, and even equipment templates for the vessels. Having a variety of templates to choose from would be ideal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 27, 2017, 05:38:19 pm
Personally, I'd like to see actual savable inventory templates

That's already available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: The Burning Yak on February 27, 2017, 06:15:52 pm
Oh. How do I implement that? Right now I seem to only be able to make a single inventory template, and it only saves for that one equip screen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on February 27, 2017, 06:27:14 pm
Oh. How do I implement that? Right now I seem to only be able to make a single inventory template, and it only saves for that one equip screen.

More info here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4747.msg69139.html#msg69139
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 28, 2017, 01:06:30 am
Right now I noticed that 99F1 is just micromanagement nightmare, where at first Piratez started as a strategy game for a small scale operations.
I like elaborate games, but this level of micromanagement is just nuisance. I do somewhat comparable stuff at work and we have a whole team of NCOs to do the nitty-gritty details, by which you loose the perspective on a big picture.
So Dioxine, thank you for a great job and a lot of dedication, but I guess this Mod was pretty mature at some previous point, it needed no more additional stuff. I fully understand that you want to add more features, more interesting content and challenges, just to make this thing better. But at some point you need to stop adding new stuff, measure users experience, remove bugs and release stable version. Any possibility that the dragons end up in version 2.0, where I do not have to facepalm seeing a dragon in a previously reasonably realistic game?

I fiddle with Piratez_Planet.rul to forcefully remove weather effects of heat and cold, maybe also mansion timer. I hate those features while loving the rest of the game.

I won't fight with your mental image of what piratez supposedly was, is or is supposed to be, since that leads to nowhere. As for the micromanagement issue, it was already answered in the post just above yours. Don't like it, don't play it. Or make your own release without all that silly stuff. Halve enemy armor for good measure... and you will also hate Marsec endgame enemies, I think.

Basically my idea is that: if you perceive piratez as too much micro hell, in some cases it is because insufficient design. As for weather it's the player who makes that hell for himself. And have a good hell. In the case of mansion, removing the timer obviously means you love long, boring and tedious missions.

Quick solution to weather? Drink lots of fluids, don't camp, don't explore polar regions in the nude. Really that hard?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 28, 2017, 02:41:57 am
I like the weather, despite or maybe because it's hard, I actually wanted to suggest more weather: low background radiation, which would cause ubers who knows what sorts of problems, as well as high background radiation, providing bonuses to those with uber physiology, both player and not player.  extreme storms could be fun too, very low visibility and weapon range way down, muscle and spring powered weapons unreliable in the extreme.

I'm worried about the mansion issues because I'm actually not very good at this game, But I don't want to argue about the timer until I see where it starts.

Here's a possible idea for the mansion though: have some secondary exit points, maybe by outside walls or sewer grates or something, in case your gals are far from the roof, they can bug out properly and be picked up outside. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 28, 2017, 03:00:54 am
The trip to the roof does take several turns from spawn. Realistically you only have about 20 turns to loot the map. Which is fine for grabbing the most valuable items(treasure chests, uranium) but forces you to leave the bulk of the wealth behind since most of it is in cash bags and money purses scattered across the 2nd and third floors dozens of tiny rooms. On average a mansion has about 4-5 million worth of loot but getting out with more then 1-1.5 is pretty hard aside from full clear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on February 28, 2017, 03:13:39 am
In case I do decide that the timer is too harsh, how do you change it? or remove it, if that's the route desired?

Another option could be research into scrambling messages, allowing you more time, with enough research removing the timer completely, and leaving that chain of research largely irrelevant for finishing the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on February 28, 2017, 03:22:43 am
The Timer does make sense, Imagine IRL you tried to storm a capital building of some head honcho you'd be lucky to have 5 minutes before Fighter Jets scramble by cutting off your escape.

Though I don't like the timer, it does make sense. But it really doesn't feel like an inflitration mission with it on either, a timer suggests you got caught.

IMO the mansions should disable the armor and weapon restrictions because it's more like the gals flew in with a ship, and rappeled down, hence triggering the security forces on route to take the gals out. So why wear maid outfits if you can do it in Power Armor?

Or the timer should only start after the first shots are fired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: tylor on February 28, 2017, 03:48:43 am
Quick solution to weather? Drink lots of fluids, don't camp, don't explore polar regions in the nude. Really that hard?
Two biggest with cold are 1. hp damage and 2. difficulty to say whether region has extreme temperature or not.

Solution I personally would be happy with is that whether effect would be as hard as they are now only in clearly identifiable areas - i.e. arctic and desert. While jungle and tundra would have reduced effect (halved?).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on February 28, 2017, 08:28:44 pm
Two biggest with cold are 1. hp damage and 2. difficulty to say whether region has extreme temperature or not.

Solution I personally would be happy with is that whether effect would be as hard as they are now only in clearly identifiable areas - i.e. arctic and desert. While jungle and tundra would have reduced effect (halved?).

I never got HP damage from the cold. Most armors protect against it. IMO it adds nice flavor. Clothes were designed to fight temp.
IRL Jungles can be hotter than deserts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 28, 2017, 08:31:32 pm
IRL Jungles can be hotter than deserts.

Maybe not hotter, but much more humid (obviously), which makes the heat way worse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on February 28, 2017, 10:16:03 pm
The trip to the roof does take several turns from spawn. Realistically you only have about 20 turns to loot the map. Which is fine for grabbing the most valuable items(treasure chests, uranium) but forces you to leave the bulk of the wealth behind since most of it is in cash bags and money purses scattered across the 2nd and third floors dozens of tiny rooms. On average a mansion has about 4-5 million worth of loot but getting out with more then 1-1.5 is pretty hard aside from full clear.

That was the idea. The items you mention are far more valuable than their market worth; also with late game tech, 32 turns is far more than enough to do a full clear, either through Magical Girl spotting or Destructor armor killing speed.
The worst thing about mansion mission was its length, which was making it super-tedious. Timer takes care of exactly that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on February 28, 2017, 11:34:54 pm
Time spent i do agree on. But the mid game income drop combined with increased investment cost of air combat due to shields has really hurt the flow in my opinion. Early income also takes a hit from the new rank salary system further slowing growth. New base investment costs are up as well. My current campaign has exhausted the tech tree long before i can put much of it to use because of production bottlenecking. The runts are to busy keeping ordnance flowing and replacing gear to be able to devote much time to industrial expansion.


There is a distinct feeling of "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 01, 2017, 04:46:24 am
Hah, it's called balancing.

Next version there will be a major shift again, since a monetary bonus, directly dependant on the score, will be added (at the cost of lower base income).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on March 01, 2017, 05:20:55 am
Sounds excellent. More tied to monthly score is a good shift. At present score being consistently positive is the only real target.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99E.2 - 18 Nov - Dead in Space 2
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2017, 03:06:47 pm
Thanks for that. I guess I tend to ignore most of the options because a lot of them effect the game rules (rather than just the interface). I still think it would be helpful if we could open the pilots screen directly when we're told the ship doesn't have enough pilots assigned.

You can now open the Craft Info screen directly.
(not opening the Pilots directly, because you'll anyway need to assign some crew first and then designate them as pilots)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: tylor on March 01, 2017, 08:10:56 pm
I never got HP damage from the cold. Most armors protect against it. IMO it adds nice flavor. Clothes were designed to fight temp.
IRL Jungles can be hotter than deserts.
Even tundra can be hotter than desert, depending on daytime and season.
My reasoning is that A) arctic and desert are clearly color-coded, unlike tundra and jungles and b) not as widespread, so severe weather is exception, not rule.

Maybe it's just my playstyle, but I like using skimpy clothes (such as Amazon or Camo), and I hate reequipping and reshuffling teams. If I usually requip once in three missions, and have extreme weather once in three missions, then I have to reequip three times more (because have to switch gear from normal to protective and then back).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Cristao on March 01, 2017, 09:36:11 pm
How does one make SuperSlave? I have made the costume and also made a slave soldier ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Nygmus on March 01, 2017, 09:49:44 pm
Expeditions are a cool little addition to the game. Props for that, Dioxine.

I've taken to using them to send a heavy squad to very early Pogroms. The fact that I can send a big squad without being constrained by the Aircar's range is nice, and it doesn't feel overpowered because you still have to deal with your Hands being tied up for days traveling and with not having any cover once you arrive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Marza on March 01, 2017, 10:10:10 pm
How does one make SuperSlave? I have made the costume and also made a slave soldier ...

Slave soldiers are now listed as crew members instead of auxiliaries. Assign the slave soldier to a craft and equip them with the desired armour as you would with normal hands.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: dessfoxx on March 01, 2017, 10:20:26 pm
Hey I am having a bit of trouble with the current version. I meet all the material requirements of the interrogation manufacture project that lets you recruit castaway girls, but for some reason it does not let me start the project.
The requirements are:
Soylent
Moonshine
Mutant Meat
Rare Earth Elements
Castaway Gal

I have all these items, I have space in my living quarters, and the project shows that it can be done, but when I click on it, my only option is the "begone" button. Also most of my crew just got killed by werewolves, so suddenly this is pretty important to my campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2017, 10:24:04 pm
Hi dessfoxx,

welcome to the forum!

Can you attach a save please so that I can have a look what's wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: dessfoxx on March 01, 2017, 10:28:27 pm
Sure
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2017, 10:42:15 pm
Looks like you don't have any moonshine in the base.
Move some from the craft back to stores.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: dessfoxx on March 01, 2017, 11:07:48 pm
Oops sorry. I'm playing ironman, so that save is like a minute behind. I already have the moonshine in my base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2017, 11:25:44 pm
Did you already order new recruits?
Does base info screen show enough living space?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: ivandogovich on March 01, 2017, 11:57:28 pm
Oops sorry. I'm playing ironman, so that save is like a minute behind. I already have the moonshine in my base.

I'll just chime in here. XPirateZ is awesome, but it is still very much in development.  IronMan is really not a good idea.   Better to play it self imposed than have an unanticipated bug destroy your campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: dessfoxx on March 02, 2017, 12:08:16 am
Bleh, you got me. I ordered some hands and then promptly forgot about them. Thanks for help.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: dessfoxx on March 02, 2017, 12:14:37 am
I'll just chime in here. XPirateZ is awesome, but it is still very much in development.  IronMan is really not a good idea.   Better to play it self imposed than have an unanticipated bug destroy your campaign.
Meh, I've already cleared the entire game before on ironman on an older version. Remarkably stable. Not sure how invested I am in this one either. I told myself I wasn't going to do another campaign till 1.0, but curiosity over all the new changed got the best of me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 02, 2017, 04:25:47 am
Rather than a bug there are research options that are important but possible to lose. So a normal run should be first, then Ironman/superman etc.

TBH I only did self imposed on my first run, afterwards I've been tweaking my mod files alot. Like making boarding ships the same speed as my own boarding ships.

The way I figure it is that after killing them all I get to capture their stuff as my own after all. I lose my vessels when all the gals die after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on March 02, 2017, 05:46:52 am
Meh, I've already cleared the entire game before on ironman on an older version. Remarkably stable. Not sure how invested I am in this one either. I told myself I wasn't going to do another campaign till 1.0, but curiosity over all the new changed got the best of me.

While the mod is exceptionally stable ironman removes saves that might otherwise be helpful in diagnosing new bugs. Removing information and tools from the hands of those trying solve bugs is not a good practice. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Ratchet on March 02, 2017, 07:46:46 pm
I registered an account for the sole purpose of telling Dioxine how much I appreciate his hard work. I saw a couple of pages back that he was getting a little frustrated.

I poured hundreds of hours into X-Com back in the 90s, and I was delighted when I saw the Open Xcom project a couple of years back -- but I wouldn't have spent anywhere near as much time with it as I have done if Dioxine hadn't made Xpiratez. It's the greatest game mod of all time, and I hope Dioxine remembers that there's lots of people rooting for him that don't necessarily register accounts to post on the forums.

That's just a big long-winded way of saying "thank you". Keep up the great work, and keep following your vision for the mod -- it's made for a lot of fun gameplay so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on March 03, 2017, 02:21:09 am
I think I've suggested this before, but I thought up some more things that might be useful:

It would be fun, I think, if we could have room maintenance be based at least a little on what we know about said room, like the laboratory not being a huge drain on your funds until after you figure out how turn the mainframe on.  This would allow us to start with an even smaller amount of monthly funds.

Further, IF it's possible, having research sort of upgrade the room could be nice, like the starting laboratory only having room for 5 brainers, perhaps due to clutter, or the capacity to eventually set up a cloning facility in the surgery, or whatever.  We could have requirements of whatever items you would logically need to actually do the upgrade for you to even start these research projects.  Plugging in the mainframe is relatively easy, perhaps requiring superconducting wire, as is clearing out the built up junk, but making a cloning facility would require at least one cloning tank, making a workshop better would require an industrial scanner, and turning an old-fashioned prison into a high-tech cold storage (which might not even have a max space) would require lots of stasis pods.

On cloning, I assume it would boost healing, having suitable replacements for damaged pieces, but it could also maybe allow you to grow clones of dead gals, with minor stat damage.

And since every post here has to be about the weather for some reason  ::)  Is it possible to have the weather based on tile set instead of whole map?  Like inside a ship there should be no weather effects, though there might be environmental effects, inside normal buildings cold doesn't do anything but heat can, caves would be like ships, and ruins provide no shelter?

...These would probably all be quite a bit of work, but I hope they're good ideas possibly worth the effort.

Edit

To slightly clarify what I was thinking with the weather, the map could have marked what weathers it wants, and the specific tiles, if they had a weather that fit, would have that in them, possibly accounting for ambient light, to account for areas that have extremely different weather depending on sunlight, though that is likely to be too complicated. so desert town, daytime, would have heat outdoors, maybe lessened heat in normal buildings, and ones that reasonably would be air conditioned, would be comfortable
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: BetaSpectre on March 04, 2017, 01:57:05 am
IMO Cloning isn't something that's good. In universe all clones are very... lacking.
It's something we see in Mutons and reticulans. All of them being very degenerated for the most part. Not full of vigor like the ubers or purehumans.

I think being able to manufacture people is already good as is. In fact I'm playing a game where I don't hire any hands, only manufacture them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on March 04, 2017, 01:49:10 pm
IMO Cloning isn't something that's good. In universe all clones are very... lacking.
It's something we see in Mutons and reticulans. All of them being very degenerated for the most part. Not full of vigor like the ubers or purehumans.

Maybe cecause they were intentionally made that way, so they'd be less likely to become rebelious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 04, 2017, 02:05:17 pm
Do I really need to state the obvious: a clone would have the same mental capacities as any other newborn baby.

Bad sci-fi generally handwaves it through some sort of "information upload", but that's BS. A human brain cannot be charged with information the same way a machine can, no matter your scientific progress - it's just not designed for that. You can come up with better learning methods, but it's still going to take years.

(In my mod, alien hybrids use cloned humans as agents. These clones start at 8 years old and are rather specialized; this is the bare minimum I assumed for cloned soldiers.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Starving Poet on March 04, 2017, 03:11:00 pm
Bad sci-fi generally handwaves it through some sort of "information upload", but that's BS. A human brain cannot be charged with information the same way a machine can, no matter your scientific progress - it's just not designed for that. You can come up with better learning methods, but it's still going to take years.

Are you trying to call Johnny Mnemonic bad scifi?  Dude has an entire gigabyte jammed into his head!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 04, 2017, 05:03:39 pm
Are you trying to call Johnny Mnemonic bad scifi?  Dude has an entire gigabyte jammed into his head!

Haha :) No, I didn't mean exactly this, since in Johnny Mnemonic, the information was not integrated with the individual's persona; it was just data, not a set of skills.

Still, I consider Ghost in the Shell to be good sci-fi too, even though it assumes that digital memory control is possible - which is unscientific to my best knowledge. But it's a very strong "what if", bigger than, say, interstellar travel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 04, 2017, 06:39:04 pm
Exactly, the info Johnny carried in his mind was inaccesible to him, since it was coded down in different language than his internal brain language. Learning how to harness brain to store data is plausible, while learning how to rapidly build a brain, bypassing natural processes, must be much more complex, since internal brain language is extremely hard to decode. Seems that the Star Gods have mastered that technology, but only to a degree, since their clones are, for the lack of better word, dumb (they have skillsets, but their thinking is uncreative).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on March 04, 2017, 06:40:47 pm
A human brain cannot be charged with information the same way a machine can, no matter your scientific progress - it's just not designed for that.

How about a brain designed for that placed in a clone body? Aliens in TFTD apparently knew how to do that with all those learning arrays in thier ships and facilites. Thanks to brain-blood barrier, it would be difficult to detect this sort of chimerism too, so  you have pretty damn good infiltrator.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 04, 2017, 09:15:52 pm
How about a brain designed for that placed in a clone body? Aliens in TFTD apparently knew how to do that with all those learning arrays in thier ships and facilites. Thanks to brain-blood barrier, it would be difficult to detect this sort of chimerism too, so  you have pretty damn good infiltrator.

Yes, but if the resulting product is supposed to pass as a human, that would be quite difficult. It'd be easier to just build an android (human-looking robot) and program it with some humanlike behaviours.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Martin on March 05, 2017, 01:19:37 am
Nope. Adroid would be easiy to tell under basic scrutiny. There would be many tell tales of its mechanical nature (surface texture, wrong smell, wrong heat distribution etc.) that would be extremely difficult to cover in the first place and stil adroind's nature woudl be easily revealed by superficial medical examination.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on March 05, 2017, 01:29:14 am
Any issues with the cloning of organs for perfect or near perfect transplants?  Unfortunately, that would probably still have a very long recovery time and Ubers officially will recover from anything that doesn't kill them outright, at least that's how I'm interpreting it.  Cloned blood would be the most useful stuff, at least for health, cloned meat and maybe fruit could maybe work, for manufacturing.

Is the weather idea at all reasonable?

And is the research upgrading idea workable?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Juku121 on March 05, 2017, 06:40:01 am
Still, I consider Ghost in the Shell to be good sci-fi too, even though it assumes that digital memory control is possible - which is unscientific to my best knowledge.

I’m not a specialist, but there are apparently a number of scientists currently engaged in similar research (Blue Brain Project, for one). As a matter of fact, it has been less than a year since a group at the HRL Labs achieved some limited success with skill transfer. I’m not saying we’ll get mind uploads in a century, but it’s something that’s no longer restricted to just sci-fi, bad or good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Starving Poet on March 06, 2017, 02:42:34 pm
Yes, but if the resulting product is supposed to pass as a human, that would be quite difficult. It'd be easier to just build an android (human-looking robot) and program it with some humanlike behaviours.

Well, yeah - unless we have dogs  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on March 06, 2017, 03:39:22 pm
Probably closer to making functional clones/cyber copies then functional general AI. There is no way to effectively program morality and social value from a blank slate in IF, OR, AND logic. Far easier to modify/duplicate existing structures then rewrite a few million years of evolution from scratch.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 06, 2017, 06:28:59 pm
But I never meant a self-conscious android. I meant a robot that can pass for a human long enough to hold a conversation or otherwise interact with people as needed - in other words, pass a face-to-face Turing test. that would be impossible with an actual new human (to our best knowledge anyway).

That skill transfer bit is interesting, and undoubtedly there is plenty of research in this area, but for now I am rather sceptical regarding its results. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on March 06, 2017, 07:00:56 pm
Even limited use Turing test ai is surprisingly difficult to achieve. So much of social interaction is keyed into aspects the conscious mind never registers. Let alone knows how to explain on self examination. And alot of it is subjective to the individual. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 06, 2017, 07:07:42 pm
Even limited use Turing test ai is surprisingly difficult to achieve. So much of social interaction is keyed into aspects the conscious mind never registers. Let alone knows how to explain on self examination. And alot of it is subjective to the individual.

Sure it's hard, both programming-wise and visually. But it's much more doable than spawning a fully functional clone, ready for battle. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 06, 2017, 10:19:46 pm
The fun thing about Turing test is, many actual humans fail it :)

Speaking of cloning tech, if you (being an advanced civilization) had a custom-grown brain and some method of rewiring it, designed for that exact model of clone (which might have well taken luck and decades of research), you could probably apply skillsets and directives to it, shortening the learning process to weeks or months. But at which point it is suddenly a magic brain rewrite, and at which point it's nothing more than refined teaching methods? :) Rewiring a brain that naturally happened would've been a far more difficult task, for sure. After all, let's not forget: brain doesn't have a 'static' state, like a book or a computer, with all data neatly coded down on some storage medium. Brain is a process.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: perekrylo on March 06, 2017, 11:03:19 pm
Had some time playing this last update...
I'm just skipping mansions till better tech. Do want an option to turn mansion timer off. I actually liked those long, tedious dungeon crawling style missions.
Also I still cant swallow the 2nd turn weather discovery. Its just irrational even for a game.
Would've been much better if you simply saw it upon arrival.
The whatever weather is also rare. Couldve been better if it was more often, since now you sometimes forget it's even a thing.
Dunno if it's affected by mission location tho.
Also, what I thought of like 80% of geoscape is a way of reading bootypedia without pausing the game, that, if implemented, would be delicious. Tho I guess impossible, or it wouldve been already somewhere out there...
Great update overall, but those neg highlights. :*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 06, 2017, 11:16:12 pm
The whatever weather is also rare. Couldve been better if it was more often, since now you sometimes forget it's even a thing.

Not arguing with you or anything, but TBH I found this part a little amusing, since recently I heard complaints that every other mission has bad weather. :)
I guess perspective is really relative here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 06, 2017, 11:18:58 pm
Had some time playing this last update...
I'm just skipping mansions till better tech. Do want an option to turn mansion timer off. I actually liked those long, tedious dungeon crawling style missions.
Also I still cant swallow the 2nd turn weather discovery. Its just irrational even for a game.
Would've been much better if you simply saw it upon arrival.

1. Well I might add an alternate mansion for crawl lovers, but I'm sure as hell to get a lot of flak from crawl-haters :) I'd really love an alternate gothic tileset for that second Mansion :)
2. You CAN see weather upon arrival, by the background color.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: perekrylo on March 07, 2017, 01:54:00 am
recently I heard complaints that every other mission has bad weather. :)
Ha! :D
2. You CAN see weather upon arrival, by the background color.
Something's wrong on my end then, since BG changes only after end turn1.
1. Well I might add an alternate mansion for crawl lovers, but I'm sure as hell to get a lot of flak from crawl-haters :) I'd really love an alternate gothic tileset for that second Mansion :)
This is awesome tots, the sole idea of goin thru huge level facing 9000 enemies goosebumps me.
And I'm by no means good at anything, nor I claim to be, BUT I think I can point out why this time limit is wrong.
When there was no time limit you had two options - chop chop em up or grab stuff and leave.
Now you only have one - grab stuff n leave. Till you reach high tech of course, yet I hope you can see what I see there.

I'm also totally pointing this out again:
a way of reading bootypedia without pausing the game
Is it even doable code-wise or somehow? Me being relatively new (hardcore blackbird) player, found myself spending quarter playtime in pedia sippin coffee figuring out how not to fork up. Having game time not stop would be a huge boost to immersion, overall enjoyability.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 07, 2017, 06:24:52 am
I think the idea for the time to continue going during base maint., Pedia reading, interceptions and even missions, is good, but unlikely to get implemented due to massive code rewrite it'd require...

As for the mansions timer, yes, I did some railroading there, but you'd be surprised how many players engaged in that tedious grind out of greed, and kept complaining how they HAVE TO do this 'hateful' grind because of the money. The timer ends that problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: khade on March 07, 2017, 08:37:39 am
I'd like to suggest again allowing them to remove the timer with a dead end research topic.  That way it's entirely their own fault if they decide it's boring.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Dioxine on March 07, 2017, 04:21:43 pm
Urk, that would require cloning the entire mission (yes everything, since that's how OXCOM is), which means a lot of work for no new content :/. I'd rather make another similar, but different mission, if/when I have the resources.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: legionof1 on March 07, 2017, 05:17:05 pm
Dungeon crawl would be cool. Though i would propose something cavern crawly in aesthetic with gems/ore and use existing monsters like spiders and maybe some of the higher rank deamons. Something like the Caverns of Chaos from DND.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 07, 2017, 08:15:16 pm
Dungeon crawl would be cool. Though i would propose something cavern crawly in aesthetic with gems/ore and use existing monsters like spiders and maybe some of the higher rank deamons. Something like the Caverns of Chaos from DND.

There was some loose talk about a similar idea... If there are resources for this, we'll see. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 3 Mar - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 07, 2017, 11:03:48 pm
New version is up. Enjoy.

This should be one of the last early game major updates... we move to later stages after soon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 08, 2017, 06:24:14 am
Woot new version. Keep up the good work. Although i have a question on how exactly the new protective gear functions. Is effectivness adding flat or scaled resistance? Gas mask and overview entry imply scaled but other items have fixed values which could be interpreted either way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 08, 2017, 06:57:26 am
Scaled (x*y).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 08, 2017, 05:22:06 pm
grumble makes me do more math grumble.  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.1 - 13 Feb - Slave Wars
Post by: Foxhound634 on March 08, 2017, 05:40:57 pm
I'd like to suggest again allowing them to remove the timer with a dead end research topic.  That way it's entirely their own fault if they decide it's boring.

I disagree, because the fact that you have limited time to complete the mission, makes it more exciting...It forces you to prioritize and make risk/reward decisions. Extending the time would still keep the thrill intact, but removing the limit (through research or not) would remove that thrill.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: The Burning Yak on March 08, 2017, 06:12:16 pm
I've heard a game development philosophy that you shouldn't have ideal play be boring play. On the mansion, the "ideal" play is to clear it entirely, getting ALL the loot and possible hostages. That will provide the best income, research opportunity, and gal experience. For many, however, a full clear of a mansion is boring. Some may have fun, but I think most find it monotonous.

Of course, Dioxine isn't making a game for everyone. It's a particular niche.

I'd describe the particular niche of gamers that Dioxine is creating for as "HIMSELF."  ;)   So not only is the mansion timer inline with good game development philosophy, it's clearly more in line with what Dioxine wanted for the mansion mission. A clandestine rush to steal as much as you can and escape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Shizuka_Na_Ikaku on March 08, 2017, 06:47:12 pm
Greetings Dioxine.

I got a error with XPratez 0.99F.3.
"A fatal error has occurred: Sprite InterceptionCIHarverster not found"

There error happens as soon as i move in to intercep what i can only expect to be a Harverster.
I never had a problem with the Harvesteris in XPratez 0.99F1.

This is the first time i reported a error so don't realy know what to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: greattuna on March 08, 2017, 08:25:50 pm
How convenient for game to spawn two mansions in two months just as discussion of the timer sprang. I skipped first, because my crack team of commandos weren't ready, but for the second I decided to go anyway.
8 worst gals from the main base (because leviathan isn't very stealthy) plus 7 "native" castaway gals.
The armours I brought along were: 1 fairy, 1 desctructor, 2 ghosts, 1 saviour, rest maids.

Timer does make mission exciting, plus it kept me on toes the whole mission. Granted, I did it in 15 turns out of 32, but it wasn't a snoozefest.
Cougars, as always, work great. 5-bullet burst, good damage, one-handed and very quick to fire.
What I didn't expect to work great is fairy outfit, but, apparently, she can seduce enemies behind walls because she can "see" them with her SENSE. I'm not sure whether it's a bug or a feature, but lack of this would stall me for another ~5-10 turns I'd waste for searching these people. Saviour helped to keep her energy up, and the rest of gals helped to keep the morale up by murdering everyone whom they could see and reach.
I brought destructor for the armor, but, ironically enough, gal wearing this suit never got shot on that mission.

The plan, which was sweeping the building with 3-4 groups, didn't work. So basically I just rushed everyone in different directions, and stunned\killed people as fast as I could, which caused mass panic on turns 6-9, and after that, it was mostly a clean-up job.

Oh, and for some reason mansion had almost zero lightning. Sure, it sort of works in my favor, nightvision and all, but it just... looked weird, I dunno.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Meridian on March 08, 2017, 08:30:51 pm
Oh, and for some reason mansion had almost zero lightning. Sure, it sort of works in my favor, nightvision and all, but it just... looked weird, I dunno.

+1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 08, 2017, 08:31:04 pm
Mansions at certain times of night(ie most of night)are just about the black pits of hell since there very few light sources.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: ivandogovich on March 08, 2017, 08:34:32 pm
The armours I brought along were: 1 fairy, 1 desctructor, 2 ghosts, 1 saviour, rest maids.

Pretty impressive to have all those mutually exclusive armors.  I take it this is a campaign that started long before the codex branch?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: greattuna on March 08, 2017, 08:47:20 pm
Pretty impressive to have all those mutually exclusive armors.  I take it this is a campaign that started long before the codex branch?
Yes, I don't remember when exactly, but I started at the time when starter craft was bonaventura, and stuff like high explosives could be gotten from day 1 with no strings attached.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 08, 2017, 09:09:29 pm
Briefly looking at the tilesets, I think it'd be trivial to add some lamps to the mansion terrain (provided it's not yet filled to the brim).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: clownagent on March 08, 2017, 09:37:55 pm
Greetings Dioxine.

I got a error with XPratez 0.99F.3.
"A fatal error has occurred: Sprite InterceptionCIHarverster not found"

There error happens as soon as i move in to intercep what i can only expect to be a Harverster.
I never had a problem with the Harvesteris in XPratez 0.99F1.

This is the first time i reported a error so don't realy know what to do.

had the same problem

go to line 18505 in the file
.\Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez.rul

Code: [Select]
    modSprite: InterceptionCIHarve'r'ster  and delete the 'r'
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 08, 2017, 11:19:25 pm
Briefly looking at the tilesets, I think it'd be trivial to add some lamps to the mansion terrain (provided it's not yet filled to the brim).

More at fault is that mansions(along with a ton of other mapsets) predate the lighting engine update some months back. While it is a better lighting engine is quite a bit darker then unmodded xcom in terms of the bottom of the range and the average. We didn't use to require at NV mode just to see what the hell was going on. Everything not specifically updated to account for the shift or built after it has this problem. Doesn't help that the bottom half of lighting range(including the lvl 9 that counts as day) may as well be black murk to the majority of end users.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: ivandogovich on March 08, 2017, 11:36:34 pm
had the same problem

go to line 18505 in the file
.\Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez.rul

Code: [Select]
    modSprite: InterceptionCIHarve'r'ster  and delete the 'r'

Thanks: the actual file is Piratez_factions.rul
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Roxis231 on March 08, 2017, 11:39:33 pm
Thanks: the actual file is Piratez_factions.rul

Damm - Ninjaed

I wasn't the first to find it then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 09, 2017, 02:34:50 am
Thanks for the heads up on the error.

Regarding mansion's ligthing, yes, it is dark at night; but since almost no enemy units in this mission have any NV, I consider it a small grace to the player. Going at night can represent cutting the power to murder everyone in the dark, or make snatch and grab safer.

Legion is right about old maps - I'm still learning how to use the new lighting properly; the 'X-Prison' map that comes with a new mission in F.3 can be considered my first large map custom-built to make sensible use of the new lighting system (and minimize its pitfalls). Sure the new lighting is with us since some time, but I haven't made many maps in the meantime, busy with other stuff.

What I'd appreciate would be settable light diffusion (per deployment, ideally), so the lines between light and dark are less binary, especially underwater (but not in space).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 09, 2017, 11:44:16 am
I understand it makes it a bit easier, but nevertheless I'd prefer it illuminated. Mansions have power generators, especially in the Hellerium age. Stumbling around in the dark just feels unnatural.

We could go lightless with this hypothetical gothic mansion discussed before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 09, 2017, 03:13:23 pm
BUT the Gothic mansions needs to be illuminated, no point in making a kewl tileset and then nobody ever being able to see it because darkness :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 09, 2017, 04:30:27 pm
It'd be visible by day!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 09, 2017, 05:17:29 pm
You could make the gothic mansion with something like maxShade: 10, so it can still be somewhat visible at night.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 09, 2017, 09:21:08 pm
I rather wanted to make it minShade: 8 but well-lit with light sources, so it's always mysteriously dark :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Lorskel on March 10, 2017, 03:09:29 pm
Hello Dioxine!

Wonderful mod, been playing for some time but somehow didn't register on the forums yet.
Anyhow, I just had a crash in the new version (F.3), when I shot down an "ambulance" ship.
When sending gals to the crash site, I got the following error:

"OpenXcom has crashed: MAPS/VESSEL_AMBULANCE.MAP not found"

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 10, 2017, 03:14:36 pm
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4465.msg80331.html#msg80331
That should be the fix.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Scorrpio on March 10, 2017, 08:10:45 pm
Ok, this new financing is insane.   Normally protection money is a piddling sum (start Nov of 1st year, got just over a mil with 99F1, that with my monthly expenses being in 3 mil range).   
Then I had a real good month, starting December with 11k points, and I get a 5.5mil bonus.   On top of the usual 'pittance'.   

Not complaining here, but this looks like it could be overpowered....
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 10, 2017, 09:12:38 pm
Seems fine to me. The score bonus while potentially high wont always be possible. There are months where you barely get any activity compared to months chock full of freighters mansions and pogroms. Given the increased cost of expansion from increased salaries and needing at least 2-3 more craft(anti shield work) beyond what it was a few patches back and the loss of nearly all the spendable wealth from early mansions due to time limits, its good to have a quasi reliable source of spike income.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 10, 2017, 09:33:20 pm
Also the normal financing has been reduced, but that only shows if you start a new campaign. Sure you can get a lot of extra income from monthly bonus, but you need to gamble with it - save for a rainy day, or use for expensive expansions? Also there was definitely not enough money lately, making science too easily overtake manufacturing capabilities, like Legion wrote.
I'm wondering how well would go to go heavy-sci from day 1... betting on scientists to pay for themselves by generating a lot of points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Martin on March 10, 2017, 10:35:06 pm
Tried that. Under new system I got to 16 scientists by second month, much earlier than before, but I might just be lucky.

(I am yet to see a strategy game be it some xcom variant, v4 or a so called grand strategy where more research isn't the optimal option most of the time)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 10, 2017, 10:47:56 pm
Depends on what you mean by optimal... in many (of the better) grand strategies, zerg rush is a viable tactic too. But maybe it's not the best place to discuss it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Scorrpio on March 10, 2017, 10:54:44 pm
Hmm... My research analyzer say I got about 27k points of research over 11 months, thats about 13.5 mil.   I have been fairly aggressive on brainers,  running 16 by like month 5, and I figure 13 mil was about what they cost me.  Of course if I was getting those bonuses, I could expand more aggressively. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 10, 2017, 11:00:07 pm
Depends on what you mean by optimal... in many (of the better) grand strategies, zerg rush is a viable tactic too. But maybe it's not the best place to discuss it.
In my experience in most of the grand strategies, even the very good ones, a zerg rush is only a means to secure a better early game by knocking out the closest opponents. Unless the map format you play is quite small you can rarely sucker punch everyone. All you really change is your aggression timing, not what you do with your winnings which are just reinvested.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Shizuka_Na_Ikaku on March 11, 2017, 05:05:49 pm
Hi again Dioxine.

got another error

[INFO]   requested file not found: MAPS/VESSEL_AMBULANCE.MAP
[FATAL]   A fatal error has occurred: MAPS/VESSEL_AMBULANCE.MAP not found

I'll let you know if i find another one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 11, 2017, 08:09:14 pm
know bug. missing file is available on last page of download link thread
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Shizuka_Na_Ikaku on March 11, 2017, 08:23:10 pm
know bug. missing file is available on last page of download link thread

The what?.......

Oh hey there is actually multiple threads dedicated to Piratez. I had no idea........
Now i fell kind of stupid that i haven't been to the bug report thread when i found bugs.

You learn something every day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Lorskel on March 12, 2017, 02:18:06 pm
That should be the fix.

Hey thanks, that did it indeed.
However, I seem to have another problem all of a sudden. Whenever I enter battlescape, the game slows down to a crawl.
It's fine in geoscape and in "screens" in battlescape (like inventory etc). Not sure if it's because of XPiratez or openXCom and what to do about it.
I've never had it happen before, as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: AngelicJoker on March 12, 2017, 07:32:43 pm
Can anyone tell me what the STR_KNOCK_OUT_INDICATOR option is for?  Somehow STR_KNOCK_OUT_INDICATOR_DESC isn't that useful to explain the option...  Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on March 12, 2017, 10:34:03 pm
Hi guys,

I've been playing X-Piratez for months now, and though it's been amazing it's finally time to take my gals to visit the Solar Governor.  Problem is, I've hit a tech tree lull.  I've finally visited the tech tree viewer to figure it out --- I've been playing with zero hints, to get that real X-Com experience of the unknown --- but since I've never updated my version of the game I'm not sure of what I see.

I'm playing v2016-06-06.  As far as I can tell from the tech tree viewer, what I don't have is Heavy Transporter, because I don't have Higher Studies, because I don't have Magnetic Containment Field, because I don't have Reticulan Power Systems, because I don't have a Mechtoid corpse.

But to the best of my recollection I've never seen a Mechtoid, though I've shot up many a Reticulan vessel.  And so I'm not sure Mechtoids even exist in my version of the game.  In which case I have no idea what I'm missing.

Dioxine or anyone, can you confirm whether Mechtoids exist for me?

Should I just update my version of the game?  Is there no chance the save will be incompatible?

Thanks for any help!

- RDD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on March 13, 2017, 01:02:10 am
OK. no sooner do I post that than Reticulans show up and I get a Mechtoid corpse.  Never mind!  hee hee

Hi guys,

I've been playing X-Piratez for months now, and though it's been amazing it's finally time to take my gals to visit the Solar Governor.  Problem is, I've hit a tech tree lull.  I've finally visited the tech tree viewer to figure it out --- I've been playing with zero hints, to get that real X-Com experience of the unknown --- but since I've never updated my version of the game I'm not sure of what I see.

I'm playing v2016-06-06.  As far as I can tell from the tech tree viewer, what I don't have is Heavy Transporter, because I don't have Higher Studies, because I don't have Magnetic Containment Field, because I don't have Reticulan Power Systems, because I don't have a Mechtoid corpse.

But to the best of my recollection I've never seen a Mechtoid, though I've shot up many a Reticulan vessel.  And so I'm not sure Mechtoids even exist in my version of the game.  In which case I have no idea what I'm missing.

Dioxine or anyone, can you confirm whether Mechtoids exist for me?

Should I just update my version of the game?  Is there no chance the save will be incompatible?

Thanks for any help!

- RDD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: sinisteragent on March 13, 2017, 04:54:44 am
You did well to get a corpse. Those little bastards ought to be ruling the planet, the amount of punishment they can shrug off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 13, 2017, 06:30:09 am
Just need the right sort of weapon. They have less hp then even some human units if you can overcome the armor/resistance combo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2017, 11:00:46 am
Mechtoids would be really scary if they appeared in large numbers. As it is, few whacks from a techblade do the trick after you clear out their softer allies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: nrafield on March 13, 2017, 03:16:53 pm
Getting in a melee with them is the problem, especially if they are armed with the plasma pistols. Someone's probably gonna die then. They shrug off mortar fire and any other similiarly ranged explosives. No long-ranged ballistic weapons seem to put a dent in them at all. The only reliable way to dispatch them early game, aside from closing into melee, seems to be picking up one of these plasma pistols yourself and hoping that you will hit.

Also since the crew seem to have ethical qualms about disassembling a live Mechtoid, currently they are worth more dead than alive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2017, 09:40:53 pm
Someone's probably gonna die then.

Parrot, dog, shitty recruit or some other expendable unit can do the dying, but generally doesn't have to, as mechtoids on most maps spawn inside their cramped vessel or equally cramped bunker and rarely wander into open space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Scorrpio on March 13, 2017, 10:44:15 pm
They shrug off mortar fire and any other similiarly ranged explosives. No long-ranged ballistic weapons seem to put a dent in them at all
Looking at stats they are immune to concussive, and have 60 armor all around.   And 80 psi strength. I suppose dousing in acid should work well...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 13, 2017, 11:20:16 pm
Chem always works....eventually. The armor stripping eventually adds up even against resistant targets like mechtoids. That said strong melee will probably work faster due having exceptional raw power. Raw power is better for overcoming armor and resists due the ordering of damage calculation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: sinisteragent on March 14, 2017, 01:14:41 am
I tend to hit them with the biggest guns and as much fire and explosions and chemical attacks as I have available. Until you cn reliably field really big guns, that's often a case of hit and run and whittling down their armour while waiting for that lucky shot that really nails them.

 Rushing them with a handful of stabbers is theoretically a good option, but I often find myself fighting them on extremely open maps like deserts or grassy hills, so it's usually a rough defensive shootout while I try to move some flankers.

I like them, I must admit. On paper the mechtoids could can sound a bit cheap, but in practice they often make for a good fight that could go either way thanks to their low numbers and slightly poor mobility. They complement the fairly flimsy but skilled sectoids well, both tactically and thematically.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Voidflame on March 14, 2017, 04:11:01 am
This mod is great!  Countless hours were lost having fun.

For some reason the newest version aren't able hide items in manufacture screen and can't scroll to increase/decrease numbers.  Is it the executable updates hiccup?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 14, 2017, 01:21:03 pm
Hiding items in manufacturing was removed, check the changelog for OXCE+.  For the scrolling, make sure the option is set in your settings. If it is, then this is a bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: ivandogovich on March 14, 2017, 05:33:02 pm
Can anyone tell me what the STR_KNOCK_OUT_INDICATOR option is for?  Somehow STR_KNOCK_OUT_INDICATOR_DESC isn't that useful to explain the option...  Thanks!

The Knock Out Indicator is for the new Purple indicator boxes that indicate a unit is so stunned that it is now losing health.   This is designed alert you so you can give them some stims.  The STR_ you are getting is because you are using a newer version of the .exe than shipped with the latest version of the mod.  Either add the string your self, or wait for the bug fix version of the mod due to be released soonish
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: lancev on March 14, 2017, 10:47:32 pm
Alright. After almost 4 yrs in-game time, half a year real time, ~20 patches and ~6000 dead enemies I am finally finished.
And I have to say that, even in this pre v1.0 state it is the best mod i have ever played, actually better than the original game, which was already one of the best computer games. Thanks a lot to everybody who contributed!

I particularly liked:
1) The background story. The bootypedia entries contain a surprisingly large amount of wittiness, while still creating a serious enough universe (taking the original game as a basis). Despite the many scifi references it is amazing how it avoids common videogame cliches and stereotypes. When I first heard about the "all female band of mutant pirates" I was expecting some nerdy pixel-boobies fantasy. While it might still be exactly that, it is very different from all the others around. Very refreshing.
2) Things make sense. When I assaulted my first frighter i was excited to see bunk beds for the crew and a toilet. Seems trivial, but many games dont care about these things much, considering impressive visuals and artistic considerations more important. But IMHO in many cases the atmosphere profits more from a realistic and believable environment.
3) Balancing. Over the years I was using a lot of the available equipment and a lot of it turned out to be useful at least in certain situations. That was of course the big weak point of the original XCOM, where the AVENGER was not only the best craft overall, but the best in every single respect. There was hardly an reason to mix equipment, because there was always a clear best and the rest was just worse.

So in conclusion XPiratez takes a very good game and eliminates the biggest flaws, i.e. balancing and the somewhat weird premise that earth fights the Alien invasion with 2 Interceptors and ~10 soldiers that seem to hardly have any combat skills.

I hardly have suggestions for improvement, and most of what I noticed was stuff that will in all probability be included in a v1.0 (or was in fact already included in a patch, which I just missed). Most notably:
1) The maps for enemy hideouts. It doesnt make sense that they look like alien bases. Similarly for the frigate, which uses the old supply ship from XCOM. Also at some point I noticed that the lighting got improved (bright engine in one of the cutter maps), but most maps dont use that possibility. I think in a lot of cases the inside of the ships should be brighter in general.
2) At one point the game start was completely changed (I restarted my campaign at this point). While this made sense from a gameplay perspective (you now get to use much more of the low level equipment), it still felt strange. Why do you already get protection money when you just escaped the asylum? How did you get the first brainer to join? Also (when I was playing that part) you hardly got any mission, because you cant shoot anything down and civilian crafts never landed. Again, this might already have been improved.
3) On balancing: The Annihilator armor is very strong. One might consider it as a gift to the player for holding out so long, that  armors never need to be changed again. But it is unfortunate that it very quickly makes the three armors below it (Brute, Harbinger, Assault) superfluous. Other things that seemed strong to me were the Bio Suit and the Flechette Multicannon (one autoshot at short/intermediate range can kill every single unit in the game). On the other hand all flamthrowers seem weak to me. Also voodoo:excess is imho much weaker than the others (communion the best).

Again, thanks for all the work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 14, 2017, 11:20:38 pm
Snip
1) The maps for enemy hideouts. It doesnt make sense that they look like alien bases. Similarly for the frigate, which uses the old supply ship from XCOM. Also at some point I noticed that the lighting got improved (bright engine in one of the cutter maps), but most maps dont use that possibility. I think in a lot of cases the inside of the ships should be brighter in general.
2) At one point the game start was completely changed (I restarted my campaign at this point). While this made sense from a gameplay perspective (you now get to use much more of the low level equipment), it still felt strange. Why do you already get protection money when you just escaped the asylum? How did you get the first brainer to join? Also (when I was playing that part) you hardly got any mission, because you cant shoot anything down and civilian crafts never landed. Again, this might already have been improved.
3) On balancing: The Annihilator armor is very strong. One might consider it as a gift to the player for holding out so long, that  armors never need to be changed again. But it is unfortunate that it very quickly makes the three armors below it (Brute, Harbinger, Assault) superfluous. Other things that seemed strong to me were the Bio Suit and the Flechette Multicannon (one autoshot at short/intermediate range can kill every single unit in the game). On the other hand all flamethrowers seem weak to me. Also voodoo:excess is imho much weaker than the others (communion the best).
Snip

For hideouts you are correct they dont quite look the part but getting the correct aesthetic is less important then functional systems. Also making new maps from scratch to replace old base game assets is ton of work. Right now time spent on maps has been to make all new environments/missions rather spruce up old stuff that's serviceable.

Annihilator is indeed intended to be the crowning point of defense but they are quite expensive and at best in only modest supply due to multiple limited non buyable resources needed for building. Even then brute and harbinger still have niches to work in. The brute is the highest STR buff available so archers and STR based melee can benefit more then annihilator. Also unlike annihilator it can buff your bravery to psi/panic immune levels, annihilator only provides marginally increased defense since it cuts your voodoo power and subs in a secondary buff. Harbinger has use for heavy weapons gals in hostile environments because it doesn't lose the backpack spaces the annihilator does.

Voodo based stuff is a case of equally unbalanced in the right hands. I swear by illusion and destruction and think communion is pants. Excess is situational useful but is not as fully fleshed out as the others in terms of what it unlocks. Its "bonus" armor was only added in last few months where as biosuit and destuctor have been around for more then a year. Heck the limitation to single branch is quite recent as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: lancev on March 14, 2017, 11:53:57 pm
Quote from: legionof1
Also making new maps from scratch to replace old base game assets is ton of work.

Of course. I'm not complaining.
Still, I think it is one of the last major atmosphere breaker still in the game.

Quote from: legionof1
Annihilator is indeed intended to be the crowning point of defense but they are quite expensive and at best in only modest supply due to multiple limited non buyable resources needed for building.

Well, 5 Synthmuscle (which are needed for Brute) and 2 Force Circuitry. No rare materials at all.
They are a pain to build, but actually easier to get than Bio Suit or Destructor (which need gems and demonic essence).

Quote from: legionof1
The brute is the highest STR buff available so archers and STR based melee can benefit more then annihilator.

No, Brute gets +30 Str, while Annihilator +35. Its actually also the strongest mellee.

Quote from: legionof1
Also unlike annihilator it can buff your bravery to psi/panic immune levels, annihilator only provides marginally increased defense since it cuts your voodoo power and subs in a secondary buff.

They get the same +30 bravery, but Annihilator has actually one of the best voodoo defences, due to the flat +50 (effectively +30).

Quote from: legionof1
Harbinger has use for heavy weapons gals in hostile environments because it doesn't lose the backpack spaces the annihilator does.

Yes. The missing backpack is its one disadavtage.

Or am I considering the wrong version?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 15, 2017, 12:45:44 am
huh guess there where some alterations since last really looked at end game armor closely. I retract everything but the lack of backpack. Lack of backpack severely constrains ammunition capacity/heavy weapon choice because most of the ammo is vertical 1x3 or 1x2

Sythmuscle and force circuitry are limited resources in that you cannot produce them. Only get them as drops. And mercs are the most difficult opponents in the game at present. so while yes gems and essence are more rare neither are parts for power armor unlimited. Stop seeing a faction for awhile and your supplies may dry up. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: perekrylo on March 15, 2017, 01:45:09 am
That moment you realise one of the death moan sounds is actually from FAKK2 <333
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Bartojan on March 16, 2017, 01:07:14 pm
Is there any difference between:
Code: [Select]
Special: Enemy Armor +20% and
Code: [Select]
Special: Armor +20% See e.g. STR_NITRO_EXPRESS_UFOPEDIA and STR_STUN_GRENADE_PIR_UFOPEDIA.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: RSSwizard on March 16, 2017, 03:09:08 pm
just some friendly banter
and its on topic since this game has zombies
and it is the truth
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c3/7c/9b/c37c9b361e326bb4a78a7c72751c17a7.jpg)

Edit:
This just happened, its June 1st year and right at the start of the month I had EIGHT missions pop up all within a few hours. I took the screenshot when there were only 5 but went back to the game to see if more would show up (it stopped at 8 ).
They were: ratman rodeo, two warehouse wars, organ grinder, save a sister, blood rituals, and a temple raid.

I love the extra opportunities but its doubtful it was scripted this way, most ive ever seen come up before in short order was maybe 2 or 3.

The save was natively from 99.F1 and I just upgraded to F3.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: greattuna on March 16, 2017, 07:35:02 pm
Yesssss. It finally happened!

I now have access to the star gods' cydonia codes. The end is at hand, shame I only have 91% of tech tree unlocked. On the other hand, the source of the codes killed one of my gals and, by extension, wrecked one of the 3 bio suits I had.

Still, the sweet taste of finale. I can feel it.

zombies

I can agree with that, zombies are dangerous. Especially the armored guys, they take so much punishment, it's not even funny.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: RSSwizard on March 16, 2017, 11:41:52 pm
Is it me or does the harpoon gun seem to have horrible, horrible accuracy?
Even when it says its a decent chance to hit im still missing at least 1/3, sometimes save scumming itll miss-miss-miss-miss-miss-hit.

I mean compared to other guns. Maybe just crap luck with the harpoon.

I can agree with that, zombies are dangerous. Especially the armored guys, they take so much punishment, it's not even funny.
Armored zombies you say, I havent come across those yet. Just the regular ones and the fat zombies. I had a temple raid today that turned out to be a zombie infestation, the Ballista was doing okay but I was getting alot more mileage out of the heavy shotgun (sadly in retrospect im thinking the normal rounds would have been better than the slug rounds I had equipped across the board).

And in classic movie fashion a few of them got up in just the nick of time to extend the mission a couple more turns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: sinisteragent on March 17, 2017, 12:04:26 am
The harpoon gun is really inaccurate for a rifle,  even at close range it's a bit of a gamble. Probably necessary to prevent it becoming your default weapon for mass stun raids. I'd probably use it more if it could fit a bayonet, just to make ship clearances a bit less hazardous, but that might mess it up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: legionof1 on March 17, 2017, 12:11:25 am
The harpoon is really only accurate in aimed mode under it 15 tile effective range. Its snap fire range is very short(8?). In addition it decays by 9% accuracy for every square beyond effective range. Add that snap is only 70% skill anyway. Snap fire is effectively useless without exceptional skill at near pointblank range.

Scatter ammo is much better then slug against regular and fat zombies because they almost no armor. They therefore take nearly full damage from every pellet adding up to far more damage then a single slug shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Nygmus on March 17, 2017, 03:38:48 pm
That moment you realise one of the death moan sounds is actually from FAKK2 <333

I recognize at least one of the newer death screams from an old game called Cyberdogs. Not sure if it was a stock sound in Cyberdogs or not, but that one kinda stuck with me considering that Cyberdogs was a shooter and it had exactly one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Dioxine on March 17, 2017, 04:29:24 pm
Sounds are copied from XCF, no idea where Solar got them from.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: RSSwizard on March 17, 2017, 09:18:14 pm
The harpoon is really only accurate in aimed mode under it 15 tile effective range. Its snap fire range is very short(8?). In addition it decays by 9% accuracy for every square beyond effective range. Add that snap is only 70% skill anyway. Snap fire is effectively useless without exceptional skill at near pointblank range.

Thats all well and good and I know that. I never use it for snap anyway and usually only at ranges 10-15 tiles. My point was even despite this, other weapons with the Same listed accuracy on the cursor to hit the target tend to hit more often.

Either that or maybe im just forgetting that I may miss more often with other weapons and dont notice it as much because they have alot more ammo.

I'd probably use it more if it could fit a bayonet, just to make ship clearances a bit less hazardous, but that might mess it up.

So what else are you suggesting I use? Im midway through first year and while I have captured a small launcher - I dont know how to get more bombs for it and it would be prohibitively expensive (the guys im normally capturing are ratman lieutenants, sharp guys, church people, that sorta thing).

Ive thought about using molotovs and a fire extinguisher to morale people into capture but it sounds like even more work than prodding and harpooning people.

And the funny way I captured that small launcher was by prodding the nurse who had it, they couldnt move far enough away on the next turn to use it on me - and knocked both of us out (because she already got prodded but was still moving).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Scorrpio on March 17, 2017, 10:51:47 pm
For unarmored targets, a thump with a handle works best.  For armored, I like fisticuffs.  I tried using prods and batons, none work as well.  Tazoguns are effective but weaker captives tend to die after a turn or two.
Small launcher stun bombs are to be used for highest profile captures only.   It is Feb 2602 in my game and I used launcher only once to bag a provost at Academy base.   Stun bombs can be made from hypno panels, but those are quite rare.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 17, 2017, 10:55:36 pm
Sounds are copied from XCF, no idea where Solar got them from.

Believe me, I don't know either. Some were downloaded from sound repositories, some were on my drive for years.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: perekrylo on March 18, 2017, 12:10:24 am
Believe me, I don't know either. Some were downloaded from sound repositories, some were on my drive for years.
It's some rly nice coincidence since FAKK2 is basically a playable heavy metal magazine :D

Also since last update I cant change some of the settings in options->advanced, theyre greyed out, what do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Voidflame on March 18, 2017, 01:12:27 am
Are there ways to remove unneeded manufacture items?  As the hidden item options are no-longer possible.

Past a certain point, the primitive weapons are not viable anymore.  Like rocks or bamboo spear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: RSSwizard on March 18, 2017, 01:52:18 am
Are there ways to remove unneeded manufacture items?  As the hidden item options are no-longer possible. Past a certain point, the primitive weapons are not viable anymore.  Like rocks or bamboo spear.

Ill have to second this badly, because there's way too many items in piratez and even in vanilla games sometimes there's stuff you just dont want to see on the build menu anymore.

Hiding stuff is essential, the category selection pulldown isnt enough because thats an extra mouse click when id much rather just Mousewheel down a page at most. The category pulldown is practically useless at this point - it takes just as much effort to press Q and type a few letters in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Roxis231 on March 18, 2017, 02:43:20 am
Also since last update I cant change some of the settings in options->advanced, theyre greyed out, what do?

One of the latest changes to Meredian's EXE lets modder's control the settings via the ruleset - 2017-02-22 I think.

Dioxine is useing this feature to enforce the recomended option settings in XPiratez by the looks of it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: perekrylo on March 18, 2017, 03:44:06 am
enforce the recomended
What :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: Roxis231 on March 18, 2017, 04:03:40 am
From the XPirates Readme:

Quote
WHAT OPENXCOM OPTIONS SHOULD I ENABLE?
Mod automatically fixes all needed options in required settings. All the others are a matter of player's preferences.

These are the greyed out ones - you cannot change them as they are needed to play the Mod properly.

This is what I was talking about.

Edit: I called them 'recomended' because up untill this update that's what they were - Now Dioxine has decided that they are Required not 'recomended'
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 18, 2017, 08:09:23 am
New version up. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Marza on March 18, 2017, 07:26:44 pm
- Bandages hold just 2 uses now
Woah, that's actually quite a sizeable nerf early game. Guess this is the First Aid Kit's time to shine.

- Celatids' SENSE reduced to 20, accuracy by 20% and fire rate to 2/turn
Ha! I always hated celatids. What crazy stats did they have before?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.3 - 07.03 - 3 Years of Pirating
Post by: RSSwizard on March 18, 2017, 08:09:11 pm
What :(

Actually I agree with most of the options anyway. I could give a flying leap less about the soldier diaries but since I dont have to look at them its a non-issue.

The only one I would bother to turn off is the Seasonal Globe Lighting but I dont notice it too much so its not a bad thing, just a personal preference.

Everything else is beneficial to be honest.

The explosion height = 2 is okay since the spherical calculation is way off in the way it works and usually you're not that much higher from someone you're dropping presents on anyhow.

Which brings me to another point that each tile should be considered 3 tiles high in terms of height and range calculations. If it has to jump to the next floor up thats like 3 tiles distance. Think about it - each map square is 1x1 meters in size on the ground. But to reach the next floor up on a house is at least 3 meters (for an office building its more like 4 or 5). And in terms of range calculations, shooting upwards is hard.

Not that this can be fixed necessarily...

But it allows for example to use a 1 range melee style weapon that shoots a projectile (like the Hammer) on somebody the next floor up in an elevator. I know its silly to swing a Sledgehammer up an elevator shaft and make a dude take 80+ concussion damage he cant avoid, but its damn useful. This is what happens in Watchtower missions.

Dang... now I know what (Hammer) I should be using against Armored Cars, just had a mission where I had to throw everything I had an an armored car to end the mission, after all the other goons were dead this one HWP kept trucking right on. I know im probably supposed to be using the pirate cannon on them but I always sell that thing off almost as soon as the game starts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Ashghan on March 18, 2017, 09:33:37 pm
I like to fiddle with the ruleset, so can anyone explain how the setting "minReactionAccuracy: 2" works? Is it minimum accuracy required for a reaction shot = 2% I'd like to change it to make the gals not shoot anything below, say,  40% hit chance, as it is a waste of ammo and reaction shots. Should I change it to "minReactionAccuracy: 40" then? Perhaps it could even be made a configurable option, to give everyone a chance to set it to whatever value they want.

As for the new gameplay options added by Dioxine, and the old ones that are enforced now - I don't really care that much. For me the point is to have fun - if I disagree with some mechanics in place I just change it in the files. No need to force my opinions on the Creator, the least I can do is not whine and put in the effort of finding and changing the appropriate lines myself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 19, 2017, 01:08:27 pm
Keep in mind that minReactionAccuracy affects the AI as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Ashghan on March 19, 2017, 01:43:36 pm
Fair enough. I think most intelligent beings would decide not to take a nearly impossible shot just for the sake of it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 19, 2017, 01:51:19 pm
True, but it depends with what. 2% reaction with Baby Nuke can be very deadly to your crew. 10 enemies firing with 5% reaction pistols can easily cause several wounds on your crew, instead of just standing there, helpless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 19, 2017, 10:43:27 pm
YAY!
Just as I encountered a Civilian Ambulance and it crashed my game... Dioxine fixes the problem!

 ;D

Fair enough. I think most intelligent beings would decide not to take a nearly impossible shot just for the sake of it.

Not that id consider some of the church people all that intelligent, including the boys in t-shirts.

Though the point of suppressive fire is to "Shoot At" people so they take cover so they dont just get hit by accident. Remember if you're doing the buddy system like you should be then having 2 or 3 guys in the line of fire technically makes them all a bigger target.

Id set it at something like 20% personally. For the enemy anything less just gives away their position without a reliable return on their expenditure. If they be firing at you then it should be reasonable they'll hit.

Id love to set it at 50% for my guys to save ammo and avoid giving away my ladies' position unless she can reliably do damage. Fallout Tactics had a special gauge for this very thing (95%, 67%, and 33% I believe) plus modes of retailiation (aggressive=always, defensive=only if you were shot at, and pacifist=no reactions)

And for my guys I would really much rather them do Aimed Shots on reaction fire if they've got the juice for it. But lo and behold often times ive reserved TU or made sure they had enough for Aimed and they just end up doing Snap Shots anyway.

Ive also noted that with plenty of TU remaining Melee Reactions going off is rather rare. Guys will walk right up to and walk by my ladies and they wont get Melee'd (they usually have at least a Gunbutt or Bayonet option available). I think that rather sucks because thats a d&d attack of opportunity right there and Melee really does some heavy damage considering the game mechanics.

I like to fiddle with the ruleset

My suggestion is you should probably create a separate Mod for this and just copy the stuff from piratez that you're wanting to modify and have that in your mod ruleset. Like a patch of sorts (heh, a mod on a mod). That way your changes remain constant and when you upgrade you just need to add any new, if applicable, changes to yours.

Thats what im doing and most of the stuff that ive changed is unlikely to just sprout new string names and fly away. My tweak rulesets are approaching 64kb so its not much but at the same time its also not small the number of changes ive made - and thus not worth prying open that monsterous piratez.rul every time.

This keeps both playing and modding the game easier. And if an update happens to break anything in your custom modification thats easier to fix, than having gone in to make changes to piratez every single time.

And its also worth noting that because items being modded twice cooked inherit or adjust what its already got established, you really only need to copy the parts of each entry that pertain to what you want to change or possibly lock in based on future changes in the updates. So like all those clips that weigh 3 pounds for some reason, if you only wanted to change the weight then it would literally be just 2 lines for that (eg, niner clip, weight: 2, then it goes to the next item).

(which reminds me I still go  :-\ at it not being practical to give items weight:1, I think for throwing stuff a simple if/then switch could easily adjust the effective item weight to 3 for its internal calculations... if its weight under 3 treat it as 3 for throwing... not sure if the throwing system is still buggy for item weight but in Vanilla you be damned if you throw a 1 weight item)

Im eventually going to release it, probably on 4chan's retro gaming board, since its just a tweak rather than a mod. That way also I can put in sprite, sound, and music replacements without caring about official-ness because its far from official.

And im probably not the first to say this but X-Piratez really deserves to be its own game, and the beauty of an open source project is being able to borrow someone else's engine and generally avoid legal crap.

Code: [Select]
actually I do like that the option has been removed to have items not disappear after being researched,
that way I can make some of the characters you capture sing like a bird and divulge everything
they know as long as you keep talking to them - and have most items survive being researched

but at the same time have other things get destroyed by research, dudes who got balls harder than the
ladies, who die in interrogation - and gooey apples that cease functioning when you're forced to open
them up to check em out

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 20, 2017, 12:03:33 am
You do realize that 'death by interrogation' in Piratez is your invention, since the game lore directly contradicts that, at least in most cases. The items are not as much destroyed, as taken by Brainers... hmm, I think I need to add that to Pedia lore as well :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: khade on March 20, 2017, 12:51:59 am
Aimed shots can't be used with reaction fire, it's snap or nothing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 20, 2017, 04:13:53 am
(https://a1.memecaptain.com/src_thumbs/26284.jpg)

Yeahhh sooo... just saw a bunch of big ships go set down a base. Attacked some of the ships and each one of them had what looked like Mutons onboard with gauss guns (which I reloaded the game out of each mission, since I couldnt drop a single one of these creatures).

Yeahhh I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.

Dont remember exactly how it worked in vanilla but leaving an alien base sitting around just doing its thing is never good.

The items are not as much destroyed, as taken by Brainers... hmm, I think I need to add that to Pedia lore as well :)
Yeah I dont think that would be possible without brainers getting their, well, brains bashed on the table until they coughed it up. Just to set an example for the rest of them. I dunno maybe Negan is rubbing off on me abit too much these days.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 20, 2017, 08:47:47 am
Well, naturally you can do it - there is 'Walk the Plank' button available for scientists, too. With very realistic consequences (no science :) ). Setting example to other scientists works very well, since they're smart - google 'Lysenkism' in late Stalinist Russia (scientists turn into sycophants and no shit ever gets done :) ).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 20, 2017, 06:29:55 pm
Welp, you didn't fix it so that the charger lasers are purchaseable on the black market according to the change log, and I'm curious as to what the "manufacturing abuses fixes" is, or how it'd affect an end game player who produces nothing but Battle Tank M1As, to the point where they produce $60 million in profit per month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on March 20, 2017, 08:26:27 pm
It was possible to make more on Tranquilizer Clips. Charger Laser IS buyable now, you might be missing the tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 21, 2017, 12:21:09 am
Its better to burn out than to fade away...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 21, 2017, 05:57:56 am
It was possible to make more on Tranquilizer Clips. Charger Laser IS buyable now, you might be missing the tech.
Yeah, just upgraded to F.4, I can buy charger lasers now.

That moment when you have 20 Blaster Launchers and Dioxine recently rebalanced them so that they're actually useful again, so now you bring all 20 of them on any mission where you don't care about loot and you blaster bomb the enemy ufo on turn 1 to the point where there's nothing left of it except for some floating walls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Poulpiche on March 21, 2017, 10:51:13 pm
Hi everyone and thanks Dioxine for your awesome work

I've just a question : every time i try to capture a cyberdisk (with weapons like zappers or a stun baton) they explose without leaving any wrecked engine.

is there any possible to obtain a cyberdisk "corpse" ?

thanks in advance
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 21, 2017, 10:53:48 pm
Fire, cutting and concussive damage types will not cause a cyberdisk explosion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Poulpiche on March 21, 2017, 11:28:42 pm
Great ! it works, thanks a lot
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 22, 2017, 01:39:39 am
Fire, cutting and concussive damage types will not cause a cyberdisk explosion.

when exactly are blaster launchers, and cyberdisks encountered?

still in my first year but nearing the end of it, only real bad stuff ive run into are osirons/mutons carrying flechette guns
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: sinisteragent on March 22, 2017, 01:44:41 am
when exactly are blaster launchers, and cyberdisks encountered?

still in my first year but nearing the end of it, only real bad stuff ive run into are osirons/mutons carrying flechette guns

It depends which factions happen to be active in your game. They come and go (some more than others) and there's no guarantee you'll face them, or specific ships/enemies/equipment, at any particular time or region.  If you restart the game you might find that you don't even see the guys you're currently fighting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 22, 2017, 01:56:22 am
Cyberdisks are an Academy terror unit.

Blaster Launchers are the alien version of rocket launchers and as such are more powerful* and have the ability to set way points for the projectile. Usually only found on very large ships and rarely in base assaults and hideout defense missions.   

*Blaster launchers lose damage for distance traveled after a certain number of tiles so situationally worse at times.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 22, 2017, 03:19:48 am
Does anybody know the mission or vessel that drops syns for you to research so that you can unlock them, or have they not been added into the game proper yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Marza on March 22, 2017, 04:32:37 am
Does anybody know the mission or vessel that drops syns for you to research so that you can unlock them, or have they not been added into the game proper yet?

Orbital missions: Abandoned space ship
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 22, 2017, 08:43:08 pm
It depends which factions happen to be active in your game.

Cyberdisks are an Academy terror unit.

Blaster Launchers are the alien version of rocket launchers and as such are more powerful*

Yeah seems like im dealing with Spartans, Nazis/Humanists, Church, Raiders and Reticulans. Ive pretty much got the Academy under thumb, I hardly ever see any of their ships and they havent set up a single base yet.

I dont have much radar coverage but I dont see many huge ships either, alot of medium ones and im guessing those are either the reticulan ones with the chain lift or its a supply ship for the spartan base.

Havent got into orbital missions yet though, its on the list but ive got so much other stuff to research im not getting around to it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Alucious on March 22, 2017, 08:55:50 pm
Julian Gollop is doing an AMA on reddit to promote Phoenix Point, and as part of it he says that he's played XPiratez. Congrats to Dioxine!

https://www.reddit.com/r/PhoenixPoint/comments/60tn6x/i_am_the_designer_of_xcom_and_phoenix_point_ask/df9789d/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 22, 2017, 11:41:26 pm
Yeah seems like im dealing with Spartans, Nazis/Humanists, Church, Raiders and Reticulans. Ive pretty much got the Academy under thumb, I hardly ever see any of their ships and they havent set up a single base yet.

I dont have much radar coverage but I dont see many huge ships either, alot of medium ones and im guessing those are either the reticulan ones with the chain lift or its a supply ship for the spartan base.

Havent got into orbital missions yet though, its on the list but ive got so much other stuff to research im not getting around to it.
Well, you should; some of the orbital missions give ridiculously good rewards, for example the refuelling station mission gives 300 Hellerium in loot, and you need some of the missions' loot since the missions are somewhat rare and there's so many different orbital missions that you're not guaranteed to get the ones you need for research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Thryllth on March 23, 2017, 02:14:03 am
Bit of a nitpick but when installing and setting up the latest build (.99F4 22 March 2017) the option to display all commendations is displayed as "Show all Condemnations" in the options menu.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Stoddard on March 23, 2017, 02:40:04 am
...  is displayed as "Show all Condemnations" in the options menu.

But they are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: LuigiWhatif on March 23, 2017, 05:57:09 am
I remember hearing that you could view enemies with a middle mouse click, but for me that drag scrolls the screen.  I don't see a relevant entry in the controls, so is there something else I'm missing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: juff on March 23, 2017, 06:54:02 am
You have to change or disable the drag scroll option in battlescape as it defaults to mmb.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Roxis231 on March 23, 2017, 08:10:19 am
I've just Updated My Alt Armour Mod to work with 099F4

Link is Here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4022.msg81158.html#msg81158)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Nygmus on March 23, 2017, 08:28:46 pm
Holy shit. Just saw Dark Ones on a terror mission after upgrading to .99F.4.

First time I ever fought the bastards. That was a rough mission. Certainly no live-capture spam this time, I barely made it out intact.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 23, 2017, 10:38:19 pm
First time I ever fought the bastards. That was a rough mission. Certainly no live-capture spam this time, I barely made it out intact.

Actually dark ones/demons was my First Pogrom ever in piratez, back about 6 months ago or something. I just killed a few of them and left and took the hit on infamy. I mean I had to shoot a pinkie demon twice with an assault cannon and then plug it away with like 6 musket shots just to take it down. And there were at least 2 others (spectres) in view under the abandoned freeway. Then I think I was getting fireballs lobbed at me by (an imp? it was in an unseen part of the map so I dont know). Just nope.


Meanwhile...
It seems that it is Foot Patrol season again.

"Hey Stabby, get the aircar loaded up with 30mm and go gun those bastrs down"
"Aye Aye Boss Gal!"

*lots of carnage on the various roads of europe ensues as heavily armed patrol squads get gunned down by aerial 30mm gatling action
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: LuigiWhatif on March 24, 2017, 01:20:55 am
Do the patrols ever 'land'?  I let two run through and never saw a mission so I've just been blowing them up for points since then.

You have to change or disable the drag scroll option in battlescape as it defaults to mmb.

There's my problem.  I'd been looking in controls.  Thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 25, 2017, 04:14:50 pm
Holy shit. Just saw Dark Ones on a terror mission after upgrading to .99F.4.

First time I ever fought the bastards. That was a rough mission. Certainly no live-capture spam this time, I barely made it out intact.
They actually become easy once you get a better craft to bring more than 6 gals, and you unlock scoped rifles with plastasteel ammo and combat shotguns. Combat shotguns will kill pinky demons in one auto shot and the armor values for the others are low enough for the scoped rifles to simply pierce right through without needing to resort to melee in the early game. Unless they bring a baron of hell, but even they are melee only enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Starving Poet on March 25, 2017, 07:31:26 pm
*baron of hell is not a melee enemy :)  I had the same assumption as well.

Simple grav harnesses and shotguns are an excellent way to ignore the pinkies and spectres.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 25, 2017, 07:55:03 pm
*baron of hell is not a melee enemy :)  I had the same assumption as well.

So are they ranged or are they not? I havent run into them yet.

I have alot of experience with a certain other game where they also appear, and I can tell you except for stupid players or evil map designers, they are certainly known for their ranged capabilities. Maybe not a King of ranged, but at least a 10 of Spades. And a King of melee they are.

And they are known for their toughness too. I dont know how tough they are here but it takes at least 5 Rockets (sometimes 6) to kill them.

And I find out today...

That all those foot patrols I keep seeing are Ratmen plundering the countryside rather than folks looking for my base. I guess its important to take them out anyway because that counts as enemy activity in a sector.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 28, 2017, 04:37:01 am
Are the Tome of Lightning's projectiles guaranteed to shred Armor, like all plasma damage? Because if so, that's 54 plasma projectiles per auto fire. Even if something somehow survives that, it's armor is so beyond fucked that you'll probably be able to finish it off with a six-shooter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 28, 2017, 06:28:21 am
In general, electricity-based weapons that use plasma resistance don't shred extra armor (the tome, tesla coil, maybe a few others), but cause extra stun damage.  Still, the armor penetration and sheer number of hits can add up to destroy a lot of armor. More that likely the target will be dead or stunned already - I liked using it as an AoE stun + medic bravery trainer while facing mercs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: ivandogovich on March 28, 2017, 04:37:04 pm
So are they ranged or are they not? I havent run into them yet.

Yes, Barons definitely have a ranged attack.  Not sure the stats, but can definitely put out some punishment.  I remember Poet losing some troops to this shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on March 30, 2017, 06:17:25 pm
I've gotten back to playing Piratez, started a new game to see all the new stuff, and while I think the early narrative stuff is very well done now, especially the fugitive capture squad and the early researches that set the stage, early game balance still seems really RNG dependant.

Once again I had a horrible first month with a -1,500 score for no reason I could determine, and without the Infamy bonus I was forced to sell a ton of stuff, basically all my loot and starting equipment other than the hull, drill, Airbus, and the gear I used, to avoid going into negative balance at the end of the month. This was despite powering through research and throwing a party which was supposed to be worth +250. That's two out of four campaigns I've played so far where month one has torpedoed my score, and it was really punishing with the new upkeep balance.

Early missions are also very binary. Either you're robbing civilians, knocking over Watchtowers, or hitting a crackhouse where no one has armor and it's easy as pie, or you run into raiders and can barely scratch them. Perhaps I haven't adjusted to the new weapon balance, but so many otherwise decent weapons have negative armor penetration now which makes them seem useless since the only things you need high power for in the early game - and wouldn't try to kidnap - are armored foes. Melee on starting gals with no armor very quickly turns into an extended infirmary stay or worse against anything more than a rusty niner it seems. I'm not sure if it's RNG trolling me again or not, but fatal wounds seem to pile up with remarkable speed, I've had gals end up with 4-6 from a single attacker, and it really makes that missing third charge on the bandages hurt. In earlier versions the Ubers felt kinda bulletproof, you'd take a little damage here and there, but they just seem to get hurt by everything now.

It may again be RNG, but over two months I have had very little civilian traffic, and whenever I would explore a new mission type the enemies would far outclass six lunatics. The only working strategy I've found is go at night and slow creep the map, which I thought was supposed to be discouraged in this version. I've found that the only good answer to extreme weather early is to ignore the mission. Even with Heat 50% on the starting outfits stun builds up at a startling rate, and the canteen is yet more inventory space and TU usage that the gals can't afford when they're that weak.

I still very much enjoy the game, but it still seems like you need the RNG's permission to even get started.

Edit: I should add I play blind, so if there's a super important tech you're supposed to rush, I wouldn't know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 30, 2017, 07:49:09 pm
Any damaging hit can cause up to 3 wounds though the chance is quite slim.

Most of the weapons with a penalty vs armor are actually still quite good. 20-30% armor increase on 40ish base armor is not terribly significant. The overwhelming majority of enemy units have sub 50 armor. The exceptions are terror units, Marsec Bodyguards, Guildmasters, Humanist Stormtroopers and Supersoldiers, and Academy Provosts. Even the machete which is probably the worst of the lot(30% and worst stat bonus) tops out at 50 damage with max stats before outfits. Granted if you don't have the stats to support the weapons the will not perform well. But if you dont have the stats what are doing wielding melee anyway?

Muskets however do suck against armor but generally speaking anything with a armor penalty is still decent. The armor penalty is more a balance aspect to keep stat scaleing early game weapons from running away with the show.


RNG is certainly a factor in a smooth start. The only true advantage the player retains in the early game compared to previous versions is marginal Night vision advantage which quickly vanishes and relatively high hp. But high hp only keeps you from losing gals permanently. However there are several newish building that speed recovery so eventually racking up damage that doesn't kill you is only a minor inconvenience.

The game in the last 6 months has gone from moderately challenging to Nintendo Hard with a side of masochism in my opinion. And still takes 100s of hours per campaign. But at least you can't get fucked outa tech progression by bad RNG anymore. You can eventually buy your way up the tech tree if no other option presents itself. Player unique weapons( Custom shooty gun, ect) are also perfectly capable of filling in or outperforming dropped gear.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on March 30, 2017, 08:42:50 pm
Any damaging hit can cause up to 3 wounds though the chance is quite slim.

Most of the weapons with a penalty vs armor are actually still quite good. 20-30% armor increase on 40ish base armor is not terribly significant.

That's good to know, but it still seems like there's no reason to pick most of them over the mace, which has good damage and reduces and damages armor. And with the 0-200% damage formula low power firearms are already in a really wierd place without giving the enemy any help.

Yes, Barons definitely have a ranged attack.  Not sure the stats, but can definitely put out some punishment.  I remember Poet losing some troops to this shot.

If it's balanced based on the source material the green flame can do just short of half of Doomguy's health on a direct hit, and he's pretty uber himself. It was not something you wanted to get hit by.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 30, 2017, 09:21:33 pm
That's good to know, but it still seems like there's no reason to pick most of them over the mace, which has good damage and reduces and damages armor. And with the 0-200% damage formula low power firearms are already in a really wierd place without giving the enemy any help.
Snip
Yes the mace is probably better most of the time. But don't discount weapons with this type of balancing out of hand. Do your math properly before rendering judgment.

Ranged weapon with -% armor mods however you are correct about they suck hard due to the range. Melee being 50-150% are much more reliable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Scorrpio on March 31, 2017, 01:01:03 am
Well, R-rifles tend to be a one-shot kill most of the time even vs power armor.  Most my Gals keep one in backpack...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: EricPhail on March 31, 2017, 01:14:17 am
The game in the last 6 months has gone from moderately challenging to Nintendo Hard with a side of masochism in my opinion. And still takes 100s of hours per campaign. But at least you can't get fucked outa tech progression by bad RNG anymore. You can eventually buy your way up the tech tree if no other option presents itself. Player unique weapons( Custom shooty gun, ect) are also perfectly capable of filling in or outperforming dropped gear.

Re: buying the way up the tech tree, I presume you refer to buying certain enemies for interrogation (what else btw), so I ask what is the way to buy past a complete inability to find/engage reticulans and/or Star Gods?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2017, 01:22:54 am
Re: buying the way up the tech tree, I presume you refer to buying certain enemies for interrogation (what else btw), so I ask what is the way to buy past a complete inability to find/engage reticulans and/or Star Gods?

Reticualans do not have a bypass via buyable interrogation captives, but one of the potential results of an imperial probe is a reticulan base, so are not limited to just reticulan ships. Star gods also have an alternate path found rarely on the larger smuggler craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on March 31, 2017, 02:54:12 am
Okay, doing a Ratman Rodeo and of the nine hits my gals took, seven caused 3 fatal wounds.

Tried to save one using vodka, and she apparently died of stun several turns later.

Seems out of whack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 31, 2017, 05:33:58 am
RNGsus does not smile upon you today.

Tough luck, rodeos can be difficult with small crews and early armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2017, 05:38:53 am
That's the system shock mechanic most likely. If a unit has more then 3x it's current hp in stun it will take damage every turn. The lower a units hp compared to is max hp the more damage it takes. One should always endeavor to revive damaged gals rather then simply stabilizing the wounds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 31, 2017, 05:53:08 am
"System shock" is something different in the bootypedia, being stun damage as a result of HP damage. I don't think there's an official name for loosing health when stun is over three times the current health (easy at low HP), but the pin-up article calls it the 'cold embrace of death.'
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2017, 06:36:51 am
point, we do need another term for mechanics discussion. But in medical terms both mechanics are the same thing in English language. Both are secondary effects from bodily injury. A shock to the system(secondary stun) and systemic shock(lethal). Tad confusing no?   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on March 31, 2017, 07:39:42 pm
I've gotten back to playing Piratez, started a new game to see all the new stuff, and while I think the early narrative stuff is very well done now, especially the fugitive capture squad and the early researches that set the stage, early game balance still seems really RNG dependant.

Once again I had a horrible first month with a -1,500 score for no reason I could determine, and without the Infamy bonus I was forced to sell a ton of stuff, basically all my loot and starting equipment other than the hull, drill, Airbus, and the gear I used, to avoid going into negative balance at the end of the month. This was despite powering through research and throwing a party which was supposed to be worth +250. That's two out of four campaigns I've played so far where month one has torpedoed my score, and it was really punishing with the new upkeep balance.

Early missions are also very binary. Either you're robbing civilians, knocking over Watchtowers, or hitting a crackhouse where no one has armor and it's easy as pie, or you run into raiders and can barely scratch them. Perhaps I haven't adjusted to the new weapon balance, but so many otherwise decent weapons have negative armor penetration now which makes them seem useless since the only things you need high power for in the early game - and wouldn't try to kidnap - are armored foes. Melee on starting gals with no armor very quickly turns into an extended infirmary stay or worse against anything more than a rusty niner it seems. I'm not sure if it's RNG trolling me again or not, but fatal wounds seem to pile up with remarkable speed, I've had gals end up with 4-6 from a single attacker, and it really makes that missing third charge on the bandages hurt. In earlier versions the Ubers felt kinda bulletproof, you'd take a little damage here and there, but they just seem to get hurt by everything now.

It may again be RNG, but over two months I have had very little civilian traffic, and whenever I would explore a new mission type the enemies would far outclass six lunatics. The only working strategy I've found is go at night and slow creep the map, which I thought was supposed to be discouraged in this version. I've found that the only good answer to extreme weather early is to ignore the mission. Even with Heat 50% on the starting outfits stun builds up at a startling rate, and the canteen is yet more inventory space and TU usage that the gals can't afford when they're that weak.

I still very much enjoy the game, but it still seems like you need the RNG's permission to even get started.

Edit: I should add I play blind, so if there's a super important tech you're supposed to rush, I wouldn't know.
Something that I've learned about the early game is, until you can start using stuff like the Heavy Suit or the Assassin Suit or Camoflagued Heavy Armor, it's better to not even bother with worrying about the armor values of an outfit. Also, the Gym Suit is amazing for Archers, while the Amazon Suit is even better. The Amazon Suit's only drawback is it's lack of inventory space, and it's firing accuracy penalty which can easily be worked around by simply not using guns with the Amazon Armor. It makes you do a lot of damage and be very accurate with Bows and Throwing Axes, which are going to be your main ranged options for a while because the guns you get early game are so shit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2017, 07:55:18 pm
I wouldn't classify all early guns as shit. But yes throwing options do outclass a lot of early game guns because of stat scaled vs flat weapons balance. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: ivandogovich on March 31, 2017, 07:59:37 pm
Something that I've learned about the early game is, until you can start using stuff like the Heavy Suit or the Assassin Suit or Camoflagued Heavy Armor, it's better to not even bother with worrying about the armor values of an outfit. Also, the Gym Suit is amazing for Archers, while the Amazon Suit is even better. The Amazon Suit's only drawback is it's lack of inventory space, and it's firing accuracy penalty which can easily be worked around by simply not using guns with the Amazon Armor. It makes you do a lot of damage and be very accurate with Bows and Throwing Axes, which are going to be your main ranged options for a while because the guns you get early game are so shit.

This comment is really interesting.  I have heard this recommendation many times, but its one I never follow.  Since the Bow Nerf, I've only really used bows very early with flaming arrows.  Its easy to get 3 shot per turn, and the flames are nice lights for my early Night Operations strategy.  The bow is also good with Rogue Outfit which I like for very good Climate capabilities (Ok in both Hot and Cold weather). 

However, as soon as I can, I start training direct fire weapons.  I've worked shotguns this campaign, and they are consistently effective against 90% of early game foes.  I've gotten solid accuracy training from those.  Ol Shotgun (early), Double Barrel, and Heavy Shotguns have been great.  However, I've phased them out as I've come in possession of Magnums and Eagles now that I have tech to make their ammo.  Almost everyone is carrying these as side arms or primary weapons.  A really good amount of decent accuracy snap shots per turn, or aimed shots for more reliable hits on targets beyond most shotgun range.  Most of my shooters are 70 plus accuracy with this set up, and I like it a lot.

I've just never paired the gym suit/ amazon up with Throwers as a main tactic.  I've also pretty much ignored Javelins though I hear they are very solid for early carapace armored foes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on March 31, 2017, 11:19:44 pm
Progress up to date

Dec 2602
Smart Rifles, Arena Fireball Launchers, Auto Cannons, Tank/Autocannon
* no hellerium or nuclear munitions yet
Soldier: Syn
Revenant Armor
Counterfeiting and Mint
Craft: El Fuego, Predator

Ran out of research topics except for data discs and the tech tree viewer doesn't look all that promising for what remains.

Anyone know where to find Space Electronics?
Ive been on at least 5 orbital missions and despite the name I havent come across any Space Electronics so far at all. And I have taken on some sizeable ships.

Just beat the hell out of the Academy Base thats been sitting next door to mine for almost a year. I got some of the "broken" individuals from that as well as the Boom Gun. So ive got a few more research topics out of that but im starting to run empty on the list again.


I signed a deal with the ES a few months back and had a mission with that.
* nobody told me I couldnt Leave the mission
* or that id have to deal with a frikkin general, with this silly little gauss pistol
* but ive got a Rail Driver he got screwed by that, get it?
* thankfully because of Zero Tolerance to Zero Tolerance I dont have to worry exactly about becoming the very thing that I have been killing during these pogroms.


I was listening to some youtube music and ironically this hit the nail on the head for that misson as it was playing, reminded me of hit man and mercinary type movies where they get caught in a deal that goes bad. Gotta kill people who dont deserve it and become a bad guy. #GrayMorality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1c6fiCcveA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1c6fiCcveA)

Well, R-rifles tend to be a one-shot kill most of the time even vs power armor.  Most my Gals keep one in backpack...

I second this, its like a 1 shot Heavy Plasma since its a direct hit weapon.

The Rail Driver obsoletes it though, a govt dude on an excavator ship had one and thats where I got mine, now I use it as the heavy puncher weapon. Saved my base against raiders who were decked out with plasma, because one dude had power armor and it was a surefire kill on him (whereas even a rocket launcher was iffy despite 120 explosive damage)


Any damaging hit can cause up to 3 wounds though the chance is quite slim.

I dont think thats the case in piratez? I believe randomWound is turned off for all of dioxine's weapons, which goes to 10% of the damage done. Ergo you need to take at least 30 damage to get hit with 3 fatal wounds.


I've gotten back to playing Piratez, started a new game to see all the new stuff, and while I think the early narrative stuff is very well done now, especially the fugitive capture squad and the early researches that set the stage, early game balance still seems really RNG dependant.

It may again be RNG, but over two months I have had very little civilian traffic, and whenever I would explore a new mission type the enemies would far outclass six lunatics. The only working strategy I've found is go at night and slow creep the map.

Edit: I should add I play blind, so if there's a super important tech you're supposed to rush, I wouldn't know.

You need to rush Chainmail as fast as you can, it was sufficient for me all the way through midway 2nd year and its still okay to toss on my hands at bases where they're just babysitting against base assaults. 45 armor is no laughing matter and it means almost all those shotgun blasts can be ignored like ants - and its a fighting chance against lasers (read: infirmary rather than the morgue).

It takes awhile though, I dont think youll get it until at least May.

Some waypoints along the way are Warrior armor (30 armor, made from nothing more than scrap metal I think)... and manufacturing Chateau De La Mort because that'll be your moneymaker until the end of the year.

Other than that you need to heavily invest in any Contacts: you can possibly get, because then you can get some weapons that can do some really practical stuff, might cost abit but you can get rifles with genuinely good accuracy like the Assault Rifle from vanilla game or the RCF carbine (100% acc aimed). Ship contacts of various kinds also get you the Pachyderm which can go on space missions, fight well, and carry alot of people (I sold my paychyderm as soon as my El Fuego was finished though).

Might also want to get an Attack Dog, it moves quickly and its excellent at melee. If it dies, its only 10K to get another one. But the only reason I see you losing a dog is because of reaction fire moving across open ground, or something that goes boom.

Another thing you need to consider is that enemies get fatal wounds just like you. So if you shoot some guy twice and he's still moving, just remember where he was and leave him alone. In a few turns he'll probably keel over. I mean he can still be dangerous and maneuver around, but its not (*usually) going to impact your ability to Finish the mission - if you forget about that guy and let him wander off.

Point of fact it can be a good way to capture people you have problems harpooning or prodding, as long as they have weak armor, you can probably pop them with a Holdout pistol and it wont kill them but they'll get fatal wounds and drop over after a few rounds. Then you can use a Bandage to keep them from bleeding out completely.

This is why its important to check the Armor values on researched targets that appear in the Hands/Armors bootypedia... if some dude wearing light personal armor has like 30 Armor you can probably shoot him a couple times with a gun that does 30 damage and he'll probably be leaking from that but not dead.

Quote
Once again I had a horrible first month with a -1,500 score for no reason

End game, start new one, you were only 1 month in. Once you get rolling this becomes harder to just happen. Never thought it could happen in the first month but there you go.

Also as far as civilian traffic guess what - I dont even Engage or follow any aircraft until I get Overcharged Radar.

I SELL my starting radar system just so I wont get bugged by all those aircraft flying over, since im not even going to be able to shoot at them (Reticulan Plasma Charger works best on civvie ships, but you need Workshop to get that I think, which means Chainmail+1 Month at least). Selling the starter radar also gives me precious starting money too.

I rely on the missions offered up until then - temples are a cash cow, warehouses give you chemicals, academy posts give you harpoons to capture other people with, watchtowers keep you from losing influence in those areas (they dont really give you much...). Ratmen rodeos give points and Apples, you use the apples on Chateau and Finely Distilled Rum - and you use the rum to replace XGrog on missions.


Quote
Even with Heat 50% on the starting outfits stun builds up at a startling rate, and the canteen is yet more inventory space and TU usage that the gals can't afford when they're that weak.

The environmental conditions are too harsh and unrealistic and im just going to say that bluntly. They were an unwelcome addition to the game that sprouted somewhere aruond F1 or F3. The enemies on the map should be hit with the same conditions too if its going to be played against the players.

Also considering that in realistic terms every Turn is about 3 Seconds real life equivalent most missions are DONE and Over With under the course of 1 Minute. Thats been the consensus since the 90s regarding vanilla.

I mean even its a friggin 150 degrees outside these hands are going to be able to take it, I know I can stand 150F for a couple minutes in a stuffy workshed during the summer, these ubers (and xcom soldiers for that matter) could stand it while also exerting themselves, they'll sure need some ice cream afterwards though.

# if I was putting a dynamic into the game like this id make it affect other things for the characters, things that it would actually interfere with
# heat and cold are distracting, they're a debuff not damage, the heat makes it hard to think and focus while the cold hurts and is annoying.
# they should hit Firing Accuracy, Throwing Accuracy, Strength, both types of VooDoo, and heavily debuff Reactions. And a minor hit to Time Units just enough to make you lose that precious life-or-death last tile of movement.

The way I mod this is I delay the onset of all environmental conditions to about Turn 8 and I gave the Aura attacks they use a 35-50% chance to hit. In exchange I doubled the "damage" that they cause. This way it makes more sense - during a cold mission you're still warm from being in the ship and working up body heat, during a hot mission you're still cooled off from being in the ship, during an acid mission it takes time for that stuff to work through your clothing. And it affects everybody differently. I give acid til Turn 6 though.

I always Save Game at the beginning in a separate slot (I differentiate from my main save by appending "ground" to the end) and only save over it again when I achieve some ground to lock in success. Autosave has an unerring tendency to Save right after somebody being shot for a whole bunch of damage or dying, I wish it would save at the end of my turn rather than right before it.

In terms of raw piratez if its a Tough Mission do what I do - Get Away with whatever you can. Duck out of the ship and waste a couple guys, drag junk back to your ship and just take off. You could get some fancy toys, you will score points, the mission wont be a complete success but you'll get something to show for it.

If its a Pogrom and you're forced to do it for the Mutant Alliance - show up and kill some raiders or demons or whatever is there. Then stay near the ship or just leave. You'll get a penalty but killing some dudes offsets it, and like above you might get a fancy gun or something. And as the bootypedia entry says youll dodge the -1000 penalty for not even showing up (might be -300 or -500 due to civvies but thats better).

Exquisite Mansions are this exactly to a T - its hard as hell to kill everybody so by default you are heading for the greenzone and thats your only real Mission... as the navy seals say "get off the X". However much you can grab and take out the door with you is a Risk vs. Greed equation. You dont get any kind of body armor for mansions so everything they've got can kill you just like it was the beginning of the game all over again.

You can also save scum for exploration too - even on Ironman/NoSave you can save scum this way because it doesnt keep you from reloading the autosave. Spend entire turns sending your hands as far off as they can go and even let them get shot at. Then reload the save, because now you know where things are, enemies already revealed themselves.

You now have de-facto 1 Turn Precognition like River Tamm.

Same goes for the mansions, the key to treasure for the mansions is the basement but thats a labyrinth down there. If you see a big bar/casino also go in the booze closet and see what you find, but thats also a good place to get cornered as people come in the room (better have a small-shotgun with you).

Ive heard of treasure chests in the basement but all I know of is the entrance to the Wizard Tower is down there unless you wanna blow holes in walls upstairs. And there are gold bars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 12:39:14 am
Snip
I dont think thats the case in piratez? I believe randomWound is turned off for all of dioxine's weapons, which goes to 10% of the damage done. Ergo you need to take at least 30 damage to get hit with 3 fatal wounds.
snip

I know Dioxine has mucked with some of how wounds work, cutting dealing more wounds easier ect, but ive taken tons of wounds from chip gunfire damage so at least some vanilla is still in play. Unless someone cares to go parseing the ruleset only Dioxine know for sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on April 01, 2017, 12:53:40 am
You can't shoot down ships early, no, but you can follow them and raid them on the ground.

If wounds are 10% of damage that fits much better with what I'm seeing where 3 fatals are the norm from weapons fire, because over multiple missions 3 is the average result, not an outlier.  Had one gal get auto-fired and live...with 9 fatals. It seems that bandages and even vodka are just not supposed to be more than a stopgap now, X-Grog and medikits are the only real heals.

I've always been a fan of the Shotguns, but they got double nerfed with some reduced damage and they flat out cannot be fired one-handed anymore. They're still a good lethal option early, but not great. Rusty niners are solid and widely available. I'd avoided bows because the change log made me think they'd been nerfed into the ground, but I'll have to check them out.

I realize that enemies bleed, but you can't afford to wait for that. They'll kill you or give you enough bleeders to expend all your healing before they drop.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 01:42:41 am
The Bow nerf wasn't all that severe to effectiveness within intended range. Mostly it was to curb firing beyond effective range without real penalty. Used to be the only limiting factor to 100% hits at any range was if the arc worked.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Scorrpio on April 01, 2017, 02:00:20 am
One real pivotal point is when you get hyperwave decoders, and if you do the research right, you can have them fairly early.   I haf my first one running in July first year, with two more on the way.   By year end I covered all but polar caps.   Knowing where stuff is going and who it us is HUGE.  About 4 out of 5 crafts land somewhere, and you can nab them there, meaning you can mostly ignore the better fighters/cannons stuff.
Some other crucial points are Crazy Hannah and Military Suppliers.  Unlock these, and you are golden for heavy-hitting conventional weaponry.

Hostile environments are not that bad, but I tend to skip the cold ones.   Heat is easily dealt with using canteens.  Heck,  my top squads got big enough health pools to last 10-12 turns as is.  Pink sands, I often just sit in the craft, taking swigs from canteens and waiting for all enemies to drop.  Cold gets a lot easier with Thief armor (50%) and trivial with Space Suits.   And I opted to not research Organ Grinders as long as I can get Academy outposts.
Just finished April 2602.  17k score.  63 brainers and only a few steps from plasma unlock.  Academy decided to build base next to my main base and I nabbed every single ship: two gunships, 3 frigates and cruiser, and now I got a broken provost and like 3 techs from plasma unlock.  Currently heavily ramping up my shipbuilding, hoping to field a bomber-buster squadron in 2 months...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Dioxine on April 01, 2017, 03:06:25 am
I find delaying effects of weather to turn 8 funny, as the weather is intended to make you consider doing the mission within below 10 turns, which is not that hard without excessive camping... exactly how many turns you need for a simple mission?... Sure camping reduces risk a lot, that is the price. Pogroms, which CAN take a lot of time, are not affected, and interceptions can be performed to avoid dangerous terrain. Also it is meant to discourage spamming Chainmail too much... Unless you gear up a lot, which has been made easier by items that give you passive resistance to cold.

As for the bleeding mechanics, no changes compared to vanilla. You get a random number of wounds: 0-1 for up to 3 damage, 0-2 for 4-6 damage, 0-3 for 7-9 damage, and 1-3 for more than 9, or something similar.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 04:20:12 am
Snip
As for the bleeding mechanics, no changes compared to vanilla. You get a random number of wounds: 0-1 for up to 3 damage, 0-2 for 4-6 damage, 0-3 for 7-9 damage, and 1-3 for more than 9, or something similar.

Um that's not vanilla, or at least so says ufopedia here https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on April 01, 2017, 04:45:27 am
Um that's not vanilla, or at least so says ufopedia here https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds)

Ill agree from experience since in vanilla I sometimes got shot for less than 10 damage and didnt get a wound from it.

I know the original equation for damage was different too - after damage was rolled if it exceeded armor (and for every 10 points) - a point of Armor was chipped off. For every point of armor taken 1-10 health was lost. And then fatal wounds based on the ufopaedia article.

So you'd actually lose Half as much health as the damage roll exceeded armor if you consider that arrangement. Hard to notice though because the alien weapons do so much damage and in ufo defense they fired multiple times, so a soldier's 30-40 average health just evaporated. But its also why you'd get alot of situations where the dude falls over unconscious rather than dies instantly.

Pink sands, I often just sit in the craft, taking swigs from canteens and waiting for all enemies to drop.

What IS the deal with the pink sands anyway?
Ive only run into them twice, makes some kinda screeching stuff that apparently de-moralizes. It didnt bother me much, thought it was interesting, but dunno what it is.

63 brainers? wow
im starting Year 3 and ive only got 24, I find them very hard to feed and find space for, and ive plumb run out of techs to research twice now just at the rate ive been using them. 63 sounds really excessive
(ive also only got 25 million bucks and thats after engaging the Mint)

I find delaying effects of weather to turn 8 funny, as the weather is intended to make you consider doing the mission within below 10 turns

Hadnt really considered that, but I think decisions like that pidgeonhole the player into playing a certain way and dont encourage flexibility. I tend to see it as a 20 turn rule rather than 10 because when you're playing tactically you've got to creep and avoid areas alot more. Because at Turn 20 you get the cheat mode.

Engaging stealth keeps you from getting shot, causes maximum damage to the enemy, and the rules for games like these are designed to enforce tactical stealth rather than deathmatch rushing enemies.

(thats not camping, the term implies staying in one spot, I might have someone on top of Fuego delivering hell, and hitting golf balls, but everyone else is creeping around back alleys)

When you've got superior equipment you can smash everybody in your path without stopping really, 6-8 turns is a reality.

But back when I was relying on Warrior Armor/Clockwork Pistols/Cattle Prods I couldnt do that, and I needed the buddy system (if for all efforts one failed, they had backup to bail them out). Its more like 11 turns for a normal mission, 15-25 for a hard one.


Also at my best ive only managed to finish organ grinder within 10 turns because of the restrictive terrain. Ive had that mission spiral out to 19 turns before just because there was a ghoul in an inaccessible part of the map (like, no ladder to get up to the roof, at all). I dunno I think I had a lucky one that only took 8 turns.

20 Turns is a thing for me because ive had a supply ship blow up before, that was because of cold weather making everybody grind to a standstill (and trying to dodge the flechette guns, at the same time as using grog to restore stamina just to move). I only had 3 Hands there because everyone else was wounded.

Using a low number of Hands is also a thing for me too - 6 ladies max and I only keep maybe 8 in total because the other two pilot the interceptor. But ill often send fewer like 3-4. This is the strategy I developed prior to the weather effects being introduced.

The acid spraying in organ grinder does fit, defense system goes off and sprays everywhere, but since there are few early-mid armors that feature any reasonable defense against it, and since the mission takes so long because of the terrain plus the smoke starts right away - I figure giving some time is okay (I doubled the damage also so it really starts adding up as sickdays).

And again ill say, just my opinion, I dont think the hot/cold fits and its inappropriate to pidgeonhole players on strategy. Im also likewise the kinda player who looks for trumping effects, I want to get an edge ahead of the enemy not play on equal terms, I look for weapons that kill with one attack at a distance most of the time, and armor that you only get damaged with on a critical hit. That sorta thing, the fun for me is in the fact there is a 5% risk of being hurt, im a perfectionist about this.

Id be perfectly happy with a -100 point mission debuff just in general for every Hand that dies, since I already reload games if one even gets severely wounded much less killed. I maintain a strict 0 Death track record and would only allow it for practical purposes of achievement - if it was a newbie hand that had crap stats.

I played this way with Vanilla xcom and tftd too, and usually got away with it, the tradeoff is my HWPs get toasted because id have 6 guys and 2 tanks. But tanks dont get experience and the expensive price is the death penalty for them, but thats more acceptable than losing experienced members.

I noticed the nintendo hard cydonia aura and even though I havent gotten that far i'll say its probably appropriate. Its a BBEG fight and the culmination of all the effort to get there, and going to cydonia is optional it doesnt come to you. So im okay with that one.

Posts merged - Dioxine

The acid spraying in organ grinder does fit

And actually I just want to critically highlight that the Smoke Sprayers that go off everywhere are a debuff to the player because it adds artificial difficulty. All that smoke makes it hard to see the terrain itself. Whether it affects the soldiers' ability to see targets or not doesnt mean much if you the Player cant make out where doors and walls are.

I think environmental effects ought to be handled like the smoke sprayers or the screeching things in the red sands, and the landmines in the jungle. Arctic land can make a "cold winds of the north tinkling ice" sound effect and hit everything for cold damage outdoors.

If you're in the climate controlled safety of your ship, an acadamician post, or comfy CoS temple you should be beyond the reach of these things. Logic absolutely rules here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 01, 2017, 05:49:19 am
Handling these effects like in the Pink Sands is a massive PITA. I did Pink Sands because I was crazy, but this is both hacky and insanely work-intensive. Now, sure, logic dictates that indoors should be safe, but engine limitations trump logic.

What you're saying is that weather missions became too hard for you to handle with tiny crews. Sure, if you're challenging yourself that way, I can understand debuffing mission difficulty as well. However this is your personal thing, and I have to assume the player will use all resources to the fullest advantage. You talk about forcing strategy - yes, indeed, debuffing most effective strategies the AI can't counter can be called forcing, if you insist. There is also the atmosphere of urgency I'm trying to create - you operate inside what is basically hostile environment for you (outside of Zones), and cannot allow yourself to linger too long, also because realistically, the enemy should mount a rescue operation. But these things are impossible to implement.

If perfectionism is your goal, then I can assure you, I want to make your life miserable :) Want perfection, be ready for disappointments. Or savescum. This game's balancing is measured by overall player's success rate, not perfectionism.

Anyway, new version is up, enjoy :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 06:01:23 am
Okay is there really a point of handing out another STC slot on the turtle? Maybe im missing something but the orbs to build them seem really rare(to date i have found zero). I'll grant the max out potential is impressive but i don't see it happening before you move on to more advanced craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 01, 2017, 06:35:45 am
Well, it was added mainly for balance reasons, because the ship has no weapons. To what will it amount in the end (if they can be somehow useful despite more advanced craft being in play), we'll see. Orbs will certainly be less rare in the end, but for now it's just w.i.p.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Stoddard on April 01, 2017, 02:16:32 pm
Hi. In this and the previous version,

CIVILIAN_MUT_3, FEMALE_CIVILIAN, MALE_CIVILIAN units in Piratez_Factions.rul

lack "builtInWeaponSets:" line, but the rest of what's supposed to go into that section is present.

like this:
Code: [Select]
    aggression: 0
      - []
      - - STR_SHIV
      - []

I think the end result is that those units miss their weapon sets entirely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 01, 2017, 04:39:00 pm
Correct. That is the intention - not all civilians are armed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Stoddard on April 01, 2017, 05:43:41 pm
Correct. That is the intention - not all civilians are armed.

Fine then.

Was a bit unexpected to get a string of '0 - [] - [] - - STR_SHIV - - STR_FLINTLOCK_P ...' instead of a single 0 is all. Worked around that anyway.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Crazy on April 01, 2017, 06:56:56 pm
I wouldn't classify all early guns as shit. But yes throwing options do outclass a lot of early game guns because of stat scaled vs flat weapons balance.
Well, the Flintlock Guns are, even though they have a nice 40 damage the fact that they only get 3 shots before they have to reload, the long reload times, and their already intrinsically low firing accuracy combined with how low your gals' firing accuracies are early in the game makes it so that you'll waste entire turns shooting and hitting nothing, and having to spend 30-40 TUs per reload when you have to reload every 3 shots can quickly mean that you're regularly shoveling out 40-60 grand per mission to replace dead gals. The clockwork gun is actually pretty good early game though, because it's auto-fire which shoots 3 pellets is only slightly slower than the Flintlock pistol's snap fire, while being more accurate, which totals up to make it about 3x faster than the flintlock pistol at shooting while doing so more accurately, and it has a reload that takes only 20 TUs instead of the 30 or so that the musket takes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 07:38:15 pm
flintlocks blow no question. However you replace them almost instantly so they exist for like 1% of the early game and as such barely register as part of early game guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: RSSwizard on April 01, 2017, 08:37:09 pm
The clockwork gun is actually pretty good early game though, because it's auto-fire which shoots 3 pellets is only slightly slower than the Flintlock pistol's snap fire

If you can get up close - this is 120 damage you can pull out of your pocket. Even though dudes with security armor get +40% armor there's still a good chance one of those damage rolls will be High because there are 3 of them - you can reasonably expect to take out the armored nurse or warehouse security guy with this.

Though, with that insanely low accuracy even up close you can painfully watch this thing jerk around and hit everything but the target even just 2 tiles way. But knowing it can probably kill someone AND keep shooting a couple more times at the wall is enough to smile smugly.

I kept it as a backup weapon until I got the confederate eagle.

I was even using it to limited success against reticulans. It shoots wild but that damage is enough to put almost any of them to sleep if it connects. Since it takes so long to reload it encourages shooting then ducking to cover to reload, so you dont get exposed to those lasers as much.

flintlocks blow no question. However you replace them almost instantly so they exist for like 1% of the early game and as such barely register as part of early game guns.

Not sure any of the other starting game guns count as a "replacement" but the SMG does outclass it and you -can- get that one buyable after about a month. Only benefit to the flintlock is its stopping power but with smg you can cut someone in half up close and they dont get a chance to react.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: sinisteragent on April 01, 2017, 09:23:16 pm
I quite like the flintlocks. A one handed ranged weapon that can also do melee for captures? Yes please. Sure it's very inaccurate, but that's why I use it like a real flintlock pistol - fire to empty at close range and then either bug out for the next person to finish the job, or charge in to club them. And while less accurate than the rifle, it leaves your hand free for a molotov or vodka for the sap you just captured. Or another flintlock! It's just about the only weapon that really benefits from dual wielding, and doesn't feel cheap and silly for it like dual wielding usually does in games - blasting away at extreme close range, then grabbing another gun, was pretty much how those weapons were used historically, after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 01, 2017, 09:42:37 pm
Anything is a replacement for the flintlock because the accuracy is so awful. Good stopping power doesn't mean anything if you miss 80% of the time. Even throwing stones in the hand of a middling stated gal do better.

And if your close nuff that misses still land reliably your close nuff to say fuck it and sprint rush with a melee weapon for more damage and less TU spent.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 01, 2017, 10:20:23 pm
I gotta say, once I got access to Heavy Shotgun (and you can get it darn early)  I forgot all about flintlocks.     Sure, the thing lacks range, but if you can get within 7 tiles, the killing power of that thing is just amazing, and 145% snap accuracy?    Yeah!    Heavy shotguns pretty much carried me through months 2-8.   I also downed several Spartan Military Supplies which got me a nice stockpile of OK weaponry.   

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on April 01, 2017, 11:19:18 pm
I just finished the game.  Thanks, Dioxine and contributors, for literally months of great gaming.  I'll be back in a while to play a later version and see where you take it!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 02, 2017, 12:08:07 am
Okay played with the new shadowbat and jellyfish some. Here is what i think so far.

Jellyfish inbuilt support weapon is interesting, if of questionable quality as you cant identify good psi candidates till later in the tech tree. IF you can get STCs for it, it's okay as combat craft. But the fact remains by the time you utilize it to its fullest extent you have probably have menace class available which is much better in both combat and as a transport, outside of maxing out its STC's. Deployment is also kinda cumbersome given that the exits are on the edge of bottom deck and the crew spawn is mostly in the center of the middle deck. Spending 1-2 turns getting out the door is penalizing in harsh weather environments. Getting to check/clear immediate area without risk to crew is a plus. Long radar range is pretty nice.

Shadowbat gimmick of lighting up the area around it but not under it is really clever but again of questionable use. The initial deployment is excellent but the lit area is a two way killing ground that must be crossed. In daytime its much like any open ramp craft. 9 crew is excellent for early game. Very expensive to operate as a combat craft due to missile only armament. 

Edit: Just had a eurosysindicate elimination spawn with government troops as the rank and file. The potential score loss from killing government units completely overwhelms the 250k payout in higher difficulties. Given that score is cash being forced into a timed, no retreat map that has as 800-1000 negative score potential is not fun. Given that a third of the enemy is power armored makes getting stuns pretty tricky. Oh and 5 tanks.

Difference of the earth and Pluto between this and the rebel mutants version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Crazy on April 02, 2017, 01:40:30 am
I think with the new update adding in the Fusion Drives for the STC slots, the Turtle can now be outfitted so that it has 2950 speed. Also, if you somehow managed to get 3 Ethyr Drive Xs, you could build a Turtle that has a Max Speed of 11500. Yup.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 02, 2017, 02:23:18 am
Eurosyndicate mission is optional, and you are warned beforehand, if only in vague terms. You can simply ignore it although it's a 1500 score hit. I think I will add another, more powerful ES weapon to sweeten the deal, tho.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 02, 2017, 04:57:21 am
I'm okay with the government troops version existing, it makes sense for a rival government general to be guarded in this fashion. But it's a damned either way situation. Ignore the mission for -1500 or go risking a valuable craft and ground team and still eating maybe as much -1000. At 300$ per score it's possible to net a 50k loss on the run. Granted not certain out come but not completely unlikely either.

More reasonably i would expect a 50-100k net profit but is that worth risking a craft and a well geared ground team which is worth probably 1-2 million when you first start doing them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 02, 2017, 05:16:24 am
Access to the Eurosyndicate weapons is the real prize. Risk and negative score is the price to pay. That deal isn't fair, yes, because Eurosyndicate isn't fair.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 02, 2017, 06:48:27 am
Mmm if that you intent okay, but i guess that means not useing them until you have shutdown pogroms. Both at once would probably kill you from score penalty/casualties rate if researched immediately. 

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 02, 2017, 11:15:46 am
You can simply research a continent the same month, these give like 2000 points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 02, 2017, 10:21:48 pm
That's it. I won the game. I went on Cydonia and kicked ass of Solar Governor. And it was, as expected, hard, especially considering I got lazy and underprepared (only 10 annihilator armors, 3 bio suits, 1 loader... and a few space suits because I got dumb and thought I could bring fairies\destructors\saviours on Mars). But despite the losses and sheer amount of sectopods and mind control I persevered.

I also got an opportunity to try out some of these toys that before were too awesome to use, like master plasma pistols, blaster launchers and fairy dragons. They're all very good, but in the end, the humble heavy plasma, sharp electro-blade, hot willie petes, and magnificent BFG carried the fight.

Jack Sparrow difficulty. Ironman. Don't know why final numbers are so skewed, probably because the campaign started a lot of time ago. Now I can start a new campaign and try out the added early-game stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on April 03, 2017, 12:27:28 am
As for the bleeding mechanics, no changes compared to vanilla. You get a random number of wounds: 0-1 for up to 3 damage, 0-2 for 4-6 damage, 0-3 for 7-9 damage, and 1-3 for more than 9, or something similar.

Huh. That's not remotely what I'm seeing. Easily 80% of damaging hits are resulting in 3 wounds so far over multiple missions. I'll keep an eye on it and see if the RNG chills out.


My concern about weather was for the early game. It's kind of a no go when you have limited strength and carrying capacity and you need to use the canteen every third or forth turn. It makes a north Africa, Brasil, or Siberia start very unattractive at least. So far the Church of Sirius only builds in bad weather as well which cut off some good early game income for me. I don't mind adapting, but I wasn't sure if there were supposed to be quite as many hard no missions right from the start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: legionof1 on April 03, 2017, 01:12:01 am
Huh. That's not remotely what I'm seeing. Easily 80% of damaging hits are resulting in 3 wounds so far over multiple missions. I'll keep an eye on it and see if the RNG chills out.
snip
1 wound is technically speaking the outlier for any instance of receiving a wound. Any instance of being wounded is evenly split between 1,2 or 3 wounds. Below 11 damage your chance to take a wound is reduced but the split remains. See link for further information. https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Elemiach on April 03, 2017, 03:13:42 am
This "thing" is driving me mad. I cannot find any information on what it is and I cannot successfully intercept it, at least with my current equipment/vessels. Obviously this some sort of a NPC expedition but that's all I know. This is the second time these dudes are swarming the region, they just fuck around and then leave. This is really making me uneasy ;D 25mm cannon is unable to hit while the 50mm version blasts them off the surface of earth. I even tried a brilliant idea of chasing them with my own expeditions - kinda dumb idea in a hindsight.

Guys please, explain this mystery to me or I swear I am going to go insane by the end of this playthrough.

btw. Great mod Dioxine! I cannot remember the last time I was so invested in a video game. XPiratez is the best thing I played in years.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 03, 2017, 05:13:52 am
This "thing" is driving me mad. I cannot find any information on what it is and I cannot successfully intercept it, at least with my current equipment/vessels. Obviously this some sort of a NPC expedition but that's all I know. This is the second time these dudes are swarming the region, they just fuck around and then leave. This is really making me uneasy ;D 25mm cannon is unable to hit while the 50mm version blasts them off the surface of earth. I even tried a brilliant idea of chasing them with my own expeditions - kinda dumb idea in a hindsight.

Guys please, explain this mystery to me or I swear I am going to go insane by the end of this playthrough.


This is a swarm of Ratmen looking for your base.  These are low level infiltration missions that are one good reason to ensure that all your bases have some defenders.  Might be a good use of slave troopers. I've seen two swarms, shot up some with my Jetbike and ignored others, but I haven't yet been attacked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 03, 2017, 06:11:49 am
Now that you mention it crackdown missions have been seemingly ineffective recently. I've had maybe 2-3 that actually launched the assault craft in my last year or so of play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Martin on April 03, 2017, 10:38:27 am
Access to the Eurosyndicate weapons is the real prize. Risk and negative score is the price to pay. That deal isn't fair, yes, because Eurosyndicate isn't fair.

They are still quite expensive for what they do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: LexThorn on April 03, 2017, 03:40:58 pm
They are still quite expensive for what they do.

Yeah. Maybe, it`s time to lower the price a bit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 03, 2017, 05:29:52 pm
Really, not a big price for nullifying 2/3 of weapon research tree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Martin on April 03, 2017, 09:17:45 pm
Really, not a big price for nullifying 2/3 of weapon research tree.

Really? I mean, Eurosyndicate offers decent upgrade from basic laser stuff, but no explosives and certainly no undersea stuff which might become an issue in later updates when missions with aquatoids and presumably vorse stuff are added.

The appeal of ES would be much higher for me if they offered early access to hellerium based explosives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 03, 2017, 09:54:00 pm
Lasers are necessary due to enemy mix, namely mercs and space. However aside from those situations they are a little weak. Plasma and gauss beat them in raw damage and are therefore more effective in anti-armor use due to the nature of damage calculation. Even a surprising fraction of normal guns do better then most lasers for the same reason. The gap narrowed even more with addition of 10% armor pen for rifles(25% for some guns advanced ammo) and 20% for some snipers type guns. Against the really well armored foes lasers will often fail to do anything, where as high end piercing and plasma will at least always degrade armor.

The other hallmark of lasers is relative low weight but i have rarely found that to be significant problem between various carry weight/STR buffing armors and the newish levitation pack. Trading away the extra utility of either gunbutt attacks or superior damage to save some weight is a bad deal in my mind. Topping out gal strength is probably the easiest stat to max outside of mechanics abuse for bravery.

Lasers are needed and functional but only just. Putting this type of price tag on the strongest of them only weakens the type. Granted having the strongest laser available very early needs an offset, but high operating expense AND long term negative score penalty when score is significant perhaps vital income? i'll do without the thing i never used before and be even better off for the choice then previously.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.4 - 18 Mar - Furious Fixes
Post by: Devon_v on April 03, 2017, 11:51:27 pm
1 wound is technically speaking the outlier for any instance of receiving a wound. Any instance of being wounded is evenly split between 1,2 or 3 wounds. Below 11 damage your chance to take a wound is reduced but the split remains. See link for further information. https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Fatal_Wounds)

I'm talking about multuple missions. Not "oh, the RNG hated me on this mission, I kept roling 3", but "every mission I do, the RNG rolls 3 more than any other value". Crazy stuff like getting auto-fired and being left with NINE fatal wounds. The rolls are supposed to be 33/33/33, but I'm seeing 10/10/80. Not impossible naturally, but there's only so far improbability goes before I begin suspecting an error.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 04, 2017, 12:23:30 am
Something being borked is a possibility, though in the case autofire you are pointing out a reasonable outcome. Instances of damage and wounds from are per projectile not per attack action. I think the most from a single attack i've witnessed was 18 from a tome of lighting attack. Tome of lighting has 9 projectiles if memory serves so average of 2 wounds in that case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: lenin-kerrigan on April 04, 2017, 07:18:04 pm
(https://xren.su/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/OpenXcom-XPiratez-12-864x540.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 04, 2017, 09:39:09 pm
Really, not a big price for nullifying 2/3 of weapon research tree.

Ahh but they dont. Ive got ES Lasers sitting in my base stocks gathering dust. The ammo costs too much for them. As far as lasers they do decent damage but if I need to do alot of damage ill just blow something up or set it on fire. Ive got alot of Baby Nukes piling up.

I keep them around just in case of a base attack but thats all, they're pretty to look at but otherwise they're expensive paperweights. Im thinking of taking the ES Pistol to the mansion but because its only got 10 shots thats a problem, id rather toss a self charging laspistol at my Combat Syn.

-----
Edit: Attachment related, I havent even bought ES Lasers, this is just the one the Govt General had. And I havent used it yet.
-----

In terms of game balance you've got to consider Overall effectiveness not just what kind of abilities they have. It might be nice to manufacture high powered lasrifle clips like you find in missions, but thats only a useful benny back when lasrifles are worth it. Smart Rifle kills the lasrifle hands down, as soon as I got that I was disassembling all the lasrifles I could find.

The -1/3 armor bonus doesnt justify using lasers either, I need DAMAGE not penetration. If I need one-hit damage ill go with the Rail Driver (140) or all those Reticulan Plasma Guns (85) that ive got sitting around piling up. Why bother with an armor divider when I can just hit with regular damage at the equivalent volume?

Unless Heavy Lasers do as much damage as Rail Drivers they're useless, they get disassembled for craft weapon/tank parts. Ammo count or accuracy for the rail driver is irrelevant, if I get within 8 tiles someone's going to get railed (and if its essential they go down ill savescum). Sometimes I use other hands to carry bulky ammo for guns someone else has got.

The Boom Gun is a Booming Business, everybody wants a shotgun that can blow somebody to pieces and even moreso the half pound shotgun shells it uses. The ammunition sells for a fortune and ive got plastasteel flowing out my ears so bad I cant make enough of the ammo to sell before ive got to sell off plastasteel.

(I dont know of much else that requires straight plastasteel and not other components or manufactures quicker. And you get the Boom Gun from engaging just a single enemy base. Ive calculated that its roughly worth 96 bucks/man hour to make Boom Gun Ammo and thats even considering the sell value of the plastasteel)

Boom Gun does 50 damage straight up and it does it (5?) times at the close-ish ranges I use it at. One of those rolls is going to be high, its going to get through armor. Like literally itll kill ghouls in one shot halfway down the street. Attack just one enemy base and you've got Boom Guns. It chews up Zombies. Its got 10 shots per magazine and ill have just as many more magazines sitting in the item pile on my ship in case I need to ferry more ammo.

I STILL cant use gauss for some reason. But Boom Guns + Rail Drivers makes that irrelevant anyway. The technology lockout against using these absurdly heavy TFTD clones is too unbalanced considering that ive been using Gauss Cannons on my ships since probably mid-2nd year. I ought to be able to make small arms facsimiles that use the same clips. Given that I can patch together Rail Drivers id think I could make a smaller version that used Gauss Ammo thats piling up.

But honestly on my end I dont consider the ES missions to be all that bad even though it gives a ton of negative PR. That Govt General has a power armor suit I can peel off of him and eventually make a Juggernaut out of it. I also got a Smasher, though I still dont know what it does other than seeing its a laser pistol of some kind.

As long as im batting at least 1500 on infamy every month I dont really care. I know the income ratings go up to like 44000 or something but the highest score ive got so far was like 8000. As long as my infamy isnt in the red im okay.

Ive got a bunch of power stations giving me income since its been more than 10 months since I got them. Thats what the other attachment is about - ive got one base with nine of these things and ive got 9 more of them in my other bases. If I ever really need to expand to an 8th base (its plausible) and I need to gut some of my power stations for real estate they Sell Back for 1,000,000 each. I cant make Fusion Plants yet but I dont think (?) those have negative maintenance.

Im not saying this is unbalanced, its just another way of playing the game. Ive got 1 Base with a Hyperwave Decoder and thats it. I dont intercept too many shipping (read, many more than game start) and I still like to wait for them to land - and many of them just vanish into thin air. So this makes up for lower protection money.

I can build Battle Tanks now, I know those require nothing more than plastasteel but I havent actually built any because of the hangar requirement (that these beasts dont just count as an unusable Treasure and take up 30 storage like the menacing hull). I dont even know how much they sell for.

Ive got ONE base set up for manufacturing ships and its got a ship in the hangar right now. Id have to sell off my Dr. X Airvan to even bother making another ship, like a functional ship I care about using.

Im setting up a new manufacturing base now that ive got access to Factory but its probably like 2 months out before itll even get up and running (thats the 4th one on the base lineup). And its only going to have 1 Hangar too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 04, 2017, 11:53:06 pm
That power station arrangement yields a measly 1.35 mil/month and it cost 13.5 mil to build so you get no return for 10 months.  Putting down  large barracks x2, large vault and a factory (about 19 mil) and setting 200 runts to build and sell regular tanks is gonna pump 28mil/month to your coffers after runt salaries and facility maintenance.

About weapons...  agreed that ES stuff is about useless.   But you do want to invest in heavy hitters in other than piercing or concussive since many nastier units are about immune.  You can be pumping that boom gun at a sectopod for 10 turns straight and not make a dent. (0.1 to piercing, 140 armor) but a couple well placed FAE grenades will melt it.   Or send in a high-melee/reaction gal with a force blade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 05, 2017, 01:19:29 am
That power station arrangement yields a measly 1.35 mil/month and it cost 13.5 mil to build so you get no return for 10 months.
...
You can be pumping that boom gun at a sectopod for 10 turns straight and not make a dent. (0.1 to piercing, 140 armor)

The power station arrangement got me through the entire 2nd year without having to worry about starting to go broke because of monthly crap and mission ratings (which meant I didnt have to spend 1-2 months doing nothing but making money with runts, compared to them actually producing cool stuff). When the time is right ill scrap most of them and probably get 15 million back.

Im at the point where im off the hook for doing Pogroms now so if its a hard mission I just reload out of it and I dont go to it.

Im well aware of the sectopod and for now my answer is Fire. In fact my answer to alot of nasty things is Fire. For something like that ill probably use an actual Flamethrower because it hits multiple times. Normally I use the Arena Fireball Launcher because its got infinite ammo, that clears a spartan mission in just a few rounds.

BaH! I havent even Bothered with the grenade launcher, like at all. I dont even have it in my inventory. I figured it was pretty much useless and focused on Rockets.

Not sure if Diox changed the sectopod stats from vanilla but a laser shot to the eye is supposed to be instantly lethal.

Re: Star Gods and Mercinaries
I dont fight them pure and simple. When I get Flechette Cannons (or Flechette Guns) ill start going after the Mercinaries because it seems like they've got some funny resistances compared to regular mutons and I need to be able to 1 or 2 shot them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 05, 2017, 01:44:38 am
I think I will add another, more powerful ES weapon to sweeten the deal, tho.

If I may suggest a EuroSyndicate Gatling Laser. With all the higher powered options with low magazine capacity those guys would need to balance it out with something that both penetrates and has lots of shots. And id also add the ES weapons are pretty balanced for coming earlier in the tech tree because they're dang expensive, an ES gatling laser id spend 750K on but I suggest it costs at least 1.25mil.

Also I just noticed that I cant sell my Soldier Syn. It would be cool if I could flood the market with robot women. That could be differentiated by adding an extra manufacture option for it like "Syn-ful Pleasure Model" (such that Soldier Syns have a personality and cant be sold, since the game mechanics wont allow selling soldiers for cash)

I also noticed this and im not sure if its an oversight, but the Damaged Syns I was capturing from the orbital missions dont have any purpose beyond initial research and selling them for loot.

Making a new Soldier Syn only costs like 50/medical + 3/plasteel... I would've thought they would take a damaged one and fix her up again and I was prepared for living with a limited number of them (ive only collected maybe 4-5 damaged syns so far, they got sold after the research was done).

I know they've got supernerf inventory capacity but Syns are practically 1x1 Tanks that I might almost not even care about losing since I can throw Chem Extraction to whip up the medical.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Crazy on April 05, 2017, 06:01:12 am
If I may suggest a EuroSyndicate Gatling Laser. With all the higher powered options with low magazine capacity those guys would need to balance it out with something that both penetrates and has lots of shots. And id also add the ES weapons are pretty balanced for coming earlier in the tech tree because they're dang expensive, an ES gatling laser id spend 750K on but I suggest it costs at least 1.25mil.

Also I just noticed that I cant sell my Soldier Syn. It would be cool if I could flood the market with robot women. That could be differentiated by adding an extra manufacture option for it like "Syn-ful Pleasure Model" (such that Soldier Syns have a personality and cant be sold, since the game mechanics wont allow selling soldiers for cash)

I also noticed this and im not sure if its an oversight, but the Damaged Syns I was capturing from the orbital missions dont have any purpose beyond initial research and selling them for loot.

Making a new Soldier Syn only costs like 50/medical + 3/plasteel... I would've thought they would take a damaged one and fix her up again and I was prepared for living with a limited number of them (ive only collected maybe 4-5 damaged syns so far, they got sold after the research was done).

I know they've got supernerf inventory capacity but Syns are practically 1x1 Tanks that I might almost not even care about losing since I can throw Chem Extraction to whip up the medical.
Unless the Eurosyndicate has some sort of Sectopod killer weapon locked behind it, I doubt that I would ever realistically take the deal. Not even a 70 damage version of the Fatty is worth it IMO for that kind of price to power ratio.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 05, 2017, 07:19:00 am
snip
Re: Star Gods and Mercinaries
I dont fight them pure and simple. When I get Flechette Cannons (or Flechette Guns) ill start going after the Mercinaries because it seems like they've got some funny resistances compared to regular mutons and I need to be able to 1 or 2 shot them.

Mercs have a large hp pool and 40% or higher pierce resist depending on type with 30-40ish armor. Only laser and plasma do full damage. It is one of the few times lasers are useful. Despite the high armor pen flechettes lack the punch needed due to resist before armor in damage calculation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 05, 2017, 02:00:32 pm
Making a new Soldier Syn only costs like 50/medical + 3/plasteel... I would've thought they would take a damaged one and fix her up again and I was prepared for living with a limited number of them (ive only collected maybe 4-5 damaged syns so far, they got sold after the research was done).

Woops, indeed, that was the intention. It's a bug, manufacture should require a damaged one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 05, 2017, 06:55:04 pm
Is it possible to be crackdown'ed by star gods @ june 2602 ?

I've added my save to the attachments.
I have the feeling I played poorly somehow or somewhere.
Guess 17 Brainers ain't much to show, with 2,5 Bases and around 100 Hands and 350 Runts.

Yes i can use the barrel bomb and sacrifice my gal but all high-rank etherals are inside the access lift and instantly using m.c. to steal my units. I have not enough fire power to break the gazer army and get oneshotted by the waspites. (I play on 'superhuman')
Can i call this bad luck to be screwed by the most powerful hideout assault possible?

Would love some advice for techtree to get a better flow for my next run. Thx mates.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2017, 08:32:44 pm
Wow!  Yes, possible to get the SG crackdown that early, but bad luck.

Just some feedback: 100 hands??  Sounds excessive.  Your Salary costs are probably through the roof. Try running with smaller numbers of troops. 
17 Brainers is right on target for where you are unless you want to build a big secondary science base.  Those are really midgame options though, once you get the Study Rooms.

I haven't looked at your save, but some thoughts about this tough defense: if the SGs are in the access lift, they can only "sense" your troops from around 8-16 tiles.  This is how far they can see you through walls, and target you for mind attacks.  If you withdraw your troops beyond that, you may get enough relief to deal with some of the minions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 05, 2017, 08:43:36 pm
I can weather the storm for a while until the invaders are scattered across my whole base to be impossible to focus down due to inbuild resistances and large health pools.

I have not enough fire power to punch through 12+ gazers, camo'ed stargods with plasmaguns (one or two with blaster launcher) and waspites won't be easy either.

The fight is even tougher to do since the surprise-attack caught me with pants down before i could rearrange the choke-point (that all have to squeeze through the firepit zone and not move through the 1h old freshly build vaults).

Other than x-grog and chateau i have no decent income.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 05, 2017, 11:38:13 pm
Apparently the
"Guild Is Angry"
now

(lol breaking a traders rep unlocks The Guild Is Angry, which doesnt yield any other tech, which means I guess it like works like a pre-req, which in turn is going to start modifying missions)

: Inserts grumpy cat image that says Good :
: let them be angry :

If they send another crackdown party to my base, I hope they bring a VIP next time to oversee the operation when they decide to give me more plasma weapons and power armor parts.

I can weather the storm for a while until the invaders are scattered across my whole base to be impossible to focus down due to inbuild resistances and large health pools.

Inserts Meme images...

: Agent Smith Everything that has a beginning has an end :
: Aliens game over man! game over! :

but you did play on Superhuman, what did you expect, the game is already nintendo hard to start with

they've got those hard mods for zdoom and playing on nightmare is already difficult but doing it on those is plain suicide, thats what this is tanamount to

I made a personal mod to reduce the difficulty on x-piratez and I intend on letting it loose at some point. That way if someone wants to play superhuman with that its more like playing superhuman vanilla, or if they just want story mode and reaching cydonia without insanity they can.

But different strokes, the option remains and dioxine did say that suffering awaits!

My suggestion: bring sacrificial barrel bombs up to the ethereals. Have one hand prime it, then another one grab it and run with it. And also have another hand run up there and open the door so they dont have to spend 8 TU opening it either. That way you cut out probably 35% of the TU cost of using a grenade item. Remember if they shoot you, you drop the bomb, its already there. I'll also suggest using the vent shaft to reach it too so that way you're already on Floor 2 and the blast will more efficiently clear the airlock room.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 05, 2017, 11:43:30 pm
-a !!FUN!! scenario-

Hm. Trying to salvage your save (for lulz), that's a terrible scenario to end up in, but I think you could've stand more chance if you brought more damaging weapons instead of all these machineguns. I actually noticed a heavy slugthrower just lying in a vault, and that's a weapon that has a decent chance of dealing with waspites. They have a lot of armor, but poor health: one good hit will take them out.

re: cyclops: their main drawback is that they are slow, so if you play your cards right you can theoretically take them out one by one via hit and run. Or chuck explosives at them until they die, that could work too.

Speaking of that, your gals lack explosives. And melee weapons. These could've helped immensely, considering the base defense is all about close quarters combat. Don't know if you have either of them, but you really should have some just in case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 06, 2017, 12:39:28 am
I can't imagine defending a base without good melee, explosives and flamethrowers. You drew the blackest card in Crackdown, tho, and very early at that (but that is Superhuman). I recommend John Silver or Blackbeard personally. The game assumes that on the highest diff, you're quite well prepared by half year 2, with loot at least, if not tech. On John Silver you have twice that time. Also there is always an option of hiding your main base and allowing Star Gods to take one of periphery ones, after evacuating airforce, personnel and selling all buildings. Such attacks don't happen often.

Guild angry doesn't spawn any more crackdowns; there is more than enough crackdowns already, at least standard ones and not until year 3-5. If that much doesn't kill you, there is no point in spawning more. Guild angry disables some warehouses and faction traffic with a new kind of traffic (govt, raiders, ret, rebel and smuggler traffic is unaffected). You will see.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 06, 2017, 01:28:58 am
Year One Report:
Started the campaign a few months back, I think under F1 as my first run on max difficulty.  I saved scummed a bit on my last campaign mostly to save my Escaped Lunatics whenever possible, but I've turned my back on that practice this run, and am playing the mod the way it was intended to be played. I've just completed my first in game year, and thought I'd post a campaign update.

My first mission of the campaign was a very rude introduction to Zombie troopers. 2 KIA, 2WIA, and 1 effective had to abort from that first encounter!  Soon the campaign fell into the familiar cycle of Temples, Towers, and Outposts.  Temples and Towers are routine, but the Drones in the Outposts keep things interesting for quite a while.  As a general rule all missions were conducted at night to maximize the gal's spotting advantages.  That said, exiting the craft is almost always the most dangerous part of any mission due to the craft lighting, and the ability of the enemy to spot and react to our movements.  Warehouses and Crackhouses, have been often challenging urban fights.  I love the Save a Sister missions for the chance to rescue a Castaway who will join our ranks.  Once I got a solid interceptor, I've been pretty much farming Civilian Traffic.  (Love the new intercept graphics!) I just recently started an Underwater second team, and got the nice Personal Armor Parts stash from fish, but I've not researched the Organ Grinders and Mansions so far.

I did get a couple Dr X. missions, with a nearby landed Ambulance before I had interceptors, and the early ambulance mission was a cakewalk compared to those in recent updates.  Most enemies had stunrods and tranq guns, so I was able to get my rookies up close to deal with them.  Now with 3 drones per mission and nurses toting shotguns, they are a bit trickier.  After the first ambulance, I got an early crackdown of the Dr. X team with some researchers, nurses, etc.  Not a difficult defense, and though I've research both mission orders, I've not gotten further in the plot line.

I did tackle an early landed Govt Gunship from my intrepid Airbus, and had a brutal fight in the darkness with much cat and mouse, and explosives being generously shared.  Lost some gals but captured a pilot, and the craft.  This is about the toughest faction fight I've worked through, so far.

Some of the missions I've "Nope"d out on: Zombie Troopers (first mission of the campaign) Merc Contract Gunship, Pyramid of Pain Deep Ones, an Early Reticulan Mission.  Often, I've left the LokkNars to their own devices as the ninjas have just not been worth it.  I've skipped some Ratmen Rodeos too, because the dogs on Jack Sparrow are really brutal.  I did recently head out with a prime crew for a spider hunt and ran into a really tough bunch of Nomad Raiders.  Their extremely accurate snap fire on their rifles really did a number on the team and few made it out unscathed.

Over all, I've taken wounds on just about every mission.  I've often had to skip missions due to having too few troops to make it worth trying.  I've also had the intercept pilot switch over to help get us op to a half crew to tackle others.   The messhall is great, but couldn't handle the strain, and I'm thankful for the recent sickbays installed.

Science: 17 scientists,
Multiple interrogations to get Old Earth Books.  Putting the Library behind the Mutant Alliance and the Pogroms definitely ramps up the challenge.  The only captives I've had that I could "break" are the Academy Medics from the Science Outposts.  No engineers so far has kept a lot of things out of reach like Hyper Wave Decoders.

Tactics:
Weapons,
Shotguns have been a much bigger part of this campaign.  So many squishies early on crumple to these valuable tools.  Double Barrel, Heavy and Military Shotguns did a lot of work.  Even bigger the second half of the year have been the mega pistols.  Magnums and Desert Eagles are a primary or secondary weapon on most troops.  I started using these as core weapons as soon as I was able to make their ammo. This time around I've also made a lot of use out of the Automatic Grenade Launcher, mainly because is so easy to shoot and scoot with them.  I've picked up Slugthrowers and have at least one trooper with these beauties in the crew, and just started fielding some Custom Blunderbusses. 

Armor
Early Outfits were almost total Rogue outfits for Weather abilities.  I now have one melee trainer in Chainmail, a couple tacvest gals, most in Guerilla, and usually one Nurse and one Sniper Outfit.

Craft
I upgraded to a Pachyderm about halfway through the year and with Green Codex picked up a Scarab.  The Scarab got my Charger Laser, and a leased Jetbike is using 25 mm cannon for scouting and light interceptions.  I've only picked up a turtle for the "B-Team" to do underwater/bad weather missions this last month.

(http://i.imgur.com/Rx93IHL.png)

The stats are kinda funny.  Human Citizens are the deadliest: Shows how much I've been milking the Civilian Traffic.  Also, the Hunting Bow shows the huge early reliance on Flaming Arrows. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 06, 2017, 02:03:14 am
Phew. I actually saved that hideout. It was... complicated to say the least. I had to rummage through the vaults in attempt to find some weapons, and I did found: UAC plasmagun, magneto-plasma gun, more maces, hammers, R-rifles, and 5 or 6 heavy slugthrowers, long-range flamers and arena fireball launcher.

Honestly, @ethereal_medic, you do have enough firepower, it's just you picked really inappropriate guns to combat the enemy. CAWS, while decent, aren't decent enough, and same can be said about kustom handcannons. Stun batons is a big "just why".

As of dealing with enemies: I got waspites by using CAWS, R-Rifle and slugthrower, rockys by sniper fire (1 kill) and point-blank minigun fire (2 kills). As for cyclops, this was truly a battle of attrition: I threw whatever I could throw until they died (slugs, explosives, R-rifle and fire). At turn 20 I had one of the gals rush the access lift... and actually there were only 4 psionics in the entire assault force. Sure they're a pain, but nothing one can't defeat.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 06, 2017, 05:19:38 am
Is there any savegame/character editor that will work with X-Piratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Roxis231 on April 06, 2017, 05:53:12 am
Is there any savegame/character editor that will work with X-Piratez?

As has been mentioned before in this thread - ANY text editor will do. The save files are stored in a plain text format.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 06, 2017, 06:21:45 am
As has been mentioned before in this thread - ANY text editor will do. The save files are stored in a plain text format.

I understand that, but it would be much quicker and easier to work with a GUI.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Roxis231 on April 06, 2017, 09:56:25 am
I understand that, but it would be much quicker and easier to work with a GUI.

As has also been mentioned before - there are none, if you want one, you will have to make it yourself.

Besides, most people here find it easier just to use a text editor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 06, 2017, 10:05:31 am
Phew. I actually saved that hideout. It was... complicated to say the least. I had to rummage through the vaults in attempt to find some weapons, and I did found: UAC plasmagun, magneto-plasma gun, more maces, hammers, R-rifles, and 5 or 6 heavy slugthrowers, long-range flamers and arena fireball launcher.

Honestly, @ethereal_medic, you do have enough firepower, it's just you picked really inappropriate guns to combat the enemy. CAWS, while decent, aren't decent enough, and same can be said about kustom handcannons. Stun batons is a big "just why".

As of dealing with enemies: I got waspites by using CAWS, R-Rifle and slugthrower, rockys by sniper fire (1 kill) and point-blank minigun fire (2 kills). As for cyclops, this was truly a battle of attrition: I threw whatever I could throw until they died (slugs, explosives, R-rifle and fire). At turn 20 I had one of the gals rush the access lift... and actually there were only 4 psionics in the entire assault force. Sure they're a pain, but nothing one can't defeat.

Welp, guess there is hope for the hideout after all.
Just one question: Did you managed this fight in one go without reloading?
I raise my fedora for your valiant efforts of saving my gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 06, 2017, 06:29:11 pm
Just one question: Did you managed this fight in one go without reloading?

Yeah. I didn't even think about reloading, lol: guess Ironman rubbed off too much on me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 06, 2017, 07:52:26 pm
Yeah. I didn't even think about reloading, lol: guess Ironman rubbed off too much on me.

Well done, if this game had something like a professional meta you could teach us casual-players some amazing tricks and strats.
I reloaded to the point I could rearrange my base-loadout to create the one-way chokepoint through the firepit.
I loaded as much heavy hitting weapons and all barrel bombs into the squad.
5 brave slaves sacrificed themselves carrying barrels to nuke the chokepoint and hangar.

I'll be more careful in the longrun now and post another scenario if I run into a misery again :D

PS: Have a screenshot of a grimly face hidden under a mountain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 06, 2017, 08:10:14 pm
Yeah that specific spawn is the second worst in the game. But properly played is pretty manageable. I tend to keep a moderately large stock of panzerfausts around just for it once they become available. Panzerfaust weakness of poor accuracy at range is largely mitigated by base structure. Also it's cumbersome size/weight large mitigated by proper base structure, ie stores go near choke-points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 06, 2017, 11:26:42 pm
Phew. I actually saved that hideout. It was... complicated to say the least.

Stun batons is a big "just why".

See I knew you could probably do it, but not without losing people, and I was expecting 20 dead and you only lost 8. Then again you had 100 hands. And remember beating a base assault means they wont send another one like that, unless you roll snake eyes on the dice again.

ME? I never keep more than enough to man the two ships ive got - 8 or 9 - and I dont take death for an answer on the battlefield. Though I have started adding Syns and im trying to keep myself nerfed on 99.F4 to only about as many as the damaged syns that I had discovered.

All my other bases only have enough to defend against a basic assault, usually 5 Hands, but each of them now has a Tank to help them at least. Thats usually where I send well trained hands to go when I want to train more, either due to veterancy or just because they were sitting in the luxury spa for several months, so they're not exactly shaky guns either. I feel that the more you've got the more likely you'll get careless and let them die because of having to control so many units and wanting to get the battle over with.

I design my bases for defense so that way its rare they ever get out of that containment area (the hangars/airlock are all up on one part of the map), and after about turn 10 its still easy to check where they are on the aye phone.


Re: Stun Baton is like many other civilian weapons, one of those things that makes them dangerous to you, but its pretty much useless for yourself. Its just sales loot to put it bluntly. I dont even know why its on the manufacture list, I think (?) its buyable.

Some higher order techs are like that too such as the Plasma Subrifle, you scrap those things. Reticulan Plasma Gun is already a much more effective plasma weapon and you get it early on, and I dont know about you guys but by the time I ran into a Ret Base in year 3 I already had Magneto Plasma Guns.

Another one is the domestic shotgun with acid shells, just enough to mess you up, but by then you've probably got blunderbuss/acid or even death blossom. Just to give some examples among many.

The ghoul town is the epitome of "they can hurt you, but their stuff is worthless to you" since they're literally immune to their own weapons (even the firey explosions from the busted pipes are practically worthless against them). Their acid stuff is good for other things, but you get the idea.

I understand that, but it would be much quicker and easier to work with a GUI.

I find it amazing that the save file format is in text and thus easier to look through and see whats going on, so we've got alot to be grateful for when it comes to that. Usually do to enormous data chunks for things like where all the tiles are in the battlegame that forces a designer to just dump their savefiles as raw data. As far as I know the current Funds you've got are the only part thats convoluted since it looks like it tabulates the grand total of all your income and expenditures and that determines how much money you've currently got.

There's alot more you can do to savegames than just giving yourself items. Its even somewhat easy to give yourself money in X-Piratez because you can just give yourself the credit chips and sell them ingame.

Sometimes I cheat by checking the missions slated, map positions of enemies, and otherwise spying on the internals. In a roleplaying game (tabletop anyway) the characters would have a much better understanding of whats going on, so theme-wise its not entirely out of character.

Ive used it for honest hacks to bypass the game's RNG by giving myself something that frankly should have come up already. Either that or I made a stupid mistake with forgetting to construct a building earlier because I got carried away with micromanaging - ordered a guy from the mercinaries which I already had in my stores - yknow forhead smacking screwups that would have been corrected by reloading a savegame but I didnt want to perform all the micromanaging I had just spent 15-20 minutes tweaking.

(ie, clicking Undo button)

There's cheating to make the game fun when its not cooperating, and there's game genie NES cheating that just lets you do whatever and destroys the fun of the game. Its a personal responsibility.

for OXC and X-Pirates its a case of lets be grateful we dont need a savegame editor
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 07, 2017, 06:04:14 am
I find it amazing that the save file format is in text and thus easier to look through and see whats going on, so we've got alot to be grateful for when it comes to that. Usually do to enormous data chunks for things like where all the tiles are in the battlegame that forces a designer to just dump their savefiles as raw data. As far as I know the current Funds you've got are the only part thats convoluted since it looks like it tabulates the grand total of all your income and expenditures and that determines how much money you've currently got.

There's alot more you can do to savegames than just giving yourself items. Its even somewhat easy to give yourself money in X-Piratez because you can just give yourself the credit chips and sell them ingame.

Sometimes I cheat by checking the missions slated, map positions of enemies, and otherwise spying on the internals. In a roleplaying game (tabletop anyway) the characters would have a much better understanding of whats going on, so theme-wise its not entirely out of character.

Ive used it for honest hacks to bypass the game's RNG by giving myself something that frankly should have come up already. Either that or I made a stupid mistake with forgetting to construct a building earlier because I got carried away with micromanaging - ordered a guy from the mercinaries which I already had in my stores - yknow forhead smacking screwups that would have been corrected by reloading a savegame but I didnt want to perform all the micromanaging I had just spent 15-20 minutes tweaking.

(ie, clicking Undo button)

There's cheating to make the game fun when its not cooperating, and there's game genie NES cheating that just lets you do whatever and destroys the fun of the game. Its a personal responsibility.

for OXC and X-Pirates its a case of lets be grateful we dont need a savegame editor

It's an OpenXcom question then, but what documentation is there for manipulating the information in the files? For example, looking at the contents it is completely unclear where I would look in order to modify characters (friend or foe) on the battlescape, attributes such as TU, location and position, inventory contents... The only information I can find is always about changes on the Geoscape, particularly adding money.

Unrelated, it seems as though many of the robbery (manufacturing) options are specifically tailored to be worth around half as much as ransoming that prisoner. Why is that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: LuigiWhatif on April 07, 2017, 07:15:11 am
Robberies are worth half because it gets you their loot. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 07, 2017, 07:34:34 am
Robberies are worth half because it gets you their loot.

not sure but I could swear it was also listed in the bootypedia/research that you can rob people but since they're being returned as "damaged goods" they only fetch half the price - and the blue chips you get are just the equivalent of the money you'd get for fencing them.

its not always worth it especially early game, but later on getting armor parts, the force circuitry from the priests, and similar components (that you cant get otherwise) makes it worth robbing them - early game research those guys as much as you can so they're no use for research anymore
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Stoddard on April 07, 2017, 08:24:44 am
It's an OpenXcom question then, but what documentation is there for manipulating the information in the files? For example, looking at the contents it is completely unclear where I would look in order to modify characters (friend or foe) on the battlescape, attributes such as TU, location and position, inventory contents... The only information I can find is always about changes on the Geoscape, particularly adding money.

I don't think it's documented anywhere except in the source code which is the final authority anyways. Though the save file pretty much documents itself.

Here's a small script which I use if I get distracted from a battle and forget where the enemies were seen or alternatively to grep through base inventories and transfers when I forget where I put those two hundred tons of plastasteel:

Code: [Select]
#!/usr/bin/env python3

PREFIX='/home/user/games/Dioxine_XPiratezF5'
import math, pprint, sys, os, copy, fnmatch, pprint, time
import yaml

FALLBACK_LANG = 'en-US'

def yamload(path):
    return yaml.load_all(open(path, "rb"), Loader = yaml.CLoader)

print('Reading lang')
lang = {}

def merge_lang(path):
    rul_es = list(yamload(path))[0]
    if 'en-US' in rul_es:
        lang.update(rul_es['en-US'])
    else:
        for strset in rul_es.get('extraStrings', {}):
            if strset['type'] == 'en-US':
                lang.update(strset['strings'])

merge_lang(PREFIX + '/common/Language/en-US.yml')
merge_lang(PREFIX + '/standard/xcom1/Language/en-US.yml')
merge_lang(PREFIX + '/user/mods/Piratez/Ruleset/Piratez_lang.rul')

if os.path.isdir(sys.argv[1]):
    lmt = 0
    sel = None
    for fname in os.listdir(sys.argv[1]):
        fname = os.path.join(sys.argv[1], fname)
        if not os.path.isdir(fname) and fname.endswith('.sav'):
            mt = os.stat(fname).st_mtime
            if mt > lmt:
                lmt = mt
                sel = fname
    fname = sel
else:
    fname = sys.argv[1]
print("Reading", fname, "\n")
   
doc = list(yamload(fname))[1]

soldiers = {}
for base in doc['bases']:
    for soldier in base.get('soldiers', []):
        soldiers[soldier['id']] = soldier

if 'battleGame' in doc:
    for unit in doc['battleGame']['units']:
        if unit['id'] >= 1000000:
            if unit['health'] > 0:
                ds = unit['stunlevel'] - unit['health']
                if unit['stunlevel'] > 0:
                    dss = "stun {}".format(ds)
                else:
                    dss = ""
                fwc = 0
                for fw in unit['fatalWounds']:
                    fwc += fw
               
                doa = "dead in {}".format(unit['health'] // fwc) if fwc > 0 else ''
                utype = lang.get(unit['genUnitType'], unit['genUnitType'])
                wts = 'SHITHEAD [m:{}]'.format(unit['morale']) if (
                    not unit['wantsToSurrender']
                    and not dss and unit['faction'] == 1) else ''
               
                print(unit['faction'],
                        "[{: >2d}, {: >2d}, {: >2d}]".format(*unit['position']),
                        "{:20s}{: >3d}{: >4d}{: >2d}".format(utype,
                            unit['health'],
                            unit['stunlevel'], fwc),
                        "[{: >3d}, {: >3d}, {: >3d}, {: >3d}, {: >3d}]".format(*unit['armor']),
                        dss, wts, doa)
        else:
            print(unit['faction'],
                   "[{: >2d}, {: >2d}, {: >2d}]".format(*unit['position']),
                   soldiers[unit['id']]['name'])

elif len(sys.argv) > 2:
    substr = ' '.join(sys.argv[2:])
    for base in doc['bases']:
        total_space = 0
        used_space = 0
        act_amt = 0
        inc_amt = 0
        for item,amt in base.get('items', {}).items():
            unit_vol = 42
            used_space += amt * unit_vol
        print(base['name'])
        for item,amt in base.get('items', {}).items():
            if substr in lang.get(item, item):
                print("    ", lang[item], amt)
        for trans in base.get('transfers', []):
            if 'soldier' in trans or 'craft' in trans:
                continue
            try:
                if substr in lang[trans['itemId']]:
                    print("  ", '+', lang[trans['itemId']],trans['itemQty'])
            except:
                print(trans)

Hopefully this gives some clues.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ragshak on April 08, 2017, 05:56:09 pm
Is hideout defence at April of the first year common In new versions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 08, 2017, 06:27:56 pm
April seems a might early even for the new content.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 08, 2017, 06:40:50 pm
 8) Lovely fireworks in Organ Grinder @ this given moment.  8)
Using barrel bomb(s) at turn one vaporizes half the map of those annoying pipes and does enough colleteral dmg to soften the ghouls and pesky dogs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 08, 2017, 06:48:17 pm
And just to show most peoples concern with this mission.

Even after the carnage of nuking the place with 2 barrels, there is very little visual feedback to the players.
I guess we have to use some kind of smoke-softerning gfx?

Anyway I love this mission for those 5 life-support-systems needed for every craft recently.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 08, 2017, 06:48:43 pm
Is hideout defence at April of the first year common In new versions?

I did get into a hideout defence in June, however, it was very budget version, with academy nurses and cattle prods.

I think it's possible to get it in April if you're unlucky, but it wouldn't be a common occurrence.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Devon_v on April 09, 2017, 03:07:50 am
Just had a spider hunt, lots of fun, despite the heat. The weather works a lot better when your gals have gained some levels. The RNG finally chilled out, too, so I don't run through a month's worth of healing items every mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 09, 2017, 11:11:36 pm
So as it often is with alien base attacks this one spiralled out of hand.
Decided I was just going to go in and loot the place and leave it there, see if I could capture any specimens.

Oh wait look, the control center is -right-next- to the entrance. After taking out a few goons a GL/Plasma Grenade gets lobbed up there through the elevator by my fleetfooted Nitro Thug (syn).

Now guess what, the place is toast, if I leave now any further looting is forefiet
NOW its Greed vs Life.
an equation that pirates are all to familiar with.

Oh look there's a guy in PURPLE robes, ive never seen those before, he must be real speshul. Worry intensifies as I see the Chrysallid behind him, but it went away, god knows where. I made him catch a knockout grenade.

Nitro is getting a little hot under the collar with all this footwork but she'll probably make it, at least to the exit grid where she can collapse and we'll douse her with water on the way back home.

Now im trying to hold the door open while everyone else GTFOs before the chrysallids try to rush us.


I did get into a hideout defence in June, however, it was very budget version, with academy nurses and cattle prods.

I think it's possible to get it in April if you're unlucky, but it wouldn't be a common occurrence.

My first couple were Ratmen and one had a rottweilier that killed somebody, it was one of my outlying bases that I actually dont fly any planes out of. It didnt happen until Year 2 though.

After that it was Raiders and they were armed to the teeth and thats where I got my first plasma scorcher.

Recently had the Traders show up and this dude wearing a cape and gold armor steps out and trys to say he's in charge now, and with that kind of audacity I couldnt help but nail him to the wall with a railgun.

I know it can get worse but im just glad it hasnt so far. I cant even kill mercinaries for some reason, like even one of them, so there's at least 2 cards in the deck that can blow away any of my bases.

Based on the Barrel Bombing idea I started making Nuclear Demo Charges since those hit just as hard, ive got hellerium flowing out of my ears, and they're actually alot more functional than a barrel bomb.

And just to show most peoples concern with this mission.
Even after the carnage of nuking the place with 2 barrels, there is very little visual feedback to the players.

I dont like the smoke used in piratez myself, I know its an improvement on the original in some respect, I know its a little more like the kind used on the PSX game. But there's just something off about it, having an entire wall of cross-hatched pixels rather than healthy gaps between them is pretty annoying to the eyes. Despite looking a tiny bit more realistic.

You could just do what I did, make a modified projectiles sheet that has all of the smoke sprites replaced by the TFTD land ones (the sorta silvery/tan ones).

Most smoke tiles as they occur are supposed to be decently thin, the heavy duty density smoke from vanilla is annoying to look at but it tends to thin out after awhile.

I appended it to the attachments but you'll have to doctor it up for your own sheet if thats what you want.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 09, 2017, 11:16:02 pm
Nitro is so pretty!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 09, 2017, 11:38:05 pm
Nitro is so pretty!

She's got 185 pretty time units too! gets her (grenades) in the roost quick.
Ive got 5 Syns now, but even despite the production loophole (no damaged syn needed) ive found about 5 of them anyway. She was the first though, which explains her growing expertise.

# its not what you got its how you work it.
# she aint getting faster, she's learning how Not to waste time between moving, planning each step like chess moves in her positronic brain as opposed to contemplating the smell of flowers while trying to shoot a smartrifle


ANND wouldnt you know this base mission turned into a full blown success not just a smash and grab.

The last chrysallid tried to charge out of the guard post in the food room and went Derp-not-a-good-idea but it was too late because I had a bead on it by then.

Ironically my fresh Cyberdisc/Gatling wasnt the star of the show, both dangerously fragile and lackluster in firepower, with no ability to respond with reaction fire. But it took a couple guys out and made it through in one piece anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: EricPhail on April 10, 2017, 03:29:03 pm
Is there anyway to make the game ignore sea/zerog/mansions with respect to who had what equipped last?  I find it so tedious to restore everyones equipment afterwards that I strongly consider skipping undersea missions entirely.

I run every gal with her own setup usually, sea missions are often run by a secondary base's squad which run smaller ground missions as my primary team is already very strong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 10, 2017, 03:46:44 pm
Is there anyway to make the game ignore sea/zerog/mansions with respect to who had what equipped last?  I find it so tedious to restore everyones equipment afterwards that I strongly consider skipping undersea missions entirely.

I run every gal with her own setup usually, sea missions are often run by a secondary base's squad which run smaller ground missions as my primary team is already very strong.

Not at this time. There are the loadout templates that can help (F5/F9) but these are for individual soldiers, not craft, and don't include armor.  This however, might work for you.  You could name each template by your Gal's load out: "Brunhild's Gear", "Ivana's Fire Kit" etc.

I find it more convenient to keep a couple extra teams geared up for the Sea or Zero-G.  Mansions, I may just swap one of them over, or swap over my main strike team.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: EricPhail on April 10, 2017, 07:34:53 pm
My Templates are usually just the name of the soldier in question.  ZeroG involve putting a combat team on my Kraken (on that note is there a quicker way to move rare weapons from one ship to another) and are still newish for me so more fun, Mansions provide a decent loot return plus my A Team has templates so they are alright.  But Sea missions... Change Armour, launch, equip, tedious mission, naff loot likely (~200 personal armour parts several times now), then fix armour and gear for general work, ugh (If it weren't for the fact that I know shadow orbs can found there I'm not sure I'd bother).

Dedicated Sea team, I'll try that next time (think I'll change all their first names to Scurvy)

Is there actually an aquarium/use for the fish from certain undersea missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 10, 2017, 07:37:24 pm
I had one of the most dramatic fights in my XPirateZ career the other day.  Just started second year, using a Pachyderm, got some arena fireball launchers, some slug throwers, etc.  Haven't seen a lot of Major Faction activity (Aside from Govt) and saw a Gunship go land in Africa.  Sent the Pachy to check it out.  Upon landing, I discover we are in Pink Desert facing Academy Security sporting all manner of Gauss, with CyberDiscs and Drones.  Ack!

Ok, the Snipers in the Top Floor are able to dish out solid punishment with the Slug Throwers, and we start grinding through the Carapace Armored dudes.

My rear exit is blocked by a Cyberdisc on overwatch and I find out that Arena Fireball Launchers only seem to piss of them rather than drop them, and have some tense moments trying to recover some casualties before I can dispatch it with a Recoil-less Rifle.   The interesting side effect of this is that the resulting explosion blew open a huge chunk in one of the 1 tile high hills between my LZ and the enemy ship.

With my troops so hard pressed, the battle settled into a stale mate of sorts.  Bunkered up in the Pachy I could kill all I could see from the top door, but the terrain was too open to allow for anything but a suicide rush toward the enemy craft.  I was able to take some cover behind the cratered hill, but was at the mercy of Pink stun attacks in random locations. 

A patrolling Cyberdisc on the far side of the map sparked a long-range duel, that finally dropped it with another Recoilless Rifle round.  But by this time, wounds, smoke, and heat was causing intense stun issues.  I rushed a gal to the crater, and she dropped into it hoping to use it as a foxhole.  She's immediately pinned down by an Esper with a Gauss Sniper rifle, but somehow manages to dodge all the round tearing up the dust around her (she actually seemed to shrug off 3 hits for zero damage, thank you RNGesus!).  Though I desperately need an Esper to open up some techs, the battle is to desperate to allow all but the most cursory of capture attempts.

By now my troops are dropping to accumulating stun damage and I'm running through my stocks of Painkillers, and lugging rum and O2 around trying to keep in fighting trim.  The battle continues to rage, and I find that my FoxHole has become a trap.  I try blasting my way out with Custom Blunderbuss bursts, and explosives.  I finally run an auto-axe up there, and am able to cut our way out, but by this time, I only have two effectives left.

With too little ability to launch a ship assault and all our grog gone, my last surviving trooper is able to hang on until enemy morale collapses completely, and my battered team is able to pull out with an incredibly hard fought victory.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 10, 2017, 08:18:20 pm
Yeah for whatever reason the fireball launcher's direct attack is pretty ineffective vs cyberdisks. However if it sets it on fire it only takes 4ish turn to burn to death just like other incendiaries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 10, 2017, 09:22:35 pm
Yeah for whatever reason the fireball launcher's direct attack is pretty ineffective vs cyberdisks. However if it sets it on fire it only takes 4ish turn to burn to death just like other incendiaries.

Its pretty quick to fire and if you have two of them that means potentially up to 6 blasts for one turn, more practically at least 4. The thing is its got a hell of a blast radius, so even if you've got a pistol in the other hand you're almost guaranteed to hit (except intervening cover that eats it)

So against a cyberdisc thats effectively 16 hits, and then it burns for 4 more on the following turn. I killed my first one with that in 2 turns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 10, 2017, 09:26:03 pm
Yeah, makes sense.  The trouble I was having was the disc's superb reaction fire decimating my fireball shooters.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Devon_v on April 10, 2017, 09:29:44 pm
What causes major score penalties these days? I've not yet contacted the mutant alliance, I'm running missions, and yet my score in September just keeps plummeting. I complete research, finish missions, check my score. I'm being credited for my victories, then a few days later everything I've gained and more just gets wiped out. I was at -1000, clawed my way back up to -800 in a few days, and then end of the week I'm -1500.

According to the charts there's about 500 units of activity in the Dark Dominion which I have no coverage over, which is by far the most this month, but is there something they could be doing that the game somehow expects me to be stopping?

Edit: For that matter, does anyone know how OXC actually stores the monthly score? I went digging in the save to see if I could find the source of all the bad juju, but all the game seems to save is the various monthly activity values that make up the graph. I tried changing some of the alien activity values to see if that was what influenced the score but while it changed what the graph displayed as the current level of activity, it did not impact the total score. Searching around the forums and Google has people offering all sorts of suggestions as to how score is stored, and a post from Warboy basically saying that he won't tell.

I don't mind losing because I did something wrong. Losing because the RNG did something on the other side of the planet that I can't even know about sucks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 10, 2017, 11:50:07 pm
I got to say that the game might need some attention with respect to early game balancing, specifically as to when faction activity picks up.   I have done detailed analysis of research tree and drove straight for the key techs, and went for the most optimal money making manufactures.  Even so, I just barely managed to get enough bases/coverage to not run the campaign into ground.   I got a negative score in August, but by mid-September I had four bases with hyperwave decoders, and was able to clamp down on all that jazz.   But that was version F3.  With the research and manufacturing changes made since, I highly doubt I would be able to scrape by financially.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Devon_v on April 11, 2017, 12:00:47 am
I got to say that the game might need some attention with respect to early game balancing, specifically as to when faction activity picks up.   I have done detailed analysis of research tree and drove straight for the key techs, and went for the most optimal money making manufactures.  Even so, I just barely managed to get enough bases/coverage to not run the campaign into ground.   I got a negative score in August, but by mid-September I had four bases with hyperwave decoders, and was able to clamp down on all that jazz.   But that was version F3.  With the research and manufacturing changes made since, I highly doubt I would be able to scrape by financially.
Four bases? I have 1 and a half and I'm trying to afford outfitting an air force. Chateau seems to take forever to make now, while maintenance sucks away more than your protection racket is worth. I mean bases cost a million, which is about what you can make in a month once you get Chateau, but then maintenance eats a quarter of it after wiping out your protection money completely.

Is the game meant to be playable at all blind, or are you supposed to have the strategy guide in your lap at every step of the way? No sarcasm, legit question.

Edit: Apparently the solution is to give yourself research points. They add to score in a straight 1:1 ratio.

Edit: Edit: Wow. It took the factions all of three days to drop -500 on me in October. How are you supposed to combat that?

Edit: Edit: Edit: And -1000 at the end of the week. I think something's broken.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 11, 2017, 12:55:38 am
Re: fireball launcher: the reason it can't really down a cyberdisk is that it only deals standard incendiary damage to it unlike the fancy white phosphorus stuff. That's why I was carrying Willie Petes in previous campaign: they can deal massive damage to most armored units.

Re: early game: lol, I may have ended up in worse situation than you all. November December of the first year, and I only just researched workshop. Why? Because:

1. Tons of interrogations, and they're still not quite exhausted, and
2. I've got no idea what I'm supposed to research to actually progress, and that's with spoilered tech-tree on hand. Tons of loot is piled up on you, and discerning between things that are immediately important and things that are important, but should be kept for later, is not easy.

I'll admit that it's mostly my fault, since I want to research everything from my prisoners before I start selling them, but if I just keep them, prisons get overcrowded very quickly.
Even then, I think I can last at least a few months more: I have these fancy "world lore" and "activites" tech on hand, and they give a lot of score. I am also laying the foundation of the industrial base to keep my budget in black. Hopefully it won't be invaded by the crackdowns later on...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 11, 2017, 01:14:53 am
In the early stages (year 1-2 - depending on difficulty) you have to sell captives to boost your income.
Civilians got a lot of stuff to be squeezed out of them and every single small ship-engine is worth 100k that adds up quickly once you can fuel a shark jetbike / battery-hunting craft. If your game runs poorly with many wounds you either invest in more hands or focus on maxing out your extractors/workshops. I build 3 extractors in the early game to get as much workforce as possible.

Goal 1 is to have some sort of armor better than warrior and decent firearms. Throwing will be outclassed quickly but remain usefull for grenades.
Goal 2 is to get x-grog [m] and capitilize on this.
Goal 3 will be maxing out brainers usually.
With the main base fully brainforced, it'll be a long way till you get the refinery up and running to make loads of dosh by selling extracted chemicals.

Between those cornerstones, bad/good things will happen.
Mentioning the jumping in enemy difficulty it's a rollercoaster and can be jump between cakewalk and immediate retreat (hello stargods-terror-mission in October 2601...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 11, 2017, 01:19:05 am
Problem is, high point-giving researches are not that easy to come by either.   Definitely not with the cost of brainers.  When infamy bonus was 500 per point, brainers kinda-sorta payed for themselves, but that has been cut almost in half.   And the high pointers are typically the 'fluff' and the 'socials'.  Sure, you need those too, but most weapon/armor/ship tech is low points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: sinisteragent on April 11, 2017, 02:18:29 am
Is there already an innate boost to succeeding in a generated early mission? If not, a small guaranteed bonus to bringing down watchtowers/churches/warehouses/etc could help, much like how in vanilla you get an automatic "command centre destroyed" bonus for killing everyone in an alien base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 11, 2017, 09:43:36 am
What causes major score penalties these days? I've not yet contacted the mutant alliance, I'm running missions, and yet my score in September just keeps plummeting. I complete research, finish missions, check my score. I'm being credited for my victories, then a few days later everything I've gained and more just gets wiped out. I was at -1000, clawed my way back up to -800 in a few days, and then end of the week I'm -1500.

I dealt with this too, and believe that the scoring formula does not produce the sort of early-game incentive or play that Piratez may intend. Unless you play it like XCom, or like a typical tech-blitz strategy game. Definitely feels more like world domination than casual piracy in that way.

It was also discussed on Page 12 of the "git good" thread on the front page of the subforum here. The cheat solution is to either increase mission/research score values in your save file, or to decrease enemy activity for the current month. Each country/region has its own activity item, with subitems for each month. These are demarcated with dashes in the formatting.

Balance is an interesting question, small and large, as well as playstyle. I am in September of my second year, just bought my first airship other than the starting craft, and added on my first new fighters a few months ago. Relying on loot (50 missions?), I have 2 bases, 10 hands, 7 researchers, 25 runts, and a net worth of around $10 million, double that if you count treasure reserves. At first I funded myself by mining Hellerium, but the vintner's business is a mint...ner's business. I could retire from piracy now and start an LLC to produce and market my wines.
In combat, melee is super strong, with axes and maces smashing right through power armor (no muskets for that mission, at least). Thrown rocks can wipe out almost any unarmored (<25?) enemy in short order. 75%+ hostages in a given battle is always a good target to aim for.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 11, 2017, 05:51:34 pm
Those missions are so lovely to do.  8)
Used the metallo (12 gals) 11 sniper-gears, 1 guerilla with 12 gas masks and started to smoke the whole area around and above the ship.
8 heavy lasers, 2 assault grenade launchers, 1 golddrum c-blunderbuss and 1 slugthrower, everyone has a panzerfaust in backpack and as much hellerium grenades, chemgrenades and firebombs as managable (besides eye-phones, vibro blades and surgery kits)

This builds so much tension to let the traders 'guess' where your squad is while they can't react to smoke-cover shooting via laser and grenade-fire. I run with the fear that one baby-nuke (curse these things) can wipe the whole squad but hey, even powerarmor can't stand a chance against this. (due to non-existent underarmor)

The map spawned a maya-ruins map (in south africa where a trader hideout is sitting). I can be glad that those traders went traitors and surrendered. Constant scorching hot - environment must have cooked thier heads nicely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Devon_v on April 11, 2017, 07:21:01 pm
I'm not having any issues with combat, that was easy enough once I worked out what the new "good" weapons are. It's just been the score penalties for some faction doing something somewhere which somehow causes my gals to make me walk the plank. Digging though my save some more it seems that I lost 2500 points for the Spartans running some big operation...in Antarctica. If this was all in one month, it would be bad, but I could recover. But it happened at the end of one, giving me my warning, and then continued into the next, putting me in a huge hole with an automatic game over awaiting at the end of the month.

I agree that the mood the game puts forward is one of exploration, which is really cool and different. I especially love relying on salvaged weapons and equipment. But then the scoring system is like "you're not on the optimal path? GAME OVER!"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 11, 2017, 07:33:31 pm
Sometimes score indeed takes a nosedive. I think that maybe, just maybe, big factions are doing pacification missions somewhere, which absolutely tanks infamy, but I'm not sure about that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 11, 2017, 07:43:19 pm
Sometimes score indeed takes a nosedive. I think that maybe, just maybe, big factions are doing pacification missions somewhere, which absolutely tanks infamy, but I'm not sure about that.

Even a pacification run does not rack up the 2-3k spikes i have observed in my testing. ~3k in a 6 week period is a fuckton of activity for August to October range.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 11, 2017, 09:24:40 pm
Just got Siberia Base finished. Wasnt what I was expecting one bit.
Took in alot of heavy antipersonnel and gas stuff.
# its heavily armored nazis with gas masks and lasers.

I was expecting a dusty old Xcom base filled with rusty robots and maybe some Reticulans, or filled with creatures that happened to make their nest in there.

Also from the sound of it there was supposed to be alot of computers and valuable equipment in there, but the only benefit I can see was (2?) briefcases of the Russian files which the nazi guys were carrying around.

Got it finished though, barely, lots of wounded from the battlecannon tanks and the funky lasers the humanist instructors were using. Used all my hellerium grenades. Had to start using their own heavy lasers against them. The only thing that took out the Supersoldiers was the (one, singular) Force Blade ive got, and I dont know if the Ghost Dagger did anything to them.



In the early stages (year 1-2 - depending on difficulty) you have to sell captives to boost your income. Civilians got a lot of stuff to be squeezed out of them and every single small ship-engine is worth 100k that adds up quickly.

Figured it was a (no)brainer that you had to sell captives. Otherwise your jails overflow and it tells you to sell them anyway. Early game since all the hands have poor aiming doing takedowns on enemies is more favorable.

Good melee will be essential later on anyway, so you better start beating people over the head with Handles and Aye-Phones. Whips have 3 tile range and *always hit and you can aim those up elevator shafts (I guess this is an indiana jones snag-with-whip maneuver).

Temple Of Sirius missions are a money haul - expect 500,000 to 750,000 to come out of there between captives and loot, I still take the mission even at this mid-late stage of the game (plus I currently need one to get a shrine maiden now, somehow they never got researched).

And in no missions should you ever kill sharp guys, thats 40 grand you're throwing away if you do - brave their pea shooter and go bust their head open. Priests are hard to take down but shoot him once with a pea shooter and then beat him with a handle and he's done - 60 grand. Get up behind him and just position the cursor over the "swing" option and keep tapping the touchpad on it until he goes down.

Extractors: Now there's a nifty tactic I hadn't thought of. Usually I wait til the Workshop comes along before I expand my workforce. Ill do this next time I reset.

Maximizing Brainers: Are you insane? These creatures cost a massive salary. I might add +1 every month. Im at July 2603 and ive still only got 27. And I ran out of research topics twice even at this rate. Bad idea to max brainers (but its great in vanilla xcom) - there's alot of stuff you cant research until it shows up.


Four bases? I have 1 and a half and I'm trying to afford outfitting an air force.

Dont build a 2nd base until August first year, and I mean that. You've got alot of other things that need that money to advance. And I dont suggest you do anything important with that 2nd base either - put an Outpost and Large Vaults in it, stick 5 Hands in it and ship them the stuff they'd need to defend the base. Its a storage facility until you decide to do something else with it.

Base #3 needs to be functional in some way, but I wouldnt lay it down until you get Hyper Wave Decoder because you really (really) want to skip all those intermediate radar techs and just go for that. These facilities are expensive and you'll end up having to wait the (30?) days for the Decoder to build no matter what. You put Base #3 down somewhere far away from your primary coverage.

Base #2 & #3 are where you dump your excess Crafts so you've got something that can intercept (or do the long range terror mission delay trick). So its good not just for storing ore and ship engines its also good for letting dust collect on ships you want to keep around too.

Yknow this reminds me of a nasty trend im seeing with people playing this game and its that they're playing it like its running a business, with long term protracted income model and business plan to get as much money as possible. 1 Dimensional thinking.

And thats NOT the way it works. Money isnt the only currency in this game. I mean you can play it that way but its more effective to play it like Captain Malcom (Mal) Reynolds. And I will probably quote this in the Get Gud thread just to make sure it doesnt get lost.

Current Monthly Balance - how much can you afford right now at any given time. Keep a certain amount in reserve, a healthy buffer, spend the rest on something you need or really want, or start saving up for something expensive (usually a building or new base). My healthy buffer, safety limit is about 5,000,000. If ive got more than that sitting around it needs to be dumped into something or have an earmark for it like armory towers.

I caught some flack for putting down 18 Power Stations but you know why I did it? Because I had $33,000,000 sitting around doing nothing. So I put it to work. Lets do the math here these things cost 1.5 million and resell for 1 million so its a net loss of 500K, when im ready to use the real estate they are taking up I WILL sell them (functionally you only need ONE to fulfill the manufacture requirement).

They income for 150K every month so they pay for themselves after 4 months. After that each one is taking an Empty Space of base real estate and making 150 grand for it. Eventually all that real estate will be necessary but its a good idea to probably build all 8 Bases and lay down power stations across as much of them as possible (corridors folks... you wanna maximize how many you're producing at a time).

I havent done this but I did take my Base #2 and #3 and built 18 of those things. I have 3 more bases I can build and im thinking of expanding this now since somehow ive got 75 million laying around doing nothing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 11, 2017, 11:32:51 pm
The moment you placed a luxury spa for future use of super maids and carefully check the techtree to find this TOPIC LOCKED behind green/gold codex.  :'(

At least some refund tho and some day i can at least use farms tho...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 12, 2017, 12:23:49 am
There's definitely more than one way to skin a cat, but it looks like you got lucky in that the game RNG did not decide to slam-dunk you with a high-pointer alien mission out of your coverage - the way it apparently has done to the OP.   It tried to black-ball me in August'01, but thankfully I was ready.

Month 18, 8 bases, 100% hyperwave coverage, close to 90 hands with 3 active teams keeping busy.  70 brainers on payroll and the list of available techs is still almost 100 long.   If you run out of research it generally means you missed out on some key drops/captures cause shipping bearing said drop was out of your range.  Or sold a captive who could cough up vital tech due to lack of space.   

And my point about power stations was simple math.   Same money to lay down a factory + support would pay for itself in less than a month and score you around 28M monthly after that building tanks.   Plus it gives you an insane manufacture capacity at the drop of a hat.   

I would agree that breakneck expansion at max efficiency is not exactly 'in the spirit'.  Them Gals are a bunch of fun-loving pirates, not an industrial machine.  But it looks like the way the game is now, taking it easy and taking your time doesn't fly. 

Now if it were up to me, and engine could support it, I would eliminate the protection money at start, and maybe fattened those civilians and criminal types a bit with extra chips.   And same way as pogroms do not carry ignore penalty until you do Mutant Alliance, so you can choose when to talk to with local governments.   I.e. let them factions run wild in Australia untill you are ready to set up a base and offer protection services. 

But as things stand now, if I followed you above post guidelines in my current campaign, I would have walked the plank in Sep'01.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 12, 2017, 12:47:13 am
Next update will have more early game content, so more opportunities to make money. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 12, 2017, 01:09:40 am
After cramped 6-seat airvan, Turtle feels so good. Whole 12 spaces! I can afford diversifying! And I'm in general on track to recovery, since I finally inserted that goddamn drill. I'm also starting to exhaust the civilian-related research, so I can concentrate on important things now.

Also, believe it or not, but I find rubber slugs useful. Sure, it's only 20 damage, but it's got range! And the more my gals have experience, the better that range is. Very good to stun them from afar without risking point-black reaction shots.

Question of the day: where do I find Blood of Life? I want that vampire armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 12, 2017, 01:27:34 am
Question of the day: where do I find Blood of Life? I want that vampire armor.
Blood of Life = zombies.   Good luck getting the gems though...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 12, 2017, 01:51:36 am
More a base engine question, but especially important for Piratez gameplay: is there a way to automatically take a soldier's current loadout from one vessel to another?

I am not referring to templates.

If I need to transfer troops to another craft temporarily, on a transport mission that needs range or special capabilities for example, then I first need to make a note of every item and loadout of the gals in question, remove these from the first ship's inventory, add them to the second ship's inventory, transfer the crew, and requip them. Templates make this process only about 5% easier.

It would be such a relief if I could do the following (abstracted):

Pirate Spice has a flintlock pistol, a bandage, and 2 reloads. She is on an Airwhale craft. I want to put her on the Airdolphin crew. I go to the Airdolphin's crew menu and transfer Pirate Spice. The Airdolphin now has a flintlock pistol with 2 reloads, and a bandage, in its inventory, and Pirate Spice is equipped with these items.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 12, 2017, 02:38:56 am
I am in progress of writing an external utility that modifies savefile, equipping a craft for specific mission type (armors and equipment)   What you describe ought to be fairly simple.   If I find the time, I can share the C++ code. I use a Cygwin terminal to compile and run them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: sinisteragent on April 12, 2017, 04:00:52 am
Lets do the math here these things cost 1.5 million and resell for 1 million so its a net loss of 500K, when im ready to use the real estate they are taking up I WILL sell them (functionally you only need ONE to fulfill the manufacture requirement).

They income for 150K every month so they pay for themselves after 4 months. After that each one is taking an Empty Space of base real estate and making 150 grand for it.


This seems kinda relevant: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: khade on April 12, 2017, 04:59:49 am
Now if it were up to me, and engine could support it, I would eliminate the protection money at start, and maybe fattened those civilians and criminal types a bit with extra chips.   And same way as pogroms do not carry ignore penalty until you do Mutant Alliance, so you can choose when to talk to with local governments.   I.e. let them factions run wild in Australia untill you are ready to set up a base and offer protection services. 

I'd really really like this, though we'd need a losing criteria for making them angry enough to squish us instead of scared enough to pay us.  If someone figured out how to do it, I'd also like building costs and uses to depend on what the Gals know about them, for example, the lab is incredibly expensive, but until you do the research, they haven't even figured out how to turn the mainframe on, I figure it would make sense for the cost of the lab should be different before and after that event, before it was merely a useful space for experiments, after it has a constant extremely high energy cost.  Maybe have some research that is faster with a working computer as well.  Other ideas are having limited space in the barracks, prison and storage, until you put the runts towards cleaning them out and fixing them up, maybe not lower costs, but increasing size limit and getting piles of junk to work with.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 12, 2017, 09:09:58 pm
This sounds like you ask for a even earlier version of the starting buildings available.
Stuff like "ol' prison" with only 10space; Rusty Barracks with 20space; dirty vaults with 50space (and no armored vault to start with)

If those budget-versions are worth building and cheap in buildtime/maintance it would help alot to work with the small cash in januar.
Currently (depending on starting location) you might not even be able to build a second barracks at day 1 and hire some runts.

And a soft reminder to remove academy drones from mansions... those bastards can't panic on this maze-like map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 12, 2017, 09:27:38 pm
Snip
And a soft reminder to remove academy drones from mansions... those bastards can't panic on this maze-like map.

And difficult to deal with mansions curtailed weapon options, but at least they can't fly up out of throwing range.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 13, 2017, 01:38:33 am
It's more the mapwide panic that spreads through the acedemy goons as they lose man after man but those drones (besides been weak in damage and acc.) just refuse to give up. With a 32 turnlimit map I'm realy pushed to overextend past 2x snapshot range to get those drones down and proceed to hunt more humans with combat armor.

Smartpistol due the job nicely and super magnums can even clear walls in one shot (most of the time) yet I don't like those mansion towers with no natural entrance to them. The A.I. is trapped inside these towers unless the player helps out. With an 'jailed' esper inside this tower you better not have vision on your team for too long or things go voodoo :D

Academy Engi's with shotguns ain't pretty to deal with xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 13, 2017, 02:01:26 am
I got my first mansion(church) shortly after unlocking plasma.   Went in with plasma pistols.  It was a bloodbath.   Over in 10 turns.   Did not even bother with doors.  Plasma goes through walls like they are not there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: KPJZKC on April 13, 2017, 08:28:09 am
Hi all,

My last playthrough was on v98.B, and jumping in now with the current version there are a couple of things throwing me off. I'm almost suspecting I've messed up the installation somehow, but I've deleted and retried several times).

First, the menus are back to the old XCOM UFO strings - eg, there's no piratespeak in the menu. On the geoscape the Bootypedia is labelled UFOpedia again, rather than in 0.98.
Similarly, the piratespeak from the base menu is gone, so HANDS = SOLDIERS, etc.
I can understand if this was changed at some point for intuitiveness.

And the second point that makes me suspect I messed something up is that I've done 5 - 6 small landed UFO raids but haven't recovered anything sellable (e.g. engines) which is making it quite hard to earn any real money. Has recovering & selling parts been locked behind a tech?

Thanks a lot!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 13, 2017, 11:49:42 am
I got my first mansion(church) shortly after unlocking plasma.   Went in with plasma pistols.  It was a bloodbath.   Over in 10 turns.   Did not even bother with doors.  Plasma goes through walls like they are not there.

Plasma Pistols against church? One way it's tough luck considering the faction encountered and a lucky star for you to manage to penetrate church-matrons and priests anti-plasma suits. At least church has a higher change of masspanic and end the mission through surrender.

Considering Plasma realy deep inside the techtree I guess you got realy "realy" lucky in capturing academy provosts to get one for research and another one for interogation.

Could you link your current save-state to the attachments plz? I want to check your strategy ;)
You can have mine in exchange.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Marza on April 13, 2017, 12:17:51 pm
snip

What language is enabled in the game options? I think it needs to be US American English.

Small UFO raids at the start of the game won't yield engines, hellerium or plastasteel, possible to compensate for that these small UFOs are guaranteed to land near your starting position. There will be some loot though, in the form of dropped weapons and equipment, plus any hostages you take.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Lorskel on April 13, 2017, 02:10:50 pm
Snip

I know this may sound silly, but have you actually activated the Piratez mod in the mods section?
I know that on first bootup I had to do that, otherwise the game looked like ordinary XCom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 13, 2017, 03:47:33 pm
@KPJKC  Both previous suggestions are right on the money.

If you are still having problems, there is a Video Tutorial on installing X-Piratez here: https://youtu.be/L1WUpX9n7gY?t=54m11s
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 13, 2017, 05:28:57 pm
Plasma Pistols against church? One way it's tough luck considering the faction encountered and a lucky star for you to manage to penetrate church-matrons and priests anti-plasma suits. At least church has a higher change of masspanic and end the mission through surrender.

Considering Plasma realy deep inside the techtree I guess you got realy "realy" lucky in capturing academy provosts to get one for research and another one for interogation.

Could you link your current save-state to the attachments plz? I want to check your strategy ;)
You can have mine in exchange.
Church are definitely resistant to lasers but plasma seems to power through whatever they have.
Adding a save from June 2602.

I did get lucky on Provosts.  Academy built a base in Dec '01 right after I unlocked small launchers.   I bagged a provost and two espers with one stun bomb.    Then Academy decided to build another base right next to my main base and I managed to capture almost every craft involved, including 3 frigates and a cruiser - which had another provost.  And of courrse then I raided the base which had an unusually low crew: one provost, one cyberdisk, and a bunch of Osiron/Explorers/Drones.  By contrast, first base had provost, two espers, four cyberdisks and a boatload of others.

I hoped to find a Cardinal in that church mansion, but it was just one reverend...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 13, 2017, 06:10:00 pm
Church are definitely resistant to lasers but plasma seems to power through whatever they have.
Adding a save from June 2602.

I guess Blackbeard difficulty offers alot more time to establish a financial boost.
Snatching all those base-builder ships must have net enough cash to fast-expand to 8 hideouts.
Your research is extremyl focused on weaponry and buildings, I found no better armor than tac-vests and your statistic scores a whooping 300million cash earned not even half year 2602. With 67 hands recruited and only 3 swabbies been killed you sure know how to deal with your opponents. Well played.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: KPJZKC on April 13, 2017, 06:29:03 pm
I know this may sound silly, but have you actually activated the Piratez mod in the mods section?
I know that on first bootup I had to do that, otherwise the game looked like ordinary XCom.
I know this may sound silly, but have you actually activated the Piratez mod in the mods section?
I know that on first bootup I had to do that, otherwise the game looked like ordinary XCom.
@KPJKC  Both previous suggestions are right on the money.

If you are still having problems, there is a Video Tutorial on installing X-Piratez here: https://youtu.be/L1WUpX9n7gY?t=54m11s

Thanks for the help, I had selected the mod in the menu a few times but it didn't activate properly due to the language setting.

All done now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 13, 2017, 08:15:28 pm
Church are definitely resistant to lasers but plasma seems to power through whatever they have.
snip

Plasma often just has raw punch to not care about anything but the targets hp pool. Few targets have the high armor/resist combination necessary to withstand even the weakest plasma weapons. Even then plasma guaranteed armor stripping ensures eventual success. A provost despite reasonable resist only has 70 ish front armor.

Lasers by contrast despite inbuilt 33% armor pen often lack the base damage to overcome remaining armor on 60+ armor targets. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 13, 2017, 09:55:00 pm
So I look at this save with 8 bases on month 18, and then I look at my save with one-and-a-quarter base on month 15, where my best weapons are hunting rifle and hammer, and I realize that my strategical planning is very poor, and that going in blind was probably a bad idea. Though it isn't reset-worthy yet, I feel like I'll get wiped once real crackdowns start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Scorrpio on April 13, 2017, 11:46:49 pm
Mind, this is played as far from blind as you can get.   There is no cheating involved - that is no savegame editing to give me stuff etc.  And I do tend to restart missions that go bad.   But I have put together a research analyzer that fully plumbs the tree and shows precisely what goes where.  Likewise, I ran a detailed analysis of manufactures to find the most efficient ones every step of the way.  And I did get lucky with high-ranking academy captures.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 14, 2017, 12:58:02 am
<snip>   But I have put together a research analyzer that fully plumbs the tree and shows precisely what goes where. 
Likewise, I ran a detailed analysis of manufactures to find the most efficient ones every step of the way.  <snip>

Okay. Time to Share your toys.  Probably start a new thread and pass on some of your goodies?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 15, 2017, 12:46:44 am
And now it seems ive got Cardinals falling in my lap left and right and all that research is done on them. Guess ive got nothing else to do but sell em, im not about to rob them. Liber Occultus has already been translated. Now if only I could have Provosts coming out of my ears id be able to get that branch of the research done.




This seems kinda relevant: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html

After 5 months (including the 30 days to build it) ive made a net total of 100,000 per power station without using any materials, and occupying empty real estate that wasnt doing anything else for me because I wasnt building anything there.

After 10 months each one has made me 850,000.

That bare stone may sit there unoccupied for a long time before I need to expand something useful there near the end of the game to fully maximize the effect of my bases. If I didnt put these there they would make me 0 bucks per month.

(I Repeat, the reason im not filling those tiles with Workshops, Barracks, and other accomodations for Runts to manufacture things is because if I need to eradicate those facilities to make way for something else in the future thats going to screw up alot of things. Plus make it harder to micromanage the game as ill have to keep ordering them to manufacture other things, and the only good stuff to have them work on requires input materials. But my option is better than letting the bare stone go to waste otherwise)

The reason the 1,000,000 sell back price is relevant to the equation is because whenever I really need that space ill sell the building and ill get that part of the investment back. So the initial investment per building of 1,500,000 is inherently kneecapped and im only really in the hole by 500 grand. At 150 grand per month that 500k loss disappears

This of course does not apply to the 1 Power Station per base (since ill never sell them) that might be required for other functions, thats just a building like any other such as a workshop or refinery that which is critical to do something with it. However if I had multiple stations and I decided I really needed to expand my base in a certain direction it means I wouldnt have to sell one and build a new one somewhere else, since ive still got others around (and if necessary the one I will leave standing when I need all that real estate

Granted I did spend 1.5 Million per facility so that liquidity is gone. But this is like investing in housing and other assets in real life, just because you dont have the money anymore doesnt mean you dont have something that is valuable or that you cant get that money back.

If dioxine feels this is a loophole of some kind id beg to differ that its just another way of playing. And it Does require investing all that money, millions upon millions, into these things to start with. So while I might have had over 100 million income so far I do not for example have enough to buy a VIP from the mercs, all that money is tied up and I might need to wait months before I could emergency sell those buildings to get that money recouped.

Its not a fast investment either, this is like the Piratez version of purchasing a CD at the bank, it takes 30 days to get it built and it cant be rushed at all.

(and furthermore the 1,000,000 recoup price for scrapping the facility makes sense too, thats alot of valuable equipment that will make money for someone else - so nerfing the sell price doesn't make sense)

It might also be worth mentioning that making a new base to set up this operation squarely costs 1,000,000+ too, but fact is any good player is going to need to set up all 8 bases by endgame so that money is already tied up in the end, its just a question of how early you want to fork it over (and the earlier you set up all the bases, the more likely they'll be targeted, so thats a risk vs. reward equation, hey look im playing the stock market now)

It also adds base defense issues by providing additional tunnels for enemies to spread out into, rather than choking them off into trap rooms or confining them to hangars. Depending on whether they're built up around the hangar/airlock. But thats if the base gets hit, and this particular issue hasnt been a problem yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: sinisteragent on April 15, 2017, 04:17:10 am

Its not a fast investment either

That's precisely why it's bad. It's a long term investment that you've built with the express purpose of tearing it down.

The "it would just be empty space!" argument ignores the fact that filling that empty space costs you 1.5million and takes 10 months before it makes anything back. Yeah, sure, it'll make you money eventually, but downing a single civilian aircraft a month will make you more than that.

How you play is up to you, obviously, and I hate the obsession with "optimising" in games, but you're framing this scheme in a really weird and blinkered way.

Separate note, really, but I've never had 8 bases. I rarely have more than 4 for long, as I hate base defence, and it seems like you get more of those the more bases you have.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: EricPhail on April 15, 2017, 05:44:54 am
Question:Are Oxygen Tanks meant to be consumable?
F5 has them in the inexhaustable category but they also have isConsumable:true (Bootypedia implies last forever to me but...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 15, 2017, 11:18:53 am
Question:Are Oxygen Tanks meant to be consumable?
F5 has them in the inexhaustable category but they also have isConsumable:true (Bootypedia implies last forever to me but...)

They are meant to be exhaustible; the Bootypedia is wrong here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 15, 2017, 10:03:52 pm
I would agree that breakneck expansion at max efficiency is not exactly 'in the spirit'.  Them Gals are a bunch of fun-loving pirates, not an industrial machine.  But it looks like the way the game is now, taking it easy and taking your time doesn't fly. 

No, you can't take it easy, it's not erotica, it's a full-blooded war game. So efficiency is expected of the player.


This sounds like you ask for a even earlier version of the starting buildings available.
Stuff like "ol' prison" with only 10space; Rusty Barracks with 20space; dirty vaults with 50space (and no armored vault to start with)

Planned, possibly in next ver. Burrow: cheap facility with 15 bunks, 25 space and 15 or 20 animal cages (that will require to be kept there instead of in prison).

And a soft reminder to remove academy drones from mansions... those bastards can't panic on this maze-like map.

Naw. Church generates the same problem. I'm neutral towards the tactic to make them surrender, so I will  neither deny it or make it easier.

If dioxine feels this is a loophole of some kind id beg to differ that its just another way of playing.

If I felt that way, I would never have designed the Power Station that way, you dummy :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 15, 2017, 10:55:51 pm
No, you can't take it easy, it's not erotica, it's a full-blooded war game. So efficiency is expected of the player.
snip

Take it easy certainly not, but i feel the mod loses something if you need optimal tech pathing to make it past august year 1 with poor RNG. I fancy myself at least competent after having finished 2 full campaigns, but even i'm finding it frustrating to get out of year one this patch. Things are perhaps over-tuned at present.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 15, 2017, 10:57:42 pm
I'm taking it into consideration. Working on improving it, but it's a very slow work - filling out the missing content easily leads to wild difficulty curve swings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 15, 2017, 11:13:05 pm
I'm taking it into consideration. Working on improving it, but it's a very slow work - filling out the missing content easily leads to wild difficulty curve swings.
Yeah swings do happen, long as you keep a eye on it, your doing good work. From my observation i would either ease the cash constraint or address the late year one score deathspikes. Perhaps 350 per score bonus? Don't have a clue what to do about the score spikes because i have yet to have them happen in observation so insufficient data, beyond ouch game over aside from luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 16, 2017, 03:01:35 am
We'll see how it goes with bounty hunt missions added: more places to score, more loot to cushion deathspikes. I don't want to hike the financial bonus too high since it would favor buying scientists too much (unless I went down and reduced all research scores again, but I'd rather not).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 16, 2017, 03:11:14 am
Where exactly do you find a Gatling Lascannon at?

It seems like a whole bunch of my research tree is tied up with this (im back to 0 research available) and im just not finding them anywhere.

If it is where I think it is (in the nosecone of a frigate) the only ones ive seen flying around, rarely, if ever, are mercinaries doing mercinary contracts. And as the bootypedia states along with stats its suicide to try to shoot them down.

But for all I know it could be found somewhere else too. Ive not seen any shrine ships, and its not come up in any alien bases either.

In other news:
Chewbacca is down.
I finally caught those smugglers. Turns out they had a secret smuggling compartment.
 ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: khade on April 16, 2017, 03:36:27 am
Gatling Lascannon can be dropped by at least the small ships, I suspect anything that can shoot back could drop parts for it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on April 16, 2017, 04:17:29 am
Gatling lascannons can be found on that smuggler ship, bombers, destroyers, and maybe corvettes, frigates, and cruisers. I think battleships too, but have fun with that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: khade on April 16, 2017, 04:22:54 am
I got one from a Freighter in the second month, I believe. At least a piece, which is all you need to research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 17, 2017, 12:33:54 am
Gatling Lascannon can be dropped by at least the small ships, I suspect anything that can shoot back could drop parts for it.

Gatling lascannons can be found on that smuggler ship, bombers, destroyers, and maybe corvettes, frigates, and cruisers. I think battleships too, but have fun with that.

Yeah I just found it on a smuggler ship, enough pieces in fact to research it as well as assemble one after I completed that.

Now I need an Implosion Bomb Launcher which the tech tree says has to be found (somewhere, out there). Im back to 0 research topics again. Even after researching the smuggler captain and catgirls

(to be clear, I can still research Data Discs but ALL of the pertinent research topics are already cracked, ive hit data discs like a mexican pinata... the only topics they're coughing up now are the #Number topics for lore... humanist/govt/reticulan files are all washed out too)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ohartenstein23 on April 17, 2017, 03:08:43 am
Bombers and battleships, it's the game telling you that you need to hunt bigger targets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 18, 2017, 06:56:04 pm
Dear Modmaster/Modmistress.

With the introduction of codex red/gold/green/grey it is impossible to get the summoning circle and further topics like "market of wishing" and "demonic rituals". Problem is the Facility is bond to all 4 voodoo-schools. And your voodoo is chained to the codex-minigame.

Illusion Grey/Gold
Excess Green/Gold
Destruction Grey/Red
Communion Red/Green

As you can see, this Research-Topic has no legit way to be unlocked due to codex-issues.
Since we're forced to use 'one' codex to 'approach the game a different way every playthrough' this branch of research is lost.
And "market of wishing" helps alot in lategame :(

I was never a fan of gating the research and locking the player out of funstuff since the player should decide what he wants to do.
With the codex-minigame targeted onto early-mid to midgame decision I don't get why voodoo has to be chained into this.

I like the idea what the codex offers in terms of buenoventura/metallo/fortuna/el fuego and such and the dedicated battery-crafts bond to the decision. Those are the early-mid-game options that will be obsolete in midgame once you can build your own crafts. At this point, there is not even a slight chance of reaching voodoo-research or usage due to the missions offering voodoo-dudes been hard as fuck.

Sidenote 1:
Civilization Project makes me flip my shit; why is it bond to the "Mining Ship" that is bond to a random Craft Weapon that allows to understand Gravity?! - Besides the Prospector having barely any use as a dropship besides generating 4x Metal ore each drop It's so hard to reach in the techtree and all the usefull stuff is trapped behind researching this thing :(

Sidenote 2:
Is there any real need to lock "Super Maid" to a voodoo school? The Luxury Spa is legit useless if you don't decide to go for the green/gold codex... 30 training-spots aren't worth the space and maintance imo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: PvtHopscotch on April 18, 2017, 07:45:41 pm
Dear Modmaster/Modmistress.

...

You actually answered a question I was going to ask. I researched the gold codex and wasnt aware it was going to lock me out of certain things but rolling around the research index gave me this feeling.

Now I know.

I was curious as well. Has the game flow/curve been slowed down quite a bit? I've gotten the impression from reading various posts and (albeit older) let's plays that being at the end of year 3 I should be seeing a lot more opposition than I am.

I'll admit to being a bit of a slowplayer but I've been sacrificing craft after craft trying to down a fighter to unlock the research but the drain on funds and toothless air-power has got me at a bit of a wall. I can maintain what's being tossed at me and keep my head above water but I've growing concerns that I've played myself into a corner.

I'm not adverse to starting over but this is my first play through and would like to stick it out till the bitter end. However if I've already lost and just don't know it, I'd rather know now.

Regardless I'm having a friggen blast so hats off to all the hard work that's gone into the mod. I can't even imagine the headache involved in just balancing everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Marza on April 18, 2017, 08:33:00 pm
snip

Unless I'm completely mad, I'm certain the summoning circle (and therefore market of wishing) only relies on unlocking one of the four voodoo schools, not all four. Demonic rituals is however locked to the Destruction school of voodoo.

And yeah, Gravity Physics can be a real bitch of a research gate. Although the Luxury Spa takes a lot of room and costs a small fortune, it also reduces recovery time for injured hands, which can be somewhat useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 18, 2017, 08:46:24 pm
Okay yes, it's working with the summoning circle.
Have Voodoo Destruction unlocked and can research/build it.

Besides my tired eyes there I still want less restriction from the codex minigame.

@Marza There is no point in building the luxury spa for the HP-Regen of the facility. The surgery room does this better, a sickbay is less maintaince heavy and having 30hands in training doesn't do much unless you lose 5-6 hands every encounter (which would burn out your skilled hands faster than the training fac. could compensate). The one saving grace is the "Super Maid" option that is locked away from anyone using the wrong codex due to reseach-tree restriction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 18, 2017, 09:21:04 pm
@PvtHopscotch

Wanna trade savestates?
I could check your file and help you a bit with tactical advice for macro/micro game ^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: sinisteragent on April 18, 2017, 09:54:13 pm
I agree that the codex/craft choice thing needs work. I'm not even sure which one I picked in the end, they all seemed equally meaningless without foreknowledge of what each item gained actually does. I'm not sure what variant of the bonaventura I got either, since I have nothing to compare it to, and all the stuff it gave me seemed pretty redundant. I just wanted a decent ship, not flipping a coin over what powers I'd get 50 game hours later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 19, 2017, 12:36:37 am
Nono the Codex-choice for crafts is actually amazing and well fleshed out to offer 4 different choices and unique vessel-weaponry or the one and only available "El Admiral De Corazon -Suit"

All four can go undersea but only the fortuna can go into space :D

Gold = El Fuego (3 spacesuits why? would do better on fortuna mate... / officer suit, flame cannon)
Red = Metallo (Buffed Spike-launcher, probably the worst choice someone can make...)
Green = Bonaventura + Recruits (Shipwreck gals etc. and early healing gel and craft charger laser + Nurse suit)
Grey = Fortuna  (Conversion launcher = Shot never misses and nearly as much range as lancer-missle)

Only gray and gold allows mind control and ghost-suits, how about that...

Metallo needs some work - The unique weapon is kinda useless due to the price of black-market spike-rockets and far away tech to produce the rockets on your own. At that stage you can have stinger-rockets and mounted onto hunter-killer.
The destructor-outfit is very deep inside the techtree and the point someone can use/produce these takes ages.
Codex green is so much better than red :( even the ship has more troops and Metallo is losing his purpose once enemy ships become too fast for it.
Green gives you cyclops AND bio-suit for the sponge-army, red only gives bio-suit. Green gives supermaids... and a destructor suit costs gems AND FREAKING 50 demonic essence?!. I call hax... i want supermaids to catch my tears.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 19, 2017, 01:42:38 am
Implying that space suit is only useful for Space, and implying that you can't go into space before Codex ship is available...
Implying it is that super-hard to get 50 demonic essence...

Balance is naturally shifting since this is not a complete game. Lots of Codex stuff, including some key features, isn't implemented yet.

Also, each Codex is aimed to lend to a different taste and playstyle, so most players will consider half of them kinda shitty.

Restrictions won't be removed, since it'd go against a very important moral message: You Can't Have Everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 19, 2017, 04:33:12 am
Implying that space suit is only useful for Space, and implying that you can't go into space before Codex ship is available... Implying it is that super-hard to get 50 demonic essence...

It might be possible to reach space by getting an interceptor going, im a little fuzzy on my memory but it seems like the ability to build your codex ship is right behind that or about the same time.

# my face when, over a year ago I sold my codex ship fuego, because it couldnt get into space, and a deliverator was faster (I had an interceptor and just kept sending 2 person missions into space)

# I have no idea why only one of the codex ships can reach space. The Fuego literally comes with space suits and has a bootypedia image of it flying through space.


50 demonic essence? Not sure ive seen that requirement come up in the production menu yet (yikes). But its easily achievable.

> whip as many church boys as you can into submission
> slave squire them
> squire training into yeoman gives gold chips and a demonic essence
> I can easily see stockpiling over 50 of these guys if I can avoid shooting them

I havent had many dark ones missions come up - havent turned up a BFG yet for example. And capturing those critters is right difficult at the point of the game where I ran into them. Maybe now with neural whips I could capturecrazy them but - those missions arent coming up anymore (and ive got plenty of hyperwave coverage to catch the probes). The last 3 probes have gone to a ret bunker.

No pogroms either due to the ret-human cooperation thing.

Dioxine that reminds me, it would be really great if Yeomen could be transformed into soldiers somehow. Since their image and the mission they go on is indicative of being a soldier. I was looking forward to that option (along with green tactical armor as per their bootypedia image) but when I checked the manufacture rules all I found was something called a Farmhouse for them, havent got to that yet but it seems like an item rather than a facility.

Bombers and battleships, it's the game telling you that you need to hunt bigger targets.

None of those are turning up anymore. I never even saw a Battleship until I did a battle game with one (and learned how to kill it easy by blowing up those cylinder things).

I would hit either one if I saw it and it landed. Unless it was mercinaries. But I literally havent seen any of these.

Maybe ive been too effective on shipping activity? There's 1 Enemy Base (Mercs) in south america and thats it. Ive destroyed all the others.

Shipping traffic is kinda dead, there's only rebel freighters, govt fusion cruisers, and govt fighters doing their thing most of the time. Mercs go on merc contract runs. Ive been making a killing on trader freighters. Gifts Of Love are showing up. Some minor church stuff flies around and ive been getting alot of altar boys that way.

Occasionally something random like a raider barque flies around but there isnt much going on these days. I sacked most of my mad scientists, I keep about 8 of them just in case I find something new.

Ive ordered a Provost because they never appeared (100mil) and he's due to "arrive" within about a couple weeks. Someone else gave me the provost research topic unlock so ill be able to go straight to breaking him.

For some reason the "emancipation" and "civilization" topics are elusive so I cant get the gold or plastic chips crack yet. Id think the data discs would have yielded that (hint, diox) but its not on the data disc list.

I guess in the meantime (I forgot) I can stick the brainers on the discs but ive got at least 8 of them backlogged and a hell of alot of personal databases, I can just clear out all of the rest of the #Topic pedia entries so that nobody else will give them to me at random.

Edit: All of the other "files" topics are also cleared out (govt files, humanist files, govt-reticulan files, russian files), none of them appear on the research menu, so I sell them. Its now the end of December 2603. Ive also starting to rack up hellerium fuel capsules now that I can make them, but im somehow nowhere near getting the final studies graduation thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2017, 04:49:09 am
On the present patch it's unfortunately quite easy to get stuck in lulls where spawns don't match what you need to advance your tech.

The biggest standout problem is getting a implosion bomb launcher for gravity tech and in turn higher studies. It only spawns on bombers and battleships both of which are kinda rare. And it least in the case of bomber is very RNG to survive the crash. Only ~1/8th of the time does it survive. Bettleships are almost a no-go in air combat without the tech locked behind them, but at least the item survives the crash.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 19, 2017, 09:41:39 am
There are some novelty devices or powers I've noted in the game that are without tactical significance and would be better-suited as default functions somewhere, whether for fun or for quality-of-life.

Ayephone: Only useful for cleaning up the map, in which case my patience isn't suited for it; I just locate remaining enemies through debug. Hunting down remnants is never-ever fun and I don't need it.
Enemy Stats Peek: It's often interesting to know what immediate effect your attacks may have on enemy stats, but never really pertinent to the battle itself. If I need to know armor and resistance stats, I check Bootypedia or UFOpaedia. Dragging along a Brainer Suit or various voodoo powers or auxiliaries is clearly not worth the experience of colored bars.
Rangefinder: Never been able to get it to work (not enough TUs), not sure what the point is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2017, 10:20:36 am
snip
Ayephone: Only useful for cleaning up the map, in which case my patience isn't suited for it; I just locate remaining enemies through debug. Hunting down remnants is never-ever fun and I don't need it.
snip

ayephone is actually rather useful for stargod encounters as it is the longest range detection available that is not codex locked. Fairy is 12(vs 10) but locked to somewhat weaker codex paths, at least on current patch.

The other utilities however are rather pointless to anyone beyond the first play-through. Even on the first go around its pretty unattractive given gal numerical constraints on early craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 19, 2017, 03:40:07 pm

Balance is naturally shifting since this is not a complete game. Lots of Codex stuff, including some key features, isn't implemented yet.

Also, each Codex is aimed to lend to a different taste and playstyle, so most players will consider half of them kinda shitty.

Restrictions won't be removed, since it'd go against a very important moral message: You Can't Have Everything.

Maybe my posts went too much towards a 'rant' about balancing and stuff so don't take it too personal.
Just wanna give you credit and critique for your hard work. It's just a bit sad that stuff like Luxury Spa takes alot of money to build and maintance and stuff, maybe can take 30 dudes for training and restorte 0,65% max HP daily BUT there is no point in having this brick of a fac. in a hideout if it can't offer all it's percs. It's clearly designed for your raiding-party base with workshop-backup and stuff.
Voodoo: Communion would fit so much better to the supermaid than Excess because Red Codex sucks and Green Codex outclasses it by alot.
Red Scopion isn't that hot of a dropship/fighter and the buffed spike-launcher runs out of ammo too fast and costs too much to be resupplied while a charger laser (green) does the job much better and the Snake-craft is just amasing with an early shield and 3 kinds of weaponry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 19, 2017, 03:57:32 pm
Dioxine that reminds me, it would be really great if Yeomen could be transformed into soldiers somehow. Since their image and the mission they go on is indicative of being a soldier. I was looking forward to that option (along with green tactical armor as per their bootypedia image) but when I checked the manufacture rules all I found was something called a Farmhouse for them, havent got to that yet but it seems like an item rather than a facility.

Yes they're loyal soldiers, that's why they don't agree to being drafted by the enemy (you).

For some reason the "emancipation" and "civilization" topics are elusive so I cant get the gold or plastic chips crack yet. Id think the data discs would have yielded that (hint, diox) but its not on the data disc list.

Hint very wrong. It's not on the list since it's not base tech/component/lore, but exact opposite, a rather advanced tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 19, 2017, 09:18:02 pm
On the present patch it's unfortunately quite easy to get stuck in lulls where spawns don't match what you need to advance your tech.

The biggest standout problem is getting a implosion bomb launcher for gravity tech and in turn higher studies. It only spawns on bombers and battleships both of which are kinda rare. And it least in the case of bomber is very RNG to survive the crash. Only ~1/8th of the time does it survive. Bettleships are almost a no-go in air combat without the tech locked behind them, but at least the item survives the crash.

Sounds very much like the case of a BUG.

Also sounds very much like the case of a "get one for free" should be available, from somebody, somewhere, like a leader or vip.

Also something that critical should be dropped in an alien base just to make sure that its always around. One of those indestructible, invisible items that you can drop in somebody's hand (such as a leader) so that way only a few of them turn up in a base raid.

I'll also mention ive never once seen a Gold Transport or its entourage of ships, another one of those examples of something that never or rarely shows up.

(im not worried about a weapon surviving the crash of a battleship, since I would never fight them toe to toe and dont have enough firepower to bring one down in the first place - however the only times ive seen them around was when an alien base was being established and back that early in the game I literally did not have the capability to take one given the race that was piloting it. There's only so much you can do)

Now I do perhaps, and maybe if someone decides to step up and try to build an alien base I can hit it when it lands. Do factions just decide to plop down a base out of the blue or is there a leadup to that process?


Yes they're loyal soldiers, that's why they don't agree to being drafted by the enemy (you).

Hint very wrong. It's not on the list since it's not base tech/component/lore, but exact opposite, a rather advanced tech.

By advanced you must be talking about the 1800s, as in the 19th century. Before electricity. Its a history delving tech.

Im not talking about the yeoman in white suits that work with the academicians, different thing entirely.

Also squires are altar boys who have been turned into slaves, a psychological state beyond simply being drafted, and technically even lower on the pole than the standard slave or slave maid. He's not really that capable so they just make him do chores. Training them to be yeoman (as in, the base loot item, not the race/faction) means turning them into fighters, they're just not quite competent at fighting (though somehow competent enough to "go to some haunted place, kill whatever is there, and bring back the loot" - with a chainsaw no less).

He's loyal to the x-piratez gang. And before they were boy soldiers with chainsaws they were competent enough to fire pistols and harpoons at the piratez. Picture related.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 19, 2017, 09:49:54 pm
The current stance is

Altar Boys > Squires  (Extremely under-performing slave)
Squire > Yeoman ( Much better slave in cash generated and space saved.  Also generates Demonic Essence which is amazing)
Yeoman (and others) > Farmhouse  ( The best "slave" in the game! Great Cash, awesome space, sell all but one vault sort of amazingness).

So allowing "Yeomen" to be recruited in as Slave Soldiers + would potentially be a player trap that has them missing farmhouses altogether.   Therefore I think the idea of making them into soldiers is probably counter-productive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 19, 2017, 09:58:04 pm
Civilization is advanced in the regard that it requires A LOT of things to research beforehand, and allowing to flat-out bypass the prerequisites is not something Dioxine would like, I think.
Besides, disks are there to make you able to fill the gaps should you miss something important, not to research advanced topic without actual researching... hm, maybe it'd be a good idea to put this implosion bomb launcher as a "get one for free" topic. nevermind me, it was mentioned as a stopgap.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2017, 10:51:53 pm
Mostly its an side effect of an incomplete mod. Original maps and missions to serve as delivery mechanisms for certain items are the most time intensive part of the modding process.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 20, 2017, 12:52:41 am
Mostly its an side effect of an incomplete mod. Original maps and missions to serve as delivery mechanisms for certain items are the most time intensive part of the modding process.

What it means is map scripting needs to be enhanced to allow random loot distribution lists, much like treasure drop chances in roleplaying games. Dioxine does this currently by varying the month to month equipment the enemies get, and also by presenting random maps (some of which look the same) which have different items deposited on them using the same mechanic vanilla used to drop e115 on maps.

Maybe its been proposed before, but things like this rienforce the need for it. Missions which dont always yield the same benefits even though its the same map with the same crew. Escalated on a month by month basis as well so that way the random distribution also changes much like unit equipment.

It wouldnt mean that Dioxine had to overhaul the way the loot distribution is right now. It would mean after doing all that work, now it could be added to and even more randomization could be involved, including patching little holes here and there to address issues like this (filthy implosion bomb launcher).

====

Ill also mention another problem ive been having with piratez (unrelated to topic) is that the Sentry Rocket Launcher is unable to open the door to fire out the back of the transport.

I know its got 3 TU specifically so that it cant move even a single tile, but it also means that it cant open the door to fire out.

If it got turned into a Tank with a very low number of TUs (maybe 16-20) that would allow it to reposition and open the door but prevent any reasonable exploits of having that kind of weapon early on in the game.

I mean ive taken these things on EuroSyndicate Eliminations - one time it ended up on the Roof and that was nice, but the next time it ended up in the bathroom which didnt make any sense. I could have blown holes in walls to provide it with a route of egress to fire those rockets but thats not the point.

On the 2 Base Defenses ive had to deal with all of the HWPs have been shuffled into the lower right corner of the base for some reason, farthest from the access points in that base, and the Sentry Rocket Launcher was useless for helping because of the way the corridors were aligned.

Being able to move it around just a little bit would also allow players to get in trouble by exposing it to more fire, but not being able to get it back into the transport fast enough to save it.

Bottom line is it needs to be able to both Open A Door and Fire in the same turn, and maybe 2 more TU to rotate. 22 Time Units and a flat TU cost of 12 to fire would make this workable.

I mean if it cant open the transport door to fire out of, then its a serious resource trap for the players and it shouldn't even be in the game considering (it doesnt do what its supposed to do).

There IS a great idea there that would be simple to implement to create characters, interactive Turrets and other objects that are stationary or move very slow. By having a property for units that multiply its TU movement costs. Then those Robot Guards on the watchtower/warehouse maps could actually be terrorist-rank units that dont move and arent simply map objects. Likewise also very slow moving things, which would still be impervious to TU-draining attacks, but also remain functional for map movement.

Which reminds me that the Deliverator needs an access ramp of some kind off the back - I never really had this problem but if I needed to Evacuate from a mission and I had dropped a Tank out the back, there's no other way to get it back into the Deliverator.

I sold my codex ship the moment the Deliverator became available, so ive used it very heavily and only recently replaced it with the Drakkar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 20, 2017, 01:52:56 am
The sentry was made for one exact purpose, to make exits from open exit craft doable against severe opposition. Expecting to work in closed door craft that i was never meant for by design is user error. Like microwaveing tinfoil. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 20, 2017, 06:20:44 am
The sentry was made for one exact purpose, to make exits from open exit craft doable against severe opposition. Expecting to work in closed door craft that it was never meant for by design is user error. Like microwaveing tinfoil.

I never got that impression about the hwp at all. And I never would have used it for that either. 150 explosive damage is nowhere near enough to secure a beachhead, against things that would pin down the pirates so thoroughly. Its like bowler's hell or fending off the army at the end of butch cassidy - you gotta hit multiple directions not just one place, they're all over the place.

My understanding was the sentry rocket was for:
We get a Blaster Launcher midgame but it comes with conditions, first it cant be carried by units, second it only has 2 waypoints not more, third it only does 150 damage not 200, and fourth it doesnt move around either.

But the idea of being able to "poop" rockets out the back of my ship at enemies is awesome (and a novel idea). Almost like being able to take the ship's main weapon and use it to hose people down, I would really love doing that with the 105mm RL, it would just feel so right.

Understandably, having that hampered by these issues feels like a bug to me and gets in the way of having fun with it (as well as the weird placement of map objects... arent any of these routemaps tagged as "Large Unit" spawn points? in ES elimination maps anything 2x2 should naturally go on the roof)

Ill see if I can hack it to work like I indicated, for my own enjoyment at least.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 20, 2017, 08:37:01 am
The problem the sentry was built to counter was things like staring down a terror unit or mini nuke user straight out the wide open door that a number of transports have on turn one. Those situations where such that you needed to kill that critical unit with a single shot or you lose the majority of the squad to the first reaction shot. The sentry offers significant power very early in play and sufficient defense that it can tank bad landings while the gals get out the other exits.

It didn't even have way-points at first, that's actually pretty recent. It was made to solve a very specific problem(forcing bad landings in open craft) before ~80% of the tech tree is open to the player. Back when it was introduced you started in the bonnyveturea and codex picks didn't exist nor any of the present early game. You often had to fight pretty much the full range of possible foes/equipment with nothing but a bunch of gals muskets and handles. Now with the much smoother and measured pace early game it's kinda a relic of questionable value.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 20, 2017, 04:43:19 pm
Also:  The the sentry gun is ideal for the Thunderhorse (Dropship) which has two of those big open bays.  Its armor is strong enough, is should be able to tank a lot of fire (though understandably not nukes).  I believe Dioxine's intent is that he would include it if he could into the actual design of the vessel but there are some limitations with spawning units as part of craft.  With the addition of the waypoints a few months back, it went from being a pretty useless hunk of metal on quite a few landings as it would be right against the edge of the map, to a fairly useful complement to that vessel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 20, 2017, 10:04:21 pm
The problem the sentry was built to counter was things like staring down a terror unit or mini nuke user straight out the wide open door that a number of transports have on turn one.

There's a reason there's a bootypedia entry about "dont charge out of the transport on turn one". If you give them a turn to move there's a liklihood they'll scatter or turn in other directions to make it possible to do something about them. And it makes sense anyway, the enemy has had plenty of time to get into position as they see your craft approach (or panic and scatter into the woods, as the case often is with civilians).

The availability of a side exit door often affords another way to deal with reaction fire, which im thankful alot of ships have. Kinda contrived, but if you know where the guy is, you can have someone prime a grenade, drop it, have someone else go out the side door and throw it at the dude. Hellerium grenades can be potent, and they are available at least midgame.

And if you knew you was going to have this problem, its easy enough to reload the save prior to going into battle, and it'll reroll the entire terrain and placements. More than likely it wont come up on the reroll. This is not the kind of thing where "I know ill have someone drawing a bead on the ramp, so im going to bring this thing to make an exit".

Ive never had this problem to be honest. It really does not happen that often. So if you're bringing the Sentry Rocket you must be intending on using it for something else than a beachhead clearer - and it MUST have another use. Otherwise id rather just take a Tank/Battlecannon.

Granted its possible to have someone in a flying suit (IF YOU HAVE ONE) to go around the back, open the door each round you want to fire the sentry rocket, and it could work this way.

But that really sucks, I mean that person could be carrying a Launcher of their own with plasma rockets, or a grenade launcher with plasma grenades. The trick is the Sentry Rocket is available before those options (frankly I think I had the sentry before I had the rocket launcher itself, I dunno for sure)

Bootypedia does not suggest using the sentry as a beachhead tool.

Also:  With the addition of the waypoints a few months back, it went from being a pretty useless hunk of metal.

You mean to tell me it didnt have waypoints from the beginning? I figured it had more and they got reduced to 2.

See, this is the reason why im making a custom mod on top of x-piratez, to fix debacles like this. I think im going to turn the Sentry into a custom HWP without a turret. Some kinda thing that rolls around, and the whole thing rotates. Idea being that its so heavy and awkward it cant move fast, but is excellent for drawing fire and delivering those rockets (the rockets are a pretty big expenditure of materials at the point in the game where you get it, thats got to be useful in some way).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ivandogovich on April 20, 2017, 10:57:18 pm
@RSSwizard :
I've got a stand a-lone smart sentry mod if you want to start work from there.  It was the first Sentry Gun with waypoints.  When Dioxine incorporated it into the main mod he reduced waypoints from 3 to 2.

Piratez Extended / [MOD] Smart Sentry Gun (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5190)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 20, 2017, 11:52:50 pm
The severity of the problem back then was pretty big. Landing at terror sites and supply ships often faced you with the problem of tank or mini nuke looking directly into your open craft. ANY action aside from inventory manipulation would trigger a reaction shot that could wipe out your entire craft. Doing nothing would also result in mass casualties. Considering you had 18 gals on the line it sucked. So rather then force save scumming, Dioxine offered a then super low tech tree solution(month 1). Now almost none of the factors that caused the problem exist anymore.


You and ivan are about the only people i have even heard talk about using it in months. To most of us it's probably a weird relic of yester year. It still retains being a sturdy platform with a powerful and accurate attack at lowish tech tree position. But it is no longer nearly as impactful on the game when it comes ~menace class as opposed to first 2-3 weeks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: greattuna on April 20, 2017, 11:55:15 pm
So it's 18th month in my campaign, and I attended to my first mutant pogrom and a sea adventure.

Pogrom was pretty intense, despite having only "weak" humanists. I had only 6 gals and 2 slave soldiers (who were reduced to healing duty, because these stats...) ready, and shortage of hands really reared it's ugly head there. Just too many people to handle properly, so in the end I lost two hands and got a ridiculous situation when everyone sans two scarab pilots were in sickbay.

And the sea adventure was... not really worth the risk this time. Dagger, rapier, bone club, wand of rending and 1 (one) silver bar is kind of lackluster for having to pit my troops against enemies who can one-shot them (thank god for spikeballs, they really helped out inb4 spikeballs can't be used on underwater missions anymore), and it makes me want to not do them missions until they become really safe.


EDIT: Well, fuck. Just as I was sending my turtle to raid a downed civvie ship, SUDDENLY an assault transport appeared and went straight for my base. I think it's over, since yeah, only two gals are active (everyone else is either in turtle, or in sickbay).

EDIT 2: it's mercenaries. Any hope I had for a good defence was very much dashed. Time to start anew, I guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 21, 2017, 01:01:56 am
Dunno what this low-tech sentry is supposed to be. Never seen anything related to that.

And for Eurosyndicate missions: are you supposed to lose score on the order of ~1000  no matter if you capture everyone, kill everyone, or a mix?

If there's no distinct reward for the mission, then it definitely makes sense to compensate yourself by capturing rather than killing.

What are the consequences of "not complying" with the mission assignment in the first place? Does the Syndicate attack your base? Stop selling you their guns? Actually cut your funding (since all funding changes by country normally seem to be random)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 21, 2017, 02:24:14 am
Dunno what this low-tech sentry is supposed to be. Never seen anything related to that.

And for Eurosyndicate missions: are you supposed to lose score on the order of ~1000  no matter if you capture everyone, kill everyone, or a mix?

If there's no distinct reward for the mission, then it definitely makes sense to compensate yourself by capturing rather than killing.

What are the consequences of "not complying" with the mission assignment in the first place? Does the Syndicate attack your base? Stop selling you their guns? Actually cut your funding (since all funding changes by country normally seem to be random)?

Low tech is relative. Sentry is a smidgen after the menace class which used to be the start of play so pretty early compared to building your own tanks and such.

Not taking a syndicate hit is -1500 score. And yes certain configurations of the syndicate hits are functionally a loss of score either way because the units are all government troops with associated score.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Dioxine on April 21, 2017, 09:20:33 am
By advanced you must be talking about the 1800s, as in the 19th century. Before electricity. Its a history delving tech.

On what basis do you assume that? Why should gals play XIXth century reenactment? XiXth century is long dead and mostly forgotten.
For them this tech is the fruit of combining diplomacy, ideology, education and most of all, administration into something resembling a state with a self-identity; understand they're originally simple tribals. Electricity has nothing to do with it; Rome didn't have it and was civilized; and there are many uncivilized places nowadays.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 21, 2017, 08:51:57 pm
And for Eurosyndicate missions: are you supposed to lose score on the order of ~1000  no matter if you capture everyone, kill everyone, or a mix?

What are the consequences of "not complying" with the mission assignment in the first place? Does the Syndicate attack your base? Stop selling you their guns? Actually cut your funding (since all funding changes by country normally seem to be random)?

You'll always take a hit on a syndicate mission but if you capture as many as possible that reduces it quite alot (neural whips are awesome and even destroy terrain because the 70 plasma damage doesnt have a 0.0 Tile modifier). Even govt forces you get +10 points per capture instead of -20 to -30, or whatever it normally is.

Most of my ES missions hit me for -650 points. Story wise you're taking a hit because everyone knows you're the Syndicate's hitmen on call and nobody likes that, thats a bad reputation because it means you can be called up to go kill anyone, including government people.

Since they're also giving you 250,000 per hit they take that negative score and apply it to your funding - since they're already paying you for actual contracts every month (in my experience most of the ES missions take place in the ES or around it, which means that negative score hits you right in the ES territory).

If you dont take the mission you take a bigger hit, and you dont have those 10 briefcases full of cash to compensate for it.

In a way it could be considered a boon to take these missions even because of the hit, if you're doing enough research and hitting other places then your score is still going to be 5000+ at the end of the month. Because of that 250 grand payoff which is pretty much guaranteed every month. However access to the laser weapons does balance this out.

The only downside is these missions are bretty tough for midgame. Unless you're willing to dump baby nukes, or you're willing to take the time to use mortars, this is about the same toughness as an alien base attack. I receive wounded every time - even though I blow away the main building as soon as I find it. And when you get military police involved, they roll at least one Tank at you. Thankfully ive got Plasma Rockets and grenade launcher plasma now so I dont have to waste my baby nukes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Stoddard on April 21, 2017, 09:37:51 pm
I kind of think cyberdisks in escorts are wrong:


  (http://imgur.com/uSyBNQCl.png)
 (http://i.imgur.com/uSyBNQC.png)

Most likely the RMP node has to be fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 22, 2017, 12:10:52 am
Good luck finding the 'blind spot' to avoid reaction fire with 130 plasma-bolt power...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: desert on April 22, 2017, 02:07:36 am
SNIP: Moved to bug thread.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 23, 2017, 05:03:04 am
Evening news report:

Earlier this afternoon in what appears to be a coordinated attack by air pirates, a Bomber was shot down near singapore in the notorious pirate straits. The Academy declined to comment, except to say that if local agencies were tougher on criminal acts like these such atrocities wouldn't occur. Both the academy and private military corporations have been engaging in suppression against separatists and radicals, this attack being only the worst in recent history.

...and something purty was found in it

Edit:
And today I had a mansion mission and was so brutal and effective against the occupants that... the rest of them surrendered.

That sure is alot of loot, some of which I hadnt expected, but I was filching most of it anyway. I wonder where that uranium was at, because ive missed it in every mansion mission thus far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on April 24, 2017, 03:01:10 am
The uranium is found on the bottom level in a small room. Having it inaccessible is pretty common given the passage layout for the bottom floor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: RSSwizard on April 24, 2017, 04:17:19 am
The uranium is found on the bottom level in a small room. Having it inaccessible is pretty common given the passage layout for the bottom floor.

I was gonna say I figured it was buried in the wall and meant for a full-victory bonus. Might as well be though. No treasure chests this time but I believe (?) they spawn under the "garden" and this one just had a bunch of "stages".

In other news saw a Battleship, had a Crab with 6 of my finest and I was going to tear them in half, but it never landed. Oh well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ragshak on April 29, 2017, 10:27:11 am
There should be special entry in Bootypedia for hammer weapon  ;D When nothing from your arsenal doesn't work go and grab The Almigthy Hammer  ;D

Maybe this picture? :)
https://www.google.pl/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Forig00.deviantart.net%2Facb8%2Ff%2F2009%2F017%2F4%2Fc%2F___i_am_the_hammer____by_kaizeru.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkaizeru.deviantart.com%2Fart%2FI-Am-The-Hammer-109835662&docid=lJaGWLdmppUCPM&tbnid=-7STauVINQ-5mM%3A&vet=1&w=611&h=840&bih=615&biw=1242&ved=0ahUKEwj96Z3cj8nTAhUGJpoKHcc-CMYQ__EBCAM&iact=c&ictx=1

Just had my first pogrom (and contact) with Mercenaries. I ran, but with help of hammer I was able to stun and  kidnap few enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 02, 2017, 09:20:39 am
I would like to encounter less stargods equipped with flechette autocannons due to lack of counterplay :3
Given the high acc. of star guardians you WILL be hit at any range by one snapshot or autofire.
If you can teach me how to deal with 36x9 armor-ignore/shred I reconsider my thoughts.

Is it possible to get a second research-way to archive gravity physics? As stated by nearly all players, getting the imp. bomblauncer "in time" is denied by poor RNG for the bomber-crashsite and good luck downing a battleship due to the lack of vessels locked away by denying the research for civlization/higher studies because the pirates can use gravity-denying grav-packs but don't get the idea behind that just by trial and error?

If we're forced to fight with such an disadvantage, it's neccessary to reduce the max. speed of battleships to 4000 or less for mid/late-ish game crafts to keep up with that bulky piece of shit. How can something that fat run so fast? It has 30 armor and should crawl like a slug...

Anyone considered using Scarabs with fast firing weapons as support-vessels? For my part it works rather poorly since the one STC slot is mounted with a reticulan reactor to give this slug 3k speed but even with 3 guns it's just too slow to help where the firepower is needed the most: fighting super-tanky crafts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 02, 2017, 01:51:22 pm
I suggest to solve the gravity-physics issue with building a computer core.
This highly advanced tech should offer all the informations needed to understand gravity (besides tests with falling apples and oranges)

Since you need the "divine-code" first to even build the c-core, it's not too fast to rush and only a few prisoners know about this research topic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: legionof1 on May 02, 2017, 05:03:55 pm
The flechette cannons are dangerous but they still follow shotguns in general characteristics. In this case bad at range due to projectile group bloom. Beyond 10-15 tiles the odds of taking multiple projectiles is lowered significantly. 1-2 pellets is unlikely to kill a gal properly equipped for fighting stargods.

Speaking of properly equipped piercing resist takes alot of the bite out of the multicannon. Even the 20% on guerrilla gear drops the damage to 31 per pellet, improving odds of survival quite a bit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 03, 2017, 09:52:49 am
Guerillia Gear has 20armor for all sides, against this monster of a 'shotgun' the one single pellet can still roll between 0-62. The factor of ignoring a portion of armor adds to the problem.
At 15+ Tiles even one pellet will do so much damage that the hand can sit inside the craft and drink water to prevent further stun-damage. Good luck trying Assassin-Suits, the poor gal 'scanning' for the Star Gods will either shot by cloaked novices/operatives or die in one shot by the cannon because no piercing protection and virtually no armor.
The best available gear (since imp. bomblaunchers are literally non-existent for the majority of players) would be brute-armor with the highest mix of armor and piercing protection.
This armor is stupid against Stargods because you will be mc'ed more likely.
Using Harbinger would be even more stupid as 10% more piercing damage is suicide. 140 frontplate is down in one turn with damage to health.
Bio-Suit can take the punishment on distance (after that the armor has dropped to 40 or less on the damaged side) and becomes useless for any further attempt.
All HWP's and other tanks will die if hit by more than 2-3 hits due to shred and high base damage.
Even with Annihilator-Suits, you will run for cover to avoid this gun and in close-quarters one autoshot is enough to kill your hand.

I don't see a fair scenario to deal with the high base damage, armorpen and armorshred if the player is forced to go face-to-face to eat 27 pellets and lose a near unreplacable armor and a 'psy-resistant' gal. I once asked to nerf the flechette gun but I'm close to ask to just remove both weapons and design a more fitting piercing weapon for the Star Gods.

Don't fool me with 15+ tile distance to Star Gods. Capturing crafts don't work like this because those goons never panic and never leave the craft and allways rush to your position once you spent 5 squares worth of TU to advance - leading to a situation where your reactions are too shitty to shot at them more than once and in close quarters they WILL use autoshot and rape the poor fool standing 4 tiles away.
I ask for less flechette cannons because the variation of top-tier plasma guns for Star Gods is limited to the master-plasma pistol only. Everyone else has the damn autocannon because they run out of supply or what?

--
Speaking of MC, a gal with 61 voodoo-power, 40 voodoo-skill with 100 bravery and full morale shouldn't be a victim to a Stargods Novice attempts. I'm sad that voodoo itself is total garbage to use yourself (like Starving Poet demonstrated by his near effortless attempt to MC a Military Police for giggles) while even the least talented voodoo-casters on the enemy side can break through 61/40 to make your mission harder than needed. I get the idea that vanilla psy-control made the game a cakewalk but at least give us a tool to block enemy voodoo-spells through gear and training. Odd RNG or not I'm happy I only need the Boss SG for the codes and after that I can ignore those scrubs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: EricPhail on May 03, 2017, 10:57:46 am
What irritates me the most about voodoo on offense is the fact that slave soldiers are better if you can get your hands on any of the unrestricted voodoo rods.
My most successful voodooist was a slave in flashbanger wielding the Masters' cane and a barrel of grog (4+ attempts a turn, with a Vmastery of ~3600, if I had a slave with more Vpower or a better rod, I could almost believe in occaisional successes).

Vs star gods my system tends towards killing waspites and guardians from as far away as possible and abusing FAIRY armour vs the gods themselves, but as I am a low difficutly player and somewhat of a save scummer, my advice is probably suspect.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 03, 2017, 11:27:55 am
Can't get Fairy or Cyclopses because I choosed Red Codex. I have to rely on brute force to deal with the odds.
Red disallows to research Ghosts and Fairies.
Destructor outfit is just a gimmick outfit and costs quite a bunch of gems and essence to deploy a gal with one handslot and an BFG attached to her weaponslot that deals health damage to herself.
I can get the same result by hooking an actual BFG onto a biosuit (and just rebuild the ammo) and get a better artillery-tank. (and I just need to pick green codex)

Grey/Gold looks more fun for my next run once the new version is out so I never ever have to gut myself by choosing red.
Might as well take a break and just play X-Com 2 for a while.
 
Everyone can play the game to his/her likings. Jack Sparrow difficulty just adds to the overall frustration RNG (Spawnpoints and Damage Rolls) delivers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: wolfreal on May 04, 2017, 08:20:55 am
A little off topic.

If someday xPiratez get an movie intro (Or an animated series / movie) I think It should look for this song rights :).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXzMD065HEk
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Martin on May 04, 2017, 10:24:33 am
I dunno, but one would expect people with aeons of experience in conquest and weapons development to have access to a gun that has no hard counter or drawbacks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 04, 2017, 10:45:44 am
Good luck in 'avoiding' direct firefights.
To get the star gods research-topics you have to use some sort of stun-weapons to unlock the ability to research a Star God Coordinator (black hooded one). Small- and shoulder-launcher can't shot in an arc, smokescreen are total garbage against soulsense 8+ and with the current issue of smoke+camo an enemy can become completely stealthed to a point that your soldier can stand next to him and face the tile where the foes is standing and can't see him. Your only indicator that someone is there is the interrupted movement command.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 04, 2017, 11:34:41 am
I made a bomber-raid for giggles against academy.

The vessel dropped 2x implosion-bomblauncher parts.
I'll prove this with screenshot once my new home get's internet-connection.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: ThatDude on May 08, 2017, 07:17:27 am
Hey, got bored and made a new AK sprite, feel free to use it in your mod, i personally like it more than the original.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 09, 2017, 06:33:38 am
New version finally up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 09, 2017, 06:45:28 am
Thanks Dioxine, now i can finally start a new campaign and not expect to lose randomly first year.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Zharkov on May 09, 2017, 09:13:33 am
- New Weapons: Pitchfork

Yeah, with all these weird techs and strange things going on, we really needed those!^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 09, 2017, 09:23:49 am
Thx for smoke fix.

After checking the techtree I guess I'll go with grey codex instead of gold.
Golden Hawk can wait.

Thx for the Megapol Pigmen.

Finally a second (easier) way to get synthmuscle mesh without getting your ass handed by mercs and gauss weaponry.
Only 1 mesh for a captured pig sounds totally worth the sickdays coming with the attempts.

Also:
Installing X-Com 2 @ this very moment, have a great time mates :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Roxis231 on May 12, 2017, 01:25:25 am
Is anyone else haveing problems with the close combat check thing.

When one of my gals with high acuracy and high combat tries to shot any enemy in the back from right next to them, they always miss - even on crappy opponents like the ratmen.

I've tried reloading to reset the RNG - but it still happens 4 times out of 5.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2017, 02:31:50 am
CQC check is [65% of (melee+reaction x.5)]-dodge. With max stats before gear buffs you have 84%-dodge chance to succeed.

Anything with a dodge above ~40 is statistically immune to point blank fire from all but the best gals.

     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Roxis231 on May 12, 2017, 04:29:18 am
Just read the thread on this.

Quoted from the Designer of this-

Yes, I admit that the default numbers are quite harsh.  I fully intend it to be toned down as it's balanced.

And I also agree - It's currently unbalanced. (Also never seen the enemy affected by it.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2017, 04:55:43 am
Snip
 (Also never seen the enemy affected by it.)

I can count on one hand the number of times an enemy has moved into a position to do so without being a melee enemy. The AI retreat conditions(x number of enemy currently spotted) is usually met well before 1 square distance unless the player is intentionally provoking the occurrence, like when "stacking a door".

Right now while the CQC check may be a universal rule, the AI is generally prevented from arriving in the situation by superseding conditionals.

This can be used to the player advantage is some situations, mostly dealing with tank style terror units. If you can catch such units that don't have melee skill in a confined space you can pin them with a decent melee gal who can then take all the time they want killing it, cause it can't pass the CQC check. Don't try it with cannon tanks though point blank aoe not fun.

   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 12, 2017, 08:26:03 am
2x2 units are currently exempt from CQB rules. It will probably change soon, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2017, 09:37:59 am
2x2 units are currently exempt from CQB rules. It will probably change soon, though.

Well that should be noted in the bootypedia article whichever way it end up. Rather important exception.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 12, 2017, 10:22:03 am
Well that should be noted in the bootypedia article whichever way it end up. Rather important exception.

It's a WIP module, the code was not ready at the point of release. But it is now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 12, 2017, 02:02:35 pm
Yeah the Pedia will be fully updated once this thing is properly balanced and debugged. For now, any input is welcome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2017, 02:30:00 pm
On the input front my initial thoughts are:

1. Have gunbutt strikes override snap as the reaction action at 1 square. I mentioned this on the wish-list thread. Tangentially melee weapon should also override snap actions in a dual wield situation at 1 square(i don't dual wield, i dont know what it does now). Reacting with an actual melee attack, if available, in melee seems logical for most trained combatants.

2. Remove the shoot downward result from a failed CQC check. Certain guns, particularly high end automatics can drill through terrain very quickly. Pulling a cartoony shoot the floor out from under yourself moment isn't funny for very long.       
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 12, 2017, 02:57:41 pm
I agree, having a smarter choice of whether the reaction is melee or snap would be nice, but configuring this is a bit more difficult; I didn't look at the reactions code at all for CQB.  I think this would also require allowing melee reactions to turn 45 degrees instead of only targeting the tile directly in front, and allowing a melee defender to turn around and react when shot in the back.

The shoot downwards result is necessary as a default option; it's the only tile I can 100% guarantee to be there in every situation, and thus is the fallback when the tile chosen from the roll isn't valid for a shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 12, 2017, 03:53:34 pm
The shoot downwards result is necessary as a default option; it's the only tile I can 100% guarantee to be there in every situation.

Why not pick the tile above? A Tile above is guarantee 100% of the time as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 12, 2017, 04:07:04 pm
Why not pick the tile above? A Tile above is guarantee 100% of the time as well.

It's not... if you're on the top level already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ivandogovich on May 12, 2017, 04:49:02 pm
A funny thing happened the other day at the Whorehouse.  In a Save a Sister mission in a brand new campaign, I ran a girl into the kitchen and stood by the door.  On the enemy turn a B-Boy came to the entry a took a couple shots from 1 tile and one missed hitting the floor tile in the entry, destroying it.  The B-Boy ended up on the floor below in the dungeons and it provided a really quick way to try to get to the Castaway captive.  I lost the mission, but found the whole scenario interesting.

Overall, I'm finding the CqC check failures and horribly random shots are happening far too frequently.  Rather than have it as an almost constant, I'd like to have it occasional.  Even if it reduced by 50% from where things currently are, it would feel more balanced than it is right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 12, 2017, 05:04:34 pm
Rather than have it as an almost constant, I'd like to have it occasional.

This... 5%... at most.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ivandogovich on May 12, 2017, 05:40:00 pm
This... 5%... at most.


Granted, I haven't played out hours of battles with this (nor do I have hundreds of statistical data points).  At best I have anecdotal impressions.

I have played a base defense and had 2 rounds of confrontation with a Spartan Scout in the Air Vents.  I'd estimate that 8-12 shots were traded on each side, and cqc failures resulted  in 75% of those causing random shots.

I restarted a new campaign last night and fought one distress call.  With enemies storming my air bus, I had some of their shots hit, and some appear to miss and hit the door jam.  I assumed these were cqc failures on their part.  Adversaries were neophyte and church matron.    In the Save a Sister mission, my confrontation with the B-boy resulted in 2 rounds of combat.  I'd guess 8 shot traded on both sides.  3-4 were cqc misses.

It may be confirmation bias, or extreme outlier cases, but this feels higher than 5% random chance of missing if you are 1 tile adjacent.   I thought I'd share my impressions to add to feedback that others are sharing as well. 

As it stands, I think players are moving to new tactics to compensate for the current cqc balance.  I know I did in the couple hours I've been able to test this.  More players are inclined to shoot from 2 tiles away, than from point blank now.  This also is my impression.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 12, 2017, 05:46:19 pm
It may be confirmation bias, or extreme outlier cases, but this feels higher than 5% random chance of missing if you are 1 tile adjacent.

No no, I just wanted to say I agree with you and it should be changed to only occasional (5% or less, in my opinion).
At the moment it is much more than 5%.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Yankes on May 12, 2017, 07:21:43 pm
btw how game will behave if you will shoot tile behind enemy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 12, 2017, 09:10:54 pm
Still runs the CQB check, it happens if an enemy is within 1 tile of the firing unit, regardless of whether or not that enemy is the target.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Foxhound634 on May 13, 2017, 02:14:39 am
I totally agree about RSSwizard's sentiment of smoke in this post:

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg81782.html#msg81782

Could we have the smoke gfx that he attached, made into a toggle in the options menu, instead of doing it manually?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 13, 2017, 02:26:02 am
There are alternate smoke mods out there, if you ask RSSwizard he could probably bundle it up for you. Mods are better than hardcoded options for things like this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2017, 05:32:48 am
I don't want no crappy static smoke in my mod, toggle or no, but anyone can mod the mod :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: sinisteragent on May 13, 2017, 05:36:14 am
I'm getting an odd problem in the new version. Everything seems to play okay, but a lot of the flavour text (mission briefings, menu items, alien containment, country names (except pirate straits), etc) is reverting to the original xcom text. I've installed it the same way I always have in the past, and tried reinstalling everything. I'm guessing I missed something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2017, 05:37:34 am
Switch to EN-US language version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: sinisteragent on May 13, 2017, 05:39:51 am
Ha! Ridiculously simple. Nice one, thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 13, 2017, 08:07:01 am
Check which language you're using in options, it may have been reset by your computer's regional settings; Piratez only supports en-US.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 13, 2017, 11:12:05 am
Can't EN-GB just contain an anchor to mirror EN-US?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: LexThorn on May 13, 2017, 01:45:12 pm
Is there way to somehow mark necessary for mod options instead of blocking them? I prefer to change some of them for different runs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 13, 2017, 01:52:46 pm
Is there way to somehow mark necessary for mod options instead of blocking them? I prefer to change some of them for different runs.

I can't think of any... if you have a good idea, I'm all ears.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: LexThorn on May 13, 2017, 02:08:48 pm
I can't think of any... if you have a good idea, I'm all ears.

Ability for modder to mark necessary options by different color in menu. Will it be difficult? than simpler than better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 13, 2017, 02:14:17 pm
Ability for modder to mark necessary options by different color in menu. Will it be difficult? than simpler than better.

You need more than just two states... at least three: necessary ON, necessary OFF and irrelevant... not to mention numeric options.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2017, 03:07:30 pm
Makes no sense IMO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: LexThorn on May 13, 2017, 06:34:58 pm
You need more than just two states... at least three: necessary ON, necessary OFF and irrelevant... not to mention numeric options.

Just as alternative. I know where to change locked menu options manually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 13, 2017, 09:57:26 pm
That's exactly why it makes no sense to clutter the GUI.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Elemiach on May 14, 2017, 03:08:48 am
Man, these new categories(img in attch.) are a step back from the previous ones.

I can assume that Dioxine wanted to streamline them for new players and that's why everything is packed into small sections - Well, I already know the role of every available gun and utility. But with time I can learn to navigate through them, its fine (even though in my opinion broader categories are better because more data = better ;D but really now I have to scroll through dozen of categories just to transfer some guns). But this is a minor problem, as I said I can get used to it.

What I cannot get used to is the fact that a lot of the items are not assigned to any category whatsoever.
That's a show stopper to me. Now when I want to transfer for example some plasteel and space electronics (optronics) to my factory in Africa I have to chose those items from the all item list and its a fucking chore I tell you. Could you please explain the logic behind this decision?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 14, 2017, 07:15:47 am
It matches the item categories for equipping weapons and items to a craft, so the change is to make it consistent with the other GUI.  Also, quick search is available in that menu, so you never have to pick a specific item out of the all items category if you don't want to do so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 14, 2017, 07:20:04 am
There was no logic behind it, players demanded it so I added it. I can happily roll it back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 14, 2017, 12:56:56 pm
There was no logic behind it, players demanded it so I added it. I can happily roll it back.

(http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/vader.jpg)

Seriously, the old system is useless. Prisoners are at the bottom, ships and weapons are at the top. What else is needed?
On the other hand, when I wanted to buy or sell some pistols, I had to crawl through a gigantic list of items (no, Quick Search is not good enough for this), which took time and I always missed something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 14, 2017, 01:28:34 pm
Unification of UI is all well and good, but why that ui? I can't see any reason to pick that particular version. It is better for it's express purpose(craft inventory management) but fairly horrid elsewhere. Who requested this? And would they care to explain why? Cause right now it appears stupid, and i don't like assuming people are stupid.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 14, 2017, 01:33:07 pm
Unification of UI is all well and good, but why that ui? I can't see any reason to pick that particular version. It is better for it's express purpose(craft inventory management) but fairly horrid elsewhere. Who requested this? And would they care to explain why? Cause right now it appears stupid, and i don't like assuming people are stupid.

Which UI are you referring to? From the context I understand that you are criticizing the more new category system, except that I answered your question in my previous post (and it was one of many times I did that).

And while I can't remember who suggested it first, you can blame me, as I have pushed for this since the very beginning. And I still think the old system - with "us,", "them" etc. - was utterly, literally useless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Roxis231 on May 14, 2017, 01:36:45 pm
Seriously, the old system is useless. Prisoners are at the bottom, ships and weapons are at the top. What else is needed?
On the other hand, when I wanted to buy or sell some pistols, I had to crawl through a gigantic list of items (no, Quick Search is not good enough for this), which took time and I always missed something.

How about a compromise - Wide(ish) rangeing categories.

Ie: Krew (gals and similar), Shipyard (Ship Stuff), Outfits (Trappings and related), Rifles (Rifles, Carbines, Shotguns ect), Pistols (ALL the pistols), Bulky (Big stuff), Close and personal (All close in weapons), Captives (All Prisoners and related items)

And those are just some ideas I had while writeing this post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Marza on May 14, 2017, 02:33:14 pm
The extra equipment filters in the fence screen are nice and all, but I really would appreciate a compromise. As Elemiach has noted there are no filters that have inherited the place for vessels, treasure, us and them; they're all lumped into 'all items' category.  The old categories were incredibly useful for quickly finding and selling those items, since a mature base is going to have an 'all items' category list longer than my arm.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 14, 2017, 03:25:59 pm
Sorry scorch, clarity and comprehension was low on my part. This last week has been about 20 hours shorter on sleep then normal. I appear to mostly have been operating on frustration with something changing from status quo and not objective reasons.

Please ignore my last post as it was made before caffeine and food. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Starving Poet on May 14, 2017, 04:40:14 pm
Another option would be to unify the quick search between base stores and equip screens.

In the equip screen I can q-search "underwater" or "pistol" or "melee" but I can't do that in fence or transfer.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 14, 2017, 06:36:47 pm
Another option would be to unify the quick search between base stores and equip screens.

In the equip screen I can q-search "underwater" or "pistol" or "melee" but I can't do that in fence or transfer.

You people will be the death of me  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 14, 2017, 07:46:09 pm
No worries Legion, it wasn't offensive or anything - just an overlook. And yeah, yesterday I had to work an extra day too. ;)

Lumping some categories into broader categories would be a bad idea, though. Firstly, a modder (like poor little me) would have to separately define these Geoscape categories, and you have no idea how many items we have in bigger mods. And secondly and more importantly, it would not be as functional; if I want rifles, I want rifles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Starving Poet on May 14, 2017, 07:48:53 pm
You people will be the death of me  :P

I would do it, but I'm having a really hard time converting my brain from runtime languages to compiled languages :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: khade on May 16, 2017, 02:12:54 am
Rifles including shotguns is incorrect, now if you called that category long arms, maybe.

I haven't looked at the system yet, but I trust you guys to figure this out.  I'm only likely to get involved for pointless stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: kikanaide on May 17, 2017, 07:07:08 am
Re: new search order, there's also no way to search for trappings, which is slightly cumbersome (would be *super* awesome if trappings were included in the respective 0-G/infiltrations/underwater/etc).

Also, is it just me, or did the update from 99F5 to 99G make it so that ships repair and then rearm?  This seems...not piratey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 17, 2017, 07:41:25 am
Repair -> Refuel -> Rearm sequence hasn't been changed since 1994 afaik :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: kikanaide on May 17, 2017, 07:50:44 am
Well...I remembered wrong then.  Alas, for my empty guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 17, 2017, 09:05:51 am
Repair -> Refuel -> Rearm sequence hasn't been changed since 1994 afaik :)

And don't forget the shield-"repair".

Shield-Repair - Hull-Repair - Refuel - Rearm

I'll seek the door.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 17, 2017, 09:42:36 pm
It’s pretty funny that squares right next to a gun-toting enemies are  nowamong the safest squares on the map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: sinisteragent on May 17, 2017, 09:55:48 pm
Makes sense to me. First thing you're gonna do in a fight is try to push someone's gun out of the way if you manage to get that close. "Melee failure = guarantee burst of gunfire to the face" is a big and common flaw of turn based shooters.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 17, 2017, 10:49:50 pm
I feel guilty to do exactly that in X-Com 2 LW. Run & Gun Shotgun into the flanked opponent.
It's stupid indeed and even more of a joke to see point-blank shots miss because X-Com personnel is trained in shoting thin air.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Nord on May 18, 2017, 09:50:24 am
Dioxine, dont you think that Factory must provide functionality of at least industrial printer? Because for now this huge building has very limited use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 18, 2017, 10:49:11 am
Factory is already near-OP, no point in buffing it any further.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 18, 2017, 11:50:17 am
Makes sense to me. First thing you're gonna do in a fight is try to push someone's gun out of the way if you manage to get that close. "Melee failure = guarantee burst of gunfire to the face" is a big and common flaw of turn based shooters.

True. It is however unfair to the already handicaped (no kneeling, no indirect fire) AI as it isn’t coded to move a square away and then proceed shoot the shit out of you like you would.

Is it possible for modders to fiddle with the AI?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 18, 2017, 12:12:11 pm
Dioxine, dont you think that Factory must provide functionality of at least industrial printer? Because for now this huge building has very limited use.

The factory + 1x workshop + 1x armory tower is your economic working horse in lategame.
Building enough luxury barracks to house 450+ runts allows you to mass-produce m1a1 tanks for endless showers of do$h.

You can build 3-4 bases with this setup and money-problems are gone.
For everything special (laser/plasma/fusion-based equipment) you build bases with printer, workshops etc. and no factory in these bases. You can't max-out the factory in these bases due to space issues and the low runt-space for the printer (100runts in comparison to 4xworkshop = 120runts). The factory is solely designed to make money (and some basic weaponry if you ship the components out of the other bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 18, 2017, 12:19:12 pm
Is it possible for modders to fiddle with the AI?

How would you like to do that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 18, 2017, 01:35:01 pm
How would you like to do that?

Maybe the AI (no melee) has to make a check for adjusted tiles. If tile is occupied and a foe, the AI will 'move backwards' to perform the shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Meridian on May 18, 2017, 02:27:49 pm
I was asking a generic question, not related to this particular topic.

If modders wanted the ability to "fiddle" with the AI, how should/would this ability look like? What could you configure/implement and how?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Multiheaded on May 18, 2017, 02:41:56 pm
This mod is seriously one of the best games I've ever tried. I am loving everything, the scope, the endless variety, the pulp sci-fi world.

Now a few random suggestions:

- Overly frustrating research gates. The 'implosion bomb launcher -> gravity physics' issue is mentioned above (am only just getting to that point in my playthrough; my plan to get around that is making two 4-hangar bases and ambushing a battleship with an expendable airspeeder swarm before sending in my main force). But there's also the nonsensical requirement to get 'Chainsaw Good' from a RAIDER for 'Basic Engineering' (at least in .F5), and I got no raiders at all within the first year. Actually had to buy a raider boss prisoner for that. How is that necessary? It's just chainsaws! At least make them possible to get from laborers and Guild people.

- As said above, maybe some tweaks to AI, namely making it less eager to shoot point-blank in light of the CQC shooting change. Also nerfing indirect fire a little, if AI can't exploit that + if it'd be too powerful in enemy hands.

- A random idea for an auxiliary unit/tank, for both the player and the enemy: something heavily armored but with an exposed weapon system on the front. It could be extremely strong when shooting and then turning its rear plate, but would naturally be very vulnerable to reaction shots. (Limit the weapon's range to make that more of a factor.)

- Perhaps more 'faction deals'/diplomacy research; that's very fun. An alliance with the Raiders, making the governments mad. A possibility to double-cross the Eurosyndicate (proposed by the governments or the mutants) and attack their headquarters. Contacting a disgruntled Osiron commander and protecting him while he hijacks an Academy ship and defects. For the endgame of the bounty hunt system, getting a contract for an infamous smuggler captain, freezing him in a stasis pod and delivering him to a mutant leader (hehehe, yes),... then mediating their feud and getting the smuggler's buddies to ally with your network.

- Better mop-up tools for zero-risk missions that you still feel like losing out for ignoring. Say, an armor that's *extremely* vulnerable but has penetrating AoE morale-nuking attacks (loudspeakers? war drums?) to get very weak enemies to surrender quickly instead of going through every apartment/room on a map. Or something like that. (i know the TK projector kind of works, but would like to see more tools for faster mop-up maybe)

- Variants of existing power armor with hardwired systems; perhaps one suit with both hands taken, and several with one hand free. That would be closer to what I feel such ultra-heavy gear might be like; fewer situations with putting a huge cannon away and wielding a feather-light carbine. Perhaps make those hardwired systems somewhat unique, like a stunning + obscuring ion smoke launcher, or a spore-launching symbiont that stuns but heals like the Stasis Grenade, or a very inaccurate micro-rocket cannon. Tons of possibilities!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 18, 2017, 03:23:31 pm
That's a bunch of suggestions to flesh-out corner-cases and additional content.

Dioxine has still WIP considering the new bounty-hunting questline and the Dr. X questline.
Maybe Megapol can get some more personnel too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: LexThorn on May 18, 2017, 04:13:25 pm

- Better mop-up tools for zero-risk missions that you still feel like losing out for ignoring. Say, an armor that's *extremely* vulnerable but has penetrating AoE morale-nuking attacks (loudspeakers? war drums?) to get very weak enemies to surrender quickly instead of going through every apartment/room on a map. Or something like that. (i know the TK projector kind of works, but would like to see more tools for faster mop-up maybe)


portable Waaaaaaaaagh!!!!! towers, dude.  with orkz boyz for maintenence.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 18, 2017, 04:15:59 pm
While I get the reference I rather have my X-Com free from any Warhammer-themed content.
Personal things tho.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Multiheaded on May 18, 2017, 04:38:48 pm
Maybe a 'Pacification Drone': flying, lightly armored (and expensive to manufacture, so there's more reason not to take it on higher-risk missions), with a morale-blasting loudspeaker attack ("SURRENDER, YE SCURVY DOGS") and a moderate-strength short range taser (not guaranteed to leave targets alive). Oh, and painted an intimidating red, with a pirate banner hanging from it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ivandogovich on May 18, 2017, 04:45:49 pm
Maybe a 'Pacification Drone': flying, lightly armored (and expensive to manufacture, so there's more reason not to take it on higher-risk missions), with a morale-blasting loudspeaker attack ("SURRENDER, YE SCURVY DOGS") and a moderate-strength short range taser (not guaranteed to leave targets alive). Oh, and painted an intimidating red, with a pirate banner hanging from it.

Hmm.. Robin has a very nice Red Flying Drone for his Apocalypse mod.  Add the flag and you'd be good.  Getting the balance right on these things would be the trick as well as not burying them so far down the tech tree that they are irrelevant.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Multiheaded on May 18, 2017, 04:53:50 pm
I think it'd still be pretty relevant as a year 2 tech. A lot of weak Guild and Church units still around, Humanist activists/light infantry, etc. Also bandits and ratmen, which have been very annoying wastes of time for me.

(Giving the drone 50% piercing resist but 150+% laser/plasma vulnerability would make balancing its use easier, I guess; just explain it with something like exposed circuitry. And make it a small/very small target; hard to hit for a G.O. with a revolver, or a ratman with a flintlock, but terribly vulnerable to e.g. an assault laser.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Stoddard on May 18, 2017, 07:12:30 pm
For zero-risk missions, I'd just go with the smell of napalm in the morning. Why land if it's decided either way.

For the custom AI.. export it all to python or lua or something, load the code from the mods. Quite hard to do though, and bugs will be.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dreamsicle on May 19, 2017, 05:11:43 am
Makes sense to me. First thing you're gonna do in a fight is try to push someone's gun out of the way if you manage to get that close. "Melee failure = guarantee burst of gunfire to the face" is a big and common flaw of turn based shooters.

Sure, but it's really annoying when hammers and chainsaws miss because of this. And I'm putting it really nicely.

If there's no general nerf with CQB, is there at least a way to make ranged melee like hammers and saws to be exempt from that?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ivandogovich on May 19, 2017, 07:36:04 am
Sure, but it's really annoying when hammers and chainsaws miss because of this. And I'm putting it really nicely.

If there's no general nerf with CQB, is there at least a way to make ranged melee like hammers and saws to be exempt from that?

FYI:  Dioxine is working through the laborious process of reworking accuracy values etc to help with the CQB shennanigans.   We are all doing a great job beta testing for him, and new features like this often take a bit of ironing to get to a proper balance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 19, 2017, 08:49:24 am
If modders wanted the ability to "fiddle" with the AI, how should/would this ability look like? What could you configure/implement and how?

Simple conditional statements  to override its usual behavior would, I think, work for the issue of AI pointlessly shooting into melee.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 19, 2017, 10:21:10 am
That dirge caster drone could be a boost to some underpowered Codex.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 11:24:33 am
That dirge caster drone could be a boost to some underpowered Codex.

Maybe the red codex could need a red-colored drone.
I can't repeat enough that red codex needs some love somewhere.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 19, 2017, 11:54:07 am
The demonic axe and the +15 flat damage to all guns craft is not good enough for you?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 12:03:11 pm
The demonic axe and the +15 flat damage to all guns craft is not good enough for you?

The demonic axe still needs alot of TU and scales with strength. The force blade does the job better as long as you can find the gems.

While the Scarab is a useful addition it got nerfed @ this patch. +15 sounds okay but the vessel got no shield to negate repair-time and only 1xLw slot.
Early on you won't get enough supply to field 2xHw slots. Once crafts become too fast, the Scarap just can't compete with proper hellerium fighters.
With the same codex you get the green snake, that one has all 3 weapon types AND an inbuild shield.
Additionally it has an amazing "map" to take advantage of the roof and elevators to fight early monster hunts. The scarap isn't too hot in terms of a dropship.

The red codex is weak in comparision to other codexes, especially the green one.
You can get nearly everything the red codex offers with the green one so why bother about the nerfed scarab?

Edit: Don't get me started with the 'buffed' spike launcher the red codex offers. Spike rockets are inaccurate, have a small clipsize and are extremely expensive considering the early/midgame.
It's not worth the investment to shot your money into thin air and run into the possible situation that all 12 shots fail to connect.
I'd rather keep them in store and fuel a sentry/rocket turret with these. A long lasting investment great for crashsites and hideout-defenses.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2017, 12:59:08 pm
If there's no general nerf with CQB, is there at least a way to make ranged melee like hammers and saws to be exempt from that?

One of the main reasons for CQB code was PRECISELY to stop hammers and chainsaws from auto-hitting. They're the only thing in the new balance I'm considering to be working properly already.

I don't like the idea of magical drones, but I feel that late game weapons already allow to mop up real fast... I can always add some more, ofc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 19, 2017, 02:58:36 pm
The Blood Axe also gives you back some energy/TUs/Morale on hit, and can do some truly massive damage, I wouldn't count it out.  Dioxine has some more stuff planned for Red (and probably all the other) Codex too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 03:06:25 pm
The Blood Axe also gives you back some energy/TUs/Morale on hit, and can do some truly massive damage, I wouldn't count it out.  Dioxine has some more stuff planned for Red (and probably all the other) Codex too.

Yes, it's a devastating melee weapon and makes you a serial-killer against grouped foes that die in one hit. It's only drawback are tanks with huge backplates.
But seriously, you can't buy players into going red only for this one particular melee weapon that needs a fast and max'ed out fighter to handle the TU-costs and low-ish acc.

Try to convince me:
Why should I pick red over green?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 19, 2017, 03:30:22 pm
If you don't like red, don't pick red.  I personally love Destructor armor, it's my favorite outfit in the game for its mix of durability, speed, and raw voodoo firepower - I love giving that gal the blood axe or tome of lightning.  The hellgun is great for infinite plasma firepower and extra morale damage, I used it to great effect taking down mercs.  (If you can't tell, my campaign really takes off after first encountering the dark ones.)  The scorpion is great for quick assaults, and Lil' Ilya is highly efficient for the ammo-requiring codex craft weapons.  It really comes down to Illusion vs. Destruction, and I find MC and Panic not so compelling with the gals' limited voodoo.  Sure ghost is good too, but I like the capabilities of destructor better as a scout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2017, 03:51:19 pm
Try to convince me:
Why should I pick red over green?

That doesn't work like this. It's like in a VN. Unless you chose what your heart dictates, with all honesty, you'll be disappointed :) Naturally, no game is perfect, but if you don't think blood axe is fun, you should NEVER choose the red codex.

Otoh, this input is still valuable, as it allows to gauge which codex should receive some stuff first. It'll be gray, in all likeness, but codex stuff updates aren't planned for next couple of releases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 04:47:39 pm
That doesn't work like this. It's like in a VN. Unless you chose what your heart dictates, with all honesty, you'll be disappointed :) Naturally, no game is perfect, but if you don't think blood axe is fun, you should NEVER choose the red codex.

Otoh, this input is still valuable, as it allows to gauge which codex should receive some stuff first. It'll be gray, in all likeness, but codex stuff updates aren't planned for next couple of releases.

I'm more than willing to give you my honest feedback.
The core game is completely fine and it's a wonderful experience each time I start from scratch. Just the corner cases and specific techtree features that can make your blood boil.

If you don't like red, don't pick red.  I personally love Destructor armor, it's my favorite outfit in the game for its mix of durability, speed, and raw voodoo firepower - I love giving that gal the blood axe or tome of lightning.  The hellgun is great for infinite plasma firepower and extra morale damage, I used it to great effect taking down mercs.  (If you can't tell, my campaign really takes off after first encountering the dark ones.)  The scorpion is great for quick assaults, and Lil' Ilya is highly efficient for the ammo-requiring codex craft weapons.  It really comes down to Illusion vs. Destruction, and I find MC and Panic not so compelling with the gals' limited voodoo.  Sure ghost is good too, but I like the capabilities of destructor better as a scout.

How do make Destructor work? Do you carry mutant meat with you to nullify the HP burn for each use?
Guess you got realy lucky with cacodemon spawns, I rolled 4x Hell's Keep for my Imp. Probes so I got none. Is it realy worth spending your gems for a destructor in comparision to a Bio-Suit?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: karadoc on May 19, 2017, 04:57:38 pm
I'm more than willing to give you my honest feedback.
The core game is completely fine and it's a wonderful experience each time I start from scratch. Just the corner cases and specific techtree features that can make your blood boil.

How do make Destructor work? Do you carry mutant meat with you to nullify the HP burn for each use?
Guess you got realy lucky with cacodemon spawns, I rolled 4x Hell's Keep for my Imp. Probes so I got none. Is it realy worth spending your gems for a destructor in comparision to a Bio-Suit?
Have you tried using Destructor? It doesn't mention it in the description, but it actually has some seriously powerful built-in health regen (as long as you have high enough voodoo power).

Destructor gals are fast, flying, and can regen quickly from severe wounds... and they can one-shot-kill anything in the game. It's a pretty good outfit. Just try not to kill your own team with reaction-fire...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 05:06:35 pm
built-in health regen (as long as you have high enough voodoo power)

Okay, that doesn't look like that is intended to work like that. So this outfit has only the drawback of medium armor values and a locked handslot?
Is the regen designed to work or is that a lookover and forgotten to be removed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 19, 2017, 05:43:14 pm
The regen works just fine, but you need very good voodoo power, I'd recommend only for 50+.  The medium armor values are boosted by the really nice resistances, and it has lots of speed + melee power to make one-handed melee weapons dangerous.

Edit:  The spot and NV are pretty useful too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 05:47:20 pm
The regen works just fine, but you need very good voodoo power, I'd recommend only for 50+.  The medium armor values are boosted by the really nice resistances, and it has lots of speed + melee power to make one-handed melee weapons dangerous.

Odd, whelp that's mindblowing. This should be mentioned somehow and somewhere. The missing text made me thing that hooked-up weapon is meant to be used in a pinch and not just shot every time you have the TU and stamina. Thx mate
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 19, 2017, 05:52:42 pm
Meant to be inferred from the first sentence, and found out by experiment (quick battle helps!).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 05:57:41 pm
That flavor-text is a bit too cryptic to make someone guess that.
Regardless I'm not sure which codex to pick for the next run. Gold or Grey...

Maybe a quick overlook of techtree and drill-rewards might be stated somewhere as own entry in the in-game bootypedia.
Since the codex choice hits a player's decision until the very end of the techtree this has to be adressed and explained.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 19, 2017, 06:10:43 pm
The destructor regen is: voodoo power-48, and always has been. The point is to restrict it to high voodoo power gals only.

Defense wise it's actually pretty strong with 30% resistance vs most damage with 50 all round armor. Anything that rolls 70 or less damage will fail to penetrate. You even have better then even odds of surviving a cyberdisk shot. It won't survive high rolls from heavy gauss and plasma but then again not much can. Also can do several alternate environments, notably mansion.

Still hella expensive though, your never gonna field very many. 50 essence takes awhile to gather.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 06:13:17 pm
So 12-13HP at best.
That's close to a maxed out HP pool of a biosuit, not bad.

It's just missing in the description and that is a very important feature to inform.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 19, 2017, 06:23:59 pm
Really depends on how you're getting the essence, and whether or not you're willing to undergo ritual sacrifice.  If you're careful with stuns on dark ones probes, one roll of the mission (always two probes, one follows another) should get you a copy of the armor.  If you habitually capture altar boys to turn into yeoman, you get them even faster.  I usually field 2-3 of these armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 06:35:17 pm
Really depends on how you're getting the essence, and whether or not you're willing to undergo ritual sacrifice.

The decision is to either use the topaz for a bio-suit or a destructor.
Emeralds and Rubies can be gained over different ways but a topaz only hides in treasure chests (if you get one from the sea/mansions)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 19, 2017, 06:39:45 pm
Even with sacrifices and yeoman, i dont think i ever fielded more then 6 before a campaign ended. So not exactly abundant but sufficient for the role(heavy weapon gal)

Additionally Dark ones are significantly affected by difficulty setting so red tech is effectively pointless below difficulty 3 as cacodeamons and barons won't spawn and the number of foes is lower. No other codex tech gets affected by spawns like that.     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 19, 2017, 06:40:41 pm
But seriously, you can't buy players into going red only for this one particular melee weapon that needs a fast and max'ed out fighter to handle the TU-costs and low-ish acc.

If you are careful, you can make it out of the early game with very few loses or even none at all and considering as of the latest update, stading right in from of gun-toting baddies is a good survival strategy, this results in plenty of nearly maxed out fighters in your crew when you can finally  manufacture the things.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 06:43:20 pm
Green and RNG for reticulan elders (bunker mission).

If you are careful, you can make it out of the early game with very few loses or even none at all and considering as of the latest update, stading right in from of gun-toting baddies is a good survival strategy, this results in plenty of nearly maxed out fighters in your crew when you can finally  manufacture the things.

Jack Sparrow difficulty only and reloads are only allowed if the game cheats me. So my sickbay is stacked most of the time until I got armor to just tank the bullets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ragshak on May 19, 2017, 09:43:36 pm
Jack Sparrow difficulty only and reloads are only allowed if the game cheats me.

When exacly?  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2017, 10:02:43 pm
Everytime rockets hit my own troops because the projectile got stopped by a grass-stalk.
Shotguns with shit aim oneshot a teammate at 20+ tiles.
And some other stuff like getting hurt hard but get only 1 fatal wound.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Zharkov on May 20, 2017, 03:39:05 am
Might just be me, but I would axe STR_BOUNTY_HUNTING_PRIZE_ALLIANCE_FAVORS as prereq for STR_CONTACT_MUTANT_ALLIANCE. Really slows down my current game, because of not getting to STR_SCHOOLING_2 - so much so that I thought I was encountering some bug and I started searching the .rul. Furthermore it forces you into one of those game changing *research* thingies. And there would still be STR_TROPHY_TARGET_75_MUTANT_ALLIANCE.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Marza on May 20, 2017, 06:17:02 am
Got a similar experience with my playthrough. Took me just under one game year to meet the requirements to research the Mutant Alliance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 20, 2017, 11:38:38 am
It might be intended to make the important early game longer and more challenging.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 20, 2017, 01:26:37 pm
Everytime rockets hit my own troops because the projectile got stopped by a grass-stalk.

Heavy bullets should be able to penetrate wooden wall and his the guild hostess hiding behind it. Just like it worked in Jagged Alliance 2.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 20, 2017, 06:02:03 pm
Walls are equally thick. A bullet hitting a wooden fench is absorbed the same way like it hits a ufo-hull.
Coding a penetratable wall might be a bit tough to do. I prefer to just delete the wall with a tiny bullet or a neural-whip slap.
Slapping walls into submission is something lovely to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dreamsicle on May 20, 2017, 09:26:27 pm
One of the main reasons for CQB code was PRECISELY to stop hammers and chainsaws from auto-hitting. They're the only thing in the new balance I'm considering to be working properly already.

I don't like the idea of magical drones, but I feel that late game weapons already allow to mop up real fast... I can always add some more, ofc.

Fair enough, though at least in my experience I've had to drop them from use as I feel the TU and weight cost were too much for me to use them now and I could get more reliable hits from sabers, cutlasses and other melee weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 21, 2017, 12:45:00 am
Hammers, Pickaxes and chainchaws can still hit as long as you can roll a good CQB value. Those tools are still neat to break walls tho.
The problem with these tools is the 100% hit you got by using them point-blank against anything.

Now they can be dodged so better hit walls with it instead :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: atroix on May 21, 2017, 10:35:13 am
From my experirnce the hammer and chaonsaw are still pretty good. I still get hits 2 out of three 1 out of three and thats. Just right to get the job done. Still like tp see it fine tunned a little more for adjacent units with not in target. And i heva the impression that facing doesn't matter at all. I may be wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 21, 2017, 10:51:54 am
The facing of your target is considered into the roll. It does remain a RNG situation anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: atroix on May 21, 2017, 10:58:33 am
The facing of your target is considered into the roll. It does remain a RNG situation anyway.

I know that the formula is like that, but for me the ingame results just look like it doesn't.  Rng just loves me in the rong way i guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 21, 2017, 11:10:10 am
If you give the game a chance to win a roll, you will lose the crucial RNG-Situation.

95% melee hits will fail.
95% shots will miss.
The crucial DMG-Rolls magically can't penetrate armor and so on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 21, 2017, 10:51:57 pm
Following items are not mentioned as a requirement-hint to build a witch-outfit:

Monster Teeth
Monster Eye
Spider Silk

I might be wrong but if those items are not mentioned as a component-ingredient, users might be unhappy after selling silk, eyes and teeth for profit.
In the ingame tech-viever the entry for // voodoo rod [m] // is missing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: The Think Tank on May 22, 2017, 09:37:12 pm
These new Bounty Missions show an amazing amount of potential, and even though they are in their early stage they may end up becoming what I use to spend spare time when trying to get a critical component manufactured or researched. Although, I do think some of the prizes could probably be expanded more for the late game, or maybe that is because I haven't researched enough for the bounty missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: khade on May 22, 2017, 09:42:27 pm
Given that the midgame has apparently been moved back again, has the time when the crackdowns start happening frequently been moved as well?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 22, 2017, 09:46:05 pm
I do think some of the prizes could probably be expanded more for the late game, or maybe that is because I haven't researched enough for the bounty missions.

The crucial stuff is tailored into the current bounty missions. I don't need further cases of "Implosion Bomb launcher parts" to advance the techtree.

Given that the midgame has apparently been moved back again, has the time when the crackdowns start happening frequently been moved as well?

Depending on the difficulty. Don't think you need any good tech, just bombs, flamethrowers and rocket launchers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: khade on May 22, 2017, 09:59:16 pm
So this might be the deviant in me talking, but it seems odd that the bootypedia article on humans has them wearing the same stuff as in the original game, or anything at all really.  I seriously doubt that the Uber gals would show them that much respect.  Though I guess if we did their standard outfits separate from the information on them in general, we'd need yet another page in the bootypedia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 22, 2017, 10:02:13 pm
As long as I can make slaves and farmhouses out of them they can keep thier stuff before carrying my shit around and make money form thin air.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: The Think Tank on May 22, 2017, 10:36:38 pm
The crucial stuff is tailored into the current bounty missions. I don't need further cases of "Implosion Bomb launcher parts" to advance the techtree.
By that I meant that some weapons would be accessible via Trophy prizes, think light plasma weapons/Gauss or other rare specialties late in the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 22, 2017, 10:43:05 pm
Good thing the early and midgame gets so much attention.
Cydonia is just... an extreme overkill like a fanmade super mario level.
I've seen the last two levels for the very first time tho and lost a bunch of crackmarines to win the game.

I recommend to stick with earth unless you love to fight mercs during a night mission with no access to spot-armor (space worthy suits got no spot, no camo and 20 NV only)
If you love this, you will adore the final map even more, open the curtains to 10 sectopods and 50 Star Gods on the enemy-hideout mission map.

What a massacre  ;D

By that I meant that some weapons would be accessible via Trophy prizes, think light plasma weapons/Gauss or other rare specialties late in the game.

Interogating enemy leaders is not a "trophy prize"? Stupid brainers need something to do at 23:59 each day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: The Think Tank on May 23, 2017, 12:57:03 am
Interogating enemy leaders is not a "trophy prize"? Stupid brainers need something to do at 23:59 each day.
You can research a leader once, but you can produce a weapon throughout the game, giving you something tangible and worthwhile to work for once you have researched essentially all topics available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 23, 2017, 05:35:17 pm
You can research a leader once, but you can produce a weapon throughout the game, giving you something tangible and worthwhile to work for once you have researched essentially all topics available.

The techtree got 1-2 crucial topics that many users already complained about. Having this one re-researchable topic is just a thing to let your brainers do something but you virtually make no progress towards important techs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 23, 2017, 11:10:35 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUWC09xhkR0

Check out how much mercenary encounters are fucked up. (the first mission of the video)
Given the odds of high piercing resistance and 2 wide open ramps to get shot at this setup boned him quite hard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Starving Poet on May 24, 2017, 03:30:09 am
The only things that can reliably kill me at this point in the game are the first turn of a merc mission and friendly fire - I don't have a problem with this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 24, 2017, 03:48:20 am
Poet, when did you ever have a problem with something killing your gals besides celatids? You may be the most nonchalant player I've ever seen about losing hands besides purposeful use of rookies as fodder.

I'm sure it warms Dioxine's heart to know that the Mercs never lose their power fully vs the player, and I'm glad that it's meant to be difficult beyond just pumping up the number of enemies or their stats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 24, 2017, 05:08:46 am
Merc not losing there bite is fine. However, i do feel they could still do that on a slightly more level field when it comes to vision. The player is never allowed the combination of durability(armor,hp,resist), vision(NV,thermal) and camo. The player can never match them for camo and NV, but can match them for thermal, and durability with end game tech.

The only reason i'm really enjoying any consistent success against them is by abusing the AI. They are top tier in every meaningful stat all at once. I would prefer if they had some meaningful weakness like other factions. Even stargods have there relative frailty in counterpoint to invisibility and phenomenal offense. Raiders are durable but weakly armed. Church has nasty terror/elite units and better weapons but frail.         
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Starving Poet on May 24, 2017, 05:26:13 am
Poet, when did you ever have a problem with something killing your gals besides celatids? You may be the most nonchalant player I've ever seen about losing hands besides purposeful use of rookies as fodder.

I'm sure it warms Dioxine's heart to know that the Mercs never lose their power fully vs the player, and I'm glad that it's meant to be difficult beyond just pumping up the number of enemies or their stats.
Effing Celatids
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 10:29:25 am
Someone could care less with the magic of 'cloning'.

Since it's a stream-playthrough with volunteer-personnel the increasing numbers behind the soldier-names shows alot of hands been quite unlucky doing thier job in liberating earth.
Everytime a hand dies, it get's cloned (or not, depends) with stat penalty and sicktime. It could be called cheating in terms of he doesn't have to train up an actual swabbie but it's just for entertainment. And it's a game that is supposed to be fun besides been nintendo-hard.

Just screw those mercs and all the benefits they got pumped into durability/camo/thermal-v/weapons.
At least nerf the merc.-captain in terms of his camo or remove his spot-ability. The mere existence of a superior camo'ed soldier that can spot your infiltrator before your own infiltrator can pinpoint targets makes this strategy completely bad and the ammount of 'good and reliable' strategies to beat mercs is shrinked down to indirect fire and melee.
And those 2 options work against everything, so mercs need a serious update to make them a healthy experience and not a suicide mission that costs more hands and tanks than those synth-suits are worth. And with the introduction of pigmen you can just ignore merc's at all (after all research topics are done that need those wanna-be-mutons)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Zharkov on May 24, 2017, 11:55:02 am
Someone could care less with the magic of 'cloning'.

Since it's a stream-playthrough with volunteer-personnel the increasing numbers behind the soldier-names shows alot of hands been quite unlucky doing thier job in liberating earth.
Everytime a hand dies, it get's cloned (or not, depends) with stat penalty and sicktime. It could be called cheating in terms of he doesn't have to train up an actual swabbie but it's just for entertainment. And it's a game that is supposed to be fun besides been nintendo-hard.

Just screw those mercs and all the benefits they got pumped into durability/camo/thermal-v/weapons.
At least nerf the merc.-captain in terms of his camo or remove his spot-ability. The mere existence of a superior camo'ed soldier that can spot your infiltrator before your own infiltrator can pinpoint targets makes this strategy completely bad and the ammount of 'good and reliable' strategies to beat mercs is shrinked down to indirect fire and melee.
And those 2 options work against everything, so mercs need a serious update to make them a healthy experience and not a suicide mission that costs more hands and tanks than those synth-suits are worth. And with the introduction of pigmen you can just ignore merc's at all (after all research topics are done that need those wanna-be-mutons)

I like the mercs, because it is a challenge to fight them everytime. One important point in piratez seems to me, to chose one's battles carefully. Actually, there is no problem to stop engaging mercs once you have all the techs you want from them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 24, 2017, 03:20:56 pm
Mercs have superior stats, the player has the brain.
Also their weak point, traditionally, is psi.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 04:03:23 pm
Mercs have superior stats, the player has the brain.
Also their weak point, traditionally, is psi.

In that case you have to teach us how to use voodoo-based tools correctly to outsmart camo'ed snipers with one-shot-squishies guns.
Everything with LOS (seduction) is very dangerous to use, faries are rare and voodoo-rod is locked into codexes.

Don't treat it like bitching around but merc's ain't fun at any stage in the game. They're way to strong in too many aspects and the stated 'weakness' is so unreliable that stuff like nukes and mortar-fire looks so much more solid on paper compared to "It might MC him or just drains all your stamina/moral and let's you panic".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Starving Poet on May 24, 2017, 04:26:12 pm
Someone could care less with the magic of 'cloning'.


Yes, that's fair, and it is for entertainment - but without it, all I would do was to simply have one of my radar bases with 120 hands in training with all those trainable stats near maxed anyway.  It was much more cheaty in TFTD than it is in Piratez - I've also lost less girls in 4 IG years in piratez than I did in my TFTD playthrough.

But I disagree with your view on merc tactics.  I lost two whole girls in carapace armor and a tank to a heavy gunship full of mercs.  Two.  And the whole point of the tank is to get turn 1 reaction fire in a craft without doors.   If I used fatties instead of XG Chainguns I probably could have avoided those deaths too.  I was just unlucky with the damage rolls.  If I was able to tame Cyclops, I could have avoided all those deaths, but I don't think it's in my codex choice. 

BUT the fairy suit IS - and if I had more fairy suits on the craft I probably could have seduced all the mercs in direct proximity of the craft before I moved the tank.  Or, I could use a craft with doors and skip the first turn entirely.  And, thus, avoid every death on that mission.  But I like using the tank because it's just fun.

Or, I could equip my first 4 girls with mag rockets.  Or I could have an extra BFG or 3 on the front ramp.   Or I could probably wear bigger armor for the girls in front, but if you've watched enough of my series, you'd know that I pretty much consider anything above a LC to be one-shot kills because I like my stat armor more than i like resistances so whether they have a heavy plasma or gauss sniper is largely irrelevant to me.   

And let me make this clear - this was a landing I should have aborted when I saw what was in front of me - I brute forced my way through it to see if I could.

What other real strategy is there to the other enemies?  There are two types of enemies in OXC - enemies you are 95% likely to kill in one action and enemies that are likely to survive and shoot back.  As far as I'm concernced, that's it.   The only thing special about mercs is that they stay in that latter category far longer than anyone else. It's tech up and overpower.  If they're melee, you fly.  If you can't see them, use large explosives.   Some are energy resistant, some are chem resistant, but it's the same story. 

You do enough mercs to unlock the merc captain weapon research (if you want) and that's it.  Once you get to Mars, just level the surface with your most powerful HE weapons.  You just spent 400 million building a spaceship, what's another 40 million in Chinese Dragons?

This isn't Xenonauts where every.single.enemy is a merc at late game - mercs are largely avoidable after just a couple missions.  Take your lumps, and then just ignore them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 05:23:00 pm
Sums up my thoughts. Get the tech's needed and ignore them, thanks Poet ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 24, 2017, 07:14:55 pm
Psi as a traditional weakness just does not apply. The 10-20 tile vision deficit when the vast majority of Voodoo is LOS at 15-16 tiles or less just leads to dead voodoo gals.

Being different to vanilla style psi is a wonderful thing overall. But claiming it as a weakness for mercs when getting in range to use it gets you killed? Bullshit. Only 3 outfits can reasonably avoid the vision deficit. Vampy,Ghost, and Fairy. All codex locked and only in very specific circumstances, ie fairy needs hard cover, vampy must be at night, ghost still loses to merc engineers and captains.

Being forced to abuse the AI to just play the game is not a healthy balance state. But that's the present state of the mod, skullfuck the AI or lose. The only reason i am still here playing is because i want to see the full and final product. It stopped being enjoyable a long time ago. Now all i really care about is the ending of all this effort, the quality of that end has stopped mattering. I know with reasonable certainty i won't agree with the result, but it's your project Dioxine and i respect if nothing else your time spent.   

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 24, 2017, 07:41:00 pm
Mercs have the advantage over open ground, guaranteed.  You are fighting a losing battle if you decide to engage or brute force through that, they're meant to make the standard spot/snipe tactic of vanilla dangerous.  If you can't break that advantage by fighting in closer cover, retreat might be the better idea.  If you can lower the engagement range to 10-20 tiles, the real trick to fighting mercs, all the voodoo weapons at your disposal can help even the playing field; MC'ing the ones that spawn close to your ship as meat tanks (Illusion), wallhack spotting and Seduction (Excess), even bigger meat tanks in Cyclops and Bio Suit (Communion), and crazy good scaling plasma, concussive, and melee damage (Destruction).  Tome of lightning is my personal favorite anti-merc weapon, at 10-20 tiles, you're practically guaranteed at least one merc neutralized per turn per tome you have.

Also, X-Com has always been about abusing the AI - it's simple and stupid at times, but it's always held the number and stat advantages.  Play on a level field, and you will lose soldiers faster than the AI.  I still don't think Mercs are anywhere near as bad as the balance state of TFTD, and I enjoyed the refreshing challenge they present compared to the other factions at say Poet's point in the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 09:14:48 pm
The green codex is the only way you can get cyclopses, red is not allowed to have them (because reasons).

Are you suggesting to use MELEE against mercs?! Like for real? Cover is not a given on many maps and is even more RNG than damage rolls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 24, 2017, 09:30:32 pm
The green codex is the only way you can get cyclopses, red is not allowed to have them (because reasons).

Are you suggesting to use MELEE against mercs?! Like for real? Cover is not a given on many maps and is even more RNG than damage rolls.

You use what you can according to codex.  And yes, melee vs. mercs is fun.  Hope you trained up gals well enough for it!

And my point about cover is just that - it's not always a given, so sometimes you just need to pack up and leave if the map is really bad for you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 09:34:13 pm
Valid strategy. Retreat to fight another day.
Or until you get a decent cover-based map.
Or until you got enough tech to indirect-fire nuke them.
Or until you need them anymore and just do sentries/fighter crafts for easier encounters.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: legionof1 on May 24, 2017, 09:58:30 pm
I use melee against mercs when the opportunity presents itself, melee is the most TU efficient source of damage in the game. But the opportunity to do so is limited. The vision disparity against mercs makes crossing any amount of open ground potentially lethal. And you can't even make a educated judgment about the risk involved because you can round a corner see only one merc but the reality is 10 mercs in lethal shooting range.

You are not allowed to know what your risking until the reaction fire happens. Given that any hit by a merc is a kill or incapacitates a gal with any but a specific set of outfits, which by the way are not the same outfits to compete in camo/vision, it usually not worth even making the attempt. IMO the only viable strategy is find a blind corner or hatch and camp it with overwhelming firepower, then press end turn 30 times.

Mercs do not allow basic risk assessment of the tactical situation. Even stargods allow some assessment because you can see the majority of given maps spawns, even those you can't are unlikely to instagib a gal.

Present design mercs prevent player engagement with the tactical layer. 
       
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Zharkov on May 24, 2017, 10:13:53 pm
In that case you have to teach us how to use voodoo-based tools correctly to outsmart camo'ed snipers with one-shot-squishies guns.
Everything with LOS (seduction) is very dangerous to use, faries are rare and voodoo-rod is locked into codexes.
I have to agree, psi either needs more love or better documentation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 24, 2017, 10:14:52 pm
I stated my thoughts several times.
Guess 'suffering' is the subtitle of the game, so we just git gud and abuse AI.

I'm looking forward to any changes and additions to make the game round and fluid.
Mercs are sorta a large stepping stone (boulder) for now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: perekrylo on May 24, 2017, 11:44:58 pm
Finally got to play some piratez, nice changelog, gj gj still lookin forward to 1.0 :3 those fucking dogs tho
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 25, 2017, 12:09:15 am
Try shotguns and a soldier with spare TU's.

It might stop them^^
Otherwise do easier missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2017, 12:57:52 am
Psi will be expanded in the final version, that is for sure. Which will make that merc weakness more exploitable. The final balance will also take into consideration their current advantage. I cannot however make the final balance before all armors and all soldier types, which are planned, are introduced.

From my own experience, brute-forcing through Mercs works, at least if they have Gauss, not Plasma. Brute force, melee, use decoys to draw their reaction fire and scout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: perekrylo on May 25, 2017, 01:01:00 am
Nah, I'm just being careless. I actually fed a dog cause cqc wasnt there back then : D
Also, weather forecast is much appreciated D, <3 <3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: khade on May 25, 2017, 02:35:04 am
Are the random assorted bug fixes found after the most recent release incorporated into the mod, or do we have to hunt them down or wait until the next update?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2017, 03:33:28 am
Bugfix release soon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: khade on May 25, 2017, 04:45:15 am
Just checking. I figured out how to add what I saw in the bugs topic that looked relevant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Martin on May 25, 2017, 11:00:00 am
I haven’t seen a single imperial probe in a year. Is this normal?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 25, 2017, 12:24:44 pm
I haven’t seen a single imperial probe in a year. Is this normal?

Probes are completely random. You either get lucky with them or wait it out.
Just make sure to have covered everything with radars (hyperwave-decoders) to pinpoint the movement of everything that moves on the planet.
Probes can do mission outside your radar coverage and take ages to land for the mission. (Ret.-Bunker, Deep One Pyramid or 1 of 2 Dark One maps)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2017, 09:58:55 pm
New release ready.

This time, for a change, there is not much new stuff. All the time I had for Piratez went into rebalancing the game for CqC, polishing the existing content and introducing fixes and upgrades to keep up with constantly improving OXCE+ ;)

Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 25, 2017, 10:32:40 pm
Cool, just odd why we have to use even more synthmesh now.
36 Annihilator suits now take even longer to prepare :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on May 25, 2017, 10:37:09 pm
Because it makes no sense that a pigman yields as much as a Merc, what is so odd about that? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 25, 2017, 10:39:23 pm
I guess fair.
Encouraging to fight merc-missions to get the skin needed to advance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marza on May 26, 2017, 10:26:23 pm
Feedback time!

New bounty missions are great, looking forward to where development will take it. Progressing through Goblin Zaxx's trophy tree takes noticeably longer than Jack and the Mutant Aliance's trophy tree. It's April 2603 and I haven't unlocked naval guns. I've also noticed Old Coins and Briefcase of Old Money are worth the same: 10 GZ tokens. Unlocking 'Mutant Alliance Favours' (and therefore unlocking the library building and everything gated behind it) took just under one game year.

Of course, a number of trophy reward, missions and customers have yet to be implemented which will make this post out of date.

Edit - I'm unlocking the trophy rewards sequentially. I realise I could prioritise naval guns and have had them a lot earlier, and that naval guns can also be unlocked by the old fashioned research route instead of using the trophy system. tl;dr getting GZ tokens appears to be harder than getting the other tokens from my brief playthrough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: panzertoter on May 28, 2017, 12:13:27 am
Still can't get bounty hunting level B pass  :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marza on May 28, 2017, 06:09:22 am
I don't think level B has been implemented yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Foxhound634 on May 28, 2017, 03:37:54 pm
Would it be possible to add tooltip functionality to the game, like when moving the mouse over something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Meridian on May 28, 2017, 05:21:42 pm
Would it be possible to add tooltip functionality to the game, like when moving the mouse over something?

Can you be more specific please?
Where exactly would you like to add it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Foxhound634 on May 28, 2017, 06:24:38 pm
Can you be more specific please?
Where exactly would you like to add it?

Several places: In the ufopedia when mousing over terms specific to this mod that you don't remember what means...or what the debuff icons in the equipment screen means...or in the battlescape if you forget what the number for weapons that are two-handed means.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Meridian on May 28, 2017, 06:41:42 pm
In the ufopedia when mousing over terms specific to this mod that you don't remember what means

(If I understand correctly what you mean) that would be serious development effort and modding effort too.
I don't think any modder would want to mark individual words and bind them to various tooltips... not to mention multi-language support.

or what the debuff icons in the equipment screen means...

All buttons on equipment screen (soldier inventory screen) already have tooltips, no?
(just below the right leg slot)

...or in the battlescape if you forget what the number for weapons that are two-handed means.

Ehm... "2" means "2-handed", lack of "2" means "not 2-handed"?
I don't think you need a tooltip for that...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: juff on May 29, 2017, 01:56:52 pm
The online Ufopaedia could add a glossary page for piratez. Which terms do you find troublesome?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Foxhound634 on May 29, 2017, 03:57:50 pm
Having to navigate to other screens, menus and even websites is tedious by today's standards, where tooltips would alleviate that. Since it wouldn't be an easy thing to implement however, i'll just go through it the old-fashioned way
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Voidflame on May 30, 2017, 06:23:08 am
I should probably know this, but is power bonus the same as extra weapon damage? 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ashghan on May 30, 2017, 11:58:16 am
Statistically speaking - yes. Technically it's just that - bonus power, so if a gun has a damage roll of 0-200% you can still do no (or insignificant) damage, even with the bonus. It just makes average damage higher and 0-dmg rolls slightly less possible.

On a sidenote - that actually pisses me off on sniper weapons - you can have a weapon that can shoot once, should deal more than lethal damage and... 'ping' >> no damage. I'd really love for snipers to have a 50-150% roll. Or maybe a 25-175. The near-miss explanation kinda fails for shots that have over 200% chance to hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on May 30, 2017, 12:52:33 pm
Upping the bottom percentage wouldn't do much for most sniper type weapons, most of the "0 dmg" hits are actually failure to penetrate armor rather then a true 0% roll.

The slow rate of fire and high per shot output naturally leads you to using them against well armored targets which makes the odds of a low roll failing to pen armor very likely. Given that only a small subset of snipers have armor pen they end up performing poorly in use.

Snipers are in a very poor state right now compared to other weapon types. The state of vision makes low mobility weapons that don't arc very vulnerable, low rate of fire hurts when you have small crew size(which last a good while), and lower reliability vs hard targets.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Troubleshooter on May 30, 2017, 02:30:03 pm
Quote from: Meridian

Ehm... "2" means "2-handed", lack of "2" means "not 2-handed"?
I don't think you need a tooltip for that...

Actually, I noticed that this paticular feature (the "2" next to two - handed weapons) is disabled in the latest patch. Like, it's still there as an option, but turned off by default. Just thought I'd point that out!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ninjajolt on May 31, 2017, 08:30:40 pm
hi, i have a bug right now with the newest version that means alot of the names and text remain the same. alot of the countries are still just called France and Germany and many buildings do not have custom names. was wondering if there is a way to fix this, thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Meridian on May 31, 2017, 08:33:35 pm
was wondering if there is a way to fix this, thanks.

Change language from en-GB to en-US.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ninjajolt on May 31, 2017, 08:35:23 pm
Change language from en-GB to en-US.
thanks for the really quick response man :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G - 9 May - Close Combat Carnage
Post by: Zharkov on June 02, 2017, 07:10:58 pm
Psi will be expanded in the final version, that is for sure.

For all those as impatient as me, use the switchable psi-amp until then.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: khade on June 04, 2017, 12:22:08 am
How hard would it be to add wind direction and speed to a map, as an environmental effect?  Basically, wind is moving south and fairly briskly, so fire and smoke will spread in that direction, and clear faster the further north the tile is.

Alternately, a good ventilation system could make smoke clear out very quickly, for entirely indoor areas.  Caves could have the chimney effect, and have the smoke move in the direction of the nearest entrance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Starving Poet on June 07, 2017, 12:14:55 am
In short - extremely
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: khade on June 07, 2017, 12:28:47 am
Well, that's why you ask things  :)

So, two possibly new ideas:
    The dragon, an early tech pistol blunderbuss.  Essentially a single shot sawed-off shotgun.

    Dragons Breath, shotgun shell that mimics a flamethrower, once per shot, usable only with the double barrel shotguns with no autofire.

Of course, the dragon might be more useful we didn't get access to a sawed off shotgun in the first month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Nord on June 07, 2017, 10:33:47 am
A question: was someone successfull in shooting down silver towers?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on June 07, 2017, 11:46:24 am
Doable?  Yes.  Worth the effort, a great big resounding hell fucking no. The tactical map is one giant trollfest. Get your stargod codes from the Public Enemy that spawns on the larger smuggler ship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Nord on June 07, 2017, 03:20:00 pm
And which craft weapons you use?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ohartenstein23 on June 07, 2017, 04:48:51 pm
Sabres + Tesla Cannons are practically necessary to beat that shield regen, but you can always try the canonical method of loading down Devastators or Brave Whalers with Avalanches.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Zharkov on June 10, 2017, 03:45:45 am
Say, Dioxine, sometimes I wonder - do you ever feel anger or even hate towards the players?  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on June 10, 2017, 03:58:56 am
Bad day in mine craft eh?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: juff on June 10, 2017, 08:39:25 am
I had that happen as well and I was wondering if that was a bug or a trap for players.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2017, 01:57:49 pm
Well, you walked in there on purpose, didn't you? So where is my fault in this? ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ivandogovich on June 10, 2017, 06:14:42 pm
Lol.  Is that the bottom of the Extractor?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Zharkov on June 10, 2017, 07:34:18 pm
Lol.  Is that the bottom of the Extractor?

It's the x-prision. You're trapped and need to go through a wall to get out and there is a pick-axe at the bottom of this pit. Nice trap, I nearly choked from laughing when I noticed that you don't get out. But only works once.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: khade on June 10, 2017, 11:23:28 pm
This might have been asked before, in fact, possibly by me:  Is it possible to put the point loss behind a research gate?  We have to attract more notice to be worth crushing, after all.  Probably it would be a very early research, and one that you won't just avoid for a while, but it could help avoid a very early early game wipe. Just for the record, I don't think the money one should be unlocked, if you aren't making money, you aren't going to lead long.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2017, 11:28:52 pm
I made a mistake when removing negative score from civilian shipping. It will be fixed in the next version. Should have a major positive impact on early score, before heavy flights start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: khade on June 10, 2017, 11:57:34 pm
Please note that I wasn't complaining about the design, I'm just saying that we're nobodies at the beginning, so it doesn't make sense that they'd even care enough to squish us.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: karadoc on June 11, 2017, 02:48:50 am
I'm curious about the balance around the timing of *the mutant alliance* tech. In previous versions you could activate the mutant alliance pretty early and easily just through research. But now it's locked behind the alliance favours item, for which the player must wait a long time (as far as I can tell).

I'm in August of the first year in my current playthrough. I have three bases and pretty good tech. I'm finding it interesting that 'back to school' is blocking my tech advance - forcing me to use lower level tech. For example, I'd usually just skip building dojos and go straight for the luxury spa; but this time I've just go no idea how long I'll have to wait for that spa, so I'm building a couple of dojos. Similarly with overcharged radars. Usually I might just build one or two, but this time I'm putting them in all bases because I can't get decoders. I'm expecting there to be a significant leap in possibilities when I finally do get access to the mutant alliance...

So, I think it's interesting and fun; but I'm curious about whether this bottleneck a deliberate design feature. And since I'm still behind the bottleneck, it isn't clear to me how long it will last or how much control I have to get past it. I can think of a few things I've done wrong that could have slowed me down significantly in terms of the mutant alliance; but I'm kind of curious about what players are _expected_ to get access to it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2017, 03:06:36 am
I confirm that pushing Back to School was deliberate to raise relevance of earlier tech. As for what players are "expected" to do... That'd be an impossible task to tell! Players will most certainly do something unexpected and interesting. I just hope they have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Stoddard on June 11, 2017, 03:49:35 am
If anything, I think it wasn't pushed far enough. Certainly more fun now, and I think a bit more can be squeezed still.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on June 11, 2017, 04:55:44 am
I'm somewhat with stoddard in pushing certain gates back to allow the full spread of the tech tree to have it time to shine.

But the present form also feels clunky and inorganic. The major gates end up feeling like a holding pattern while you grind the same strata of content over and over. Sometimes for quite some time. Implosion bomb in particular but all the big ones have something that might leave you puttering around for extended periods. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 14, 2017, 10:33:22 pm
Bounty-hunting in general should be a gimmick to gain extra loot/xp and not mendatory to a point of gating the research-tree (again).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dyne on June 14, 2017, 10:57:51 pm
Bounty hunting works well as a stepping stone so far.
A real effort gives value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Starving Poet on June 15, 2017, 05:36:40 am
i like the idea of it - it's a nice alternative to just gating everything behind RNG.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 17, 2017, 01:53:00 pm
i like the idea of it - it's a nice alternative to just gating everything behind RNG.

And RNG to even get into the stage of bounty-hunting or "game over" in month 3. Shippings the player can't do anything against due to no range, no items, no crew, no information (other than hacking the own save state)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on June 17, 2017, 06:39:09 pm
Running a jack sparrow gold (first since many versions) and blackbeard red playthroughs on the latest version, both at somewhat "middle" stage right now (late and early 2602 respectively).
*Never* had a shortage of useful things to research, got the requisites to do mutant alliance and back to school long before i bother to do them.
Important note, you get far into workshop based gear before doing either of the above, going that route in the  red playthrough, many of my gals running around in metal armor with lots of other fancy gear without either researched.
There is a bit of a RNG heavy period in the early game, but eventually you will get a passably easy mission with good weapons to loot.
Losing the starting gals can be crippling early on though, as they are much better than 20k hands.
I was somewhat learning and bumbling around in the first playthrough, but one thing is clear equipment wise after that - it's piratez, you are supposed to rely heavily on loot through first few years. The stuff you loot tends to be far better that anything you can buy or produce early on, no matter if you get through the critical gates or not.

Another extremely important early game achievement is gaining basic ability to hunt down at least easy craft, it's a massive boon in money and research material. The only quick ways to do it are either get the black market seagull missiles, or take over a landed megapol craft to get their 25mm cannon with ammo (you can use it even without research). My red playthrough benefitted heavily from doing exactly that, even though i had to rely on looted ammo.
Looted 25mm can get you pretty far, if you manage the ammo well it should be a stepping stone to seagulls and\or other assembled weapons made from looted parts. In neither playthrough i can currently make decent craft weapons other than from looted parts, but in both i have several types of those available, and i also have the prize 30mm purchases available in the gold one.

Ironically, i've noticed that my higher difficulty playthrough i tend to have far better and more numerous looted weapons available thanks to meeting some better opponents few times, ironically making fights easier on the average.
Very early on in the red blackbeard playthorugh i got into a nasty pogrom mission against ratmen that were supported by ghouls and 2 cars.
It was almost a disaster, my commonly available weapons were domestic shotguns, SMGs, six-shooters, RCF rifles and so on.
But in the "break in case of emergency" reserve i had a lasgun and laspistol looted from a small government landed ship earlier on, with few batteries to boot.
Yes, cars can die to lasgun autofire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 17, 2017, 06:41:23 pm
JS Sparrow too stronk, I stick with waiting for the next patch to fix RNG Score-dumping.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on June 17, 2017, 11:24:41 pm
JS Sparrow too stronk, I stick with waiting for the next patch to fix RNG Score-dumping.

I didn't run into that one in either of my playthroughs.

Is it me being lucky or something else?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 17, 2017, 11:37:48 pm
I didn't run into that one in either of my playthroughs.

Is it me being lucky or something else?

Don't take me serious just like the other hardcore players of the mod. You should be lucky if you got positive scores in the first 3-4 months. I got dumpstered the very first month with -600 because of shippings I couldn't deal with. But sure it's my fault that the government digs in europe while I'm starting in kangaroo-island.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on June 17, 2017, 11:48:02 pm
Don't take me serious just like the other hardcore players of the mod. You should be lucky if you got positive scores in the first 3-4 months. I got dumpstered the very first month with -600 because of shippings I couldn't deal with. But sure it's my fault that the government digs in europe while I'm starting in kangaroo-island.
Oh, here's your problem.
My starting bases were USA and Italy respectively. I have a secondary base in Australia and it's not getting much shipping. Not that you can do much about shipping in the first months unless you really luck out as you have no armed craft, you can only attack landed ones, which are rare.
You should try to do all the random and bounty missions though.
Once you get a craft weapon with ammo and aircar or airspeeder to carry it, things change a lot score\money wise, you are really limited before that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 18, 2017, 12:00:32 am
Yeah it's my bad. Guess I need a hardcore guide to deal with the game.
Everything not following those guidelines leads to not having fun.
No freedom for the user, only the most efficient strategy works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on June 18, 2017, 12:11:51 am
Yeah it's my bad. Guess I need a hardcore guide to deal with the game.
Everything not following those guidelines leads to not having fun.
No freedom for the user, only the most efficient strategy works.
Americas, Europe, Asia certainly work for first base locations. But as in vanilla, there are bad places to locate first base in (like polar areas), and with how this mod is quite a bit harder than vanilla, making the game harder for yourself this way is making it really hard. Jack Sparrow with first base in Australia is, early game, in some ways 1-2 levels higher than it would seem.
Especially with the weird way difficulty works in this mod due to heavy reliance on looted gear - if you loot lots of nice stuff, things get easier for you. Right away, you can use it until you run out of ammo. If no enemies with nice gear spawn so that you can't loot nice gear, things stay hard for you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ivandogovich on June 18, 2017, 12:32:38 am
I really think its hard to beat going with first base in Crimea/Turkey region.  It leaves you set to cover all of Europe, while also covering a significant chunk of North Africa.  In all my campaigns, I've never been hit by those massive score dumps that killed the campaign.  My second base usually goes in China, so that I can still reach from the first base, but North America is a solid alternative.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Stoddard on June 18, 2017, 01:13:48 am
I really think its hard to beat going with first base in Crimea/Turkey region.

I prefer Kotor (https://www.google.com/maps/place/42%C2%B025'48.0%22N+18%C2%B046'12.0%22E/@43.0157738,7.8938787,4z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d42.43!4d18.77?hl=en).
The range of a hyperwave decoder based there just touches the one based in the Great Lakes region in North America, and they both in turn nicely merge with one based on the north-west shores of Okhotsk Sea. After that you go with one in australian desert, one in Sri-Lanka, one in the south-african deserts, one a bit south of Amazonia, and put the antarctic one on the inner edge of the Ronne ice shelf. And that's it, only Pacific is not covered, and wouldn't it be nice to have a base at Hawaii, but you're out of bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: karadoc on June 18, 2017, 09:05:39 am
I've heard people talking about early game problems with scores; but I've never seen that myself in multiple playthroughs.

In my current game, I spotted an enemy base on the second month (which I've not attempted to attack, because I'd get slaughtered). But my scores have big very large and positive every month. I've noticed what appear to be 'peacekeeping' missions with frigates and a battleship; which I obviously can't deal with... but my scores have been very strong.

So I'm kind of curious and puzzled as to what's going on with people's games where the scores are negative. What unlucky event are they getting? Or what is it about their play that's not giving them the points they need?

I can think of one thing I do that pumps up my score a lot, and maybe others don't do this. I invest heavily in research in the early game at the start of each month; pretty much spending everything I have on brainers and barracks for them to live. Research does give a lot of points... so maybe that's why I've never seen a negative score. (And now that high scores result in bonus money, brainers can fund most of their own wages with the bonus money...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on June 18, 2017, 09:54:07 am
The issue is that apparently ALL craft generate negative score while active on the geoscape(greater amount while landed). Some enemy missions either spawn alot of craft(ratmen patrol) or stay on globe for an extended time(excavators).

The cumulative negative from this global activity can add up to thousands of points at a stage of the game where the player as zero radar coverage and no air combat ability. This game state persists until the player has cleared all the early paced content(bounties, dr.x, ect) and shifted into the air game.

As such you get something causing a game over that the player is not allowed to interact with, and is somewhat random but common. This is compounded by the fact that dioxine earlier attempt to fix this problem actually made it worse.

The current patch as well as a few preceding ones have this problem. About 1/3 of all new games will end in the first year without player agency, unless the player indulges in save file edits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: karadoc on June 18, 2017, 10:07:20 am
Fair enough. From what you've said it sounds like the problem is relatively recent, so my previous playthroughs weren't in great danger from the problem; and for my current playthrough I probably just had sufficient luck for it to not be a problem.

I can imagine that unseen ratmen patrols and such could generate negative points without the player being able to do anything about it. I just don't have a strong sense of the magnitude of the effect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on June 18, 2017, 03:23:56 pm
1-2k negative score per month.

Even if it doesn't kill you, it almost certainly torpedoes your economy by countering infamy bonus and eliminating protection payment increase. Finishing early months deep in the red really hurts your ability to progress.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 18, 2017, 03:53:43 pm
1-2k negative score per month.

Even if it doesn't kill you, it almost certainly torpedoes your economy by countering infamy bonus and eliminating protection payment increase. Finishing early months deep in the red really hurts your ability to progress.

Exactly. Playing with infamy bonus is allready hard to determine (the game continues to warn the player that upkeep is too high because protection-money is non-existent) and -500 and more screws you completely over to a point of preventing any production in your extractors and with basic gear you can't get into the green to supply yourself. I went red in january and only got lucky with a landing in febuary to not "game over".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 25, 2017, 02:42:17 pm
@Dioxine

Anything fancy coming for the next installment?
Did you found a way to prevent 'random' score dumping in the first year/months?

I would suggest to gate excavators somewhere behind a research topic. Just like the gov. fusion cruiser?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on June 25, 2017, 04:25:28 pm
How many times have I to explain that current score trouble is a result of a silly bug (I've assigned flight scoring to missions, instead of ufos).

Also yea, a lot of fancy things, of course ; )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: LexThorn on June 27, 2017, 07:59:25 pm

Also yea, a lot of fancy things, of course ; )

Nice!

I forgot: Are pilots reciving stat improvements from successful piloting tasks?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Meridian on June 27, 2017, 08:03:30 pm
I forgot: Are pilots reciving stat improvements from successful piloting tasks?

Yes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: KateMicucci on July 02, 2017, 05:57:22 pm
With this score bug would you guys say it's best to hold off on starting a new game until the next version is released?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on July 02, 2017, 06:36:09 pm
With this score bug would you guys say it's best to hold off on starting a new game until the next version is released?
Started 2 games on this one, did't get it. Heard other people did though.

Also, Bloodhounds are ridiculous, their attack needs a +armor% nerf. They do meaningful damage even through plate armor and loader suits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 02, 2017, 06:48:29 pm
The 'lucky ones' don't spawn excavator-missions during thier first months.

Those do so much score-damage that they negate all efforts during these months (denying bonus money at the end of the month) and even threating you with a "game over" warning.
The unfair part is that you can't do shit against that if these happen to drill outside your radar/airbus reach.
Also I doubt you can fight an excavator-crew with 6 hands and the utmost starting equipment without save-scumming.

(or you're just 'that tough' like everyone else on this board and manage to do it on JS Iron(wo)man without casulties) /s

Bloodhounds are fine, if you let them bite you, you deserve to die. Use grav-packs and crafts that can only be entered using elevators (such a green snake) to deny thier melee-attacks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on July 02, 2017, 07:10:08 pm
Those do so much score-damage that they negate all efforts during these months (denying bonus money at the end of the month) and even threating you with a "game over" warning.
The unfair part is that you can't do shit against that if these happen to drill outside your radar/airbus reach.
Also I doubt you can fight an excavator-crew with 6 hands and the utmost starting equipment without save-scumming.

Excavator crew is pretty much a joke, not much harder than crackhouse bandits. The problem is, it rarely spawns within range so cannot be really countered until month 2.
Also, they do not negate all efforts, just force using as many brainers as possible, as soon as possible, which is forcing a single strategy - not good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Marduk on July 02, 2017, 07:26:27 pm
The 'lucky ones' don't spawn excavator-missions during thier first months.

Those do so much score-damage that they negate all efforts during these months (denying bonus money at the end of the month) and even threating you with a "game over" warning.
The unfair part is that you can't do shit against that if these happen to drill outside your radar/airbus reach.
Also I doubt you can fight an excavator-crew with 6 hands and the utmost starting equipment without save-scumming.
With some looted weapons you can deal with them easily, they are just trader guild mooks.
But yeah. you are screwed if they spawn before you can do much about them or out-point the mission effect.
Bloodhounds are fine, if you let them bite you, you deserve to die. Use grav-packs and crafts that can only be entered using elevators (such a green snake) to deny thier melee-attacks.
That's kind of my point - that's all sensible early game tricks to deal with them, but you should not need to be using all the early game tricks against a mook animal when you have freaking power armor, that's ridiculous.
It's as ridiculous as the anti cyberdisc dogs, dunno if that still works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 02, 2017, 07:37:51 pm
It's as ridiculous as the anti cyberdisc dogs, dunno if that still works.

I hope so, dogs are awesome. 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 02, 2017, 09:03:00 pm
But dogs can't 'aye' crysalisks and they panic on thier own due to mediocre bravery.
Dog's would be more awesome if they wouldn't use a whole HWP slot.

Considering how huge a bloodhound is, it's no surprise that they just chew through any layer of armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 02, 2017, 10:59:50 pm
Just did a quick Testrun for 10min to check how far someone can survive without doing nothing and only do research.
Jack Sparrow difficulty.

January: -1000
February;: +24
March: -2000
April: -2250

Much RNG with enemy activity. Don't respond to anything means nothing with global missions breaking your neck instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 02, 2017, 11:10:02 pm
Also, they do not negate all efforts, just force using as many brainers as possible, as soon as possible, which is forcing a single strategy - not good.

I wanna know how to affort more than 3 brainers in the early stages. They suck so much salary it's close to suicide having more than 3 at any given time until the first fights happened.
It's a vague strategy and with RNG included in how long a research topic takes the user runs into the odds that rushing those brainers can't cut the excavator-influence.

In worst case the score remains negative, you have to pay 5-6 brainers and run DEEP AS HELL into negative money and can't manufacture anything to squeeze money out of the extractor's.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Dioxine on July 03, 2017, 01:21:51 am
If worst comes to worst and your score sucks by January 31, you can sack excess brainers and hope for a better February. With the Fugitive Search missions in January, tho, you're always guaranteed loot and research fodder. G2 will also include 2 more early missions to make 'Death in January' less likely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: karadoc on July 03, 2017, 01:49:34 am
Always hire brainers at the start of the month, so that you get the most value out of their salary. Don't hire them mid-month unless you are rich. (You have to pay the full salary even if you hire them on the 30th and they haven't arrived yet.)

With that, brainers aren't as big of a cost as they seem. Their research generates a large amount of points, which translates into a large cash bonus at the end of the month. At the same time, you can use the research to generate new money making opportunities. ie. Warehouse missions, animal hunts, undersea missions, bounty hunts, etc. are all early-game techs which will give you more money, and can get them sooner if you have more brainers...

In previous playthroughs I've experienced pretty heavy financial stress from hiring too many brainers too soon; but in my current playthrough I've found that I can just hire as many as I can buy at the start of the month; because the end-of-month bonus pays the bulk of their salary. (That said, there's a bit of luck involved in that currently, due to the negative score bug thing. At least, that's what I've been told. I haven't noticed it happen myself.)

[edit]
By the way, there are ways to micromanage your research to avoid wasting brainer-days, which is pretty important in the early game. But I'm starting to feel like everything I've posted so far is a spoiler, so I'm just going to leave it at that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 03, 2017, 07:24:42 pm
I considered to hire them at the first day of the month.
Yes I use micro-management to get 'excellent' progression on the topics.
My concern is that we have to solve a problem that shouldn't even exist.
Why does dioxine has to add 2 whole missions (thanks for that tho) to balance this out? Is there no 'switch' or ruleset to just negate all influence done by enemy shippings?
Maybe limit it to the first 3 month so the player can get started.

If it's a bug why not hotfix so the available content can be tested instead of losing progress (and campaigns) to it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: ivandogovich on July 03, 2017, 07:51:16 pm
Yes I use micro-management to get 'excellent' progression on the topics.

Hmmm... while this may help you get through a tech faster, this is definitely not the most Efficient way to conduct Research.

The most efficient way is assigning one brainer per topic.  This ensures that when the research is completed, you have not wasted any extra scientist manhours on a project beyond the minimum requirements.  That said, I recognize there are times to rush a project to get critically needed tech, but making these the exception rather than the rule is the best practice.  I have actually been conducting my last campaign with this practice.  I will also caveat that at a certain point when I have 16+ brainers, and the techs are starting to get into the more expensive (10+ pts) range, I often bump up my research teams to 2 brainers per topic.

The other critical thing to keep in mind for research strategy for your end of month score and payout is the 2 for 1 topics.  All books and interrogations that give another topic are Excellent bang for the buck.  You get points for the base research of the book or interview as well as all the points for the secondary revealed topic.  I base 80% of my first year research on this alone.  Books are fast, and I build a second jail in the first base so that I can stack more captives for research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 03, 2017, 07:56:22 pm
And still there should be no need to follow this strategy if I consider to play on something lower than JS Ironman.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: legionof1 on July 03, 2017, 08:53:27 pm
I imagine "fixing" the error is more complex then it would first appear. Keep in mind the present problem arose from attempting to solve a lesser version of score deathspikes that had been present for a few versions before we caught on.

I'm guessing Dioxine would prefer to solve the whole shebang rather then simply rolling back a single aspect and not solving the root issues. And it not like it's a crippling or 100% reproducible game beaker. Even it does happen, a few minutes with a txt editor and a little save file knowledge can remedy the problem. This is the category of bug that hangs around for months or years in AAA titles. Low priority with known user end solutions. Small indies will generally acknowledge the problem exists but can rarely spare the effort to fully kill the bug. 

Be grateful Dioxine is more attentive to such things then 95% of the games industry.

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G1 - 25 May - Evasive Maneuvers
Post by: KateMicucci on July 04, 2017, 03:40:37 am
It's a better game than 95% of the games.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 04, 2017, 09:38:26 pm
Thank you very much.

Have a new version, and a shipwrecked summer :)

See changelog on post #1 for details.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 04, 2017, 10:16:05 pm
Sweet, time to give the mod (and another codex) another go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Marduk on July 04, 2017, 11:08:07 pm
Are saves from previous version compatible?

Also the title screen still says G1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Roxis231 on July 04, 2017, 11:22:24 pm
- New: 8 brand new faces for Gals (to a total of 96)

Ok - Looks like my plans for a quick update today of my Alternate Graphics mod is shot.

I've got 3 morning shifts the week as well as a block of three days off - should have an update by next weekend.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 05, 2017, 09:49:19 am
thks for the update.

Since Hangers are now destructible, what happens to a craft assigned to a hanger the goes boom? Also shame on you for removing fun and carefree use of the ridiculous size explosives. R.I.P dragon use.  :'(

On a serious note, mind cluing us in on what the critical tiles in the hanger are? Even without heavy ordinance use hangers get shot up quite alot. Panicking bad guys end up tearing up ton of stuff too. Never mind if it's factions with battle tanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 05, 2017, 12:16:04 pm
It's 'ordnance', 'ordinance' is a type of law :) You will see the critical tiles right away, they're clearly marked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 05, 2017, 12:46:16 pm
horay for spellchecker and 2am posting  ;).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: HT on July 05, 2017, 01:03:11 pm

0.99G.2
- Updated to OXCE+ 3.7 08-Jun-2017
- Fix: no mechtoid corpse = unwinnable campaign problem
- New: Added 6 damage types, updated weapons and armor
- New: 8 brand new faces for Gals (to a total of 96)
- New Soldier Type: Freaks
- Update: More music
- Update: Interface look updates (by Bloax)

Yay, a new update! With even more damage types (how many are there now? Over 10 at least)! And new music, hopefully fixing the issue I had with Piratez' standard battlescape's theme.

I'll have to try this mod soon and see how it compares with X-Files, which also likely get a new update as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: KateMicucci on July 05, 2017, 07:56:09 pm
I'm really enjoying the extended early game and the new missions. (Though I'm still running into the same "problem" where my research can't keep up with my loot and I have assault rifles before bayoneted muskets and clockwork guns are researched)

Separating the castaways from the recruits was a great idea. I now have a core of elites that I can get attached to and cannonfodder filler who don't matter until they rank up.

Sometimes knocked-out people die even with no lethal wounds or adverse weather. This has even happened to one of my castaways. Was there a change to make wounded people take damage even with no lethal wounds? Or does sectograss damage knocked out people?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Marduk on July 05, 2017, 11:15:53 pm
I'm really enjoying the extended early game and the new missions. (Though I'm still running into the same "problem" where my research can't keep up with my loot and I have assault rifles before bayoneted muskets and clockwork guns are researched)

Separating the castaways from the recruits was a great idea. I now have a core of elites that I can get attached to and cannonfodder filler who don't matter until they rank up.

Sometimes knocked-out people die even with no lethal wounds or adverse weather. This has even happened to one of my castaways. Was there a change to make wounded people take damage even with no lethal wounds? Or does sectograss damage knocked out people?
As far as i remember reading bootypedia, when a gal gets 4x or 6x health in stun damage, she starts gettubg hp damage, while losing enough health (about 1/3) causes additional stun damage per turn. Add these 2 rules together and you get some stunned people dying eventually for no other reason.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 05, 2017, 11:31:00 pm
yes,excessive stun over current hp will cause lethal ticks. The tick is stronger the greater the difference between current and max HP. So a gal at very low hp and with alot of accumulated stun is gona be dead in a few turns without intervention.

Same holds true for enemies.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: greattuna on July 06, 2017, 12:04:45 am
while losing enough health (about 1/3) causes additional stun damage per turn.
It's 25% of lost health for most armors, 50% for pain resistant armors, and 62.5% for pain immune armors. And excessive stun is the primary reason I'm carrying oxygen tanks along everywhere now.


Early game is fun, but helluva confusing. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, so I only got *the mutant alliance* at january 2602, and my mainstay weapon is military shotgun, because 45 damage ain't nothing to scoff at. I'm in general relying on shotguns, strangely enough: heavy shotgun, police shotgun, military shotgun. They have good accuracy at close-medium range, varied ammo and good damage output. I also got negative score at first two months, but I managed to recover from that thanks to two conveniently-landed freighters later on.


I like the new additions, especially the ever-familiar warp damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Marduk on July 06, 2017, 01:57:25 am
It's 25% of lost health for most armors, 50% for pain resistant armors, and 62.5% for pain immune armors. And excessive stun is the primary reason I'm carrying oxygen tanks along everywhere now.
I use those only underwater, heavy and backpack only for storage.
I'm using beer or canteens for that usually, rum and hi tech medkits later game, as they have stun remove too.
Once you get into later game and have decent armor reviving/preventing drop of gals that got wounded is quite worthwhile as they might get a lot of stun while at half or more health, and still quite combat capable.
Early game is fun, but helluva confusing. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, so I only got *the mutant alliance* at january 2602, and my mainstay weapon is military shotgun, because 45 damage ain't nothing to scoff at. I'm in general relying on shotguns, strangely enough: heavy shotgun, police shotgun, military shotgun. They have good accuracy at close-medium range, varied ammo and good damage output. I also got negative score at first two months, but I managed to recover from that thanks to two conveniently-landed freighters later on.


I like the new additions, especially the ever-familiar warp damage.
That's pretty slow. Reading or even better, knowing the tech tree from earlier playthroughs should help. One lesson that has really speeded up my equipment progress is learning from my first, gold playthrough about what research really matters or not, especially to not hog or rush research nice looted weapons in early game - use them against challenging opponents, research only if you have no ammo anyway. If you destroy the weapon in research and are left with few clips, they are useless. Use them first, then research, if you need the research more  than others that is. This should allow you some early nice automatics, and those are better than shotguns on gals with good firing skill. In my new green playthrough i have a goddamn tommygun in first half of 2601, and the ammo for that can last a bit.
Contacts are also likely to be your main source of non looted weapons until you get a nice array of researched kustom weapons, and that's not going to happen until well into 2602, if not later, depending how economic your brainer use is and how man you have, so try to get research requirements for all the weapon related contacts you can.
Hunting rifles are the early game sniping weapon, wonder why wouldn't you use them.
Armor is a different story, you probably wantt to rush workshop and metal armor because tac vest's 20 side armor makes it very unreliable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: greattuna on July 06, 2017, 02:21:13 am
Heh. I'm familiar with tech tree... or, rather, was, because my last successful playthrough hails back from very old times.

I would use advanced medipacks, I liked them a lot back in my previous playthough, but they're still pretty far in terms of technology, canteens are too large for my taste, rum is sidelined by that other product made from apples for money, and beer feels too weak for me.


I'm looking at tech tree a lot, but it's too big early on for me to digest. So I've for the first year had 4 brainers doing 4 different interrogations, 4 researching whatever happens to be on top of the list at the time, and 4 researched really important technology. Even then, I only got old earth books from interrogation in... november '01, I think. Or even in december, it was one of the last techs researched from civvies. On the other hand, I have a lot of contacts researched, so I can buy guns from basic pistols to auto rifles to light sniper rifles (which I did buy), to mortars, willie petes (my favorite) and high explosives. Still didn't get eurosyndicate and death realms' contacts, so there's that.

I haven't happened to get a grip on those nice guns you're talking about, exception being CAWS (even then, it only has 2 clips) and few machineguns, which are nice, but not my style. I only got hunting rifles in october\novemeber, while stumbling into ratmen on megascorpion hunt. I know how good this weapon is, especially scoped variant with PS rounds, so I made sure to win that mission. After I'll research back to school, shotguns will get phased out by better guns, but until now, few weapons can match military's 45 damage.

EDIT 1: regarding armor, I already have workshop and blueprints for tac armor, though I'm severely lacking in aqua plastics. So I take every trader guard alive, so I could rob them for that precious 1 aqua plastic. 3 guards make one armor, while most gals still walk in warrior suits (+one gal in looted nurse outfit)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: BBHood217 on July 06, 2017, 03:12:24 am
Have you tried underwater missions?  If you luck into a sunken USO, that's 200 aqua plastics right there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 06, 2017, 03:13:37 am
Speaking of new additions, i find the implementation of the new electric type to be inconsistent. Also balance concerns.

1: It contains what was previously lethal and non lethal weapons in the same type. Electro-claw and zapper as examples.

2: Additionally it has inherited the "ignore shock immunity" tag on things like Cattle prod. However most things that had shock immunity, are immune or nigh immune to electric damage. Shock immunity ignore only remains relevant for reapers and boomasuars.

Onto balance.

3: Following from 2 above the electric immunity on cyberdisks has eliminated an entire slew of weapons options to get a cyberdisk corpse further retarding progress on the already RNG dependent gravity physics tech.

4: Mercs got even harder to deal with being as resistant to electric as they are to bullets. Stun batons are only capable of harming merc grunts when wielded by max reaction gals. All other mercs are immune. Prods only average 20 dmg. Even 200% rolls on such weapons are largely ineffective requiring 6ish hits for a grunt and upwards 10-15 for higher ranks.

5:Impalers have gone from top tier stunning tools to sorta equal to cattle prods. Almost any foe with carapace grade armor or better has some significant measure of electric resist. Much the same case with other electric based stun tools. Resist ends up trumping the armor pen against most armored foes. Even 50% armor pen doesn't matter when your losing 25-65% of base damage to resist.

!Rejoice all lovers of wood! The handle has resumed it's rightful place as the best stunning weapon in the game.

Edit: my math for imaplers was slightly off but the nerf bat still swung very hard. Point 5 updated accordingly.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99F.5 - 1 Apr - Fight Magic with Courage!
Post by: BBHood217 on July 06, 2017, 03:32:58 am
Ive ordered a Provost because they never appeared (100mil) and he's due to "arrive" within about a couple weeks. Someone else gave me the provost research topic unlock so ill be able to go straight to breaking him.

I'm in a similar bind right now, only I have to order two provosts because nothing gives it for free anymore.  Merc soldiers and interceptors could also apparently be hired back then, but I get no such option now.

Point is, I never saw a provost and the Academy has completely disappeared now so I'm down to scrounging up 200 million to research one and then break the other.  It's kinda funny that I got annihilator suits long before I'll get my first ghost armor.  Should've gone green.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 06, 2017, 04:04:41 am
Yeah some codexes are more affected by RNG then others. Red is the least hurt because you only need 1 occurrence of dark ones to unlock "voodoo:destruction" and the outfit. You may miss out on some the weapons through lack of encounters with high level deamons, but not having the outfit is largely impossible.

Unlike communion's biosuit being stuck behind the reticulan elder who is only found on the reticulan base version of the imperial probe.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 06, 2017, 10:03:41 am
Onto balance.

3: Following from 2 above the electric immunity on cyberdisks has eliminated an entire slew of weapons options to get a cyberdisk corpse further retarding progress on the already RNG dependent gravity physics tech.

4: Mercs got even harder to deal with being as resistant to electric as they are to bullets. Stun batons are only capable of harming merc grunts when wielded by max reaction gals. All other mercs are immune. Prods only average 20 dmg. Even 200% rolls on such weapons are largely ineffective requiring 6ish hits for a grunt and upwards 10-15 for higher ranks.

5:Impalers have gone from top tier stunning tools to sorta equal to cattle prods. Almost any foe with carapace grade armor or better has some significant measure of electric resist. Much the same case with other electric based stun tools. Resist ends up trumping the armor pen against most armored foes. Even 50% armor pen doesn't matter when your losing 25-65% of base damage to resist.


3. Bug. Mismatched resistances on Cyberdisc (hot with electric, the latter should be 1.0)
4. Well, mercs will be mercs, eh. With their great survivability it is easiest to catch them using high-powered AP, Concussive or, best, Acid weapons. There is indeed no easy solution atm.
5. Indeed, this is stupid. Impaler will be fixed to deliver Warp damage (but no armor pen).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 06, 2017, 02:43:02 pm
Odd question:

What to do when I manage to get my 6 starting lunatics wounded during the first 2 missions?
Since i can't hire hands I got 0 available soldiers to do anything until february/ until I find the right research to hire soldiers.

Is this intended to be absolutely dependent on 6 starting lunatics with no room for failure while managing to kill/capture all foes?
I can't manage to go flawless since this RNG-Game doesn't like me and my hands keep missing 56% shots and usually have shitty accuracy anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Marduk on July 06, 2017, 03:31:08 pm
Odd question:

What to do when I manage to get my 6 starting lunatics wounded during the first 2 missions?
Since i can't hire hands I got 0 available soldiers to do anything until february/ until I find the right research to hire soldiers.

Is this intended to be absolutely dependent on 6 starting lunatics with no room for failure while managing to kill/capture all foes?
I can't manage to go flawless since this RNG-Game doesn't like me and my hands keep missing 56% shots and usually have shitty accuracy anyway.
Restart, wait for heal, or wait for recruitment research obviously. Got that problem in the newest playthrough, after a bit more than 2 missions, got out of it through the last one, recruitment doesn't take much brainer-days at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: juff on July 06, 2017, 03:34:02 pm
Yeah, recruiting more hands only takes 4 techs (12 days at max), and the path can be found on the tech tree viewer, https://ufopaedia.org or through trial and error. Granted, that isn't new player friendly, but i don't think this mod is aimed at new players.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 06, 2017, 04:55:47 pm
Yeah, recruiting more hands only takes 4 techs (12 days at max), and the path can be found on the tech tree viewer, https://ufopaedia.org or through trial and error. Granted, that isn't new player friendly, but i don't think this mod is aimed at new players.
Most certainly not aimed at new players.

Odd question:

What to do when I manage to get my 6 starting lunatics wounded during the first 2 missions?
Since i can't hire hands I got 0 available soldiers to do anything until february/ until I find the right research to hire soldiers.

Is this intended to be absolutely dependent on 6 starting lunatics with no room for failure while managing to kill/capture all foes?
I can't manage to go flawless since this RNG-Game doesn't like me and my hands keep missing 56% shots and usually have shitty accuracy anyway.

To minimize early lack of firing skill look to using shotguns & melee. Aside from the drone on the academy experiments mission, nothing in the first few months has the armor to entirely negate shotguns pellets.

Also even the worst of initial lunatics will have a significant edge in TU and reactions over what you face very early on. Therefore sprinting to melee even in full view of multiple foes will garner very little reaction fire. As a reference guild security has 55 TU and 35 reactions vs minimum of 65 and 50 for lunatics. That's a fair window to exploit assuming the guild security expended 0 TU. Past the first turn AI units rarely retain full TU. The margin is even greater with "civvies".

3. Bug. Mismatched resistances on Cyberdisc (hot with electric, the latter should be 1.0)
4. Well, mercs will be mercs, eh. With their great survivability it is easiest to catch them using high-powered AP, Concussive or, best, Acid weapons. There is indeed no easy solution atm.
5. Indeed, this is stupid. Impaler will be fixed to deliver Warp damage (but no armor pen).

On the subject of mercs, it's not so much the lack of an "easy" solution but that every solution is some flavor of manure. Mercs must be captured to progress, but any slipup in such attempts is at best case is weeks/months in medical. When the most resource efficient option left to the player is liberal application of mini nukes(or similar heavy support) and praying to RNG and mercs natural durability something is wrong IMO. Granted you probably have all the time in the world to play damage roulette, given implosion bomb BS.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 06, 2017, 11:31:41 pm
Got the 2nd try happen to work.
Thx for the tips. Which codex to go? Grey or Gold?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 07, 2017, 12:11:54 am
I prefer grey.

1: The fortuna menace class can access every environment which is a big boon for doing space. Space capable full size transports are otherwise quite far down the line in terms of tech. Being able to compress all your ground combat into single transport also saves on hangers when funds/production capacity are tight tight. One of each weapon type also makes equipping forgiving, also inbuilt shield, and huge radar range. Bit sluggish thou.   

2: Ghost outfits are unique(so far) in offering invisibility to the player. Also not particularly difficult to obtain, as broken academy esper is the hardest thing to get. Also not particularly expensive in terms of limited/rare resources.

Not to say that gold is bad but it's much less straight forward in getting best returns from what it offers. Grey is very much able to be useful in pretty much any game state/mission type. Gold is much more fussy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: greattuna on July 07, 2017, 01:50:26 am
You know, after spending 500 tokens on it, the electric lasso feels underwhelming. I thought it'd be like cattle prod, but both times I managed to try it out against unarmored human (1 G.O. and 1 Air Sailor), it failed to do it's job, and I hit twice each time. So much for that reliability.

Oh, and there was a word about an enemy base (despite me rocking the chart with 7k+ score). Is it a good idea to camp supply ships, given that I only have turtle, tac armors, early-game firearms and tons of explosives? I could use me some gauss guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: karadoc on July 07, 2017, 02:38:10 am
You know, after spending 500 tokens on it, the electric lasso feels underwhelming. I thought it'd be like cattle prod, but both times I managed to try it out against unarmored human (1 G.O. and 1 Air Sailor), it failed to do it's job, and I hit twice each time. So much for that reliability.

Oh, and there was a word about an enemy base (despite me rocking the chart with 7k+ score). Is it a good idea to camp supply ships, given that I only have turtle, tac armors, early-game firearms and tons of explosives? I could use me some gauss guns.
The key advantage of the electric lasso is its range. It may take a couple of shots, but at least it allows you to it enemies that aren't standing next to you. For example, you can hit them through a window of a building instead of having to walk around to the door.

As for supply ships... if you're the kind of player who reloads when something bad happens, then the supply ships are worth it. If you're the kind of player who accepts bad results as part of the game experience, then you should probably avoid supply ships at this stage. Supply ship missions are very delicate and volatile... things can look like they are going well, and then suddenly you've lost your entire crew.

By the way, you won't be able to use the gauss weapons without extra research anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: KateMicucci on July 07, 2017, 03:15:25 am
You know, after spending 500 tokens on it, the electric lasso feels underwhelming. I thought it'd be like cattle prod, but both times I managed to try it out against unarmored human (1 G.O. and 1 Air Sailor), it failed to do it's job, and I hit twice each time. So much for that reliability.
This has been my experience as well. I'd rather move 4 squares closer and use the regular whip.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 07, 2017, 04:28:07 am
Yup electric lasso is just rubbish. I tested it on my own girls in uber outfits and after 4 hits it did 0 - ZERO - stun damage (this was in 99G1, haven't used it since). Stun baton, handle, leather whip is much better. I made a mod that reduced its time unit cost but it's still useless - I think if the electric lasso was made into an arching weapon with more reliable damage it would be worth carrying into battle

And Gauss Weapons aren't really superior weapons. Even after unlocking them and I still use the cheap 37mm Rifle and Heavy Slugthrower. What you really want to target is manufacturing hellerium munitions, specifically LC-HEAT rounds. 90 plasma damage per shot, 3 shots per round, good accuracy - that's something that very few weapons can beat
------------

Btw... I've found 2 bugs.

The first is a sprite glitch which makes it look like the lower body of girls on a road disappear :D It might just be the colour or something and not actually a glitch, nothing major.

The second bug didn't exist in earlier version. Mutated reaper acid spit attack accuracy seems to be stuck at 0%.

Oh and love the new music btw!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 08, 2017, 10:06:05 pm

!Rejoice all lovers of wood! The handle has resumed it's rightful place as the best stunning weapon in the game.


A screenshot to proof the love of the handle since 50-150% DMG Roulette does the job well for melee.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Riph on July 09, 2017, 02:16:49 am
Hey folks.  Enjoying this playthrough greatly, XPiratez gets better and better.

Possible bug report:
Use Drill: Gold gives 3 space suits in its reward package.  However, the gold path ship is not spaceworthy. Meanwhile,
Use Drill: Grey gives no space suits.  However, the grey path ship (Fortuna) is spaceworthy.

Is this intentional?  Or did the line just get pasted into the wrong crafting recipe? Or am I totally off-base and the colors/ships situation has changed completely since I last learned it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 09, 2017, 03:14:23 am
It's intended (I guess).

The 3 Space suits are doing the job as intended in the gold codex since you can take the pachiderm as a space-station raid-ship.
The fortuna itself is able to bring more (wo)man in rescue-pods into space and potencial just brute-force your way through the map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 10, 2017, 02:48:58 pm
Daily reminder to give sniper-flavored weaponry some love.
Currently stuff like the Flintlock-Rifle (that offers scaling and scores 0-96 dmg-roulette with my gals)
is reliable unreliable as it fails to even damage an unarmored church dude.

Way to promote the reliable Hunting Rifle as it allows more bullets/turn and surprisingly does the job in medium and long-range battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Troubleshooter on July 10, 2017, 04:44:06 pm
Maybe I'm a noob (I am), but I can't see any reason to choose a codex other than green given that it seems to be the easiest way to get hold of a craft weapon (the charger laser) so that I can actually start shooting things down. Or is there an easier way to get hold of craft weapons?

Also, I don't really understand the bounty hunting thing. I read the in game help and I understand the trophy - > bounty token - > prize progression, but where do I actually get these "trophies" from? I assumed I'd have specifically labelled "bounty hunt" missions pop up, but two months after researching the tech I've seen nothing of the sort. I need the "Goblin Zaxx favor" prize to contact the authorised dealers now, don't I?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 10, 2017, 04:47:13 pm
Daily reminder to give sniper-flavored weaponry some love.

I think Oharty is working on a new feature that dramatically decreases accuracy of shots beyond the vision range. This will promote weapons with extreme accuracy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: ivandogovich on July 10, 2017, 04:54:05 pm
<snip>
 ...but where do I actually get these "trophies" from? I assumed I'd have specifically labelled "bounty hunt" missions pop up, but two  months after researching the tech I've seen nothing of the sort.

They will definitely start populating into the mission mix every month.  Missions are generated by RNG from a list of possible missions every month.  By researching the topic, you have added them to the list, but RNG doesn't guarantee when you will get them or how frequently.  Currently, patience is the cure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 10, 2017, 05:19:32 pm
I think Oharty is working on a new feature that dramatically decreases accuracy of shots beyond the vision range. This will promote weapons with extreme accuracy.

I was talking about this thing.
It does it's job hitting things (unless a pikel of high grass blocked it or the game decides to let the bullet fly through the target).
What it doesn't manage to do is killing/damaging unprotected enemies.

0-200% makes no sense for a sniper-rifle'ish weapon. It either hits and does damage (or grazes the target) or it misses.
It has it's flavor for a low-tech sniper but for stargods' sake make those slug-slow weapons offer a niche and not just a downgrade of a sniper-gauss.

To prevent abuse, add a penalty for close-range aiming. This way it's bad in tight corridors with less than 10 tiles space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 10, 2017, 05:39:41 pm
Criticizing 0-200% damage spread will get you nowhere since it's not going away, period.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 10, 2017, 06:04:44 pm
KK
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 10, 2017, 06:20:04 pm
I think Oharty is working on a new feature that dramatically decreases accuracy of shots beyond the vision range. This will promote weapons with extreme accuracy.

That's a pretty cool change... does that mean my gals can safely walk out of the ship on turn 1 and not worry about getting hit?  ;D Will night affect this too?

@Troubleshooter: Tip: Don't manufacture more than 1 of the same type of prize. I've wasted lots of tokens doing just that

@Ethereal_Medic: You could mod it and change sniper weapon damage type to roll 2d100 instead of 1d200, or even 50%-200%
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 10, 2017, 07:35:12 pm
That's a pretty cool change... does that mean my gals can safely walk out of the ship on turn 1 and not worry about getting hit?  ;D Will night affect this too?

Clearly there has been some miscommunication, since I have no idea how to arrive at your conclusion. ;)

Anyway, no. If anything, it would be more dangerous to step out of the craft, since they could die to someone who is far away and normally wouldn't fire at all, because they can't see the target. With the proposed change (including AI update) they could, if their friend sees you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 10, 2017, 09:09:52 pm
Sounds like Squadsight for the A.I.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 10, 2017, 09:38:07 pm
Sounds like Squadsight for the A.I.

Yeah, but without the hefty accuracy penalty, it would be too good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 11, 2017, 03:15:01 pm
One thought just came up.

This new "Squadsight" for A.I. should be super ugly to fight using the menace-class ships and the thunderhorse as those have big open ramps for the A.I. to abuse unlucky map-spawns and facing enemies with full TU packages.

If this feature gets build into the engine, other second-class dropships with doors (and no ramps) need buffs in soldier-size (2 more for each vessel might do it) since open-ramp-dropships will get extremely dangerous to use against enemies packing the tools to snipe your deploying team or just snapshot babynuke the whole team + all items in your ship)

Even a 0% chance to hit baby-nuke can ruin your day and multiple triggered rockets (HE/Plasma etc.) doesn't sound like fun or fair either. Since smoke-throwing triggers reactionfire you have to get lucky spawning save with no one seeing you and let the smoke drop beneath your feet before you're allowed to move an inch. Dying during the alien-turn can still happen tho. (since you're not allowed to get rid of the spotter or reaction fire)

A second thought while I played some Xenonauts.

Is it possible to get stungas-rockets and stungas-mortar shells?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: BBHood217 on July 11, 2017, 04:38:56 pm
Won't this make fighting invisible enemies more annoying?  As in you have one unit get close to an ethereal to spot it and then open fire on it with other units; but since they technically don't see it, they'll have difficulty hitting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 11, 2017, 05:31:54 pm
snip
Even a 0% chance to hit baby-nuke can ruin your day and multiple triggered rockets (HE/Plasma etc.) doesn't sound like fun or fair either.
snip

Should not happen since there is code to prevent the AI from shooting below a certain threshold of chance to hit(2% if recall correctly). If the squadsight change comes with a significant penalty as was described most weapons won't be used beyond there effective range. Most foes have considerably worse firing skill then the gals so i'm not too concerned.

Won't this make fighting invisible enemies more annoying?  As in you have one unit get close to an ethereal to spot it and then open fire on it with other units; but since they technically don't see it, they'll have difficulty hitting.
Depends on exactly it would be calculated but your probably correct. But unless the malus is huge by the time your challenging etherals the gals should be able to absorb the penalty without much issue. And even it is a large penalty use weapons like shotguns and snipers that have more then 100% accuracy.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Absalom on July 12, 2017, 08:14:00 am
How does the squad sight affect those with only a melee attack?

Only thing I would be concerned about atm is Celatids with squad sight
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 12, 2017, 09:38:59 am
So melee only mobs start moving towards your gals the first time you get spotted. I fail to see how that's a bad thing. Very often the melee mobs end up sitting in some lonely corner of the map and have zero impact. Getting them to pull their thumbs out of their asses and contribute to the tactical environment is better for the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Absalom on July 12, 2017, 09:52:30 am
So melee only mobs start moving towards your gals the first time you get spotted. I fail to see how that's a bad thing. Very often the melee mobs end up sitting in some lonely corner of the map and have zero impact. Getting them to pull their thumbs out of their asses and contribute to the tactical environment is better for the game.

Is that how it works?  I was only asking if they made use of it too, not casting judgement
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 12, 2017, 02:31:26 pm
Is that how it works?  I was only asking if they made use of it too, not casting judgement

I think melee behaviour would not necessarily by impacted by this change. The proposed change is simply to allow shooting at invisible units, it probably won't affect AI awareness as such. But of course it depends on how you go about coding this.

Having said that, I agree with Legion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2017, 08:44:18 am
The squadsight will only work for selected enemy types. 'Spotters' share info on what they see; 'Snipers' can target those seen by any 'Spotters' (or themselves). A unit can have both flags, ofc. Spartans and Humanists will all get either of these flags on basically all units, most other factions won't. Celatids will be spotters for sniper Beastmasters, but certainly not snipers themselves.

Squadsight won't allow enemies to break visibility rules on reaction fire (just like the player can't). Can it help with melee? I doubt it as AI is yet lacking a routine to 'charge towards enemy even if out of charge range'.

I think the AI dance should be improved with some extra flags as well:
- Assaulter. Advances all the time, unless low on TU and has good cover nearby, then takes for cover. If has a ranged weapon, uses 30-60% TUs to fire, depending how good are hit chances. Assaulter tries to keep 15% TU for dodge attempts, unless charging.
- Ambusher. Runs away into good cover, then tries to leave as much as possible for reaction shots
- Harasser. Fires, hides, pops up next turn to fire again; tries to use most TU
- Investigator. Instead of patrolling, heads toward player's LZ when not busy
- Guard. If idle, doesn't patrol but makes a 360 sweep and stands place. Tries to look at other doodz from his own team.
- VIP. Reserves 50% TU to get into cover after fighting normally
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Martin on July 13, 2017, 11:34:03 am
I would think of mercenaries and marsec, not spartans or humanists.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 13, 2017, 04:25:53 pm
I certainly start to miss the idea behind this feature and why it has to be implemented into this mod.

Aren't merc's OP enough?

The mod slowly turns into a complete 'impossible challenge' thing where only 1 strategy will become viable and even this one plan can be foiled by RNG all over the place. The room for "other strategies" gets cut further and further.

Codex-Ships shouldn't be locked behind the lock'nar/ninja-gal topic since the research topic is RNG itself. Can the first captured ninja-gal maybe give this topic for free on the first try? Would be neat since the grey codex offers 0 benefits in taking it for this horrible early game where all other codexes give stuff for free to use.

Much fun using airbus/airvan and aircar for the first 6months, no room for error with 6/5/4 hands and sickbay days sporting 30-60days because a stray revolver managed to roll a 52 (yay...).

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Zharkov on July 13, 2017, 05:22:01 pm
I certainly start to miss the idea behind this feature and why it has to be implemented into this mod.

Aren't merc's OP enough?

The mod slowly turns into a complete 'impossible challenge' thing where only 1 strategy will become viable and even this one plan can be foiled by RNG all over the place. The room for "other strategies" gets cut further and further.

Codex-Ships shouldn't be locked behind the lock'nar/ninja-gal topic since the research topic is RNG itself. Can the first captured ninja-gal maybe give this topic for free on the first try? Would be neat since the grey codex offers 0 benefits in taking it for this horrible early game where all other codexes give stuff for free to use.

Much fun using airbus/airvan and aircar for the first 6months, no room for error with 6/5/4 hands and sickbay days sporting 30-60days because a stray revolver managed to roll a 52 (yay...).

While I welcome every change that makes the AI a little bit smarter, I must concede, that I think Ethereal_Medic has a point about the tech tree. There are too many bottlenecks and often they don't make sense to me. The game is clearly schizo tech (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SchizoTech) and most techs are reverse engineered and tinkered alien or ancient stuff (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ETGaveUsWiFi). So why the dependencies?
Btw, dependencies, an AI update is of course independent from the tech tree thingy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: BBHood217 on July 13, 2017, 05:24:25 pm
What does a mining ship need with an implosion bomb launcher?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 13, 2017, 05:44:54 pm
What does a mining ship need with an implosion bomb launcher?

Don't even consider building the mining ship.
Once you got lucky with the implosion-bomb-launcher you managed to unlock every other "better" dropship and vessel for the lategame.
The mining ship is an unlucky victim of a bottle-neck and RNG-dependant research topic.
The moment you got the tech for mining ship, you might consider building a leviathan and other fighting craft instead of a ship that is "slow" for the time you got it and it's only purpose to exist is the garanteed 4 metalore each time you deploy it. Not worth the slaves or the hellerium to build one of these.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: BBHood217 on July 13, 2017, 06:14:28 pm
Sounds like a "Coelacanth/Gauss" situation.  Is there any other tech that are similarly suffering from it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 13, 2017, 06:20:06 pm
Sounds like a "Coelacanth/Gauss" situation.  Is there any other tech that are similarly suffering from it?

Maybe the HWP with the flak-cannon but the gauss-tank in TFTD was a whole own level of 'not needed' due to the game been badly balanced around lobsterman.
I don't know any other tech deep in the tree similiar to the mining-ship situation.

The tech"'tree" keeps shifting around anyway and with each new bottleneck the game progresses either fast or extraordanary slow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 13, 2017, 07:16:44 pm
Marsec i would be okay with, maybe, but mercs dont need anymore advantages.

Given that the vast majority of mercs have superior spotting stats to the player sniper/spotter mercs could become exceptionally oppressive. It would potentially lead to situations with gauss snipers killing most of your gals before you ever spot anything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 13, 2017, 07:23:03 pm
Maybe merc's don't get the flags or in worst case they become utterly broken.
Not like the mod becomes any easier anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2017, 08:18:01 pm
What the fock man, I said nothing about mercs getting any boost, but it seems you can't think about anything else. If mercs are given this flag, them or any other high end enemies, I believe I said it before, there would be no more need for their vision to be superior to player's. But nooo, no amount of fixes counts, but non-existing problems apparently do.

I couldn't care less about the mining ship (one of 50 craft) or Flak tank (one of 20 hwps) either, I have more important shit to take care of. Like actually progressing with making the game.

The mod actually became a lot easier in the last months. Slaving for 6 months on airbus? Really man? With such an abundance of missions that can get you heaps of cash? With all the new, extra possibilities? With infamy cash bonuses? With all the shortcuts? With the beginning made so easy you practically cannot help but grab a big score in each of the first months? What, is the game supposed to play completely by itself? Sorry but I'm really getting tired of this shit.

If you have concerns, be direct and grown-up about it, not nebulous and slandering. Don't insinuate ill-will on my part, don't you dare, I am working on this project like a dog, and basically for free. However when I hear whining I really stop caring about the subject of the whine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: khade on July 13, 2017, 08:50:13 pm
Since apparently it doesn't get said enough, I love this mod and am very happy you're working on it.  I'm really bad at the game, so the early game is where I've seen things the most, and it's very well done.  I enjoy noticing the areas that you're obviously going to expand on as well. 

Logically, the Mercs would have the squad sight stuff, they're an organized army, not a bunch of overly burly fighters who just happen to be in the same area, but we'll deal with that when/if we have to.  Spartans would have it, as already stated, I'm not so sure about Humanists, they strike me as more of a mob than a military.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Zharkov on July 13, 2017, 10:10:07 pm
 ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 13, 2017, 10:53:46 pm
If i sounded offensive, or i upset you dioxine that was not my intention and i apologize.

Mercs becoming any stronger then present, is from my point a legitimate concern, as they presently express the pinnacle of difficulty within the mod. I feel it to be a problem, if the possibility exists that a "spotter" unit could pinpoint for multiple gauss snipers without himself being seen, and thereby punish the player for something he had no opportunity to interact with.

Something increasing in difficulty is not my concern, it's about something removing player interaction with the tactical challenge. Mercs already remove/negate most of the players tools in regards to vision manipulation. The discussed "spotter/sniper" mechanics would feed on the already present features in a multiplicative manner.

Many months ago, we discussed how bad it would be to have to handle large numbers of the old hacked version of the stagods. This is a similar issue. To much firepower that player cannot see/interact with ends up being a punitive tax in dead bodies on the player.

If you feel that after a certain point in gameplay that a such a tax is justified for some reason, fine, that is your prerogative and right to include. I might even agree with such reasoning. But i will point out what is i feel is potentially harmful change to something i care about.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dioxine on July 13, 2017, 11:37:53 pm
I am sorry, I should have made a citation but I was not in my right mind. I wasn't talking to you, Legion, I was talking to Ethereal Medic. Your input is always valued because you're making clear-cut cases for things.

At the current, Mercs have cheaty vision ranges because else they'd be too easy to destroy. Giving them the squadsight, when it is available, will also mean that I will remove any undue advantage in vision/stealth.

Regarding Spartans and Humanists I will elaborate:
- Spartans will have a system where Scouts are Scouts, Riflemen and Heavies are Snipers, while the captain is a Scout and a Sniper at the same time.
- Humanists will have a worse system: Officers are Scouts, while Instructors and Soldiers are Snipers
- Mercenaries will have a different system yet, probably Commanders and Commandos being Scouts, while Engineers and Commandos being Snipers
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: legionof1 on July 13, 2017, 11:47:22 pm
I would make the commanders and engineers the scouts because they are the one's presently equipped with Sense. It would flow more logically that way imo. Engies also have a tendency to not maneuver much due aggression rating of 1, making them unlikely to be in a position to capitalize on being sniper flagged.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: khade on July 14, 2017, 06:23:31 am
I agree strongly with the way the Spartans are set up in that example, and the twisted logic of the Humanists amuses me.

Any logic in Raiders or Bandits getting any of this?  Ratlings in general probably don't have the communications to pull it off.

Government should be pretty good at this one, I think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Dyne on July 14, 2017, 09:35:13 am
Thank you for finally making mutants try to defend their lives in Pogroms.
It is a very immersive addition.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: kayelgee on July 14, 2017, 12:57:46 pm
I'm loving the mod.  Thanks for making it Dioxine.

I'm in month 10 of my second run(first ended around month 6 because of a base invasion while everyone was wounded) and the general feeling is that the mod is not too hard and not too easy either. I've had my 15 brainers by month 4 which boosted my infamy rating to ~5k each month.
I didn't feel like I was money capped at any point.

I've wanted to research the authorized dealers but they got locked behind bank favors recently, which would cost me 5 mil(buying tokens) to get because I somehow don't get any bank bounty missions(only ones I got are destroying the barn and getting coins from the church which got me overall ~400 tokens while having made ~2k jacks and alliance in the meantime). I haven't seen a bank C level mission yet. But I guess that's just bad RNG. Even though I have that 5 mil I didn't feel like it was worth it at that point in the game. I used that money to build up a second base.

I love the lore and I'm excited to see how the game pans out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G2 - 4 Jun - Shipwrecked Summer
Post by: Eddie on July 14, 2017, 01:58:47 pm
Guys, calm down. PirateZ is definitely one of the better balanced mods out there. Despite the huge amount of items/enemies. And that is because Dioxine listens to feedback.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 14, 2017, 11:22:22 pm
New version is up (mostly bugfixes). Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Riph on July 15, 2017, 10:53:10 am
So what happens if I refuse to go on a EuroSyndicate Elimination Mission?  The text blurb imples "consequences".

I ended up researching the EuroSyndicate missions before Back to School, so there's no way I'm fighting government power armor with my boarding rifles and tac vests.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: juff on July 15, 2017, 10:58:51 am
missing a eurosyndicate missions gives a massive score penalty of 1500
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Zharkov on July 15, 2017, 11:16:20 am
So what happens if I refuse to go on a EuroSyndicate Elimination Mission?  The text blurb imples "consequences".

I ended up researching the EuroSyndicate missions before Back to School, so there's no way I'm fighting government power armor with my boarding rifles and tac vests.

Well, you can buy better weapons from the Syndicate, now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: dessfoxx on July 15, 2017, 12:02:01 pm
Maybe an unusual question, but do you have any copies of older versions for PirateZ? I have an old save file I wanted to go back and tinker around with (the one where I cleared the game) but I don't have the proper PirateZ version anymore. I think my savegame was in the later .98 iteration, but I'm not 100% certain. Is there an easy way to tell just by having the save file? The save file said it was modified back in July of 2016. Anyway, not a big deal, but was just curious if it was still possible to re-visit PirateZ .98.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: jessemb on July 15, 2017, 12:38:01 pm
This is one of the most incredible mods I've ever seen.  That it has been added to one of the greatest games of all time is just icing on the cake.  I can't even really call it a mod anymore--it's added a hell of a lot more content than TFTD did.

Thank you for making this incredible game!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 15, 2017, 03:29:58 pm
Really good changes... I especially like removing melee threat on the dogs, megascorp and cockroaches. It will make monster hunts and ratman missions much less of a pain.


So what happens if I refuse to go on a EuroSyndicate Elimination Mission?  The text blurb imples "consequences".

I ended up researching the EuroSyndicate missions before Back to School, so there's no way I'm fighting government power armor with my boarding rifles and tac vests.

Heh, I hope you have an old save game. The euro deal is a pretty bad deal. I mean, the ion cannon and euro-heavy-las are decent weapons but it comes at a high score and money cost, especially if you unlocked the deal early game

Anyway, if you have trouble with power armour I would advise you to start manufacturing big melee weapons like spears and barbarian axes. I max strength girl can kill marsec bodyguards in 1 hit with those primitive weapons.

If you want to capture the Govt General alive then you can try feeding him moonshine till he passes out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: greattuna on July 15, 2017, 05:17:51 pm
Well, I just had my first "real" crackdown in this playthrough. Clandestinos: bunch of humanist activists with few instructors and leaders, military police and govt general along with two tanks decided to storm my secondary, underequipped base with 10 gals stationed to defend it. I'll admit I savescummed a bit, since losing equipment worth millions wasn't really an option, but hooded people weren't actually that hard; despite toting plasma weapons, they fell quickly to magnums I had, and tanks (and general) got served some panzerfaust.

All in all, I got 2m+ worth of equipment, some of which I sold, only to spend that money on more hands, more weapons and whole 1 (one) ES laspistol and 1 (one) ES markslaser.

Star Gods are still bombing Europe...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2017, 09:28:35 pm
Uploaded bugfix version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Riph on July 15, 2017, 09:53:26 pm

Heh, I hope you have an old save game. The euro deal is a pretty bad deal.

Ugh.  Well, that'd mean going back 2.5 months and losing my Metallo, Kustom Handcannons, and basically all my fun toys.

I guess I should tell my story to help future generations not torpedo their campaigns.

I was trying to figure out how to unlock the Library because so much is gated behind Back to School, and I noticed Alliance Favors and Bank favors seemed to be gating similar stuff.  I was trying to get my bounty hunting license past grade C, and the text blurb says that I "Needed to find an additional client".

I assumed this additional client was EuroSyndicate, which is why I took them on.

Two months later I'm pitted against 30+ Gov troops, 2+ tanks, multiple power armors, and I'm actually winning by using shadow, snipers, mortars, and high vantage points.

On the 30th turn I lose anyway because there's a time limit.  I'm feeling bushwhacked here.

(Is it possible to do save file surgery to unresearch the EuroSyndicate deal?  Because honestly I don't think I have the patience to replay 3 months and 30+ battlescape missions.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2017, 10:05:16 pm
Hey the article was warning you man, that these guys are shady.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Zharkov on July 15, 2017, 10:42:34 pm
Dioxine_XPiratez_0_99_G4.rar doesn't work for me, I cannot open the file. Just me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 15, 2017, 10:47:39 pm
+1 for me
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2017, 11:48:22 pm
Reuploaded, pls try now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 15, 2017, 11:54:18 pm
Package fully operational.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2017, 11:57:39 pm
Good!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G3 - 14 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Reloaded
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 16, 2017, 09:54:35 am
Ugh.  Well, that'd mean going back 2.5 months and losing my Metallo, Kustom Handcannons, and basically all my fun toys.

I guess I should tell my story to help future generations not torpedo their campaigns.

I was trying to figure out how to unlock the Library because so much is gated behind Back to School, and I noticed Alliance Favors and Bank favors seemed to be gating similar stuff.  I was trying to get my bounty hunting license past grade C, and the text blurb says that I "Needed to find an additional client".

I assumed this additional client was EuroSyndicate, which is why I took them on.

Two months later I'm pitted against 30+ Gov troops, 2+ tanks, multiple power armors, and I'm actually winning by using shadow, snipers, mortars, and high vantage points.

On the 30th turn I lose anyway because there's a time limit.  I'm feeling bushwhacked here.

(Is it possible to do save file surgery to unresearch the EuroSyndicate deal?  Because honestly I don't think I have the patience to replay 3 months and 30+ battlescape missions.)


I've made a mod that allows you to break Eurosynd deal: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5560.0.html

Hopefully it doesn't have bugs and works as intended.

You'll need $25 million in total to break the deal. You can get that amount early game by hitting alien bases, landed cargo ships and taking lots of hostages, and selling all the loot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: legionof1 on July 17, 2017, 09:15:30 am
Well his campaign is probably fucked beyond reasonable salvage at this point, mod or no. He failed the government hit, which means he lost everything deployed to the attempt. He's out a craft, gear and likely his best gals, plus the likely exceptionally large score hit. 
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: doctor medic on July 17, 2017, 09:38:57 am
For some reason i find gauss weapons to be more effective than lasers when used against mercs even though they should resist those.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Martin on July 17, 2017, 10:45:51 am
For some reason i find gauss weapons to be more effective than lasers when used against mercs even though they should resist those.

Their raw damage is significantly higher, laser weapons, except heavy laser and autolaser are rather low powered.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 17, 2017, 05:23:19 pm
Well his campaign is probably fucked beyond reasonable salvage at this point, mod or no. He failed the government hit, which means he lost everything deployed to the attempt. He's out a craft, gear and likely his best gals, plus the likely exceptionally large score hit.

Ah yeah... unlocking the euro deal early game is potentially a game ending move. Too little cash to buy the ES weapons and the missions are too difficult for 6 to 8 rookie girls. If he unlocked it mid game or later he might be able to roll through these missions but he would probably have guns or alternative ammo that are comparable to or perform better than most ES weapons  ;D ;D. The ion-cannon is really good but the rest are reserve gear for merc missions

For some reason i find gauss weapons to be more effective than lasers when used against mercs even though they should resist those.

You might just be encountering a few instances of RNG -- in my damage model the ES lasrifle outperforms the Gauss Musket on single aimed and multiple snap shots by 16% and 32%. If you auto-shot twice with a gal that has 100 accuracy (with an ES lasrifle) you can do on average 129 damage, which is more hp than what the merc commando has.

===============
Oh er... a bit of feedback about the latest song GMTACTIC4: It's a great pump-up song for a briefing screen but on repeat during missions it gets on my nerves quite quickly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: clownagent on July 17, 2017, 06:59:18 pm
Oh er... a bit of feedback about the latest song GMTACTIC4: It's a great pump-up song for a briefing screen but on repeat during missions it gets on my nerves quite quickly.

Feel the same about it. The track is also significantly louder than the other ones, making me always adjust the volume when it starts.

I guess it is a "reinterpretation" of this song (which I actually like):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dumV-H-mZX4


============

Edit:
Small suggestion: Put somewhere an indicator for the soldier type. For the starting crew it is clear, but later recruited "escaped lunatics" cannot be distinguished from regular gals, or can they?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Absalom on July 17, 2017, 08:09:08 pm
Edit:
Small suggestion: Put somewhere an indicator for the soldier type. For the starting crew it is clear, but later recruited "escaped lunatics" cannot be distinguished from regular gals, or can they?

They arrive on base much earlier, and also come in Castaway outfit instead of ganger
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: legionof1 on July 17, 2017, 08:21:47 pm
And all lunatic type gals have lunatic commendation in there diary page.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Marza on July 17, 2017, 08:32:52 pm
I thought only the starting six have that commendation?

Another way to recognise escaped lunatics from the regular hands is to look at their stamina and voodoo strength, since both of those stats can go over the regular cap. It may be a good idea to edit your gals' names (prefix them with a custom title or something) if you would like to separate the escaped lunatics, hands, warriors, veterans and freaks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: legionof1 on July 17, 2017, 08:55:55 pm
You only really need identification for lunatics and freaks. The other classes are identical when it comes to stat maximums, they just have different initial stats, i.e trading training time for hire cost.   
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Mobling on July 17, 2017, 09:33:40 pm
I always distinguish my starting six by removing one of their names and putting = around it. So somebody like Groovy Esmeralda or Metal Bang would become =Esmeralda= or =Bang=. I also replace the first name of the first gal to level up with "Captain" so I can pretend that the person running everything is out there on the field with the other gals. Silly, I know, but it helps my immersion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Dioxine on July 17, 2017, 11:05:44 pm
The starting six have the 'Escaped Lunatics' commendation... the others, well, currently there is no way of distinguishing them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: legionof1 on July 18, 2017, 12:28:14 am
Well as long the player doesn't mix hires within the delivery window(to the same base), and remembers to tag there name on arrival, i dont see a problem. Tiny bit of bookkeeping for a marginal improvement in voodoo seems fair.

Lunatics are only remarkable from gals in terms of max psi power, and costs. Given the shift to morale emphasis for psi defense, +2 max psi strength isn't that remarkable.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 18, 2017, 02:41:19 pm
It's just a QoL thingy but I stick with altering the names myself.
I can differ the hirelings as following:

6 Starting Lunatics (have the commodation and thus get an "L" and are usually the highest ranked gals)
Hands get an "H" and get delivered with "Ganger" outfit.
Warriors will get an "W" and get delivered with "Warrior" outfit.
All the shipwrecked gals get an "C" because Combat-loot and they need 24h to arrive.
Veterans will get an "V"
Freaks will get a "$" because expensive gamble.

Syns get named after robots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: clownagent on July 18, 2017, 05:49:59 pm
The starting six have the 'Escaped Lunatics' commendation... the others, well, currently there is no way of distinguishing them.

I think it would be a nice improvement, if we had also commendations for the other soldier types  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: greattuna on July 18, 2017, 08:45:18 pm
To be honest, I'd rather have some more convenient way to see the type of soldier than looking into each and every one's commendations.

That said, I have no problem with this, since I don't even care that much about +2 to max psi strength. Most gals won't get the cap anyway.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: doctor medic on July 19, 2017, 09:39:51 am
How would gauss and lasers would be rebalanced?Should the gauss damage be toned down slightly or would increasing the damage or armor pen of lasers be more usefull?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: legionof1 on July 19, 2017, 12:39:12 pm
Unfortunately it's not laser's stats themselves that are bad, those are actually average to decent. It's a combination of indirect factors that make lasers "bad".

1: Alternate Ammunition
Non-pierce type ammo existing for a wide variety of weapons, hems in on lasers largest advantage of being good against otherwise high resist foes. Given the variance of the tech tree/spawns you are significantly more likely to have multiple alternate ammo types before you have lasers. Hell the sheer variety of damage types and methods of delivery makes lasers plain and uninteresting.   

2: Damage Calculation
Due to the order of operations for damage calculation, lower end values of penetration are not equivalent to higher raw damage. Raw damage is the single most influential factor on the attacker odds to deal damage. Armor penetration is also a percentile modifier so varies in effect with targets armor value. 33% on 10 armor is only a difference of 3 points of damage. Penetration does mean more as armor rises, but around ~60-70, the lack of base damage means you have an uncomfortable chance(20-60% depending on weapon) to do nothing because 0-200% dmg rolls for shooting. 

3: Secondary features
Lasers largely lack any secondary features. Conventional weapons often have buttstrikes for melee situations so you can forgo equipping a melee weapon. Chem, plasma and some conventional weapons strip armor before armor penetration step so they still do something even you whiff on the dmg all the way down to 1%. Even claiming penetration as laser's feature is dubious with 15% on rifles and 20% on snipers. Oh and penetration on rocket type weapons.

4: Access
The best laser options are gated behind really sucky optional content. Either the eurosyndicate deal with 1500-800 negative score at best(per month potentially YMMV) and massive purchase/operation costs, or Russian files which without cheesing is about equivalent to a merc battleship subbing lasers/gauss for plasma. Getting "good" lasers in the first case is a death sentence if mishandled, and expensive even if managed properly. The second case is better but you still probably can't pull it off in time for the rewards to offer much utility, given point 1 above.     
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Martin on July 19, 2017, 02:25:53 pm
Laser rifles, hydra lasers and laspistols are weak, but you can, with some luck, scavenge plenty of them early. Midgame weapons they are not, however laspistols offer acceptable performance in mansion missions.

Heavy lasers are decent and autolasers are geniunely good. Put one on high accuracy gal and see her move down scores of targets.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Riph on July 22, 2017, 01:59:06 am
autolasers are geniunely good

Came to post the same.  I ignore all lasers except the autolaser, which I always bring 2 of on any mission that allows it.  The Autolaser and the Heavy MG have a confluence of traits the result of which is that they can full auto a target 30 tiles away and hit with most shots.  They fill the exact same role as a sniper, down to needing a spotter to operate, and they do it better.

On an unrelated note, I just researched Prize: Persuadotron and nothing seems to have happened.  No new manufacture recipe, no new buyables on the black market.  What am I missing?  I'm totally ready to get my Bullfrog on and Syndicate it up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 22, 2017, 06:49:12 am
Came to post the same.  I ignore all lasers except the autolaser, which I always bring 2 of on any mission that allows it.  The Autolaser and the Heavy MG have a confluence of traits the result of which is that they can full auto a target 30 tiles away and hit with most shots.  They fill the exact same role as a sniper, down to needing a spotter to operate, and they do it better.

On an unrelated note, I just researched Prize: Persuadotron and nothing seems to have happened.  No new manufacture recipe, no new buyables on the black market.  What am I missing?  I'm totally ready to get my Bullfrog on and Syndicate it up.

There's a Persuadatron 2000 you can get after researching a megapol detective (if you're lucky). The prize itself doesn't unlock the item... probably an oversight. I guess it's not too difficult to mod a fix  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Riph on July 22, 2017, 07:50:25 am
That must be it.  I guess I'll keep shooting down these poor space cops.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G4 - 15 Jul - Shipwrecked Summer Re-Reloaded
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 22, 2017, 09:08:07 am
Detectives are really really rare, so here's a little mod to fix the prize if you've already researched it.

This mod forces "Persuadatron 2000" to go through the "Prize: Persuadatron" research instead of requiring the item. It was the only way I could get the prize to unlock Persuadatrons retroactively.

Meaning if you use this mod and already researched "Prize Persuadatron", it allows you to now research "Persuadatron 2000".

If you haven't researched the Prize, it gives you the Persuadatron 2000 research for free
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on July 23, 2017, 02:26:38 pm
New release up. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 23, 2017, 02:34:04 pm
Nice! Glad the shockafist is getting some love
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: clownagent on July 23, 2017, 09:19:48 pm
comments for 0.99G_4

- In the bootypedia entry it is written that slaves generate income, but in the cost overview it seems they cost money.
- In the pigeon ufopedia entry there is a reference to the skyranger, but i cannot buy  skyranger.
- Ufopedia text for reaper cavalry is missing

Suggestions:
- From dead fish and dead crabs the gals should be able to cook some merchandise like "Bouillabaisse"

Maps:
- Archeology mission generates unkillable sperated spiders (screenshot attached)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 23, 2017, 09:37:13 pm
comments for 0.99G_4

- In the bootypedia entry it is written that slaves generate income, but in the cost overview it seems they cost money.
- In the pigeon ufopedia entry there is a reference to the skyranger, but i cannot buy  skyranger.
- Ufopedia text for reaper cavalry is missing

Suggestions:
- From dead fish and dead crabs the gals should be able to cook some merchandise like "Bouillabaisse"

Maps:
- Archeology mission generates unkillable sperated spiders (screenshot attached)

Slaves do generate money but the actually income they generate is pointed out that they reduce the maintaince cost if thier 'income' overwhelms the costs of your aux-units.
The skyranger should be a bounty-hunting "price" now.
Looks like we need to use a grav-pack for those missions to clear them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Marza on July 24, 2017, 12:16:53 am
I think the inaccessible map sections in archaeology missions are intended; the pre-mission briefing hints at 'cave ins' and to bring mining equipment.

Always take a hammer and pickaxe wherever you go!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 24, 2017, 12:25:11 am
Suggestions:
- From dead fish and dead crabs the gals should be able to cook some merchandise like "Bouillabaisse"

In this case, more like "Booyakasha". :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: bloodsplatBOOM on July 24, 2017, 01:58:06 am
Does anyone know what mission type in Quick Battles have the highest enemy count? Near as I can tell, it's the Battleship, but there's a ton of mission types and I haven't tested a whole lot of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: juff on July 24, 2017, 03:42:36 am
pyramid of pain has up to 80 enemies. heavy freight has up to 99
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on July 24, 2017, 08:53:22 am
Goblin Zaxx feedback:

-missions are good for what they are, I like how unique the barn one is, the reservoir dog is too trivial I think, perhaps give him a couple of friends or even just a pack of well trained dogs

-reward guns are crap however. Not only are they mediocre, but they compete with crucial merchant deals. Nobody is gonna prioritize O.G.R.E. shotgun over shark jetbike and pachyderm
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: doctor medic on July 24, 2017, 09:23:07 am
If we got some early bounty hunt items such as craft weapons or even gals then more people would go out of their way to do craft badges for them
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: clownagent on July 24, 2017, 07:37:56 pm
Suggestion for "bringing down the watchtower" missions:
- make the map much smaller. I usually spend several turns just walking from the bus to the entrance especially on evil grass  :-\. That makes the mission unneccessarily long without happening anything interesting.


Edit:
- STR_MANAGE_CONTAINMENT_2 is missing

Edit 2:
Ufopedia texts are too long and cut for
- Dr X. database
- Customer: The mutant alliance
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on July 26, 2017, 08:06:11 pm
It's not 'unneccesarily' long.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Troubleshooter on July 27, 2017, 01:50:39 am
So can I just drop my G2 save into G5 and have it work completely? Or am I better off starting a new campaign?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: wolfreal on July 27, 2017, 05:25:34 am
It's not 'unneccesarily' long.

Maybe this is something that have been discussed before, but I have a question in line with the clownagent suggestion. What is the objective of having those "big" maps on the "bringing down the watchtower" missions?. I guess those missions could be use to train bravery, and that the big map is a price that you pay for having a mission who give you presence in the region they pop up. Maybe is an immersion thing, maybe those tower has some "advanced detection stuff", and because they are in remote locations, you just land far away for the tower to not be detected (Even cloaking devices have their limits). I don´t know. I´m just making speculations.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2017, 02:04:03 pm
I don't see a special need for a smaller map. The mission can be done super quick if all enemies spawn inside the tower.
Sometimes one of them spawns outside but they carry nothing more than a pistol so the one 'scout' can be disposed off by your superior numbers.
Once the 'doll' got hammered, let the enemies leave the door and just CQC them with handles for free captives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on July 27, 2017, 05:11:23 pm
How about autovictory on trivial missions?

if ("highest weapon damage on the enemy team"*2 < "lowest armor value on the piratez team") then autovictory else combat as usual
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2017, 05:15:56 pm
How about autovictory on trivial missions?

if ("highest weapon damage on the enemy team"*2 < "lowest armor value on the piratez team") then autovictory else combat as usual

Please not, if those mission are 'trivial' you can still use them to train rookies and also train bravery.
Also every point of stat-gain counts. Yes the repetition is given but it's for the greater good. :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Zharkov on July 27, 2017, 05:32:40 pm
I think smaller maps are better, because they resolve faster and lead to more bloodshed! The AI is unable to concentrate its forces. A smaller map makes it less likely that AI forces are scattered.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2017, 05:45:57 pm
I think smaller maps are better, because they resolve faster and lead to more bloodshed! The AI is unable to concentrate its forces. A smaller map makes it less likely that AI forces are scattered.

I personally like the maps as they are based on tiles x tiles.
I only complain sometimes about city-maps with multi-stage buildings especially in the early stage with not many enemies and no tools to flaten the surface to flush the ants out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on July 28, 2017, 08:28:11 pm
Please not, if those mission are 'trivial' you can still use them to train rookies and also train bravery.
Also every point of stat-gain counts. Yes the repetition is given but it's for the greater good. :3

Nothing forces you to arm rookies with power armours
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Qyubey on July 29, 2017, 05:07:32 am
Verson 0.99G5 seems to have a UI problem. None of the text gets overwritten with the proper PirateZ concepts (Confirm is still Confirm, not Aye). Still playable, but a little annoying that all the country and facility names are switched back to vanilla XCOM. It's not just me either, I have no problem running older versions with the proper UI loading in. It's just this G5 version.

This is why archives are important.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Mobling on July 29, 2017, 08:02:50 am
Have you tried changing the language to en-us?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Qyubey on July 29, 2017, 11:10:23 am
Have you tried changing the language to en-us?

...Well now I just feel silly, that fixed it. Wonder why it was set to UK by default though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 29, 2017, 12:04:51 pm
Well, I did this for X-Com Files:

Code: [Select]
extraStrings:
  - type: en-US
    strings: &EnglishStrings
      STR_XXX: "Xxx"
      (strings go here)
      (...)
  - type: en-GB
    strings: *EnglishStrings

This anchor seems to work just fine, so both languages are valid. (Well, it still has US spelling, but it's better than it not working at all.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2017, 04:04:10 pm
Wonder why it was set to UK by default though.

Hardcoded, nothing I can do. Although I will use Solar's solution.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Meridian on July 29, 2017, 04:18:16 pm
Hardcoded, nothing I can do. Although I will use Solar's solution.

It's not hardcoded, it's exact opposite of hardcoded... trying really hard to find a good locale: https://github.com/SupSuper/OpenXcom/blob/master/src/Engine/CrossPlatform.cpp#L611
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on July 29, 2017, 04:19:27 pm
Well it does crash if I remove UK files, and defaults to UK on the first launch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Meridian on July 29, 2017, 04:40:31 pm
Well it does crash if I remove UK files, and defaults to UK on the first launch.

Hmm, I tried removing it, no crash, see attachment.

Also, it doesn't default to en-GB... it defaults to empty string (unless your locale settings of course are en-GB). It just shows en-GB in the combobox, because there is no empty option in the combobox and en-GB is the first in the list (in piratez distro).

When I download newest piratez version, extract, remove all 3 en-GB files, run openxcom, switch master to piratez... after restart the language is set to en-US (the only possible option remaining and pre-selected).

EDIT: all that said, Solar's solution is better (more robust) than deleting the files...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Riph on July 30, 2017, 02:29:11 am
My apologies if this was already covered, but the Search button didn't find it:

How am I to interpret the 'Range' stat for aircraft in X-Pirates? To take an example, the Leviathan:  It seems that Fuel: E511x50 means that Hellerium is fuel, and 100% fuel means 50 units have been put into the craft.
Range is listed as 700.  Does that mean 700 miles covered for every 1 Hellerium burned?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Bacon_Hero on July 30, 2017, 02:53:12 pm
No, if I'm not mistaken the range is how far the craft can go.

The fuel means how many units it requires for a full tank. I think it takes an hour to top up 1 unit.

So Range / Fuel = Fuel Efficiency
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: ohartenstein23 on July 30, 2017, 04:13:43 pm
For hellerium and chemical-fueled craft, range multiplied by 10 minutes is the amount of time the craft can spend in the air.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: stvip on July 30, 2017, 04:16:05 pm
The range is 20 times the amount listed for non-battery fueled crafts.  This isn't explained until you uncover article (pin-up?) #49.
I thought the early interceptors are either useless, or meant for some specific gameplay feature I haven't encountered yet (perhaps there's a need for defending the base from incoming craft, or somesuch).  All my early interception attempts were with a Pachyderm with a Flame Cannon (which usually either runs out of ammo, or blows up the civilian ships completely).  It wasn't until I got the El Fuego, tried to do an orbital mission, saw the list of orbital-capable craft and noticed the H-K was among them that I realized the stated range numbers can't be right.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: AngelicJoker on August 02, 2017, 11:02:40 pm
Does the Overcharged Radar have some special ability beyond the expanded radar range?  From the description, it sounds like it should be able to make some enemy ships crash but I don't see anything like that in the UI.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: greattuna on August 02, 2017, 11:16:15 pm
Not some, only the ones which approach your hideout to raid it. It's right there, in
>Defense Value: 150
>Hit Ratio: 100%
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on August 04, 2017, 01:48:42 am
Does the Overcharged Radar have some special ability beyond the expanded radar range?  From the description, it sounds like it should be able to make some enemy ships crash but I don't see anything like that in the UI.

It acts as a base defense weapon. It’s weak, but maybe it can crash the ambulance.

Anyway, shouldn’t we be able to buy animal parts on the black market? It’s strange that I have to potentially wait for months for a giant spider to show up before I can manufacture witch outfit. The spider silk looks like rather trivial thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 04, 2017, 09:12:22 pm
Anyway, shouldn’t we be able to buy animal parts on the black market? It’s strange that I have to potentially wait for months for a giant spider to show up before I can manufacture witch outfit. The spider silk looks like rather trivial thing.

Also I wouldn't mind adding it to nomads' inventory... At least there would be a point to killing them. :P
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Zaxth on August 05, 2017, 04:26:23 pm
Which revision of OXCE+ is the latest X-Piratez based on?
I'm compiling it myself, and run into errors upon startup on the revision from 8th of June. Similarly the very latest one fails to start with a yaml-cpp error.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 05, 2017, 05:02:10 pm
Which revision of OXCE+ is the latest X-Piratez based on?
I'm compiling it myself, and run into errors upon startup on the revision from 8th of June. Similarly the very latest one fails to start with a yaml-cpp error.

The YAML syntax for commendations changed, that's the error you're seeing.  There's a ruleset fix floating around that should let you use OXCE+ 3.9, otherwise the latest compatible version is 3.7. If you ask Meridian nicely, I'm sure he can point you to both.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Meridian on August 05, 2017, 05:41:43 pm
Which revision of OXCE+ is the latest X-Piratez based on?
I'm compiling it myself, and run into errors upon startup on the revision from 8th of June. Similarly the very latest one fails to start with a yaml-cpp error.

Either downgrade to 3.7 or use the fixed ruleset attached to this post: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg85777.html#msg85777
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Zaxth on August 05, 2017, 06:00:28 pm
Either downgrade to 3.7 or use the fixed ruleset attached to this post: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg85777.html#msg85777
Awesome! Thanks a lot. And thanks for your hard work :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: RSSwizard on August 12, 2017, 11:36:54 pm
Popping in to play Piratez after taking a break. Its up to G5 now, im just gonna start a new game, I need alot of time wasted.  :D


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: ThatDude on August 14, 2017, 08:23:43 pm
Just came back and saw this when I right clicked on a burrow
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 14, 2017, 08:56:24 pm
I have no problem with that as long as it functions to keep the pets alive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: KateMicucci on August 14, 2017, 09:21:27 pm
Are mining lasers still in the game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: greattuna on August 14, 2017, 09:28:51 pm
Yes, mining lasers still exist.

Just came back and saw this when I right clicked on a burrow
Welcome to the new versions. All animals, be it dogs, parrots or boomosaurusi now require animal cells. I think only burrow has them, as it stands, and even then it's only 10 slots. Same applies to fishies, but... uh, since no building can support them, they just die.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: ThatDude on August 14, 2017, 11:06:10 pm
Yes, mining lasers still exist.
Welcome to the new versions. All animals, be it dogs, parrots or boomosaurusi now require animal cells. I think only burrow has them, as it stands, and even then it's only 10 slots. Same applies to fishies, but... uh, since no building can support them, they just die.
I have no problem with that as long as it functions to keep the pets alive.

I meant the missing text at the top lmao
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: KateMicucci on August 15, 2017, 02:32:10 am
Man I hate it when mercs raid my secondary bases. RIP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: RSSwizard on August 21, 2017, 11:05:09 pm
Popping in to play Piratez after taking a break. Its up to G5 now, im just gonna start a new game, I need alot of time wasted.  :D

Man, I really hate the new alternate battlescape musics... the original two are fine but it should have continued along the same vein as dark and brooding.

These new ones literally sound like end-of-level or bonus-stage music from consoles, the kind of which you'd only hear for like 30 seconds as your points were tallied up. But having to endure listening to them for probably 6-10 minutes while dealing with a mission, geez they do not fit at all. Its like playing Silent Hill but with mario music in the background.

And I will make a strong recommendation along with this since its related, but shied away from before - the generic "mission" music (AS_Theme2) needs to DIE... or be switched out as pre-mission briefing music of some kind.

I dont even mod these things like I normally would, I just go into Piratez sound folder and I replace them with something that I want, its that bad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on August 23, 2017, 06:34:38 pm
These new ones literally sound like end-of-level or bonus-stage music from consoles, the kind of which you'd only hear for like 30 seconds as your points were tallied up.

I enjoy that music. Sometimes, I save and reload at the star of a mission just to get it to play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: khade on August 24, 2017, 11:34:58 pm
I've heard that the newest version is sort of available, any ETA on an official release?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on August 25, 2017, 02:40:46 am
Almost done, just getting constant delays...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Spess Mahren on August 27, 2017, 10:24:57 pm
I noticed xcom files finally was able change melee enemies behavior so they would disregard danger. Will the next Xpiratez release also have this? I remember it being a problem that moders couldn't address until someone addressed AI in OXCE+ I think.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on August 28, 2017, 01:51:34 am
Yeah it will be added to Piratez as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: RSSwizard on August 30, 2017, 06:49:13 pm
Just got to play the Bounty Hunting mission "Escape Tower". The way the bounty hunting has been implemented in the game almost gives it an entirely new dimension, its great.

The reason im posting, not sure if this is a bug, but at the top of the escape tower is the ship they're trying to get away in. However the doors are locked (as in, its a tile that is not set to open as a door). So there's no way to get in there really.

I figured explosives might be the solution but I didn't have access to anything heavy duty so I just blew up the fuel barrels, and as expected it didn't do anything to the ship above. I reloaded the map to see if there were any enemies on the ground in the surrounding area but there wasn't (checked the save file, sure enough their coordinates are all up in the ship).

Only thing I can think of that might kill the occupants up there is if I wheeled a Barrel Bomb under the ship and set it off. But I don't have those yet (I think Panzerfaust is the highest damage thing ive got).

I thought that the green area under the ship might lead to a 2 stage mission to confront the occupants, so I sat there for the remaining turns (I could've evac'd) and let the mage try to MC my 'hands until the turnlimit was reached.

So im just reporting a possible oversight on that (the door tiles on the ship).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: ohartenstein23 on August 30, 2017, 06:52:10 pm
Just got to play the Bounty Hunting mission "Escape Tower". The way the bounty hunting has been implemented in the game almost gives it an entirely new dimension, its great.

The reason im posting, not sure if this is a bug, but at the top of the escape tower is the ship they're trying to get away in. However the doors are locked (as in, its a tile that is not set to open as a door). So there's no way to get in there really.

I figured explosives might be the solution but I didn't have access to anything heavy duty so I just blew up the fuel barrels, and as expected it didn't do anything to the ship above. I reloaded the map to see if there were any enemies on the ground in the surrounding area but there wasn't (checked the save file, sure enough their coordinates are all up in the ship).

Only thing I can think of that might kill the occupants up there is if I wheeled a Barrel Bomb under the ship and set it off. But I don't have those yet (I think Panzerfaust is the highest damage thing ive got).

I thought that the green area under the ship might lead to a 2 stage mission to confront the occupants, so I sat there for the remaining turns (I could've evac'd) and let the mage try to MC my 'hands until the turnlimit was reached.

So im just reporting a possible oversight on that (the door tiles on the ship).

Well known that the doors are difficult to get through, bring bigger booms, or a strong gal with a pickaxe or a hammer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: RSSwizard on August 30, 2017, 07:23:36 pm
Well known that the doors are difficult to get through, bring bigger booms, or a strong gal with a pickaxe or a hammer.
Ehh? Got it I guess. I suppose "holed up in their ship" is a clue that the ship is locked. Though normal convention is that trying to actually go through the side of a ship isn't a valid tactic. The ship looks like player ships so I was expecting them to be indestructible (tough/999).

Next time I get the mission ill have a Fusion Torch ready(I just remembered that I do have those). I didnt have any in stock though.

Im on the Lokk'Narr Farm bounty hunting map, and its absolutely adorable. I love whats been done with the introduction of this bounty hunting system.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: comrado on August 31, 2017, 02:39:12 am
Hi guys. So I've heard about x piratez for some time, accidently found Meridians LP on youtube, and after watching a few episodes I decided to try it myself. And boy do this mod is awesome.

I have some questions:

1. If I don't do orbital missions do I risk blocking my research? I've picked RED CODEX so I don't have free space suits from GOLD CODEX, and for the love of god I can't find any way to research them.

2. I tried doing the orbital mission using rescue pods as armor, that has inbuild gun. Does this gun deal any damage to those T800 robots found on space station?

3. I've been doing some vessel research and not knowing anything I've researched the SWORDFISH craft. Did that locked me from other vessel research? Because I can remember having other vessel research options before I did SWORDFISH

4. While watching Meridians LP, I saw that he could move base facilities. How can I enable such feature, what is the hot key?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Dioxine on August 31, 2017, 04:40:29 am
So im just reporting a possible oversight on that (the door tiles on the ship).

Don't automatically assume I fuck up my riddles. :P

@Comrado

1. Yes and no, depends what part of research. In general no.
2. Unlikely
3. No. You're misremembering.
4. Ctrl+click


EDIT: New version up stealthily. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: comrado on August 31, 2017, 05:29:10 pm
Many thanks for quick reply Dioxine and even more thanks for this wonderful mod :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: ivandogovich on August 31, 2017, 05:42:01 pm
Also: Welcome, comrado!  Meridian's LP is excellent but the game has progresses alot since his run.  Starving Poet has an LP too, thats more fresh and has more of the early game changes if you are interested.  Cheers!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: HT on August 31, 2017, 06:48:48 pm
Yay, a new update! Thankfully, the previous version is still fully compatible, yet I spotted some weird changes while testing my save with this update: As in, some of the "unread articles" from the Bootypedia appeared in Yellow, but after a while it automatically swapped to the new red color it uses (and sometimes blue, I dunno what determines it). I also noticed that the colors of the 'pedia articles seem more... Bright? Is that the effect of the experimental palette thing?

I don't see why the Tribal outfit has to be bought now though, even with the minor upgrade it received it is an outfit that won't see much use past the 1st hour of the game or so (I have to say I like that "automated change" for the Adventurer/Scout/Ganger outfits).

I also lack the 9th Escaped Lunatic from my save, but I have more than enough Gals at the moment so it's not an issue. As for the new units, they seem like they will make formidable snipers and scouts, I still have to test them though.

By the way, what exactly has changed with the difficulty levels? I didn't notice any change after my quick test, I'm using the 3rd level for my campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: ivandogovich on August 31, 2017, 06:52:45 pm
@HumanTraitor: 

What do you mean by:

Quote
(I have to say I like that "automated change" for the Adventurer/Scout/Ganger outfits).

I missed anything about that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: HT on August 31, 2017, 07:00:58 pm
@HumanTraitor: 

What do you mean by:

I missed anything about that.

If a Gal is wearing either the Scout or the Adventurer outfit and you go into a mission with a Cold environmental effect, she'll automatically swap to the Ganger outfit if possible, which is a neat effect IMO. Similar case with the Tribal one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Meridian on August 31, 2017, 07:37:20 pm
Yay, a new update! Thankfully, the previous version is still fully compatible, yet I spotted some weird changes while testing my save with this update: As in, some of the "unread articles" from the Bootypedia appeared in Yellow, but after a while it automatically swapped to the new red color it uses (and sometimes blue, I dunno what determines it). I also noticed that the colors of the 'pedia articles seem more... Bright? Is that the effect of the experimental palette thing?

It's a bug, color is not defined in the mod and set/used randomly each time you open the screen.
Will be fixed in the next version, or you can hotfix like this (in Piratez.rul):

Code: [Select]
  - type: ufopaedia
    elements:
      - id: palette
        color: 7
      - id: window
        color: 138
      - id: text
        color: 89
        color2: 80 # <----- move this line 2 lines below
      - id: list
        color: 133
# <---- move it here
        border: 239
      - id: button1
        color: 138
      - id: button2
        color: 138
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: khade on August 31, 2017, 11:29:17 pm
Is there much change to the early game? I've barely gotten workshop and I'm wondering if I should start over or attempt to transfer my save?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: ivandogovich on August 31, 2017, 11:49:56 pm
Not much other than making early outfits more appealing.  The ability to kit out in Adventurer or Scout or Tribal then still fight in cold climates without spending time in sickbay, smooths out a lot of the hassle of early missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Mammothus on September 01, 2017, 11:49:46 am
Looking forward to the new update and thanks for your efforts! I just noticed that when I install the 0.99H version downloaded by the link, the title screen shows it still as the 0.99G6. It also mentions compatibility with the 27.08.2017 Openxcom version, which is slightly different than what's listed in the release notes. Are these just superficial typos, or is the version actuallly different?

Edit: Sorry, forget this, it's already be mentioned by other channels. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Carfax on September 01, 2017, 12:00:47 pm
maybee im just blind, but i can´t find the option to track craft through their flightpath anymore. I assume it is connected to the update of the .exe to the new version?
happy swashbuckling everybody
Carfax
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Meridian on September 01, 2017, 12:13:24 pm
maybee im just blind, but i can´t find the option to track craft through their flightpath anymore. I assume it is connected to the update of the .exe to the new version?
happy swashbuckling everybody
Carfax

Hi, yes, that option was removed completely... it was buggy and extremely slow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Carfax on September 01, 2017, 12:31:22 pm
wow very fast reply. thx meridian
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: Martin on September 01, 2017, 04:18:15 pm
Im on the Lokk'Narr Farm bounty hunting map, and its absolutely adorable. I love whats been done with the introduction of this bounty hunting system.

Ot is a bit too easy to be honest. One cheap barrel bomb is nough to raze the whole structure.

Anyway, I started a new campaign and had a sreak of five smuggler ships landing righ next to my base (first one was very difficult with just sabres and old carbines, the next ones less so thanks to stolen guns). Is this normal? The smuggler ship used to be pretty rare.

Also, is it possible to capture live strix zombie?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: khade on September 01, 2017, 09:27:33 pm
It might be a little pervy, but I think that the basic information on normal humans should have nude or nearly nude people, preferably both male and female, as the image, with a separate page for normal human clothing, which is what makes them so flammable.  Mostly it just seems in character for the Lunatics.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: JDCollie on September 02, 2017, 04:26:45 am
Is there any specific requirements to make 50mm Cannons? I have the cannon parts, I have the research, and I can break down the magazines in the workshop tab, but I can't seem to make the weapons themselves. I do not yet have a proper workshop unlocked/constructed.  :(

Nevermind, I just found the "Light Craft Weapons" research >.<
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 02, 2017, 10:41:41 am
It might be a little pervy, but I think that the basic information on normal humans should have nude or nearly nude people, preferably both male and female, as the image, with a separate page for normal human clothing, which is what makes them so flammable.  Mostly it just seems in character for the Lunatics.

(http://www.rumormillnews.com/Images/voyagerplaque.jpg)

:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: khade on September 03, 2017, 12:45:10 am
I think it would be extremely worrying if they had access to that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99G5 - 23 Jul - Summer Storm Edition
Post by: RSSwizard on September 03, 2017, 01:04:17 am
Ot is a bit too easy to be honest. One cheap barrel bomb is nough to raze the whole structure.

I was using assault cannons with explosive and incendiary rounds. Kinda forgot a single bomb would do it (a couple satchel charges would, dont even need to wheel a heavy barrel bomb). I eventually upgraded to lobbing grenades and mortars at it too. Was usually able to blow away most of the structure regardless, after doing a run through before reloading to find where it is on the map.

It might be an easy map but its fun and changes things up. Also I have been shot and wounded by the lokknarr farmer, before I reloaded, and since you cant fire back it does need some tiptoeing (I wanna stun him - there are usually 2 farmers so I dont think it would end the mission).

Is there much change to the early game?

Over the versions ive noticed the Charger Laser has continuously, over time, become more and more restricted or weakened. So pretty much Diox decided that the charger laser was a mistake and probably wished it wasn't in the game at all. Used to be you started with one.

It doesn't matter honestly, you usually pick up alot of ammo (25 or 50mm) from tracking down landed craft. I haven't run into reticulans at all in this playthrough but the RPC was almost as good as the charger laser (and makes airballs, spike rockets, gobilin rockets all irrelevant because of their poor accuracy and expense).

Speaking of which I have had at least 3 Shrine Ship maps and they keep landing in the same place in siberia, so i will probably find more (pretty tough for the point im at). But thats alot of points im getting.

> meanwhile I still haven't racked up enough medical supplies somehow to build a sickbay, first year is almost finished but i only have like 5 medical supplies items
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: khade on September 03, 2017, 01:16:20 am
It just occurred to me that among all the strangely named places, you can see Singapore.  Apparently the city's legendary capacity to endure worked here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: RSSwizard on September 03, 2017, 09:16:47 pm
It just occurred to me that among all the strangely named places, you can see Singapore.  Apparently the city's legendary capacity to endure worked here.
Jerusalem too, somehow nobody managed to nuke that place in the midst of everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Martin on September 04, 2017, 10:37:45 am
Karakorum is also still around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Zharkov on September 04, 2017, 08:10:59 pm
I really like this "traing done" feature!

I must say, I find it quite hard to see the stun bar now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Sahti Waari on September 05, 2017, 11:55:18 am
Hello, Dioxine

I found this error: "OpenXcom has crashed: Research STR_CHRYSSALID not found"

Here is the log file.

PS: little error story:

1. Raid Church base.
2. Capture live Chryssalid
3. Flee and research it (have 2 burrows)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Carfax on September 05, 2017, 08:57:58 pm
just noticed that on some missions there is fallout 1 or 2 music. im not quite sure which it is. Is this free to use by now, or could this mod get into trouble because of it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Martin on September 05, 2017, 10:00:15 pm
Nope, but might be legit for nonprofit use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: RSSwizard on September 06, 2017, 11:16:00 pm
Im still using version .99G5 but this (is it a bug?) might still be true:

I just had a Trader Warehouse mission which used the TFTD Port mapset but it did not place the trader's warehouse on the port at all. The TFTD Port doesn't have any loot in it at all, so the only loot I collected from this mission was what the traders had equipped.

I would suggest that the TFTD port ought to have some kind of loot distribution on it since it looks so industrial. Maybe nothing meaningful, just scrap metal, hammers, maybe some metal ore, chemicals in appropriate places. The mapset also appears in a fair number of pogroms as well so it would give an added benefit to those (just like the apples mapsets).

Edit:
And I add some lulz here... what does this punk do with several bleeding holes, cornered in all direction by lustful female ubers?
Why... pull the pin on a grenade and drop it of course.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: blainestereo on September 09, 2017, 07:09:09 pm
A quick question that i am sure has been asked before - is it possible to mod the mod to remove all the retarded anime titties from ufopaedia?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: wolfreal on September 09, 2017, 07:43:07 pm
The mod is free and open. I think Dioxine will say "Go ahead, do what please you".

If you want, there is a PG13 version on the forum.

But in my personal opinion, the art is ok as it is. And I think the word retarded is a little too strong to use in a opinion about the art election. I understand if for you some titties seems retarded, offensive, or just out of place. But some likes and other (like me) just don´t mind. I do think it is in line with the thematic of the mod.

But I repeat, is a free world. If you want, just do it.

Enjoy this awesome mod as you like, and have fun.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: mercy on September 09, 2017, 08:42:43 pm
A quick question that i am sure has been asked before - is it possible to mod the mod to remove all the retarded anime titties from ufopaedia?
Titties are always a good news in games: welcome freedom of expression!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Carfax on September 09, 2017, 10:20:27 pm
Quote
A quick question that i am sure has been asked before - is it possible to mod the mod to remove all the retarded anime titties from ufopaedia?

You do get the theme of the mod, don´t you? If you look at the mod in whole, titties are the natural fit. I don´t know if your complaint is about that or anime, but either way its not like them boobies are displayed all the time like a desktop wallpaper.
Btw i actually play this mod while working and none of my fellow workers, male or female, complain about its art choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: wolfreal on September 09, 2017, 10:42:40 pm
Btw i actually play this mod while working and none of my fellow workers, male or female, complain about its art choice.

You play while working? Wow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Carfax on September 09, 2017, 10:53:32 pm
Quote
You play while working? Wow.
working in a call center for the win baby 8)  It might not be the best payed work but the sparetime during work is nice
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: khade on September 09, 2017, 10:58:37 pm
Any chance of a 'Space Pirate' outfit? Like the normal pirate one, but with super tech built in, space and Zero G capable.  After all, is there any point to being a pirate if you can't look like one?  Also miniature space suits for your parrots and possibly dogs(not sure what use they'd be), so they can join the space fun.  Parrots would require antigrav to fly though...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: RSSwizard on September 10, 2017, 03:31:26 am
A quick question that i am sure has been asked before - is it possible to mod the mod to remove all the retarded anime titties from ufopaedia?

Yep and im making a "mod for the mod" myself just for a different purpose. Mine just sorta restores the balance towards earlier versions and also tweaks a bunch of other things to provide a different and slightly more easy game experience (indeed a few things the player would normally benefit from are nerfed, or some things are more difficult). Ill eventually release it on 4chan in the /vr (retro games) forum as a revolving post.

The easy way to mod graphics is just to put new graphics in the appropriate subfolder of Your Mod. And that may be all that you're wanting to do...

One key thing you've got to be careful about is resource management between mods. If you're wanting to replace an item in the game (research, manufacturing, crafts, whatever) anything that involves Sprites or Sounds pretty much has to be left as-is unless you're going to provide a new ID for something. Like for example if you wanted to change some pistol to look like a different pistol thats already in the game, you would either have to do a switcheroo on the graphic file names in the resources folder... or you would have to create a new ID for the sprite, establish it in the ExtraSprites section, and either link it to the appropriate file or provide a new file/name.

(the only exception is if its something that was already in the vanilla game, like sound ids up to #53 I believe, also new IDs cant just be the same id that the other mod is already using... I set mine really high for example starting at 5500+ for graphics and 550 for sounds).

But for example if I wanted to nix an existing item in order to truncate its lists (compatable ammo, techs required, items produced or required to produce, etc) then I would have to also provide new IDs for all of the sprites that the item was going to use. I had to "-delete:" the UAC Rifle Clip because I wanted to remove its "Shotgun Pellets" dynamic, I have no idea if setting shotgunpellets: 0 would cause a game crash and since the game takes almost a Minute to load for me im unwilling to take chances when it comes to debugging.

I gave it a single visible projectile that does alot of damage but grants x3 armor. But in doing so that meant I had to provide custom IDs for the sprites it used for the inventory (I was already providing a new sound for it so I already had to provide a new custom ID for the sound effect).

Its very iffy if you take something that introduces a new dynamic and just set its value to 0 (I learned this the hard way with Manufacturing Items). The only dynamic I know of you can do it do and get away with is the Fire Mode stats, like setting accuracy and TUs to 0 for a fire mode will remove its option from the list even if it was already defined.

The reason I go into a long winded post about it is if you're wanting to change the Ufopaedia graphics and just insert some "blank background" for them it might be tempting to just go down the list of graphics in the .rul file, copy and paste them in your mod and set all of them to your blank file. However... if past experience serves me correct all this is going to do is give you segmentation errors because your mod will not be allowed to overwrite those IDs.
(So what you would probably have to do is, for each and every anime picture you want to replace, you will have to save a copy of the file you're replacing it with using its exact name... all the hundreds of them)

Either this or take all the entries in the piratez.rul file that you want to modify (which means taking notes on which ones have anime pics you dont want to keep) and then creating a single new graphic ID in (extraSprites?) and setting each and every one of them to that.

// The main reason you want to create a new Mod of your own that is loaded in tandem with piratez is because any time a new version of piratez comes out you dont want to go back in and modify the new piratez.rul file each time, I did that the first time a new version came out and it was Not Fun to do, especially because in Notepad++ it handles memory funky for files its parsing and piratez.rul has over 93 thousand lines of code all by itself... making the program slow to scroll around the file or switch between file tabs.
// This way any changes you make will be preserved in drag and drop fashion and the only errors that might come up is if one or two peculiar things changed inbetween versions.

Screenshot is an example of how modding for a mod works in openxcom, you don't have to copy or preserve all of the information that the object already had defined. All you have to do is provide or retain the information that will be modified. Whether or not it actually provides a different value, in most cases it will override what was there before and add new things you've listed. In fact it is necessary to remove information since all of the spritesIDs have to be truncated unless you are specifically going to change any of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: RSSwizard on September 12, 2017, 05:31:41 pm
How exactly does one get "Human Powered Armor"
Edit - nevermind I figured it out
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: SteamXCOM on September 12, 2017, 07:06:37 pm
Quote
(paraphrased) ...is it possible to mod the mod to remove all the images I do not like  from ufopaedia?
 

Yes, for one reason or another we do not like some of the pictures and want alternate images

This goes basically for any mod that has extra sprites / pictures or whatever.
its EASY PEASY if you are just replacing, forget about .rul editing.

the short of it is just REPLACE the graphics by direct overwrite with YOUR altered files.

Longer explanation:

If you want a direct replacement of some of the graphics/pictures, locate where they are at,
on most mods just find  the particular file usually in  .png, .gif. format somewhere usually in the resource folder or maybe subdivided further resources/ufopedia ;

the point is find those picture(s) and note location.

One you've done that, open it up in an image editor to verify size etc, then do a "save as" into a DIFFERENT folder you want to edit from.  Or you can just copy over the files you want to change.

Save as THE SAME EXACT NAME as the original file.

Three things to keep in mind
--the NAME and FILETYPE cannot change from the original
--the PIXEL DIMENSIONS cannot change from the original
--If there is an area designated for text, usually a blank, black area where the illustration does not continue, try to keep the modified graphic in that orientation, else-wise the mod's text may become unreadable against the background illustration.

Once you edited the files, keep them in your edit folder, but drag a copy of them into the  mod folder where the mod's originals are  and OVERWRITE.

When you run the game, because your modified files are exact name, format and size of the originals, your modified graphics will appear instead.

(keep track and place in bank vault this 'edit folder" where your altered files are at because you will need to copy them when/if the mod updates)

If the mod should update, install, as usual,
Check the mod's picture/graphic folder to  see what changes there  are and how they differ from the earlier version.
--if no or minimal changes, not just drag a copy of your modified files into the mod's graphic /picture folder and OVERWRITE.
--if there are changes, you may have to edit your modified picture files or the mod's graphic  files in some way  to accommodate the mod update to reflect the changes you want.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Negative on September 14, 2017, 11:27:24 pm
Just got my first two Harbingers. Equiiped them with Fatty's, prepared to wipe away this terminator assohels and... oops. They are not space-worthy! But bootypedia article says they are! Even EVA version is described, althrough i cannot equip it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H - 31 Aug - Long Live The Queen
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 15, 2017, 04:52:56 pm
All G-O missions are restricted to those armors you can read in the bootypedia. Those articles are listed as "Armorname O-G"
The harbinger can be used on Cydonia tho because Mars has gravity (while space missions don't)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2017, 07:45:50 pm
New version released. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: wolfreal on September 16, 2017, 03:29:55 am
Great!! I do really need two or three weeks without projects in the work so I can play!.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 16, 2017, 03:34:31 pm
A really lovely improvement~

Can anyone confirm the value of Lokk'Nar recruits?
Do they work as agile infiltration units and assassin backstapper?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 16, 2017, 09:00:49 pm
I feel about them as cheap and good replacement for just recruted gals thanks to nice starting stats. Good archers, but can't carry much and the best field for them to fight is open space at night, where that camo mean something. Otherwise, they are not worth space they occupy. Less amount of AP mean not as agile as uber, less strenght so javelins is almost useless. If trained in middle game they are great snipers and accurate granade throwers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Roxis231 on September 18, 2017, 11:20:39 am
Hi All - My Alt. Armour Mod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4022.0.html) has just been updated for 0.99H1

If anyone finds any problems - please let me know, the last 2 updates have been missing several images because no one reported it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Mechanique on September 20, 2017, 10:12:13 pm
A really lovely improvement~

Can anyone confirm the value of Lokk'Nar recruits?
Do they work as agile infiltration units and assassin backstapper?

They work fine as early game bow-things (because higher starting stats than hands) and expendables if you have the free slots in craft when your gals are injured (cheap even in early game). Mid game they work fine as night-time scouts in nightblade outfit (stealthed at 5+ tiles, and poison dagger) and decent stealthy snipers even at day time (longcoat + Euro markslaser and they can do laser potshots across the map as good as trained gal would) but are very squishy compared to gals with armor and thus outclassed. But, I guess, if night mission are your thing they are pretty good at it.

I also noticed that while they have lower than usual voodoo power, the voodoo skill increases past the gal's caps. I had a limited pool of just 2 surviving until voodoo school was built, but both afeter few month in training have 55-ish voodoo skill, having 30-40 power. So, while they can potentially be useful as voodoo-bullet/gun shooters or rod/impaler-users, I have no information on how high do they cap and how does that compare to castaways that are plentiful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 22, 2017, 12:06:13 pm
Thx for the feedback  8)
I'll give those midgets a try.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on September 23, 2017, 05:50:40 am
Had an encounter for the first time with the Heavy Freighter this afternoon... that big blue monster. I was going after some ship I shot down, then a wild Heavy Freighter appeared and I just had to take it on, I just had to bite off more than I could chew.

It was greed, pure and simple.
We thought it would be a big, fat and juicy slab of meat.

(light loadout, smart pistols and kustom handcannons, no heavy melee just shock'a'fist, some hellerium grenades in case I had a problem... no spare cannons or anything laying around... 6 gals only, 4 in chromeback and 2 in hover... it was in that really crappy tundra mapset thats so hard to walk around in)

But... like the Joker said...
Im like a dog chasing freighters, I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it.
And I caught one. And kinda didn't know what to do with it.

Marsec goons practically flooding down the halls in formation.

And those 3 tanks... man...
Not only did I have to tiptoe around the ship to get in the hole the overloaded engine blew in it... the guild crew were starting to wake up by the time I was finishing up with those things. Im just thankful the Boom Gun I found from a marsec guy was able to blow the hind end off of one of them (and im glad I can still use it unresearched).

I really, really love this Heavy Freighter. It totally caught me off guard, I thought it would just be like a normal one "but bigger", but noooo it was like a battleship just without the big guns on it.

(no dead gals but I think 4 are wounded, the ventura is under repairs for 2 days from the ship combat)


Im just glad I didn't send the Scarab after it from the auxiliary base with its meager crew of 3 semi-experienced gals...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: AngelicJoker on September 25, 2017, 06:50:07 pm
I went looking for a Heavy Freighter over the weekend.  I needed the flight plan.  I built ships.  I built Avalanches.  I took it down with little difficulty.  And then I landed.  I thought my collection of mini nukes would be a good idea for clearing the ground.  And then the first enemy I see is the Guild rep, already bleeding from an engine explosion.  Suddenly I had to have a gal start tossing heavy lasers and more standard arms to everyone around the Pachyderm so my precious plans weren't lost in a sea of nuclear fire.  I finally managed to get the tanks whittled down and the power armor guards dropped and make my way inside.  Almost everything was panicking after the Rep bled out.  I thought it was just a cleanup job at that point.  And then the last tank descends from a higher floor and kills a previously injured girl in one shot.  I manage to destroy it with some desperate heavy laser fire and a well placed grenade.  The rest of the crew surrendered and I walked away with my precious flight plans.  And many destroyed tank husks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on September 25, 2017, 11:38:46 pm
Almost everything was panicking after the Rep bled out.  I thought it was just a cleanup job at that point.

Yeah they were panicking because their careers were fk-in over and their gooses were cooked. Their guild rep dies on their watch - their big boss, just imagine how humiliating that is. Even the G.O.s will be raked over the coals "for not doing enough". The bodyguards will be lucky to wear loincloths after this is over, let alone their power armor.

Oh and uhh... there's pirates outside and surrendering is almost as bad as what the guild is gonna do to em all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: AngelicJoker on September 26, 2017, 05:26:11 am
I would have happily healed the Rep for them so they could avoid letting her die on their watch.  Unfortunately a dude in power armor and a tank decided it was a better idea to stand over her body and prevent me from saving their poor, unconscious boss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - UnJust der A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on September 27, 2017, 12:08:45 am
Just gave Jack $3,500,000 to gain his Favors.

He stopped giving me missions to go on for him so he wasn't giving me a way to prove myself (even more). I guess he was really just wanting a big payoff.

(needed it to get wang's emporium, figured id get more missions from jack to get the tokens but they stopped showing up)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: LexThorn on September 29, 2017, 12:47:03 pm
I was thinking a lot... How about some simple indicator that will show, will you loose score if don`t go on this particular mission or not? (in descripton window for mission or crash site)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 29, 2017, 02:29:34 pm
Every pink-dot mission unvisited will cause a slight loss of points. The reason is: The gals question your leadership why you've skipped this opportunity for booty and glory.
Skipped pogroms do massive score penalties. This will not occure if you haven't researched "mutant alliance" tho.

Every mission started by one of the major factions (guild, academy, church and SGs) cause various penalties in score if those missions are not stopped.

The amount of lost points caused by missions of the 4 factions is mostly equalized by your battlescape performance (all the pink-dot missions) and research.
Fast research progression can net more income using the infamy-bonus than most workshops could produce with alcohol or other money-making products.

Unless you do no missions and no research in a month, your score shouldn't drop too harsh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 29, 2017, 05:46:43 pm
Is it meant to be that all facility-shuffling now costs 99.000 $ ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: LexThorn on September 30, 2017, 10:49:23 am
Every pink-dot mission unvisited will cause a slight loss of points. The reason is: The gals question your leadership why you've skipped this opportunity for booty and glory.
Skipped pogroms do massive score penalties. This will not occure if you haven't researched "mutant alliance" tho.

Every mission started by one of the major factions (guild, academy, church and SGs) cause various penalties in score if those missions are not stopped.

The amount of lost points caused by missions of the 4 factions is mostly equalized by your battlescape performance (all the pink-dot missions) and research.
Fast research progression can net more income using the infamy-bonus than most workshops could produce with alcohol or other money-making products.

Unless you do no missions and no research in a month, your score shouldn't drop too harsh.

Understood. But for new players it is not obvious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 30, 2017, 11:52:43 am
This mod is not designed for beginners and instead for hardcore-xcom ufo veterans.
Even superhuman terror-from-the-deep players will find a true challenge (but not as frustrating)

Give it 2 or 3 testruns, you'll ease into it^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ashghan on September 30, 2017, 12:18:03 pm
Quote from: Ethereal_Medic
Every pink-dot mission unvisited will cause a slight loss of points.
Incorrect. Only some missions give a score penalty on ignoring. AFAIK those are post-mutant alliance pogroms, loknarrs and ES missions. The others - bounty hunts, trophies, mansions, underwater adventures and so on, do not give any penalty when not completed. Unless that changed in the newest version, as I haven't tried it yet.

On the other hand pogroms and ES missions include a hint of consequences in their mission texts. Perhaps loknarrs should also have such a hint.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 30, 2017, 02:35:16 pm
Thanks for correcting. It's really rough to see which missions do cause point-drops but overall what we have here is a much smoother and fair gameplay if we compare it to those 60$ titles like x-com2 and WotC. A gameplay so cut down and punishing that you HAVE TO WIN your first 4 missions without casualties and injuries to snowball quickly.
While WotC is without doubt much easier compared to the vanilla game the fact how feast and famine this game is makes me hate it and everyone protecting it.

Yes X-PirateZ gave me alot of pain in the past and I summoned the creators anger upon me several times but I've learned my lesson to dig deeper into the strategic nature of the game and use more tools to weather the storm. I rather play a full campaign of this mod than 1 hour of those new "wanna-be" xcom titles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 01, 2017, 12:55:19 am
I rather play a full campaign of this mod than 1 hour of those new "wanna-be" xcom titles.

Indeed. They dont even have random map generators in the new xcom games. And while it can cause some issues occasionally, like having to pickaxe your way into the catacombs, usually there are tools available to deal with it rather early in the game.

Its kinda unusual how much capability you're given, yet at the same time, it really does not break the game balance. Even given how much damage-dealing stuff is an important part of vanilla game, sometimes its a really bad thing to do too much damage to your enemies. There's quite abit of context-based usefulness rather than linear benefits (heck, some shotguns are far more useful than a Heavy Plasma and even do more damage than it, just depends on what you're using it on).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 01, 2017, 12:59:28 am
Also screw random-class systems if you can assign every role yourself and play the odds with the given roster.
All gals have the potencial to get jack-of-all-trades in the long run something the new games don't offer with the mainstreamed "you rolled gunner, here have a maschinegun AND a grenade launcher" while most other classes stick with pee shooters and the sniper is the only class allowed to use pistols (like what? why?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Moon_Dew on October 09, 2017, 09:49:02 am
Any other mods that pair well with the latest X-Piratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: UnholyAngel on October 09, 2017, 02:30:29 pm
I am unable to capture a live Strix Zombie.

-Mind and Charm dmg have no effect
-Daze and Chocking dmg apply stun, but you still end up with a corpse
-Electric aplies stun dmg, but leads to explosive death
-Voodoo capture at least has very low odds, with their 114 Vodoo strength

Any tips?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Mechanique on October 09, 2017, 10:46:22 pm
I am unable to capture a live Strix Zombie.

-Mind and Charm dmg have no effect
-Daze and Chocking dmg apply stun, but you still end up with a corpse
-Electric aplies stun dmg, but leads to explosive death
-Voodoo capture at least has very low odds, with their 114 Vodoo strength

Any tips?

As with others - deal stun damage with your stun weapon of choice to just below the HP value (mind probe helps to find the exact dosage), then do a little HP damage with your little-damage-dealing-weapon-of-choice so that HP drops just a bit below the current stun.

Alternatively, unload into them with weapons that have shock x2 or shock x3 in their descriptions, I did not test it but assume you will get one stunned eventually with low damage rolls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: khade on October 10, 2017, 12:36:40 am
I think they just die, they are a nightmare to fight even if you're not trying to capture, at least.  Also the other zombies you're far more likely to knock out just through fighting, Strix aren't like that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Roxis231 on October 10, 2017, 02:23:52 am
I had to fight one in early January with only the starting equipment once.

The Strix started in range of the Airbus doors - with a clear line of sight no less.

Right S.O.B. Charlie Foxtrot that was.

(If you don't know what that is - look it up in the Urban Dictionary online)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ivandogovich on October 10, 2017, 07:23:14 am
Any other mods that pair well with the latest X-Piratez?

There are a few that help with late game things and otherwise give some alternate looks:

[MOD] Streamlined Armor Manufacturing 99h1 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5199.0.html)
[MOD] Simplified Endgame (Quality of Life) (0.99H1) (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5736.0.html)
[MOD] Rats: A visual mod to give Ratmen a more rodent-like look. (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5442.0.html)
Alternate Graphics for Piratez Extended - For XPiratez 0.99H1 (Excellent alternate armor looks) (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4022.0.html)
[MOD] Unified Uniform Production Names (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5713.0.html)
[MOD] PG13 Version (Less NSFW) 99G4.104 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5278.0.html)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: UnholyAngel on October 10, 2017, 11:57:48 am
As with others - deal stun damage with your stun weapon of choice to just below the HP value (mind probe helps to find the exact dosage), then do a little HP damage with your little-damage-dealing-weapon-of-choice so that HP drops just a bit below the current stun.

Alternatively, unload into them with weapons that have shock x2 or shock x3 in their descriptions, I did not test it but assume you will get one stunned eventually with low damage rolls.

The problem is not making them go down stunned. The problem is that the moment the animation finishes you are still left with just a corpse. In one can case I had a strix zombie with still over 200Hp and more than the whole visible hp bar worth of stun and I down with a few hits from the leather whip, deals nearly no lethal damage at all. It didn't matter I still just got a corpse.

And not getting a live one is a bit of problem since there is other research that depends on it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: raziel_malakai1981 on October 11, 2017, 01:42:26 am
i was thinking the other day on possible new missions that would be cool and in-theme with x-piratez after going over the "escaped lunatic" page and i was wondering how feasible would it be to do an sanitarium/asylum mission as as an addition or replacement to organ grinders? Also another thing that i thing might work pretty well with respect to the existing archeological digs missions - grave robbers :), preferably magical girls' or just ridicolously overloaded with zombies instead which you harvest for their bits and pieces post-mission
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: mercy on October 11, 2017, 09:24:00 pm
Extending the Soundtrack:

How do I add new GMTACTIC and GMGEO tracks to the existing XPiratez music to be played at random sometimes? 

Will these entries work?

Piratez.rul:

  - type: mainMenu         // default XPiratez entry
    music: GMSTORY        // default XPiratez entry
  - type: mainMenu
    music: GMSTORY2     // new track
  - type: mainMenu
    music: GMSTORY3    // new track

Or should the above look like:

  - type: mainMenu         // default XPiratez entry
    musics:
  - type: GMSTORY        // default XPiratez entry
  - type: GMSTORY2        // new music
  - type: GMSTORY3        // new music

--------------

Will this work?

musics:
  - type: GMINTER01
  - type: ZIZZ_STUDIO_SPOOKY_SCAPE
    normalization: 1.0
  - type: AS_2_AMBIENT_02
    normalization: 1.0
  - type: AS_2_THEME
    normalization: 1.0
  - type: GMTACTIC
    normalization: 1.0
  - type: GMTACTIC2         // new musics
  - type: GMTACTIC3
  - type: GMTACTIC4
  - type: GMTACTIC5
  - type: GMTACTIC6
  - type: GMTACTIC7
  - type: GMTACTIC8
  - type: GMTACTIC9
  - type: GMTACTIC10
  - type: GMTACTIC11
  - type: GMTACTIC12


----------------

MISSION BRIEFING: adding more randomly  selected tracks

- type: STR_TERROR_MISSION_NO_PENALTY
    alert: STR_ALIENS_TERRORISE
    alertDescription: STR_TERROR_MISSION_BRIEFING
    alertBackground: BACK03.SCR
    briefing:
      palette: 2
      music: GMENBASE   
      music: GMENBASE2   // Will this work?


Or this one maybe?

  briefing:
      palette: 2
musics:
  - type: GMINTER01
  - type: GMINTER02  // new music to be selected at random
  - type: GMINTER03  // new music to be selected at random
  - type: GMINTER04 // new music to be selected at random?

--------------

Or should I simply expand  \\XPiratez\standard\xcom1\music.rul like this?

musics:
  - type: GMDEFEND
    catPos: 3
    normalization: 0.76
 //[..skipped vanilla entries to make my post short]

  - type: GMGEO3     // Will new music tracks work like this?
  - type: GMGEO4
  - type: GMGEO5
  - type: GMGEO6
  - type: GMGEO7
  - type: GMGEO8
  - type: GMGEO9
  - type: GMGEO10
  - type: GMGEO11
  - type: GMGEO12
  - type: GMGEO13
  - type: GMGEO14
  - type: GMGEO15
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 12, 2017, 01:56:05 pm
New patch scheduled?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ivandogovich on October 12, 2017, 03:39:39 pm
New patch scheduled?
It may be a while as Dioxine is taking a bit of a break right now after almost two solid years of development.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 12, 2017, 04:58:06 pm
In that case sweet sweet holidays~
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 12, 2017, 08:56:42 pm
The problem is not making them go down stunned. The problem is that the moment the animation finishes you are still left with just a corpse.

It may be a while as Dioxine is taking a bit of a break right now after almost two solid years of development.

I may suggest that in lieu of a patch you just cheat. If you think you got one to go down, save your game and add a live strix to your base inventory (or alien containment or whatever section it goes in). And if you're in hardcore mode do it after the mission finishes of course.

There isn't anything dishonorable about that, you're only modifying it in a way it would already be modified if it was properly functioning. Even less so, since you'd only be giving yourself one zombie to research, not the others that you should also be getting that could be butchered for more hellerium or a higher sale price.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: HT on October 14, 2017, 05:14:48 pm
The problem is not making them go down stunned. The problem is that the moment the animation finishes you are still left with just a corpse. In one can case I had a strix zombie with still over 200Hp and more than the whole visible hp bar worth of stun and I down with a few hits from the leather whip, deals nearly no lethal damage at all. It didn't matter I still just got a corpse.

And not getting a live one is a bit of problem since there is other research that depends on it.

Perhaps their capture is not been programmed in yet? Not sure about this current version, but I swear that in the one immediately before, Strix couldn't be captured alive no matter what, they always were supposed to die: I checked and there wasn't an entry for them in the 'pedia, only for their bodies, thus giving me this theory. It's been a while since I played though and I discovered this through messing with the debug mode, so perhaps my info is mistaken/outdated already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Bloax on October 14, 2017, 05:24:36 pm
I seem to recall that zombie butchery or whatever the tech you're all talking about was supposed to require "one of" the specimens, not all.

So it's a bug, but the research branch concerning this is going to be different next version so you may as well cheat yourself to this inconsequential bit of tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Voiddweller on October 15, 2017, 10:18:04 pm
I found myself in a difficult situation, using only non lethal melee weapons to capture people for ransom and slavery. That makes game's huge pile of guns useless to me.
Guess i am going to add some rubber bullets and stun gas by myself...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 15, 2017, 10:31:09 pm
*fires off howitzers and mortars in ghoul town
*spends several minutes listening to the explosion sound effect play on loop while I switch to other apps

I found myself in a difficult situation, using only non lethal melee weapons to capture people for ransom and slavery. That makes game's huge pile of guns useless to me.
Guess i am going to add some rubber bullets and stun gas by myself...

Actually I would give a noteworthy mention to Holdout Pistols... shoot someone with that and it will probably drop their HP by half and give them a bleeding wound. One whack and they'll likely go down.

You're early in the tech path though as far as I can tell. Because Stun Grenades and Knockout Grenades do wonders to take down civilians. Also the harpoons are the way to go for awhile even though they seem to be less accurate than their stats say.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Roxis231 on October 15, 2017, 10:44:21 pm
I found myself in a difficult situation, using only non lethal melee weapons to capture people for ransom and slavery. That makes game's huge pile of guns useless to me.

Handle and cattleprod, works almost every time - I don't see a problem with this, just run up and hit them from behind.

You can build/aquire some ranged stun weapons from mid to end game though.

Because Stun Grenades and Knockout Grenades do wonders to take down civilians. Also the harpoons are the way to go for awhile even though they seem to be less accurate than their stats say.

I agree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ivandogovich on October 15, 2017, 11:39:46 pm
I'd add that the Hallucigen Gas grenade is amazing against almost all light (and early) foes.  Once they panic, they count as surrendered for mission end, and its also an easy access smoke cloud.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 16, 2017, 04:25:18 pm
Civilian-farming should turn into a cakewalk once your squad can field somewhat decent armor (tac-armor or chainmail) to tank those early gunshots.
Near impossible to be scratched just rope/whip those goons until they drop.

The newest addition "Assault-Shotgun" with rubber bullets is a lovely tool to gun down civilians. Even a full burst can't kill a squishy but knocks him out safely. Sadly this shotgun starts to fail if you use against anything with some sort of protection (for example this weapon can't pierce through a highwayman's armor).

It still got a gunbutt tho and a handle is like a 100% must-have in any gal's quickslot.

For more lethal-fun I recommend to invest into guerillia suits and silenced pistols.
Cheap handgun offering a free handslot for ninja-sticks/handles and the armor itself scales with 7,5 extra damage for the pistol ontop of the gal's own reactions.

A potential 130 reactions nets 32,5 additional damage, surpassing nearly all high-caliber handguns in precision and clip size.
Super Magnum is better ofc and kustom-handcannon does reliable damage but hey, it's quite early to get until you can field better stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 17, 2017, 11:01:20 pm
Siberia Base Found.
Couple days later engage the mission.
Mission map generator puts a + shape right through the middle of the battlefield, separating the siberia base into 4 pieces.

Hands wearing Assassin armor, Plasma Pistols and a spare heavy weapon to drop once used. Couple hands with flying armor armed with SRLaser Pistols and RPG/Nukes. Couple hands wearing Revenant with plasma pistols and force blades.
2 Tanks:  Howitzer, Battlecannon.

The Howitzer tank got caught out in the open and unfortunately destroyed on Turn 2 because I underestimated the chainguns the supersoldiers were using. But at least I got 1 shot off with it and destroyed an enemy tank (this is a sore loss to me, but my manufacturing base can replace it).

Most of the other enemy tanks were destroyed either with Plasma Rockets, Plasma Mortars (the Mortar commanded by Moral Chill), or Baby Nukes. However I destroyed one with concentrated plasma pistol fire to the hindquarters (about 8 shots, guided by Assassin suit targeting).

By having the Battlecannon tank take up defensive cover in the Bonaventura craft it was able to destroy 3 Supersoldiers by firing roughly three times as many shots (as well as some humanist instructors and soldiers who happened to be hit by accident). The Battlecannon tank survived the battle ironically without a scratch on it.

One of the Leaders and a Stormtrooper made the dumb move of setting up defense in the center of the trench and got a plasma mortar dropped on them (sorry dude maybe kinda you might've made it to trial and execution, but that stormtrooper was just too hard a target and you were too close to him). At least his briefcase survived.

The other Leader tried to pin one of my hands in a corner and molest her but Slutty Allison was close enough she heard the screams and came around the corner and blasted him back out into the trench with her plasma pistol (nothing left of 'im except his briefcase and krueger).

Boss Gal Gorgeous Robber took the east quarter of the underground base all by herself, though was wounded in the process. Chalk up 4 instructors and a stray soldier who were mostly bisected with a force blade.

Several hands ended up hurt by the end, though it was mostly because of the frigid cold since their assassin suits were completely lacking in any kind of insulation.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 17, 2017, 11:24:01 pm
Congrats in unlocking nuclear lasers in the near future.
You can use ushanka and fancy shawls to add some cold resist to the assassin-suits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 18, 2017, 09:31:14 pm
I tend not to invest in inventory booster items, its a flawed idea and its kinda silly (as a player I don't like them, its inaccurate, if something is going on the character's head then it needs to be on their head, end of story - me not using them is a giant middle finger to this dynamic).


I already deconstructed all my normal lasers except for the assault lasers. Sold all the laspistol clips because I couldnt pry the hellerium out of them, then when I researched the nuclear lasers it gave me that option (go figure).

Laspistol clip extraction should have came up near the start when the rest of them were provided (...I mean if I can pry it out of a heavy laser then a pistol clip should be no problem).

Ive got Plasma Pistols but for some reason I cant make ammo for them. Though I get resupplied well enough that I havent run out yet, I only use plasma pistols on half of my missions.

Normal weapon I use is Smartpistols with the associated clips, even if im up against marsec operatives and military police. It takes a few shots but because of the +reaction damage bonus its still got teeth, and its very inexpensive. Normally I dont care at all about their potential reaction fire, and if I do I will shoot the same guy using different hands so that (he basically gets shot several times all at once).

But mainly if I am expecting hard targets ill be using Plasma Pistols or the Death Blossom (HVAP). I prefer the blossom because ive got a bunch of it laying around, made a bunch of these guns and a ton of ammo for them as soon as I got access to it. But I do prefer the plasma pistol just because if I need to stow it in inventory to use something else real quick (Rum, Aye Phone) I dont have to actually drop anything.

(remember, anyone in flying armor doesnt have a backpack, and even though I dont give them melee they're still typically using the same weapons as everyone else)

We're supposed to diversify equipment but I find it to be a PITA to micromanage inventory like that, and usually like just giving everybody the same thing if I can.

Other standard issue equipment for my gals:
Hellerium Grenade x1
Stick Grenade x1 (for demolitions, or a virtually guaranteed hit)
Rum (all medikits are btfo)
Aye Phone
...possibly 2 Knockout Grenades

Melee:
Force Blade (ive got like 8 of these now)
or Barbed Dagger
...I dont give someone a melee weapon unless their skill is at least 90.
...Everyone is called upon to whack people with Aye Phones though, this is what replaced the handle.


Ahh back on topic... Nuclear Lasers...
Im looking forward to using the nuclear lasers because the Scorchy is an infinite laser pistol and I think everybody will be getting this, also because it can beat someone over the head. Also the Advanced Lasgun because thats good enough to replace some weapons and even weapon groups permanently

But im especially looking forward to the Heavy Laser version of the nuclear lasers. Because ammunition is a big deal for the heavy laser and I hate bringing it along because of that... so now ill feel free to do so.

(I have an MP Lascannon that sits on the floor of the transport, with an extra clip, just in case I really need a spot remover)

You might care to point out the Fatty but ive had the fatty once and I just didn't really get the feel for it. Yeah it beats most of the other miniguns but in mobile warfare its like woo-hoo I killed one dude with it. Maybe im old fashioned but I kinda expect a Minigun to mow down 5 people, not hit the same guy 10 times. And if it takes 10+ hits to kill something then it needs to be quick (like a Shiv) or I should really be using a different weapon. That (44?) damage from the Fatty is not going to touch Sectopod hit points no matter how many times I shoot it.

(I think the fatty should be given the Smasher or SR Shotgun treatment, make it a shotgun that fires a wide spread of 5 pellets, with x4 autofire - id recommend using one of the fallout gatling laser sound effects, im partial to the original retro one or the one from fallout tactics)

Not my fault the engine cant handle drawing multiple projectiles, someone shoulda considered that back at the beginning when it was more feasible to figure out.



Sniper weapons arent really all that useful to me because they're way too slow, but ive got a Markslaser if I ever care to use one and ammo isn't a big deal for a sniper gun (space missions it comes in handy for... but thats about it).

Since im modding the game im considering a new dynamic for applying Negative Falloff for accuracy with sniper weapons. That is the farther you get away the higher the % will increase. This means that they are truly designed for long range and no matter how far away you are you pretty much have the same Actual Percentage chance to hit someone (like a ranged touch attack in d&d). It might not match up and the accuracy could still overall degrade over distance, im thinking maybe -0.25 or -0.5 falloff. That is, if applying Negative Falloff is possible.

It lends justification to having the Squared formula preserved (currently ive disabled it). Im considering making sniper weapons based on Reactions rather than Firing Accuracy.

Remember 100% chance listed to hit doesn't mean 100% chance, it means a trajectory cone of a certain size.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 19, 2017, 09:23:23 am
1.) To manufacture plasma clips you need a fusion reactor up and running. You can check missing facilities in the manufacturing screen.
2.) Those lost hellerium units by selling the laspistol-clips shouldn't be too much of an issue in the longrun since you made pure money to buy a fully functional hellerium-capsule later on.
3.) You got plasma unlocked. Nuclear lasers selling point is the 1/3 armorpen and unlimited ammo. While the "battlelaser" is a fine weapon you can also go for plasma only and just melt anything. There isn't alot of weaponry able to beat plasma weaponry in a 1to1 comparision.
4.) Smartpistols are lovely but I'm a huge fan of the cougar as my to-go mansion-assault pistol along with smasher-pistols and neural whips. I'll give the blossom more love in my grey-codex run.
5.) Inventory management can be tedious with the vast amount of tools to wreck havoc. The fastest way is to equip everyone equal. I keep catching myself using the exact same layout for most gals since it's a given game mechanic across every game in existence. If you have a potent weapon of (mass) destruction you're always going to use it. It's a natural instinct and follows the path of running the path of the least resistance (e.g. not having to bother about your stamina/throwing using handaxes and ninja-stars)
6.) That's a bunch of light-sabers you got there ^^. I doubt you need anything else other than more of these swords.
7.) MP Lascannon should be something to d/a again since your plasma weaponry does the job better (and more reliable for TU-usage)
8.) Sadly the minigun/HMG's in this game can't be commanded to shot in a moving angle. Suppression weaponry is hard to code in a turn-based game. Since the bullet's stop spraying in the enemy turn these guns are pretty much guns with auto-fire only and most of the time no aimed and snap. They bring raw damage (against those that can be hurt, a sectopod has like 130 frontarmor and even it's backplate is barely scratch-able by a fatty-barage while it goes down in 1-2 saberslashes.)
9.) You could give the sniper-gauss a try with the new TFTD-damage formula. (50-150%) Also most sniperguns using 2d100 rolls now to get higher average rolls (they can still roll low c: )
10.) This new mechanic sounds okay but I can't see the reason to use the reaction-score. It's all about precision and that's what the firing skill is meant for. I'm open for new content! A buff to sniper weaponry to overshadow the raw utility of basic rifles (those with snap, aimed and (x3) autos) is something to look into.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 19, 2017, 10:23:33 pm
1.) To manufacture plasma clips you need a fusion reactor up and running. You can check missing facilities in the manufacturing screen.
3.) You got plasma unlocked. Nuclear lasers selling point is the 1/3 armorpen and unlimited ammo. While the "battlelaser" is a fine weapon you can also go for plasma only and just melt anything. There isn't alot of weaponry able to beat plasma weaponry in a 1to1 comparision.

Yes I love cougars very much, but I dont think thats a topic fit for openxcom discussion :P

Interesting note about the plasma pistol clips, I dont have access to it yet because I cant get higher studies (that is what is required for fusion reactor?). That pesky implosion bomb launcher.

I got lucky with a few mansion robberies and the entire mansion surrendered, got the uranium as well as the treasure chests. Each treasure chest gives a topaz among other things. And the first treasure chest didnt get lost because an altar boy gave me the lookup for it instead of researching it directly. I have quite a few gems sitting around and nothing to do with them, im resisting the urge to sell them because I dont know what else is coming up that might need them (I had forgotten the lightsabers required a topaz for example).

Since the lightsabers are so useful I made as many as I could. Ive only really seen use of maybe having 3 with me on missions so im likely to start shipping the remainder to other bases in case they need to attack something, or they get raided. I sabered a Trader Lord (just once) in my most recent enemy hideout attack, checked him and sure enough he was bleeding, so I just ran off and let him collapse.


Miniguns:
The way I modded this was giving them a snap shot that still takes like 35% or 40% TU, while the burst takes over 50%. Since they spray multiple shots per attack (shotgun pellets) its pretty much like firing an auto attack with an assault rifle anyway, except it can be done as a reaction fire too.

So you can still use them in a pinch, but being able to dump a truck of rounds that tear up walls is where they beat an assault rifle. The minigun got its ammo count divided by 5 but now fires x5 per attack and the auto shots is 5 i think.

I also modded all of the machineguns to fire like this too except they're usually x3 with auto shots 3. What makes them even more spiffy is I gave them a nifty multi-shot sound effect kinda like how the chaingun has. Just because its so good I attached it, along with some of the other sounds im using. I used the ubiquitous original fallout minigun sound effect for the minigun.

I keep the MP lascannon because of that 140 damage, which happens to be laser damage not piercing. If need and necessity bring it into use then im already prepared for the TU costs. Also one reason I tend not to like using plasma guns is because all of them have overkill turned on and I like recovering corpses.

(which reminds me I need to get a Mining Laser going to replace the fusion torch I always have on the transport floor)



Sniper Stuff:
I deconstructed my sniper gauss as soon as I could.
Also you have to understand im a purist about TFTD stuff so I modded all of the gauss weapons to work pretty much like they did in TFTD. Ie, they arent railguns they're particle beam weapons. But I did keep the damage as piercing with a 1/2 armor multiplier. They sound like the original TFTD weapons too. I kinda left the sniper gauss doing as much as the musket since it has the firing bonus to damage.

The reason I wanted to go with reactions for sniper weapons is because firing accuracy is like a 1 dimensional progression, and sniper guns are scoped and this means you have great accuracy inherently with the weapon already, its almost foolproof, you could shoot someone a mile away with a scoped energy weapon like this if the battlefield extended that far. Except that it isn't... you have to fight your own over-reactions to avoid overshooting or over-leading the target because its just so easy to do with the sight picture moving around as much as it is. Its a matter of reactions not aiming.

On the other hand using sniper weapons does Not train up reactions, it still trains up firing accuracy. It is a weapon that always tests you, it does not train you. Still, at a distance even if your accuracy sucks with it the actual chance to hit the target isnt going to go down quite as much, so 50% actual probability up close is still going to be like 35% out at the edge of the battlefield.

(I would also contest that in a tactical battle with adrenaline pumping, Firing Accuracy is only partially about precision anyway, its mostly about leading targets and being able to maintain focus and control in a stressful situation - none of these things are actually improved by shooting at the range. IRL police only have about a statistical 4% chance per trigger pull to shoot a fleeing suspect who's running)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 19, 2017, 10:48:58 pm
Alot of promissing changes. Maybe some day those are *legal* implemented into the mod. Shotgun-like miniguns would feel much better to mow down goons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ksnova on October 19, 2017, 10:59:53 pm
Just a minor string problem, but when I try to transfer a prisoner to another base (if that base's prisons are full), I still get the same message saying that there ARE no prisons at that base. :P If there IS room in the prisons for them, well, it transfers them over as it should.

Also, what do I need in order to build a Mess Hall, Still, or Old Earth Lab in my bases? The Tech Tree Viewer didn't make it clear. I can build a Mess Hall in one base, but not the other.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: khade on October 20, 2017, 02:04:22 am
Read the description of the mess hall, it requires a still.  Don't remember what you need to unlock the still, you start with one but can't build more until you research it.  The old earth lab is a unique.  You will never get another, don't lose that first base.   ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 20, 2017, 02:05:58 am
Alot of promissing changes. Maybe some day those are *legal* implemented into the mod. Shotgun-like miniguns would feel much better to mow down goons.

now that I loaded up my machinegunsTweak.rul I can quote the stats I gave them:
Fatty:  44 dmg (double all health/wounding/stun), x8 autofire (Auto: 62t/50%)
Minigun:  30/35 dmg (50 ammo), 5 pellets, x5 autofire (Snap: 40t/40%, Auto: 64t/40%)
Vulcan:  65 dmg (20 ammo), 4 pellets, x5 autofire (Snap: 45t/55%, Auto: 72t/45%)
UAC Chaingun: 36dmg, 3 pellets, x3 autofire (Snap: 32t/50%, Auto: 48t/40%)
Bozar: 44dmg (12 ammo), 5 pellets, x3 autofire (Acc: 115/65/55%, TU: 70/38/52)
Saw: 30/34 dmg (16 or 24 ammo), 3 pellets, x2 autofire (Acc: 85/60/55%, TU: 65/35/45), Shotgun Choke 70
Saw Gyro:  85/65/70% acc and Shotgun Choke 85 (still x2 autofire)
Saw Meridian:  65/32/38 TUs (still x2 autofire)
Assault Machinegun: 32/32/43 dmg (30 or 33 ammo), 3 pellets, x3 autofire (Acc: -/45/45%, TU: -/35/52), Shotgun Choke 50
Smartgun: -/60/60% acc and Shotgun Choke 100

There is a little bit of unbalancing that has been applied... but there are alot of enemies that carry the AMG and other weapons, and I got reaction fired on by a machinegun twice now (though they missed once, and the other time I didnt get hurt).

In unrelated news I took the UAC rifle and made it shoot a single projectile (does 84 damage, but grants 2.7x armor to compensate. Pretty much you get hit by all 3 or none at all just like the G11).

I also Removed the Snap shot from most of the rocket launchers (including the RPG). It just doesn't make sense having a strategic weapon like that (as a hand, or as the enemy) and being able to make a careless knee jerk shot with it. It hurts as much as it helps - those guys with baby nukes are only dangerous if you get caught out in the open - but it also means they are slow weapons that you have to dedicate a turn to using yourself.

(how often does the AI make an aimed shot? I presume they default to aimed shots if they have the TUs to do it)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ivandogovich on October 20, 2017, 06:15:17 am
Alot of promissing changes. Maybe some day those are *legal* implemented into the mod. Shotgun-like miniguns would feel much better to mow down goons.

I am a huge fan of modding Piratez to make it a better game for me to play.  I also heartily endorse RSSwizard's initiative to make tweaks that the game more enjoyable for him too.

However, I would hesitate to endorse that these be adopted into the main mod.  I think they are a bit too radical in their departure from the weapons schema in this world and the game balanced already designed around it. 

Nonetheless, its experimentation like this where great ideas are born, so keep up the good work! 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 20, 2017, 01:24:13 pm
Read the description of the mess hall, it requires a still.  Don't remember what you need to unlock the still, you start with one but can't build more until you research it.  The old earth lab is a unique.  You will never get another, don't lose that first base.   ;D

The still is unlocked with the research topic "Alchemy".
Alchemy also unlocks the ability to brew vodka (x25). Losing the base with the old earth lab is in most cases a reason to reload/restart. In worst case you lose all loot, your best hands, the majority of your runts and scientists and on top of that your complete research.

Screwing up in year 1 is pretty much a restart.
Around mid-year 2 and later on it might be possible to recover, resulting in a massive slowdown to recover the missing personnel.
The biggest issue is the space-efficiency the old-earth lab has as the only building able to do "computer core" tasks (hacking etc.) and offering 15 brainerslots. The old earthlab offers 5times the space of a "computer core" while costing alot less upkeep.

Considering the mods to the existing mod yes I get the creation philosophy behind the setting and ruleset as a functioning core-design.
I just said it would be neat since it's so promissing based on the sound of it (and I can imagine in practice too).
The thing with snap-shot rocket launchers made we wonder since the vanilla game. Operatives carrying those toys were certain doom for your whole squad if they panic/getting mc'ed inside the skyranger. Using unloaded launchers wasn't a garanteed option for the traitor to just reload a spare rocket and shot anyway (besides from tossing a grenade or using a handgun).

The way Piratez offers way more reactionshots (due to higher base reactionscore and constant reaction-checks) if you ever fail to remove all remaining TU's on a RPG with a babynuke in it and the gal does a reactionshot, well things getting toasty inside the menace-class/thunderhorse. It's a fine QOL change but some determination from the player's side is a given to get anywhere with the campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 20, 2017, 03:04:49 pm
By the way RSSwizard, you can make snapshots fire like an autoshot now, using the confSnap tag:
Code: [Select]
items:
  - type: STR_SOME_MACHINEGUN
    ...
    confSnap:
      shots: 3
    ...

No need to force the shotgun code to do what you want for multiple shots in reaction fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: ivandogovich on October 20, 2017, 10:47:33 pm
Espers are often on Academy Pogroms.  They are also available in Large academy ships: Frigates and Cruisers, iirc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 21, 2017, 12:50:27 am
Stupid me I found the easy way to get the *sci books* topic.
Just have to do alliance favours x3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ashghan on October 21, 2017, 03:06:15 pm
Suppression weaponry is hard to code in a turn-based game.

I liked the implementation of this mechanic done in Jagged Alliance 2 1.13 mod. VERY detailed explanation here (http://ja2v113.pbworks.com/w/page/4218329/%22How%20does%20it%20work%22%20Part%20x%3A%20Suppression). Not sure if it would be possible to code in the required functions though - checking bullet proximity, counting 'suppression points', etc. Another problem is the possibility of sweeping autofire - that one's probably not possible without a huge rewrite of gamecode. Even in JA2 that function worked... somewhat clumsily.

Remember 100% chance listed to hit doesn't mean 100% chance, it means a trajectory cone of a certain size.
I'm not so sure about that in Xpiratez/OXcom. Perhaps someone might prove me wrong or right, but it actually rolls the hit chance and then (on a success) just draws a line to visible element of enemy geometry (center of model usually, but head or leg if the soldier is behind an obstacle that covers the torso) and sends a bullet along that trajectory.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 21, 2017, 09:14:20 pm
I'm not so sure about that in Xpiratez/OXcom. Perhaps someone might prove me wrong or right, but it actually rolls the hit chance and then (on a success) just draws a line to visible element of enemy geometry (center of model usually, but head or leg if the soldier is behind an obstacle that covers the torso) and sends a bullet along that trajectory.

No, determines the direct line to the middle of the target, then a trajectory is rolled at random based on the percent chance to hit. You could have over 100% chance to hit and it will miss somebody if they're far enough away (in vanilla where it doesn't have range reductions). Likewise in xpiratez rifles don't have a maximum range, and even if the chance to hit is over 100 you can still miss for example in the space missions where there's alot of distance.


I do think it would be rather interesting (though require some adjustments to weapon stats) if it would first do a flat % chance to hit, and if you hit then it just sends that shot on a perfect trajectory to the target, as well as completely ignoring any kind of LOF tables (since you already have a line of fire).

And on a miss - well then it just sends the shot on a random trajectory like it normally does with some reduction in accuracy - which could still hit, though you could make the game do a (one) reroll on it to reduce the chances of that miss turning into a hit.

(this would have been an easy way to deal with projectile melee attacks by also adding a clause/option that misses automatically and ignore the intended target's collision, like could hit the wall behind them too)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: RSSwizard on October 22, 2017, 10:30:38 pm
By the way RSSwizard, you can make snapshots fire like an autoshot now, using the confSnap tag:

WOW now thats nifty, im glad it got added. However I like the "multiple shots per attack sound effects" that I used and its more accurate if multiple attacks Are being delivered at a time. I can kinda do without emission of projectiles.

I also noticed checking the readme there's some option for being able to load multiple types of ammo into the gun at the same time, though im not sure how to really take advantage of that. Looks like the implementation of a Subweapon like an M203 Grenade Launcher is on the horizon but I dont think its in there quite yet.

(I would have handled this as a Linked Weapon along with an Auxiliary Mode fire option, selecting that causes the weapon's stats to be replaced with the Linked Weapon's stats and it would feed from a different ammo slot. Graphically you would use a different sprite, such as an assault rifle sprite which has the Subweapon highlighted in bright orange, but the differentiation would be up to the person drawing its sprite.)

(Since all of the stats between the linked weapon would be switched you could technically make the linked weapon weigh more, or less, such as for a Really Big Weapon with a Bracing mode and in order to use the weapon at all you have to also ready it too which would also reduce its weight due to easier handling. However since the linked weapon's stats only reflect its Switched state, dropping or unequipping the item switches back to its standard state, so there would be no differentiation when you dropped the item on the map again)

I had recommended Linked Attacks also before but they didn't listen to me.

Thats where you can handle things like a Tranquilizer Dart so that you check to see if it does a certain amount of damage to the target (roll for like 20 Piercing and deliver no health loss). And if the target is affected then they take the linked attack too, which could be like 75 Stun, but which would not be delivered at all if the initial attack didn't get through.

So for example trying to harpoon anybody in armor (Marsec for example) suddenly becomes very difficult since most strikes do nothing to them, but if you do manage to stick them in the right place they go down hard (because their armor didnt stop the needle that time, and they got the full injection).

And with a simple boolean switch to auto-hit or not, you could deliver more realistic shaped charge hits... big massive 125 Piercing hit but then an automatic 50 Explosive hit (take damage from both sources, but they are separate damage rolls). Which means anyone standing right next to it isnt going to get whopped either.

> my face when ive had these ideas ever since at least 2005
> I had started cooking up my own xcom clone, but since im not a programmer it was only conceptual, but there was alot of concept and planning
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on October 24, 2017, 07:54:23 pm
Hi guys,

I've just started a game of version .99H, having played version .91 (or something) all the way through.  Lots of cool new stuff already!

I ran the "Recruit:  Castaway Gal" manufacturing process, eager for a new Escaped Lunatic to replace a casualty or three, but the process doesn't seem to have given me anything under Hands or anywhere else.  Where is she?

[edit]Whoops, she just arrived!  Never mind.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: mercy on October 25, 2017, 05:25:33 pm
XPiratez is UnDisputed Champion of turn based tactical games, because it contains best writing from top designers everywhere, nice programming, awesome best graphics from top artists from all around the world, amazing music - I use XPiratez,XCOM1/2/Fallout1/2 OSTs -, top quality world-champion class content expertly picked from everywhere. Its like a World's Best Game on the All Time Top 10.

This kind of content cannot be reproduced, since you would have to hire 100 different artists and musicians and task them to achieve the very best creation of their lives, giving their very soul into the project, during 20 years, where they managed to achieve it only a couple times.--> which top achievement of theirs was hand picked during the years and placed into this game.

Assembling a simple game developer company with a handful of peeps cannot hope to recreate this Amazing Richness of Content and absolutely exhilarating story development dynamics.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Juku121 on October 25, 2017, 09:28:13 pm
Come to think of it, one game that semi-recently seriously impressed me on both conceptual and technical levels was Witcher 3. Makes me wonder what they do in Poland to make their games come out right?  ???

@Dioxine: Can you say where GMGEO09 came from? It's a pretty cool track.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Elemiach on October 25, 2017, 10:06:51 pm
POLAND STRONK

Anyways, the game is so challenging that even the GUI itself challenges me so, with each new version of the mod. Why another category change :'( the melee category is gone, now I have to learn dmg types unless I want to scroll thought pages and pages of stuff I always take on the mission with me (because YOU NEVER KNOW).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H1 - 15 Sep - Under A Killing Moon
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 25, 2017, 11:20:49 pm
press q and type in the name of the item desired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Dioxine on October 28, 2017, 06:59:06 pm
New big update just arrived. Enjoy the hell out of it : )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ragshak on October 28, 2017, 08:35:51 pm
I hate you and love you Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 29, 2017, 12:38:16 pm
A new laslock weapon (mini laser shotgun hype), new grafics and tweaks, really worth the time waiting for all this new content!

One question, what exactly is the item 'contraband' supposed to do?
I can buy it for 933.000 and 720hours later I can sell it for 1.000.000.
Is this supposed to be the selling point? getting 67k credits for spending a month and offering 50 vault store?

I'm just a bit curious what the item is all about since I can buy multiple items of these.
Also buff to courtesans! now they can net 25k income while not taking more space than before.
Hiring 2 workers might set the income of one courtesan down to 15k but it's better than 10k.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: greattuna on October 29, 2017, 12:57:03 pm
One question, what exactly is the item 'contraband' supposed to do?
I can buy it for 933.000 and 720hours later I can sell it for 1.000.000.
Is this supposed to be the selling point? getting 67k credits for spending a month and offering 50 vault store?
Yep. That's the whole point of contraband: to "exchange" your storage space for some money. It's pretty inefficient, but it's there.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Multiheaded on October 30, 2017, 09:10:07 pm
Dioxine, you're freaking incredible, man. Your mod deserves to be in a strategy/RPG hall of fame. It's immensely better than most paid games nowdays.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 31, 2017, 12:46:50 pm
Dioxine, you're freaking incredible, man. Your mod deserves to be in a strategy/RPG hall of fame. It's immensely better than most paid games nowdays.

Pushing a classic to a new level of awesome.
Also Strix-Zombies in space missions are quite annoying to deal with. In close quarters they always blow up regardless of tool used for my part.
Can't lasso them = boom; can't baton them (because they don't take any daze damage) and everything lethal makes them boom too.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2017, 02:07:07 pm
Pushing a classic to a new level of awesome.
Also Strix-Zombies in space missions are quite annoying to deal with. In close quarters they always blow up regardless of tool used for my part.
Can't lasso them = boom; can't baton them (because they don't take any daze damage) and everything lethal makes them boom too.

You're not bringing melee weapons into space? Also the life pods LN2 gun prevents the boom on death...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 31, 2017, 03:51:26 pm
You're not bringing melee weapons into space? Also the life pods LN2 gun prevents the boom on death...

Ofc I did. 5 Spacesuiter with lassos, cattleprods, heavy batons, barbed daggers and handles. I rolled the sleeping satelite mission with zombie crew.
I could've brought rescue pod-crew but I counted and guessed into academy or trader crew, not zombies and freakin' strix-zombies -_-#

1 Basic zombie and 3 strix in this small sattelite was a heck of luck to get the zombies into standing in the large entry-room room and getting podshots on her using lasers, since lasso/dagger/cattleprods makes them go boom AND leave a corpse instead of just downing her K.O. and leave a sleeping one. Still 2 gals out for 16days due to blast-radius.

Nitrogun doesn't boom her? I don't freaking know. If the zombie goes down to the ground it seems to explode every time (by killing it = boom and also by fully overloading it with stun damage it goes boom).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 31, 2017, 04:30:55 pm
We say this about every other day around here - the explode on death mechanics are the exact same as for cyberdiscs:  Concussive (High Explosive in vanilla), Incendiary, Cutting (Melee in vanilla), and Daze (Stun in vanilla) prevent the enemy from exploding.  For the strix, being immune to Daze, use cutting melee weapons.  Cattle prods and lassos deal secondary stun from a damage type of Electric, which still causes the explosion.  If the dagger (cutting) still causes boom, then that's a bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 31, 2017, 05:59:12 pm
Rodger that, will try next time!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: clownagent on November 01, 2017, 01:02:42 pm
Some missions like "scientific experiments", "warehouse wars" or "church" use sometimes the village or city terrain, which is in principle very nice for variety.

However, then the few defenders are distributed over the whole map and not in the building they ar supposed to be, which is a bit annoying.
If this happens you have some relatively weak enemies thinly distributed over a large map, forcing the player to comb the whole area. Such missions are very tedious, take a lot of turns, where not much is happening, and are not very rewarding (from a fun-perspective).

I suggest that for these missions most of the defenders should be located near or in the building they are supposed to protect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 01, 2017, 07:21:56 pm
I suggest that for these missions most of the defenders should be located near or in the building they are supposed to protect.

Easy to say, but practically impossible to achieve, since these missions use the same maps as other missions (only with added "UFO" which is the special building). Meaning that if they have higher spawn nodes than the "UFO", these nodes are populated first.

There are three possible solutions:
1. Modify all maps to decrease their spawn values. It would affect all missions though.
2. Remove all terrains with high spawn values from these missions. Evidently not good option.
3. Add new code to better control what spawns where. Probably the only valid idea, but obviously the hardest.

But in my opinion it's not really that much of a problem. A crew stuck in the woods will stay in their compound most of the time, but a crew stationed in a city would probably have better things to do in their free time than rot in the barracks. At least some of them would rather rent a room nearby or simply bum around the mall, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ragshak on November 02, 2017, 10:11:10 pm
I would be nice to see some voodoo powers early in the game. Maybe some rescue misson that gives fixed in stats unit with in-build magic stuff. Before I dig into Voodoo School Dioxine is realising new version and try to start from the beginning.

As for the mod. There are no words to describe how awesome it is.
Wonder if there is a way to implement classes and class related skills.
For example, one-mont of training at Matrial Arts facillity /new option that doesn't give stat increase/ would transform Gal into "Ninja"class.
Skill would be accessed via items and would be restricted to class-oriented Gals. Quick example of skills(Items) for Ninja: 2 slot item that gives +1 Camuflage and -5 HP; special weapons like returning ninja star.
Training at Workshop would give "Engineer" class; at Medby "Medic" class etc.

With bounty hunt system, codexes and current variety of mission it gives endless possibilities how to unlock classes and their skills.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 02, 2017, 10:14:12 pm
Why would you need classes when you can just do that with your own sets of weapons and armors?  Ninja you just give camo armor, melee weapons, and throwing knives.  Medic just gets nurse armor or biggest medkit item you have.  Why do you need to be constrained by what Dioxine decides your classes are?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: khade on November 02, 2017, 10:27:12 pm
Besides, you can't have a pirate ninja.  It could destroy the universe!!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ragshak on November 02, 2017, 10:37:38 pm
Because there is no much difference, besides names, between Gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 03, 2017, 10:06:04 pm
This new feature of "-50% aim for no LoS" makes fights in smoke clouds alot more tricky.
Only the %-hit-indicator isn't playing along right now. Gals with 121% chance to hit something outside of LoS make bad shoots like rookies.
Only a small thing that seems 'incorrect' to read.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 04, 2017, 12:37:24 am
This new feature of "-50% aim for no LoS" makes fights in smoke clouds alot more tricky.
Only the %-hit-indicator isn't playing along right now. Gals with 121% chance to hit something outside of LoS make bad shoots like rookies.
Only a small thing that seems 'incorrect' to read.

The main OXCE+ release doesn't have code to include this penalty on the cursor, but some code is in testing that does show it. That 121% is probably 60%.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 04, 2017, 01:29:57 pm
I'll keep that in mind and aim for 200%+ now for noLoS-shots in the dark. :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ohartenstein23 on November 04, 2017, 02:34:07 pm
I'll keep that in mind and aim for 200%+ now for noLoS-shots in the dark. :3

At least there's a reason to use the sniper rifles now.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: RSSwizard on November 04, 2017, 07:47:04 pm
You're not bringing melee weapons into space? Also the life pods LN2 gun prevents the boom on death...

I had the unfortunate chance to run into a zombies space mission and the way I handled this was:

I had a Syn go after the Strix with a Shiv, don't think any of the Strix exploded, but they still died. However even if the strix exploded I don't think the Syn is vulnerable to the damage type.

I really don't give a rats' behind about using melee in space, now that there's a laser shotgun which is more accessible I might like to use that. But the inability to actually run up on guys in space makes melee difficult. Ill have someone with a force blade just in case there's zombies.

So I decided to take the 5 Shivs that ive got stowed away from the Dr. X mission and kept those just in case (because its so quick and in space there's alot of close quarters with guild spacemen).

Code: [Select]
Speaking of which, is the Dr. X campaign completed now?
The Challenge of Dr. X

Why again do enemies not reaction fire to you conducting melee on them?
Also ive had enemies reaction-fire With melee on me (particularly reapers), but its really rare and I wonder what the rules are for that?


Quote
There are three possible solutions:
1. Modify all maps to decrease their spawn values. It would affect all missions though.
2. Remove all terrains with high spawn values from these missions. Evidently not good option.
3. Add new code to better control what spawns where. Probably the only valid idea, but obviously the hardest.

Change all Spawn Points for the UFOs to be priority 10 or something high like 7-10. Im assuming that the generic map spawn points are generally 1-3 priority. So if you want to make sure most of them are in the UFO/Building then set them really high. This wouldn't actually be a hard task since the UFO/Buildings are much more limited in number I think than the generic maps.

There will still be spawns outside the UFO but it'll be like 1-2 per map, and this is what you use the Aye-Phone for (trust me I put off the Organ Grinder missions for this purpose alone, not just until I have protective gear, but also because I need to make sure everyone has Aye Phones).

For example the escape tower, I don't know the weights, but most of the missions I end up with 1 enemy outside the ship (usually the Mage or Noblewoman) which is acceptable. One mission I had like 3 of them outside the ship, most of the lowlifes were in it while the Mage/Noblewoman and Commandos were outside.

Then again ive had an Escape Tower mission that didn't even have the Escape Tower map block spawn in it (this is okay I suppose, it could be explained that the escape tower is actually down the street and you managed to catch them all outside).

Another explanation for enemies being outside the main building is maybe they were doing an hourly scout patrol, or maybe they were actually returning from running an errand (particularly that odd Savvy girl who always seems to be outside holding the mission open). For the Watchtower and Warehouse missions this makes the most sense.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 04, 2017, 09:11:22 pm
Why again do enemies not reaction fire to you conducting melee on them?
Also ive had enemies reaction-fire With melee on me (particularly reapers), but its really rare and I wonder what the rules are for that?

As far as I know, melee reaction can only happen if the target is directly to the front. The reacting unit does not turn sideways to attack.

Change all Spawn Points for the UFOs to be priority 10 or something high like 7-10. Im assuming that the generic map spawn points are generally 1-3 priority.

I'm afraid this assumption has zero relation to reality. Why did you even assume this just like that? 10s are very common on vanilla maps, for example inside the barns.
Hmmm, maybe decreasing priority for them would make sense...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: RSSwizard on November 05, 2017, 02:12:25 am
I'm afraid this assumption has zero relation to reality. Why did you even assume this just like that? 10s are very common on vanilla maps, for example inside the barns.
Hmmm, maybe decreasing priority for them would make sense...

Didn't know that. I was working off of assumptions from TFTD maps and from what I remember seeing of their .rmps they only rarely had spawnpoint weights above 1 for the generic terrain maps, and even the spawnpoints in the ufos were usually only weighted like 2-6.

I did not work much with anything having to do with UFO/xc1 so I didn't know about the heightened values. However since we're talking about editing the vanilla maps in this regard all you'd have to do is provide modified .rmp to go in the ROUTES directory in the mod and these would override the vanilla ones (since the .rmp is only a suppliment to the vanilla maps, not the meat and bones of them, and they are modified versions, I don't think this would be an issue).

Going through all those vanilla map chunks and cycling the existing rmp spawn points to a much lower weight would be easy-peasy. I think that would probably only take a few hours since you're not actually modifying the structure (adding, switching paths) for any of the nodes.

Even Dioxine wouldn't have to do this work, someone else could do it since all it takes is opening up the vanilla maps in the map editor and making those alterations and zipping up the RMPs, you dont need a full blooded map editor setup to do this.

(they dont all have to be set to 1, some more tactically advantageous spots could get 3's or even 5's for that one ideal defensible position)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 05, 2017, 12:48:20 pm
Didn't know that. I was working off of assumptions from TFTD maps and from what I remember seeing of their .rmps they only rarely had spawnpoint weights above 1 for the generic terrain maps, and even the spawnpoints in the ufos were usually only weighted like 2-6.

Yes, TFTD is very different in this regard. In fact, spawns are way too sparse, meaning that the problem rarely exists.

I did not work much with anything having to do with UFO/xc1 so I didn't know about the heightened values. However since we're talking about editing the vanilla maps in this regard all you'd have to do is provide modified .rmp to go in the ROUTES directory in the mod and these would override the vanilla ones (since the .rmp is only a suppliment to the vanilla maps, not the meat and bones of them, and they are modified versions, I don't think this would be an issue).

Going through all those vanilla map chunks and cycling the existing rmp spawn points to a much lower weight would be easy-peasy. I think that would probably only take a few hours since you're not actually modifying the structure (adding, switching paths) for any of the nodes.

Yes, .rmp modification is easy. I would be more worried how it impacts the whole gameplay in non-obvious ways.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Multiheaded on November 05, 2017, 07:20:10 pm
One of the early-game keystone techs has a really nonsensical requirement; you need 'Raiders' for 'Chainsaw Good' -> 'Power Tools' - plastasteel etc.

That's not really onerous gameplay-wise - Experiment Victims now give it (a recent change?), among other captives - but why the hell is that a dependency in the first place? Shouldn't it be more logical to pick up 'Power Tools' from something engineers or laborers share with you, and *then* figure out chainsaws/auto-axes as a special case?

"Oh damn, Capt'n, only these primitive wandering raider bands can invent a choppy BRRRRR, and we ain't heard much about them, so all that fancy Guild stuff ain't getting built!"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 05, 2017, 11:16:34 pm
Getting raiders is something common during the early stages and since these goons are quite beefy in health you can get at least one scout or thug for research.
Also raiders are one of the few sources of getting 'rare earth elements' other than going 'cave hunting' in the extractor.

With the introduction of CQC you can't reliable use chainsaws on enemies, better chop down walls with it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Multiheaded on November 06, 2017, 12:08:04 am
Like I'm saying, it's not a big mechanical problem, as even if you don't get raider UFOs/pogroms, their topic is on Experiment Victims' rather short list among other sources. It's just something that doesn't make sense story-wise; can't a Guild/Academy engineer just give you all the steps for the mechanical tools they routinely use?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: BetaSpectre on November 06, 2017, 03:01:26 am
More people giving out more chainsaw good stuff makes sense.
Personally my only issue atm is ore requirements for nukes. Scrap metal is common enough, and ore makes scrap. So why can't scrap make ore to make into illegal uranium. In terms of balance it does make some sense though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 06, 2017, 02:00:24 pm
Ore is also used to get 50k chips.
It's all very optional and you just need some luck with excavator missions OR invest into the mining-ship.
Every mission the mining-ship is involved it spawns 4x ore inside the craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: legionof1 on November 06, 2017, 08:09:16 pm
Recently encountered 3/4 of the newest missions and gonna share my thoughts on each.

Bank Robbery:
Fun. The bank itself looks great. Gas traps are an interesting twist, but fail to be a reliable threat due to surrender mechanics. Also the traps are looted if you get a full clear? Why? they don't seem have any use.

They came from the sea:
Wow that's a ton of dudes to kill. Also some combinations of tiles are really hard to defend against. Notably if the "beach" faces the double door side of the fort it takes multiple turns to get into a position to shoot at the horde. Aside from the internal "gun slots" on the ground floor, and even then most of turn spent getting in position leaves minimal TU to stem the tide. Also the configuration of the "slots" on the double doors allows only 2 tiles of vision of the stair, compared single door sides nearly full vision.

Mysterious tower:
Yeah nope nope nope. This is nigh impossible on first encounter. Multiple Hell Barons, and Cacodeamons. At a stage of tech where one is presumably just starting the air game, and decent quality conventional arms?  On evil jungle tileset too. This things bloody hard with an endgame crew. One bright spot is that the Hell Barons appear to be confined to what ever level of the tower they spawn on. So with careful maneuvering and some flying armor one could loot around them. Still doesn't deal with the welcoming party of Cacodeamons on the jungle floor. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Multiheaded on November 06, 2017, 08:19:49 pm
More people giving out more chainsaw good stuff makes sense.
Personally my only issue atm is ore requirements for nukes. Scrap metal is common enough, and ore makes scrap. So why can't scrap make ore to make into illegal uranium. In terms of balance it does make some sense though.

Ironically, it was really hard for me to get Raiders back in 99.B2, but ore seems fairly abundant. Not only the big green civvie ships carry it, but the 3 floor small round ones as well (Guild and Gov't), and I think there can also some free ore on hilly maps?

I am in March 2061 now and I keep like 20 units in the main hideout as a reserve (I didn't even know it'll be usable in nukes later on, just seemed like compact scrap metal storage) and sell the rest.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ivandogovich on November 07, 2017, 01:58:26 am
I am in March 2061 now and I keep like 20 units in the main hideout as a reserve (I didn't even know it'll be usable in nukes later on, just seemed like compact scrap metal storage) and sell the rest.

I did the math on this once, and if you hire workers to stand around holding all the ore you find throughout the game, once you get into the higher levels of conterfeiting, it will easilly pay for itself and bring in a huge profit.  I stockpile all my ore now.'
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: RSSwizard on November 07, 2017, 06:00:14 am
I did the math on this once, and if you hire workers to stand around holding all the ore you find throughout the game, once you get into the higher levels of conterfeiting, it will easilly pay for itself and bring in a huge profit.  I stockpile all my ore now.'

Counterfeiting takes a long time, like ~400 hours or some crap like that. While it may be profitable there's other things you can do to get money flowing with the number of runts you can employ. Things that dont necessarily require input material, or the input material itself can also be manufactured.

I came into counterfeiting thinking that "Okay ive saved all these chips all game long, practically every chip ive got my hands onto. Now that I can counterfeit I can convert everything I have nicely and cleanly into $200 chips as a REWARD for holding onto all that dough all game long" (including the money purses and bags of cash too).

The implication as a game mechanic is that it has nothing to do at all with profit margins compared to other manufacturing items. Like the fact it would be broken in terms of how fast you could make money compared to manufacturing boom gun ammo.

Money chips are not renewable, you cant really get more of them without going out there in the world and capturing something or someone. You cant manufacture money chips by breaking down components of other things. And most of the money chips you get from characters you've captured tend to be Blue Chips and you still only get half as much. Unlike the Apples for chateau you find alot less chips comparitively, only specific missions have money purses, and even inventory carry-chips for characters tend to be pretty low.

Unless the build time comes down there's no real reason to invest in a Mint for it, seeing as a mint takes a bloody long time to build and is a dedicated building slot, a Refinery would be much better for producing chems and other components.

(I modded the build time for counterfeit projects to be about 1/4 what it usually is, I wanted to set it to 50 hours just to "copy and paste my financial troubles away like the guild"... and catch up on converting all that cash I had laying around, but decided that it needed to take some time just to not be too anti-climactic).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 07, 2017, 01:48:10 pm
Mint has it's place and it seems like 100$ plastic chips are quite efficient.
Mass-production of chemicals is alot more efficient and you don't need to look for 'components' in stock to keep the production running.
Next major step-up for the cycle "pay money to get even more money" is the factory+armory tower combo for mass-production of m1a1 tanks. Solves your financial issues entirely if you design 2-3 bases producing tanks for the worlds safety.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ivandogovich on November 07, 2017, 03:43:31 pm
As far as Conterfeiting vs Med Supplies or Chemicals, I understand the latter two were nerfed slightly by Dioxine in 99H2 so that they don't quite outshine the 1000>200 counterfeit profits.

Yep.  As far as game design goes, the overall balance of Counterfeiting vs other money makers has waivered as new streams of income have been introduced.  Aside from Manufacturing Tanks for sale at the endgame, I feel like counterfeiting is a viable stream of revenue that fits in with other sources. My sales points are 200, and 20,000 chips.

I use the profit/runt hour as my basic metric.  this sheet isn't yet up to date with 99H2.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CkPqVsGXP72ncwIMQjk8gW2Qnc3sVNJVW0ZXhAWcKoc
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 07, 2017, 04:28:59 pm
Nice calculation, I still pref. to just mass produce money into more money without micromanaging the vaults.
Game is hard enough and not designed to speedrun. Slow and steady towards cydonia (or don't).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: ivandogovich on November 07, 2017, 04:52:19 pm
Yeah, I just updated the sheet a bit for current counterfeiting. (Wow the $100 chip has become quite profitable!) 

The chem nerf and medical supplies nerf are rather unsubstantial and are still excellent revenue streams.

Edit:  I also ran the numbers on Boom Gun Ammo.  If you are just getting rid of excess plastasteel, its pretty profitable.  Otherwise it is slightly better than XGrog and nowhere near as good as Chemicals/Med Supplies, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 08, 2017, 02:25:31 pm
Oct. 2502, got 4x refinery in my bases up and running to farm up the money needed to get my 5. base fully build out.
Also hoarding money for 6./7. and 8. base.

It's going to be another reticulan heavy influenced month :3
Payback time (for April 2501) and plasma-charger parts farming~

Change-Log:

- Master's Cane Hex attack deals less damage now

I don't really think that's correct. Maybe for those of low rank but something like the duchess and baronesses should do considerable damage. Also Noblewoman and Human Mage are coded as something like Rank 5 or 6. This leads to horrible instant deaths in the 'Escape Tower' bounty mission and while assaulting civilian crafts with a human mage on it.
I can clearly see the intention here, but this is quite tough to deal with if one hand gets spotted or 'sensed' the whole crew is in danger of this massive hex-attack depleting over 90HP in one swing. Maybe lower the damage even further and add secondary 'daze-damage' to it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 12, 2017, 11:13:19 pm
Master's cane~

25-80% hit-chance over 30+ tiles without LoS and 0-210 dmg.

Mhmm okay madame.  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ragshak on November 15, 2017, 12:20:30 am
I did gave a chance some fancy weapons like blowpipe and throwing stars. It's unbelievable. Up to three shots from standard blowpipe can take down merc commando and cyberdisc.
Had some luck and was able to get one Swiftsuit early. Those extra TUs with constant Blowpipe and stars work quite well.

Any advice about research bottleneck? There is so much topics to research and so far I've got 18 Brainers. It's overwheliming. Sometimes for sake of in-game science I would like to skip all missions to advance in tech tree.

Maybe some trophy reward could unlock extra Lab at any other base?

That tech grinding somehow spoils fun for me at the moment. But maybe I am a little bit bored and tired because of too much XPiratez in last few days :P

Great mod!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Bloax on November 15, 2017, 06:54:32 am
The tech tree is intentionally overwhelming, I'm afraid. : )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 15, 2017, 02:05:41 pm
To focus your research properly, just do all topic needed to archive "back to school" " school graduation" and "higher studies".
All important drops are tied to the VIP's (Leaders, Medics, Engineers, Guild Rep, Espers).

Rushing tech can lead to an extreme difficulty spike if you're not prepared to face the odds of Tier 2, Tier 3 challenges.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: mercy on November 21, 2017, 01:53:29 pm
I did gave a chance some fancy weapons like blowpipe and throwing stars. It's unbelievable. Up to three shots from standard blowpipe can take down merc commando and cyberdisc.[..]

When could an armored Cyberdisc or anything consisting solely of armored plates be taken down by a puny blowpipe shooting a bone/reed needle? ??? ??? ??  :-oooo

I had problems with that anti-tank weapon to take down Cyberdiscs. What worked nicely was the artifact Rail Driver: couldn't research that tho.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ragshak on November 21, 2017, 06:54:05 pm
Maybe because blowpipe use chem ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: XCOMJunkie on November 23, 2017, 12:59:50 am
Anyone else really enjoying the Assault Bike Armour? I thought it was going to be underpowered until I noticed the armour gave +50 to bravery! Works pretty with with the Super Shooty Gun... love sneaking that bike up into that upper hallway of the Heavy Freighter and letting loose on a hallway filled with people. So satisfying.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 23, 2017, 08:37:49 am
I'll give that armor a real try once the bug that makes the game crash is fixed.

Edit:
Also the joy of RNG keeps going on with 0-120+ weaponry rolling a 0 against targets with 5 armor 3 times in a row.

Super Magnum is like one example where this seems to frequently happen for my part. Something like the game fails to roll the damage result properly after the first shot connects with a poor result. The odds for some decent damage should start to increase now but one gal shooting a 5 armor target three - four times and continuous to fail to do damage feels wrong. Like the damage-calculation forgot to reshuffle correctly and rolls the same low roll over all shots fired.

A second shooter after 4 zero-rolls kills a 5 armor target in one attempt.
X-Com givesth and takesth.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Dioxine on November 28, 2017, 10:34:28 am
Please don't start criticizing RNG. Sid Meyer had to spend $1 Million to appease his players who kept complaining that normal RNG felt too random and some more advanced function is needed : )

Try rolling a die and you will see that rolling '1' 5 times in a row does happen. Especially if you roll it as much as you shoot in this game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 28, 2017, 02:21:50 pm
That wasn't meant as a rant. Just a personal experience.
Several low-rolls after another in those situations is hilarious. Never could I witness such a sturdy church neophyte eating 3 super-magnum mercury-bullets to the face for 0 damage. This happened 'less' in the H1 version for odd reasons.
Your mod remains awesome and challenging from start to finish and that's something the reboots couldn't get right in the past 20(?) years.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Dioxine on November 30, 2017, 07:48:09 am
Oh no offense taken :) Just sharing fun stories.

I guess it is this pessimist/optimist thing, glass being half full or half empty. I tend to forget bad streaks myself, and remember insanely lucky streaks instead, which are as likely to happen as the former :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 30, 2017, 09:32:59 am
In my experience it would be an 'unlucky' streak but at least the damage results against me are poorly as well with a plasma-pistol hitting 3-times to the face (guardian suit) and barely denting the front-armor plate.

Gave the O.G.R.E. shotgun a go. Does big boom for 28x12 so I let some zombies and dark-ones ate the buckshot.
Does surprisingly well against meaty no-armor foes. But not much more for that niche.
Boom-Gun feels like the big brother that can even blast through carapace armor.

Another topic referring to the new spotter-sniper code. Greatly improves the A.I. behavior against smoke-cover approaches. The result I've seen is a more frequent use of grenades for enemies with no LoS. Seems like they don't give those 25% a try and instead throw hellerium-grenades now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H2 - 28 Oct - Born To Be Wild
Post by: Martin on December 02, 2017, 02:58:51 pm
Please don't start criticizing RNG. Sid Meyer had to spend $1 Million to appease his players who kept complaining that normal RNG felt too random and some more advanced function is needed : )

Well it is not normal RNG but PRNG ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2017, 01:18:05 am
New version up. Stamped out the major bugs the previous one had (hopefully out), and of course, alot* of new content, you know me. See changelog in the 1st post for details.

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/alot-140719115955-phpapp02/95/alot-9-638.jpg?cb=1405771236
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: legionof1 on December 04, 2017, 09:45:49 am
Thanks as always for the updates dioxine. I didn't need my Monday anyway, nothing important ever happens.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: holoc on December 04, 2017, 10:50:27 am
I am pretty sure that I have installed everything correctly.
I started a new game after this update and it seems to be working fine so far, but the Quick Battles from main menu give crashes from some randomised settings such as:
Code: [Select]
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] STR_ATTACK_RATMEN_BASE_RAID not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] STR_SNAKEMAN_MANSION not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] STR_FLOATER_MANSION not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] STR_SECTOID_MANSION not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] MAP_DESERTX_GUILD_OUTPOST not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] MAP_NATIVEURBANROAD_GUILD_OUTPOST not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-18] [WARN] MAP_NATIVEURBAN_GUILD_OUTPOST not found in en-GB
[04-12-2017_10-44-30] [FATAL] A fatal error has occurred: Height of map MAPS/DEVASTATOR.MAP too big for this mission, block is 4, expected: 0
[04-12-2017_10-44-42] [FATAL] OpenXcom has crashed: Height of map MAPS/DEVASTATOR.MAP too big for this mission, block is 4, expected: 0
Code: [Select]
[04-12-2017_11-03-23] [WARN] STR_ATTACK_RATMEN_BASE_RAID not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-03-23] [WARN] STR_SNAKEMAN_MANSION not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-03-23] [WARN] STR_FLOATER_MANSION not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-03-23] [WARN] STR_SECTOID_MANSION not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-10-07] [FATAL] A fatal error has occurred: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
[04-12-2017_11-10-11] [FATAL] OpenXcom has crashed: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
Code: [Select]
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_COMRCURBAN_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_CULTA_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_FORESTMOUNT_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_FORESTPOLAR_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_GRASSLANDFORESTMOUNT_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_GRASSLANDPOLAR_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_NATIVEURBANROAD_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_NATIVEURBAN_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_SAVANNAFORESTMOUNT_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_SAVANNAPOLAR_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_SLUMURBAN_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_STEPPEFOREST_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_STEPPEPOLAR_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_TAIGAFORESTMOUNT_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-02] [WARN] MAP_TAIGAPOLAR_ACADEMY_OUTPOST not found in en-US
[04-12-2017_11-45-03] [FATAL] A fatal error has occurred: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
[04-12-2017_11-45-06] [FATAL] OpenXcom has crashed: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
Not a big deal probably, just letting you know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Dioxine on December 04, 2017, 11:51:08 am
QB mode is not supported. I'm only using it as debug tool. It will crash because it is not painstakingly tailored not to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 04, 2017, 01:43:08 pm
Crashes in QB are quite meaningless, since it is possible to make a combination of terrain, craft and enemy faction that isn't possible in the mod. But if it is an actual bug, then looks like it is about terrain not having enough vertical levels for their craft to fit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 04, 2017, 05:16:04 pm
Quote
0.99H3 - 4 Dec 2017

- New Auxilia: Tamed Werewolf

Heck yes! Thx dioxine  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: XCOMJunkie on December 04, 2017, 05:27:54 pm
Looks great Dioxine!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Multiheaded on December 04, 2017, 10:03:44 pm
Quote
Finished Bounty Hunt Prizes for the 3 basic customers

Does.... does that mean we can get Saya to join yet?  :-X
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Sahti Waari on December 05, 2017, 07:51:05 am
Hello, Dioxine

Deep thanks for your amazing work! Please remind me how can I donate you? I forgot ^)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Bloax on December 05, 2017, 09:02:48 am
No Donation - No Salvation!

So, want to contribute? Want me to spend more time on expanding the mod, and less on boring day job? Now you can.
All donators will be credited in-game (needs name or nick), on a memorial stone.

Donate directly to salvation machine: PayPal at GSDioxine@gmail.com

WANT TO BE FEATURED IN THE MOD?
Offer is open to any donors, past and future.
You can be featured in a collectible article as an in-game background character, or have a weapon or battery-powered craft named after you.
I don't guarantee that any of these will be flattering.
PM me for details.
It's right there in the NO DONATION - NO SALVATION (pff) thread. :^ )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on December 13, 2017, 12:47:29 am
The Bootypedia entry for the Master's Cane talks about a hex attack and a melee attack, but when my top-ranking gal carries it the only option I seem to have is "Throw."  What am I missing? How do I work this thing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: legionof1 on December 13, 2017, 12:55:45 am
Master's cane(along with most voodoo based weapons) require voodoo training to use. If the gal in question doesn't have voodoo training you only get generic itme interactions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on December 13, 2017, 01:00:53 am
Ah, thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Ragshak on December 13, 2017, 08:16:04 pm
New price of contrabanda. If anyone care update after selling all contraband item.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Ratchet on December 18, 2017, 12:56:24 am
Sorry if this is explained in the in-game pedia or elsewhere, but I couldn't figure it out.

How do you use the gear like Safety Goggles etc that seem like armor components? The Goggles pedia entry, for example specifies a "gear slot" that they pertain to, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what to slot them into.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: BBHood217 on December 18, 2017, 02:00:41 am
You just simply have them in your inventory and they'll work.  I think the gear slot just indicates that only one of them would work if you were to carry multiple items that use the same gear slot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: ivandogovich on December 18, 2017, 06:28:40 am
New price of contrabanda. If anyone care update after selling all contraband item.
One unit of contraband will make you $20k in one month.  The trade off is 10 space taken up.

Looks like you can make about a million a month if you cram a large vault full of Contraband.  You can get 9 of these in one base, or about 7 if you post a hangar, and radar, etc.  Thats about 7 million a month.  It takes about 11 Million start up cash to get the vault built and the first shipment in. 

No other storage solutions provide better values.  Hiring workers to hold the contraband is mildly profitable, but probably not worth the tedium.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Ratchet on December 19, 2017, 03:59:05 pm
You just simply have them in your inventory and they'll work.  I think the gear slot just indicates that only one of them would work if you were to carry multiple items that use the same gear slot.

Hey thanks!

Okay, next question: how do I get girls out of their cells in the X-Prison mission?

Edit: Ohhhhh. *That's* what pickaxes are for. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: Ragshak on December 19, 2017, 06:43:11 pm
ivandogovich: The problem is that I have bought them for 900k+ each and had to sold them after an update for pennies :) That was only an information for others because it wasnt listed in changelog.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 27, 2017, 12:54:40 am
New version is up, Merry Christmas!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: LuigiWhatif on December 27, 2017, 01:31:04 am
Can I transfer a supermutant mode save over like normal or do I need to do something different?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 27, 2017, 02:23:06 am
There shouldn't be any problem, nothing was deleted. Just like usual, don't do it in battlescape. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: HT on December 27, 2017, 04:30:20 pm
Oh my, another update, these days? Don't you have something better to do, people?  ;)

Anyway, it's a new one that finally includes an intro, at long last! Cool one, if a bit long.

Who knows, seeing that getting an intro was something I saw as impossible, perhaps the day that this mod reaches the 1.0 status is viable? After all, we did get Duke Nukem Forever*, so nothing is impossible!  :)


More seriously: Has anyone tried if these new weapons are viable? Is the Anchor worth the use once you have a Hand strong enough to lift it, for example?

Speaking of lifting, I noticed that most of the new weapons belong to X-Files' updates.Will we get a Surfing Board as an available weapon at some point?  :D

* I mean the good one, not the cashgrab shit Gearbox did. In other words, this: http://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-forever
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 28, 2017, 11:29:22 am
The new anchor rolls 50-150% and does concussive damage.
It scales with twice your strength value so it's designed for a strong and fast-moving gal.
The aimed-shot rolls with 50-150% as well giving you a very devastating tool to break walls or 6-tile ranged weapon with very high damage.
Due to the damage type it can be useful to bypass piercing/cutting resistant foes.

It's selling point is the huge damage it can provide. Even tanks shouldn't see much of a chance to survive multiple melee-swings.
Just watch out for explosions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I4 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on December 28, 2017, 04:44:13 pm
Are we ever gonna get aquariums?  Or at least examinations for the mutant fish and crab?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on December 28, 2017, 05:01:56 pm
With no real aquatic life to speak of as of now, it'd be a waste of effort. When the underwater arc is going to be expanded, then sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Cristao on December 29, 2017, 08:38:15 pm
It has been a while. I think it is a good time to restart another XPiratez. I have forgotten so much about this game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 08, 2018, 11:49:14 am
Taking several Assault Shotgun with you (with daze-ammo) against MegaPol is a very efficient way to train reactions and firing skill.
The daze ammo can't hurt them and with a decent piercing-protection armor (Heavy Suit / Guardian Suit) you can facetank their weaponry for 0 dmg as well.

Just watch out for melee baton-swings and bring at least some sort of weapon to actually kill/stun them.
A zapper or electric lasso is efficient even against MegaPol Enforcers!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 08, 2018, 12:08:45 pm
Zappers are neat, I just wish that self-charging laspistols (needed to make zappers) weren't so rare.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 08, 2018, 01:55:42 pm
Zappers are neat, I just wish that self-charging laspistols (needed to make zappers) weren't so rare.

Because Zappers are like Tazogun's on drugs I'm totally fine with having a limited supply of those.
Encourages to use lassos, neural-whips and other sources of 'ranged-stun' weaponry rather than out-ruling the whole competition.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 08, 2018, 06:13:12 pm
Zappers are neat, I just wish that self-charging laspistols (needed to make zappers) weren't so rare.

Self charging nuclear lasers are implied to be lost technology. The ones you get are most likely priceless relics passed from father to son for generations. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 09, 2018, 03:49:08 am
And yet when you gain the ability to make your own nuclear lasers, you still can't make the laspistols.  I suppose the rationalization is why bother when you can make scorchies instead?  Well, maybe because you can't make zappers out of scorchies; or better yet, an upgraded zapper out of scorchies.  Yeah, why isn't that a thing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 09, 2018, 09:45:29 am
At one point, even a 9-tile electric stungun can't handle everything. For the sake of diversity I'm against a 'buffed up' version and instead just have another approach with a different kind of tool.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99H3 - 4 Dec - 4 Elemelokk'Narrs
Post by: RSSwizard on January 16, 2018, 11:09:53 pm
Hey thanks!
Okay, next question: how do I get girls out of their cells in the X-Prison mission?
Edit: Ohhhhh. *That's* what pickaxes are for. :)

Yeah and to be honest the gal in the examination room has a Whip available on the ground right next to her, IIRC, So you dont even have to bring shivs with you considering the array of other weapons that will be provided/dropped (like dart pistols).
(cue in quote from Alien 3 - its not smart to give prisoners access to weapons now is it?)
Its also very useful to pick up as much of those explosives down in the pit as you can - and use them on academy girls. You have all the time you need since nobody can get into the starting wing of the compound. Blowing up academy girls and shooting them dead, is also going to have a morale effect... and in my last playthrough of this mission I managed to make the rest of them surrender.

Quote
When could an armored Cyberdisc or anything consisting solely of armored plates be taken down by a puny blowpipe
Chem == Acid damage and im guessing those darts are actually big heaping hypodermics designed to break like a beaker tube. It even sounds like a glass tube being broken because of the sound effect used for acid attacks. I forget what the damage bonus is but if its anything to do with reactions then its taking into account critical hit bonus. Just because the acid isnt Celatid level quality doesnt mean it cant make Alien Xenomorph style metal pudding out of a cyberdisc's hull, and its sensitive electronics. Heck those things pop after 15-20 seconds even when you douse them with gasoline.
(there's an idea for you Diox - when getting access to celatid acid you should be able to make high damage versions of some acid munitions, the blowpipe being a good candidate among others, at a cost of celatid acid. There should probably be some way to utilize demonic essence for the same purpose since it takes a long time to get access to any weapons that require it for manufacture, if one even gets to that point since I think those are locked behind Codex gates)
Cyberdiscs are actually very fragile critters, little more than a modern UAV with the equivalent of some kevlar slapped on it, whether its their cyberdisc or one you've retrofitted they are some of the biggest examples of glass hammers in the game (big because yknow, they are 2x2 size). It might be made out of alien alloys, but those alien alloys are like as thin as aluminum foil. At least in X-Piratez the danger of these beasts is the plasma weapon on them and the reactive power source, I can blow them away with conventional weapons no problem.

Quote
Gave the O.G.R.E. shotgun a go. Does big boom for 28x12 so I let some zombies and dark-ones ate the buckshot.
From what ive seen anything that takes 28 damage to faze can probably be fazed with 20 damage. The Heavy Shotgun and the lowly Double Barrel can make short work of most zombies and dark ones. The slug shells for the Heavy are really underpowered since all that does is give it the power to affect an armored target, while dramatically lowering its killing power. Im not sure about other players but by the time I had enough chits to acquire the Ogre through bounty hunting I already had access either to Combat Shotguns or Boom Guns, making the Ogre superfluous and nothing more than a prize token sink - the Ogre shotgun definitely needs to be put on a lower tier of the prize rank in order to be relevant (kinda like the silenced pistol, and the precision pistol, which are basically useless).

There is also the Super Shotgun to consider, even though you probably only get one of them due to the parts... damn is it effective (and I heard its been balanced to be even more powerful).
(I also want to give a shout out to the Plasma Shotgun, a very cheap weapon to get ahold of from a technology standpoint, rather cheap to maintain from a manufacturing standpoint, and powerful as hell - the only enemy ive encountered who was designed from a balance standpoint to tank it is the mercinaries)

Quote
Well it is not normal RNG but PRNG
What does that mean anyway? Progressive Random Number Generator?
I remember the doom engine didnt have an RNG it just had a large table of numbers that the designers pretty much rolled dice on and determined ahead of time, and it only incremented that every time it was referenced. They did it to further reduce CPU footprint at a time where even a few cycles could mess with performance on the earliest multiplayer matches.
- I may be paranoid, but I think the game intentionally goes for the throat just before tactical autosave will be conducted. Ive had a huge number of times where my hands/soldiers will be just fine doing their thing, then on the enemy turn just before it autosaves I will get ganked, grenaded, shot to pieces, or otherwise molested and then the game will save that on me.

Quote
Anyone else really enjoying the Assault Bike Armour?
What the hell is that anyway?
I haven't invested in it yet but it sounds like its actually going to transform your gal into a gal-on-a-motorcycle. Is it a 2x2 armor or still a 1x1 critter?

Quote
The tech tree is intentionally overwhelming, I'm afraid. : )
I know what dioxine was trying to do when the tech tree was adapted, but at that early stage of development its pretty hard to estimate with something so complex just how it would turn out.
In my opinion it has too much filler in it, but its acceptable (and unchangeable at this point) considering that difficulty of estimating the outcome. At least you cant deny that it makes the Science game really interesting and compelling.

The decision to cut the number of Researchers down to like 1/5 as many as usual compared to vanilla is perfect. Because if you consider sci-fi shows the crack team of researchers in them is usually just a handful of very smart people just like you see in piratez (ie, take Stargate for example, colonel carter and mckay plus a handful of other researchers are responsible for backwards engineering most of the tech, most of the other researchers pretty much count as the equivalent of Technicians working on the fiddly bits but not lending any real insight to their progress). You pay more for them, you cant house as many of them, but it still produces the same outcome.

And really putting the chokehold on the amount of research you can do is a much needed game balance because in vanilla there was nothing but money stopping you from making a base with like 200 scientists and 4 labs. And in reality research takes time and you cant rush it by throwing more people at it.
(and it also makes that 1st base critical, as if your first base in any xcom game wasnt already a very important investment, in piratez if you lose it its like losing your queen and a knight at the same time in chess. I guess if you had a boatload of money you could build a research base and not be so harpooned if it was like year 3, but it would definitely sink a VIP's ransom to do it. But even in supermutant mode it would be worth reloading a save and eating 10 days of progress to try to avoid losing that base)

If someone were ever to re-make Piratez or take any examples from it I would suggest that the number of research topics should probably be about 2/3rds as much as it currently has.

Especially cutting down on the low end techs while increasing the amount of time necessary for the other low end techs. There are alot of starter techs that can be consolidated and are a little bit more straightforward than they seem, but in exchange could cost 2 or 3 times as much research time to compensate. That way it takes alot longer to get into the Science game - and you're forced to deal with what you have and focus on the starting missions more rather than be constantly updating your arsenal during that period of time.

But based on what ive seen from playing piratez... I wouldnt reduce the tech tree any more than this.

In each of the mods ive done for xcom I have thrown in roadblocks to getting access to the Laser and Gauss weapons by either making the initial tech take longer, or in some cases giving you the Heavy weapon first (making the player work their way through miniaturization to get the more practical weapons). If I could expand that in the vanilla game the player would have to probably investigate manufacturing methods to be able to fabricate carbon nanotube superconductors to be able to produce the lasers (since even in 2018 now we dont have a way to mass produce carbon nanotubes for some reason, despite them having been discovered in the 90s).

I always felt that the Initial Techs in the vanilla game were abit premature and a pretty powerful drop, which was compensated by the need for fast response to the alien threat (you really gotta be on top of your game by March or April). I mean if some scientists could convene to develop high powered laser weapons within a couple months, then there wouldnt have been anything stopping military defense contractors from deploying them 5 years before that. The "Laser Weapons" topic certainly could cover all of the obstacles between making the weapons feasible, but with only 50 short research hours required that is quite a pitiful step and some kind of Prototype weapon should be forced before you can make any of the canonnical weapons.
(id also say that its more likely the Tank/Laser would be engineered first before any of the hand weapons, or the aircraft weapon, just because it would practically have the largest number of tolerances to expand and refine off of. And also because in gameplay terms the Laser Tank doesn't give the player any real added advantage compared to a Rocket Tank, and Tanks dont gain experience. For the player that big red 110 damage looks really awesome to get your hands on. Plus 1200 man hours to build it would give a real good reason to beef up manufacturing)

mite be a wall of text but I had to consolidate replies, and its been awhile for me
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 17, 2018, 05:29:24 pm
Rewards tend to be underwhelming. M Lasers are good at the point you likely get them and that’s it. Also fuck Saya, as the price I expected Syn, OP cloned Uber or something, not a personal concubine that gives you -500 score and ability to buy Reticulan Elder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 17, 2018, 06:26:13 pm
My opinion on final bounty prizes:

Freaks - Potentially good, but I can't give a real opinion here since I only ever used escaped lunatics.  Someone else who doesn't savescum to keep casualties to a minimum can probably weigh in here better than I can.
Autocannons - Chances are you probably already looted plenty of autocannons by the time you get enough tokens for this, so the ability to buy them at that point doesn't seem so hot.
Plasma Blades - Best dagger along with the ghost dagger, and a damn good sword too.  All of your hands should have a plasma dagger.
Military Supplies - A must have, so you can buy top-notch guns and aqua plastics too.
Naval Gun - Nah, the Craft Railgun is better.
Persuadotron - I tried one, but it never worked successfully for me.  Its large TU cost doesn't help it either.
M-Lasers - Sitting right between regular lasers and Eurosyndicate lasers, these are pretty good as mentioned already.
Holosuit - It's invisible, it's great for hot environments, and you can even wear it in mansions.
Saya - This one's for the late game, when you can afford the merc soldiers and sectoid elders that she has for sale.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 17, 2018, 06:34:37 pm
Naval Gun - Nah, the Craft Railgun is better.

It might be because I take personal issue with this since the Naval Gun is my favorite among the craft weapons, but the railgun is a straight upgrade to the naval gun, so of course it's better.  Putting the naval gun as a bounty prize is to make heavy craft weapons available through a different route, I'm guess you just used the 'normal' research route before getting to the bounty prize.  The naval gun is one of the most consistent bits of craft weaponry, and can be used to take down practically anything before you hit Silver Towers, Battleships, and the like.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 17, 2018, 07:57:35 pm
Saya also provides Guild Hostesses which can be pimped. If you're looking to balance your books a bit while waiting for a bomber with undamaged Implosion Bomb Launcher Parts, these provide the best ROI by far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: greattuna on January 17, 2018, 09:06:43 pm
Yeah, some of the rewards are not really worth it. For example, Persuadotron: it might look cool, but once you realize what 2000 stands for, it loses it's appeal very quickly.
Freaks are a-ok if you're willing to sink a lot of money, since they're a major gamble. Might get someone with 120+ REA, 90+ STR and 110 TU, might get a little sad gal whose caps are lower than those of regular soldiers.
Autocannons are, well, they're okay, I guess. I don't really use them because of low accuracy.
Holosuits are amazing, they're like the ghost armor for those who can't access illusion tree.
M-lasers are good.
Didn't try plasma blades yet, but stats say they're good.
Naval guns are something I'd rush to, since otherwise, heavy craft guns are few and far-between.
And, of course, mil supplies are must have. Not even because of aqua plastics, but because of ability to straight-up buy good firearms. Helps a lot to arm secondary hideouts, should you have any.

Saya also provides Guild Hostesses which can be pimped. If you're looking to balance your books a bit while waiting for a bomber with undamaged Implosion Bomb Launcher Parts, these provide the best ROI by far.

How much do they cost? Giving up potentially hundreds of thousands for measly $25k\mo isn't very appealing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 17, 2018, 09:20:32 pm
How much do they cost? Giving up potentially hundreds of thousands for measly $25k\mo isn't very appealing.
300 grand meaning you need a year to earn back the investment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 17, 2018, 09:23:44 pm
The O.G.R.E. shotgun should be regular buyble unlocked by gun emporium (or how is it called), while mammoth chain shotgun should be the reward. Or perhaps the O.G.R.E. could get special ammo to give it some appeal. Minigrenade perhaps, looks huge enough for that.

The auto harpoon is trash, give us gas cannon instead!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: legionof1 on January 17, 2018, 11:23:01 pm
snip
The auto harpoon is trash, give us gas cannon instead!
on land absolutely, but for undersea it is a considerable upgrade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 18, 2018, 12:41:14 am
There just aren’t that many undersea mission difficult enough to make it count. Half of the time I go against crabs and fish, where melee is more than sufficient. Veteran gals can go againsts deep one nomands and sharkmen with just melee weapons and win.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: legionof1 on January 18, 2018, 12:44:47 am
fair nuff, I'm just saying it's not totally useless as is, and if underwater stuff get expanded at some point in the future.....
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 18, 2018, 01:34:42 am
... we’ll need gas cannon to deal with it. Aquatiods are likely to be  pushovers with good aim, but we probably get tassoths too. Not to mention lobstermen, who while immune to most sources of piercing and explosive damage are still harmed by fire or in this case "phosphorus",
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 18, 2018, 02:06:22 am
The Harpoon Carbine bounty prize looks good on paper, but it's easily obsoleted by the Automatic Harpoon Gun which is an early tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2018, 02:20:21 pm
Rewards tend to be underwhelming. M Lasers are good at the point you likely get them and that’s it. Also fuck Saya, as the price I expected Syn, OP cloned Uber or something, not a personal concubine that gives you -500 score and ability to buy Reticulan Elder.

The joke's on you, it'd be quite a weak prize, also how could she call you with new jobs if you got her killed? Lol.

In general, to expect me to change prizes, I need a compelling case. Things like "pretty low on the tech tree" are often misleading, as it depends on who invests in what. If you try to get Auto Harpoon fast, you won't get much mileage out of Harpoon Carbine etc. Also Craft Railgun is anything but low on the tree... However the Ogre seems underpowered, and Mammoth overpowered for where you can find them currently. I will buff the Ogre a bit, and Mammoth, well, for now it has to stay where it is as there is no other place available yet. I'll rather keep small unbalances than rework everything completely every time once new content is created...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 18, 2018, 02:38:45 pm
Meh, they could clone her or something. Would still be worth it if she had stats way above even the freaks I guess. Not like you’ll have anything else to spend the tokens on eventually.

Anyway, mammoth chain shotgun is a fine candidate for a manufactured gun that needs master crafted weapon parts. It’s not even that big of a change, just one extra tech that could depend on contacts:gun emporium.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 18, 2018, 03:58:20 pm
Anyway, mammoth chain shotgun is a fine candidate for a manufactured gun that needs master crafted weapon parts. It’s not even that big of a change, just one extra tech that could depend on contacts:gun emporium.

We have the "Super Shotgun" as a mastercrafted weapon. This red shotgun with autofire and large clip you remember? No need for another shotgun if we have the option to go either Super Shotgun or Kustom Blunderbuss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 18, 2018, 05:05:19 pm
either Super Shotgun or Kustom Blunderbuss.

Why are these walled behind master crafted parts anyway? Kustom blunderbuss used to be a bit too good but hardly as OP as mammoth shotgun is, super shotgun was hardly OP. By the point you get to assault enemy hideout, you no longer need them. If you get them early, you keep them, to make bossar. Eh, you can ignore even the mighty bossar, autolaser does its job reasonably well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 18, 2018, 06:10:06 pm
Why go for the Bossar when the Death Blossom exists?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 18, 2018, 06:48:31 pm
Bossar has better damage output at mit to long range.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 18, 2018, 08:59:33 pm
The joke's on you, it'd be quite a weak prize, also how could she call you with new jobs if you got her killed? Lol.
In general, to expect me to change prizes, I need a compelling case. Things like "pretty low on the tech tree" are often misleading
The Ogre shotgun should cost less prize tokens thats all. That would allow someone to get it faster. Either that or put it one tier lower on the trophy list.

Im not joking... a Heavy Shotgun or a Double Barrel shotgun, or even a Combat Shotgun on burst while being inferior on paper statistically can bretty much do the same job as an OGRE. One thing that would buff the Ogre is extending its effective range so that it can carry the same damage as a shotgun out to farther in the battlefield (+4 tiles?). The thing that makes shotguns what they are is their poor range but if a little more dakka for enemies that, at that range, were already manageable with other guns - whats the point. Its a Prize Token sponge is what it is, a money gate, with a consolation prize.

(I will also second the Kustom Handcannon to this, as a 1x2 size pistol causing ~25x5 damage which is also capable of burst, it even blows a combat shotgun out of the water. I can get my dakka on tap rather than all at once. And ghouls are still manageable with it. And its a pistol with a built in Handle too. And it blows the CAWS out of the water as well just because of its Slug ammo, I dont even have a use for the CAWS when ive got the Kustom Handcannon. If I cared about the weight of a metal brick id definitely be having problems with guns like the Ogre. It even makes the Magnum irrelevant since its acid ammo is the only selling point for it, usually lasers will do the job if chem is required)

Let Us Not Forget about the humble FLAK CANNON either. Which does have a rather random entry point to the game, but I always seem to get it within fair timing. The Flak Cannon blows the Ogre out of the water.

Due to RNG maybe possibly giving me less bounty hunting missions (or just failing to go after them due to juicier targets) I normally have Boom Gun by the time O.G.R.E is had through bounty hunting. I get my Boom Guns from enemy base raids... I forget what other techs are necessary for the Boom Gun but having an enemy base pop up means the Item is technically available to be researched right there at that point. Research cannot rush bounty hunting, and it takes way too much money to rush it with cash.

One time I dumped $3,000,000 into mutant alliance tokens just because I wasnt getting anything mutant alliance related to get the tokens for. And that was only to get the prize (stealthsuit?) which I didnt care about, just so that I could open up the next prize it enabled and see what it was.

LOL Saya could be a Syn that just has her consciousness uploaded when the body dies so she still provides missions and is on the lookout for mutant happenings, she's just in a mainframe until you build her another body. Then Saya cant really be killed, just gives you a nasty point penalty like -100 for getting her body destroyed.
(dunno if there is a capability yet to restrict the player to building only One of an item even if they have the resources to make more - but this definitely needs to be implemented in the engine - likewise also a limited number of times you can attack with an attack mode even if you have the stat resources to do it)

Im 'fraid I have to agree with the consensus that Craft Railgun isnt actually too far up the research ladder. It may not seem like it, but it is, and it clearly takes longer before you get gauss firearms.

Maybe im just efficient at getting to that point but I will already have Naval Cannon by the time the prize would unlock it (maybe thats from previous playthroughs but I could swear that I researched naval cannon, before Prize: Naval Cannon became available in the bounty hunting tree). And just shortly after that I will have Craft Railgun.

Either that or due to manufacturing and the massive resources necessary for a Naval Cannon... I just dont get around to building them until Craft Railgun is popping up on my ufopedia screen. And its not worth it to spend upwards of a week procuring the materials, rearranging floor space, and manufacturing the Naval Gun+Ammo when I can just wait a little longer and build Craft Railguns.

It just happens that with gauss cannons being available so soon, plus the 50mm cannons being just good enough with a craft that can wield 4 of either of these, the Naval Gun just doesn't have much of an appeal.

The Naval Gun is also a Heavy slot item and there truly aren't that many crafts that have an abundance of Heavy slots... typical configurations ive seen are 1 Heavy plus some Light slots. Heavy weapons for crafts statistically speaking aren't too much better than Light ones when you consider the full array of effectiveness - compared to how much Space it takes to store the spare weapons and ammunition. Big weapons need to do alot more damage than they're statted for in order to be better than light weapons.

(The Kraken has 3... but with that speed who in their right mind would ever build it? Only reason id bother making a Kraken is to slap Heavy Shields and Hull on it to tank for interceptors. This is a custom designed Pirate vehicle... if it had a Shadowtech slot built into it the kraken then becomes balanced)

I can throw away gauss rounds all day long considering how storage efficient they are, how many pour in from shipping missions, and how easy they are to manufacture. Its practically the Laser Cannon of X-Piratez.

And another thing, ive gone against Bombers, Cruisers, and other big shipping... everything other than a Battleship or Silver Towers using something to tank the damage plus 3 Interceptors armed with 4 Lascannons each. And those things are only supposed to do 36 damage each if I recall. I guess if you have 12 of them going the Armor on those critters just doesn't really add up to much. Then I go back home and plug the lascannons into the wall socket and they're good to go again.

Missiles are a total crapshoot, they're so expensive its like the thing you leave around just in case you have to go after the equivalent of the flying dutchman. My interceptors just get spare thrusters in their missile slot. Most of my missiles get sold. The mutant alliance missile that looks like an avalanche is generally nifty to put on an airspeeder though.

(ooh that would be a cool one time craft/mission to have wouldn't it? The Flying Dutchman of the future. It would literally be a flying ship after all. Or it could even be a USO full of zombies that the player cant shoot down because its underwater - even when its flying over land - so they just have to wait for it to land somewhere, and its flight pattern just keeps it going and going all over the world until like it only lands once every 10 years. LOL)

on land absolutely, but for undersea it is a considerable upgrade.

The auto harpoon is practically the "end" of the research tree when it comes to harpoons as far as I can tell. Load it up with the purple stuff and it works wonders on capturing people on land (especially from flying armor) because you can just autoshot until you hit.

I was very happy with the harpoon carbine being added, not only does it look cool, it also provides that emergency 3 shot burst when you gotta make sure you hit them. It sucks dumping a clip with a single attack especially when im not gonna like to carry more than 4 per user, but it can get the job done. All hitmen missions I carry harpoon carbines and tranq the dude.

Autoharpoon also isnt all that useful underwater against, eg, gill men because it might just be me, but I dont even bother making other munitions for it besides the tranqulizers and gill men seem pretty dang resistant to stun damage. So I just dont keep the damaging stuff around (I dont even keep the standard red/gold harpoons around either). Theres too many items to deal with in the base inventory screen and unlike manufacture they cant be Hidden. Underwater missions are rare, at least the ones that I bother going on, player choice I guess, I just dont want to risk being chewed up by sharks.

Bossar has better damage output at mit to long range.

Here comes that DPS fallacy again. This is not world of warcraft.
In xcom and even in x-piratez better does not necessarily mean better than "good enough", due to infrastructure and other practical arrangements.

This is kinda like how sniper rifles with their complex rules and high TU costs are pretty much useless compared to a Scoped Hunting Rifle. The heavy sniper rifle thing is technically better than most sniper rifles because it can deposit chem and explosive ordinance, but the Custom Sniping Gun pretty much beats it in practical terms for normal shooting (and the explosive rounds for the HSR are pointless when I can just lob a Mortar, or fire a Rocket).

Death Blossoms are easy to manufacture and more importantly easy to carry around, they make a viable sidearm for any hand who has a 2x2 belt space available. The Bossar doesn't come around for quite awhile after the Blossom is already been made and has tons of HVAP ammo laying around.

If I want to carry a heavy weapon capable of dishing out alot of damage then im going to do with something alot nastier than the Bossar before I bother investing in making it at all. Probably a rocket launcher or grenade launcher armed with plasma munitions since id already have that on hand just on general principal. If collateral damage aint a problem the ever growing stockpile of Baby Nukes is also an option.
(the Bossar does piercing damage, if a critter has nasty resistances that dictate a special approach to attacking them, then piercing is not going to be a better answer over laser, plasma, or explosives).

Im sure it can chew up zombies pretty well, the Bossar now that I think of it might even be a good solution to armored zombies. But then again so is the Boom Gun or, as the death animation of an armored zombie indicates, a Force Blade melee hand.

I can also have a few hands just stick Hellerium Grenades in their hands, and pile those grenades on whoever needs to be bozar'd.

Why are these walled behind master crafted parts anyway? Kustom blunderbuss used to be a bit too good but hardly as OP as mammoth shotgun is, super shotgun was hardly OP.

Kustom Blunderbuss is CRAP, and when the mastercrafted parts became a requirement for it that sealed its fate in terms of me never bothering with it. Not when I know a Super Shotgun can be made from the same parts.
(inb4 gold drums? listen im not wasting a whole damn gold brick on it for some overkill that I can get from something else)

The SSG is like a junior version of the Boom Gun and far more useful. Better believe its OP... the parts requirement is the only thing that keeps it in check. 18 loads of nasty armor piercing flechettes... it reminds me of playing Fallout Tactics with the Pancor Jackhammer all over again.

Those pellets do 32 damage buddy, its like shooting someone 10 times with an assault rifle... and the SSG is rather zippy in terms of TU usage. It lacks some of the armor piercing capability of the boom gun but its alot easier to use. And even some critter with 50 armor is not safe from this weapon if I can just keep popping it until it feels the damage. Marsec Bodyguards are the kinda thing that require a boom gun to go after, but those are dragons and just like d&d you have to use melee fighters on dragons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 18, 2018, 11:51:50 pm
I normally have Boom Gun by the time O.G.R.E is had through bounty hunting. I get my Boom Guns from enemy base raids... I forget what other techs are necessary for the Boom Gun but having an enemy base pop up means the Item is technically available to be researched right there at that point.
Visit Nearby Town + Call a Meeting --> Our Culture --> Violence --> Bounty Hunting --> Scoped Magnum --> O.G.R.E.
Boom Gun on the other hand requires Mag Munitions, meaning all gauss weapons, a score of lasers, back to school, engineering, several bounty rewards, and a plethora of other techs. It's quite a bit later in the game unless the RNG really hates you. (  )

Im 'fraid I have to agree with the consensus that Craft Railgun isnt actually too far up the research ladder. It may not seem like it, but it is, and it clearly takes longer before you get gauss firearms.

Maybe im just efficient at getting to that point but I will already have Naval Cannon by the time the prize would unlock it (maybe thats from previous playthroughs but I could swear that I researched naval cannon, before Prize: Naval Cannon became available in the bounty hunting tree). And just shortly after that I will have Craft Railgun.
Craft Railgun is around the same level as boom gun. The problem is that if you have naval cannon, you mostly need the gauss weapons to get craft railgun: so it depends on whether you can take on ships dropping heavy gauss/sniper gauss and whether they show up. I find the naval gun useful for that, but your mileage may vary.
Unlocking gauss weapons requires a good extra chunk, though.
Unless you mean the gauss cannon, which I can usually produce at the same time as craft railgun since that's actually the harder requirement for it. ;)

It just happens that with gauss cannons being available so soon, plus the 50mm cannons being just good enough with a craft that can wield 4 of either of these, the Naval Gun just doesn't have much of an appeal.
I don't bother with the Gauss Cannon because the Lascannon is just so much nicer and available at roughly the same time. ^^

Missiles are a total crapshoot, they're so expensive its like the thing you leave around just in case you have to go after the equivalent of the flying dutchman. My interceptors just get spare thrusters in their missile slot. Most of my missiles get sold. The mutant alliance missile that looks like an avalanche is generally nifty to put on an airspeeder though.
Seagull and Meteor are nice when multiple warships get spawned or if you want to take out something your other weapons can't touch, but I generally don't bother with producing missiles. Given that many of the parts are either in short supply or expensive to buy, they just don't bring enough boom to the table.
In the later game going lascannon + plasma spitter wreaks havoc with pretty much everything, though. :p



As far as heavy weapons go, I actually like the Vulcan. 20x65 damage with 5% armor stripping? Kills pretty much anything and keeps collateral to a minimum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 19, 2018, 11:44:29 am
Kustom Blunderbuss is CRAP, and when the mastercrafted parts became a requirement for it that sealed its fate in terms of me never bothering with it. Not when I know a Super Shotgun can be made from the same parts.
(inb4 gold drums? listen im not wasting a whole damn gold brick on it for some overkill that I can get from something else)

It does well with the chem rounds. Death Blossom is way better, but kustom blunderbuss used to be available months before death blossom. Back then when you could make them as you wish, I found it to be some of the most reliable damage dealers before better stuff come along.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 19, 2018, 01:54:20 pm
The Death Blossom is just amazing.  Its only downsides are that it's heavy and it can't be brought to infiltrations (being a 2x2 weapon) so it doesn't entirely replace other pistols like the Kustom Handcannon and Mini-Cougar.  In fact, I think it complements them; you can hold the Blossom on one hand and a pistol in the other so you can melt armor with the Blossom's chem shots and then follow up with the other pistol (laser, gauss, whatever).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 19, 2018, 03:17:59 pm
Death Blossom should need master crafted parts, kustom blunderbuss should not.

Master crafted parts should be added to inventory of engineers in a number that would result in average gain of about 0.6 master crafted parts per month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 19, 2018, 04:32:40 pm
Death Blossom should need master crafted parts, kustom blunderbuss should not.

Master crafted parts should be added to inventory of engineers in a number that would result in average gain of about 0.6 master crafted parts per month.

I'm okay with something like 'components' needed to craft 1x "Master Crafted W-Parts" instead of lucking out to get some.
Death Blossom is fine as it is. The K-Blunderbuss needs the gate through a limited resource. Otherwise you could spam this shotgun for it's chem-ammo and just melt everything if used in sheer numbers and against a target vurnable to chem damage.

The Blossom has chem-ammo auto-fire as well but with less damage (22x6) in comparision to (24x6). K-Blunderbuss is much more accurate with the buckshot ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 20, 2018, 05:34:38 am
In fact, I think it complements them; you can hold the Blossom on one hand and a pistol in the other so you can melt armor with the Blossom's chem shots and then follow up with the other pistol (laser, gauss, whatever).

Ahh crap I forgot about chem ammo eating away armor, ill have to remember that. At like 22x6 and then add burst on top of that it should probably melt stuff like snow.

Death Blossom should need master crafted parts, kustom blunderbuss should not.
Death Blossom should be left alone, if it takes mastercraft parts to build it then nobody will build it and that defeats the purpose. Its also rather balanced the way it is. The sprite could use some adjusting though, I always interpreted it to be like the Zorg Gun from 5th element and its got too much going on detail wise, it should have more smooth panels and sleek look.

(Im also of the belief that for the damage the death blossom ammo does, it is actually a Gyroc weapon, like a bolter, that fires hybrid rocket propelled bullets with small explosive tips)

I second that mastercraft parts should be capable of being manufactured. There is something... master crafted about them that would naturally keep them in balance. Something like 5000 work hours and alot of money, maybe a gold brick for tony stark's gold-titanium alloy. At least then you could build stuff, and it would give you something worthwhile to focus on.

(There's also some kinda Duct Tape stuff, I forget the name, which it could require. That stuff isnt rare but im not sure you can buy it, I know the Heavy Freighter missions donate it to you. So that could be a limiting material.)

In all my playthroughs, each time ive only maybe collected enough parts to make 2 items with mastercraft parts and both times its been the SSG. I was only finding them in enemy hideouts pretty much. They need to show up on Military Transports, at least more often than they do if they are on there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 20, 2018, 06:01:01 am
Another source of master-crafted parts is disassembling master plasma pistols; but by the time you're swimming in master pistols from raiding ethereal and crackdown ships, you probably don't need the master-crafted guns anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on January 21, 2018, 08:23:33 pm
Consciousness upload? That is silly, I'm not putting BS like that in my game. What's next, sparkling vampires?

Death Blossom is a normal large bore gun, not a boltgun. It's too weak to be a boltgun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 22, 2018, 06:05:04 am
Boltgun is unimpressive in the tabletop Warhammer 40K. I bet most players would take lasgun over it if it made marines cheaper. Or at least that was it back hwne I was playing...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: legionof1 on January 22, 2018, 06:34:28 pm
yeah table top boltgun not particularly impressive but, eh table top is more about balance then fluffy or logical representation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 23, 2018, 01:06:58 pm
When you think about it in fluff, it is still not impressive.

The marine would better off carrying a lasgun in many situations, simply because it can be recharged from his powerpack in his armour. Strange that they don’t carry it as an sidearm.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: HT on January 23, 2018, 05:41:32 pm
Are you asking for Games Workshop to do a sensible thing?

That's unfortunately harder to accomplish than having the average XCOM recruit hit a target with the starting rifle.  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 24, 2018, 10:58:41 am
Last time I checked they were in the pump phase of pump and dump, while it’s a dick move, it’s still kind of sensible thing to do
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 24, 2018, 11:26:14 am
Enough Heresy now.

Stick to the topic at hand.
While it's arguable what should be limited via master-crafted parts and what not, it's still a matter of in-game time at what point you get what kind of weapon.

Progression is the way to success so it's just natural that your shotguns get bigger and better over time.
Ol' SG -> Hv. SG -> O.G.R.E. SG -> M.C. SG -> Boom Gun -> Splatty/ Space Ranger SG -> Plasma Blunderbuss / Hellgun.

The same is true for all those pistols.
Death Blossom is a very versatile gun, has piercing ammo that sets on fire and shotgun-like chem ammo.
Later it gets an additional piercing ammo for even more oomph. Don't forget that this gun is not too accurate!

Mastercrafted guns are excluded since the item itself is very very rare to get (as stated by scrapping the super plasma pistol or hideout assaults) so you'll never have more than 1 of each. Due to how scarce they are, the K-Blunderbuss just wins in comparison to the Super Shotgun / Bossar / Commando Rifle. Reason: 3 types of ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on January 24, 2018, 06:01:09 pm
Year and few months ago, you went straight from light cannons and lasguns to gauss weaponry, bypassing everything in between.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 24, 2018, 08:12:34 pm
Visit Nearby Town + Call a Meeting --> Our Culture --> Violence --> Bounty Hunting --> Scoped Magnum --> O.G.R.E.
(  )
Craft Railgun is around the same level as boom gun. The problem is that if you have naval cannon, you mostly need the gauss weapons to get craft railgun: so it depends on whether you can take on ships dropping heavy gauss/sniper gauss and whether they show up.
(  )
Seagull and Meteor are nice when multiple warships get spawned or if you want to take out something your other weapons can't touch
(  )
In the later game going lascannon + plasma spitter wreaks havoc with pretty much everything, though. :p

Not all bounty missions are created equal and there are at least 3 categories of bounty missions and I guess the RNG has really been hating me. Jack's missions are the ones that give you Naval Gun and Ogre I believe... and those were always in the shortest supply. I was sometimes going several months without jack's missions, and even then I was only getting the 75 tokens ones.

(meanwhile goblin zaxx was having me blow up 2 barns monthly and giving me preacher and cave missions - I chewed all the way through the zaxx trophy tree in .99H1 before I ever saw the Ogre option show up)

Sniper and Heavy Gauss?
Are you kidding me?
They practically flood my base stores. Enemy Hideout means a Supply Ship will be landing there multiple times per month. I hit the supply ship when it lands. I just keep hitting them over and over again.
(I dont know about you but I dont ever destroy enemy hideouts, I milk them for supply ships and ill even conduct base assaults just to get access to tech and VIP... I hear there is a penalty now for not breaking the hideout but most likely id still come out positive unless the enemy surrendered)
Its also a good source of bodyguard armor parts, lots of baby nukes, and so many gauss weapons I have an overabundance of gauss parts that I basically don't know what to do with (as many as I have of laser parts). At least the Heavy Gauss gives me plenty of heavy power couplings. Ive also got Davy Crocketts coming out of my ears and I even invest in getting the non-nuclear warheads because its such a cheap weapon.
And since I can get gauss so reliably I have no compunction about stripping them all down after researching them because its going to take so long before I can actually use them. When I crack gauss its easy enough to just save the gauss guns I get from the supply ship I hit right before that. That bottleneck is the only thing that keeps me from working up that tech tree even faster.

Meteor - yeah thats the name for the mutant alliance missile. Love that thing. Three shots @ 80 damage and its very accurate.

Also its worth mentioning the Ramjet gun might be expensive. But if ive got cash to burn... its also a very cool/pretty looking weapon and the sprite always has been.
Ramjet gun might have less shots, but it shows up early on the buy list. By then I usually have the targeting package too. Most ships only got one Heavy slot anyway so its the Light weapons that will mop up shipping.

Multiple Warships? TBQH im not that worried about self defense.
If they wanna attack my base ill let them in, I dont even build defenses until the armoury tower and even then its only for manufacturing.
Im a real pirate about not getting up off my butt to wipe out everything, ill just go hit one ship and eat it. Maybe if another one lands. And its easy enough to just let the big stuff like Cruisers and Battleships walk on by (Bombers are vulnerable enough to hit though).

The air combat AI has not evolved in openxcom yet so im not worried about being intercepted by ships if I attack one of them (with any others part of the same faction within a certain radius changing course to intercept then forced into air combat with them). And I dont have to worry about them tracking my flight path back to my base in realtime and then going right for the base. Those would be realistic outcomes if we were to take the Serenity setting as an example.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 24, 2018, 08:25:13 pm
Not all bounty missions are created equal and there are at least 3 types of bounty missions and I guess the RNG has really been hating me, because I think its the Jack's missions that give you Naval Gun and Ogre... and those were always in the shortest supply. I was literally going several months without jack's missions and then getting the measly like 75 tokens ones.
Chances for the missions are the same (and independent from each other), so yeah, RNJesus hates you.

Sniper and Heavy Gauss? Are you kidding me?
You misread me. The problem with Naval Gun is that you can get the superior Craft Railgun shortly after, only needing the gauss weapons. This gives the naval gun a short lifetime if there's no bases around (taking on heavier ships) and pretty much none with them. So yeah, it all depends on what spawned.

By the way, you mentioned issues with taking down Battleships. Two Kraken with Railguns and two Nightmares with Meteor + Plasma Spitter take them down quite well. I'd expect the same for Silver Towers, but the bastards won't pop for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 24, 2018, 08:29:56 pm
Getting intercepted sounds really nasty. I just can't see 'how' this could work without massive coding efforts and rebalancing of several ships.
If the A.I. can go into dogfight with any of your vessels in flight I would like to know:
> How many shots do those A.I. hunters have?
> How many different weapons can they shot at you?
> Do we get a 'reversed' crashed vessel scenario? - If yes, how do you roll injuries across the team and dice-rolls for killed hands?
> How do you trigger enemy interceptors?

Those questions are just a few that come to mind. I wouldn't like my unarmed dropship to get dunked by a RNG Interceptor blowing down the whole loot/equipment/personal because of this feature.
I can imagine the original game designers discussed this feature and simple scrapped it due to how unreliable/frustrating it could turn out.

It's also a feature the player does not benefit from. It's simple a feature to artifical increase the difficult setting even more on top of a very challenging experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 24, 2018, 09:18:20 pm
If the A.I. can go into dogfight with any of your vessels in flight I would like to know:

Its a feature that would increase difficulty and surprise players, and make it seem believable. And would make you consider 3d chess when it comes to air combat because then it makes you wonder "Is this a trap, am I going to get dogpiled on for going after this particular freighter".

Also for simplicity sake I wouldnt suggest this being applied for any scenarios other than:
* Air Combat - faction friendly ship was shot down or destroyed
* Air Combat (lower priority) - faction friendly ship was attacked but not downed
* Enemy Hideout - faction base was attacked and destroyed
* Enemy Hideout (lower priority) - faction base was attacked but not destroyed
* Air Patrol (low priority) - one of your ships was detected by their radar

notice that im also only suggesting this apply to factions, so if this dynamic was turned on in vanilla game it would literally only apply to "sectoids" or "snakemen" or "floaters" even though they are all managed by the central martian intelligence...
but in Piratez and other mods it can make sense that the Traders Guild or the Academicians or the Raiders honestly only give a crap about themselves and snicker when the piratez start poaching the whales of other factions.

It actually would be too over the top to do a "worldwide manhunt" where literally anybody who has an interceptor is coming after you in response.
----
It would be limited to ships designed for that thing like Fighters... so there would be an Aggression rating... with anything above 0 meaning that this shipping/ufo may be game for trying to attack you in midair... a high value means "this is what this ufo does".

To confine the radius for this checking it would have to be determined when the provocation occurred, any ship with an aggression rating has a retaliationRadius for which they can be called upon to respond. If the incident occurred too far away then they will not divert course. Default value if uninitialized should probably be 2 or 3 times the radar range of that interceptor.

Also high priority, low priority types of response would adjust the effective aggresison rating. High priority being at the full value, Low Priority subtracting a static amount from it (id suggest the same amount that constitutes the threshold where there is a 100% chance of a response, so that only shipping that has interception in its job description will even bother to go after a low priority retaliation). So for example if 10 is the point where a shipping would always respond, with each point below representing a multiple of 10% chance... then a low priority call to respond would subtract 10. Ships that might intercept but aren't really interceptors would have values like Aggression: 5 to 9 and they would only get involved if it was important. The regular definition of an interceptor would probably be around Aggression: 15 so it would always respond, but for a low priority response there'd only be a 50% chance (aggression 15 minus 10) that it would get involved.

Likewise it would also give a reason to have cloaking devices installed on ships, allowing a cloaking rating to be given, so that more stealthy ships are less likely to be potentially gone after. Provides a game dynamic to this principal (just how stealthy is your ship).

How many shots?
All shipping that have weapons use Craft Beam Laser of varying strengths and batteries, which is obvious from the sound effect and the instant beam effect displayed when they shoot you. Since these are ships typically of alien design or incorporating standardized alien tech they have always had Infinite Shots. There is such a thing as superior technology.

While you can often find gauss cannons, 50mm cannons, 25mm cannons, plasma spitters and other equipment in these vessels it is not apparent that they are using them at all, and its the onboard inseparable built-in space weapons which are being used.
(this is something that I recognize really is prohibitive to code, giving enemy ships custom projectiles and sound effects for their air weapons, determining how many shots they have left and then placing that many in a special inventory item on its map, etc... not gonna happen)

Reversed crashed Vessel?
Historically every time your aircraft is shot down it is destroyed. You lose the craft, all of the crew, all of the items and all of the craft weapons. There isn't even a mission debriefing, the craft is just gone. Figured this was obvious. Their shipping crashes... yours limps home... destroyed in both cases means it explodes in a brilliant fireball.

Unarmed Dropship?
An additional label to counter Aggression rating could be applied to cancel it out, at least unless it fits certain criteria like using it to shoot down one of their friendly shipping. The name for the label doesnt matter. That way if you have an Airbus or Airvan these seem civilian enough to not go after, so their IFFfriendly tag can be really high and enemy interceptors wont bother with it.

Again one reason for having retaliatory air combat is adding consequences for taking actions. Strategy - making sure the cat's away when you pounce on their cheese. Waiting until there are no enemy interceptors around when you go to attack one of their bases. Actually watching what is going on and taking your shot when the time is right.

An Airbus or Skyranger may have a good IFFfriendly rating but when it comes to a high priority retaliation it might not be enough to prevent an enemy interceptor from possibly going after it (if the interceptor in response range has aggression 15 and 10 is the threshold of absolute response, and you have IFFfriendly: 11 then it would still leave an Aggression: 4 chance of it coming after you. But in a Low Response situation the total effective aggression against that ship would be -6 and thus it would never go after it just on general principal). Thats how id code it anyway.

You are pirates after all, most wanted, in the commission of a capital crime and considered dangerous - a threat and if they have the resources available to instantly thin your numbers and teach you a lesson then I think they'd take it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 24, 2018, 09:22:43 pm
Just going to drop this topic (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5717.0.html).  (Meridian's already started some code to allow UFOs to intercept you, WIP)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 24, 2018, 09:26:57 pm
Just going to drop this topic (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5717.0.html).  (Meridian's already started some code to allow UFOs to intercept you, WIP)
Awesome, I was only trying to provide some insight, and I was responding to ethereal_medic.

Edit: to mergepost

I will also drop these graphics here that ive helped remaster. The new palette change introduces alot of darker colors and this is an awesome thing but it does tend to wash out some sprites in key areas. Mostly wooden stocks and some dark grey items.

Also somebody started using the final color range (#16) and that means trouble - a few items like the Axe were showing up in the bootypedia with bright blue colored pixels on them (and it was not necessary to use that color range for their colors either!). So the graphics here correct those issues. A little bit of darkening was applied in some cases to keep the colors from remapping inefficiently, but its still pretty nice for them. As far as I can tell everything else in the game resources works just fine and doesn't need to be touched.

Ive also remastered the xcom2 sonic weapons to have more greenish-teal colors like the ones from tftd, they are located in the zip file with the other graphics (the image here is for preview purposes). Im not sure where those weapons show up in piratez, im guessing in the "they came from the sea" missions. Maybe the new coloration was intended, but I really liked the original colors and I know its hard to translate those into the ufo palette.

A couple items received personal touches and have been altered in other ways so I didnt include them in the zipfile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 25, 2018, 03:34:42 am
Jack's missions are the ones that give you Naval Gun and Ogre I believe.

They're Goblin Zaxx prizes, actually.

Meteor - yeah thats the name for the mutant alliance missile. Love that thing. Three shots @ 80 damage and its very accurate.

They're even better than that, they actually do 175 damage with a x1.5 modifier to shields.  However, you're thinking of the wrong alliance; they're actually missiles provided by the *Human-Reticulan Cooperation*.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Poulpiche on January 25, 2018, 10:51:40 pm
Hi everyone

Do you know if there's a any mod like Streamlined Armor Manufacturing that could  permit build ships from scraps ?

thanks in advance
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 25, 2018, 11:25:37 pm
I prefer to use a sheet of paper and just scribble down the recipe for the items needed to produce the vessel I need.
Streamlined Ship Manufacturing might be too early to consider useful. At some point you can buy all parts from the black market.
Armor is different with many components requiring alot of tech to be produced in the first place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Poulpiche on January 25, 2018, 11:52:44 pm
Above all, it is to avoid having to launch the manufacture of parts such as the light generator, speed up time, return to the factory, start the manufacture of the ship, see that parts are missing, buy or transfer parts, wait for them to arrive, relaunch the construction of the ship, speed up time, make a mission, transfer the ship once finished elsewhere, etc....

i have to make this dozens times for sabre and dragon. I'm sorry, I find that quite unfunny
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 26, 2018, 11:53:26 am
Above all, it is to avoid having to launch the manufacture of parts such as the light generator, speed up time, return to the factory, start the manufacture of the ship, see that parts are missing, buy or transfer parts, wait for them to arrive, relaunch the construction of the ship, speed up time, make a mission, transfer the ship once finished elsewhere, etc....

i have to make this dozens times for sabre and dragon. I'm sorry, I find that quite unfunny

I can understand your point and yes the mod is sometimes quite heavy in the management-system (e. g. removing all gear from your dropship and add it to the new ship).
I could imagine to have crafts build out of money itself but that would be too abusive for workshop money-generation. We got m1a1 tanks to mass-produce for the world as T3 tech.
You have to remember that this is a total-conversion mod based on a very old game made for MS DOS. An user-friedly User-Interface was luxury.
Ever played the first Master of Orion? = Like piloting a russian nuclear submarine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 26, 2018, 06:26:05 pm
I can understand your point and yes the mod is sometimes quite heavy in the management-system (e. g. removing all gear from your dropship and add it to the new ship).
Hit F5/F9 the next time your in the craft equipment screen. The amount of suffering that saves is ungodly. :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 27, 2018, 02:00:19 am
I can understand your point and yes the mod is sometimes quite heavy in the management-system (e. g. removing all gear from your dropship and add it to the new ship).

Yep but I think players need to take a step back and consider just how much of an undertaking it is to build a Craft, in terms of what it gives you. This isnt something that you need to do often, it probably happens even less often than building a power armor or hwp so as long as you gather the parts efficiently its worth the hassle for what it gives you.

If you've got your eye on building a certain craft, load it up in the manufacture screen and see what it requires. Everything that you're fuzzy on that you dont normally use (cloaking devices? fusion batteries? old warship hulls?) make sure you Order those things and put them in storage somewhere that has surplus space, that way when you finally get around to Making a craft you can just route the parts to where they need to go.
(speaking of ships I skip making any of the advanced interceptors, and go straight for the Nightmare, but thats just me, the barracuda and the other one do not exist to me)

Also I can vouch for 90s games not being particularly intuitive on management screens. Xcom is quite a gem when it comes to them ironically, the 80 item craft limit was abit self limiting, and switching crafts for everything back then was not a common issue (ie, happens only once pretty much, when you get the Avenger, all the stuff in the Skyranger goes there).

The original Fallout 1 game for example had an annoying problem of it taking awhile to pick up alot of items. Any stack items moved just fine, but if there was a big list of stuff in a stash or on a dead guy you'd have to select each different item. In Fallout 2 I guess black isle realized this was tedious from having done research playthroughs of the first game and they installed a "Take All" button... which made FO2 pretty comfy and sublime.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on January 27, 2018, 03:26:14 am
(speaking of ships I skip making any of the advanced interceptors, and go straight for the Nightmare, but thats just me, the barracuda and the other one do not exist to me)

Same with me; I go from the Hunter-Killer straight to the Nightmare, and then the Saber once I complete my Higher Studies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 27, 2018, 07:08:32 pm
May i suggest removing zombie missions for the first couple of months? I just had a very long and boring church raid at the start of a second month. Once i realised there were no strixes and i ran out of ammo i just gave everyone a pocket las-charger and skipped turns until my firing line reaction fired them to death. Yeah you can melee them way faster but why would i risk that with low stat gals who wouldn't have enough TU\stamina to 100% kill them after a rush.
Also idk what difficulty is the game balanced around? I play on Blackbeard, if there's supposed to a be a strix spawn on the 5th one, then this is irrelevant, at least there would be some challenge to justify the grind.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 27, 2018, 08:57:41 pm
If you're willing to play on 'Jack Sparrow' difficulty, you get the maximum spawns of enemies to fight AND each enemy has increased armor value without about 15-20% increasement across the board. Hard to kill enemies are even harder to kill this way. Unless you twitch-stream it to 'impress' people how awesome and brutally hard this game can be, just don't and play black beard.

Zombies are meant to be massive bullet sponges and early weaponry is quite bad in dealing with beefy, selfhealing targets.
It's also not much of a penalty if you snatch the loot manually and just run for the craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on January 28, 2018, 12:06:33 am
I'm playing "Raynerd Must Survive," and I've cleared all the areas I know how to reach --- I always keep a hammer and a pickaxe on my craft, so I was able to crack all the locked doors I can see.  But the mission hasn't ended, so there must be at least one more Megapol locked away somewhere.  On Level 2 there's a dark area that may be a small room with no doors:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gH7DXU4UrFIuoWQ1JZLIVnIRRHVCl0j7 (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gH7DXU4UrFIuoWQ1JZLIVnIRRHVCl0j7)

And on Level 3 there's a larger such area:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kW_TVsawcKyN9ZF5yxLq9cwYPgMl4o0h (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kW_TVsawcKyN9ZF5yxLq9cwYPgMl4o0h)

How do I get in there?  Or are there no rooms there, meaning I just need to bug-hunt some wolfman I knocked out long ago who's now woken up?

[edit]OK. I cracked the walls --- but there are definitely doors that didn't show in battlescape.  Don't know if that was intentional.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 28, 2018, 12:36:38 am
I mentioned that sometime ago. Yes this mission demands alot of cutting tools to get through various layers of steel and concrete for some megapol booty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on January 28, 2018, 03:51:16 am
What I wasn't expecting (because I hadn't thought about it) is that the locked doors are just decorated wall tiles -- by which I mean that unlike real doors they don't become visible in battlescape unless the side facing you is lit. 

Then again, since they're not actually doors you don't have to use them to go through the wall, and they don't seem any weaker than regular wall tiles.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BetaSpectre on January 28, 2018, 02:41:52 pm
a locked door would realistically be like wall. Especially if made out of metal. It's alot of coding to change it up for a minor change. I never felt like they were unrealistically hard, too soft if anything since a good bullet gets the entire wall destroyed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on January 28, 2018, 07:49:23 pm
It's alot of coding to change it up for a minor change.
Well, if doors were lockable, you could make (nigh) impenetrable walls and combine it with something like the door only opening when a certain enemy was defeated, a tie (e.g. the control mechanism) destroyed, or a keycard is in the inventory. True, that's even more coding, but it would give an option to spice missions up a bit more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 29, 2018, 08:45:49 pm
Has anyone else noticed this behavior crop up in recent editions?

I shoot at someone, hit. They aren't looking at me and they do not reaction fire. But when I start moving around behind them they turn around and shoot me. Like the reaction fire is delayed or something. But it doesn't happen if I move somebody else around behind them.

This is pretty annoying and im thinking its a bug because if they're going to pass the reaction fire test they should turn around and shoot immediately. Its caught me off guard a few times in my new playthrough (B-Boys have good reflexes, but I might shoot em twice, leave them to bleed out but then when im walking off their reaction fire suddenly triggers even though they never looked).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 29, 2018, 08:58:00 pm
Has anyone else noticed this behavior crop up in recent editions?

I shoot at someone, hit. They aren't looking at me and they do not reaction fire. But when I start moving around behind them they turn around and shoot me. Like the reaction fire is delayed or something. But it doesn't happen if I move somebody else around behind them.

This is pretty annoying and im thinking its a bug because if they're going to pass the reaction fire test they should turn around and shoot immediately. Its caught me off guard a few times in my new playthrough (B-Boys have good reflexes, but I might shoot em twice, leave them to bleed out but then when im walking off their reaction fire suddenly triggers even though they never looked).

This sounds like vanilla behavior - when you hit an enemy, they become 'alerted' to the presence of the unit that fired.  If your reaction score is just above theirs after shooting, you won't get a reaction, but if you move and your reaction score drops below theirs, then they can turn and shoot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: legionof1 on January 29, 2018, 09:34:25 pm
yeah totally vanilla behavior thou the exact value of the variables involved(reaction and current TU) can vary significantly from moment to moment within the same map.

There has also probably been some spill over from the melee updates since melee defense is based largely on reaction. Tweaks to make melee better balanced for individual units would have some effect on reaction fire frequency.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 29, 2018, 10:15:50 pm
This sounds like vanilla behavior - when you hit an enemy, they become 'alerted' to the presence of the unit that fired.

Dang I cant believe I missed that. Its never happened to me before now. If this is vanilla behavior then im thinking whats going on is ive just never usually had a problem with shooting someone in the back and they survive - and when they do im shooting from a window or right around a corner and the only movement I do is just to return to cover (not much TUs spent, doesnt fall below reaction threshold).

In X-Piratez the weapons (like an smg, low end pistols) do so little damage that you can shoot someone two or three times and they don't die. And I figured if he didn't reaction fire then that event has passed and I can just take my time repositioning.

To be fair in my first 2 playthroughs this never happened, back in E/F/G/H editions, so its pretty surprising and its happening enough now that im adapting my tactics.

Edit - Hey wait one minute...
I can walk right in front of some guy like to charge up on him in melee, but I realize I don't have enough Stat Cost to make it be worthwhile. So when I pass by him I just keep running and he does not turn around to reaction fire.

Shouldn't he have been "alerted" just by seeing my character? Whats the difference between movement and having actually tagged him with a shot?

Movement is definitely setting off reaction fire (from behind the guy who was shot) but it doesnt seem to be setting it off if the target wasnt shot by the offender. Even if they are aware of that offender.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on January 29, 2018, 10:37:51 pm
'Alerted to' is not the same as 'has sight of,' there's a flag that's set in the code when hitting an enemy that tells the enemy just the last unit that hit it for the purpose of spinning and firing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 30, 2018, 01:13:16 am
Another thing im wondering is at the end of a mission: Are all of the leftover charges for healing/use items combined together and saved using the statistical ammo saving routine?

(im noticing Alot of X-Grog barrels going missing when they have a total of 90 uses in them and I may only take up like 3-6 uses)

Ive thought that they were combined just like ammo but im starting to think otherwise and its starting to tick me off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 30, 2018, 01:21:54 pm
Consumables and ammo works the same.
If you use x-grog only once, you'll use the whole item at the end of the mission.
If you use 2 separate instances of the "x-grog" item, their individual charges will be summed up to refill as many complete items as possible.

Same is true for ammo. All bullets will be counted and filled up to form a complete item of ammo.
This is also true for javelins and throwing axes.

It's best to have spare amounts of those items in stock and refill/rebuild them once the warning pops up.
Personally I stick with using atom-beer and field-surgery-kits/nano-surgery-kits.
Those kits never expire and atom beer is looted plenty across every mission involving humanoid opposition.

This so-called "Bullet-counting" is a lovely feature that saves quite some money and valuable ammo in those times where you don't have excess money- and workshop-production.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on January 30, 2018, 08:22:23 pm
Consumables and ammo works the same.
If you use x-grog only once, you'll use the whole item at the end of the mission.
If you use 2 separate instances of the "x-grog" item, their individual charges will be summed up to refill as many complete items as possible.

Same is true for ammo. All bullets will be counted and filled up to form a complete item of ammo.

Huh... I was under the distinct impression that the amount of ammo/charges is tallied then however much is left over (compared to max amount) is the % chance that the item will be saved. So if it has 20 shots and you only use 4 then there's an 80% chance that it will still be around when the mission ends.

Ive gone through missions using some kinda expensive/rare ammo and after firing a few rounds from it the clip will still be saved. I mean those UAC plasma rifle batteries are rare until you can make them, having just a couple its pretty relieving to take the weapon into battle and use it, and come back without having expended a clip.

Maybe the RNG just hates me at the moment and has chewed through like 7 X-Grogs simply for using a few charges from them.


Edit - Another interesting dilemma ive been having is Stunned Enemies not being captured. I had a humanist pogrom the other day where I knocked out the leader with a knuckleduster and he wasn't bleeding out. However by the end of the mission he just died anyway. WTF is going on with that, if they're stunned and they arent bleeding out then why are the dying.

I can understand if they're technically alive on the last round and they have bleeding then that bleeding might be applied one more time and they die at the end of the last round. But if they arent bleeding then they shouldnt be losing health (and in fact their stun should be decreasing).

I also just had a sky ninja mission and there were 4 sky ninjas, one of them was bleeding x6 at the end when I killed the last other ninja. But at the end of the mission it listed that I had only killed and recovered 3 ninjas. So something in the game goofed up about that one that was wounded because there were 4 ninjas and none of them were overkilled (shotguns and flintlocks here).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 30, 2018, 09:46:18 pm
The hum. leader died because of the following reason:
Your stun damage dealt also health-damage. His healthpool dropped low enough that he started to stack stun-damage every turn and at a certain threshold a fleshy beeing starts to take additional flat health damage if the stun-damage-level isn't reduced constantly. Unlucky for you, he dehydrated more or less or died due to coma.

If you kill/stun the last enemy on the map, every instance of bleeding/stun-damage is applied a final time to every opponent wounded/stunned.
The last ninja-gal simply bleed-out due to 6 fatal wounds, causing her to die due to a mix of stacked stun damage and loss of HP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: HT on January 31, 2018, 05:19:03 pm
I believe that leaving enemies in smoke and fire tiles also deals a bit of stun damage, which adds up.
My recommendation is that for those enemies who are too wounded, you wake them up before finishing the battle. Reanimated enemies count as surrendered automatically and will still be alive despite the possible stun damage. Leave a Hand to keep an eye on them in case they try something, just to be sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sinisteragent on January 31, 2018, 06:03:06 pm
Healing stunned and wounded people you want to capture should be a matter of course. The problem isn't the wounds, it's the invisible chance that someone can die from being stunned even without bleeding wounds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 31, 2018, 06:50:49 pm
If you don't wanna invest a hand into supervising those taken out you can also rely on weaponry that doesn't do lethal bonus damage.
Stun Baton, Cattle Prods, Zappers and Lassos and voodoo: "seduction" are sources of non-lethal damage to pin foes down without inflicting any loss of health.

You still need to look for them tho since the full health-pool means that the ko'ed enemy remains his/her natural stun-recovery rate and can simply wake up again.
It's a matter of how much you can give a damn if the captives wake up again to turn revenge on you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 01, 2018, 03:45:56 am
Reanimated enemies count as surrendered automatically and will still be alive despite the possible stun damage. Leave a Hand to keep an eye on them in case they try something, just to be sure.

This is Good To Know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 01, 2018, 07:46:18 am
Reanimated enemies count as surrendered automatically and will still be alive despite the possible stun damage.
With exception of Disciples of the Apocalypse and Killer Droids. There might be more enemies refusing to surrender in future, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 01, 2018, 08:15:29 am
Only beings that understand the concept of surrendering are able to do so.  But there are plenty of enemies that are too savage, too mindless, or too automated to surrender; so it's probably not a good idea to stun a large number of zombies, dark ones, or deep ones as they won't surrender upon waking up and potentially prolong the battle further if you miss them wandering off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sinisteragent on February 01, 2018, 08:43:49 pm
Only beings that understand the concept of surrendering are able to do so.  But there are plenty of enemies that are too savage, too mindless, or too automated to surrender; so it's probably not a good idea to stun a large number of zombies, dark ones, or deep ones as they won't surrender upon waking up and potentially prolong the battle further if you miss them wandering off.

Is this true? I've not updated for a while and in my game, having either panicked or fallen unconscious once marks you as willing to surrender, even if you're too dim. It would be very tedious having to babysit them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 01, 2018, 11:41:44 pm
Most of the dumb enemies also aren’t ones you wan tto capture in large numbers, so its fine to finish them off and mabye babysit one or two, the only exception being the dark ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 02, 2018, 12:44:10 pm
Dark Ones in general are harmless due to having no in-built weaponry.
You've to babysit the terror-units (imp, spectre, pink demon, cacodemon, baron of hell) in case those wake up again.
Most of them are 2x2 so it's not too hard to stun those with stunbombs. Baron can be tricky due to the massive 666HP pool.

Zombies are scary and it's mostly not worth to keep them alive unless the research-topic is needed for a living speciment.
You can still get hellerium out of them from the corpses.

One important thing to remember considering stunned 'terror units': If they wake up, they have 100% of their TUs to spare. Non-terror units have 0% of their TUs.
If you manage to 'stun' something like a cyberdisk and it wakes up the next turn, it will reactionfire at you if you allow it to shot back at you
(e.g. run into vision/ shot it with something and failing to deal enough damage to stun it again).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 02, 2018, 01:31:42 pm
Don't use cyberdiscs as an example.  In the first place, 2x2 units can't ever wake up anyway; but more importantly, cyberdiscs explode on death so they have that whole "die even if stunned" thing going for them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 02, 2018, 03:00:44 pm
Don't use cyberdiscs as an example.  In the first place, 2x2 units can't ever wake up anyway; but more importantly, cyberdiscs explode on death so they have that whole "die even if stunned" thing going for them.

They can still go Zzz if you inflict a certain level of stun-damage to their health-pool and deal regular lethal damage to them in the second attempt.
If the loss of health drops the disk below the amount of stun damage it allready has, the disk is stunned.

Same is true for the strix-zombie. Deal stun first, add actual HP-damage second and this way you can prevent a corpse-explosion.
Dunno about this been bugfixed tho. Last time it wasn't possible to capture an alive speciment due to a stunned strix counting as ded anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 02, 2018, 05:20:03 pm
But as it turns out it's hardcoded into OpenXcom that if something's tagged to explode on death, they get the side effect of immediately dying whenever they end up in a corpse state even if that was achieved by stunning them.  So it's currently impossible to get live cyberdiscs, strixes, and boomosaurs through normal means.  At least the arcane tome can give you the live strix; but as for the other two, mind control (if it's even possible to mind control them) or possibly luring them into your exit area and then aborting the mission are the only ways to get those alive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 02, 2018, 05:27:45 pm
Ethereal_Medic *is* talking about units that explode on death.  Yes, there is the hardcoded bit that when stunned normally, cyberdiscs die.  But the method described can work to get a live cyberdisc; it's just hard to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 02, 2018, 06:01:03 pm
At least the arcane tome can give you the live strix; but as for the other two, mind control (if it's even possible to mind control them) or possibly luring them into your exit area and then aborting the mission are the only ways to get those alive.
Boomosaurus is very easy to mind control. It's my preferred way of taking them out, actually. :p
Cyberdisc can't be mind controlled or panicked because their voodoo strength is too high.
Strix should be possible with Sorceress and maxed mastery, though may require some panicking first. I wouldn't try it, though, since you can research them through the Arcane Tome or simply buy them after getting Saya. Too much risk for too little gain.

Also, thanks for the tip about the Cyberdisc capturing. I'll try to get it to work to finally finish get that project. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 04, 2018, 05:30:34 am
I did some quick battle tests, and it still doesn't work.  Whether the stun level goes above the health level or the health level goes below the stun level, it's still the same thing: Units that explode on death immediately die upon entering a corpse state.  So it's absolutely, totally, and completely impossible to capture a live cyberdisc, strix zombie, and boomosaur via stunning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 04, 2018, 05:45:42 am
Look, the reason that the live cyberdisc research article and disassembly project is in the mod is that somewhere along the line, somebody was able to stun a cyberdisc and complained about not being able to do anything with it. I've been able to stun cyberdiscs in other mods too, notably Drages' S.A
R. mod, which required it at one point to get the new content in the mod. That requirement was removed precisely because it is difficult to stun a cyberdisc. Being able to might have been patched out in an engine update, but I know this was the way to do it previously. Anything that requires a live specimen of a unit that explodes on death is not necessary to the completion of Piratez and should be treated as an easter egg.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Zharkov on February 04, 2018, 12:12:30 pm
I did some quick battle tests, and it still doesn't work.  Whether the stun level goes above the health level or the health level goes below the stun level, it's still the same thing: Units that explode on death immediately die upon entering a corpse state.  So it's absolutely, totally, and completely impossible to capture a live cyberdisc, strix zombie, and boomosaur via stunning.

Oh, I did not know that! I am very sorry and will refrain from capturing cyberdiscs that way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 04, 2018, 01:15:51 pm
It's not like you need a live cyberdisc anyway since you learn how to make your own not from a live one but from a dead one.  And again, arcane tomes can tell you about the strixes.  It's really the boomosaur that's gotten shafted by this; it's bad enough that they're so rare, but now the only sane way to get live ones is with mind control.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 04, 2018, 01:20:45 pm
How about (bio)drones shut down (effectively surrender) when thier bosses enter surrender more?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 07, 2018, 10:18:06 am
My 2 cents considering recent game experiences:

Siberia Base:
Tornado Rocket Mortar kicks ass! Humanists Supersoldiers are likely to get stunned by the seductress' 'charm'. 80% Thermal Vision is really tough to play around.
Don't rely on smoke cover, hide your units instead. The surface is full with tanks and mortar-launchers. Bring enough 'boom' to get rid of the tanks and super soldiers.

Mansion (Academy):
Novice Robes are a good outfit to 'scan' through walls in all directions. SENSE 3 isn't much but you can spot foes with it quite effectively.
TK Projectors are AWESOME to break multiple layers of walls. It's just a bit tricky to fight with the smokescreen caused by the 'explosion'.
Sadly I got no treasure chest this time. I need alot of those gems if I ever want to use the grey-codex voodoo exclusives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 07, 2018, 06:03:27 pm
Also idk what difficulty is the game balanced around? I play on Blackbeard, if there's supposed to a be a strix spawn on the 5th one, then this is irrelevant, at least there would be some challenge to justify the grind.

I always play on Captain Kidd (easiest difficulty) and because of the inherent difficulty of the mod I would suggest that anything more is just you being a daredevil or masochist. Then again I go for 0 fatalities and sometimes 0 injuries per mission as well if it can be avoided. Those self imposed restrictions I suppose do increase the effective difficulty by alot (since frustrating reloads are imposed). Then again I rarely have more than 10 hands per base to avoid the massive salary bonuses, while ive heard of people who've got over 30 including a bunch of slave soldiers.

Its really a matter of picking your poison.

My 2 cents considering recent game experiences:
Siberia Base:
Tornado Rocket Mortar kicks ass! Humanists Supersoldiers are likely to get stunned by the seductress' 'charm'. 80% Thermal Vision is really tough to play around.
Don't rely on smoke cover, hide your units instead.
...
Mansion (Academy):
Novice Robes are a good outfit to 'scan' through walls in all directions. SENSE 3 isn't much but you can spot foes with it quite effectively. TK Projectors are AWESOME to break multiple layers of walls. It's just a bit tricky to fight with the smokescreen caused by the 'explosion'.

Unfortunately ive never made it to having these toys (TK, Tornado) or just never invested in picking them (novice, charm stuff).

I always go in with 8-9 hands all wearing Thief, plus maybe 2 Syns to hunt/kill with.

Ive discovered probably the most effective tactic for mansions is to KILL as many as possible to force the rest into a surrender. Because then you get all the other stuff hidden in the walls that you cant reach or dont have the time for (ahem, nuclear materials).

Your first/last hand always spawns on the roof and use this to your advantage to see where the map blocks have spawned. Unless vertical map block changes have been implemented (I just now realized one reason this feature may have been requested now...) it means that you can predict all the way to elevation 0 where most things will be. Most specifically the Wizard Towers and the Neophyte Shower Rooms (the security map block).

If you're looking for treasure chests you need to look for a 2x2 open courtyard with a garden in it. If its not on the map neither are your treasure chests. Also worth noting that a north balcony room has a bag of cash in it, and there's a gun magazine on the south side.

The Security map block will have big spawn points for mobs on every floor, its an open cieling shower room at the top, then a generator room, then a small bar, and on the ground floor its a kitchen. I send a Syn with a charger laspistol through there to inflict murder and she picks up a bigger weapon like a tommy/shotgun/blackmarch smg when she finds it.


Siberia:
Its meant to be a hard mission that says "nahh, youll need unusual tactics for this one". You should have a plentiful supply of baby nukes gathered from supply ship runs by now, and this is the mission where you want to use them. Its tempting to want to collect as much loot/corpses as possible but on the Surface you're just going to have to destroy. Either that or lots, and lots, and lots of hellerium grenades, and put someone on Mortar duty with plasma mortars.
(tornado rocket mortar does sound ideal for this, but thats a heck of alot of weight and inventory to carry, it can be handled alot more efficiently with smaller items).

If you can find the humanist leader be careful with him because he's got the briefcase you're after.

Get underground as fast as possible, I suggest using force blades so you can tear the supersoldiers up. Ironically I think the biggest danger is the humanist instructors with nuclear lasers, there always seem to be alot of them down there and they come out of nowhere and rape you. I always seem to spend alot of time performing first aid on my hands in those tunnels.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 07, 2018, 07:16:15 pm
Cap'n Kidd is unfair towards the AI, though. (Much like in vanilla X-Com, though not as much.) Primarily because armour values are lower on enemies, which is basically a dirty cheat IMO.
There's no point in going higher difficulty than you feel like, but I suggest choosing at least second lowest level - it won't be unfair, just easy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sinisteragent on February 07, 2018, 10:56:22 pm
I'm pretty sure any good ufo mod, including this one, is balanced around the middle three difficulty levels. The easiest and hardest ones are basically novelty cheat modes (which is obviously totally fine if you play them, but they're not normal settings).

I particularly recommend against the top setting as the increase in enemy numbers just turns everything into a slog, and not necessarily a challenging one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 07, 2018, 11:04:36 pm
Difficulty setting also changes the behaviour how fast and how many enemy hideouts will be built across the globe.
Mercenaries and Star Gods show up 16 months into the game meddling around dumping down score while you stick along with primitive laser and plasma weaponry for a while.

Difficult level 3 seems about right and 4 is just a bit more 'challenging' due to more enemy spawns.
Difficult level 5 is the cheat buffing the A.I. for 18-20% bonus armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 08, 2018, 07:46:29 pm
Cap'n Kidd is unfair towards the AI, though. (Much like in vanilla X-Com, though not as much.) Primarily because armour values are lower on enemies, which is basically a dirty cheat IMO.
Based on that assessment I think ill hack my save up to the 2nd lowest difficulty. Also because less enemy hideouts honestly result in less rape against the AI, and thus a slightly slower tech progression.

While these lower armor values are nicer to deal with it also means I end up with more fatalities, even if I use stun equipment. So having higher armor on enemies would actually be useful.

It is worth mentioning the stat bonuses on enemy units are something that folks overlook besides the armor/firing effect. Having even one static +4 or +8 bonus on something can make a difference (and with firing accuracy, a static bonus layered with an increased multiplier against it will make enemies quite abit more accurate).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 09, 2018, 11:00:37 am
Playing on a reduced difficulty level also reduces the numbers of enemies around the battlescape.
This is most harmful to codexes able to research Voodoo: Destruction since only Doom Troopers and Demons have 'demonic essence' in them.
Less numbers of MegaPol troops also reduces the numbers of 'free' synthmuscle you can farm for late-game annihilator suits.

For some deployments the A.I. not only spawns more foes but for example the Nazi-Ship (swastika shape) spawns a Humanist Leader only on the highest difficulty level.
(maybe on 4 too, but clearly not on difficult level 3 and below)

Torturing yourself going 'superhuman' difficulty nets profit since you have to fight more foes, thus more loot and captives/research to boost through the tech tree.
The real pain comes fighting mercs and star gods. Barely any shot will miss and 18-20% more armor on top of the individual resistances mixed with camo/thermal vision asks for sneaky strategies.
Remember those Gazers? Spongeboys are really really tough to put down on difficult 5 and don't get me started with sectopods :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 10, 2018, 03:33:57 pm
If you ever encounter the new "Viper Craft" and wonder how to break through the shield and armor of colonial marines (great mixture of armor-value, decent laser/plasma defence) let them taste the 'Poisoned Dagger' from behind/any angle possible.

A melee proven hand can one-shot a Marsec Colonial Marine through his shield. It's completely bypassed by the bio-type damage and the mix of decent damage while ignoring 50% armor quickly cuts down the elite soldier.

If this is not intended to work this way, either let the shield absorb bio-damage before the health-pool get's depleted or give the marine bio-resistence (he's somewhat a cyborg like the entry sez)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 10, 2018, 10:19:51 pm
Works as intended.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 10, 2018, 10:24:38 pm
Okay good. Funny how a pointy poison-dagger wrecks a hyper-advanced supersoldier.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 11, 2018, 01:33:34 am
You should already have voodoo going long before viper fighters show up so with some pink ship luck, the best way to fight colonial marines is to capture them all with impalers.

don't get me started with sectopods :3

You mean those things that go down with one well-placed EMP grenade like with all other HWPs?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 11, 2018, 01:50:20 am
You should already have voodoo going long before viper fighters show up so with some pink ship luck, the best way to fight colonial marines is to capture them all with impalers.

You mean those things that go down with one well-placed EMP grenade like with all other HWPs?

Pink Ship Luck remains LUCK for getting the craft sheduled AND having the actual item spawned among the loot.
I had 3 ships and not a single impaler so far (thus leaving me with 0 and my very first will die for research).

So I adapt to the RNG and just bio-dagger the marines to death, playing around the shield with a total NOT LUCK BASED solution.
EMP grenades are one of the newest additions and you better have even more LUCK to get good spawning maps to get your potshots down onto killer-droids or pay in bloodmoney to get the nuclear component needed to manufacture those things.
If I can't get the RNG loot or the investment doesn't look too healthy to not ruin the process entirely, I sit back and start to find 'alternatives'.
Sectopods will be rough for me rocking the grey codex but hey we got MILLIONS of ways to bombard a 2x2 target into a steaming pile of slag without risking to get cut in 2 by it's powerful laser. Also testing the more-tanks-mod to see which tank-design is the most badass and simply abuse the fuck out of it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 11, 2018, 03:13:19 am
Just had what I think was a bug come up so I would like some input if this is normal...
Just finished an Aircar race and there was basically nothing awarded for it.

Total loot was 12 beers and 14 vodkas... no trophies, no captive academy student.
0 score awarded.

Just in case this was a fluke I rolled back the save and rerolled the aircar race finish... the only loot to it this time was 6 mutant meat. Again no trophy and 0 score awarded.

(edit - I went to do it again just because, and this time there was absolutely Nothing gained from it... 0 points, no loot of any kind)

Isnt there supposed to be a token trophy from zaxx at the heart of the purpose of finishing these things?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 11, 2018, 07:32:13 am
The academy student with the trophy isn't spawning?  That's strange.

If it's persistent, maybe you should post the save file in the bug reports.

my very first will die for research

Actually, I think most of the pink ship loot (including the mahou shoujo herself) aren't destroyed when researched.  You should check the tech tree viewer and see if researching those items says "item required" instead of "item destroyed".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 11, 2018, 11:00:11 pm
Smelly rags have a size of 2.5/unit in your vaults.
In comparision, the item "Assault Bike" takes 2.0/unit in your vaults.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 11, 2018, 11:08:38 pm
Smelly rags have a size of 2.5/unit in your vaults.
In comparision, the item "Assault Bike" takes 2.0/unit in your vaults.

Because they're smelly and they smell like all hell.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 11, 2018, 11:36:59 pm
Okay nvm.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 12, 2018, 01:49:11 am
Okay nvm.

No, I'm being serious. This is exactly the reason - they are so awful that they take extra storage space. Like Dark Ones corpses.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 12, 2018, 11:14:50 am
In that case it makes sense. I was a bit surprised I freed 32,5 storage space for selling those rags (worth around 8+ work-efficency of workers).
I like the lil' lovetap for accomodations. More living room for runts and soldiers = more space efficency.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: kikanaide on February 12, 2018, 11:25:43 pm
Pink Ship Luck remains LUCK for getting the craft sheduled AND having the actual item spawned among the loot.
I had 3 ships and not a single impaler so far (thus leaving me with 0 and my very first will die for research).
While you're right on the luck, Impalers are not destroyed when researched.  Also they can spawn in the dark/demon tower mission (mine did).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 13, 2018, 12:22:41 pm
Luck made the decision to flip me the bird.

It's so massively unreliable to me that I can barely count on any 0-200% weaponry and all the RNG loot seems to not exist for me.
3x Demon tower, 5x pink ship without impalers. Mostly stuff I got already and in terms of pink ships those spawn 100% of the time with a blown-up engine, destroying half of the possible loot in it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 13, 2018, 01:17:34 pm
Why are you shooting down pink ships? D:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 13, 2018, 05:05:01 pm
Why are you shooting down pink ships? D:

I can't rely on those landing and willingly offering me the intact ship.
If the ship suddenly *pops* into oblivion due to mission done, I rather stick with gunning it down using lascannons.

I pref to not save-scum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 13, 2018, 05:44:31 pm
It's a bit rude, but not really dangerous to the pilot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 14, 2018, 12:32:14 am
I can't rely on those landing and willingly offering me the intact ship.
Tractor beam them? Dragons are quite capable of catching Pink Ships (well, anything but Corvettes and Sentries on a Base Assault mission, really) and you only need three beams to force a landing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 14, 2018, 01:14:18 am
No, I'm being serious. This is exactly the reason - they are so awful that they take extra storage space. Like Dark Ones corpses.
I concur with this. The amount of space an item physically takes up doesnt necessarily mean it only takes up that much.

Reminds me of the plasma clips taking up so much space in vanilla... its because they probably have to be stored in a special secure locker, in a foam lined container box.

Gotta have a special arrangement set up to store certain items. Like how explosives go in the explosives locker. If not just for security in case the slaves go batshit and decide they cant take it anymore, its also to prevent accidents.
(this is why you cant have stuff strewn all out down the hallways)

In all fairness on my base defenses I do frequently see most of my items piled up and strewn about in my Burrow though.


Edit -
Mission Update Report.
I think im dying here.

February 2602
Menacing Hull still hasnt been built as a ship, im stuck on achieving the "shadowmasters" topic (which goes to cloaking device>intercepter assembly>fortuna manufacture)

More or less im still flying around an aircar, my balance hovers between $3,000,000 to $4,000,000. I do have a fair number of bounty hunting prizes though. No space missions, I dont have a sub for underwater missions. Ive researched mansion invasions but no mansions have popped up and its been about 2 months now.
(I did obliterate a bandit town using an Armored Car+LMG and my two best hands though, sent via the Airbus GDX that I kept)

Ive got 3 bases, one of which has a sweatshop of 55 runts. Storage space isnt a problem but its because I built 2 Large vaults (which set me back financially). I would take advantage of the storage space using contraband... but its so expensive I cant invest much into it because at the end of the month I lose 1 million. Only the primary base has overcharged radar, the other two only have outposts.

I dont know of any enemy hideouts on the map yet. Just about the only traffic going on the map are megapol cars, some stuff I cant ever seem to catch up to, and all of the excavators are being run by zombies.


And in tonight's highlights... my pirate gals brave zombies for a taste of forbidden fruit.
(a ratling village is overrun with zombies, but with finances baring down they must brave the wooden maze to collect as many apples as possible - im not going to bother trying to combat the stryx and funky zombies all over the damn place that can see through walls)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 14, 2018, 09:43:58 am
The 'Blowfish' can be used underwater IF you have the hangar space and equipment to try such a mission.
Without thief- and exploration-armor you better rely on rolling 'Mutant Fish' or those yellow crabs as opposition.

Sharks are the werewolves of the depths (they can swim = 'flying') and Deep Ones can shot at you using crossbows while suffering no stat-penalty.
Your hands are severe limited in TU and combat stats and without protection the stun/turn quickly adds up.

To get the "Shadowmasters" topic you've to roll lucky and 'ask' ninja gals and drifters about those.
There's no fast or direct way to get the topic imo. I used the codex-ships for around 5 months before I was able to build my fortuna due to unlucky 'get free research topic'.

Zombies have an extreme SENSE value. 20 or 40, have to guess atm. There's no place save to hide while they sense the smell of BRAINS.
Without proper shotguns it'll take a while to get rid of a zombie infestation and it will be troublesome to play around the strix and fast-as-hell funky zombies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 14, 2018, 11:54:37 am
Regarding underwater missions: if you don't have some SCUBA  gear (like the Chiller suit), you absolutely must bring oxygen tanks, and use them frequently. It's worth it to have at least one gal on oxygen duty (loaded up with tanks and using them on everyone). Otherwise you will almost certainly drown before the mission ends.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: HT on February 14, 2018, 05:06:03 pm
Soo, can we have an approximate date about when will next version be released? Just to know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 14, 2018, 07:50:28 pm
Game looks fine right now.  8)
Also Valentine's Day. Pick up a bundle of flowers and smack that special civilian into submission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 14, 2018, 09:57:14 pm
To get the "Shadowmasters" topic you've to roll lucky and 'ask' ninja gals and drifters about those.
...I used the codex-ships for around 5 months before I was able to build my fortuna due to unlucky 'get free research topic'.

In 99I the codex ships are now locked behind Shadowmasters so youve got to have that prerequisite before you can even get the "whats up with X ship?" type purchase techs.

Which is kinda silly since I think it should be the other way around, with those ships leading to the shadowmasters or cloaking device topic. And also silly because at this rate by the time I was able to actually receive a codex ship, I would actually be producing my Fortuna in the hangar since its like literally a straight shot 2 techs down from that. Which pretty much makes those ships irrelevant (unless for some reason I wanted more ships and would order them for my other bases).

I could get a Pachyderm right now if I wanted it, but I hate that thing and its expensive AF too (my deference to it has to do with on-map aesthetics, some specific ships such as the pachyderm should have a full job done on their map tilesets similar to the way the Triton or Hammerhead were put together in tftd with alot of specific, custom tiles to make it look like the ufopedia articles). I mean technically I can do without it right now, so thats what happens.

I believe it (will still?) go on underwater missions so it could be doing everything I want, though it also uses a Heavy weapon slot and everything regarding that is expensive and low accuracy early game.

There is also the fact that im only hovering at like 3-5 million cash and the only way im staying afloat is because of X-Grog between two bases. I need some other way to make money using materials (plastasteel? durathread?), I made an economy mistake for a couple months thinking I could make a profit, like it says in the bootypedia, on durathread by buying thread+plastasteel and making metal armor suits, but I was losing about 30% on it each time due to a miscalculation.

As for the zombies I did finish that mission somehow. The funky zombie growled and ran right up to my ship and got behind somebody but wasnt fast enough to attack. So he got blown away by a combat shotgun.
I managed to kill one of the strix with a K.Handcannon, took about 4-5 shells to do it though from the safe distance required. The other one got blown away with a blunderbuss that a gal in a grav harness was operating (through a window no less).

As for zombie encounters picture this... Excavator goes down, map rolls up as a standard civvie terror site neighborhood. Zombies in houses all over the dam place, and lots of them. Strix out in the street with plenty of space to reaction fire, and so is an armored zombie trooper. I got -nowhere- with that mission so ive learned to just engage those things when they land, if there's zombies I just leave, that way the ship doesnt stay docked for a long time doing its job.
(you only have an Aircar of 4 gals who are only wearing maybe metal/tac armor and a grav harness - and they dont really have the firepower with them to take out the trooper anyways)


Its worth pointing out that my hands who were wearing Tac Armor/Helm were able to shrug off and generally be unaffected by the spit attacks... but when the strix Explodes they definitely take damage from that even though they were unaffected by the spit
(the strix will also sometimes Explode Twice when killed, im thinking it has to do with killing it outright with alot of damage, and it is not a graphical glitch either because that damage is inflicted two separate times, it doesnt always do this though maybe 50% of the time)

Regarding underwater missions:

Im well aware of the underwater situation and generally speaking there isnt much down there for the risk involved, plus all the expense of having a submarine. Ive heard of people fishing out interesting loot from it but at least half the time I get galleons with some treasure and thats it.

I think the lethal harpoons (combined with harpoon carbines) are probably effective against deep ones, but I tried stun bolts the first time and those had about 0 effect, and I didnt bother to bring melee because of underwater difficulties.
(I have Thief armor, just got it within the past month, so its technically doable but im not going to go for it because of the craft requirement. Unlikely to go on sea missions until near the end of 2602. I rushed Thief because I researched mansions and im expecting a mansion to pop up soon, it has been awhile though)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 14, 2018, 11:29:27 pm
Sunken USO = Sonic Oscillator Parts.
A less powerful version of the lascannon with 'unlimited' ammo and 100% hit by default.
It's worth a risk IF it pops up^^

I refuse to do mansions without a proper infiltration handgun and wall-buster and at least 12 soldiers + everyone in novice robes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 15, 2018, 12:57:54 am
I refuse to do mansions without a proper infiltration handgun and wall-buster and at least 12 soldiers + everyone in novice robes.
Oh I forgot about the oscillator. But I did hear that a charger laser was possible loot.

Mansions? Easy.
7or8 Hands in Thief armor. Add a Syn if possible.
Aye-Phones and Finely Distilled Rum (everyone has both)
Spiked SMG or K.Handcannon(shell) are alright choices.
Maybe a laspistol with adv. clips.

Everyone gets 1 Hellerium Grenade and 1 Stick Grenade for busting walls (it also busts the floor and cieling but I can usually tiptoe around it).

The gal who starts on the roof, either front or back of the lineup I cant remember which, gets additional nasty crap so she can assault the open-access shower rooms on the top floor and inflict more morale hits.

Kill as many as possible, might force a surrender. I go for captures in the wizard towers because there's usually someone important in there.



Today I had my first encounter with a Church Exalt on an unexpected shrine ship that had landed. Which I managed to take down with only 2 hands equipped with trench guns and metal/boss armor (one gal ended up losing a few health points, as in like 3 health but thats it).

Oh crap the exalt flies. Picked up an assault las and tried to use that on the exalt... hmm thats funny it didnt make her bleed at all, this is supposed to be armor piercing. Reloaded, tried to stick her in the back with a bayonet and that just didnt work out too well, took too long to get to her. Finally just blew her away with the shells (first burst of C.Shells... oh she's bleeding, here take another 3... this kills the exalt).

To be fair there were two Exalts, the other one got a care package (pre-primed High Explosive charge, I just dropped it next to her and ran - gives new meaning to the phraise "Drop It!"). I would have Loved to capture these as well as the Beastmasters but I only had 2 hands and they meant business. I captured a Reverend though and he translated my book for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: greattuna on February 15, 2018, 02:30:04 am
Thief outfits? Only 8 hands? Sorry, no, I'm afraid it wouldn't work on higher difficulties, you'd hit time limit because you just can't kill them fast enough with only 8, or worse, get overwhelmed by enemies and killed.

You don't really need SENSE outfits, either, but that'd make the search for the last drone\yeoman\guard\etc. very tedious and very risky. My personal advice: make a spy zeppelin and keep it just for mansions. 20 hands is a lot, and a lot more than 12\8.

Bring your best pistols\smgs (for me it's scorchies\magnums\gausses\cougars) + daggers, be it poison, barbed or plain ol' standard. They all work! Codex outfits are incredibly useful, too: fairy has 12 sense and stun that synergies with it; saviour has +50 TUs and in-built medikit\stamina recovery, ghost is, well, stealthy, plus IIRC has bonus armor, and destructor is just immune to any firearm enemies have in mansions.

Oh, also bring rum, it's got amazing utility.

As soon as you appear, waste no time; move out immediately and kill everyone except most important targets. Actually, kill those too, unless you really need one; their deaths tank enemy morale. If you're doing it right, by turn 7-9 a mass panic chain should start; keep it going, don't be distracted by potential hostages, they're not worth it. After few turns of this, all that'll be left is clean-up, meaning you have to find those stubborn enemies who didn't panic and bring those down.

Even with this tactic, with 12 maids on the turtle, I usually win only by turn 20-25. Search for last X is, again, long. So...

If all else fails, by turn 25-27 you should start scrambling back to the LZ. It's better to lose the loot than lose the loot, ship, and all gals involved, and another mansion will surely appear someday.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 15, 2018, 02:56:23 am
Thief outfits? Only 8 hands? Sorry, no, I'm afraid it wouldn't work on higher difficulties, you'd hit time limit because you just can't kill them fast enough with only 8, or worse, get overwhelmed by enemies and killed.
True but I dont play on the higher difficulties, I suppose if I grew a masochistic hair I might have to invent new ways to handle situations at that point.
(8 gals is pushing it for mansions and I will admit that, its certainly enough to walk off with probably 80% of the important loot, but its like a coin toss as to whether you can sink the entire mansion... this is my way of challenging myself. Killing as many as you can find does tend to make the rest less dangerous while you're pilfering though)

Having a blimp on station full of gals just for this thing? I thought about that for certain situations but didnt want to invest that much resources into it. 20 gals who'd all have to be trained up, and also out of commission for doing anything else as they'd be airbourne. Im thinking of loading up lokknars or slaves in it so they can be portable radar.

Having enough gals to toss around to not care about that means you're paying boo-koo bucks on salaries because of ranks.

This also reminds me ive cracked the Million Dollar Safe topic... where by chance might I find that thing, is it in the mansion somewhere now or another mission? Its a new item in 99I (got the topic from a bandit boss interrogation)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 15, 2018, 03:24:50 pm
I'm currently at August 2603, rocking 28M upkeep every month caused by buildings, crafts, runts, brainers and soldiers.

Across every base, I have at least 10 Elite Soldiers with decent equipment and panzerfaust.
2 Bases sporting research power, the rest chemical production until armory tower / factory are set up for mass-production of m1a1 tanks.

I keep recruiting more soldiers over the cause of the run, around 100 soldiers either maxed-out for 'serious business' operations or trainees for milk runs.
The first stats maxed for me is always firing (120+), TUs (100) and bravery (90-100).

I keep swapping gear around so I never grow tired of going into battlescape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 16, 2018, 06:31:46 am
Hey guys has anything changed with the research formula?

Ive noticed that research speed for topics seems to vary in some way. Either the first day that research is applied its either ignoring the efforts of 1 brainer, or its halving the research from the first day.

I know its not ignoring the first day entirely because 2 brainers will crack a data disk and 3 brainers will finish a gun magazine by the end of the day.

But I mean I can put like 10 brainers on researching something else and itll still say either "excellent" or "unknown" the following day, but the day after that the topic will crack.
(yeah it would be nice to metagame and know exactly how many to put on an interrogation, but it seems like the First Day is throwing a curve ball against research topics. This has me tempted to just put 1 brainer on a subject the first day, then dump the remaining number on it that I want to commit after that)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 16, 2018, 07:09:50 am
It's all RNG, the research time needed for any research topic could be less or more than what's defined in the ruleset.  As an example, the nonexistent tech Flying Galleons has 30 as its defined goal; in one playthrough it'll take 40 brainers to research, but in another it'll take only 20.  The research progress text (the "Unknown" and "Excellent" and stuff) only refers to its defined goal and doesn't take any randomizations into account, so an Excellent topic could take a few more days while an Average topic suddenly finishes early.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 16, 2018, 09:02:48 am
The slowest and most efficient way to get research rolling is to set most topics with 1 brainer and add the focus onto this one particular topic to advance 'faster' towards the goal further beyond.
Knowledge about guns you can use even without 'knowing' what they do can be researched using 1 brainer only while you add 10 brainers to the topic 'modern personal protection' to get better armor and more value out of tactical vests.

Speaking of 'hard to read' mechanics: The beloved M-Cougar has two types of ammo. Does HVAP-ammo (41dmg) ignore a portion of armor just like the ETAP-ammo (35dmg /-25%)?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 16, 2018, 10:27:57 am
I don't think it does; if it did, the description would've also included HVAP or said all ammo types but it only mentions ETAP as the armor-ignoring one.

What does ETAP mean anyway?  I've figured that HVAP is "heavy armor piercing", but ETAP?  "Extraterrestrial armor piercing"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 16, 2018, 12:01:21 pm
The bootypedia mentions both ammo-types in the same sentence.
I read it like this, that both ammo-types ignore 25% armor.

I love the weapon anyway and opt. for HVAP since RNG hates me so I go with bigger numbers (0-82 instead of 0-70) to eventually get one good roll for a 5x auto burst.
Some sort of indicator would help here. We got a * to tell us that a weapon does armor damage but the stat of 'ignores armor' needs to be remembered instead.

Both 'shreds armor' and 'ignores armor %' indicator should be located somehow and somewhere to outrule a guessing game.
More a QoL fix but nothing game breaking, just a curiosity I questioned myself.

If HVAP stands for Heavy armor piercing that would mean, that the death blossoms API and HVAP should ignore armor as well.
It's also nowhere stated, that assault rifle /ap-clips ignore armor while sporting a smaller clip-size. Plastasteel ammo (35dmg) and basic ammo (30dmg without armor-ignore) are all stated as *piercing* damage. This is not meant to annoy or nitpicking, it's just 'complex' to look behind and it's not easy to read the ruleset or even find the actual entry for the issue in question.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 16, 2018, 01:14:39 pm
I see the potential problem now.  The mini-cougar's description does say "Fed with HVAP or ETAP (ignores 25% armor) ammo.", so that might be unclear.  Maybe one solution would be to copy-paste the line from the omega rifle's description that clearly states how the ETAP and only the ETAP ignores armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 16, 2018, 02:06:40 pm
Not a real problem, just text not delivering a clear answer.
The thing with '% armor ignored' is a missing feedback to the player. We got the * for the cursor for the hint that armor will be damaged.
Why not add something like:

Damage roll: 0-82*-25% >:( to remind the player that you use a gun that ignores a portion of armor.
It's a given that lasers have inbuilt 33% armor-ignore but all those piercing weapons need a little hint to remind the player of the given fact.

 >:( is a placeholder for a shield-icon or bodyarmor-icon. Or simply use -XX% Armor if that work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 16, 2018, 03:48:16 pm
Damage calculation is complicated, so it's hard to display in a single number. It would be possible to calculate the exact damage range, but that would need to include resistance, armour and facing of the target. People have argued against it because it takes away the surprise of fighting against unidentified enemies. I on the other hand would like to have it, because you have the surprise only on your first playthrough anyway.

An example of complicated damage calculation is the battle rifle AP clip. It has an armor modifier of 0.7, but a health modifier of 0.9. How do you display that? It does 36 damage, so the displayed damage range would be 0-72. However, because of the 0.9 health modifier the maximum damage the round can do is not 72 but 64. The 72 is still important because that is the number that is compared to the armour of the target. The 0.9 health modifier is then applied to the damage that gets past the armour. To be immune vs this round, you need a little over 100 armour.

Sooo... when you want to know weapon efectiveness, the best you can do is to test the weapons in battlescape. Exact calculations are complicated, especially once you want to include the effect of multiple hits that each damage the armour.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 16, 2018, 03:53:11 pm
Nonono, I just want an indicator for the feature: %xx armor ignored
We got the hint of * for weaponry shredding armor so I wonder if it's possible to add another 'icon' to show the player this feature.

Edit:
I randomly checked the loader bootypedia-entry. "Is Exosuit." is mentioned twice in the article.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 16, 2018, 10:26:13 pm
What does ETAP mean anyway?  I've figured that HVAP is "heavy armor piercing", but ETAP?  "Extraterrestrial armor piercing"?
HVAP = High-Velocity Armor-Piercing (a real thing)
I forgot what ETAP means, but I think it was hellerium based munition that requires industrial-scale manufacturing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on February 16, 2018, 10:29:09 pm
HVAP = High-Velocity Armor-Piercing (a real thing)
I forgot what ETAP means, but I think it was hellerium based munition that requires industrial-scale manufacturing.

I always assumed that ETAP mean Elerium-Tipped Armor Piercing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ragshak on February 16, 2018, 11:28:44 pm
I keep recruiting more soldiers over the cause of the run, around 100 soldiers either maxed-out for 'serious business' operations or trainees for milk runs.
The first stats maxed for me is always firing (120+), TUs (100) and bravery (90-100).

Do you train them one by one? In the beginning babysiting each gal is even fun but later on when player needs to think more global and a lot of management is being involved its quite frusraiting for me to keep track of ech gal progress.

Would really like to see a mod that unclocks full gal's potential with Dojo and Luxury Spa. Then I could build special base only for gal training.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 17, 2018, 12:08:55 am
Elite-crew takes up the lower slots and armed to the teeth for the tough missions (everything involving ethereals and mutons).
Harmless missions where the opposition can't scratch my armor I bring the rooks.
Yes I've got an eye for the soldiers located in my main dropship base. A luxury spa helps building them up even faster and I can benefit from the SUPERMAID upgrade.

I also screen everyone to get voodoo up faster.
Afterall we need 32-36 decent supersoldiers on crack to bust cydonia. No voodoo-wimps allowed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 17, 2018, 12:40:23 am
Damage calculation is complicated, so it's hard to display in a single number.

Its worth mentioning that your Facing does determine which armor plate you get hit on, but it isnt guaranteed to always hit that section. You can be facing someone directly and most of those hits will affect their Front Armor but sometimes it will hit their Left/Right Armor. Im not sure but a shot from above or below may have a chance to hit your Under armor too.
(im betting its alot less straightforward when shooting a 2x2 size unit... where exactly IS its front and back with regard to a shooter, what happens if you're above it and its facing you, and you shoot it in the rear tile by accident, is that a Rear Armor hit? When being, or shooting a 2x2 size critter you're probably looking at an equal chance between Side Armors and the one you're facing)


Another note about armor penetration that I guess is a forest-for-the-trees note is that the Light Cannon with AP rounds might as well be a Heavy Laser, and is probably better at doing the job while being much easier to get your hands on (alot of enemy armors have laser resistance but not as many have piercing, if its got piercing resistance then its probably some weird ass thing)

Kinda weird how that works huh, a Light Cannon, much more easily supplied and available, is just as mean as a Heavy Laser, which takes alot more teching to get to.

(Its also worth considering that ALL enemies have at least 5 armor, as per soft targets, so when it comes to shotguns you might as well deduct 5 damage from the power value before figuring out in your head how much its likely to do. For example zombies have 5 and the birdshot from the small shotguns does 14 so they're only going to take probably ~70ish damage from a full blast, you can assume 9 per pellet due to -5DR from the armor. Thats I guess one reason that sawed off shotguns are such an easy backup for a zombie mission because they'll get ~120 per blast or ~240 for the double shot, and rather than reload just pull out another sawed off)

(Ubers like Ninja Gals have 20 armor just like your gals, so while shotgun blasts can be effective against them, on average each pellet will cause no damage and you're only looking for high rolls with them. This is the benefit of using higher base-damage shotgun ammo because its much less likely to be left underwater in terms of not beating the armor, even if you get less pellets. Reapers are another example, you'd think they're a soft target but with 28 armor thats actually alot to shoot through even when you've got multiple pellets, since birdshot only does 14 it literally cannot damage them at all)


Quote
An example of complicated damage calculation is the battle rifle AP clip. It has an armor modifier of 0.7, but a health modifier of 0.9. How do you display that?
I guess the proper, responsible way to do it would really be to reduce the actual Power of that ammo type to 32, so it doesn't have a health modifier and it does what it says on the tin (while driving the armor modifier down to 0.63 and writing it as -37% armor).

The health modifier is basically the other half of the equation when it comes to hurting something, and not everything has armor piercing, so whatever it might do to your health is what should dictate its Power value first. The 36 power value does mean that it will still do the same scenery damage as the regular ammo though, the health and armor modifiers mean nothing when it comes to its demolitions (ToTile) modifier. So there is kinda a reason to still leave it at 36, however this would be better done by giving it +11% demolitions and not writing that because that much, at that low of a damage value isnt enough to bother mentioning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 17, 2018, 11:54:47 am
In terms of 'how much damage done' not even something like rebooted X-Com longwar gave you a flashing max-damage indicator for the healthbar and the actual damage range in the HUD.
Not even this mod took the inbuilt damage reduction into account (DR even ramped up over the cause of the run).

A bit hidden but we got Ctrl + H to give us at least a hint that we caused a hit at all and in terms of damage we got "Hit" or "0".
Instead of "Hit" I wonder if it's possible to show the exact health-damage done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on February 17, 2018, 11:56:24 am
Instead of "Hit" I wonder if it's possible to show the exact health-damage done.

Would be very easy to do, but it was deliberately not done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 17, 2018, 01:25:16 pm
Aww. What a bummer.
Okay I guess it makes sense to not tell it the player. Never heard of someone shot shouting out how much health he lost.  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: HT on February 17, 2018, 04:30:25 pm
Game looks fine right now.  8)

I meant to know if they're taking a while because the plan is to introduce new mechanics and such, like that Hunter-Killer thing I read in this forum.

Okay I guess it makes sense to not tell it the player. Never heard of someone shot shouting out how much health he lost.  ;D

Clearly you haven't played like... ANY JRPG, ever.  ;)

This would make for an easy if somewhat abusable QoL mod, knowing how much health the enemy loses per attack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 17, 2018, 05:38:43 pm
Clearly you haven't played like... ANY JRPG, ever.  ;)

Im quite fine not knowing how much I caused to the enemy. In fact im fine not knowing how much health my own units have (if it was just a health bar, and the number next to it was the percentage of max health). Id still want to know the actual amount if I pulled up the stats screen but health values are something I dont want to be bothered with, because if someone is hurt there's a good chance im reloading the save anyways.

(in a tabletop rpg system im making, one previous iteration of it didnt have hitpoints it just had health and if you had 100 you were just fine, damage was compared to a Toughness stat and thats what determined how much health you lost. At this point its just about the same but its been simplified to a wound track. Unlike whitewolf the number of wounds escalates based on damage, because the damage values themselves are supposed to be logarithmic)

There was some ability to show the damage range above the weapon or the cursor when you went to attack (ie, 0-72) but I think its kinda superfluous. Most weapons cause 0-200% and even sniper guns do the same even if its "two dices". There arent many non-melee weapons that do 50-150%.

For the case of AP ammunition in specific I think it was handled okay. For anyone griping about this stuff I encourage you to play Fallout 2 and load up "AP" ammo into your guns LOL.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 17, 2018, 11:20:20 pm
I had my fair share of JRPGs like Disgaea and FF7-10 but now the titles are just angst and odd most of the time.
Or too auto-pilot with all imputs done before the actual fight started FF12 *cough*.

If the mods are against a full damage display, so be it.

Fallout 2 is a rollercoaster of difficulty with the early game been save-scum hard to win without cheating your way through.
You can simply run from your home village to this asian town south and just steal everything you want. Mowing down geckos with a gatling laser *kappa*

The AP ammo feels just like the 'better' ammo-type to use as it hits harder while ignoring advanced armor.
The way it's handled here feels right but it's overshadowed by the RNG of XCom and it's 0-200% rolls. Stuff like the kustom handcannon and explosives feel so reliable in contrast to most direct fire.
What makes me uneasy the most are guns with 90% and more TU cost for an aimed shot sporting 0-140 damageroll-range (and more with firing-skill bonus) and simply not doing their job.
Since I have no idea how to balance a game the suggestion of 'adding' the bonus on top of the damageroll at the end might break the weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 17, 2018, 11:37:26 pm
I've been reading this thread and playing this mod for I think a couple of years now but I've registered explicitly to say this.

Transparency in game events is a good thing. Hiding information from the player is a bad thing. This is a game and when it doesn't provide meaningful feedback we basically aren't playing it anymore it's just playing itself without interacting with the player. Knowing how much damage a hit deals is uniformly an improvement, if it were an option I would turn it on and never ever play with it off because playing with it off would be not just stupid but actually a flat out less rich and less tactical experience.

Not having that information means there is no observable difference between 3 hits that all do reasonable damage and take down a target and 2 hits that mostly deal nothing and a lucky critical/equivalent high damage roll that actually overwhelms armor etc... and takes the target out. That's a bad thing. We need to know that difference in order to make the right tactical choices, hell we even need to know that difference to even know that is even a tactically relevant possibility at all.

And precisely what benefit is hiding that information from players supposed to provide? "Well it stops/merely slows down players from being able to know if the weapons they are choosing to use are effective against the targets they choose to use them on!" er... whut? Because that's my guess here.

And since I'm registered and active now and this mind boggling semi relevant thing was also said (somehow in support of hiding damage results despite not apparently mentioning anything of the sort???)

(in a tabletop rpg system im making, one previous iteration of it didnt have hitpoints it just had health and if you had 100 you were just fine, damage was compared to a Toughness stat and thats what determined how much health you lost. At this point its just about the same but its been simplified to a wound track. Unlike whitewolf the number of wounds escalates based on damage, because the damage values themselves are supposed to be logarithmic)
1) So you didn't have hit points. You had... er... 100 points of health that were exactly the same thing. And now its a wound track. Which is also really just another name for basically hit points.
2) Unlike whitewolf? If the go to default comparison point from which your design either varies or not is white wolf based, well lets just say that in my experience that's a gigantic warning flag.
3) "the number of wounds escalates based on damage, because the damage values themselves are supposed to be logarithmic" for a start that just doesn't parse in the way I think you meant it to. I'm pretty sure you didn't mean you have more HP based on damage. But since that's all it actually says... logarithmic damage in what way, in reference to what, other than the wound track that apparently scales with it thus rendering it meaningless?

Damage tracking mechanics are vital fundamental mechanics in well... any games that use them. In TTRPGS especially it is important that they make sense and resolve quickly and efficiently (oh yeah, and completely transparently). If you are including some sort of logarithmic calculation in a game where everyone has to resolve everything and understand the implications of everything without the aid of the kind of automation a computer game can provide it had better have a really good reason for being there. And it absolutely had better not once all things are accounted for average out to a result that could be closely approximated with a system that doesn't use a logarithmic element. Which, considering past experiences with similar TTRPG designs, I'm prepared to bet it does.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on February 18, 2018, 12:12:42 am
Not having that information means there is no observable difference between 3 hits that all do reasonable damage and take down a target and 2 hits that mostly deal nothing and a lucky critical/equivalent high damage roll that actually overwhelms armor etc... and takes the target out. That's a bad thing. We need to know that difference in order to make the right tactical choices, hell we even need to know that difference to even know that is even a tactically relevant possibility at all.

If you do that 50 times, you will know. Get fragged, get challenged, get better, feel the sweet sweat as your skill goes up. Git Gud instead of wasting your brain on useless calculations. Seriously I am tired of that crap. What is even the point of playing if you're going to roleplay a fucking Excel sheet. Geez. Lower yer difficulty level and TRY HARD.
Also there is already a richness of information the game provides. Almost all mechanics are exposed and explained somewhere. However, most of the whiners do not KNOW that information, because it's ALREADY TOO MUCH for them to process. And you ask for more info? Don't make me laugh. First learn everything the game provides already. Sure much of it is in collectibles, so you have to go out and ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME to get them. But maybe you're not into playing games at all, so get the hell out and don't come back to this gentlemanly activity.
Seriously, what a bunch of crybabies. I love you all and hence it hurts me as hell.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Bloax on February 18, 2018, 12:14:37 am
Videogames, as opposed to table-top games - provide the unique opportunity to live and learn; learn how the game is played, without even looking at the guts.

Tabletops, on the other hand - require you to know the rules to be able to play them properly.
You can't just "hit" something and have an outcome be spit at you when you're the one who has to spit it back.

After being in the same situation enough times you will eventually learn what's good for the given situation.
If you've fired something at something ten times, fifty times in total, and it only dropped to three shots two out of the fifty times - it's probably not a very strong weapon against this something with armor/resistances roughly equivalent to other things.

oh and oops too late lol
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on February 18, 2018, 12:18:03 am
I've been reading this thread and playing this mod for I think a couple of years now but I've registered explicitly to say this.
Transparency in game events is a good thing. Hiding information from the player is a bad thing.

I like how I implement features to give people more information... and people say that I'm hiding information.
I guess I deserve it...

This is a game and when it doesn't provide meaningful feedback we basically aren't playing it anymore it's just playing itself without interacting with the player. Knowing how much damage a hit deals is uniformly an improvement, if it were an option I would turn it on and never ever play with it off because playing with it off would be not just stupid but actually a flat out less rich and less tactical experience.

I respect your opinion.
There are however many people, who feel exactly the opposite way.

Not having that information means there is no observable difference between 3 hits that all do reasonable damage and take down a target and 2 hits that mostly deal nothing and a lucky critical/equivalent high damage roll that actually overwhelms armor etc... and takes the target out. That's a bad thing. We need to know that difference in order to make the right tactical choices, hell we even need to know that difference to even know that is even a tactically relevant possibility at all.

In first case the hit log says "hit hit hit"
In second case the hit log  says "0 0 hit!"
The words are even translatable, you can make it say "average average average" and "small small critical".
I think that is quite a good compromise.

And precisely what benefit is hiding that information from players supposed to provide? "Well it stops/merely slows down players from being able to know if the weapons they are choosing to use are effective against the targets they choose to use them on!" er... whut? Because that's my guess here.

Immersion.
Simplicity.
Fun.
Curiosity.
Challenge.
Enemy Unknown (hope I don't have to explain this pun).

Anyway, welcome to the forum. And feel like at home :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 18, 2018, 12:45:15 am
If you do that 50 times, you will know.
And this seems to be the one thing hiding the information does.

Massively artificially bloat the number of times required to know a fundamental basic fact, each and every time with each and every target, with each and every weapon.

So. Why 50 times? What's magic about that number? Even if you knew the actual damage dealt you won't know for sure if a weapon is a good choice after a single hit, it would take at least several, probably more like a half dozen.

What's wrong with that much more manageable number? With the sheer plethora of weapons in the game isn't a half dozen tries per weapon per target type a MORE than sufficient "git gud" threshold (as if "git gud" is ever even anything other than excuse for not having an argument for a poor mechanical choice).

I like choices. If I saw the damage on my latest weapon or against the latest target I could within a reasonable instead of fairly insane time frame make the simple choice of "well this weapon does fairly reliable damage vs this target, I just need to hit it some more" compared to "this weapon only rarely does meaningful damage to this target, this is a gamble, but one I MIGHT win" compared to "this weapon is totally ineffective vs this target". You have to do that fifty times or more before you are allowed to make that choice is not a reasonable demand even on the sheer grind scale of this game it is not a reasonable demand.

The current threshold for this information and that choice is unreasonable. It is more unreasonable because of the massive amount of weaponry and targets, it is more unreasonable again because of the constant changes to damage and resistance types from patch to patch. Which stun weapons are effective against what (or effective pretty much at all) this patch? Well I could know rapidly with some actual feedback, but since that sort of information changes every patch I now need to make how many attacks per weapon per target to RE"git gud" AGAIN?

And lets take a second and think what it motivates you to actually do. Because the threshold for determining the effectiveness of a weapon is so high, and because there are so many weapons it motivates you to simply ignore most of the weapons in the game. Do the stats on that weapon look like maybe they have ANY down side on paper? Well there is no way in hell you are taking it into the field and using it for hundreds of attacks just to see if it actually works well. Hell if you've found just one or two weapons which work well on most targets you are fighting right now? You have a massive game mechanical motivation to stick with nothing but them until you have absolutely obviously all round superior alternatives due to tech advancement, and then it will just be the next one or two effective weapons from that tech level ignoring the rest again.

There is enough inertia and motivation against actually enjoying the game's weapon variety as it is without hiding the direct information that could show you the differences between the weapons in actual application.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Riph on February 18, 2018, 12:51:41 am
Hey space pirates. What does "XL target" in armor description mean? My first assumption would be that it was some flat modifier to chance to hit when someone aims at you, but just recently I had a marsec operator plinking at me from way beyond his night visual range, and I noticed he was targeting exclusively my power armor troops.

Hid the power armor guys behind some bushes, shots stopped.

Is XL target also effectively negative camouflage when at night?

(Related note: Is this explained in one of the #000 pedia entries in the Journal section? If not, perhaps it should be.)

-- posting twice within three minutes should be a federal offence. Merging posts - Solarius Scorch ---



I like choices. If I saw the damage on my latest weapon or against the latest target I could within a reasonable instead of fairly insane time frame make the simple choice of "well this weapon does fairly reliable damage vs this target, I just need to hit it some more" compared to "this weapon only rarely does meaningful damage to this target, this is a gamble, but one I MIGHT win" compared to "this weapon is totally ineffective vs this target". You have to do that fifty times or more before you are allowed to make that choice is not a reasonable demand even on the sheer grind scale of this game it is not a reasonable demand.



I'm generally in favor of more information. When I play ARK or Borderlands, I immediately turn the pop-up visual damage numbers on.

While I'd appreciate that here, I feel like the information I get when I hold ALT while targeting (shot will do between 0 and 98 damage) is enough information for me to crunch effectively.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 18, 2018, 01:12:59 am
hold ALT while targeting (shot will do between 0 and 98 damage) is enough information for me to crunch effectively.
If that number accounts for the plethora of weapon, user and target specific calculations the game uses and is final possible damage range I'm prepared to walk away and say "oops, yet another feature of the game nothing ever told me was there that changes everything", and then move on to asking how the hell I get than number with Melee attacks and why the hell what should clearly be the default option is hidden behind wearing my thumb down on the alt key constantly.

But if that number doesn't account for target armor and resistances, weapon modifiers that ignore or even increase target armor, elaborately calculated multiple attribute dependent bonus damage etc... then the number isn't good enough to really be anything other than a red herring that might even make the transparency situation worse.

Though... actually while (the full information version) of that helps a lot with correct weapon match ups... it still doesn't let you know if it is the right decision or not to keep fighting a specific target right now in combat, which actual damage results would tell you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on February 18, 2018, 01:13:47 am
And this seems to be the one thing hiding the information does.

The solution to your "suffering" is here: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/blob/oxce3.5-plus-proto/src/Battlescape/TileEngine.cpp#L2209

Change this:

Code: [Select]
const int damagePercent = (totalDamage * 100) / target->getBaseStats()->health;
if (damagePercent <= 0)
{
_save->hitLog << _save->getBattleState()->tr("STR_HIT_LOG_NO_DAMAGE");
}
else if (damagePercent <= 20)
{
_save->hitLog << _save->getBattleState()->tr("STR_HIT_LOG_SMALL_DAMAGE");
}
else
{
_save->hitLog << _save->getBattleState()->tr("STR_HIT_LOG_BIG_DAMAGE");
}

to this:

Code: [Select]
_save->hitLog << totalDamage << " ";

Compile and enjoy.

And let the rest of us enjoy the real game. Please.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Bloax on February 18, 2018, 01:17:30 am
And lets take a second and think what it motivates you to actually do. Because the threshold for determining the effectiveness of a weapon is so high, and because there are so many weapons it motivates you to simply ignore most of the weapons in the game. Do the stats on that weapon look like maybe they have ANY down side on paper? Well there is no way in hell you are taking it into the field and using it for hundreds of attacks just to see if it actually works well. Hell if you've found just one or two weapons which work well on most targets you are fighting right now? You have a massive game mechanical motivation to stick with nothing but them until you have absolutely obviously all round superior alternatives due to tech advancement, and then it will just be the next one or two effective weapons from that tech level ignoring the rest again.
In life, you have the choice between a dozen kind of knives, several dozen types of swords, dozens of axes, and the list goes on and on.
So obviously, you pick something that looks good and see if it works out. If it doesn't, you pick something else up and hope for the best.

Fortunately unlike in life, you have a very clear detailing of what each weapon does - so once you find something that works well, you need only look at what its stats are and look for something that ends up having better stats for a given soldier than the weapon you currently use.


being overwhelming, confusing and redundant is the whole point - it's an attempt to craft a world as confusing as our own, not a game with a game world that makes it explicitly clear it's just a game
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/y3mhyck154s9rzg/benis.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: greattuna on February 18, 2018, 01:19:33 am
Hey space pirates. What does "XL target" in armor description mean?

It just means the target is larger. Not much difference in combat (to-hit chance will be the same), unless you want to cover someone else with power-armor-wearing gal.

But if that number doesn't account for target armor and resistances, weapon modifiers that ignore or even increase target armor, elaborately calculated multiple attribute dependent bonus damage etc... then the number isn't good enough to really be anything other than a red herring that might even make the transparency situation worse.

You really want that much information just... handed to you? What the hell.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 18, 2018, 01:27:42 am
You really want that much information just... handed to you? What the hell.
No I want the somewhat lesser information of actual damage dealt handed to me. That information would still require some number of attacks to determine if a weapon is on average a good choice against a target, having that information up front is possibly the poorer solution, but at least a solution better than "just use weapons hundreds of times to git a git gud feel for them for no reason".

Up front final calculation damage ranges mean you immediately know if the weapon is the right choice vs that target but not if you are actually progressing with defeating them and will not give you informed decision making on whether to invest TUs in a few more attacks or not.

Final actual damage dealt means you will still need to try out weapons a bit against different targets, and will let you make informed decisions about whether blowing your last TUs on one more attack is a rational choice or not.

Up front calculation of damage ranges that thanks to massive modifiers NOT included in them are completely unrepresentative of final damage ranges are completely useless and only serve to give misleading information encouraging you to make uninformed, incorrect and in a game like this one, game losing, decisions. That sort of information very much should NOT be available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 18, 2018, 01:34:55 am
Please. Back in the 90's, we had no tooltips, no forums, no wikis, even no fricking manual, and (in my case) poor knowledge of the language. And we somehow were able to finish the game.

Information given on a silver platter removes an important aspect of the game, which is experimenting. It also kills development of tactics, since otherwise you just go by crunching numbers instead of learning by observation. It basically guts the game, destroys part of the fun, and promotes an uncreative gamer syndrome that on the Piratez channel is generally referred to as "autism".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 18, 2018, 01:43:19 am
It wasn't the same game and I sure as hell am not throwing away other conveniences and features from this game or anything else I interact with of any other sort just because "we didn't have it in the 90s".

The 90s not having something is a terrible excuse for not having it now.

The 90s didn't have this entire mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Bloax on February 18, 2018, 02:45:21 am
Sorry, but this is a Necromancer Guild dangling corpses of Times Past.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/y3mhyck154s9rzg/benis.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sanyaskillpro on February 18, 2018, 04:06:35 am
I think that NOT having an exact information can lead to a more deep tactical experience.
Ground combat is basically managing risk vs reward. Good gals are hard to replace, therefore the safest way to play is to give everyone various rocket launchers and mortars and just nuke everyone from afar. However you get no profit from this. But on a pogrom this is a reasonable strategy, because the risk is too big.
Now, how this relates to the regular guns. If you score a hit and you know the exact HP left you already know the safe decision. 1 HP left? No need to shoot at all, the bleed will do the job. Dealt 1 hp? Hide or it's time for a backup rocketeer. But if you have no idea you actually have to think, play safely(sometimes overkilling, yes) and risk, when you think it's appropriate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on February 18, 2018, 05:50:29 am
Well, I guess everybody has a different opinion, but I do think the game give you a plethora of information right now. At least, I like the game (and the mod) right now as it is. Surely, I´ll be glad to know a little more info, for example, melee damage range with the ALT key. But at least in combat, you have a lot!. You can even research corpses and know exactly what can damage the enemies. And you have devices to know the health and other stats of your enemies. Well, I almost never use it, but they exist. The hit log is great for me.

I understand the tabletop game comparison, and in a way, I can agree with some of the arguments. But in the end, you even have the source code!. And the bootypedia eventually give you almost all the details of the game mechanism.

And when you find a new enemy for the first time, a pretty good approach is to launch the biggest thing you have, if it resist, run a wait for another time to try again. You should be running pretty often in this mod until late game.

I´m enjoying the interface right now as it, but, I understand and support if somebody have a different Idea about the tool tips.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on February 18, 2018, 11:14:49 am
Melee damage is displayed by ctrl+M.

Also, Pyronymer, if you think I will be changing core game concepts (A Simulation NOT a Tabletop) because of your few whiney comments, think again.
What you describe as improvements, I see as downgrades, at least unless someone is an autist with a computer in their head and prefers calculating tables instead of actually playing the game. Just give me a break, I hate that design philosophy you're defending, I'm not claiming it's worse, I normally just don't care, I just hate it if someone starts shoving it into my face. What are computer games good for, if we drag them back to tabletop. It's like a hate for games in general, trying to push the attitude that they have nothing to do with the real world and cannot ever simulate anything and should be as gamey as possible. And I love games so I find this disgusting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 18, 2018, 11:48:47 pm
2) Unlike whitewolf?
3) "the number of wounds escalates based on damage, because the damage values themselves are supposed to be logarithmic"
I was giving a personal anecdote as an example, alot of fiesty jumping to conclusions there. I could've mentioned shadowrun as a comparison too since they use wound boxes as well.

The way it works in my tabletop system, you have a wound capacity of 12 after which your character is in the dying status. Dying characters are vulnerable to certain other conditions like monsters eating their soul or infecting them with vampirism, but spellcastors also have some spells designed to affect someone while dying-but-not-dead, and also a medic can stabilize them at a high penalty. Dying characters die in 2d8 rounds and they're incap during that time.

If you get hit for 16 or more wounds, separate or in one hit, you're killed instantly, and one damage category above that starts making you go splat.
(after character = dead the body starts following scenery destruction rules for objects, which is precisely the same rules that certain animated creatures like undead, totems, golems and elementals also follow normally. The damage type affects how readily it applies Ripping to the corpse since stuff like explosives, plasma, and slashing do it pretty well)

Wound categories:
2 wounds - Hurt (no sprinting, no heavy lifting, acrobat penalty)
4 wounds - Seriously Wounded (penalties to everything, bleed after days without treatment)
8 wounds - Critically Wounded (probably incap, and bleeding)

perks/feats and the like can let you overcome some of that stuff, but for example it means even though it takes 13 health loss to kill a character they are circling the drain even after taking 4, and only a BAMF or barbarian is going to be able to do anything after taking 8.

After (Damage - Toughness), any left over means you're impacted by it. Usually means you get fazed/interrupted (lose an action) and take 1 wound. Below that its just scratches and bruises, daily-life type of injuries that aren't significant (the GM can make a whole series of small injuries count as a single larger one though, which is how you DPS a large spaceship).

How many wounds someone takes depends on whether they're an NPC or player character, the number of wounds it causes advances for every 8 Damage leftover, on this iteration:
NPC: 2/4/8/12/16/Splat
PC:  2/3/5/Fate Test/Fate Test #2/ Splat

The damage roll is listed as a number of "dice" though you only roll a few of them, so the rest get turned into a flat damage bonus. I use d8s for it so that "half dice" can be added as pips in the form of d4s. Flat bonus is +5 per die.

When possible two dice get converted to a single die multiplied by 2 to keep the range healthy, caps at 2d8x2 or for really nasty stuff its 3d8x2.

Punches are nonlethal so no matter how high the damage bonus is the last 2 wounds get pushed onto the subdual track (big ogre can still crush you with his fist though because of how much more he does). More less-lethal means more wounds get traded.
(Subdual Track + Wound track determines if you're falling over unconscious or not, you have to make a test for it when you hit 8 and you're knocked out cold when you hit 13)

Some weapons are especially lethal so they cause extra fake damage to see if it would push you into the "critically wounded" category and thus inflict bleeding even if you arent wounded all that much by it. In terms of "fake damage" this is no different than an AP adjustment its just on the damage side of the equation.

Speaking of fake damage I even account for Temporary Damage, stuff that can be lethal but doesnt really linger long enough to inflict wounds (but can make a character "bleed out" or die if untreated, and treating them can be just as hard). Suffocation, Electric Shocks, Hypothermia work that way.

Generally speaking every +8 damage is x2 Firepower or takedown capability, which is what I meant by logarithmic. So the only difference between a Bunkerbuster and a Tactical Nuke is about 80 damage. If you want Tsar Bomba add another 125 on top of that. Ive got my own algorithm for blast radius propagation though which im not going to discuss.
(I did this to avoid the players having to do multiplying, they just add or subtract a certain amount)


Since tabletop isnt a vidya and is harder to do the math for it... I handle machinegun bursts in a special way I call Consolidated Damage. It gets combined into one bigger hit that does more damage, but it doesnt help it penetrate armor any better*. The bonus is 1 dice per shot including the first one (so 4 hits = +4 dice), so being shot 4 times by a low end SMG is about like taking a single hit from a .50 magnum.

(even the attack roll is consolidated, first you roll to see if you hit with any of it, then you roll again for degrees of success to see if you hit more than once... first one gets a bonus for volume of fire, second one gets a penalty if its got heavy recoil... pretty damn elegant if I say so)
(also super high volume weapons like miniguns assume some number of hits in their damage/ap value for every "shot" that hits, which is 5 shots in the case of a minigun, so some of that is macro'd already for the players' benefit)


This also means weapons like Shotguns can have a high listed damage but take an AP Penalty against armor, so armor nerfs them based on a much lower damage dice value (but since you're rolling more dice, the blunt force trauma or multiple pellets can still find a weak spot since you can Roll High). Same idea as a machinegun just already taken into account. And if you used slugs the damage stays the same its just the AP penalty isnt as bad and damage doesnt go down over distance.


Only problems this causes is when you have continuous effects like burning or poisoning. But I decided to take the Fallout 1 Flamer as inspiration for a way to handle that... continuous effects inflict a wholesome amount up front, then after a few rounds whatever it caused starts to retroactively creep 1 damage point at a time as long as its active... which will start pushing up the wound or subdual track in wholesome leaps.
(that way the player is discouraged from risking those things, and also punished if they dont get help to mitigate it)


Armor is another beast but pretty much you compare the other guy's damage bonus (including AP value) to your AC and that tells you how much to shave off... from every dice rolled.

Basically like for every die its -1, -2, -3, up to -4 points. If armor is taking off more than that the attack is zeroed out and the armor defeats it.

(attacker has to disclose his damage dice and AP value because these are readily apparent, defender Does Not have to say what his AC value is).


And the fun thing is if my system got transcribed into a video game it would pretty much have the same rules, except it would be more immersive since you'd get direct immediate results from it... thus its more like a simulator and the focus is on the story and what you're doing.

You'd have to panic over your character being forced to take burning damage for several seconds and see their health meter being affected (since that damage has already been done, its just being played out before your eyes), hoping to stop it and being thankful that water/cold spells at least keep you from taking even more.

(kinda like when you get burned in xcom and you're just forced to watch your guy keep getting burned for awhile, nothing you can do about it really)

And it might not even list how much damage things did.
It might just put a number of "dagger through heart" icons.
And "flames" icons to tell you how much blasting it will do to you.

Armor Class might be a number of Shield icons.
Toughness might be a number of Heart icons.

And the Wound meter would just be a health bar without numbers on it, it would be plain to see how badly the character was hurt, but without any exact quantum (except pixels) for how much. Like in Diablo except without hovering over the crystal ball to display the value.

Prevents the player from strategizing too much, makes it feel more precarious to take risks, which adds suspense (whew that bomb sure has a hell of alot of fire tokens on it... wooww I just got this hand cannon and look at how many bullet hole tokens its got, its way more than ive had my hands on before).

And when it comes to "oh boy this is going to hurt" its got you on the edge of your seat because you dont know just how close to being dead you are... only the number of times youve had to reload the save and the number of times out of that where it didnt kill you (but you did something else out of order and got fubar'd anyway).

Reminds me of the Silent Hill or Resident Evil survival horror games... none of those weapons told you how much damage they caused, the characters only had a health meter not hit points and you had to guess how much healing they actually needed.

And is pretty darn realistic since you wouldnt know IRL just exactly how effective, or hurt something was, it would be a judgment call. The deathclaw still be a fighting menace even though its got lots of bullet holes in it and its covered in blood, better adapt that assessment of what "critically wounded" means for that type of critter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2018, 12:09:24 am
The 90s didn't have this entire mod.

This is what I have to agree with.

The original game was fairly easy to figure out even without manual or knowledge of the language.

It went like this:

-better armor is always better

-plasma beam beats every ufo except the battleship

-starting weapons are all trash

-you can skip laser and go straight for plasma (this also means you get plasma beam sooner)

-mind control is king

Thinking about it, piratez is not so different it goes like:

-you can ignore armor to get TU, you skin is hard enough because you are uber

-you can ignore power armor early on, it slows you down and is expensive

-more versatile craft = better craft

-bigger damage number = better

-gray codex = best codex

-arcing explosive = best explosive

-bring chinese dragon to siberian base

and so on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 19, 2018, 02:07:20 am
unless someone is an autist with a computer in their head and prefers calculating tables instead of actually playing the game.
As a player the actual autistic route is to demand that there be as little automation as possible in the game so that decisions require a great deal of really autistic calculations in your head. I don't want to sit down and do relatively complex autistic math calculations for the rather complex armour/bonus damage/etc... I would need to use to make what should be relatively simple and quick decisions about which character should use which weapons on which targets.

If you want to say "screw that I'm doing it my way, even if its crazy, even if people will keep noticing and WTFing about it forever" thats fine. But... don't call the people who want to do less of the complex math themselves autistic, it's really the other way around.

Quote
It's like a hate for games in general, trying to push the attitude that they have nothing to do with the real world and cannot ever simulate anything and should be as gamey as possible. And I love games so I find this disgusting.
I've always been very much of the opposite attitude. You aren't simulating reality. You are making a game. It should be fun, every aspect should facilitate fun. You can "simulate" to some extent, because sometimes that is fun, but when it conflicts with the primary goal of making a game, the simulation goal loses or the game gets worse. I also find that people who disagree with this say oddly inconsistent things like... well complaining that critics hate games, then complaining about how you hate things being too gamey, then switching around yet again and declaring how much you love games.

That sort of multiple contradiction in a few short words... look I'm just suggesting a small quality of life improvement which I think honestly you know is a better solution and you are over compensating a bit and maybe going a touch off the rails in the process of being a bit too defensive. I haven't attacked your entire design philosophy, I haven't attacked your entire work, I've just suggested that games giving clear feedback on the results of your actions is a good thing and more of it would be nice.

...
Generally speaking every +8 damage is x2 Firepower or takedown capability, which is what I meant by logarithmic.
I don't want to go into too much detail, I'd need a thread to go into everything wrong with the excessive details of what you described. So I'll keep it short.

I am not particularly sure the... system... you described does result in that "logarithmic" outcome, but if it did... it's kinda "logarithmic" but only really in a remotely practical way, maybe, if we had any idea of how actual damage progression in character advancement/enemy levels/equivalent works. But then again the primary issue there is the system you described is frankly way too complex for a base damage system for a TTRPG. There are other major tangential issues like built in no save instakills, what looks like LESS hp for PCs than NPCs, an over complex armour mechanic, an average dice value better than the actual average result on a dice and also better than the maximum armor reduction per dice (the .5 on its own barely makes the averaged dice better than a roll, the armor interaction almost DEFINITELY pushes the average dice to better than rolling). But really nothing gets past the obstacle of "it could take a good year or more of gaming time for most TTRPG players to actually begin to get a grasp on how damage actually works in the game they are trying to play".

I'm pointedly not saying that this mod is bad, I'm very happy with much of it and would just like to see it improve, I am pointedly saying that my personal judgement on the quality of the described TTRPG system is negative both over all and on nearly every described point.

It went like this:
My current it goes like this goes like this :
Sell all the muskets right away. They are less than useless. Hit things with sticks if you have to. Its wildly better.

Sabres+Sawn Offs

Tech Blades + Kustom Hand Cannons

Always Panzerfausts.

For rare and increasingly inferior two handed gun girls... Any mediocre two handed shot gun... Mammoth Shotgun/Heavy Slug Thrower...???(see below)

Maybe bring a mortar.

Always the Little Wooden Clubs of Better than other Stun Options. I think you need bigger sticks or electric sticks to stun things with sometimes but with the combined rarity of that and the lack of feedback... I'm pretty sure the opportunity cost of carrying something other than the tiny wooden club is a bad choice. And all forms of stun grenades my ass but maybe thats a hold over from experiences in prior patches... or minimal feedback.

There would be at least another tier of replacement for Tech Blades + Kustom Hand Cannons... There might even be SOME limited branching in roles, once upon a time it was ALMOST a good idea to bring a hover suit sniper once you got sniper options worth an ass. But for a while now the earlier game just goes so long I haven't seen those for a LONG time.


Also, just for tangential reference, I start a new game with each patch, looking at a lot of comments about what to use for certain missions on this thread... it seems pretty clear a lot of people have not been doing that when they respond to early game missions with the suggestion of bringing far later game levels of resources/techs. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 19, 2018, 05:50:09 am
-bring chinese dragon to siberian base
and so on.
whoaaa wait a minute, hold up there.

The question of the chinese dragon is always a question of "who gets to fire it" because there aint no such thing as ducking back in the ship while the rocket is in flight. So who's going to be doing the dying in that equation.

I guess I could have a lokknar do it or a slave soldier, but did you know there's this thing called Baby Nukes and they can get the job done without anyone having to die? Heck there are plen-T of weapons you can use there that will work if you give a few shots with em.

(I manage siberia even though its tough and involves alot of dancing, fact is I like collecting their loot. As for examples of stuff that works how about Lots of hellerium grenades, pre-primed of course. How about putting someone on a mortar and launching Plasma Mortars. Ive heard of the Tornado Rocket Mortar working wonders. Also Plasma Rockets are a thing and 160 damage aint nothing to sniff at. Even the hellerium grenades can flatline tanks after about 2-3 of them)

Also where are your Lazers, they have the nuclear lasers but that doesnt mean you cant bring your own heavy or ES lasers to the ballgame. I frequently have the Plasma Pistol unlocked by then too.

(my face when, one little mention sparks a whole post)

Also starting weapons in vanilla are all trash Except... Grenades, the Rocket Launcher, and the Heavy Cannon (with HE ammo of course). And when I rush Alien Grenades I have a decent advantage.

The RL and HC are useful up until you get the Small Launcher because they do something the laser and plasma weapons cant... they hit stuff even when you miss it, even when you cant see it. And the HC even has multiple shots, you have to reload the SL every time you shoot it.


...a bunch of stuff...

The danger level on my ttrpg is in a rare niche of "medium". The gurps system is straight up lethal, shadowrun is straight up lethal (and players are expected to take damage in it too), call of cthulhu is pretty lethal and the spells and creatures are scary (but you're not supposed to be fighting).

I left out a whole lot, also things like the scaling involved are subject to change because im still tinkering with it. Few weeks ago the damage roll was 1d20+damage bonus and armor applied a flat DR value, I changed that because I felt that armor piercing modifiers were just trading damage and I wanted it more dynamic.
(a few years ago it was d10s based instead of d8s, armor worked the same, consolidated damage worked the same)


Basic idea is fighting smarter not harder, and an ideal warrior is one with a heck of alot of agility to dodge hits (with high initiative to deliver them first). And ideally, like some of these other games your best bet as a PC group is to come up with plans and ways of solving stuff that probably dont even involve a fight but still screws the enemy, or you get a series of easy divide-and-conquer kills. However, it is still passable as a fighting system when the players have to have a battle because they arent just gonna get wasted.
(I guess the danger level is kinda, sorta similar to L5R, since I remember similar consequences for fighting in that one. In games like this there's a gamble/risk that can be fun but things can go south pretty bad when some rolls turn up bad).

As for one-shotting, thats a GM vs. Players issue. If the GM sets down a kaiju, mecha, or great wurm dragon and the players have fun storming the castle of course they're going to get killed. That fits in the category of doing obviously stupid stuff. GM shouldnt have to prescribe specifically to this outdated "challenge rating" formula like d&d has - there's things you're not supposed to fight, maybe the smart thing is to run away from it for the time being, at least thats what common sense says.

Also everybody is good at something, there arent really character classes but with the points available its possible to get very good at a tactic or two by level 6-9 (out of 20 levels). Thing is, becoming more dynamic and harder to affect with things as you get veterancy. Yeah level 20 warriors can be one-shotted in their sleep, thats life, though in their case its easy to screw that up and then you're done for. You ain't going to be able to do it to a wizard, but he can be done in other ways. Etc Etc.


And point of fact the NPCs clearly take more wounds from damage than the PCs do (wound delivery of 1, 2, 4, 8... pcs only take MaybeNone, 2, 3, 5).

Fate test has mechanics I dont want to get into but if you succeed you take 5, if you fail you get 8+1d4 (crit just means you get knocked out and maybe 2 wounds). The death save is as fate test to avoid taking the 16 that the npcs take, and if it succeeds you're left in critical but stabilized unless you were in critical before that. Overall nicer to the PCs whereas NPCs are allowed to get squished more readily and routinely.

Quote
It went like this

Agree about the muskets but not the musket pistols. Up close those things pack a whallop, and like a real pirate you want to carry multiple pistols not the ammo for them - drop the pistol when it runs out and draw another one.

Muskets are like the Skorpion in that there are definitely items that are meant to be dangerous to you that NPCs use, but which arent really all that great for yourself. The ASMG is a good example, has some armor piercing, good ammo capacity, but its a 1x3 weapon that cant range well - its just enough to screw you, whereas its more efficient to be using an RCF carbine or even the UAC carbine over that. If you wanted full auto you'd be using a Spiked SMG probably.

Sawed offs are rather broken for where they show up at. They're even useful mid game as backups against zombies.

Also agree about the usefulness of K.Handcannons, though I just keep the tech blades in the transport in case I have a need for them (ahem, Bodyguards).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 19, 2018, 07:28:14 am
Basic idea is fighting smarter not harder, and an ideal warrior is one with a heck of alot of agility to dodge hits (with high initiative to deliver them first).
This is the sort of glaring issue I was talking about. It is smarter not harder to build characters all of the same archetype all benefiting from the same mechanical exploit of "well then we will just kill them first and try never to be hit" typical of, I'm sorry, but not really "medium" fatality systems. But is it remotely healthy for generating interesting diverse games?

If the "right" way to play a TTRPG is "everyone is a speedster, everyone always shoots Greedo first, anything else is failure death and 'comedy' games" you have a major underlying design issue. There should be functional competitive player character builds that dump agility and do... something else just as good just the same way these "heck of alot of agility" builds are dumping... something if not everything else.

I'm thinking this is wandering off topic though...

Er.... ...I used to take 1 or so Assault Grenade Launcher girls as soon as I could to any mission without a roof. Then I stopped because they just couldn't compete with the gun+sword standards, don't know exactly when or why that happened, but it just became pretty much just another weapon thrown in the rather large pile of "Does this thing even do anything? I can barely tell".

Hell. I used to use bows. Back when they were viable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on February 19, 2018, 10:24:30 am
As a player the actual autistic route is to demand that there be as little automation as possible in the game so that decisions require a great deal of really autistic calculations in your head. I don't want to sit down and do relatively complex autistic math calculations for the rather complex armour/bonus damage/etc... I would need to use to make what should be relatively simple and quick decisions about which character should use which weapons on which targets.

If you want to say "screw that I'm doing it my way, even if its crazy, even if people will keep noticing and WTFing about it forever" thats fine. But... don't call the people who want to do less of the complex math themselves autistic, it's really the other way around.
I've always been very much of the opposite attitude. You aren't simulating reality. You are making a game. It should be fun, every aspect should facilitate fun.

No, I'm against doing any math at all, and I don't do any calculations - that is the whole point because this is not a fucking tabletop. Now you're saying simulations are impossible and all is about "fun". A load of hot crap that is, peddled by the sorry excuse of gaming industry we have, scammers with no integrity, all of them. Well anyway I am done with you, live with your forums-learned brainbugs and your sense of superiority that leaves no place for respect for other's work. And your me=everyone, and your fucking patronizing my years of work like you were a fucking authority. No you're a fucking nobody, just like we all here. Or maybe you keep pissing me off on purpose to get me banned. I do not care. People like you discourage me from continuing this experiment like nothing else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 19, 2018, 10:57:19 am
Are you seriously freaking out this much, threatening to abandon your clearly apparent passion project of years, and ranting about everything wrong with society the gaming industry... because people, and only a some of them at that... would like to see actual useful damage feedback.

Of all the things to freak out this much about, and of all the things to loudly declare are the thing that is wrong with the admittedly deeply flawed gaming industry... accurate damage result feedback?

That?

Really?

Like this?

Look I'm not here to crap on your parade, but... that's kinda the point, because you are acting like I'm actually physically crapping on your parade. It's just mentioning sensible feedback responses. I can't even make you do it, I'm not even putting serious effort into trying to make you do it, I'm just pointing out the obvious on a relevant public forum, it's not the end of the world, I hold no power over you.

And when did I declare myself an authority?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 19, 2018, 11:31:48 am
I suggest to stop this discussion right now.
Dioxine does listen to our feedback and implements new things to make us happy.
There's no point in bringing up a fully detailed damage-indicator as it would spoil the fun of exploring to fight unknown opposition.
Ever encountered "Ghost Gals" so far? There's no bootypedia entry for them so you have to really 'guess' what those ghosts are doing and how you can beat them.

I summoned the wrath of the mod at least two times in the past. What did I do? I stopped to annoy him and went for a constructive feedback route without selling my point as the
point of view for every player of the mod. I also invested gifted Dioxine a bit of money so he can have some food and a cold one to focus on RL.
It's not fun to communicate with an ungrateful cunt. Years of work for a total conversion mod. Show him your respect man, keep calm and commit to the RNJesus of XCom bro.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 19, 2018, 11:46:45 am
Pyronymer, dude... It works like this:

This is all open source. If you don't like something, you can change it. If you don't know how, people will help you if you ask nicely.

A game works like this: The game designer gives you a problem (mission). You try to solve it with the tools he gives you. Solving the problem is the essence of the game.

Everything here is for free. You have no right to complain about something given to you for free.


I would like to thank Dioxine for developing this mod and think he is doing a gret job at balancing, especially considering how compicated the mod has become. And thanks to Meridian and ohartenstein23 as well for extending the game engine with their quality of life improvements and new mechanics. Some time ago we didn't have a hit log. We had no tech tree viewer. Ufo beams were all the same. No sniper/spotters, no penalty for no LoS. Not anymore. See how far this project has come and appreciate it. Thank the people who put in the work. Enjoy what they have given you for free.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Pyronymer on February 19, 2018, 12:21:51 pm
I made some simple statements about a fairly clear possible improvement to the game.

The response is... I'm going to have to say, not just abusive but to me suggests Dioxene is... kinda nuts.

I'm not going to respond to flailing abuse with grateful praise and monetary donations. That's not what normal people do, nor is it what normal people should do.

I would not even make this post and point that out, because at this point it's clear that might needlessly trigger a fragile individual.

But seeing the last two responses... one of the reasons I'm not going to respond with money and praise is that at this point I genuinely fear that would be enabling behavior and just maybe other people shouldn't be responding to wild eyed abuse with praise either.

People shouldn't be encouraged to act like that. Its not good for him either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2018, 12:27:46 pm
The danger level on my ttrpg is in a rare niche of "medium". The gurps system is straight up lethal, shadowrun is straight up lethal (and players are expected to take damage in it too), call of cthulhu is pretty lethal and the spells and creatures are scary (but you're not supposed to be fighting).

Shadowrun isn’t lethal. I’ve seen elven maiden taking point blank shotgun blast to the chest and walking it off after some simple care. The player didn’t even roll very well on his measly 8 soak dice. (body 3 and bonus from the shogun being shitty).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Dioxine on February 19, 2018, 12:40:22 pm
People shouldn't be encouraged to act like that. Its not good for him either.

Suddenly you're my parent, to speak this way? I'm probably twice as old as you are, so this is kinda funny.
And yes, of course I'm mentally unstable, aggressive and perverted (no homo). I admit that openly, so spare yourself the effort to prove that. Nobody who isn't all of these things would be doing something as pointless as this mod.

Also I wasn't threatening to drop my project, I was just saying that people like you are the worst part of doing all this. I do not like threatening anyone with anything, threats are disgusting. Kill or Live in Peace, there is no threat. My reasons for doing or not doing my art are personal; making them a matter of a public discussion would be disgusting as well. You just have to take it or leave it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on February 19, 2018, 02:01:24 pm
I made some simple statements about a fairly clear possible improvement to the game.

We have also made a simple statement that in our opinion this is a clear deterioration (opposite of improvement) to the game.

I have also given you a guide how you can implement the change yourself if you want.

Please stop insisting that your view is the best view and everybody else is wrong... you're making a fool of yourself.
It's not funny anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2018, 02:37:49 pm
Will we finaly get more varied and dangerous underwater missions in the next update?

What about finally finishing the Dr. X arc?

Some boost to the other three codexes to make them as usefull as gray woudl be also welcome... They are fairly balanced, but gray still comes ahead in versatility.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 19, 2018, 02:38:41 pm
I made some simple statements about a fairly clear possible improvement to the game.

Then just make your own mod and play the way you like. See here for example: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4341.msg59665.html#msg59665 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4341.msg59665.html#msg59665)
If it's popular, it will be considered for implementation.

As you can see, I had differences of opinion with Dioxine in the past. It was discussed in a civilized manner and eventually led to changes in the main mod. Lots of other examples exist.

Before you insult other peoples opinion, first try to learn why they have that point of view. You will be surprised.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 19, 2018, 02:46:49 pm
Some boost to the other three codexes to make them as usefull as gray woudl be also welcome... They are fairly balanced, but gray still comes ahead in versatility.

Grey offers nearly no boost to early game's battlescape situation. For all this missing strength we get the best lategame power and this is implemented correctly IMO.
Red and green got new stuff, gold is fine as it is and every codex got gifted with a third voodoo school to further boost each codex power.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2018, 03:01:46 pm
Grey offers nearly no boost to early game's battlescape situation.

When I research codex I already have at the very least mortars, grenade launchers and HMGs. Only boost I need is more feet on the ground, which gray codex delivers via Shadowbat.

I don’t care much about lategame, by then I probably have a BFG or two and stash of baby nukes and can just fuck shit up, what gives it its power is the FORTUNA craft which was probably supposed to be jack of all trades master of none, but ends up being the one craft to rule them all.

Also, is helleriusm and fusion ammo for spitfire too much to ask for?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 19, 2018, 03:20:53 pm
Yes the FORTUNA is a great ship but also one of the slowest among the menace class.
While Shadowbat is good for deployments thanks to it's save potshot-ladders it's still a very 'cage'-like fortress with minimal space to drop out unseen.
HMGs and grenade launchers should count for all codexes together with frag grenades and looted hellerium bombs.
It's questionable HOW GOOD the blue menace ship is but it does have a clear weakness due to it's speed and the second smallest crewsize for those unique ships.
Yes you can go to space but you get no space suits! Space missions can be won with minimal crew size as long as you have space-suits to allow access to handslots. Melee just rocks in space thanks to the additional TUs.

Also everything is an improvement that's better than aircar/airvan. Crewsize for more than 10 has to be earned through various techs for unlocking the menace-ships and thunderhorse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 19, 2018, 03:21:40 pm
To make some constructive feedback of the current "display damage" conversation:
We already have mind probes in various fashion in the game, which in principle allow you to see the exact damage you deal. How about making that feature a bit more convenient, but gated behind items?

--- disclaimer: the following ideas are based on the ability to change the hit log in battlescape, which needs to be coded ---

- Items having a "damage analyzer"
High tech weapon, equipment or armor which combine a mind probe with a computer to analyze the target as you do damage to it. Using such a device will then change the hit log to display the exact damage. But only for the gal who is wearing/using it.

- Extended midprobe ability
Once you scan something with a mindprobe, the hit log will display the exact damage when you attack that target (just for one round). Could be extended to a passive or area ability on advanced mind probes (alliance advisor for example). Would be a nice boost to these underused items.
Imagine this scenario: Want to test some weapons? Take the brainer outfit, scan the target, then light it up. Seems legit and not gamey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 19, 2018, 03:58:00 pm
I thought that through and instead of just 'improving' the brainer maybe we can get a second version of it (like Tac Armor with and without helmet) that serves for the purpose as stated above.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 19, 2018, 09:09:37 pm
When I research codex I already have at the very least mortars, grenade launchers and HMGs. Only boost I need is more feet on the ground, which gray codex delivers via Shadowbat. Also, is helleriusm and fusion ammo for spitfire too much to ask for?

Except that being able to build your menacing hull comes like 3 research topics after the other codex craft. And you get hunter killer just right before it. I guess the other codex craft work well enough for the other bases you'd operate since the menacing hull is designed to be a "black pearl" flagship.

Ahh... the lovely Spitfire...
Man that thing needs a Gyro Stabilization module, I could give f-all less about the damn autogun. Get that Spitfire more accurate and we iz gonna have some fun.
(literally, I never invest anything into the spartan Autogun. I go Smartgun from the AMG and it satisfies those needs just fine. Until I UAC Chaingun and then its all ogre)

Ironically a gun like that I could see delivering Choking munitions, poison gas rounds even though the damage would probably still be the same, its like delivering a whole bunch of those green flintlock balls. Some really heavy hurting could be delivered with that.

How about Stun Gas rounds so its like smaller versions of the knockout grenade and you can just burst on someone up close while wearing a gas mask. Ahh but that would be broken wouldn't it?

I think some Hilarious ammo for it would be awesome, then basically its like the vanilla autocannon loaded up with HE. But a blunderbuss with explosive shells is kinda sorta the same thing (40 damage, a burst of 4, its a tiny bit slower to keep it up and not as nice to inventory). Piratez Autocannon + HE I think would beat a spitfire loaded with hellerium munitions, as much as id like 42-48 explosive damage on the spitfire I dont think there's a place at the table for that.

To make some constructive feedback of the current "display damage" conversation:

Im with Dioxine on this one, damage itself is an abstract concept that is supposed to cover how effective an offense has been against a target. I didnt know that the hit log could tell you that 0 damage had been done, ill be on the lookout for that in the future.

But using TTRPGs as an example players might know how much damage they've been doing but the GM will not tell the players how many HP the monster has left. And one question that me as a player always like to ask is "generally speaking how hurt is it?"

Looking at something you can probably tell how bad a shape its in, not to the fine-tuned level of health remaining, but wound categories like they always talk about after someone gets in an accident. Its nice to know when I middle click on a target that its bleeding because of the bleed indicator, but that doesnt say much for their current status and how they're reeling.

I would suggest on the middle-click target screen we give a Heart-With-Dagger icon just under the Bleeding Indicator if the target has lost more than a certain amount of health from maximum. Having only one indicator means only one more math check, only one icon to display, and it leaves things vague enough to not give away too much info to the player with respect to the necessity to use mind probe items

Im thinking 67% because below that they've lost alot and if they were reduced to 1/3rd its likely they'd be KOd by then.

This is also an opportunity to spoof the Hearts display from Zelda, since the icon could literally look like 1 heart and 2 empty hearts LOL.

(so my suggestion, if any indicator is given to the player about damage thats being delivered, it should be done from the other end of the spectrum and the info given practically while still being vague enough not to break immersion... what is this doing to my enemy? am I getting anywhere with this guy?)

Realistically you can tell if someone is bleeding, but you can also tell if they're reeling too and not quite on their game.

Fallout may have had a log that told you all sorts of things including when you wasnt even scratching them. But you kinda needed that because of how strenuous combat could be (ie, barely surviving, one turn between killing this thing or it killing you).

In xcom and piratez thats more of a luxury because you're not operating one main character, if its a bite-your-knuckles close call then you've probably done something wrong.

In my experience close calls are all usually TU related and having overextended myself, now ive got 2 people standing right next to the chryssalid trying to take it down and 1 person and their exact placement and whether or not they can get 2 full melee attacks on it is what stands between success and failure. And I know all the stats involved there, its no mystery. The challenge of playing xcom is usually things like this, especially when there's no choice (like TFTD's artifact sites) and you simply will have to take risks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 20, 2018, 11:28:48 am
One thought here: Such a feedback of 'how severe wounded is my enemy' makes only very limited sense.
I explain why: If I want something to be dead in fear of it doing reactionshots or simply allowing it to react in the next A.I.'s turn, I light the target up using all tools I brought into battle.
If I only rely on plasma blunderbuss while facing a sectopod the chances I'm losing 1-2 hands from reactionfire is quite high. Instead I use my plasma rockets and mortar or one of my two portable lascannons deployed by hands in jumpsuits (assault or blitz).

Such a dangerous enemy simply has to die and it makes little sense to constantly check for it's vague HP indicator to determine how much more firepower is needed to get rid of the walker.
Such a feature would be alot more useful to have for knocked out enemies. We all had those 'milkruns' where we capture every single enemy for more slaves but post-mission we still got some corpses due to the stun/turn damage mechanic. If we can see the condition of the soon-be captive, we could salvage more captives for our empire.

It remains totally optional and a QoL change since we got the blessing of non-lethal stun weaponry. There's no need to bash heads in if we one-shot our prey with a handle/ninja stick/heavy baton.
This feature would have most of it's value during encounters with faction leaders and anything you want to research to fill all the gaps in the techtree.
Nothing more frustrating in losing your guildmaster to stun/turn and missing out on his cydonia-codes/reseach topic.
Not everyone has a fully fledged seductress standing around the corner to 'convince' him to stay down and tell us trader secrets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 20, 2018, 01:11:31 pm
Such a dangerous enemy simply has to die and it makes little sense to constantly check for it's vague HP indicator to determine how much more firepower is needed to get rid of the walker.

I once had to burn the thing with flamethrowers, which took coupple of turns. I had advantageous position, so only one causalty in the end.

Speaking of flamethrowers... this mod seriously needs hand flamers, its such a Warhammer clasic!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 20, 2018, 02:57:36 pm
While we got flamers in various shapes they can be used either 1- or 2-handed.
We also got rod of hellfire and the smaller sister for voodoo-burn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 21, 2018, 03:16:52 am
Just ran into the Underwater Bank/Zaxx mission and want to give kudos for it. The way that buildings were recolored for underwater was right on and spooky, and a great job was done on the "Business SUV" that has all the money hanging off the back of it.
(their business went underwater indeed)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 21, 2018, 03:24:15 am
I just noticed that this thread's title has "Re:" on it :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: khade on February 21, 2018, 07:22:11 am
On the 'what damage you did to the target' subject, we do really have more information than is realistic: with research, we know exactly how much damage that weapon can do and with bootypedia we can check exactly how much armor our target should have and how they react to damage types, assuming we've fought them before and researched them.  If we haven't researched either, we know nothing except what we observe.  IRL someone is likely to just know that a specific vest will stop a specific bullet and they aren't going to have time to actually think about these things much while in combat.

I think we do have enough information, though it could be interesting if specific suits offered more in depth analysis.

On the tabletop front: you generally give the numbers to the person running the game, but that doesn't mean you know for sure what those numbers actually mean in that situation.  Your pistol might be able to do 24 damage with a good shot, but unless the GM informs you, you don't know if your attack was actually a good shot and you don't know how much of that damage the Crysalid actually took or what 24 is in relation to its HP.


On another subject Dioxine, have you ever thought about changing the overt references to things, setting up a team to build your own game and creating a post-apoc vichy earth B-movie masterpiece?


Also, how would the laser musket from Fallout 4 be set up in this sort of game, having to take an action to recharge after every shot or just no autofire laser rifle with no reload?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Labraid on February 21, 2018, 08:40:25 am
On the subject of damage feedback, I feel examining the enemy for how badly banged up he is is only good on paper. Sure you can see if some unlucky G.O. standing 1,5m in front of you is just scratched of if his guts are about to spill out so it would work in this situation, but consider an enemy in heavy combat gear or even power armor taking cover 50m away. Galls might have a good eyesight, but they are no psyhics in general, on the other hand Alliance Advisor or any psychic gal with mind probe is a reasonable source of info on enemy.

Only QOL change i would want is predicted lethality display when taking shots at the enemy next to hit chance. It might display categories of potential damage like none-light-medium-high-lethal calculated of 50%-150% weapon damage (I consider anything less than 50 or more than 150 as enemy luck or critical hits) and show up only if you have research on both your weapon and enemy armor/species. Damage clasification would be based on enemy max hp, not current hp.
So in practice aiming some kind of pistol at Osiron Security from the front would show lethality at none-light, but the same weapon aimed at his bottom armor or back would show light-medium or higher.
However as mentioned it is only QOL as players learn to estimate such things from experience while playing, so it really serves just to shave off some frustration of newer or returning players.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 21, 2018, 06:28:10 pm
On the 'what damage you did to the target' subject, we do really have more information than is realistic.

I agree but only in terms of precision. Knowing the difference between 33 and 36 damage is quite the precise estimate, especially since both are gonna be up to 200% of that anyway. We know the difference between a 9mm, .357mag, and .50ae and what they can do, and calibers like 5.56mm, .308, and .338 - we know what kinds of vests they will bust and have given them ratings. A damage number really is alot more specific than "Level III capable, 96% one shot stop capability"


The FO4 laser musket could be emulated with just a couple tweaks to the system as it is. Maximum shot count per turn which isn't implicitly or rigidly dictated by the TU cost.
Code: [Select]
ConfSnap:
     MaxShots: 1     #only allows this many shots per turn regardless of available resources

Would work good to balance some other items so they cant be abused, energy weapons that are so strong they need to actually cool down or recharge between shots (MP lascannon and rail driver come to mind).

Also something still needs to be implemented to make it possible to retain an item that has a clipsize but no ammo. Using the Expendable property might be a dirty fix for that (expendable: false, weapon runs out of ammo and it doesnt disappear).

Though I think Dioxine would much rather have a MutatesIntoOnOverkill, MutatesIntoOnDeath properties. Changes the item into the indicated item given the condition

* Precious fabrige eggs that becomes damaged goods if they take even a lick of damage, but if overkilled/totally destroyed turns into an invisible item that spawns a base hunting mission against you ("goblin zaxx is angry").
* Mission with a bunch of fragile stasis capsules holding chryssalids, and when you destroy (but not overkill) the capsule it turns into the chryssalid setting it loose [more likely a underwater artifact site with a bunch of stasis capsules holding tentaculats, which are set loose if they're broken].
* When an item is used up it enters death state, which can turn it into a broken or discharged version that can be fixed/recharged back at the workshop. Or likewise it could be an unstable nuclear energy weapon and when it gets used too many times it becomes a timebomb and overloads.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 21, 2018, 07:32:03 pm
Portable Lascannon has 55% TU cost for snap, so this gun is gated as "one shot per turn".
Raildriver costs 45% TU for snap by 50% acc. You would need alot of further investments to get it 'broken' like assassin-suit and kneeling bonus.
Only 5 rounds, quite heavy, 2handed and even the aimed shot has only 15tiles accurate range.

I like the idea with those 'eggs' and expired items we could fix up for small investments.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 22, 2018, 11:52:50 pm
Portable Lascannon has 55% TU cost for snap, so this gun is gated as "one shot per turn".
Raildriver costs 45% TU for snap by 50% acc. You would need alot of further investments to get it 'broken' like assassin-suit and kneeling bonus.
Only 5 rounds, quite heavy, 2handed and even the aimed shot has only 15tiles accurate range.

I like the idea with those 'eggs' and expired items we could fix up for small investments.

I was trying to pull an example up and kinda failed at it. The special powers of some suits are probably a better example, though any weapon that "charges" could be given a similar treatment.


In my current playthrough im not sure if the "used base assault kit" is giving me the proper mission penalty for attacking an enemy hideout. I attacked one just to milk it for captures and equipment and I didnt see the penalty show up on the points screen (but the "kit" was in the list of recovered items, which I sold). I ended up getting about 270 points between kills/captures, is the -400 points a hidden debuff or is it supposed to show up on the points list? since im not sure if tha 270 is before the debuff, or without it.

Also noticed that im getting in a habit of milking supply runs for baby nukes but not bothering to finish the map. I just kill dudes outside and take their stuff and then I leave. It also makes sure the ship doesnt stay on the ground that long.
(I could wait 20 turns for it to explode just to finish it off, but I dont even care about clicking the end turn button that many times)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on February 23, 2018, 01:12:17 am
I think the spent base assault kit is considered a strange artifact, so you'd get a "strange artifact recovered" score of around -400 if you didn't recover any actual point-giving artifacts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 23, 2018, 05:33:36 am
I think the spent base assault kit is considered a strange artifact, so you'd get a "strange artifact recovered" score of around -400 if you didn't recover any actual point-giving artifacts.

Nope it didnt do that, and believe me I have not modded or tweaked that. Then again my game is also dropping the academy student + trophy at the aircar race (check my installation? installing is as simple as unzipping the file then copying the vanilla assets to the UFO folder, if there's an error its in the zipfile on the google drive hosting).


I do have a genuine question though... is there anything you can actually make money off of early game manufacture that doesnt involve alcohol? Im setting up another sweatshop and id have to wait awhile for the extractors to complete before I can even add a still (and the still takes a long time to construct, and costs a fat chunk too). I might have Boom Gun Ammo available by then but im still a good 8-12 techs behind getting to the Boom Gun to produce the ammunition. It has to be something I can order rather than depleting stock of captured materials, so that I can keep doing it ad-finitium.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Roxis231 on February 23, 2018, 07:48:56 am
I know that XPiratez now uses a custom pallet for the Inventories - but where is it.

I've looked in all the folders I think it should be in and can't seem to find it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 23, 2018, 08:52:18 am
The hideout-assault-kit does cause -400 score but it can go unnoticed if you have more than 400score worth of strange loot captured in the results screen.

Early we had the option to hire mercenary securities as aux-units. Those had an item that gave you -50 score for renting them on the battlefield. Those -50 usually never showed up on the score board since it's shares the same slot in the statistic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Bloax on February 23, 2018, 01:39:24 pm
I know that XPiratez now uses a custom pallet for the Inventories - but where is it.

I've looked in all the folders I think it should be in and can't seem to find it.
Closest thing I have lying around is
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/f3slusvaeb3ei6b/paleta_cock5.act
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/az0efdyo2acy969/paleta_cock5.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 23, 2018, 01:40:21 pm
I do have a genuine question though... is there anything you can actually make money off of early game manufacture that doesnt involve alcohol? Im setting up another sweatshop

It is called piratez, piracy should be your main source of income for most of the game. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 23, 2018, 03:35:36 pm
But how do you generate this much income over the cause of the campaign?
If you want to fully scratch any surplus production from your workshops you've to add more chips and loot in general to every mission or make all items you can't manufucture worth to be sold for a decent price.

Reduce maintaince cost for buildings, make soldiers cheaper to feed and pay and you've to cut down the cost for crafts, workers, brainers and runts.
Add even more infamy bonus, add more protection-money growth... this goes on and on.

I don't see a reason why this should be considered. Vanilla treated itself serious but allowed you to sell aliens on the blackmarket. Who would buy a live alien or even a corpse?
You could also mass produce lasers to sell to ... pretty much everyone in the world. I think it's fine as it is and a good grog is made out of 99% rum anyway.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Negative on February 23, 2018, 03:56:03 pm
Whom do I need to kiil and salvage to get the plasma spitter?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 23, 2018, 03:59:44 pm
Plasma-Spitters come in parts. Those parts can be found almost allways in Viper Fighters and onto the bigger ships like bombers, cruisers and battleships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 23, 2018, 04:01:35 pm
Also envoys which are easiest targets if crewed by factions, not star gods)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Negative on February 23, 2018, 04:03:47 pm
thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 23, 2018, 05:48:42 pm
It is called piratez, piracy should be your main source of income for most of the game. ;)

This doesnt answer my question, besides I already do that.
To repeat, are there any worthwhile items to mass produce early-mid game that provide a profit and dont involve requiring a still?


(to give some examples, with 60 runts, which have an upkeep of 300k... I can mine hellerium for close to 700,000 per month for a profit of 400k.)
(But the durathread bra which is supposed to derive a big profit according to the bootypedia does not fetch anything of the sort since they only sell for like 90 apiece. Also you would think explosives would be a hot commodity but given the chemicals used for them plus the mysterious up-front price required for them, none of them fetch a profit and even the chem grenades only break-even)

As a matter of fact the bootypedia says that Durathread can be made into stuff for a tidy profit, but none of the items you can make with it will give you a profit. It costs 3000 per unit and most of the stuff that you make with it requires multiple units and sells far less.


Whom do I need to kiil and salvage to get the plasma spitter?
The plasma spitter is almost useless since it eats 1 hellerium per shot. Even the codex flame cannon was inefficient for using hellerium as ammo despite causing even more damage than the spitter. (the bootypedia graphic is also hideous)

The parts are usually in the bigger ships, which if you've got 3 interceptors you could take down pretty easy, or with enough radar coverage across the globe you're bound to find them landing somewhere and you can hit them the easy way.

Whenever they're setting up a hideout take your flagship over to the general area and wait for one of the large ships to land. Point isnt to stop the enemy hideout from spawning, its to milk as many of those big ships as you can. In my playthroughs northern europe seems to be a popular spot but that could just be a coincidence, I usually put my main base right in the middle of the Ural mountains so its not far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 23, 2018, 08:13:42 pm
The plasma spitter is almost useless since it eats 1 hellerium per shot.

Hellerium is rarely in short supply. Its damage and ammo capacity can help dealing with some tougher shippings early on if you somehow manage to get the parts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on February 23, 2018, 08:18:56 pm
This doesnt answer my question, besides I already do that.
To repeat, are there any worthwhile items to mass produce early-mid game that provide a profit and dont involve requiring a still?

Not so early but.... Superhero Costume  :o

EDIT: Wanted to say superslave. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 23, 2018, 08:37:53 pm
Aare there any worthwhile items to mass produce early-mid game that provide a profit and dont involve requiring a still?

X-Grog once you have the still.

Moonshine. Gymsuits, Swimsuits, Bikinis.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ivandogovich on February 24, 2018, 01:29:54 am
To repeat, are there any worthwhile items to mass produce early-mid game that provide a profit and dont involve requiring a still?

Not many.  Booze is your best profit for quite a while.

This is my sheet for calculating profits.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CkPqVsGXP72ncwIMQjk8gW2Qnc3sVNJVW0ZXhAWcKoc/edit#gid=1134076783

Flame Arrows aren't bad early if you don't have an extractor.  Feel free to recommend other items to the list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 24, 2018, 03:51:48 am
Moonshine. Gymsuits, Swimsuits, Bikinis.

Not many. Flame Arrows aren't bad early if you don't have an extractor.  Feel free to recommend other items to the list.

Thanks guys thats what I was asking about.  ;D
And contrary to spoilers I wasnt asking about the best item to make, only ones that actually fielded a decent profit.

Ysee the thing is putting a Still in takes a long time and eats almost 800K, which adds to the already high cost of setting up 3 extractors to host 60 runts. Alot of overhead to tend to before they break even, and for the (over 20) days the Still is being constructed they will sit there on their hands and need to produce something else. Likewise im getting close to, but im not quite to the point of making Boom Gun Ammo so for this particular sweatshop im committed to not putting in a Still at all.

(boom ammo eats alot of PS but there is usually a heck of alot of it laying around, and it still produces a good profit even if you have to buy it, but once the 'printer gets going it becomes even more profitable - and I can do that well in advance of the tank production routine since that will probably take another year...)

(profit for boom ammo is around $30/hour which is roughly double what hellerium mining gives you, its not as much as wine but its practically inexhaustible, especially if you keep the PS flowing - and thats basement profit level since thats considering buying the PS for 7.5K per unit)

I know about X-Grog, my other sweatshop does nothing but produce it, while my main base produces wine and alternates to grog when the apples run dry. I figure while I have 6 bases up and running I might as well take advantage of another one for production. Since the intended sweatshop is a rather minimal base, like the others, it will probably be converted to a Factory when that time comes.

Swimsuits, Gymsuits, Bikinis huh... in the category of things that I never produce LOL
I wonder why there was such a fuss in the bootypedia about the Durathread Bra (and panties?).

I mean having built up a bunch of durathread means if you got a way to expend the spare stuff for profit thats a good way to trade up on the sales price. But usually I can think of worthwhile uses for it to make stuff that will not be sold and will be used or upgraded into other armor suits. Which means all of that material is basically needed, and it only becomes cheaper to replace it when the 'printer comes around.
(Durathread Armor is nice to have laying around since I think it has to be upgraded into metal, chainmail, power armor, and other kinds of armor as a lining)

To be specific the reason I was saying Durathread stuff isnt profitable is because until you get the 'printer (mid-late game) it costs 3K to buy it. And by the time you've got the printer there's alot of other things like medical supplies that are much more straightforward to get into.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 24, 2018, 09:49:21 am
I do have a genuine question though... is there anything you can actually make money off of early game manufacture that doesnt involve alcohol?
Flame arrows are the most profitable thing that can be produced early-to-mid game without a still, an extractor, or using up resources. Superslave Costume is even better if you have the space for all the Soylent.
Here's a list of infinite-production items ordered by profitability. It's not updated to the latest version (and contains end-game tech), but should still be pretty much accurate:
NameHoursOpportunity CostsBuy CostsNet FundsProfit/HProfit/H (Repeatable)
BATTLE TANK M10000112500018750003600000247.5172.5
BATTLE TANK10000112500018750003500000237.5162.5
XG Rifle Clip (24x10)6503600060000148000172.3076923135.3846154
XG Assault Clip (16x10)6002700045000108500135.8333333105.8333333
BATTLE TANK M1A10000001000000100100
Plastasteel (x50)15002187531250175000102.083333395.83333333
XG Assault Clip/Aqua (16x10)6002550052500108500138.333333393.33333333
Medical Supplies (x10)400350050002650057.553.75
Chemicals (x25)350001500042.8571428642.85714286
Superslave Costume50440600245040.237
Boom Gun Ammo (10x10)500540009000010400010028
Spike Rockets (x9)6508050115002800030.6923076925.38461538
X-Grog24000539922.4958333322.49583333
Railgun Rounds (x15)8006750011250012900076.87520.625
MP Lascannon Clip (4x5)55010500150002600028.1818181820
SC Cannonballs (x5)350350050001200024.2857142920
Banana Clip/MAG (18x10)500800012500220002819
50mm Cannon8007000100002500022.518.75
Hellerium Distilling750001190015.8666666715.86666667
Flame Arrows12000190015.8333333315.83333333
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 24, 2018, 12:41:43 pm
Thank you for the list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ivandogovich on February 24, 2018, 05:58:30 pm
I wonder why there was such a fuss in the bootypedia about the Durathread Bra (and panties?).

Those are basically relics of earlier versions.  Hellerium Extraction wasn't even a thing when that first went into the bootypedia, and many items have been added since, and others have been nerfed.  Overall, Manufacturing profitability is still a work in progress that Dioxine tweaks every now and again.  Expect it to change again.  I expect cc's list showing XG ammo having huge profits to also bring on a nerf. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on February 24, 2018, 07:06:52 pm
A curiosity question.

Does anybody had used sneaky AI on piratez? What is the difference? How the game change? What are your opinions about it. On normal Xcom, FMP and Hellfire´s mod, I used it. But I´m curious about the effects of that on Piratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 24, 2018, 07:26:48 pm
Superslave Costume is even better if you have the space for all the Soylent.

Thanks again. Huh didn't think of those spike rockets or the sc cannonballs. I never tech into slave stuff so I didn't know about the superslave. Also haven't gotten into XG weapons before so didn't know about those (however, not wanting to spoil things, but the XG weapons seem like proprietary pirate tech and it would not make sense for their ammo to sell high since nobody on the market has the guns for it. If anything I would think the EP clips for RCF and Niner would sell decent since everybody on the market has those and they're exotic and effective too)

But seeing this chart now I'm thinking of just going full auto Plastasteel instead of bothering with the hassle of tanks, its less profit but its worth dodging the hassle involved (that factory has at least 15 million up front startup cost plus its 3x3 boss Hogg)

Edit- now that I think of it without having to make a factory I can probably just invest 2 bases for printer use. Probably more profit from that actually. (I forgot if my big ship will actually need a factory later)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on February 24, 2018, 07:35:44 pm
Some questions I've saved up while playing:

1) What exactly trains voodoo skill?  The game says using voodoo does, but my mages haven't gained a single point past 40, which is the max you can get from voodoo school.  I've used tome of lightning, rod of hellfire, cobra staff, heartgrip staff, master's cane, voodoo great staff, and maybe some other stuff without any gain.  Does the gal have to be wearing certain outfits or something?

2) Assault bike is great fun but seems buggy.  Sometimes the gal wearing it just doesn't show up on the ship, starting with the equip screens before the battle.  I don't think it can be a mission restriction, because it happens when I've shot down a ship - the bike has worked great on heavy freighters, but right now it's just not materializing for one I just shot down.  Is there a restriction on terrain or something? 

3) The assault bike also has a big backpack, so I bring an extra ammo belt, but on the battlescape you can't go into inventory view and hence can't reload.  Is this intentional?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 24, 2018, 07:37:48 pm
I expect cc's list showing XG ammo having huge profits to also bring on a nerf. ;)
They already have been nerfed: in the past, you could manufacture them without a printer. Given the relative position in the tech tree, I expect Superslave Costume to fall down instead. ;)
The other things already feel "right".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 24, 2018, 07:43:44 pm
1) What exactly trains voodoo skill?  The game says using voodoo does, but my mages haven't gained a single point past 40, which is the max you can get from voodoo school.  I've used tome of lightning, rod of hellfire, cobra staff, heartgrip staff, master's cane, voodoo great staff, and maybe some other stuff without any gain.  Does the gal have to be wearing certain outfits or something?
40 is the stat cap. The only way to get over it is to train it till 39 and then use it a lot in the next battle to chance a high skill roll.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on February 24, 2018, 09:00:40 pm
40 is the stat cap. The only way to get over it is to train it till 39 and then use it a lot in the next battle to chance a high skill roll.

Ah, thanks. 

I see the hints in the assault bike bootypedia about getting the bike to show up by gal order, and it seems to work. 

The bootypedia also talks about automatic reload, but that has failed to work for me.  Maybe because I also had other items in the backpack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 25, 2018, 12:36:09 am
Newest .exe has the auto-reload fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: KZad Bhat on February 25, 2018, 07:47:26 am
As far as the newest .exe, can that just be dropped into the directory structure normally, or are there other steps to be taken? I could go ahead and go to 3.10a right now, but Dioxine mentions a custom .exe, and I don't know if there really are changes from the regular OXCE+, or he's just referring to OXCE+ being made primarily for PirateZ.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 25, 2018, 12:19:53 pm
Before you eventually f-up your system and gaming experience, just wait a little longer and drink some sweet rum.

Assault Bike is a great HWP-armor but I stopped using them once I applied the 'more HWPs' mod and have quite some fun in using the 'blaster-launcher'-tank and the 76mm tanks.

The bike is only 'this good' until you can rely on actual HWPs like Mortar/HWP or hovertank-chassis.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 25, 2018, 06:32:02 pm
As far as the newest .exe, can that just be dropped into the directory structure normally?
No because the game will throw an error, which is easily corrected (the rangefinder item needs to be given clipSize: -1 in the pirates.rul). However one side effect may be losing out on aircar race trophies, the academy student won't spawn (I'm guessing this has been fixed but won't be evident until the new edition comes out). I had to upgrade though because of ufopaedia text color customization options, because I unlocked the range16 dark Grays on the palette
(I'm sure all that sounds cryptic)
(Also I'm not entirely sure that meridian necessarily needs to leave those range16 grays "hardcoded", but I'm sure that's in an antquaited and cobwebbed part of the source code)

Quote
Ethereal_Medic
I suppose, but all I wanted the tanks&cars mod for was getting early access to those cars. And their stats were nerfed . I'm fine with the standard tanks and for HvyFreighter I usually bring my own tanks.

For that mission I'd suggest folks do some metagaming and avoid the imposed-tech that triggers the guild to launch them, until you're ready for those missions. I believe what angers them is trying to unlock gauss, and you can let that wait honestly.

When I make my own mod it'll include access to the cars, and maybe a tank armed with hovertank weapons just so that functionality isn't lost (and its already going to be incompatible with tanks&cars)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 25, 2018, 09:59:35 pm
Those heavy freighters only deal serious infamy penalty once you've researched the heavy freighter flight plans topic.
Until then, the penalty is alot smaller and totally sustainable by your on-going research and succesful missions all over the globe.

1. Have tools to destroy the HWPs outside (and 1-2 of them inside the first floor). They have only minimal thermal vision so smoke screens do great against them.
2. Have tools to deal with marsec bodyguards and marsec operatives. A seductress can reliable stun a bodyguard if you get her close enough with LoS. Laser and explosives do good outside while inside you should rely on axes and cutting weaponry.
3. Cause a mass-panic by killing as many units possible during one-two turns.
4. Stay away from the sides of the ship. Those windows are most of the time manned with soldiers firing their gauss-rifles and lasers at you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 25, 2018, 11:03:54 pm
1. Have tools to destroy the HWPs outside (and 1-2 of them inside the first floor). They have only minimal thermal vision so smoke screens do great against them.

hellerium grenades
for the whole lot of em
(all pre-primed, dont worry about how many you lose, enemy grenades will replinish it)

I also just had this wild, wild idea about using a Timed Baby Nuke being carried by an Attack Dog (he does have a 2x2 inventory slot, technically he could carry two and drop one off on his way to doggy heaven). It could drop off a satchel though.
(also mental image of doggy walking up to enemy, drops dynamite, drops another dynamite, then runs off)



Edit - further condensed wall of text

Tanks:
Satchel Charges. Force Blade. Panzerfaust? Greatclub? Anchor+Waterboy?
Rear Armor Hits: Boom Gun, Plasma Blunderbuss, Toxigun.

Bodyguards:
Landmine? Good way to dump off your excess dynamite? Bomb Dog? High-EX?
Assault Grenade Launcher. GL/Plasma.
Rear Armor Hit: Spiked Mace, Tech Blade.
(Recoilless and Rail Driver run too high a risk of overkilling)

Operatives:
Flak Cannon Burst, Sniper Rifle/PS outdoors, Toxigun (die die die)
Rear Armor Hit: Clockwork Pistol (x3 hits, maybe 2 pistols), Military Shotgun/AP
Give him a case of Grenade-Foot, even Frag grenades, he will bleed or die.

Ship Entry:
Bring 2 Anchors. Punch a hole in the side of the ship, front or aft, if the engine explosion hasnt already done it for you, get everyone in quick. Equip an Anchor with a Flying Armor Gal, bring the flying gals in the upper floors to flank (and use the ship as cover from tanks on approach). I say anchor-woman because unlike a pickaxe it can destroy people too and it will not overkill them... its not graceful to use but if you just have one guy in the hallway he can be obliterated safely.


Morale:
Kill the Guild Rep along with a kill streak. Lots of dudes will drop their weapon and may be in surrendering-state.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 26, 2018, 07:58:01 am
For that mission I'd suggest folks do some metagaming and avoid the imposed-tech that triggers the guild to launch them, until you're ready for those missions. I believe what angers them is trying to unlock gauss, and you can let that wait honestly.
It unlocks once the following are researched:
Marsec, Guild Air Sailor, Guild Engineer, Guildmaster, Broken Guild Engineer, Broken Guild Rep, Human Powered Armor
If you want to wait, skip the Guildmaster. ;)

Those heavy freighters only deal serious infamy penalty once you've researched the heavy freighter flight plans topic.
This is wrong. There is only one mission spawning Heavy Freighters and it's unlocked by "The Guild is Angry". Researching the Fleight Plan doesn't change the missions in any way or form.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 26, 2018, 02:26:40 pm
Okay I was thinking researching the plans does infamy penalty for ignoring it.
The researched topic clearly states, that a missed opportunity nets infamy penalty.
I wasn't aware this is the case beforehand so researching those plans seems pointless besides unlocking more necessary tech.

I wouldn't shot a HWP from behind with a shotgun-type weapon. Those tanks used by the traders can snapshot!
If you run too low on TU's they'll do a 180° turret-turn and shot you point-blank in reaction.
Either you make 100% sure the kill connects on the first try or you better reserve enough TUs to have something like 50% of your max TUs after shooting the tank. This far in the campaign you should have advanced rocket launchers and even the normal HE payload does a good chunk of damage with a point-blank shot, usually one-hit the tank due to 4x damage.
I rely on the mining laser to cut holes into ships. Might give the anchor a try now in doing the job.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 26, 2018, 10:32:11 pm
It unlocks once the following are researched:
Marsec, Guild Air Sailor, Guild Engineer, Guildmaster, Broken Guild Engineer, Broken Guild Rep, Human Powered Armor. If you want to wait, skip the Guildmaster. ;)

Will do, he's a rare and powerful pokemon to catch anyways.

I wouldn't shot a HWP from behind with a shotgun-type weapon. Those tanks used by the traders can snapshot!

Their reactions are real low, and to avoid reaction fire from marsec ops I normally use 2 ladies and alternate between them so their total TU doesnt get low before the damage piles up.

The boom gun may no longer be able to kill it. In the last edition it was still doing 500 damage and in 99I its buckshot count has been reduced to 6. The damage was always underwater when it comes to tanks but because of 10 pellets you had alot of chances to roll high, which while being quite random had a good chance to blow off about 1/2 of a tank's health. Now it may only be good enough to finish it off.

The Plasma Blunderbuss should do a solid job on it because of armor erosion, the damage is even further underwater than the boom gun but the erosion happens first - even after 2 blasts to the rear its got a chance to destroy that tank (an explosive or melee should be used to finish it off unless another gal can chime in). Seems tanks have a buff against chem damage but even then, the Toxigun will probably hit with at least 6 of its projectiles and it melts armor just like plasma.
(I havent been using the toxigun at all but now that I keep talking about it so much im seriously considering having a few on the transport in lieu of other heavy weapons as my problem solver, its just so quirky and neat and its lightweight)

Re: Anchor
Power = 2.0 x Strength, if she has 80 like she should then this weapon causes 80-240 damage (yes even the ranged hit is tftd damage roll). Damages armor 10%. Its like being hit with a dump truck.
Accuracy = Strength (80% acc is pretty darn good within 6 tiles)

Hurling it costs 64% TU + 48 energy but it can melee for 24 TU + 24 energy which aint so hard to pull off (its a greatclub on steroids). If you're prepared you should just hurl it since they cant dodge that. It ignores overkill so it will not remove bodies, this is definitely a bodyguard killer if you can surprise him. If positioned properly this kills the tank.

Combine it with flying armor and she's probably got triple digits energy & TUs every round to start with. Thus your anchor-women is best supported by flying armor (only way to nerf this is give flying armors -10 strength and say the lack of traction prevents exerting full leverage). Probably 3 hits can be expected to pierce a ship hull. On top of the heavy freighter there is plenty of opportunity to take your time tearing a hole into it, and on other big ships like cruisers I think you could just tear a hole in the roof rather than stay exposed on the side.

(looking in the .rul file I see that the Pickaxe can now be hurled for damage like an anchor and is generally more effective due to being quicker, but the anchor will cause alot more damage to bumpkins... maybe have 1 gal with anchor and 1 gal with pickaxe just to make the can-opener team more efficient?)

MyFaceWhen... I realize the perfect team to assault a heavy freighter is in fact a SuperWoman team of flying girls along with a couple tanks to run interference. By this time racking up grav harnesses for a crew of 6+ shouldn't be hard since raider buzzards now hand them over when you slave them out. You dont need armor when you're always stabbing people in the back.

(another honorable mention for melee is the simple Barbed Dagger, it can kill bodyguards just as well as a mace because its faster, which reminds me of getting ganked by combat knives in fallout even while wearing combat armor)

another flying armor tactic for the heavy freighter is floating just out of view from the gun ports on the sides, then popping over to see if anyone came in and blow them away point blank, I guess a landmine could also be tossed at the door for a nice surprise too
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ragshak on February 26, 2018, 11:00:56 pm
Would really like to see some no-dead feature for those six starting gals. They are uniqe but fragile in the beginning because of no good armor avaible. We can always savescum to not loose them but this kills the fun.

Maybe it would be possible to add feature that those starting gals can't be one shooted? If they take fatal blow instead of dying they could at least go unconscious, giving player the time to take care of thier wounds.

Would be too easy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 26, 2018, 11:18:05 pm
It's not supposed to be this way.
You can rush to recruit 'hands' if you need more cannon fodder.
If you want those 6 to survive fatal injuries, you also have to tell the game the time to 'stop' babysit your campaign.
Early game: Stay healthy or reset. If you lose your lunatics and can't affort more hands, restart. Take the experiences from the previous run and try again.
Also: Fight at night! Your units have superior nightvision to assure you free reactionshots onto everyone running into LoS.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 27, 2018, 06:28:17 am
It's not supposed to be this way. You can rush to recruit 'hands' if you need more cannon fodder.
Much like vanilla it is pretty easy to reset early on.

The toughest early missions for those hands will probably be Ratman Rodeos, because ratmen often carry flintlocks and they do enough damage to put you down. If you have to, skip a rodeo, they mostly provide apples which you cant use for several months. With temple missions its easy to die given the hardware used, but at least you know where the danger is.

Lokknarr missions are easier - sky ninjas are rough but there's only 4 of them and melee is the best way to take them out.

I suggest selling your radar facility as soon as the game starts to avoid annoying traffic popups (most are civilian), and get a nice money bonus (buy extra brainer?). Better just do missions and wait until you get Overcharged Radar before starting the air game, it should float you until then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 27, 2018, 12:38:16 pm
I am 99% sure it will be easier to hire new hands in the next release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 27, 2018, 01:37:06 pm
I suggest selling your radar facility as soon as the game starts to avoid annoying traffic popups (most are civilian), and get a nice money bonus (buy extra brainer?). Better just do missions and wait until you get Overcharged Radar before starting the air game, it should float you until then.

Thats not good advice. You can get your extra brainer at the start by selling the corridor and some hellerium. You need the radar to detect the Academy nurses Airbus that is searching for you. They are a guaranteed mission that will land near your base. These Nurses are lightly armed and give good money when you capture them. They give you cattle prods, stun batons, mini las-chargers and varmint rifles.
You loose a lot when you sell your radar and don't do these missions.

You can also get lucky with landed UFOs early on. I had a military transpot mission in the 3rd month near my base. Three of these are guaranteed to land, one of them the transport. I had government crew, which give about 1 mil in ransom (jack sparrow crew size). The plastasteel, ship engine and hellerium is another 1 mil. So these three landed craft gave me about 6 mil in total, plus the military goodies.

I think in month 4 there is also a guaranteed recon mission near your base. These UFO's will also land. Radar is not about air game, it's about landed UFOs. Landed UFOs is where the big money is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 27, 2018, 02:36:44 pm
I wasn't aware the pocket las-charger and varmint rifles are now T0 equipment for those very early missions.
Aside from the minimal damage they can provide, the las-charger looks like a fancy solution for:
"Damn got not enough pistols, guess I'll give this pee-shooter a good rub instead." and even reserve ammo (and money)
The varmint rifle, as far as it works the same way the sporting rifle does in X-Files, seems good enough to offer a very precise gun for your best shooter until you can lay your hands onto a real weapon.

I sell the corridor instantly. In my current campaign (rank 3 difficulty) I went for a third brainer after my first 2 landed academy 'airbus' and invested into more runts to produce moonshine and additional canteens of refreshment. On the old patch the nurses had only muskets and old revolvers at best. I ambushed them during the night to get more value out of my superior night-vision.
It's also much easier to rush them during the night for man-handling them with the handle.

With the 2nd barracks in build I go for Jacktown research to get the first market-upgrade and buy decent revolvers and 6 uber-clothings to have better inventory options and +1 camo for night missions.
If I can't fill my airbus with at least 5 gals (+ parrot sometimes) I hire hands or those shipwrecked gals you get for fighting the brothel-mission and random during distress calls and 'blood rituals'. The latter takes some months to spawn and until that point you have 'better' guns or even 1-2 grav harness to entirely f'em up and capture them.

Those landed military transports are indeed a blessing and the best loot to get early on is a mix of defender and defender (-) armor. Close to immunity to small arms fire in those blue suits.

Also lategame-related:
If you find yourself with plenty of spare money chilling around, invest in zaxx-token and exchange those for "Slave Manager".
You get 1x slave taskmaster for 500k investment. Sounds much, every new slave pulled out of thin air reduces your overall upkeep and offers vault-space. Since I'm pumping pure money with 4-factory bases (480 runts building m1a-tanks) I got some spare coins for that. I gamble that my overall upkeep drops to 0 and below eventually. Still 32millions every month, bunch of workers and salaries for runts/brainers and soldiers/tanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 27, 2018, 06:33:36 pm
If you find yourself with plenty of spare money chilling around, invest in zaxx-token and exchange those for "Slave Manager".
You get 1x slave taskmaster for 500k investment. Sounds much, every new slave pulled out of thin air reduces your overall upkeep and offers vault-space. Since I'm pumping pure money with 4-factory bases (480 runts building m1a-tanks) I got some spare coins for that. I gamble that my overall upkeep drops to 0 and below eventually. Still 32millions every month, bunch of workers and salaries for runts/brainers and soldiers/tanks.
For extra profit, buy Saya and then pimp out Guild Hostess. They pay for themselves after a year, much faster than Taskmasters do.
Even when combined with Workers to offset the space loss, they are insanely profitable. Expect some rebalancing soon.
Profitability is roughly 45 for Guild Hostess + 2 Workers, 17 for Drone Herder, 12 for Taskmasters from the bank, and 11 for Slave Robots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 27, 2018, 08:32:33 pm
I want the vault-space in the first place and get rid of all workers :3
This strategy looks good too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 27, 2018, 09:00:22 pm
Thats not good advice. You can get your extra brainer at the start by selling the corridor and some hellerium.

Might just be where I put my base typically (Ural Mountains) but I almost never have landed UFOs that show up within radar range. Especially standard radar range.

Also until you can "turn off" the radar facility im always going to sell the thing right off the bat. Turning facilities off C&C style I think is a feature of the game at this point, but if you middle or right click on the radar it just goes to the bootypedia entry. I need to be able to shut that damn thing off, and then turn it on only when im looking for some ufos to chase (even if its maintenance cost monthly remains "on").

Going after civilian traffic is also worthwhile because of capturing Sharp Guys for sale. The negative infamy is more than made up for. Its just annoying that even civilian ships dont land that often... and then disappear.

For extra profit, buy Saya and then pimp out Guild Hostess.
Just remembered that workers only cost 10K up front, not per month (5K?), yeah I guess it would yield a profit.

Ive got a large vaults sitting at another base that I just throw my courtesans at, and when I start running low on space I go on a mass-producing spree. And I build power stations to put those ship engines to use (since you get them back if you sell it) so they stop taking up inventory space.

I wasn't aware the pocket las-charger and varmint rifles are now T0 equipment for those very early missions.

Pocket Las-Charger is a good way to get reaction fired on, and it does no damage to doors or scenery, about the only use is to shoot someone who's already panicked and disarmed themselves. Its one of those nerf guns that still poses a danger to you.
- And if you done run out of ammo you're not falling back on your FPS training by picking up someone else's weapon. Im not above grabbing a ratman's flintlock or a church neophyte's rusty niner.

Varmint Rifle is an excellent hole-bleeder. Its just as good as a scoped rifle or a battle rifle because folks will bleed and fall over. I love that thing, its only true replacement is the aforementioned because you get some armor pen with those.

Also what defines "Tier" in terms of equipment? There's so many shades of gray in this game for items that there must be a hundred tiers.

Quote
Brothel Missions
Yeahhh... about those. I know I get a free gal out of it but there's alot of firepower and those bandit boys are hard to melee. Alot of times ill just skip these missions because its too much of a pain to deal with them. I end up murdering the hell out of everything and getting all the negative infamy for it (negative points for ho's really? im cleaning up the streets... whatever)

This, if anything, is the mission I bring the Assault Cannon + Pyro Cannonballs with and just blow the crap out of the villa.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on February 27, 2018, 09:18:26 pm
I just break ther wall near the porson with a hammer, tkae the gall and leave most of the time when doing brothel missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 27, 2018, 09:44:34 pm
I just break the wall near the prison with a hammer, take the gall and leave most of the time when doing brothel missions.
*smacks forehead*
uggh ive done this for other things, why dont I remember to do it for this kinda issue
and if you run into the Highwayman down there, I dont think he's a negative score kill either
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on February 27, 2018, 11:18:57 pm
Might just be where I put my base typically (Ural Mountains) but I almost never have landed UFOs that show up within radar range. Especially standard radar range.
The nurse airbusses are guaranteed to show up near your base. They might not land in radar range, but it is almost impossible that none ever cross your radar covered zone. You need to order your airbus to follow them as soon as you see one flying. You can then follow them to their landing spot even if it is outside your radar. Did you not know that you can do that?

Also until you can "turn off" the radar facility im always going to sell the thing right off the bat. Turning facilities off C&C style I think is a feature of the game at this point, but if you middle or right click on the radar it just goes to the bootypedia entry. I need to be able to shut that damn thing off, and then turn it on only when im looking for some ufos to chase (even if its maintenance cost monthly remains "on").
Why would you want to turn it off? the maintenance is 7500, which is laughable.

Pocket Las-Charger is a good way to get reaction fired on, and it does no damage to doors or scenery, about the only use is to shoot someone who's already panicked and disarmed themselves. Its one of those nerf guns that still poses a danger to you.
The tu cost on that thing is so low, if you get reaction fired on you are playing wrong.
Concerning damage: It's a laser, which means it ignores 33% of armor. It can kill academy drones, even on jack sparrow. It is really useful for zombie missions or shambler hunts. You can't scavange guns and ammo from fallen enemies on these missions.
The pocket laser is also the 2nd most accurate early pistol, after the magnum. You can use it as a long range backup weapon on melee gals, where the 2x1 slots are usually filled with beer. The damage is enough to make an enemy bleed. If you are in no hurry, that is still a one hit kill.

This, if anything, is the mission I bring the Assault Cannon + Pyro Cannonballs with and just blow the crap out of the villa.
There are a lot of unarmed Hoes running around on these missions. They are easy to capture and sell for 7000. Capturing one is enough to pay one month of radar maintenance. The point of piratez is not to kill everything that moves...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 28, 2018, 12:29:26 am
The nurse airbusses are guaranteed to show up near your base.
Why would you want to turn it off? the maintenance is 7500, which is laughable.
The pocket laser is also the 2nd most accurate early pistol, after the magnum.
There are a lot of unarmed Hoes running around on these missions.
They are guaranteed to Attack my base, which is okay with me.

I want to turn radar off to get rid of countless popups for shipping that I will not engage. I want to turn off the radar for the same reason that I put a popup blocker on my web browser - because im doing other stuff like missions or waiting for research/manuf to finish and I dont want to be bothered. The *stop targeting civilian traffic* research topic which you get much further down the road sorta makes an analogy to this.

(if there was any facility that ever needed to be turned off, it is the radar)

Im generally unwilling to follow shipping using the Airbus because of its short range... about 80% of the time they already landed before entering radar range or the Airbus cant follow them to where they will. I will follow shipping with the Aircar though. It reminds me of filling out job applications... which I have PTSD over in real life and is one of the conditions I am disabled for.

The pocket lascharger has a medium-range TU cost for snap shots (20%) and that is actually a really big deal because the damage is so low. The other benefits including the accuracy just do not help (ie, more of nothing is still nothing). I wont even use the Holdout Pistol, but I will use the Black Adder... for a little while. The regular 1x2 size lascharger pistol is redeemable because its as effective as other pistols.
(the 1x1 size doesnt mean much either, ill pack a snub revolver as backup, even if its only got 5 shots its enough to wait until I pick up another gun off of someone)

The only unarmed ho's ive seen on the villa mission are the ones that panicked and dropped their gun. They usually have a snub revolver, and they come equipped with Bad Touch (so they are never in fact unarmed), and it seems like a surprisingly high reactions based on the number of reaction fire attempts I get from them. I just wont put up with it, they get blown away quick with a shotgun or become collateral damage. And if im going to stun anyone its going to be Highwaymen because of their research topics.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 28, 2018, 07:09:18 am
I want the vault-space in the first place and get rid of all workers :3
This strategy looks good too.
10 Taskmaster: 60 space and 60k profit for 5000k.
10 Courtesan and 35 Workers: 60 space and 75k profit for 3350k.

Even when going for space, running a brothel is the way to go. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: KZad Bhat on February 28, 2018, 07:34:16 am
RSSWizard, as far as the first Academy attack . . . in fact several runs, they always land in range of your Airbus. And by several runs I mean that first bus is not the one that attacks you, at least 2 will run before they hit your base. If you get them, you'll manage to kill/capture more, and get more stuff. I've taken as many as 5 buses at the start of a game, before the first month is even out.

As far as the RADAR bother . . . I would like to see a feature where you can set it to ignore a particular craft. After all, if I haven't gone after it the first time it comes in view, I'm probably not going at it again later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 28, 2018, 11:25:51 am
10 Taskmaster: 60 space and 60k profit for 5000k.
10 Courtesan and 35 Workers: 60 space and 75k profit for 3350k.

Even when going for space, running a brothel is the way to go. :D

I'm not a huge fan of number-crunching. I can certainly see that this is very useful for 'speedrunning' the mod, yet I'm still not a fan of hiring more workers to bridge the space needed for the courtesan.
Timewise my option is 'faster' since I can produce 1 taskmaster/hour as far as I can manage to sustain 50tokens/hour.
Every 24h I can produce 24 taskmasters for a whooping investment of 12M $.
I could go for 48 taskmasters/day but 24M $/day is a tad too much for my/any economy.

You (as a very helpful number-crunsher), did you considered the 'production-cost' to turn a hostess into a courtesan?
Is the monthly upkeep for the workers counted in? How long does it take to produce 40x courtesan?
You have 450 runts at one base with 1 cryo-prison.


--- posts merged. Seriously? ---

At the topic of 'tiers' I simply run the idea like this but it's more focused onto the research tree itself:
T0 = everything usable even without research (this counts for quite alot of things)
T1 = What to do?
T2 = Back to School
T3 = School Graduation
T4 = Higher Studies
Those are the crucial topics you've to work for to proceed into the high-tech weapon and armor arsenal.
I spent a good year on T2 to get as many research topics done and 8 bases before I went for T3 and reshaped all my hideouts to replace the large barracks with luxury barracks. Also 4x factories together with armory towers :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on February 28, 2018, 06:37:25 pm
You (as a very helpful number-crunsher), did you considered the 'production-cost' to turn a hostess into a courtesan?
Is the monthly upkeep for the workers counted in? How long does it take to produce 40x courtesan?
You have 450 runts at one base with 1 cryo-prison.
Production time is lower (100 hours for Guild Hostess --> Courtesan vs. 125 hours for 5 x Zaxx + 1 Zaxx --> Taskmaster). I didn't factor in production cost itself originally, which would move things to 5010k vs. 3450k. The numbers get slightly closer, but Courtesans are still the better option.
Monthly upkeep was factored in, of course.
40 Courtesans can be produced in 40 * 100 / 450 ~ 9 hours. You can currently "overbuy" prisoners, but 40 is the official limit - and since that brings you to a total of 13 800 k if you want equivalent space to 40 Taskmasters or 13 575 k for a space neutral setup, you're unlikely to be able to consistently reach 40.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on February 28, 2018, 07:27:29 pm
Thanks. That was useful :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on February 28, 2018, 09:07:49 pm
Is the monthly upkeep for the workers counted in? How long does it take to produce 40x courtesan?

Courtesans cost 100 hours, which is easy-peasy. Ive wasted a heck of alot of manufacturing time on ammunition and guns and ripping the wires out of tablet computers that I probably could have gotten by with less, or will just end up sitting around for a long time taking up space.

4000 hours for 40 courtesans overall takes several days, while it isnt nothing, its forgettable. Its not like wasting research time by forgetting to allocate brainers for instance. Collecting those 40 Guild Hostesses is whats going to take you a long time, you cant order them.

but 40 is the official limit
What does this mean and in which context? Since I have neither hit this limit nor read about it anywhere. Is that the maximum number of slaves you can have in each category is 40? Or that the prison capacity is capped at 40?
(I believe I had over 50 slave robots in a previous playthrough, thats where most of my damaged grav units were going)

If prison capacity is a problem just build prisons at other bases and ship the booty around, as the capacity opens up at the production base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on March 01, 2018, 06:44:17 am
Collecting those 40 Guild Hostesses is whats going to take you a long time, you cant order them.
You can once you've researched Saya, the final Mutant Alliance bounty.

Since I have neither hit this limit nor read about it anywhere. Is that the maximum number of slaves you can have in each category is 40? Or that the prison capacity is capped at 40?
The capacity of a Cryo Prison is 40 and having only one prison was a limit given by Ethereal_Medic. Overbuying means that you can buy, say 50 Guild Hostesses and thus have your prison filled with 50 of 40 captures.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 01, 2018, 05:09:58 pm
At the topic of "exchange your surplus-tokens for something valuable" we still need a token-sink for Jack.
Right now we got Mutant Alliance Files for Saya's tokens, Taskmasters for Zaxx and Tomes for Wiz Biz. (The later better be stored until the "Summon Devil" is implemented)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 01, 2018, 06:51:02 pm
I know.

Master Crafted Weapon Parts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on March 01, 2018, 06:55:27 pm
My idea for a Jack token sink would be armor and/or weapons. Similar stuff as you can get from military transports or smugglers. Nuclear lasers come to mind, at a very expansive token price. Or the forementioned master crafted weapon parts...

Another idea for all types of tokens, if Dioxine wants to go that way: Beeing able to buy stuff that is codex locked. At an insane token price, you can try a few of the items the other codexes offer, to give you a teaser.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 01, 2018, 07:56:37 pm
That would sneak around the law. We're not allowed to have the benefits of all codexes anymore.
If we give enough feedback, the colors get buffed/nerfed eventually :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on March 02, 2018, 01:58:44 am
I know it is not intended, and surely it is against Dioxine's ideas and the taste of several people on the forum... but I would like to have a very late game mission with some special very hard enemies that can give you a second codex, so you can open a second path. A totally optional, and very hard even with late late game tech mission.

In the end, I always reset after having half of the requisites for school graduation anyways (Normally after 2 or 3 updates, so I can test the early game again). Just something to add a little spice to the end game.

But I understand that the idea of several codex in part is about "replay value"... i guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on March 02, 2018, 02:38:56 am
Along with token sinks, Jack also needs some way to earn tokens outside of his missions.  Zaxx has old money, MA has mutant captives, Jack has... nothing, all of his tokens come from his missions and his missions only.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 02, 2018, 03:17:58 am
The capacity of a Cryo Prison is 40 and having only one prison was a limit given by Ethereal_Medic.

Yes but you can combine this with Prison Cells @ 15 each and ive got 2 of those, so 40+30=70 if you're willing to have 3 structures for it. Then again I dont know how big a "large prison" is since I havent researched it yet, sounds like 2x2 and im guessing 80-100 bodies. But now that I know what this is actually concerning I know the courtesans dont actually take up prison space its just the guild hostess that does.

Along with token sinks, Jack also needs some way to earn tokens outside of his missions.

Jack deals in... goods. If there's any specialized kinda goods the player might get their hands on, expensive stuff one step above "consumer goods" then that could be exchanged since it would be a favor to him to provide those things without having to go through the proper channels. Its the equivalent of old money briefcases just with a different spin. And those can be inserted as random loot into places that they might make sense to put - mansions, those hospital buildings on some random map sets, ES missions, Smuggler Millenium Falcon ships, maybe on a Heavy Freighter, and so forth.

Mastercraft weapons parts is a perfect outlet for that, Jack always deals in the best stuff. They can be very expensive, almost like buying prisoners from the mercinaries... im naming the price for Mastercrafted Weapons Parts at the equivalent of $1,000,000... 100 Jack's tokens would be just about right since that makes it feel like a nice investment to spend the tokens on it, but expensive enough to be very pricey for trying to deck everybody out with custom stuff (and it feels rather expensive to the wallet to be forking over the cash for 100 tokens too).

He should have probably 3 different sinks to invest in since you get enduring benefits from the other two factions, whereas anything you get from jack is likely to be equipment based and thus static. Ive got this idea based on the Use Drill subject (an item that can become multiple things) about the equivalent of a Cheese/Crackers/Sausage gift box...

He could have Gift Packages of two different sizes (A and B) and each one would have like 5 manufacture processes to open them up and get different items out of them, located probably under Special Project since that category is awful lonely. The smaller one gives items that would be beneficial in the field such as a stack of clips, grenades, armor maybe.
The bigger one provides ship based stuff or materials for the base, large style equipment. These boxes should cost something like 150 and 300 tokens respectively so that way it feels like you're getting a really big meatball for it.
(these could be things that you might be able to buy or manufacture, or in a few cases something that is prohibitive to manufacture or cant be bought at all - but is still something you would likely find attached to a ship in a mission. The price value doesn't have to add up the same between each type of box since the usefulness of them could outweigh their price... how else might someone buy a treasure chest)

Late game a player no doubt would be selling most of what those boxes provided, but then again some stuff you'd get could be essential components like power armor parts and the like. It is too bad that we cant introduce gambling and have a randomized set of like 40 different configurations of items that each box produced.

I know it is not intended, and surely it is against Dioxine's ideas and the taste of several people on the forum... but I would like to have a very late game mission.
Ive suggested the idea of a Flying Dutchman + Davy Jones type of encounter involving deep ones flying around in a supersized (aqua plastic) battleship that you just cant fight or tractor, and you gotta wait until it lands somewhere. Which could be a 2 stage mission and the ship does not stop spawning until you beat the 2nd stage, and you get a hideout assault penalty if you quit.
(Davy Jones be the right hand squid of T'Leth)
(killin' davy jones might invoke wrath but since the piratez exist above the waves it would take T'Leth a mightly long time to figure out how to track em down)

As for what you'd get for that probably 4-6 hour long playthrough of a mission, a Codex sure could be one thing, except that it would have to be random loot since the Flying Dutchman would impose a infamy penalty while it flies just like secure freight (thus you have to confront it at some point). Infamy penalty because they be bigger pirates than you making you look superfluous, and the governments be willing to pay tribute to Davy Jones instead to keep him from raiding them.

Beeing able to buy stuff that is codex locked. At an insane token price, you can try a few of the items the other codexes offer, to give you a teaser.
That should be a WizBiz token sink since thats what they deal in. And the prices should be insane because those codex locked items are pretty darn rare.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 02, 2018, 04:58:10 pm
I don't want "Lootbox"es in this game. That's an ass idea made for kids born in 2000+ and abuses gambling-habits.
Can we not do this please?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 02, 2018, 04:58:35 pm
That would sneak around the law. We're not allowed to have the benefits of all codexes anymore.

Modding that is trivial. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 02, 2018, 05:12:04 pm
Ofc you can give yourself 4 menacing hulls and 4 drills but that is simply cheating.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 02, 2018, 06:14:21 pm
Or you can change dependencies.

Seriously, why should you play up to late game four times to get all the content? The early game is the most fun, it becomes too grindy for me later!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 02, 2018, 06:54:39 pm
At one point you can also just skip missions and only do craft-hunting. Does enough points together with research + mutant alliance + reticulan-human bonus.
Buy-produce capsules and build conquerer, do cydonia BOOM mod done try again :D

Other difficulty setting, enabling ironman and do another color.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 02, 2018, 09:18:10 pm
The early game is the most fun, it becomes too grindy for me later!
I hate early game, it dont really start for me until ive got Tac Armor and my codex flagship going. Everything before that is just intro that I look forward to skipping.

In my previous playthroughs I havent ever finished Higher Studies though, for what its worth. Was entering year 4 in one playthrough.

I don't want "Lootbox"es in this game. That's an ass idea
I think its extraordinarily fun though, as long as its not abused. In this game it isnt, but then again the Data Disk can be savescummed to get something nice almost every time you use one and there are Alot of valuable techs in the Data Disk (and it only takes 1 day to use it... I got this idea when a data disk gave me Uranium Weapons Documentation on year 1 month 3... I figured if it could give me that then it could give alot of other useful stuff when I needed it).

Since there are not lootboxes and the RNG is already unkind enough, having them in this one particular scenario, at the somewhat high cost that they would come at, means they would be a worthwhile addition rather than a defining aspect of the game. You'd have to chew through all of Jack's lunchboxes prior to that just to get to that point... This is a Year 3 sorta deal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ragshak on March 03, 2018, 11:02:47 am
I hate early game, it dont really start for me until ive got Tac Armor and my codex flagship going. Everything before that is just intro that I look forward to skipping.

For me the beginning is the most fun. No overwhelming micro and macro management. No overwhelming mess at reasearch lab. A lot of tension durning missions beacause of no armor and solid weapons.
Later on its up side down. Overwhelming micro and macro management. Overwhelming mess at reasearch lab. Limited tension durning missions beacause of armor and solid weapons.

Sometimes, when I have that hour or two for playing, I go for another game because I am so far in my current Piratez play that there is too much management.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 03, 2018, 10:16:17 pm
Really depends on game style. If don't wan heavy micromanagement throw away stuff you do not neef and keep only what you want  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 04, 2018, 12:05:08 pm
We talk about a game that is supposed to be hard. All the management involved is caused by the massive amount of content used in the mod.
Ofc it's tedious to build 1x Annihilator Suit but if you don't feel like taking notes first, there's a "streamlined" mod to help you doing it more comfy.

Early game is "Go big or go home" you either net good results or severe slow down your progress. Depending on difficult at one point random crackdown missions will start and you either go lucky and they overlook your hideout or get ready to fight Star Gods 18 months in the campaign (my experience with red codex on Jack Sparrow difficulty)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on March 04, 2018, 10:41:29 pm
Does "Fried fish" and "Crab dips" are going to be a thing anytime?  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on March 05, 2018, 03:05:53 am
Maybe when aquariums become a thing, and that probably won't be until aquatoids start showing up for real instead of just being a Bootypedia article.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: lancev on March 05, 2018, 01:19:57 pm
After pretty much exactly one year I decided to start a new game.
Some things I noticed:

Is it intended that the Loknar pilots get such a huge dodge bonus? If you put a max-level Loknar in a Jetbike you get an invincible tank (although there seems to be a tiny chance that they are still hit, maybe the chance cannot go below 1%).

Probably a bug: you can put multiple summoning circles in one base.

Am i missing something or is the no-line-of-sight penalty for shots not displayed?
In general I get the impression that >100% shots miss more often, even with line of sight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 05, 2018, 03:27:45 pm
Am i missing something or is the no-line-of-sight penalty for shots not displayed?
In general I get the impression that >100% shots miss more often, even with line of sight.

True. The penalty does exist but is not displayed for the hit-chance.
All shots done without LoS get -50% on the total hit-chance.
All shots done with 200% hit-chance into smoke/without LoS always hit unless the bullet goes 'through' or 'over' the hitbox.
(200% gets cut down to 100%)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 05, 2018, 03:43:29 pm
The no-LOS penalty should be displayed on the cursor, at least I think the December Piratez release used an OXCE+ version with that included.  'Perfect' accuracy happens at 110%, not 100% (remember, these are not real percentages!).  The reason those would miss has to do with only having a small portion of the target visible and how the engine picks a point on the target to shoot at; if a 110%+ shot misses when you have LOS, then it will always miss and you should move to a better firing position.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 05, 2018, 06:16:13 pm
In that case we better aim for 220% and a clear shot.
Or just mortar/grenade the target.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 05, 2018, 07:02:59 pm
Maybe when aquariums become a thing, and that probably won't be until aquatoids start showing up for real instead of just being a Bootypedia article.
Funny thing is, when you dont have a Burrow at a base the error message for capturing or sending animals to it references an Aquarium.


All shots done with 200% hit-chance into smoke/without LoS always hit unless the bullet goes 'through' or 'over' the hitbox.

Re: lancev
Percent chance to hit is only as it says on the tin when it comes to melee attacks since they dont involve a trajectory. Someday melee attacks may be converted into projectiles with a clause (melee attack roll) to deny an impact on a targeted unit, but that day is not here yet.

When you shoot at something the % chance refers to the cone of possible trajectories, and it represents something similar to MOA in rifle shooting terminology. For example 1 MOA is 1" possible dispersion at 100 yards (which would grow to 2" at 200, or 10" theoretically at 1000 yards, this is used partially to determine the maximum effective range of firearms IRL).

100% chance to hit is a guestimate from the original designers that you would not be able to miss a target (Man Sized presumably) at a given number of tiles. Probably 10 or 15 tiles since most engagements in vanilla xcom occur either up close, or at 10-20 tiles.

Also, while the shot cone may say that you have a high chance to hit the target, the Perfect Trajectory having already been calculated to see if you have a Line Of Fire... it will not necessarily follow that Perfect Trajectory even if you would still hit that target guaranteed. Which means if there is any obstruction between you and the target such as a Fence or Window or the edge of a Bush the shot may hit that instead.
(this is also why force firing on a target can be beneficial since the perfect trajectory may clip some scenery object, but other trajectories may still hit that target and miss that object... besides the capability to just shoot the offending bush and then fire again after it crumbled)

Its happened lots of times to me both in OXC and in vanilla xcom where I really have to make that shot, I get the guy with the high accuracy who's batting something like 120% even on a snap shot... fire from some considerable distance and the shot hits a damn bush.

Edit - Just figured id answer this while it occurred to me... while its easy to say that an assault rifle has an effective range of at least 300 yards (=tiles) the aiming skills in xcom dont concern themselves with ideal situations and shooting from a bench at a target range. Or shooting at a group of soldiers casually walking down a road from a hidden position.

All units are assumed to be moving around, including your own, and when they see an enemy they only have a narrow window of time to acquire target and fire. Any number of factors could impact the accuracy of that attack... such as the enemy's movement (prior to the position they ended up at), hesitation on the part of the shooter, or even the shooter trying to maintain an awareness of their situation outside of the target they're focusing on.
(Even when the target has panicked they could be spazzing out, spinning around, and otherwise moving all over their 1 tile of confined real estate, so they are not stationary and an attack roll is still valid)

Snap shots are literally pointing the gun in the general direction of the target and hoping to get lucky. Aimed shots mean trying to hastily line up the sights on the target while compensating for their movement (to lead the target), maybe spending about 1 second on it, nothing like we would consider a truly sniper-esque aimed shot to be.
(with Sniper Rifles an aimed shot is probably like it is in FPS video games where you try to shoot someone quick so its kinda a ballet of crosshair movement, and/or trying to ambush the target with the crosshair and time it exactly - I be starting to think that Reactions should have some role in shooting sniper rifles because of that, since using a scope makes actually targeting something easy peasy and quite abstract)

And all of this reminds me of another topic that may be controvercial, that each Tile is actually probably more indicative of a 5x5 foot square instead of measuring yards or meters. Mostly because of the scale of buildings and scenery and the destructive radius of lower end vanilla explosives. There is also vertical height/floors to consider too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 05, 2018, 08:53:34 pm
Maybe add a TL;DR section with the core essence. Don't take it personal but all those big bulky texts tire me out x3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Eddie on March 05, 2018, 10:12:54 pm
Am i missing something or is the no-line-of-sight penalty for shots not displayed?
In general I get the impression that >100% shots miss more often, even with line of sight.

I believe with the exe that is currently shipped with Piratez the LoS penalty is not displayed. That is fixed if you manually download the latest OXCE+. Newest OXCE+ will give you an error message, saying the rangefinder needs to properly define it's clipsize. You then need to edit that in Piratez.rul accordingly.

If you don't want to do that, just wait a few days. Dioxine gave an estimate that around 20. 3. the next version will be released that then has the newes OXCE+ executable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: cc on March 05, 2018, 10:43:46 pm
Maybe add a TL;DR section with the core essence. Don't take it personal but all those big bulky texts tire me out x3
TL;DR: Even with perfect accuracy you may hit a bush. Try force-firing for a slightly different trajectory and to wipe out obstacles as a bonus.
The rest is backxplaining game numbers with real world physics and the necessary caveats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 05, 2018, 11:02:58 pm
Thanks for the short version. Also don't nail the Dioxine onto a specific date. Just accept the 'surprise' once the new content ships in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 07, 2018, 08:23:18 pm
TL;DR: Even with perfect accuracy you may hit a bush. Try force-firing for a slightly different trajectory and to wipe out obstacles as a bonus. The rest is backxplaining game numbers with real world physics and the necessary caveats.
Sorry thats just the way I am. I try to TL;DR things and it turns into a paragraph of its own, and its unfair to leave out the details which would spur on the necessity of a 2nd response (the beauty of forums and emails is you can just explain it all at once without waiting).

Meanwhile... may I suggest a Bayonet on a pistol of some kind... 1x3 pistol item that can be infiltrated (since the bayonet is separated until they get inside). Another use for all those daggers that pile up, since the trench gun is the only thing worth putting a bayonet on otherwise.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4c/50/3f/4c503fc8cbd14fa9902ed790a1e309f6.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 07, 2018, 11:24:27 pm
But you can't just 'glue' it onto a pistol. High caliber pistols have such violent vibrations that the knife drops off again.
Is there any additional need for a 'dagger that can also fire bullets' if we can have shivs and daggers in our quickdraw slot?
Yes the dagger is one of the few items with a second use (as you named it the trench-gun but this is also the only 'burn'-shotgun to date with 3x auto)

One of the best melee-option bayonets is the plasma-bayonet strapped onto the super-self-charger.
The gun itself is really slow to fire but you can get alot of value out of the bayonet.
Pistols those with enough weight to them have 'gunbutt' to smack face. The mix of daze and lethal stops stun-recovery against most targets it can damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 08, 2018, 11:21:02 pm
But you can't just 'glue' it
Just plain facepalm: gluing on a bayonet, which was never implied. I dont see the point of incendiary ammo on combat shotguns since it rarely ever sets targets on fire (I mean whats the point, most targets have decent fire res anyway). Guess it can set lawns on fire, but then again so can a pre-primed incendiary grenade.

Im well aware of pistols being used as clubs, point is to give the capability to even lighter weight pistols. Bayoneted pistol would do more (lethal) damage than a shiv, maybe not base 30 but at least base 20. I would put this on Magnum, Confederate Eagle. I never put knives in my QD slot... thats where grenades go to minimize their TU requirements.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 09, 2018, 01:11:35 pm
The combat shotgun does set the ground on fire. Zombies are vurnable to burn-damage so this shotgun looks like one of those weapons you can bring to a zombie-slugfest.
If you don't have any better options, like O.G.R.E. shotgun or mammoth-chain shotgun, I do give this gun a try and those guns work good if you ever have them in the first place.
In my current run I found a combat shotgun so late in the campaign that I already had the tech for 'better' and more damaging shotguns and various other tools to screw zombies over.
(e.g. HWPs - beefy and nearly-immune to Strix-zombie spit-attacks)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 09, 2018, 08:13:29 pm
hey, pleas for  the net relase may all medical equipment, frim bandages and one, used by the handler on himself? t least the bandage and the firt aid kits? it's qite strange these caan'tactually it would be lso a relief for most inexpeienced plyers like me, any chances?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 09, 2018, 08:56:21 pm
If you're severe hurt (= bleeding) it requires alot of willpower to fix yourself up and shouldn't work too well since the trauma and shock reduces your overall strength to a point that you're 'frozen' in shock. If the bandages can be used on oneself, they should cost at least 25TU and heal 0-1 HP.

Healing Gel can be used on yourself just like the destilled rum but those are more advanced items while bandages are your very early and only item to fix your wounds.
The mod is meant for challenges, beginners WILL struggle on the first playthroughs even on beginner difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 09, 2018, 09:03:18 pm
If you don't have any better options, like O.G.R.E. shotgun or mammoth-chain shotgun, I do give this gun a try and those guns work good if you ever have them in the first place.
Shiny/Niner with EP rounds. Its 4 pellets per hit and its electric damage which they take 1.7x from. And its a pistol. Some guns like OGRE, Flak Cannon, Boom are okay for taking out zombie troopers.

hey, pleas for  the net relase may all medical equipment
Not sure I agree with it but I do think that:
1) All items that cure stun or energy damage should inherently cure the other too. If it cures stun it must cure energy, if it cures energy it must cure stun.
2) Most health items should replenish themselves (not disappear from inventory, consumable = false)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 09, 2018, 09:03:23 pm
Yes i know, but at lesat for bandages and first aid kits..though i don't think because - on second thought - it was not so until now... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 09, 2018, 09:05:53 pm
2) Most health items should replenish themselves (not disappear from inventory, consumable = false)

I really wish so! Out of curiosity: to set
Code: [Select]
consumable = false where do we have to look, in piratez.rul or elsewhere?

edit: in 0.99I1 i did not know tat ratmen on theis mutat prgom may habìve some sort of ww2 vehicle...on the diff evel 3 (!!!) i suppose there were 2 of them, i just managed to take out only 1 with blck powder bombs and assault cannon luckily loaded with expl cannonballs i was  wise researcing these first!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: khade on March 10, 2018, 01:21:39 am
Technically it's a Bandit pogrom, not a Ratling one.  Bandages should not be recoverable, unless you have to use manufacturing to clean and disinfect used ones.  The other medical resources would make sense to be restockable.  Is there a way to have the game keep track of how much of each barrel of grog has been consumed and a way to manually have it be refilled?  I liked the barrels being recovered, at least.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 10, 2018, 01:53:37 am
Technically it's a Bandit pogrom, not a Ratling one.  Bandages should not be recoverable, unless you have to use manufacturing to clean and disinfect used ones.  The other medical resources would make sense to be restockable.  Is there a way to have the game keep track of how much of each barrel of grog has been consumed and a way to manually have it be refilled?  I liked the barrels being recovered, at least.

Actually good point least only xgrog barrels shold be refilled up? A couple of considerations:

In the "scientific experiments" missions - starting from diff level 3- there are spawned also thise basty drines armed with lasers; may these be removed in such missions? I'd personally see these in crackdiwn and/or pogrom academy missions; and in the guild' s warehouse ones.

In 0.99.I1 there are 9 types of missions spawning, plus the usual progoms, may i suggest a very few more, typical bandit ones so no need to research or interactions with factions?

Some intetesting ideas, i hope:

- Convoy ambush,
- Cruise ship assault,
- Factory raid
- Hotel pillage
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 10, 2018, 02:00:29 am
For more variety in missions, you can research "bounty hunting".
It's a crucial implementation and offers alot of missions and a token-system to earn prices and technologies.

Also underwater and space missions.
And all those shippings you can try to attack. Just use the tools the game offers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 10, 2018, 02:07:44 am
For more variety in missions, you can research "bounty hunting".
It's a crucial implementation and offers alot of missions and a token-system to earn prices and technologies.

Also underwater and space missions.
And all those shippings you can try to attack. Just use the tools the game offers.

Thanks i was aware, i was only suggesting some more without research needed (like the warehouse wars ones); at least i hope bank robbery may become an early one ☺

Edit: in the last relases im not able anymore to ground assault civilian ships, maybe of the changes? Undersea and sapces missions i never "reached" them, since these are advanced ones, plus the mod is too difficult for me i doubt will ever play these  :'(

Edit: as for medical another idea: vodka may have three shots like atom beer and first aid kits may have their durability shortened from 10 to 5 but also painkiller and stimulant added with 5 shots, only grog barrels shold earn the refilable status but are heavy and hence not easily handled in battle..to keep things difficult! ☺

Sorry again for the load of typos!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on March 10, 2018, 03:40:42 am
How is the arcane ray on the Sapphire Jellyfish supposed to work?  My gal in the top compartment picks it up, I fire with it just like a Blaster Launcher in X-COM, and as far as I can tell the ray hits the side of her compartment.  It won't go through the sides or the roof --- though it's hard to tell, because the screen tends to look elsewhere when I fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 10, 2018, 04:06:00 am
The windows up there have a defensive shutters that work like UFO doors; you have to open them before you fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on March 10, 2018, 05:54:45 am
The windows up there have a defensive shutters that work like UFO doors; you have to open them before you fire.

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 10, 2018, 05:49:02 pm
I really wish so! Out of curiosity: to set
It would be in piratez.rul, but I dont suggest that you edit the file.
Make a new file with a 'z' on the front of the filename so it gets put at the end of the load order. Make the items: header and copy the relevant items under it (on your copy id remove all the properties from it that you're not actually changing). Make sure you use notepad++ or something else that handles yaml programming because the spacing used is special.
(learned this trick from the shotgunsRebalance.rul, since its later in the load order, and it redefines previously set items but only changes one or a couple things about them)

The helpfile should provide, mostly (AHEM) a list of available properties to use and how to use them. Also the property is
Code: [Select]
isConsumable: false
Bandit Armored Cars are one of those early game wakeup calls, designed to ask "are you able to handle hard targets?". Carry the Assault Cannon with standard iron cannonballs to each pogrom mission just in case. I would also pack an Anchor into the ship and just leave it there for all missions because it can do a similar job, and can tear a hole in ufo or stone walls if necessary.

In the "scuentific experiments" missions - starting from diff level 3- there are spawned also thise basty drines armed with lasers; may these be removed in such missions?
I wasnt aware that drones spawned on the scientific experiments mission.

Medical Items I think should be replenishable:
* Canteen O' Refreshment
* X-Grog
* Small Medipack
* Space Medipack
(in fact any item that the bootypedia lists "provides uses per battle" since this suggests multi-battle capability, otherwise truncate the "per battle")

I agree with bandages/first aid/rum bottles being consumable along with most NPC alcohol.
I think a replacement for Grog should be made after you research Rum - which has as many uses but only takes up 2x2 size (a Keggar). Same price and materials and slightly lower sell value as rum, but something like 1000 hours to make due to quantity over quality.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 10, 2018, 06:24:41 pm
Thanks, RSSwizard   :-* i'll follow your advice and don't touch the file :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 10, 2018, 11:05:39 pm
Why should the drones be removed? They are easy to kill and their laser doesn't hit very hard. They mostly miss anyway.
They are a reason to keep a musket or two in the Airbus at the beginning. As they mostly just fly up they are easy to spot and then snipe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 10, 2018, 11:11:53 pm
Why should the drones be removed? They are easy to kill and their laser doesn't hit very hard. They mostly miss anyway.
Since mission title reads "Scientific experiments" i always figured to find there only human enemies; but on "jack sparrow" difficulty usully  the hit the target 95% of time!  :'(

They are a reason to keep a musket or two in the Airbus at the beginning. As they mostly just fly up they are easy to spot and then snipe.
Heck that is the opposite i did until now! Pheraphs i tryed to replace muskets with tommyes,  ramshakle rifles and with some oher mid/lng ranged weapons; actulally muskets and flintlock are good weapons, i'd sy to use till the mid game :)

The dambation of suoerficial playing!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: khade on March 11, 2018, 04:49:08 am
Muskets are surprisingly accurate, I wonder if it's related to projectile size or something, as those ought to be shooting really large chunks of metal.  The problem I have with them is that when you're likely to be using them, space is premium and ammo takes up a lot of space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 11, 2018, 11:28:35 am
It's not related to projectile properties, at least not in mechanics. Muskets are simply accurate on longer ranges, as opposed to most other starting stuff (pistols).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 11, 2018, 05:09:51 pm
One thing I had in mind for a while:

Can the MP Autocannon become something like a mortar with shots fired in an arc?
It's one of the top tier rewards from Jack but it feels really weak as a direct-fire weapon. It's slow to fire and the aim isn't that good either.
On the other hand those Plasma Blades (Knife and Sword) are kickass and totally worth the tokens invested.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 11, 2018, 09:09:57 pm
Why should the drones be removed? They are easy to kill and their laser doesn't hit very hard. They mostly miss anyway.
Oh ive got no problem with drones, you get a grav unit from each of them. My solution is usually something like shotgun/AP or literally just about any kind of grenade. That ~50 explosive damage is pretty reliable. Using melee on them is pretty satisfying.

Muskets are next to useless to me, but Flintlock Pistols do nice damage and if you're at 3-5 tiles away its an okay chance. Best way to use those is just carry a pistol for every clip of ammo, since the reload is so costly. No prob with carrying like 3 pistols (9 shots).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 11, 2018, 09:25:00 pm
A guaranteed solution is a molotov.
With only 5HP drone-circuits will be fried for a wreck to collect afterwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 11, 2018, 11:03:48 pm
Oh ive got no problem with drones, you get a grav unit from each of them. My solution is usually something like shotgun/AP or literally just about any kind of grenade. That ~50 explosive damage is pretty reliable. Using melee on them is pretty satisfying.

Muskets are next to useless to me, but Flintlock Pistols do nice damage and if you're at 3-5 tiles away its an okay chance. Best way to use those is just carry a pistol for every clip of ammo, since the reload is so costly. No prob with carrying like 3 pistols (9 shots).

I was replying to niculinux, who suggested to remove the drones.
In my experience they often fly above the structures in the experiments mission, so they are hard to hit with explosives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 11, 2018, 11:25:10 pm
I was replying to niculinux, who suggested to remove the drones.
In my experience they often fly above the structures in the experiments mission, so they are hard to hit with explosives.

Probably it's my "fault" becausa on the higheest difficulty level these go everyehere and at least in my expetience are imppossible to destroy with low/mid ranged weapons, at least in very early game musket to deal with thise is mandatory. Today finally i got into bounty missions, very funny indeed! Also unlocked warehouse wars if i play again will wait for the next version, and maybe try to unlock undersea missions and mansion wars. On to next 0.99.....
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 11, 2018, 11:50:47 pm
A guaranteed solution is a molotov. With only 5HP drone-circuits will be fried for a wreck to collect afterwards.
Dang, forehead-smack territory there, fire does cause 5-10 unless someone has resistance.
Hard to hit with explosives? Blasts spread upwards so if you put it right under them they'll get hit (just 1 or 2 tiles reduced damage). Frag grenade does 65 and plenty of NPCs drop them off. Dynamite (82dmg) is also frighteningly common, preprime it, id rather use it on Marsec/Osiron though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on March 11, 2018, 11:51:57 pm
My early solutions with drone are:

- Molotov.
- Throwing axes
- Javelins
- Black powder bombs
- Good old melee (If I get one on the floor)
- Hide in the canopy (When forest)
- Never been uncover (When I can).

They are a nuance, but I like then. They are my main target and my main danger on those early Academy missions. Even on Jack Sparrow, without them, those missions could be very easy. They are the pepper that make those missions tasty.





Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 12, 2018, 01:32:37 am
Melee reaction fire inside a door might be a good way too. Also if you have Tamed Reapers they do xcellent job of tanking hits and acting as distraction. Will also riptear drones like a frisbee if on the ground.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 12, 2018, 09:21:58 am
Drones ignore cqc-checks.
It counts as a 1x1 HWP and can blast your face with 100% precision if you facetank it.
The tamed reaper is a distraction and bullet-sponge at best. The mutated one does the job better and early on I don't like wasting XP to aux-units.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 12, 2018, 03:05:58 pm
If we can loot cyberdisk, why can’t we loot drone?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 12, 2018, 04:13:06 pm
Maybe in later versions.
Unless 'our' version gets a lot more plastasteel and aquaplastic strapped onto it with more HP it would be just a different 'parrot' without inventory. Yes it might can deflect low-damage shots and rolls but it's still fragile and occupies a HWP slot better suited for a soldier or 'tank'.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: khade on March 12, 2018, 11:05:47 pm
I meant that a musket with 60% at 15 squares seems to hit more often than a hunting rifle that's at 90%.  I haven't done a dedicated study on the accuracy of the guns, but muskets seem to have a higher hit rate than the numbers indicate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 12, 2018, 11:35:37 pm
Drones ignore cqc-checks.
It counts as a 1x1 HWP
News news news and more News to me.
Im perfectly happy with my reapers btw, I like mutated ones but I havent gotten that yet in this playthrough. Distractions and drawing fire are pretty nifty... very actually when gauss shots and lasers are being thrown around, they might miss, and id rather my beastie come home with 60/180hp than my gals even take a scratch.

re: Muskets
There's nothing in the item stats that would dictate this, they have worse accuracy and range than a hunting rifle. Your experience may be due to luck, or NPCs with high stats.
Ive had a similar experience with the Harpoon Gun delivering very crap accuracy, even when the crosshair says 107% at a given range it tends to try to hit cover or miss, but thats a better trajectory cone than a pistol with the crosshair saying 65% on an aimed shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 13, 2018, 02:16:51 pm
Every time my 100+% shot fails to connect, I instantly swap the angle now.
I also stopped to rely on 1v1 situations for my soldiers to get stuff done. 1-2 Backup soldiers with enough TU and tools works just fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 13, 2018, 02:18:30 pm
Yep, we're piratez. If you expect a fair fight out of us it is your own fault.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 13, 2018, 03:13:30 pm
Strength in numbers!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2018, 04:35:29 pm
Strength in numbers!

Baddies start scattered across the map in nearly all the missions, you can have at least local numerical advantage most of the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 13, 2018, 05:22:41 pm
Counts for manpower AND firepower.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 13, 2018, 07:47:00 pm
Couple of questions.

-How do Crystal Skulls work? I found one in a bank robbery and I can't get it to work no matter where I place it in inventory, with melee or ranged, or on any target regardless of Mind resist.

-I'm bottlenecked by a tech item called Secure Freight. Is this an actual object or is it a mislabelled tech topic like Academy Hierarchy that I ought to edit?

-Is the existence of weapons with massive explosive radius that have Snap Fire a joke sent by the Demon Gods to test us? I don't dare wear my new suit of Destructor in case she nukes herself or someone else by accident. My first introduction to Baby Nukes was the entire enemy force wiping themselves out in one shot.

-Am I allowed to have this much fun with an early mammoth chain shotgun unlock?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 13, 2018, 07:56:04 pm
You can always reduce your TUs to zero at the end of the turn.

I think for secure freight you have to shoot down a heavy freighter and loot it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2018, 08:20:53 pm
-I'm bottlenecked by a tech item called Secure Freight. Is this an actual object or is it a mislabelled tech topic like Academy Hierarchy that I ought to edit?

You have to rtesearch item called "heavy freighter flight plan" (or something like that). The guild rep on heavy frighter carries this item... occasionally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 13, 2018, 08:42:02 pm
Mammoth Shotgun only brings you to a certain level of ownage. The gun can't melt everything and should do very poorly against mercs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: greattuna on March 13, 2018, 09:13:45 pm
Couple of questions.

-How do Crystal Skulls work? I found one in a bank robbery and I can't get it to work no matter where I place it in inventory, with melee or ranged, or on any target regardless of Mind resist.

-I'm bottlenecked by a tech item called Secure Freight. Is this an actual object or is it a mislabelled tech topic like Academy Hierarchy that I ought to edit?

-Is the existence of weapons with massive explosive radius that have Snap Fire a joke sent by the Demon Gods to test us? I don't dare wear my new suit of Destructor in case she nukes herself or someone else by accident. My first introduction to Baby Nukes was the entire enemy force wiping themselves out in one shot.

-Am I allowed to have this much fun with an early mammoth chain shotgun unlock?

1. IIRC you have to hold it in your hand, but you need to deal damage with something else (read: other weapon). The alt action is similar to mind probe - reading stats.
One thing to note: as you gain TUs, you will also lose HP, so be extremely careful with this item. Nonetheless, it's very powerful.

2. You might've noticed the ships named "heavy freighter" going on the missions named "secure freight". These are your targets. The rep on those sometimes carry flight plans, which are the key to the technology.

3. You can always reduce your TUs to zero with one simple button!
PROTIP: you need to right-click it, it won't work otherwise.

4. Yes. Yes, you do, but the gun falls off hard versus more advanced enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2018, 09:17:04 pm
I’ve seen mammoth shotgun drop mercs.

It desperate, but not totally worthless like a lot of other early guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 13, 2018, 09:45:36 pm
If you use 'early guns' against mercs, you're going to have a bad day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 14, 2018, 12:03:07 am
My first foray against mercs dropped me 5 vibro-axes and a vibrosword so I've mostly ignored guns against them. By the time I had better firearms I didn't really need to fight them any more.

Still can't get the skull to work, and for that matter the Moloch armor doesn't seem to restore Energy like it's supposed to either.

I don't want to fight another heavy freighter army, gawd.

And I didn't know about the zero-TU button, thank you. That helps a lot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: khade on March 14, 2018, 12:26:23 am
On the muskets, all I know is that I seem to hit targets more than I expect to, enough that if the accuracy is above 30%, it's worth the shot.  But they're still pretty much gone by the end of the first month, mostly due to more capacity to send chunks of metal towards the enemy with other weapons
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 14, 2018, 08:43:50 am
I stick to exchange them asap myself too. 30% is still a 3 out of 10 so this feeling of 'hits more often than it should' is all RNG to help you out.
I'm massively unlucky even with 70%+ shots so I've to risk more to get better odds and do 30% shots only if I got the safety of my airbus to hide myself during the enemy turn.

Standing in the open or offer any clear shot onto your hands in the early phases asks for bullets to connect with max damage-rolls.
Those ol' revolvers and holdout pistols can still roll 52 (or 40) to cause severe injuries with 1-3 fatal wounds demanding 'bandages' to restore 2-6HP.
30+ days in the sickbay afterwards.

--- would you stop this double-posting please... ---

Can't wait for the new release~
Gonna give the golden codex a nice rub on Jack Sparrow/Iron(wo)man mode
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 14, 2018, 05:58:02 pm
If you use 'early guns' against mercs, you're going to have a bad day.
I cant even figure out what will hurt mercs, as a troll species they have most of the issues covered. Big guns nope.. explosives nope.. plasma shotgun nope.. generally melee is a nope too because they'll shoot you before you get close (and its always gauss and flechette). And thats just for the normal ones - then they get their own power armor dudes out after you. Im lucky in my last 2 playthroughs neither them nor the ethereals have been all that active.

From bug reports thread:

I agree that the bandit patrols should get a map vehicle of their own. Complete with the FULL assortment of a base raid (possibly including a terror creature spawn, reaper cavalry would be okay).

I imagined something like this would be like the equivalent of a couple open-roof hovercraft. Think of actual transport hovercraft we use as ferries except futuretech'd, maybe 8x8 size with airvan style architecture (arranged side by side). Probably with gunports in the walls since it works as a portable defensive structure when they're raiding the countryside. They are moving at a speed of 100 so they would need vehicles of some kind, especially hover capable to do overland terrain. The vehicles dont need to give you anything all that great nor be salvageable, no plastasteel or engines.

Since you would need tractor beams to engage them (lateness of the game), it is a low value target but it should be worth something for bothering to do that rather than strafe them. A solid battle however brief... and you score points for the kills... and you can go after the whole fleet of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 14, 2018, 07:19:17 pm
I cant even figure out what will hurt mercs, as a troll species they have most of the issues covered. Big guns nope.. explosives nope.. plasma shotgun nope.. generally melee is a nope too because they'll shoot you before you get close (and its always gauss and flechette). And thats just for the normal ones - then they get their own power armor dudes out after you. Im lucky in my last 2 playthroughs neither them nor the ethereals have been all that active.

I started off by patiently ambushing them with melee. I started off playing with a melee/pistols approach and it trains Reactions up fast, so if you do have to rush them they won't fire anyway. They respond well to lasers, chem, plasma and cutting, so if I was having to fight them regularly from early on I'd probably use magnum chem and the arena flak launcher.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 14, 2018, 07:34:05 pm
Bandit patrols don't have much of value to consider those worth to be looted, unless each of them carries 1x apple in their inventory and/or money purses.

Those patrols do have thier own crackdown version for a base assault against you. A mix of ratmen together with blood hounds and attack dogs.

Problem with mercs is the camo and massive healthpools. Large open territory only plays in their hands and smoke cover can help but isn't the best solution against the high thermal vision score.
It's a matter of how well prepared you are, night- or daytime mission and how much explosives you throw at them. The aye-phone is one of the best tools to pinpoint their location.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on March 14, 2018, 09:29:04 pm
Early Mercs?

I just run  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 15, 2018, 03:39:48 am
Bandit patrols don't have much of value to consider those worth to be looted, unless each of them carries 1x apple in their inventory and/or money purses.
Who cares about looting them, you get points for the kills/looted-dead-men, probably ~200 points per troupe. Also at the point where you could get tractor beams, apples for chateau is pointless compared to boom gun ammo.

Hmm so explosives will take out mercs. Also forgot the Flak did cutting damage, usually I think of guns doing piercing across the board... I tend to have a love for the FC anyway.
(as for open terrain... only places I have to deal with them are in Pogroms or their own Hideouts... Mercs all over the place killing civvies plus Hovertanks, usually lots of open combat. Forget explosives due to civvies. And in their Hideout you get the heavily armored dudes with high TU pools)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 15, 2018, 11:36:16 am
Fire hurts them too. Takes time but it will eventually bring down even sectopods.

Allways carry some WP based weapons, you never know when will you run into soemthing too well armored for your other gear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 15, 2018, 12:27:20 pm
As fo 0.99I1 i've noticed that "blood rieuals" misisons always happen in scratching hot enviroments; from next version and on may these take place in normal climate areas or is this intended?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 15, 2018, 01:52:49 pm
It was allways like that since the introduction of the mission.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 15, 2018, 07:20:40 pm
As fo 0.99I1 i've noticed that "blood rieuals" misisons always happen in scratching hot enviroments; from next version and on may these take place in normal climate areas or is this intended?
This is intended to be a quick mission anyway, around 4 turns, the scorching heat isnt a bother that quick. Find the ritual camp, reload the save (now you know where it is)... brutally massacre the werewolves with flak cannons, mammoth shotgun, sawed off, stuff like that. Use flying armor so they cant reach you. Alternatively you could just send a flying gal over, grab the castaway gal off the altar, then fly back. Leave everyone else in the ship to blow away any werewolves that try to hitch a ride.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 15, 2018, 07:28:26 pm
You can also capture all of the werewolves using grav-harness and cattle-prods.
Either sell their testicles for good money or 'tame' them for auxillary use.
To remove the stun, use canteens of refreshment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 15, 2018, 10:59:52 pm
Hey forgot to tell: i realli like that laslock pistol introduced in 0.99I1; seems kinda a  low-tech laser weapon; how about to replace that laslock shotgun with a laslock rifle/musket? There are already a ton of shotguns in the mod; plus a rifle-style "primitive" laser weapon wold make more sense, may ve a bit more powerful and with some more range ☺☺
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 15, 2018, 11:41:36 pm
There is the hunting laser.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 16, 2018, 09:00:31 am
Don't expect selfmade laser weaponry to be useful/powerful. Laslock-pistol and -shotgun only benefits users with a high enough rank (mistress/baroness/pirate queen)
Hunting Laser is strong but very slow to fire. If you have the tools and money you should go for eurosyndicate deal I+II for very expensive/strong laser weapons.
Those lasers are better in almost all aspects to the stellar empire counterparts. The cheap and less infamy-raping solution lies in the token tree to get M-Lasers.
Those lasers of the mutant alliance are strong but inferior to those of the stellar empire yet stronger than selfmade junk.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 16, 2018, 02:05:24 pm
Don't expect selfmade laser weaponry to be useful/powerful.

How about the humble MP lascannon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 16, 2018, 02:36:35 pm
The MP Lascannon and the Custom Lasgun are the stellar empire versions buffed with superior technological knowledge.
Mp Lascannon is pretty much the super-heavy laser and best used as a 1-shot per turn tankbuster.
The kustom lasgun is your to-go 0-G space mission lasergun and overall jack of all trades rifle. I don't treat these as selfmade since they look like stellar empire lasers.

Stuff like the Laser Tommy and Hydra Laser is 'selfmade' since it looks totally different compared to empire technology.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Martin on March 16, 2018, 04:33:30 pm
The hunting laser isn’t terrible and you got to develop it in order to unlock more advanced laser weapons. It’s worth making one or two for your snipers if you get it early. Laser tommy is trash. Hydra laser looks decent on paper but in my experience tends to underperform.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 16, 2018, 04:57:29 pm
Hey forgot to tell: i realli like that laslock pistol introduced in 0.99I1
Dunno where you're coming from but the Laslock Pistol has been there forever, like since G or E edition. The laslock was probably inspired by Firefly and the background image for WorldLore/America entry.

I agree there should be a Basement Tier laser rifle, some thin stick sorta thing that probably uses Nerf Laspistol clips. Remember in space Its Nerf Or Nothing! By basic laser rifle niculinux was probably indicating a 2 handed laser weapon that can be bought early like the laslocks, 1x3 in size, with good range unlike the shotgun.
(Mental image I get is the Laser Rifle or Sniper Rifle from fallout 1 and 2 would look perfect for this, complete with hazard stripes and its another fallout gun to spoof... NerfLas clips make it a more expensive, effective version of the varmint rifle)

Laser Tommy is okay for non-primary bases. Like the hydra laser its a close range burst weapon. I've felled Osirons with the tommy laser (it takes 4 hits or so, but you get 5).

Hunting Laser is trash because it doesn't get access to ADV clips, also making their own laser you'd think they would provide it with a mag slot to insert a lasrifle clip too (its a battery, it has voltage, amps, hertz...). Only thing it does better than a normal sniper rifle is easier handling and its kinder to non-proficient shooters... But a proficient shooter can use a sniper rifle anyway, and even without PS ammo I frequently lay low Marsec. Also that bad snap speed means this is an open warfare weapon, charging into buildings with the hunting laser is a no-go. Necessary to design, but not all that useful (is an okay space weapon I guess).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 16, 2018, 06:22:58 pm
Dunno where you're coming from but the Laslock Pistol has been there forever, like since G or E edition. The laslock was probably inspired by Firefly and the background image for WorldLore/America entry.

I agree there should be a Basement Tier laser rifle, some thin stick sorta thing that probably uses Nerf Laspistol clips. Remember in space Its Nerf Or Nothing! By basic laser rifle niculinux was probably indicating a 2 handed laser weapon that can be bought early like the laslocks, 1x3 in size, with good range unlike the shotgun.
[...]
Oh did not know it was an early addiction, mudt have overlooked it...and sorry for the typos! As for the weapin yes, some sorta! Sprite may be made by modyfing the pustol, adding a gunbutt and a longer barrel :D should not be very time consuming, for those have time to make it :)

May share same ammo and the pistol, and both should not have autofire because yhe description may tell it tends to overheat. Clips might have more exotic namu such as "laslock battery" or whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 16, 2018, 08:42:20 pm
Oh did not know it was an early addiction, mudt have overlooked it...
Its clear that you're on a phone, if you can take a tiny bit of care to correct errors, I do when im on the phone. I have no issue with it, but some funny stuff like "addiction" gets inserted. Not sure about you but the Laslock Pistol has never been an addiction for me. If it did 40 base damage plus its bonus on top of that, might be worth even buying.

I would not base anything off of the laslock's, personally. The only step up for that would be a laslock cannon that looked like the assault cannon, and each cannonball was actually a one shot laser module. While quirky, I dont think the game needs that.

I could cook up a Fallout 1 Laser Rifle to act as this addition but that would be slightly involved and I dont wanna expend the effort without it getting put in. Also the reason I picked the Nerf Laspistol clips for it is they only have capacity 8 and the damage is meager, and they are available early on too... pretty much a varmint rifle with armor penetration, a feat you pay for by literally throwing money at.

(price 48,000 and weight 12, ammo= nerf laspisol clip, aimed 130%/80%TU, snap 85%/40%TU, two-handed-blocking rifle 1x3 size, made available for purchase through "contacts: authorized dealers")
(https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/989/849/large/ben-bickle-classicsniper-singlerifle.jpg?1468193135)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 16, 2018, 10:06:03 pm
@RSSWizard sorry again; sometimes tend to overlook the emendations too!

I agree on the rifle; only i'd take out the scope and decrease accuracy. Thank for your kindness! Better read what would Dioxine think about a new addiction; otherwise IF you want might post the sprite in the "resource" forums. Thanks again and have a great night!

Edit: might become avaiable once the research topic "contract:smugglers" is accomplished alongside the laslock pistol
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 17, 2018, 01:52:18 am
Thank for your kindness! Better read what would Dioxine think about a new addiction
I'm not so sure I'd call it an Addiction per-se.
I could make a mod for it like I wanna do for a miniaturized ASMG that can be taken on infiltration missions (which only makes sense, but needs to be locked behind a tech that doesn't make it overpowered, I'll figure something out). Though the thing is for space missions you already have laser guns by that point, you just use what you've captured however limited that stock might be. I think I'd leave the scope on it too just like the varmint rifle because the Nerf laspistool costs a lot of doleros and anyone wanting the rifle (story wise)is going to be obscenely rich and want a range toy that bulls-eyes paper at any range. Sorta reminds me of folks like in the movie Rollerball, some chick was blasting away in the yard with a laser pistol at a party.

Tons of TUs and blocking both hands are the counterbalance. (Even tho you'd have a few lasguns and laspistols, maybe iGuns by then, it is a comforting thought that you can get your own stuff)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 17, 2018, 10:57:36 am
Hello all !

I got this working on my win 2K, but the memory usage is just mad. Several GB, too much for my system.
I guess this is coming from all those Ufopedia image surfaces. I had a similar problem with one of my own projects. I decided to keep track of the number of surfaces/video objects loaded, say max of 50, and only load them if they are about to be displayed.
If that number is reached, all surfaces are released before the new one is loaded.
If I am right about the ufopedia surfaces to be the cause, I guess the memory use would go down to around 300 to 500 MB.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 17, 2018, 12:21:46 pm
Hello all !

I got this working on my win 2K, but the memory usage is just mad. Several GB, too much for my system.
I guess this is coming from all those Ufopedia image surfaces. I had a similar problem with one of my own projects. I decided to keep track of the number of surfaces/video objects loaded, say max of 50, and only load them if they are about to be displayed.
If that number is reached, all surfaces are released before the new one is loaded.
If I am right about the ufopedia surfaces to be the cause, I guess the memory use would go down to around 300 to 500 MB.

Hi Callahan!
It's not just Ufopaedia; the game simply works all graphic resources to RAM upon startup. Ufopaedia is a small percentage of that, compared to all the sprites, paperdolls etc. Therefore Piratez requires at least 3 GB RAM to play, because it's so huge.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: KZad Bhat on March 17, 2018, 12:40:00 pm
That would explain why I spend up to about 2 or 3 minutes getting it to load in the first place. When I first started I'd even thought it might have been a damaged install until I just let it go.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 17, 2018, 03:08:53 pm
That would explain why I spend up to about 2 or 3 minutes getting it to load in the first place. When I first started I'd even thought it might have been a damaged install until I just let it go.

Everything started loading much, much faster after my antivirus expired. :P
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 17, 2018, 04:20:50 pm
Hi Callahan!
It's not just Ufopaedia; the game simply works all graphic resources to RAM upon startup. Ufopaedia is a small percentage of that, compared to all the sprites, paperdolls etc. Therefore Piratez requires at least 3 GB RAM to play, because it's so huge.

I do not want to say the work to be bad. Not at all. It is an amazing amount of content and detail in it. But the decision to load up all resources upon start is generally one of the least efficient ways to run any programm. For the images and sounds, you will only need a small percentage of that especially early in the game where you lack weapons and database.
Loading stuff if the video/audio pointer is NULL upon use is a good way to load only resources when you actually need them. Except for basic interface items, of course.
ALT + TAB must be a nightmare, too, as all those surfaces have to be restored when coming back.

There are literally hundreds of image and audio files that are probably not even used in the first few game weeks. That being said, I had no chance to run the game, so it's an assumption only.
Maybe one can pursuade the developers to do a bit streamlining? I would really like to play this, but I am waaayyyyy far from having 3 GB of system memory. And future addons will sure continue to take their toll on RAM.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 17, 2018, 05:46:28 pm
I don't think this is the correct forum, as I assume this depends on openxcom, and is not something specific to Xpiratez.

And wow, I thought I was playing on a toaster. :D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 17, 2018, 07:10:05 pm
The mod does have it's own executable. So I assume there is a high probability the developers are capable of compiling on their own.
Toaster? Should this imply my PC from 2001 would be, like, old?
Man, I remember times where pixel color info was stored in nibbles. You young hoppers have gone mad about having too much RAM available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: ohartenstein23 on March 17, 2018, 07:35:30 pm
The mod's .exe is developed by Meridian (not Dioxine, the author of the mod), who's forked his work on top of another executable, made by Yankes, who made yet another fork of the original engine.  It still contains all of the features and most of the code of OXC, so in order to prevent merge conflicts on a massive scale, changing how images are loaded into RAM needs to come from the OXC developers, not this particular executable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 17, 2018, 07:47:00 pm
My computer is from 2007 or 2008.

I do remember times when I had to fiddle about in config.sys and autoexec.bat to get enough memory of different kinds for games start.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 17, 2018, 09:00:58 pm
I guess the memory use would go down to around 300 to 500 MB.
the game simply works all graphic resources to RAM upon startup.

Ive determined that the real problem is the .OGG music is being converted into some raw format while its being loaded into memory. Its unnecessary even modern-day to do that, and pretty sickening, because various MP3 and video players will decode the OGG in real time because its such a low overhead, far less than displaying video. This is the main stumbling block to being able to get X-Piratez to run under Android due to the huge amount of ram this takes up.

(I figured this out by replacing the music selection with low quality/frequency versions that had a smaller file size, and also truncating some tracks that weren't immediately referenced by the ruleset, and the memory footprint went from about 1 GB to around 750 MB just because of this alone. My main intention doing it was to decrease load times since every startup for x-piratez was taking well over a minute, and it still takes over a minute but its noticeably less now)

Makes me wonder if there is any way to make to load .mid files to run adlib music.

Although its "easier" to decompress everything into memory upon loading its very inefficient, especially since running it under android is a potential target. What you can do is load the resources, and whenever they are referenced as needed, you decompress them into reserved memory. Since there's no heavy lifting involved here, for a mission or loading the ufopedia, all it is is just a small set of images at a time and very short if any loading delay during the game. Besides when you start a mission, it autosaves the map anyway and that automatically incurs a pretty hefty load delay.
(trade 30+seconds initial game load for maybe 1-2 seconds on the front end per new mission)

Toaster? Should this imply my PC from 2001 would be, like, old?
I feel ya man. Ive got 2Gb ram and its not going to increase.

One important note is that they are still using 8bit and locking the game to a palette just like the original. No color translation tables or palette remaps like zdoom does, no 24-bit post-processing color adjustments, no alpha layers or anything like that. So it is pretty true to the old days on that account (maybe painfully...)

I wonder what the native data formats are that they're decoding media into for the images, sounds, and music...

It still contains all of the features and most of the code of OXC, so in order to prevent merge conflicts on a massive scale, changing how images are loaded into RAM needs to come from the OXC developers.

Its a sign of a need to make a change. If not because of the example of X-Piratez getting so large, a big resource overhead probably wasnt anticipated in the early days of openxcom but now its becoming a problem. So a new resource handling module should be on the drawing board.

Forking it wont be an issue if its done right, it can be dropped in and adopted for all versions.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: KZad Bhat on March 18, 2018, 08:27:00 am
I do remember times when I had to fiddle about in config.sys and autoexec.bat to get enough memory of different kinds for games start.

Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, had to have over 570KB of conventional memory. In MS-DOS 5.0, you couldn't do that with the MSCDEX loaded, so you have to have config.sys and autoexec.bat setups without the CD drive. Love when you also have a very small hard drive, so Wizardry is about all you can get when it's installed.

God, I was glad to find MS-DOS 6.22 with a default memmaker run got me 620KB with the CD-ROM driver loaded!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 18, 2018, 11:30:58 am
Too bad saving memory was no priority from the beginning. I found this to be helpfull with all developments, as you tend to start a programm quite often during the development phase of the engine, as well as during bugfixing. Inefficient memory/resource usage is stressing RAM, hard drive and patience.

Loading on demand and compressed loading are ideas that I consider to be very attractive. There is no gain by storing stuff in RAM that you do not actually use, or storing in an unneccessarily large format.
I guess you are the experts on where to forward these ideas. What would be the right place?

Meanwhile, playing xcom1 & xcom2 will have to suffice.

Ahh, yes, the good old DOS times. Bootdiscs, Highmem.sys, memmaker. Was quite advanced for me when I first got a grip on one of those beauties. I used to operate punch card computing machines before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 18, 2018, 01:03:31 pm
The mod's .exe is developed by Meridian (not Dioxine, the author of the mod), who's forked his work on top of another executable, made by Yankes, who made yet another fork of the original engine.  It still contains all of the features and most of the code of OXC, so in order to prevent merge conflicts on a massive scale, changing how images are loaded into RAM needs to come from the OXC developers, not this particular executable.

I think it is a wanted decision (preloading all in RAM) to avoid slowdowns during the game, and all id really quick responsive ☺ maybe something may be  done with the musuc as RSSWizard pointed out so better ask developers in the right forum ☺☺
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ragshak on March 18, 2018, 02:08:23 pm
Maybe all this is the reason why sometimes I cant launch X-Piratez on my notebook after working some time. I need to restart.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on March 18, 2018, 03:06:52 pm
Too bad saving memory was no priority from the beginning.

The project started as re-creation of the original xcom, which fits on a few floppy disks.

Nobody expected mods 50-times bigger than the original. (I would even dare to say nobody expected mods at all at the very beginning)
Actually, considering original resources are not compressed (much) and mod resources are mostly compressed GIFs and PNGs, 50-times is an understatement. Probably more like 100-200x bigger, if not more.

Vanilla is eating up about 40 MB of RAM... including everything, not only resources (which are probably just 5-10 megs).
I guess you can't blame anyone of loading 40 MB into RAM in 2018.

PirateZ eats up about 1000 MB of RAM... far from ideal... but it does still run on 1.5+ GB Android devices.
(Also, just open a Task Manager and look at your Firefox/Chrome... there's a very high chance they are eating more RAM than PirateZ)

If anyone has such a problem with that... we are open source, feel free to fork and change it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 18, 2018, 04:41:54 pm
I do not want to "blame" anyone for the game using too much memory. It is just sad it is the way it is because it does not work for me.
Probably, I am always trying to reduce RAM usage because I am from a time where every byte did matter.
I even think about every variable if it must be be INT16 or if INT8 would do it. A habbit hard to get rid of, even when I know this does not matter much today.

This pirate mod made my system pass out at 1.5 GB RAM used, as I only have 512 MB. I also read that it would consume up to 3 GB.
I'd really be happy if you could rework your version to be more friendly toward huge mod contents. (and keep it running under 32bit OS)
Since you are the person most familiar with the code, you would be the best choice.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 18, 2018, 05:27:45 pm
I do not want to "blame" anyone for the game using too much memory. It is just sad it is the way it is because it does not work for me.
Im going to package up some low quality .ogg file replacements for the game so that anyone who has this problem might be able to play or reduce the stress on their ram. Might take me a couple days. Keep in mind that low quality is noticeable, and to make it effective you'd have to first move all those music files somewhere else (also there will be some switched tracks, call it a mod if you want, im a bull in a china shop like that).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Rince Wind on March 18, 2018, 05:36:59 pm
Would it be possible to just delete the music? I have it turned off anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 18, 2018, 06:05:08 pm
Would it be possible to just delete the music? I have it turned off anyway.
I doubt it, but if you want to take the suicide lane on this, make a new folder and copy the lowest filesize file you find in the folder (I think its GMENBASE, the music that plays during a mission briefing). Copy it as many times as there are files in the music folder, then rename them to each of the listed ones. Among the GEO series I think the only one which is directly referenced is #3, used during the intro sequence, so any of them beyond #3 can probably be deleted flat out (#1 and #2 should probably be there just in case). Then delete/move-backup all the music in the SOUND folder, and copy your dummy copies into it.


Edit:
Here is the modified music package, which also includes some fallout musics for battlescape. It only weighs in at about 21Mb. Instructions are included.
https://mega.nz/#!iogH1AKb!09I1SbCp_Jl8u8ZwCmiAXEVLqAdtKUzRTPBvpuKcvvI
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: niculinux on March 18, 2018, 06:30:54 pm
Hello there! Meanwhile we all wainting new version, here's a couple f quickfixes for 0.99I1 and a "bonus"..

1) the fixes regarding the Rangefinder clipsize-1 problem provided by RSSWizzard (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg93820.html#msg93820) and the STR_ACADEMY_HIERARCHY bug (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg92513.html#msg92513) that prevent provosts being interrogted and access to stellar laser weapons. both are in the attached piratez.rul modifyed!

2) the "bouns" is a modified version of 3.10a of OXCE+ made by Meridian himself (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5047.msg93863.html#msg93863)! Using that build no i loner experienced same crash that occurred in openxcomfiles 0.8.6 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5047.msg93780.html#msg93780)

But a mojor bug is unfixed, the one concerning Contracts: Reticulans research with Sectoid and Sirens involved  (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg92762.html#msg92762)

Enjoy  :)

Edit: link for the Reticulans bug replaced by proper one. With that build also seems game at sartup loads more faster, even with "play intro: on" option, but still game tends to crash unforesightbly (segmentation fault) the MMB look-at-enemy thing is still broken, wait the next OXCE+ version to be fixed  :)

In the end, i definitely think that everything some advanced items not avaiable at black market from beginning (tac vest, boarding gin and some more) should removed from bootypedia too   :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 19, 2018, 11:14:29 am
I detected that the reaction system is inconsistent with the original x-com 1 & 2.
Now I would actually want to try to take a look at the source code of this extended exe used for the pirate mod.
What language is the code written in and where can I download a compilable complete source of it?
What compiler would I need to create this in 32 bit windows version. I doubt my venerable C++ 6.0 will do.
Ah, and the compiler must run under Win 2000. Sorry for asking a lot of questions, but I'm out of the topic of programming for some decades now.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: wolfreal on March 19, 2018, 06:32:47 pm
I detected that the reaction system is inconsistent with the original x-com 1 & 2.
Now I would actually want to try to take a look at the source code of this extended exe used for the pirate mod.
What language is the code written in and where can I download a compilable complete source of it?
What compiler would I need to create this in 32 bit windows version. I doubt my venerable C++ 6.0 will do.
Ah, and the compiler must run under Win 2000. Sorry for asking a lot of questions, but I'm out of the topic of programming for some decades now.

This is the github page: https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/tree/oxce3.5-plus-proto

This is the forum page for OXCE+: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4187.0.html

Don't know what compiler could work. Ask Meridian. Neither do I have Idea of compilers on windows 2000.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 19, 2018, 07:24:16 pm
Thanks for the link to the source. One step ahead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: RSSwizard on March 19, 2018, 08:01:41 pm
Edit:
Here is the modified music package, which also includes some fallout musics for battlescape. It only weighs in at about 21Mb. Instructions are included.
https://mega.nz/#!iogH1AKb!09I1SbCp_Jl8u8ZwCmiAXEVLqAdtKUzRTPBvpuKcvvI

Actually dont use this, while the music plays just fine in winamp somehow the game doesnt interpret it correctly and many of them are corrupt or play at the wrong rate.
(does openxcom support 16Khz sounds and music?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 19, 2018, 11:26:01 pm
My toaster has 1GB of memory. While it takes god-damn ages to load, like the thick end of ten minutes, it does run the game fine (although tabbing back in makes things chug again for 2 minutes). The excess just seems to get hauled over into pagefile, judging by the industrious amount of HDD usage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Bloax on March 20, 2018, 12:15:54 am
Actually dont use this, while the music plays just fine in winamp somehow the game doesnt interpret it correctly and many of them are corrupt or play at the wrong rate.
(does openxcom support 16Khz sounds and music?)
I'm pretty sure it's either 22050 Hz or 44100 Hz and strictly 16-bit or enjoy having those things played back at those frequencies with no resampling.

My toaster has 1GB of memory. While it takes god-damn ages to load, like the thick end of ten minutes, it does run the game fine (although tabbing back in makes things chug again for 2 minutes). The excess just seems to get hauled over into pagefile, judging by the industrious amount of HDD usage.
That is the purpose of a pagefile, after all - to be "virtual" memory.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 20, 2018, 12:22:22 am
That is the purpose of a pagefile, after all - to be "virtual" memory.

Well yeah. I'm just wondering why the standard solution isn't working for other players.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Meridian on March 20, 2018, 12:29:10 am
I detected that the reaction system is inconsistent with the original x-com 1 & 2.
Now I would actually want to try to take a look at the source code of this extended exe used for the pirate mod.

It may be easier to just describe what you think is different and let us confirm/disprove...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 20, 2018, 10:25:17 am
Maybe it could be changed to trigger more reaction-chance with the target getting closer to yourself while remaining in sight.
Kinda like 'instant' reactionshot if it bumps into your vision 2 tiles away from you. Sorta like 'jump-scared' to reflect a panic-reaction. Could be done with acc-penalty if too reliable.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 20, 2018, 10:59:07 am
It may be easier to just describe what you think is different and let us confirm/disprove...

Well, for years I do only use reaction fire and grenades in all 3 X-Com games (I even fixed Xcom Apoc in ASM to get rid of a bug cutting down the TUs), but when I now tried to play this in open xcom, I saw there must be kinda "bonus" if the actor has LOS to the spotter.
In xcom 1, it someties seemed my guys did fire on spotted enemies even before they took any action.
They probably turned or did something else other than fireing/moving to trigger this.

In open xcom/extended, however, I often see enemy units like reapers to step out of a door with, probably, the last few TUs, as it stops then. And no one of my elite is making a shot although all have full TUs left.
Countless other occasions show enemies step out of UFO and shoot (or move one more tile) before my guys get to react.
If, however, my guys are aside the door where the actor has no LOS to them, my guys fire away like hell directly on sighting.
So I conclude the very first instance of reaction is denied if the actor has LOS to the spotter.
This is quite new behaviour to me.

I did not go into detail before because I am probably the only one playing this way, so this would be of no interest to anyone else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on March 20, 2018, 11:09:58 am
That sounds like mutual surprise, where no reaction happens when two units spot each other at the same time.  It's not new, vanilla Xcom had that too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 20, 2018, 11:20:41 am
It IS mutual surprise rule. If both units see each other, those who have the turn get to act first.
This is even more drastic: If a soldier steps out the ufo and gains vision even on 1 out of 10 shooters, the enemy will act first!
To prevent this, make absolutely clear your soldiers sit in a blind angle the enemy can't see in his cone-like vision.
It can still fail if your rookies have poor reactions and/or the enemy leaving the craft has alot of TUs in reserve.

X-Piratez reaction-check feels superior and alot more reliable than vanilla even with hands sporting barely 50-60 reactions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 20, 2018, 04:00:14 pm
It IS mutual surprise rule. If both units see each other, those who have the turn get to act first.
This is even more drastic: If a soldier steps out the ufo and gains vision even on 1 out of 10 shooters, the enemy will act first!
To prevent this, make absolutely clear your soldiers sit in a blind angle the enemy can't see in his cone-like vision.
It can still fail if your rookies have poor reactions and/or the enemy leaving the craft has alot of TUs in reserve.

Negative, not that way in vanilla. Just tested with old DOS xcom 1, just to be sure. Soldier with reaction 100+ directly at UFO door so aliens cannot step out. Alien opens door and gets shot to pieces by 1 to X shots every single time. Does not matter that alien can see my soldier. TU/Reaction is the only thing that matters, at least for aliens. It may be otherwise if the player moves.
If I do that same experiment in open xcom, I get shot to bits every single time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 20, 2018, 04:05:03 pm
In that case I prefer to have the x-pirateZ version. Reaction-triggering must work different in dos-vanilla.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: BBHood217 on March 20, 2018, 04:27:51 pm
I think this all just boils down to the whole opening the door thing.  If the alien opened the door but couldn't follow through with moving through because a soldier is blocking their way, then they just don't move and under OpenXcom rules that means they don't get reacted upon since they technically didn't move.  This might have to do with how OpenXcom lets you use right-clicking to open doors without moving through them, a feature originally from TFTD but now also usable in UFO with this engine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Callahan on March 20, 2018, 07:19:29 pm
In that case I prefer to have the x-pirateZ version. Reaction-triggering must work different in dos-vanilla.

Understandable desire. But I would have preferred an option to switch new/old where the developers did change game mechanics from the original.
Probably does not matter for anyone else, but I like the game as I used to know it.

BBHood217: The reaction is also working that way in vanilla when I am 1 tile away from the door, or 10 tiles. Vanilla opens fire on alien instantly when it opens the door, open xcom does never.
The OXC-alien just steps out of the door and kills my soldier.
I have both the first DOS version and the second with the improved combat sounds under test.
Sighting does not seem to matter. It is a "wild west" style. The one who draws faster shoots first.

I also think to remember I used to place soldiers in front of sectoids, face off, and my troops reaction-shot the guys before they could fire. The reaction check here seemed to be done before the alien action.

Reaction in open xcom is based on sighting. If you need a blind angle, you do not need reactions that much. If you are sighted, reactions are completely useless.

I did not play TFTD that much, but I would almost bet it was a standard tactic of mine to place 2 to 4 soldiers in front of the light cruiser alien sub doors in plain sight of anyone coming out, and they ripped apart any alien comming out, as long as their TU/reaction ratio was high enough. The blind angle was only necessary for low reaction soldiers to train them.
Sighting rules do only seem to apply to open xcom. Maybe the new "steam" version of UFO/TFTD does this the same way, but I just like the wild west shooting I know from my original.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 21, 2018, 02:00:02 pm
Quote
0.99H3 - 4 Dec 2017
- New Outfits: Robber, Shadow (Lokk'Naar), Doom 2 (Slave)

Odd question:
Where is this 'Robber' armor? I can't find it in the current patch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas
Post by: sleekie on March 21, 2018, 11:58:22 pm
Odd question:
Where is this 'Robber' armor? I can't find it in the current patch.
Thieving outfit. Also oddly useful for Organ Grinder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Dioxine on March 22, 2018, 03:09:41 am
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: wolfreal on March 22, 2018, 03:38:59 am
WOW!

Lots of things to ask. But first, to test the update!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: XCOMJunkie on March 22, 2018, 04:20:01 am
YAY!! Thanks Dioxine and all who contributed to the latest version! Appreciate you all! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: BBHood217 on March 22, 2018, 07:30:40 am
Quote
Contraband removed, now Jack Favors allows to buy gems for Jack's tokens

I was in the middle of playing I already forgot whatever time for more Piratez!

Also, there's still a "Re:" in the thread title.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ragshak on March 22, 2018, 08:25:20 am
Should I wait with update until  I sell my ordered contrabanda? Ot there will be no issues upgrading now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: niculinux on March 22, 2018, 10:07:03 am
Super!!! Among the more immediate new "goodies" the possibility of recruit even local paesants and dogs! Pherapsh the brown ufopedia tabs are a bit "hard" for shortsightened users, but i was wondering: there is a way to change background color orit is hardcoded in the executable?


Edit: and the MMB in battlescape works again!! :-* :-*

Edit 2: executable name is still OpenXcomExPlus39 though it have benn updated to 3.10a
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 22, 2018, 10:13:54 am
Less evil grass sure is a fine thing to have. During some night missions it's tough to see the difference between 'normal' and 'evil' grasstiles, only to be separated by the increased TU cost to walk on it.

Thanks for the update. So much new stuff to try out for a fresh new game and codex. :D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: KZad Bhat on March 22, 2018, 10:28:10 am
Thank you so very much, Dioxine!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Callahan on March 22, 2018, 11:42:09 am
Did I see some Doom 2 units in the Bootypedia? I wonder when the Duke Nukem 3D monsters will join the show, because it's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum.
Thanks for all the great content, Dioxine.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 22, 2018, 11:43:18 am
Did I see some Doom 2 units in the Bootypedia? I wonder when the Duke Nukem 3D monsters will join the show, because it's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum.
Thanks for all the great content, Dioxine.

Megapol pigs are definitely from Duke Nukem. :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Callahan on March 22, 2018, 12:10:20 pm
Must have missed them in bootypedia. What Faction are they?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Rince Wind on March 22, 2018, 12:38:23 pm
Megapol, duh

:P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Martin on March 22, 2018, 12:49:44 pm
New version?

Thanks!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: HT on March 22, 2018, 12:58:15 pm
In one hand, yay, another update!
On the other hand, I can already feel my time disappearing quite quickly. Worse, I'm feeling tempted to play again!!
On the third mutated hand, so much stuff that a new (again, sigh*) game is justified, including alternatives to slaves, from what I see.
Slayer ammo seems to be pretty much anti-personnel ammunition, not sure if it works as well for "capturing" purposes though (doubt it).

Also, there seems to be an option for escorting your craft, even though "Hunter-killers" won't be a thing for Piratez. It must be a thing from the newest Openxcom update.

*There's a small bug I found that the game says something like "cannot create 'autosav. bkup' at the end of my current month, but starting again from the beginning seems to solve this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: khade on March 23, 2018, 04:36:33 am
I had a fun scene with this new version.

I got a Humanist pogrom, went in with pocket chargers, muskets, an ol' shotgun, pistols and varmint rifles. I got an industrial city, so by the end pretty much everything was on fire.  I didn't see an officer though, on Blackbeard difficulty, I'm not sure if he got ganked by a NPC or wasn't there at all.

I think I blew up my shotgun incidentally.  Honestly I'm surprised any Civies survived at all, but I got 3 alive, total score was like 33
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Callahan on March 23, 2018, 04:08:14 pm
Megapol, duh

:P

I was unable to find any faction or unit of that name in the bootypedia.
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Major_Factions_(Piratez)
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Minor_Factions_(Piratez)

Hence the stupid question.
Is this site outdated? Am I looking at the wrong spot?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Meridian on March 23, 2018, 04:17:15 pm
Is this site outdated?

Yes, most information is about 3 years old and partially or completely outdated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Sahti Waari on March 28, 2018, 11:10:05 pm
Hello,

could anyone explain to me how slayer bullets work?
I played on Blackbeard, use Shiny Niner with sly ammo but can't kill even lok"narr cavalry. Every time 0 damage.

And where in Bootypedia should I look to read about those bullets again?
I tried to search "sl" in mysteries, tools of trade, bounty, treasure but didn't found any topic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 29, 2018, 02:37:12 am
Slayer bullets deal 33% more damage to health.
Those bullets are very poor against any sort of armor since the bullets increase the enemies armor the same % as the basic bullet-strength.
A Holdout Pistol has 20 base damage. With slayer bullets the enemy gets 20% more armor.

Those bullets are best used to gun down civilians and faction personal in labcoats, coveralls and other uniforms.
Reaper cavalry has decent armor, slayer bullets won't do much against the tough hide. Shiny niners are a clear 'nope' to use with slayer ammo against them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Cristao on March 29, 2018, 11:56:09 am
Could a fellow player advise on where to find Syns?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 29, 2018, 12:35:03 pm
Syns are glued to the RNG of Space Missions roulette.
You have to get the mission with the lonely 'Spaceship' that looked like the Avenger-Craft from the vanilla game.

Nothing else on the map, just a "Lost Spaceship". Inside is a damaged syn you can later rebuild into your own Syn. If one Syn dies and the body remains intact, you can rebuild the syn over and over, but you'll lose stat-progress.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Cristao on March 29, 2018, 01:37:05 pm
Syns are glued to the RNG of Space Missions roulette.
You have to get the mission with the lonely 'Spaceship' that looked like the Avenger-Craft from the vanilla game.

Nothing else on the map, just a "Lost Spaceship". Inside is a damaged syn you can later rebuild into your own Syn. If one Syn dies and the body remains intact, you can rebuild the syn over and over, but you'll lose stat-progress.

Thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2018, 05:45:20 am
Thanks as always for the update. Hopefully i get time to actually play it before another one drops......life has been.....harsh on the free time of late.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on April 19, 2018, 06:30:20 pm
Installed the update and charged off to rescue Raynerd from a freezing cold prison.  When I got there, I found that my pickaxes, ushankas, and shawls had all disappeared from my ship and base!  Was this. er. intentional? 

On a still lighter note, I see the X-Grog is now two-handed, which makes sense, but now my mages can't run around as easily with a Tome of Lightning in one hand and X-Grog in the other to replenish energy.  Hee hee hee hee
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2018, 10:02:42 pm
The "Vanishing" equipment sometimes happens with a patch. If/when the strings for item/techs change you may need to research some items again before you can use them. Another possibility is that an items "class" was modified so it no longer able to be used in certain missions. The classes available to a certain mission also could have changed.

In all the cases the equipment is not gone merely unusable. If an equipment is unusable for whatever reason it will not appear on the loadout screen even if loaded on the craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on April 19, 2018, 10:14:48 pm
Thanks, that all makes sense.  In this case, I find I can still manufacture pickaxes and can take them along on this mission, so it's not a huge pain.  It's going to take a long while to get enough fur to make new ushankas, though.  Fortunately brute armor seems to be good enough insulation on its own.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2018, 10:42:29 pm
Yeah heat/cold becomes much less problematic as your tech increases/ gals get more experienced. Baseline Heat and cold dmg is actually rather small. Most early outfits actually have a significant penalty in order to make you feel the effects. Sometimes more then double or triple. But the more advanced outfits start to get back towards baseline(100%).

Also because heat inflicts stun and cold saps stamina, the more HP a gal has the more regen of both they possess. A meaty gal in decent gear will rarely notice the effects even in prolonged battles.

Aside from the very heavy non powered armor, like platemail, environment damage stops being a factor in most battles after the mid game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Rince Wind on April 19, 2018, 10:45:13 pm
Heavy suits let your gals accumulate stun damage from heat pretty quickly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2018, 11:14:29 pm
True but unless an outfit has more then 200% Heat/Cold the damage is marginal at best after taking into account normal stun/stamina regen. low single digits is easily manageable compared to the 10-20 that can result from frail untrained gals in very early armor.

That said if a gal becomes wounded or starts takeing ongoing stun damage from smoke effects things can go downhill rapidly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: sanyaskillpro on April 20, 2018, 03:00:52 am
Do you get any penalties if the weather is warm\cold (not scorching hot\freezing cold)? I never noticed anything in any outfits in those environments.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 20, 2018, 09:59:09 am
If you run naked in cold environment, you'll take 1HP damage every turn together with stamina- and stun-damage.
HP damage starts at 200% cold. Everything below 200% takes 0 HP damage but saps stamina and does limited stun-damage.

Everything with = 100%+ Heat will take stun damage in hot climates.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Pietje666 on April 22, 2018, 03:14:18 pm
I encountered a fatal error in the latest xpiratez version

[22-04-2018_13-38-26]   [WARN]   þÿÿ‰”(ÿÿÿ‹[22-04-2018_13-38-26]   [FATAL]   A fatal error has occurred: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
[22-04-2018_13-38-26]   [FATAL]   Unfortunately, no stack trace information is available
[22-04-2018_13-38-46]   [FATAL]   OpenXcom has crashed: Segmentation fault. This usually indicates something missing in a mod.
Extra information has been saved to openxcom.log.
If this error was unexpected, please report it to the developers.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: khade on April 23, 2018, 08:44:12 am
Warm and cold seem to be more indications of the chance that weather will matter.  Scorching hot and freezing cold seem to be guarantees of the weather being sucky though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I2a - 22 Mar - Diamonds Are Forever
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 23, 2018, 09:03:52 am
Everything in jungles and desert is 'scorching hot' where everything on snow is 'freezing cold'.
Some maps have default climates to begin with (e.g. prison break 'reinhard must survive' is cold / 'blood ritual' is scorching hot 24/7)
The map with the demon tower is entirely random as stated in the briefing. Either you roll cold, hot or temperate is like 1 out of 3.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Dioxine on May 04, 2018, 10:50:25 pm
New version is UP. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Rince Wind on May 04, 2018, 11:29:04 pm
That changelog sounds exciting. And as my PC can't handle Battletech I'll have some time!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: FG on May 05, 2018, 01:51:27 am
New version is UP. Enjoy.
Thx!  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: sanyaskillpro on May 05, 2018, 02:12:11 am
Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: HT on May 05, 2018, 09:50:16 am
Wow, it seems someone has been hard at work! Also, is that a parody of Tron's disks? LOL.

That changelog sounds exciting. And as my PC can't handle Battletech I'll have some time!

Eh, you don't miss much, the writing is terrible, the SJW bullshit is strong and there are many bugs and poor optimization that pretty much demands you to wait for the inevitable "extended edition" one or two years after launch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Rince Wind on May 05, 2018, 01:43:30 pm
Wow, it seems someone has been hard at work! Also, is that a parody of Tron's disks? LOL.

Eh, you don't miss much, the writing is terrible, the SJW bullshit is strong and there are many bugs and poor optimization that pretty much demands you to wait for the inevitable "extended edition" one or two years after launch.

I really enjoyed what I could play, but this is not the place to discuss Battletech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Zharkov on May 06, 2018, 07:15:06 am
Huh, those Fat Guys seem to live the life. Although, passenger kidnapping got more interesting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Martin on May 06, 2018, 01:58:09 pm
Eh, you don't miss much, the writing is terrible

Wasn’t Battletech always plagued by this in every of its forms?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ratchet on May 06, 2018, 08:10:19 pm
Wow, it seems someone has been hard at work! Also, is that a parody of Tron's disks? LOL.

Eh, you don't miss much, the writing is terrible, the SJW bullshit is strong and there are many bugs and poor optimization that pretty much demands you to wait for the inevitable "extended edition" one or two years after launch.

Keep your awful political opinions out of this thread, thanks.

Edit:
vvvvv
You just voiced your own political opinions by calling his ones "awful"

I sure did! Great work, detective.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: sanyaskillpro on May 06, 2018, 10:21:29 pm
Keep your awful political opinions out of this thread, thanks.
You just voiced your own political opinions by calling his ones "awful"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Martin on May 07, 2018, 12:35:50 am
Anyway, what SJW bullshit is there in the Battletech?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: BBHood217 on May 07, 2018, 01:10:53 am
This seems fascinating and all, but this really is not the right place to discuss this because it's literally off topic.  If only a forum section dedicated to off topic discussion exists...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: sanyaskillpro on May 07, 2018, 01:15:29 am
I sure did! Great work, detective.
If you don't want any political opinions in this thread then you're a hypocrite. Or it's just the "awful" ones? What if i think your beliefs are awful?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Dioxine on May 07, 2018, 01:36:01 am
Calm your tits. It's a formal matter, this thread is neither for politics nor Battletech discussion. Create a new one, feel free, even here in Piratez section, I do not ban for political opinions. Just for f*ck sake's keep the main sticky Piratez thread stick to Piratez and at least somewhat related stuff. I'm not dead you know, just not posting much nowadays.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ashert on May 07, 2018, 11:35:32 am
The unarmed combat is a new cool feature, lets hope it comes regularly in the next version.

I have an idea. The best pirates in rank Baroness or Queen, can later here also disarm opponents with maybe a 30% chance. Master melee could also throw the opponent. And as best they can attack telepathically like the Sectoids, after a training in the dojo. So, but only for the best pirates and in the final game, they do not need weapons or magic stuff anymore, they are real goddesses.
That would be really cool! ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 07, 2018, 06:12:43 pm
Disarming and throwing sounds good on paper but how to program it in the engine?
Also 'throwing' an opponent for what purpose? If you stand in his face just bash him down or simply stab him.
Everything you want to 'throw' away from you is something you don't want to have standing in your melee range to begin with (like zombies etc.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ashert on May 07, 2018, 09:11:08 pm
Disarming and throwing sounds good on paper but how to program it in the engine?

That the opponent faints and loses the weapon is already integrated.
'Disarming' would be the extension in the script that the weapon does not land on the ground, but in your hitting hand. The fainting is not triggered.
Throwing, however, would only be the result of a stronger punch. I would call him the 'Six-Inch Punch' and he moves the opponent a field or two back, that's all!

The blank hand in the game offers many possibilities, theoretically you can define any effect that was previously reserved for weapons and items, also as a spell. But I would favor doing this without the many wands and occult items. Real magic is just a form of suggestion and telepathy, more Jedi and less Harry Potter! ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Alejandro on May 08, 2018, 02:31:47 am
I feel like I missed something. I'm looking for bombers to get the Higher Studies tech, but I've never encountered Magical Girls, Soul Gems, or Lucky Stars. I have a cloning center but I have no idea why. I've encountered Ghost Gals though. Where do I find Magical Girls?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: greattuna on May 08, 2018, 02:56:16 am
On heart-shaped Pink Ships, bearing gifts of love.

Researching Strange Message (3) will make them fly out on a monthly basis. They always land, so it's a good idea to just tail them until they do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Alejandro on May 08, 2018, 03:07:49 am
I'm such an idiot. I've been keeping cloaking field investigation purposefully unprioritized in research so I could peruse the tech tree at any time. Doh. Thanks a bunch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: FG on May 08, 2018, 08:33:00 pm
Sorry for my offtopic (kind of x-piratez related). A while ago, I found hi-res x-piratez logo somewhere in the net, and for some reason, I can't find it again  :(
Can someone drop a link?

low-res example: https://imgur.com/a/NLExmeS
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: unarmed drifter on May 08, 2018, 11:41:21 pm
New version is UP. Enjoy.

It's springtime! Thanks alot  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: OsS on May 09, 2018, 03:05:09 pm
So thought to try out this again (played it quite a long while ago), and in new version have a problem where armors some resistances are marked with numbers (12, 13, 14) where it used to be words like cold, heat ect. So i cant really tell which resistance is which.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Meridian on May 09, 2018, 03:06:01 pm
Change the language to "en-US".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: OsS on May 09, 2018, 03:09:25 pm
Tnx, that was it, were using english (uk).
Btw what's the difference between special and plus310 exe file?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: ohartenstein23 on May 09, 2018, 03:14:42 pm
The special contains an experimental version of the unarmed attack features that are included in the latest OXCE+ release; use it to try out unarmed melee attacks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on May 15, 2018, 08:34:49 pm
Hey, I have a weapon named after me now!  I am stoked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 16, 2018, 02:09:45 pm
Hey, I have a weapon named after me now!  I am stoked.

Then you are a member of a very elite club! Other members are: Meridian, Otto Hartenstein and Niculinux. Did I miss anyone?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: the Ring Dang Doo on May 16, 2018, 10:52:33 pm
I did a fresh installation with the new version, but now all my saves and autosaves are failing with the error message "Save failed - Save backed up in [name].save.bak".  Is there an easy way to fix this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: magus1 on May 17, 2018, 01:01:07 am
Apologies for posting here unless it is okay. How do I change the shepherd trappings on a recruit? They are pretty powered up stat-wise but it still pny gives me nude or shepherd as options.

Best regards,

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 17, 2018, 08:52:11 am
Peasant don't have 'better' armor right now.
The next better stuff aside from camo-paint and 'stalker' are space suit and loader suit for more endurance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: magus1 on May 18, 2018, 07:04:22 am
Thank you! Rock Paper Scissors was right this is the bes mod of anything ever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 18, 2018, 09:06:33 am
Thank you! Rock Paper Scissors was right this is the bes mod of anything ever.

*Rock Paper Shotgun / but yes this mod - total conversion - is fun to play and challenging!

And that guy didn't even reviewed the most recent updates so the feedback has to be treated as a general opinion towards the hard work invested.

Edit:
Any ETA for a bugfix version?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: magus1 on May 19, 2018, 12:57:44 am
Hi,

this game has so many options that I don't have a headstart on what I should buy/build as an interceptor. I would like just the pure fighter type which can be equipped with 50mm cannons but I am unsure which I can equip with this gun.

Any help would be very appreciated.

Regards,

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 19, 2018, 01:06:34 am
The 50mm cannon is classified as 'light weapon' (Lw).
Every craft that has a Lw slot can hook it up.

The light weapon slot is common among interceptors (sporting 2x Lw and 2x Ms (missiles)).
The "Bravewhaler" is the first inteceptor you can build yourself.

Otherwise you can hook the gun onto an aircar, shark-jetbike and most codex-crafts.
The piranha can use it too but has very limited range (fuel).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: khade on May 19, 2018, 02:53:47 am
For hunting civilian vehicles, the aircar and 50m cannon is close to ideal, though there are some that can take and give more then that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: magus1 on May 19, 2018, 11:24:21 pm
Thank you Khade and Ethereal!

I am trying not to do so much looking online at reddit and the UFopedia as I might get too many spoilers.

Spent days looking for fusion batteries in loot - only to find them in the BM!

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J - 4 May - Sparkle Sparkle
Post by: khade on May 20, 2018, 03:16:43 am
Mostly aircar is cheap and early in the research, it's low grade and you get what you pay for, but it works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Dioxine on May 20, 2018, 04:43:28 am
New version is UP. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: FG on May 20, 2018, 06:51:08 am
New version is UP. Have fun.
Nice! thx again :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: GENVOKE on May 20, 2018, 09:55:35 am
Quote
- New Music tracks (by FG)

Neat 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 21, 2018, 01:42:53 am
Re: New version

I guess I need to do the special save game thing after updating that I saw a few pages back?

Thanks again,

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Multiheaded on May 21, 2018, 12:08:23 pm
Where do I get a heavy freighter flight plan? It's required to research Activities:Commercial (-> Plastasteel Forging) but there didn't seem to be one in the 2 heavy freighters that I've caught so far (0.99J)

Edit: never mind, found it in the third one... I guess it might have been getting torn to shreds either by the crash, or by my liberal use of room-clearing explosives, hehehe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Ciruil on May 21, 2018, 12:14:42 pm
Where I can find wrench (except interrogation)? It needed for researching workshop.

And,  if you looking Lokk'Naar scriptures - you may got it as loot in desert maps with rock buildings ruins.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Multiheaded on May 21, 2018, 12:16:30 pm
Guild Engineers usually carry wrenches, from what I've seen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: legionof1 on May 22, 2018, 12:58:31 am
Yay new version.

I really like the ammo additions. Smooths out overall weapon performance alot imo. Aqua ammo in particular i think is quite clever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 22, 2018, 11:49:12 am
Yay new version.

I really like the ammo additions. Smooths out overall weapon performance alot imo. Aqua ammo in particular i think is quite clever.

Underwater ammo is great to have. I had only the choice to go harpoons or XG weapons so far. More ranged equipment is great!
Slugthrower must be a 1-hit kill now since concussive damage is amplified underwater.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: legionof1 on May 22, 2018, 02:25:30 pm
Eh not that effective underwater actually. the most powerful threats underwater are sharkmen and deep ones. Sharkmen only take 15% extra so that's an average of 75 a shot from the slugthrowers concussion ammo. Deep one nomads are actually 25% resistant to concussive.

So certainly more effective on sharks then piercing(30% resist) but unlikely to be a one shot given sharkmen have high hp and some armor. Similar story with Nomads.

Edit: Took an in depth exam of underwater options and yeah bringing the slug underwater is kinda a big deal even if it isn't a 1 shot weapon. Accurate direct fire with decent dmg and not deep in the tech tree. Though for a good while javalins are still the go to option for raw dmg. The assorted harpoon options are actually lacking in dmg until the final 75 dmg ammo comes along, cause sharks and deep ones are resistant to both pierce and daze.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 22, 2018, 04:12:21 pm
In that case more auto-harpoons with stun+ darts and XG weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 24, 2018, 01:10:13 am
I have only had 2 underwater quests - one was the strange island - not saying much but I did not last long - the other was a very nice wreck with treasure. Will upgrade for the new weaps.. TY!

I have solved the 'why can't I manufacture explosive cannonballs' dilemma - I had 'hidden' the choice by accidentally right clicking on it.

Still cannot make get enough chemicals - shame as the magnum looks a great gun for those pared down Temple quests.

Also, producing Interceptors for $$$, though it is only a short term cash boost.

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Ciruil on May 25, 2018, 02:45:20 pm
Guild Engineers usually carry wrenches, from what I've seen.
Also several G.O. in warehouse wars mission carrying wrenches too. Sometimes laborers on civilian traffic has it too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on May 26, 2018, 02:46:03 pm
They can be the "primary" loot in warehouse war as well. (Got them and hammers mostly, no space suits this time, and it was over 2 ingame years before I saw my first power armored dude. In my base of all places. So finally I can go into space for proper missions.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: FG on May 27, 2018, 01:07:49 am
Can i suggest to move "aqua plastics" into sub-category?
well... QOL feature for science  :)
https://imgur.com/a/SOrmi3Q
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Voidflame on May 27, 2018, 01:12:53 am
I like the new hiding item in purchase screen feature, much less clutter now. =w=
Throwing stuff cost a bit more TU, which is fair i suppose.
Haxxor is a nice addition, a good early in-between sniper rifle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: legionof1 on May 27, 2018, 01:51:17 am
Actually the haxor is more like a standard scoped rifle. It has neither minimum range, dmg scaleing, or skill squared accuracy scale.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 27, 2018, 02:51:11 am
Where I can find wrench (except interrogation)? It needed for researching workshop.

And,  if you looking Lokk'Naar scriptures - you may got it as loot in desert maps with rock buildings ruins.

Oh, I like that little detail, the designers tipping their hats to the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Israel.

This kind of detail makes this the best ever mod.

:]

Magus1
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: LytaRyta on May 27, 2018, 06:19:52 pm
hi Piraterz! ;D

great (and HUGE :o ) job! 

almost everything is welldone,

(except - why you now, in last 1 - 2 versions, quitted, deleted those few (sub)categories - in "Fence Stuff Away" ,  (Selling Stuffs, and also Purchasing too.. )


the "old" subcategories which were there, - were good, and logical ones :


1. People (Personnels, /piratersz staff..)

2. Enemies ( /Monsters)

3.) RawResources  ( /Treasure)

4.)  Hangars, - "Airplanes & armaments

( and possibly - 5. Stores,  small storage & equipments.. )


.. + and also, - such subcategories were very useful, -as they were very quickly accessibles, straight quickly ´way´ into each kind of stuffs..


















-------------------



btw. - important

i offer & recommend you, for uploading new "editions of X-Piraterz, - try, look at

www.ulozto.cz


yap,
(as "back-up, /secondary external  data-store.. )

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 28, 2018, 07:26:04 am
Dioxine,

a query:

It seems to be more worthwhile to just sell prisoners than rob them. After a certain amount of research, for example GOs, they stop telling
 you anything but give 2x the $ to sell them.

Am I a missing something?

Best regards,

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: ivandogovich on May 28, 2018, 07:46:47 am
Yes, Ransom is often more profitable than Robbery.    There are some exceptions however.

Robbery gives you access to whatever special resources the enemy might yield, (Aqua Plastics, Kevlar Armor, Power Armor Parts, Rare Earth Elements, etc.)   Beyond that, there is the opportunity to take the credits from the Robbery and multiply them in the Mint.  This can bring in significantly more than the simple Ransom price.

Finally, the best use of most prisoners is Slaves!  Slaves save you precious building tiles on your base by giving you negative space.  Beyond that, they also pay their own way, in that you get money from them every month!  In a late campaign, its not out of the question to be bringing in hundreds of thousands to millions, per month, from the slaves.

(https://i.imgur.com/GyX4mUI.png)

So, once I get slavery, I usually just Ransom off most captives that can't be slaved, but use Robbery only on Priests (Force Circuitry) and Marsec Bodyguards (Power Armor Parts) and specials like them.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: LytaRyta on May 28, 2018, 03:09:21 pm
what about add 1 helicopter, - for example, RAH66-Comanche ?  as mid range, attack "vehicle", for slow very small, small, - to medium ufos (respectively, planes..) ?

..and you just MUST add the experimental, prototyphe, TR-3B "flying-saucer", you know,
that with anti-grav, superconductive, supercooled "ring", -gravitic, mass.less effects, by *Skunk Works team"

strongly recommend :p


..and 1 really heavy, HUGE lifter, ultra big transport plane - Mrija, An-225,
or B-380..
 
\     and /or  V-22 Osprey, medium lifter, transport & (close-air)support plane...


also, what about add few new suggestions, to new Rooms, into buildings :

Garden, (Farm) /hydroponics Room,
 
fully equipped Hospital

un-conquerable Fortress, /Bunker (*Tresor, - smthng like *Panic Room* ), extremely good, versatile, and strong heavy armed, and tought locked..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 29, 2018, 03:39:31 am
Yes, Ransom is often more profitable than Robbery.    There are some exceptions however.

Robbery gives you access to whatever special resources the enemy might yield, (Aqua Plastics, Kevlar Armor, Power Armor Parts, Rare Earth Elements, etc.)   Beyond that, there is the opportunity to take the credits from the Robbery and multiply them in the Mint.  This can bring in significantly more than the simple Ransom price.

Finally, the best use of most prisoners is Slaves!  Slaves save you precious building tiles on your base by giving you negative space.  Beyond that, they also pay their own way, in that you get money from them every month!  In a late campaign, its not out of the question to be bringing in hundreds of thousands to millions, per month, from the slaves.

(https://i.imgur.com/GyX4mUI.png)

So, once I get slavery, I usually just Ransom off most captives that can't be slaved, but use Robbery only on Priests (Force Circuitry) and Marsec Bodyguards (Power Armor Parts) and specials like them.

Thank you Ivan!  I had not gone down the Slavery route when it was so obvious :D

I don't know about a mint yet but will watch out. TY for these 'soft' spoilers - more like a debate really and I am desperate for $$$$!

Here is a thing, the mansion missions are difficult but I don't see the point of wench/maid when I can get more with thief trappings and maybe 1 or 2 nurses. Not a criticism of balance, I just don't know how to use the first two I guess.

Magus1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: greattuna on May 29, 2018, 03:53:50 am
You can clear mansion with thief outfits? I admire you. Personally, I don't take them despite their camo because of harsh penalties they impose.

Also, maid is the default outfit if you bring something non-appropriate, and I do that a lot because I'm a logistically lazy person. It's not bad, too; no big penalties, enough space to fit gun + dagger + rum + explosives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: ivandogovich on May 29, 2018, 05:37:49 am
Yeah, I go with primary maids in my Mansions.  Any witches or seductresses play too, but I strictly avoid Theif due to energy and stat penalties.  I'm usually there to kill em all, not loot and scoot, so Thief is not my bag.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 29, 2018, 11:37:13 am
Thank you for both your tactics; I am going to test maid more; I guess you clear the mansions so do not need the Thief trappings with the extra backpack space. Greattuna what did you mean by non-appropriate? Ivan, I used a seductress and she worked against low level creeps - I guess I need to examine which is my best gal to be one and not just randomly hand out costumes though.

Best regards,

Mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: LytaRyta on May 29, 2018, 12:18:28 pm

Finally, the best use of most prisoners is Slaves!  Slaves save you precious building tiles on your base by giving you negative space.  Beyond that, they also pay their own way, in that you get money from them every month! 

they save building space, build.´tiles, for Rooms in base, or just storage space, in Store rooms ? ?  ??? :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on May 29, 2018, 01:11:04 pm
With enough slaves you don't need as many vaults (ok, with enough of them you don't need any, but I never got that far), so you can build something else in that tile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Cristao on May 29, 2018, 03:45:59 pm
On slaves - you can get negative storage if you have enough of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Voidflame on May 30, 2018, 03:48:11 am
And workers too if you don't have money problems.  TK projector is surprisingly useful in mansion mission, get some novice to hold it and blast away.

Also i encountered the special guests on passenger hoppers.  Should have packed heavier stuff. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 30, 2018, 08:45:43 am
Only downside to the Projector strategy is the smoke-cloud that builds up. You can also destroy the floor tiles underneath and above yourself. This can cause more problems aside from the limited armor values but the sense 3 is very useful to cheat through walls unless you play gold-codex and just fairy-suit the entire mansion into submission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on May 30, 2018, 09:22:41 am
Only downside to the Projector strategy is the smoke-cloud that builds up. You can also destroy the floor tiles underneath and above yourself. This can cause more problems aside from the limited armor values but the sense 3 is very useful to cheat through walls unless you play gold-codex and just fairy-suit the entire mansion into submission.

Ethereal, I have no idea what this means but it sounds wonderful! Reminds me of a time when I was so far ahead in Hellgate London and Skyforge that we used a beautiful language that even became guild-specific :]

I want a fairy suit...  oh I have already used the Grey Codex...hmm.

And did I hear correctly, there is a tanK?!?
Panzer macht Spass!

Best wishes,

Mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: cc on May 31, 2018, 12:11:42 am
And did I hear correctly, there is a tanK?!?
Actually, there's a lot of them. Start by researching armored cars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on May 31, 2018, 01:01:03 pm
Can they be used in hideout defenses? Because I have an autocannon tank that didn't spawn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: legionof1 on May 31, 2018, 01:41:44 pm
They can, however a large portion of the spawn points in base buildings only accommodate 1x1 units. To ensure 2x2 units spawn have a burrow(or its upgrade). Some other buildings also have 2x2 points but it dont recall which.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on May 31, 2018, 02:08:24 pm
I have a burrow, but maybe the werewolfs took up the spawn points. They did kill a couple mercs and soaked up some shots, so they were useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Martin on June 01, 2018, 01:47:36 pm
They can, however a large portion of the spawn points in base buildings only accommodate 1x1 units. To ensure 2x2 units spawn have a burrow(or its upgrade). Some other buildings also have 2x2 points but it dont recall which.

Hangar does. I had my armored car spawn in hangar once.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on June 01, 2018, 05:00:13 pm
I love the mesh armor. But sometimes I need to be more careful. Freeing a raynerd usually isn't that much of a deal, but this time it was really cold and almost everyone was in mesh armor which has bad energy recovery and a stamina malus. I didn't have time to waste because on gal was down and I didn't want her to die. Another one was wounded and recovered exactly 0 energy each turn (stupid Caws and their shotgun ammo). So I had to recall the two in grav harnesses who cleared the towers and together with the one gal in a guardian armor they stunned and killed the rest of the beastmen. (I usually kill the wolfmen and stun the others with electric lassos, which didn't help my energy recovery.)
:D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on June 02, 2018, 07:51:57 am
And then I see this....

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on June 02, 2018, 07:52:33 am
Posts removed. Triple posting is really too much - Dioxine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Rince Wind on June 02, 2018, 04:24:52 pm
You can always rightclick on something when fencing it to find out if it is used for crafting.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: LytaRyta on June 02, 2018, 10:24:16 pm
btw. hey guys, where you rid -off that pic of Trade_GUILD_REPresentative in ufo-paedia ? ?

yap, tha pic with young sexy chic lady, (with) holding glass of red wine, in her hand..
(http://)


now ist there just some ..ugly woman ;D lůl  ( abit ..vulgar)



(btw where can be found any (kind of) ..archiv, with every used /or not-used picture of the mod, Piratez-X ?
(if such .."archiv even  exist..)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: LytaRyta on June 02, 2018, 10:33:55 pm
~~^^  the first pic is better,  ;P

dont know why u need to change it (her) ;S lůl

original, older pic was prettyier,
more beautifly
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on June 03, 2018, 12:37:03 pm
I think the first photo you can find for "Bank Favours", but I can be wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: Dioxine on June 04, 2018, 11:57:02 am
The second pic looks more like a Guild Rep should look. And the first one was reused for something more worthy of its beauty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: magus1 on June 07, 2018, 09:07:40 am
I cannot seem to make or buy rockets for the handheld rocket launcher....

:[
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J1 - 20 May - Fistful of Ammunition
Post by: greattuna on June 08, 2018, 12:47:37 am
You need "Prize: Military Supplies" to buy rockets, and "Explosive Munitions" to make them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Dioxine on June 09, 2018, 09:49:56 pm
New version is up. Have fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: FG on June 09, 2018, 09:52:04 pm
New version is up. Have fun.

Cheers!  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Martin on June 09, 2018, 10:00:33 pm
Yay!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 12, 2018, 04:54:20 pm
Hooray, thank you very much!  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Droggarth on June 19, 2018, 08:10:48 am
I think I'm probably one of the few here who loves this mod mainly for its sheer amount of depth, content and diverse gameplay.
However I've been wondering lately how this mod handles all of the gal appearances, what I'm interested in is modifying a few existing ones but I have no idea how the mod gives unique color scheme for all of the gals like hair color and hair appearance in battlescape. It's easy to edit inventory sprites of their appearance but I just can't seem to figure out why I can't change the hairstyle and color in battlescape sprites too despite the edit of inventory sprites. I'm aware of what I'm looking for is somewhere in the files but I just don't know where it is exactly.

Some help of guidance and direction would be much appreciated as I'm not mod-savvy enough to figure out more complicated things on my own.


As for the mod/TC itself, I've spent hours upon hours playing the game with it which mostly consists of researching tech and cleaning the battlescape with melee weapons and stun batons. I mostly play as a murdering raider/reaper/reaver/hoarder/despot/doom-lord after milking every knowledge out of captured hostiles (even non-hostiles). So satisfying to shoot down anything and do whatever I want with my victims.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Dioxine on June 19, 2018, 03:11:56 pm
Code: [Select]
    spriteFaceGroup: 6
    spriteFaceColor: [94, 94, 94, 94, 160, 160, 163, 163, 94, 94, 94, 94, 160, 163, 160, 160, 94, 94, 94, 94, 163, 160, 160, 163, 94, 94, 94, 94, 160, 163, 163, 163, 94, 94, 94, 94, 163, 163, 160, 160, 94, 94, 94, 94, 160, 160, 160, 160, 94, 95, 94, 94, 161, 160, 161, 162, 94, 94, 94, 94, 163, 163, 161, 160, 94, 94, 94, 94, 163, 163, 163, 160, 94, 94, 94, 94, 161, 162, 162, 162, 94, 94, 94, 94, 161, 162, 163, 161, 94, 94, 94, 94, 160, 162, 163, 163]
    spriteHairGroup: 9
    spriteHairColor: [224, 17, 246, 36, 38, 208, 246, 246, 36, 246, 246, 144, 145, 22, 22, 246, 178, 160, 160, 163, 38, 146, 246, 52, 246, 145, 37, 196, 161, 224, 224, 37, 144, 246, 146, 230, 86, 245, 246, 80, 34, 80, 144, 144, 246, 244, 198, 35, 38, 246, 144, 18, 246, 246, 246, 80, 80, 162, 130, 144, 224, 246, 82, 181, 145, 161, 246, 246, 37, 246, 36, 178, 161, 161, 192, 32, 240, 246, 19, 193, 246, 80, 144, 246, 246, 131, 245, 22, 50, 246, 144, 163, 19, 38, 246, 226]

This is what handles the recolors. These numbers are palette indexes.
When you modify, don't forget to share! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Droggarth on June 19, 2018, 05:21:26 pm
Heh, thanks! It was in front of my eyes without even noticing. Still though, all the palette indexes make things even more confusing. Say I want to add a hairstyle with red color to the gal 'Scar' for example, how to pin-point the place I'd need to alter?

Bleh, nevermind. Looked further into the modding of it and it's too much of an hassle for me to deal with currently.
On a bright side though, it isn't that big of a deal as I usually send my main commando unit into battlescape in armor such as the Biosuit that hides most of the appearance anyway, especially when I switch the appearance to someone with a short black hair which makes it look like there's a helmet of sorts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: JDCollie on June 20, 2018, 04:48:34 am
I think I'm probably one of the few here who loves this mod mainly for its sheer amount of depth, content and diverse gameplay.
Here I thought that's what most of us were here for.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Droggarth on June 20, 2018, 06:44:01 am
Here I thought that's what most of us were here for.

Now I've managed to set myself up unintentionally for that joke, thanks for the laugh though!
In all seriousness what got me interested in this mod was sheer diversity of armors (least skimpy), weapons, transport vehicles and enemy units in the screenshots of this mod. It's so over the top crazy that I needed to try it out myself and I'm glad that I did. I had no idea before how a mod like this can transform the core game of X-Com to something even more fun to keep playing gameplay-wise.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 26, 2018, 03:53:20 pm
I flew on a mission to help the mutants, but it's just impossible!
I can not even open the ship's door, because my girls are killed in just a few turns!  ???
Everyone shoots at all, and I do not understand who my friend is, and who's the enemy.
So it should be?
This is a very cool, but very unusual mod.  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Zippicus on June 26, 2018, 10:34:59 pm
I flew on a mission to help the mutants, but it's just impossible!
I can not even open the ship's door, because my girls are killed in just a few turns!  ???
Everyone shoots at all, and I do not understand who my friend is, and who's the enemy.
So it should be?
This is a very cool, but very unusual mod.  ;)

It sounds like you are talking about a terror mission, those can be pretty rough depending on which faction is involved.  Identifying enemies will come with experience but until you figure all that out, there's some icons that show up on the right side of your screen when you spot enemies.  If you click on one of those icons it will center the screen on the spotted enemy.  It's safe to ignore the early game terror missions if they're too hot to handle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 27, 2018, 08:25:29 am
It sounds like you are talking about a terror mission, those can be pretty rough depending on which faction is involved.  Identifying enemies will come with experience but until you figure all that out, there's some icons that show up on the right side of your screen when you spot enemies.  If you click on one of those icons it will center the screen on the spotted enemy.  It's safe to ignore the early game terror missions if they're too hot to handle.
Thank you!
Yes, this is a terrorist mission, and I was absolutely not ready for it.
And, it was just the second mission in the game! And immediately so difficult ...
If I knew that it was impassable, I would simply ignore it ... but how can I find out in advance, except how to try to pass it ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: legionof1 on June 27, 2018, 09:17:56 am
Much of the content of Piratez is setup in such a way that not completing something fully is okay. More score is obviously worthwhile for the financial gains, but as long as your still positive, and not to far behind the tech curve, your doing fine.

A interesting quirk is that terror missions don't have negative score for ignoring them until a certain tech is researched. Ignoring them in the very early game is reasonable.

The general order of priorities is, preserving your gals>getting loot>winning the missions completely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 27, 2018, 10:03:43 am
Much of the content of Piratez is setup in such a way that not completing something fully is okay. More score is obviously worthwhile for the financial gains, but as long as your still positive, and not to far behind the tech curve, your doing fine.

A interesting quirk is that terror missions don't have negative score for ignoring them until a certain tech is researched. Ignoring them in the very early game is reasonable.

The general order of priorities is, preserving your gals>getting loot>winning the missions completely.
Thanks for the advice!
I'm newbie to this mod and I do not know all of its features yet, but it seems strange to me that I'm offered an impossible mission at the very beginning of the game.
Of course, I can not know in advance that this mission can not be carried out...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: legionof1 on June 27, 2018, 10:25:03 am
The first terror mission is winnable, but its more of a challenge then its truly worth.

Like playing a Dark Souls nude run. It's doable, but neither a needed or sensible thing to try for the vast majority of players.

You also got a bit unlucky that it was your second ever mission. There is a good amount of RNG in what will spawn during a given month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Zippicus on June 27, 2018, 10:52:48 am
Except for a few scripted events the missions are all pretty random, its fairly rare to get a mutant pogrom (terror mission) very early in the game but as you found out it's certainly possible.  It's hard to give any "one size fits all" advice regarding mutant pogroms since the difficulty level really depends on what faction you have to deal with.  At the very least you'll want some decent armor like tac vests or warrior armor and some decent heavy weapons to deal with the more troublesome heavy units like tanks and whatnot before you take a crack at one. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 27, 2018, 11:05:56 am
Mod is very unusual and interesting, so I'm especially sorry that from the very beginning I have to do loading / saving many times, only because the game offered me an impossible mission ... this is not enough logic from the point of view of the game interest.
It seems to me that it would be a good idea to take into account the progress of the player, otherwise the game process from the very beginning of the game looks rather tedious ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Zippicus on June 27, 2018, 11:39:29 am
Mod is very unusual and interesting, so I'm especially sorry that from the very beginning I have to do loading / saving many times, only because the game offered me an impossible mission ... this is not enough logic from the point of view of the game interest.
It seems to me that it would be a good idea to take into account the progress of the player, otherwise the game process from the very beginning of the game looks rather tedious ...

I think the intent is to have each game be a different experience to add to the replay value rather than having each game be a similar experience like the standard X-com game normally plays out.  All that being said, sometimes the game does kick you in the nuts.  The game before last I played, my first 3 months of mission were all terrible missions with mercs and zombies and I almost lost due to negative score, but most of the time it's fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 27, 2018, 11:51:11 am
I think the intent is to have each game be a different experience to add to the replay value rather than having each game be a similar experience like the standard X-com game normally plays out.  All that being said, sometimes the game does kick you in the nuts.  The game before last I played, my first 3 months of mission were all terrible missions with mercs and zombies and I almost lost due to negative score, but most of the time it's fine.
I largely agree with you.
But now my game is as follows: I arrive on a mission, they kill me, I reboot, they kill me, I reboot three more times, then I understand that I can not win and fly away.
And this is at the very beginning of the game!
I think it would be logical to somehow warn the player of the complexity of the upcoming mission, so that he could deliberately ignore it or simply limit the appearance of such missions in the early stages of the game.
Otherwise, the game turns into a tedious process of reboots ... it's pointless and not logical.

By the way, I wanted to ask you more ...
I will be able to somehow recruit new girls, because as long as I do not have such a possibility ... and if all the current girls are killed, then the game will just end?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 27, 2018, 02:37:52 pm
If you can't do it, just run... What's the point dwelling on this?

(Inb4 some people come and start lamenting how there are two types of pogrom missions and which one you can ignore etc... Screw that meta, just play and learn.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Fiskun1 on June 27, 2018, 02:47:58 pm
This is very similar to cheating, when you can not do what the game offers you and so you have to do endless reboots.
Although I understand that it just works.
But it does not seem right to me.
The same X-Files, for example, are made much more logical in terms of gameplay.
Although, again, the X-Piratez is very interesting and unusual mod.
I'm a big fan of X-COM and mods for it, so many thanks for the answers and understanding!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: FG on June 27, 2018, 03:21:42 pm
This is very similar to cheating, when you can not do what the game offers you and so you have to do endless reboots.

This's just wrong mindset. You don't need to win in every battle. This game in not like Firaxis X-Com, with their stupid meta: Do it or Die. In XPZ you WILL face a deadliest enemies, a lot of them. it's a wise choice to run away from the grave. To fight another day :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Rince Wind on June 27, 2018, 03:35:08 pm
You can see the description of a mission before you get there. Before a certain tech all terror missions are freelance, which means you don't get a penalty for ignoring it (going there but leaving early gives you a negative score, of course).
But it is not impossible to do, and it might yield some nice loot. It really depends on the enemy. (the easiest are the humanists where only KKK losers and some military police show up. The latter ones can be hard to bring down at the beginning, but fire and explosions are your friends)

It also isn't just a Piratez thing. I lost TftD runs where the first mission was a hideout attack. More often you wouldn't find a sub before the first terror mission and had to go there with a green team.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Eddie on June 27, 2018, 03:42:03 pm
@Fiskun1

Have you not played the vanilla game? The very hard terror mission in your first month is actually a carryover from the vanilla game.

You need to learn to play defensively. On your first turn, don't leave your craft. Reason: Enemies have full Tu for reaction fire. You can walk a few tiles out of your craft to have a look around, but end the first turn with all gals inside your craft. Shooting at enemies on the first turn is also very dangerous and should be avoided if possible.
Scout carefully until you know what you are facing. You can do a middle mouse button click (mousewheel) on an enemy to get more info. This way you can see their weapons.

Judging what you can or cannot fight is part of the game. The game does not expect you to win every mission or do every mission. It is your job as captain to pick the right battles.

Idea to help new players: Have a brainer outfit in the starting equipment so that players have an easier time judging opponent toughness.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: Dioxine on June 27, 2018, 06:50:48 pm
It seems, Fiskun, that you're your own greatest opponent. You've forced yourself into an impossible challenge of having your first run ever already be perfect. Before you defeat yourself, and forget these notions of perfection, you will have no chance of surviving here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: BBHood217 on June 28, 2018, 01:59:38 am
Before a certain tech all terror missions are freelance, which means you don't get a penalty for ignoring it

Not entirely true; there's still a score penalty (albeit a very small one compared to its mandatory cousin) for ignoring a freelance pogrom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: khade on June 29, 2018, 08:23:35 am
Something important to keep in mind with this mod:  You are a pirate, you're not here to stop the injustice, at least at first, you're here to beat people up and take their stuff, hopefully without dying.  You have no moral obligation to follow through on, all that matters is your crew and your pocketbook.

How antihero your crew actually is will be mostly in whatever roleplay you put in, with a few exceptions of actions you can choose to do that are more/less heroic, but really the Lunatics are NOT heroes.

Another one is that you're the new gang on the block, everyone else is established. So you need to be careful not to take on more than you can afford to, your enemies want to kill or experiment on you, your allies don't actually like you much and probably wouldn't object to a firing squad.  You're mostly free to do whatever, but you need to keep your usefulness to your allies higher then their irritation in having to deal with pirates or they'll break the deal.

Being lucky helps too, though.

To answer a question I remember seeing, it's not hard to get access to recruits, peasants are very easy to talk into adventure, and random Uber gangers aren't much harder.  All it takes is research into the right directions.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J2 - 9 Jun - Bogeyman Boogie
Post by: BBHood217 on July 01, 2018, 01:45:15 am
You might already know of this song from elsewhere, but what do you think about using it as music in this mod?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhv4SbNvNwk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhv4SbNvNwk)

It kinda sounds like a pirate shanty, so I think it could fit.  I have it as one of my Geoscape tracks right now (replacing GMGEO10 while the previous GMGEO10 replaces GMWIN, which is kinda fitting since it actually was GMWIN in the mod's previous versions).

Also, how do I replace Bootypedia images?  It seems I need to do more than just shrink the resolution to 320x200 and reducing the colors to 256, there also seems to be palettes to worry about?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2018, 04:41:04 am
New version up. Enjoy farming and stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 07, 2018, 05:12:24 am
Quote
- Update: Grenades. Buffed damage of basic HE grenades. Most grenades explode next turn after priming.

Next turn?  As in if you set the timer to 0, it'll now explode at the end of the enemy turn instead of the end of your own?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: GENVOKE on July 07, 2018, 05:37:49 am
Suhweet! Thanks for the continued support \o/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: KZad Bhat on July 07, 2018, 06:30:05 am
Uh-huh, now I'm getting back into it, you're getting an update out every month. Looks like a lot of new games for me.  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: FG on July 07, 2018, 10:51:49 am
New version up. Enjoy farming and stuff.
Thanks again. Keep it coming ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 07, 2018, 01:14:12 pm
The new j3 on mediafire seems to be corrupted. I get an error when trying to unpack it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Meridian on July 07, 2018, 01:21:22 pm
works fine for me
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 07, 2018, 01:39:59 pm
Strange. Downloaded it three times. Tried winRAR and 7zip. Always an error. I still have the version j2 .rar and that unpacks just fine.

I hope it's not me beeing stupid again. Advice?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Dioxine on July 07, 2018, 01:42:55 pm
It uses RAR5 but winrar does support that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 07, 2018, 01:50:24 pm
Yup, it was me beeing stupid. I still had a very old winRAR version (4.11). Updating solved the problem :-)

Thanks for the new version Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 07, 2018, 01:55:14 pm
Many first glance comments in no particular order.

"Panzerfaust changed to Arcing wpn, rebalanced"
dang, i liked it as a direct fire option.

"Courtesans do not take any storage space, occupy Prison space instead"
Hurm, that's probably gona bugger my in progress game a bit.

"Update: Shotguns now use Firing/2 + 50 Skill"
Oh boy, even more of an insta pick for new gals and early game use. And was already leaning heavily on shotties throughout the campaign anyway. ALL HAIL SHOTGUN META  :P

"Med Supplies need less Chems and have an increased sell price, but need Sectoweed now" welp back too alcohol for income then. and we will be doubly thankful for buyable med supplies getting unlocked. Cause you need med supplies all over the place, and sectoweed is a bit lacking at times and feeds to other products, but i guess.....

"Plantation, Weed Plantation, Boom Plantation"
also is that boom fruit production? if so gimme gimme.

"Update: Arcane Ammo now ignores more armor, deals more damage"
good change, i always felt it was a bit weak for general use.

"Successful dagger attacks by Nightblade wearing Lokk'Naars replenish some TU now"
interesting

"Pestulator now has its corrosive cloud as Special weapon, both hands free"
Really appreciating the shift to free hands for inbuilt weapons


As always thanks for all your fantastic work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 07, 2018, 02:38:45 pm
Any comment on the grenade timer change? (grenades now have a fixed timer of 0)
I actually had a good use for timer 1 HE grenades -  clearing the evil grass in front of my craft. Set the timer to 1 so it explodes after your doors have closed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: clownagent on July 07, 2018, 03:01:22 pm
Some small suggestions:

- Robbing B-boys should give "sectoweed"
- Robbing ratman should give "old boot" or "orange" or "Apple"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 07, 2018, 04:19:00 pm
Some small suggestions:

- Robbing B-boys should give "sectoweed"
- Robbing ratman should give "old boot" or "orange" or "Apple"

Well if the note on the weed plantation is what i think it is, it does mean one could eventually source there own supply. So probably not a significant problem over a campaign. We shall see how it balances out in the end.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 07, 2018, 05:16:44 pm
Any comment on the grenade timer change? (grenades now have a fixed timer of 0)
I actually had a good use for timer 1 HE grenades -  clearing the evil grass in front of my craft. Set the timer to 1 so it explodes after your doors have closed.

Is that the change?  Because I didn't notice any difference; I threw a 0-timer hellerium grenade at a boomosaur (the same way you deal with a triscene, which the boomosaur basically is anyway just with fire rockets instead of sonic cannons) and as always, it exploded when I ended my turn.  I even did a quick battle to test a variety of grenades, and their timers still functioned the same way; you can set them to 0, 2, or 5 and they'll respectively blow up now, later, or much later.  So now I'm really confused about that comment regarding grenades exploding next turn.

Also I think at the end of a turn, all automatic doors close first before any grenades go off.  So you'll probably be safe even if you drop a 0-timer grenade right outside the door.

Edit: That quick battle was a Lokk'naar Farm mission, and I was surprised when I got a lot of score at the end apparently due to all the uber wheat I recovered from it.  Is that intentional, like the spectators in the Aircar Race mission?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: HT on July 07, 2018, 05:29:36 pm
Oh, wow, a new version! I haven't been able to try the previous one yet, lel. Testing this one, the Bootypaedia got some modifications, such as easy-to-read bonuses that apply and such. Unfortunately some of them cut the text (for these weapons that have long descriptions), and several of them don't have that shortcut yet.

In any case, the plantations take advantage of the new feature about building stuff above an existing building, but I haven't been able to check more. I suppose you'll have to build a new hideout to take advantage of these farms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 08, 2018, 02:59:33 am
@BBHood217

I haven't had time for ingame tesing yet. I just looked at the ruleset. HE grenades now have "fusetype: 0", which according to the OXCE readme is "can prime, set fixed time of 0 turns."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 08, 2018, 04:29:34 am
The grenades are still working the same as always, so I really have no idea.  I hope we get a more detailed explanation on what's supposed to be new with grenades now, because I'm really not seeing any of it.

Edit: I did some more quick battle testing, and now I see what's new.  Some grenades like the HE grenade have lost their timer controls; when you prime it, it skips the timer setting and it's automatically set to 0.  However, some other grenades like the hellerium grenade and high explosive still have their timer controls so there's no fear in having a barrel bomb blow up in your face while trying to destroy the red barn.

Now all we need is a clear indication of which grenades have timers, because even the ANAL button makes no mention of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 08, 2018, 07:09:07 am
well farming is....impressive so far, one normal one covers the cash operating costs for 2 others so if you have the initial investment materials all the sectoweed and boom fruit you could ever want.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: HT on July 08, 2018, 11:54:19 am
Oh yeah, something I forgot to point out in case someone didn't know this: Apparently, with the new version, whenever you use the Aye-Phone (and similar devices), by pressing ALT on the Battlescape, you can see yellow arrows noting down the detected movement for an easier reading of the lectures. Quite cool.


There are also new enemies who don't seem to be fully implemented yet, but will be quite familiar for those X-COM veterans.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 09, 2018, 06:13:54 am
Quote
Allow mods to define whether a unit can be captured alive. Cyberdisc and Sectopod are now uncapturable in vanilla.

So for the next version, can all the enemies that explode on death finally be capturable if they get stunned without blowing up?

Make Boomosaurs Capturable Again
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Martin on July 09, 2018, 12:24:21 pm
Would it be possible to make dogs, blood hounds, reapers and cats a soldier type like dogs are in X-Com Files?

Alos, how about Gold Codex geting celatids and chryssalids? If Church can do it, surely we can do it better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: AlienZimogor on July 11, 2018, 03:49:49 am
Is this a normal and works as intended:
1. Terror at first month?
2. Unbalanced monsters like a dogs and hounds on a first month?
3. Enemy with laserguns at first month?
4. YOU WITH SNIPER RIFLES, LASERS, HEAVY ASSAULT MACHINEGUNS, RPG'S, CAWS, AT FIRST MONTH?
5. Sniper-like rifles less effectively like a sniper weapon(one-shot kill) than bombard, due to unworked 999% hitchance?
6. Almost half weapons worse than bombard?
7. Frustrating experience after pressing "ABOARD" button?
8. 90% of all weapons - trash?
9. What is the point of researching low-weapons, if you get at the beginning of the game stuff on a several tiers higher and examine them instead of wasting time for researching garbage?
10. Experience and hit/sight system?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Dioxine on July 11, 2018, 06:09:14 am
Yes.

1. Lucky.
2. Scared by puny dogs? You have much to learn.
3. Lucky.
4. Me?
5. What is unworked hitchance?
6. More than half are better!
7. This one got me curious. What is ABOARD button and what kind of frustrating experienced does it dispense?
8. Even those better than bombard?
9. Pssst. That is a mystery.
10. Experience is intended. Hit/sight system, no idea, but it sounds cool.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Zippicus on July 11, 2018, 06:22:07 am
Is this a normal and works as intended:
1. Terror at first month?
2. Unbalanced monsters like a dogs and hounds on a first month?
3. Enemy with laserguns at first month?
4. YOU WITH SNIPER RIFLES, LASERS, HEAVY ASSAULT MACHINEGUNS, RPG'S, CAWS, AT FIRST MONTH?
5. Sniper-like rifles less effectively like a sniper weapon(one-shot kill) than bombard, due to unworked 999% hitchance?
6. Almost half weapons worse than bombard?
7. Frustrating experience after pressing "ABOARD" button?
8. 90% of all weapons - trash?
9. What is the point of researching low-weapons, if you get at the beginning of the game stuff on a several tiers higher and examine them instead of wasting time for researching garbage?
10. Experience and hit/sight system?

Short answer, yes it's working as intended.

Long answer

1-4 are all sort of related.  The missions are all pretty random so you can get most missions at any time, like the mutant pogroms (terror missions).  If you can beat enemies carrying lasers, machine guns, rpg's, etc with your trusty muskets, handles, etc. then you'll get those as loot if you can manage to win.  Bring body bags for the harder missions if you try.
5. really depends on the enemies you hit with snipers/bombs, everything has different armor levels and resistances vs piercing (sniper) and concussion (bombs). Terrain is a factor here too, different weapons are better suited to different terrains.
6. Bombs have always been pretty cool, not sure if they're better or worse, like the answer to 5, it depends on what you're bombing.
7. no idea what you're talking about here.
8. One mans trash is another mans treasure.  As you start dealing with more enemies (and there's a lot of different enemies) you'll have to revisit some of the "trash" weapons.
9. A lot of research needs lower tech items researched before it unlocks, that being said I generally don't bother researching individual weapons very often unless I need something specific.  I rely on prisoner interrogations and stuff like gun almanacs for all the weapon unlocks.  Also, sometimes you need to have a weapon researched to be able to buy ammo for it on the black market.
10.  exp is fine IMO, the LOS system is kind of flakey but you'll get used to it over time.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: doctor medic on July 11, 2018, 11:33:54 am
Dont forget that until you research the mutant alliance all mutant pogroms dont have such a big infamy loss in comparison as having it researched,the difficulty also depends on how many enemies spawn which may also be a good thing as you get more stuff to play with.

Dont forget that without having line of sight (green square with number instead of red) with the gal you are trying to shoot an enemy she will have a penalty to her accuracy,the bootypedia should explain a lot of the mechanics and some of the #xxx files you find around from interrogations or decrypted data disks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Rince Wind on July 11, 2018, 02:38:18 pm
Did you try the sniper rifle with a gal that doesn't have a very high aim stat? Because then it really is terrible, you don't give weapons for highly trained professionals to amateurs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 11, 2018, 04:54:30 pm
Did you try the sniper rifle with a gal that doesn't have a very high aim stat? Because then it really is terrible, you don't give weapons for highly trained professionals to amateurs.

to clarify this, most sniper weapons calculate accuracy as 0.01 of Fireing skill squared. A poor skill gal will be extra bad and only a high skill(above 80) will get effective accuracy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Ridаn on July 11, 2018, 08:11:54 pm
Just wanna say that this grew to be one of the most fun games Ive ever played.
Sheer amount of content, built up setting atmosphere, variety of tactical options, micromanagement hell that pays off, and all the QoL options that were built up to support this piece - its just staggering.
I wish I had more than 24 hours a day sometimes, just to dedicate a couple extra on every single newest release.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: LytaRyta on July 11, 2018, 10:16:48 pm
´´ but those dogs & hounds are really often indeed scary :o :S

(..the way how they scaryy suddenly, terrifing appear, just literally from nowhere,  BEHIND the your gals (or from "dead angles"), and start they´ir bite -attack ;S )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Rince Wind on July 12, 2018, 12:59:34 am
Yes, they are the most scary things in the ratman villages. Later they are the only thing I have some respect for in the Humanists Arsenals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 12, 2018, 02:17:27 am
Is this a normal and works as intended:
1. Terror at first month?
2. Unbalanced monsters like a dogs and hounds on a first month?
3. Enemy with laserguns at first month?
4. YOU WITH SNIPER RIFLES, LASERS, HEAVY ASSAULT MACHINEGUNS, RPG'S, CAWS, AT FIRST MONTH?
5. Sniper-like rifles less effectively like a sniper weapon(one-shot kill) than bombard, due to unworked 999% hitchance?
6. Almost half weapons worse than bombard?
7. Frustrating experience after pressing "ABOARD" button?
8. 90% of all weapons - trash?
9. What is the point of researching low-weapons, if you get at the beginning of the game stuff on a several tiers higher and examine them instead of wasting time for researching garbage?
10. Experience and hit/sight system?

I believe some things got lost in translation here.

Terror missions with difficult enemies at the beginning are bad luck or good luck. Good luck for you when you are skilled enough to tackle them, because then you get all their weapons. It's a difficult mission, so getting lasers and RPG as a reward is balanced. The thing is, you need a lot of reaserch before you can buy/make ammo for the good weapons (lasers for example), so you cannot use these weapons for every mission because of limited ammo. That is where you need to fall back on the trash weapons.

Dogs are indeed quite dangerous, they are fast and do a lot of damage. I use leather whips to deal with them. The leather whip has a snap shot so it can reaction fire. It does Tu damage, so it can stop a dog that is charging at you. This only works if the dog is coming at you from the front. Have your back to a wall or another gal to watch your back. This leather whip tactic does not work reliably for blood dogs, they have too much armor.

Sniper rifles need some explaining. The calculation for hit chance is different than for normal rifles. Basically, sniper rifles need accuracy skill 70+ to have a decent hit chance.

Bombs and grenades are indeed your best weapons in the beginning. But they can't be used in every situation.

Reduced hit chance for things you don't have line of sight to is there to make the game harder. If you have to see an enemy to shoot him, most likely he can also see you and has a chance to shoot back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: khade on July 12, 2018, 06:41:55 am
Isn't the month one pogrom guaranteed? You don't have to do it, and there's a minor negative score if you check it and abort, but it's there.  After all, you aren't the center of the universe, or even the planetary political scene, so things don't happen in a way that is convenient for you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: AlienZimogor on July 12, 2018, 07:55:48 pm
Yes.
Thx for answers, i have no more questions. GLHF!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Eddie on July 13, 2018, 12:06:29 am
Isn't the month one pogrom guaranteed?

No. You have two possible pogroms per month. One has 50% chance and one 15% chance.
Once you research the mutant alliance this adds a third pogrom with 70% chance.

So in the first month, you can have 0 - 2 pogroms.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: doctor medic on July 13, 2018, 10:32:34 am
In general dont research mutant alliance until you are confident enough you can deal with pogroms,even if most of the early game has humanist or spartans(?) in some cases later on you have to deal with really tough shit like mercs and star gods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Rince Wind on July 13, 2018, 01:24:05 pm
There is no shame in running away from those until you are prepared to tackle them. You should make enough infamy by then to be able to take the hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 13, 2018, 03:12:47 pm
Is it OK to get Zombies in Ratman Rodeo? If yes, then stop lying in the description of mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: niculinux on July 13, 2018, 03:22:09 pm
Is it OK to get Zombies in Ratman Rodeo? If yes, then stop lying in the description of mission.

Most likely is a bug? Because in builds prior to 0.99J3 i did not get these
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Ridаn on July 13, 2018, 03:38:44 pm
I did get Zombie/Chryssalid crews on early pink missions twice, on current version and previous one. Seems intended to me.
If those are literally different missions mixed in to spice things up (and not just randomized crews) then may be a description could use some tweaks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Rince Wind on July 13, 2018, 05:08:53 pm
It is a random chance that something went wrong at the destination. A lot of missions can have zombies instead if the regular crew.
From a lore point of view it could even make sense that the position was leaked to you to draw you into a trap. Not to you personally, but when the traders or another faction realize that the space plague hit one of their compounds they might just tell someone in a bar about that lightly defended place where they recently got an important delivery...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 13, 2018, 06:36:27 pm
This isn't Dark Souls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Rince Wind on July 13, 2018, 06:40:50 pm
It is not Enemy Unknown either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: FG on July 13, 2018, 07:12:31 pm
Is it OK to get Zombies in Ratman Rodeo? If yes, then stop lying in the description of mission.

Work as intended. The whole description won't spoil too much, as it's just based on basic info and bad intelligence.
Zombies have a very little chance (5%) to appear on that type of missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Zippicus on July 13, 2018, 11:32:39 pm
Is it OK to get Zombies in Ratman Rodeo? If yes, then stop lying in the description of mission.

Almost all of the zombie missions are surprise missions, they can show up in a bunch of different mission types as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: new_civilian on July 14, 2018, 05:24:23 pm
Would it be possible to get a ZIP file for the download, my computer does not support the new Winrar. Old winrar works fine, but i can't open J3 with it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Yankes on July 14, 2018, 06:16:40 pm
use new 7zip, it handles this RAR5 format
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 15, 2018, 01:28:33 am
How does Plantation work? I've built few and yet after few months I've got 0 wheat.

Can 'Zero Policy" be reversed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 15, 2018, 01:34:59 am
I don't think the uber wheat is fully implemented yet, all that fluff in the Plantation's description is possibly a placeholder for a future Wheat Plantation.  You'll just have to settle for sectoweed and boom fruit for now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 15, 2018, 04:22:37 am
the "wheat" is i think technically implemented. The base plantation has -100k cost to mantain so it actually makes money. Considering the wheat at present has no other products it is involved in you would just be selling it anyway. Why add more micro to just make money?

Sectoweed and boomfruit on the other hand actually do stuff other then sell, and take up larger amounts of space per unit so regulating production is useful
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 15, 2018, 06:35:33 am
The fluff did mention that uber wheat is explosive and is used to create mutated reapers, neither of which is true right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Dioxine on July 15, 2018, 10:12:25 am
It is included in the cost. Like Legion said, no need to micro something that's abundant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: Martin on July 15, 2018, 10:34:00 am
Can 'Zero Policy" be reversed?

No, OXCE doesnt support that. There has been plans to implent the option into OXCE for ages but none materialized yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: bouchacha on July 15, 2018, 10:51:49 am
What is 'zero policy'?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 15, 2018, 01:59:26 pm
Zero Policy = FU we not paying you anymore. It's a bit of douch move specially in first year, where you don't have anything to counter that and it takes place at the other side of the globe. I can barely find any small UFOs to shoot down, and now the  only UFOs that spawn are either very small civilians or medium/large/very large. With only 30km missiles what can you do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 15, 2018, 02:35:31 pm
What is 'zero policy'?

In slightly more clear terms, its the name for Piratez version of a council member leaving the council and ceasing funding. But since you are pirates taking bribes, its a zero tolerance policy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 16, 2018, 02:10:21 am
I was reading through Stardom and how it mentions turning slaves and slave lashers into rabid fans and groupies that quadruple their monthy income at the cost of losing their storage space saving capabilities.  And I just realized something: There is actually no mention at all anywhere of just how much monthly income each slave type generates.  I mean if I wanna make some rabid fans and leave the space saving to the drone herders, I'd like to know exactly how much I'd be earning by doing it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: cc on July 16, 2018, 08:18:13 pm
I was reading through Stardom and how it mentions turning slaves and slave lashers into rabid fans and groupies that quadruple their monthy income at the cost of losing their storage space saving capabilities.  And I just realized something: There is actually no mention at all anywhere of just how much monthly income each slave type generates.  I mean if I wanna make some rabid fans and leave the space saving to the drone herders, I'd like to know exactly how much I'd be earning by doing it.
Work Efficiency * 1000 = monthly income.
Also, it quadruples for Rabid Fans (1500*4=6000), but not for Groupies (2250*4=/=8000).

And no, as far as I can tell that's not actually explained in the game.
Save some slaves for Farmhouses, but otherwise convert them - the extra income is worth it even if you rely on Workers instead of Drone Herders.

Anyway, wasn't there a way to see the infamy earned for the month before it is over? I thought I saw it somewhere, but can't find it again. >.<

P.s.: Looking through the rules files, I found the Dance Master. Sounds sexy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: wolfreal on July 16, 2018, 08:45:55 pm
Score graph should give a good estimation of the infamy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 17, 2018, 01:00:28 am
I hearby proclaim that Zero Policy is broken. Lost 3 countries in 3 consecutive months while doing 5000+ infamy.  And this is year 1. How on earth can I battle this when I barely have any interception power and by sheer luck I found enemy base which of course I can't do, because of the murderous tech that can even 1 shot kill through metal frontal armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 17, 2018, 01:48:38 am
You're getting Sway Local Govt missions (Piratez's version of Alien Infiltration) on year 1?  Sounds like bad luck.

Fortunately unlike in regular X-Com, you can stop these missions from happening.  Look up the tech tree viewer and make your way to *Family Ties*; once that's researched, Sway Local Govt missions will no longer happen.  The affected countries are still lost, but at least all the rest will be safe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: LytaRyta on July 17, 2018, 02:07:42 am

Anyway, wasn't there a way to see the infamy earned for the month before it is over? I thought I saw it somewhere, but can't find it again. >.<

P.s.: Looking through the rules files, I found the Dance Master. Sounds sexy.

..yap, whaz about implementing such special, unique persons -exactly like in, for example, in Fallout series - especially in Fallout Shelter ( - there are "abou 15 - 25 Rare, and even *Legendary "Dwellers" http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Shelter_characters  )   ?

i.e. - let´s got in Piratez got possibility to find (and interrogate, and then hire, /enslave, "drop" (/dissmiss, or rob´bery them.. )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: cc on July 17, 2018, 06:55:00 am
..yap, whaz about implementing such special, unique persons -exactly like in, for example, in Fallout series - especially in Fallout Shelter ( - there are "abou 15 - 25 Rare, and *even Legendary "Dwellers" http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Shelter_characters  )   ?

i.e. - let´s got in Piratez got possibility to find (and interrogate, and then hire, /enslave, "drop" (/dissmiss, or rob´bery them.. )
One is already implemented and (at least) three more are planned.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 17, 2018, 08:56:08 am
..yap, whaz about implementing such special, unique persons -exactly like in, for example, in Fallout series - especially in Fallout Shelter ( - there are "abou 15 - 25 Rare, and *even Legendary "Dwellers" http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Shelter_characters  )   ?

i.e. - let´s got in Piratez got possibility to find (and interrogate, and then hire, /enslave, "drop" (/dissmiss, or rob´bery them.. )

That's a long way I see... Just had look at save file and I believe the easy way to cheat back is remove pact: true and set funding to some value
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: new_civilian on July 17, 2018, 04:14:14 pm
use new 7zip, it handles this RAR5 format

Thanks gonna try that. But I got winrar now working, too, so it ain't a problem anymore.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: BBHood217 on July 17, 2018, 05:12:45 pm
How come the recruitable lokk'narr have inventory images, but the lokk'narr villager NPCs don't?  That kinda makes no sense, why not just recycle one of the lokk'narr armor images?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: silencer_pl on July 18, 2018, 02:01:44 am
What's the deal with the escaping mage mission. I've captured the mage near the green ship that cannot be entered, grabbed his stuff and moved to the green/craft area. After all 16 turns passed I got negative points for capturing him and some mutants died. Should I have aborted the mission once in the escape area?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: GENVOKE on July 18, 2018, 02:15:31 am
Think you can bust into the green ship with a pickaxe or fusion torch, there should be dudes inside the ship. Unless I'm confusing with another mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: legionof1 on July 18, 2018, 04:12:38 am
Yeah, bust into the green ship with hammers or other breaching tools, the majority of the foes are inside. Anything left inside counts as killed at mission end, and since they are all civilian types that comes with a moderate negative score per head.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: LytaRyta on July 18, 2018, 07:45:18 pm
One is already implemented and (at least) three more are planned.

who ?

(*who ist that girl*)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J3 - 7 Jul - Harvest Moon
Post by: cc on July 18, 2018, 09:27:09 pm
who ?
Gudrun Dunst, aka Dr. X, aka the person who send the Academy Nurses after you right at the beginning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 19, 2018, 09:17:35 pm
Aaaand new version is ready and up. Enjoy all the new stuff. It was supposed to be just a bugfix release, but kinda grew : )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: LouisdeFuines on July 19, 2018, 09:43:23 pm
Can I use my current savegame with this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: FG on July 19, 2018, 09:50:12 pm
Aaaand new version is ready and up. Enjoy all the new stuff. It was supposed to be just a bugfix release, but kinda grew : )

wow :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: legionof1 on July 19, 2018, 11:27:38 pm
Can I use my current savegame with this?

Usually yes, keep an eye on the "Important: Upgrading Saves Between Versions" thread. If anything needs to be done instructions will be there, and generally posted the same time as the new version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: LouisdeFuines on July 19, 2018, 11:44:52 pm
Where can I find this thread?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: Meridian on July 19, 2018, 11:50:41 pm
Where can I find this thread?

Here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=search

Or here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/board,18.0.html
(it's one of the pinned ones)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: silencer_pl on July 19, 2018, 11:56:59 pm
Game you said that government UFOs have blue and red stripes. I don't see blue and red stripes, yet enemies that spawned were Military Police and government pilot. Please don't cheat more than you do.

(http://i67.tinypic.com/34jbo08.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Padlocks of Chaos!
Post by: cc on July 20, 2018, 12:13:39 am
Game you said that government UFOs have blue and red stripes. I don't see blue and red stripes, yet enemies that spawned were Military Police and government pilot. Please don't cheat more than you do.
Governments also do Military Supply and Gold Transport missions. The points from downing those UFOs outweigh the negative points for dealing with the crew, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 20, 2018, 12:15:07 am
One more rude post like this and you're a goner, @silencer_ru.

It is said that these with blue lights are govt ships and you will be penalized for shooting them down. It is not said that government personnel never uses any other ships and it doesn't say you will be or will be not penalized for shooting them. You need to attend a few logic classes.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 20, 2018, 12:37:28 am
Apologies, rudness was not my intention.

How should I know that game  says something if there are million tips hidden somewhere? There could be tip #666 Government agents can use other factions UFOs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 20, 2018, 01:49:55 am
There are alot of tips and mechanics explanations, but until some fabulous person decides to take it on themselves to craft and keep up to date some sort of compiled manual, in game one page tidbits is what we have. And even that is extra effort that Dioxine in no way was obligated to write out and insert into the tech system to have a working playable game.

Even vanilla with the manual included didn't explain a fraction of what dioxine puts up for us in plain text about base mechanics, let alone all the extra OXCE+ capabilities.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zippicus on July 20, 2018, 02:05:07 am
Apologies, rudness was not my intention.

How should I know that game  says something if there are million tips hidden somewhere? There could be tip #666 Government agents can use other factions UFOs.

My first few games there was a lot of trial and error trying to figure everything out.  Think of your first couple of games as a practice run and don't stress about it too much.  Once you get some experience under your belt you'll have a lot less problems.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 20, 2018, 07:29:20 am
Hooray, boomosaurs are capturable again.  They still explode when stunned improperly; but since it's a fire explosion that doesn't destroy items and the boomosaur is nigh immune to fire, the body should still be fine unless it goes into overstun.

Not that it helps me since they only show up in pogroms done by the Guild and I've long since gotten rid of pogroms in my current game.  Maybe next game then.

No such luck with the cyberdisc and strix zombie though, any of their intact stunned bodies are looted as corpses.  It seems they're uncapturable on purpose.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Martin on July 20, 2018, 11:44:02 am
Updates coming crazy fast these days...

Anyway, which codex is optimal these days? I have a save from a while ago, where I delayed the choice as much as I could and since I found gat lascannon early I could do it for quite a while (entire first year to be specific). What to choose for maximum fun?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 20, 2018, 12:49:47 pm
Depends on the playstyle, Grey has the most utility and has the all mission menace class, Red is pretty fun for the aggressive player since it has most of the vamp toys(certain weapon and armor combos that red has are nigh one gal armies), Green is sorta the "safety" bet between the fairy, savior and bio-suit and its upgrade their isn't much you cant capture with ease, and you have the best healing and the best tank armor, Gold is the one i personally dont touch the things unique to it are just not as good as the other 3 imo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LytaRyta on July 20, 2018, 01:33:55 pm
Updates coming crazy fast these days...

Anyway, which codex is optimal these days? I have a save from a while ago, where I delayed the choice as much as I could and since I found gat lascannon early I could do it for quite a while (entire first year to be specific). What to choose for maximum fun?

how way did you found it,
gat-lasCannon so early ?  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Martin on July 20, 2018, 01:58:47 pm
Smuggler’s ship conviniently carries four parts of the thing in the loot sometimes. A bit of an uphill battle early on, but doable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ridаn on July 20, 2018, 06:13:17 pm
I got early Stormy suit in a Smuggler ship, was totally worth losing couple starting Lunatics to Catgirls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: HT on July 20, 2018, 09:32:06 pm
That was a fun surprise. However, I'm not sure what's the deal with the new units: Spectres are scouts that you start one with for fun, Repentia are better at melee and (even) worse than the regular Hands at Voddoo, and Shake-up Gals... No idea. What's the difference with regularly recruited Young Ubers and this new type?

EDIT: What exactly does the new "spread fire" feature do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ridаn on July 20, 2018, 09:41:19 pm
EDIT: What exactly does the new "spread fire" feature do?
You can define two waypoints and force a Minigun (or the like) to split its Auto shots between them, saturating the whole predefined area with high velocity lead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Eddie on July 21, 2018, 12:53:01 am
EDIT: What exactly does the new "spread fire" feature do?

see https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6423.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6423.0.html)

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6423.0;attach=38241;image)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 21, 2018, 01:51:57 am
That was a fun surprise. However, I'm not sure what's the deal with the new units: Spectres are scouts that you start one with for fun, Repentia are better at melee and (even) worse than the regular Hands at Voddoo, and Shake-up Gals... No idea. What's the difference with regularly recruited Young Ubers and this new type?
Spoilers cause is brand new content

Specters seem to be a odd amalgamation of scouting mechanics, they have decent level of invisibility, carry a reasonably decent light source, and have a morale damaging attack. spot and sense as well. Downside pretty much insta dead if anything gets close nuff to spot them and fire any firearm at them.



Repentia while overall bad at voodoo, the transformation is actually a positive gain to psi defense for gals below 33 voodoo power. You where not gonna be using those gals for voodoo anyway so making such gals more resilient to panic and MC is okay. Hp gain and cap increase, good. +20 bravery but wont exceed cap is okay but not special since there are many ways to raise bravery. Minor reductions in both stat and cap for FA, throwing, and reactions, is not great but its not crippling either. lunatic caps for melee and stamina but no increase, ehh. Also a massive reduction in salary and not counting against the rank structure.

It seems the idea here is to bolster your worst voodoo gals into something that is likely to be functional against such an enemy, its also a way to remove poor hands from a high rank that you would rather somebody else have. Not a transform you always need, but its an overall improvement of the worst of the worst gals.



Shakeup's sole purpose is to address really bad bravery on the first type of hireable hands. This for those 10,20,30, bravery gals that you would rather not bring to the field, cause they will spend several missions panicking and being useless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: FG on July 21, 2018, 02:12:41 am
Default shakeup recovery time is way too long. +20 bravery and some minor stats for 20 days? It's just not worth that much. imho.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 21, 2018, 02:23:58 am
Yeah its not that good, but then again bolstering dumpster fire gals to merely average should't be. But the option is nice if you RNGed into a horrid batch of bravery. 1-2 gals spending the mission paniced okay we can deal, half or more of the squad, yeah no thanks. And fire/hire gets expensive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 21, 2018, 02:32:05 am
How do I get smelly rags to hire freak girl? I can't find it in tech tree so it must be an item of sorts, but I can't find it in store too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 21, 2018, 03:47:28 am
Rags are not buy-able or manufactured, you have to find them. If i remember you do start with a small number, beyond that i dont remember. However you only ever need the one, since all other freaks type gals come from the bounty system.

Bounty prize freaks come equipped with rags when hired so if nothing else you can wait for that.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Martin on July 21, 2018, 11:06:06 am
Catured live strix. Shot her with a missile and she fell down stunned, so aparently concussive is the answere here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 21, 2018, 12:16:41 pm
Catured live strix. Shot her with a missile and she fell down stunned, so aparently concussive is the answere here.

Just recently found that out myself, so I'm glad to be wrong there.  Cyberdisc is still out, though.

Say, is it correct that the "lightning" thrower where its description mentions "electricity" actually does plasma damage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 21, 2018, 01:03:33 pm
Considering the vast majority of the electric damage type weapons are nonlethal, and the thrower is i think plasma is fine. And speaking from a physics standpoint there isn't a great deal of difference between a lightning and a plasma discharge, besides the highly polarized electrical charge in one vs more or less neutral charge in the other.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: doctor medic on July 21, 2018, 03:06:57 pm
im curious how much will change with aggresive retaliations on,would the option change anything if you shoot down civie aircraft or gov ones?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 21, 2018, 03:10:33 pm
A tesla arc works by turning the air in its path into plasma. Turn up the current enough, and the hot, super-charged plasma is what'll kill people rather than the electrical charge. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 21, 2018, 06:02:29 pm
Still, I think the lightning thrower should do electric damage instead so at least I have a long range lethal option for electric-weak enemies like zombies.  As it is, the shockafist is my only electric thing that can kill.

On a related note, electric is the best way to deal with ghost gals.  Problem is, almost everything electric isn't allowed underwater and you still don't get them when you reach the island; the only one you can smuggle under the sea is the shockafist, so you end up going all Ghostpuncher on the ghosts.  Provided they're nice enough to be on the ground instead of flying all over the place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ridаn on July 21, 2018, 07:44:44 pm
Do Bootypedia armor previews have a fixed size? Might be nice to see exactly what inventory slots each armor has on its picture, and frees up some space in description.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: KZad Bhat on July 21, 2018, 09:04:32 pm
Some nice new changes in this version, amazing all of this got done so quick. By the way, thanks for the back door in the GDX, now I can go ahead and stop remembering each version to change the gal layout. Was the same thing done with the Airbus?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: bouchacha on July 21, 2018, 09:06:49 pm
You can define two waypoints and force a Minigun (or the like) to split its Auto shots between them, saturating the whole predefined area with high velocity lead.
Oh my god this significantly upgrades the utility of machine guns
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 22, 2018, 03:14:51 am
Still, I think the lightning thrower should do electric damage instead so at least I have a long range lethal option for electric-weak enemies like zombies.  As it is, the shockafist is my only electric thing that can kill.

On a related note, electric is the best way to deal with ghost gals.  Problem is, almost everything electric isn't allowed underwater and you still don't get them when you reach the island; the only one you can smuggle under the sea is the shockafist, so you end up going all Ghostpuncher on the ghosts.  Provided they're nice enough to be on the ground instead of flying all over the place.

you do have a point about having a lethal option in the type being useful, upper tier zombos are rather tanky on top of resisting most things.

As to ghost gals electric may be most efficient, but other types work sufficiently well since ghosts are unarmored and have very low hp. Nuff of anything they are only marginally resistant too deals with them. And at least right now there is no reason to complete that stage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 22, 2018, 12:15:58 pm
How to deal with Muton enemies that are spawning in early year 2 when my most powerfull weapon the quad launcher cannot kill them even if all 4 rockets hit? Same goes for hovertank.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ciruil on July 22, 2018, 12:53:54 pm
1) i need rail rifle for XG assault technology. Is this some kind of new weaon? And there i can find it?
2) I has gal that cant reach max melee skill 140, she stopped on 132. Is this bug?
3) What exactly is shakeup ceremony an how this works?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zippicus on July 22, 2018, 01:02:39 pm
How to deal with Muton enemies that are spawning in early year 2 when my most powerfull weapon the quad launcher cannot kill them even if all 4 rockets hit? Same goes for hovertank.

Run like hell ?

If you really want to deal with mercs, they're weak to VooDoo, melee weapons to the back work as well.  Fire is a decent fallback but surviving long enough for them to burn to death is pretty rough.  As for hovertanks... you're going to need really high powered weapons (laser, plasma, pierce) to punch through the 80 back/bottom armor unless you have EMP grenades.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 22, 2018, 02:32:14 pm
Run like hell ?

Thanks Mutant Alliance.

As for hovertanks... you're going to need really high powered weapons (laser, plasma, pierce) to punch through the 80 back/bottom armor unless you have EMP grenades.

I've just researched wrecked car and those have 35% from EMP,  I would imagine that tanks would also go same pattern...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ridаn on July 22, 2018, 02:39:48 pm
How to deal with Muton enemies that are spawning in early year 2 when my most powerfull weapon the quad launcher cannot kill them even if all 4 rockets hit? Same goes for hovertank.
Havent met Mercs in my current playthrough yet, but last time I was taking them down early with scavenged Heavy Lasers, melee and Heavy Flamers.
They do have tons of HP and good all around resistances, and their Synthmuscle suits are meant to shrug off explosives.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Sahti Waari on July 22, 2018, 03:13:08 pm
Hello,

Could anyone suggest the best way to capture Star Gods?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 22, 2018, 03:16:41 pm
Hello,

Could anyone suggest the best way to capture Star Gods?

How do you approach them in Melee, one step and they reaction fire and 1 shot killing. I'm wearing metal/heavy tactical armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 22, 2018, 05:09:16 pm
1) i need rail rifle for XG assault technology. Is this some kind of new weaon? And there i can find it?
2) I has gal that cant reach max melee skill 140, she stopped on 132. Is this bug?
3) What exactly is shakeup ceremony an how this works?
1. Heavy Freighters are your best shot. Friendly Bugeyes sometimes carry it; you can stun them to add it to the mission's drop.
2. Have you checked her type and whether equipment is lowering her max? Also, is the weapon she's using training melee (check the Experience mode under ANAL)?
3. You can give a newly recruited soldier some extra bravery in return for lowering her combat stats and three weeks sick time. I think it's accessed in the "Hands" section of your hideout.

I've just researched wrecked car and those have 35% from EMP,  I would imagine that tanks would also go same pattern...
You'd think wrong. Cars are piloted vehicles with a battery. (Hover-)tanks are controlled by a Slave AI and featuring complex weapons and circuitry. Tanks have 200% EMP and Hovertanks have 300%.
Also, why bother asking questions if you're not going to believe the answer?

Could anyone suggest the best way to capture Star Gods?
Impalers on Gals with high Voodoo Power. At max power, the Novices go down with one shot (and their entourage takes 1 to 3 shots each).
If you don't have any, Novices can be reliably stunned by Electric Lassos. For the rest of the crew, use Assault Cannons and high-powered explosives.



P.s.: Don't try meleeing Star Gods unless you want to die. Their dodge is insanely high.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ciruil on July 22, 2018, 05:46:00 pm
2. Have you checked her type and whether equipment is lowering her max? Also, is the weapon she's using training melee (check the Experience mode under ANAL)?
Syntmuscle suit dont affecting melee skill. Force blade experience mode: reactions and melee. She was recruited young uber, maibe youngs has slichter melee than castavay?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 22, 2018, 05:54:19 pm
Syntmuscle suit dont affecting melee skill. Force blade experience mode: reactions and melee. She was recruited young uber, maibe youngs has slichter melee than castavay?
Yeah, recruited soldiers (and I mean all of the Uber recruits except Freak Gals) have a maximum of 130 melee. Freak Gals have a maximum of 110 but can come with 125 as starting stat.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 22, 2018, 06:02:44 pm
Dear Dioxine

Since im havin trouble in 0.99J4 finding the wrenvh required to unlock "tools & blades" research topic (http://) and theregore i still miss it in may 2601 on jack sparrow mode how zbout to make it recoverable also from the "bring down the watchtower misdion"? That should be a very common item, plus a life saver (at least from me)  :)

edit: any hope to have that from versions after 0.99J4? Whatever, thanks ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 22, 2018, 06:23:06 pm
Dear Dioxine

Since im havin trouble in 0.99J4 finding the wrenvh required to unlock "tools & blades" research topic (http://) and theregore i still miss it in may 2601 on jack sparrow mode how zbout to make it recoverable also from the "bring down the watchtower misdion"? That should be a very common item, plus a life saver (at least from me)  :)

edit: any hope to have that from versions after 0.99J4? Whatever, thanks ;)
The Wrench is easy to get and there's tons of people that give it for free (see attached screenshot). Maybe try interrogating (and taking) more prisoners if you're unlucky enough to have no Warehouse or Excavator missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 22, 2018, 07:28:23 pm
thanks cc very very kind! Don't wanns insist, but i gind strange that a common tool is not spread across the planet...i'd lastly add it may be goun in the industrial and urban maps, or even better it may be unlocked after completing yhe "spring vleaning" topic. Hey in a (abandoned) base someone have at leadt used it once. In the rnd, just for a bit of "realism"  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: wolfreal on July 22, 2018, 08:44:42 pm
Well, I can support than the wrench could be a little more common, maybe adding in the loot of some other missions. I understand the Spring cleaning unlocking, but at least I prefer to see it as loot, like a lot other things. I don't know, is funny that way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 22, 2018, 09:16:22 pm
Well if it gonna stay that way gonna be rather frustratin then :'( i'd go for a more enjoyable experience  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 22, 2018, 09:43:23 pm
You'd think wrong. Cars are piloted vehicles with a battery. (Hover-)tanks are controlled by a Slave AI and featuring complex weapons and circuitry. Tanks have 200% EMP and Hovertanks have 300%.
Also, why bother asking questions if you're not going to believe the answer?
P.s.: Don't try meleeing Star Gods unless you want to die. Their dodge is insanely high.

I wasn't disbelieving.  Anyway this does not make sense, since car uses battery, then have electronics, therefore it should be vulnerable to EMP too. Drain that battery and the car is useless. But since it have like 35% then it must have some shielding, therefore one would thing that higher tier units would also contain same defense.

Quote
The Wrench is easy to get and there's tons of people that give it for free (see attached screenshot). Maybe try interrogating (and taking) more prisoners if you're unlucky enough to have no Warehouse or Excavator missions.

Considering that it's random chance, it's not so easy to get. It took me 3/4 of a year to get that topic from interrogations and I had like interrogated 20 highwayman and others. I think Savy Girls should be using them as a melee weapon in their loadout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 22, 2018, 10:14:22 pm
Considering that it's random chance, it's not so easy to get. It took me 3/4 of a year to get that topic from interrogations and I had like interrogated 20 highwayman and others. I think Savy Girls should be using them as a melee weapon in their loadout.

Ugh! Eh this game really shows no mercy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 22, 2018, 10:33:36 pm
Anyway this does not make sense, since car uses battery, then have electronics, therefore it should be vulnerable to EMP too. Drain that battery and the car is useless. But since it have like 35% then it must have some shielding, therefore one would thing that higher tier units would also contain same defense.
An EMP does not drain batteries. That's Hollywood "science".
A strong electromagnetic pulse gets picked up by antennae and, to a lesser extent, wires. This induces a current which will fry sensitive electronics. Newer cars rely on microprocessors and are likely affected (has someone tested?). Older and simpler cars, as we are led to believe the ones in Piratez are, shrug off EMPs just fine. Remember, post-WWI spark plugs can withstand 60 kV and those plugs are shielded by the metal of the motor. Radio and lights might be goners, but that doesn't stop the car itself. Oh, and the alternator? You'll fry the wires before affecting that. :D
Last, but least, experiments with car models from up to 2002 have shown that they still work after an EMP.

P.s.: A running car doesn't care about a drained battery as the alternator provides more electricity than the car uses. You'd have to charge the battery regularly otherwise. This is why you can roll a car with a drained battery to start it and then drive off normally. Rolling it downhill is recommended, especially for heavier cars.
P.p.s.: Yes, I had that argument before.

Ugh! Eh this game really shows no mercy!
Can you use the gunbutt? Melee does not cause reaction fires.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 22, 2018, 11:47:54 pm
thanks cc very very kind! Don't wanns insist, but i gind strange that a common tool is not spread across the planet...

The problem is, the gals have never seen a wrench before.
Also if it was any more common than it is now, there would be no reason for its existence.
I'm speaking this to others, since I have no delusions that you can understand my answer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zippicus on July 23, 2018, 01:28:24 am
Ugh! Eh this game really shows no mercy!

That seems like an ideal drone placement to me, run around the side and beat the crap out of that thing with some kind of melee weapon, even a handle would work, just be careful if you stun them, they WILL wake up and start shooting again.  Just don't tempt murphy's law and try to shoot it, you'll probably miss/do no damage, and get reaction fired down heh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 23, 2018, 01:49:52 am
I've just researched wrecked car and those have 35% from EMP,  I would imagine that tanks would also go same pattern...

Remember that large units take quadruple damage.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: KZad Bhat on July 23, 2018, 06:50:04 am
An EMP does not drain batteries. That's Hollywood "science".

I can't say for how often it happens, but the induced current can damage the battery. Over charging, over speed on that charging, things like that. Ever put an alkaline battery in a battery charger? (Recommendation: don't.)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 23, 2018, 07:29:47 am
I can't say for how often it happens, but the induced current can damage the battery. Over charging, over speed on that charging, things like that. Ever put an alkaline battery in a battery charger? (Recommendation: don't.)
An EMP is high voltage, low current, short duration. Such a spike is unlikely to heat the battery enough to make it pop - especially since the voltage is applied over an area, so small things like batteries and closed circuits are significantly less affected.
Unless the battery happens to be connected to a charger when the pulse hits, it's going to be fine. And even then a good charger will likely take the hit for the battery.
... Finally, it would be fried, not drained. :p
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: doctor medic on July 23, 2018, 09:01:36 am
whats the diffirence of a battery being fried or drained in that case it wouldnt work normaly either way
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 23, 2018, 12:27:33 pm
A drained battery is still effective as part of the circuit its attached to, and only needs a jump start/recharge to work again.

A fried battery breaks the circuit as it stops conducting power effectively. Also a fried battery usually results in secondary effects, like fire, corrosive damage, ect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 23, 2018, 12:29:16 pm
Why is this discussion even happening anyway?  By the time you get EMP grenades, armored cars have long since stopped being a problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 23, 2018, 02:25:03 pm
What's the difference between AP clips and non AP clips. Both state damage is the same. Does AP rounds mitigate some armor? If yes is it mentioned somewhere?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 23, 2018, 02:57:01 pm
You can check the gun for the bullets using bootypedia and check the "ANAL" switch.
AP ignores a portion of armor (by multiplying armor values like X*0.75 = 25% armor ignored)

Non-AP rounds do more health damage and offer no further armor-penetration.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 24, 2018, 01:47:33 am
I don't know when the flechette weapons became infinite ammo guns, but that along with the spray fire feature has turned the multicannon into the best shotgun ever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 24, 2018, 10:22:27 am
This doesn't sound like something intended to.
But in that case those shotguns are once-again super OP and you can equip every assault with it and destroy everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 24, 2018, 11:18:38 am
Flechettes aren't infinite, they just don't have clips. They run out at random.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 24, 2018, 12:37:00 pm
It's a bug, flechettes running out of ammo will be restored next ver.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 24, 2018, 01:26:46 pm
I knew it was too good to be true.  I better spam them while I still can.

I thought it was intentional because the old description of them possibly breaking down after use (because of partial ammo recovery) has disappeared, leaving only the bit about unlimited ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 24, 2018, 01:56:44 pm
I knew it was too good to be true.  I better spam them while I still can.

While that's fun to use while it lasts you should reconsider to do so and play the way it was intended to function.
Either don't use the guns at all or sell one gun per type each time it fired once per mission.
Since it's a game (meant to be fun/entertaining) you can also do w/e you want. No competition to impress ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 24, 2018, 03:42:18 pm
So I've assaulted Shrine ship and in it's description said - should contain Reverent, but the highest ranking members where priests/beastmasters/matrons. Do I miss something or description is super out of date?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 24, 2018, 05:13:14 pm
Armor piercing lasers are the best addition ever.  The advanced lasgun is still fine for general fights; but for the big engagements, you bring out the custom lasguns with AP ammo.  It just goes to show that no matter the Xcom mod, lasers are always king.

So I've assaulted Shrine ship and in it's description said - should contain Reverent, but the highest ranking members where priests/beastmasters/matrons. Do I miss something or description is super out of date?

That doesn't seem right.  Shrine ships don't have priests and matrons; a typical shrine ship is crewed by neophytes, zealots, a few eggsalts and beastmasters, and a reverend, or two if you're lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 24, 2018, 06:22:43 pm
Difficult-setting is a thing here.
Like the nazi-ship that only gets a leader on level 5 difficult.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 24, 2018, 06:51:39 pm
This is the Shrine ship right?

(http://i68.tinypic.com/11uga3b.jpg)

If you see, there are corpses of Warmaidens, Altar Boys, Celatids, Priests and Matrons on higher floors are 2 Beastmasters that wore 'Plastic Aqua Armor'

(http://i68.tinypic.com/t7fuv7.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ridаn on July 24, 2018, 06:57:30 pm
Description is a leftover from version that didnt have non-military crews, each faction had only one set of personel that could spawn. Matrons and War Maiden didnt exist back then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 24, 2018, 07:01:36 pm
Difficult-setting is a thing here.
Actually, it isn't. There is a "non-combat" and a regular version for the Conversion mission. The "non-combat" option was encountered by silencer_pl and that does not feature a Reverend.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 24, 2018, 07:28:07 pm
Snip
lasers are always king.
snip
Funny nuff for a good long while there Piratez lasers, even the nuke lasers, where worse against everything but mercs, then alot of the ballistic options. Like i advised folks to skip euro-syndicate and Russian base entirely. Scavenged stocks handled the eva missions and mercs before you have plasma and that was it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 25, 2018, 02:09:08 am
Actually, it isn't. There is a "non-combat" and a regular version for the Conversion mission. The "non-combat" option was encountered by silencer_pl and that does not feature a Reverend.

I've never encountered the non-combat crew.  Sounds like bad luck, it's like assaulting an ethereal cruiser only to find waspites and gazers so you already know that the highest ranking ethereal you'll find there is only an operative instead of a coordinator.

Well, there'll be more conversion missions in the future; and if you're somehow still unlucky with those, other mission types elsewhere have guaranteed reverends.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 25, 2018, 06:57:37 am
And if all fails, buy the Reverends from the Mercenaries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Fiskun1 on July 25, 2018, 09:18:34 am
With each new update, I'm more and more convinced that this game is as infinite and deep as the Universe! Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 25, 2018, 01:53:58 pm
When the "Raid Space Freighters" article gets a proper description, I think it should mention that it's NOT a 0-g environment so there's no need to handicap yourself with space suits and space-only items when all items are actually allowed.

Also, wow.  It's the largest map I've played yet, easily surpassing Mansion Invasions in size and length.  Completely clearing it is a huge undertaking, especially early on when you only have interceptors and 2-3 gals to do it.

And also, a possible bug: Only space-worthy ships with at least 3000 top speed are allowed on space freighters, yet the Dragon is also allowed there despite having only 2500 top speed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 25, 2018, 04:07:08 pm
Craft are not restricted by speed, just what is space capable. Most of those are 3k+ interceptors but not all.

And yeah this thing is a right monster of a mission. But not too bad honestly given normal AI behavior. Stuff that spawns in the arms will mostly stay there, and same story for the passenger deck in the middle. More like 5 missions in row most of the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 25, 2018, 05:24:39 pm
The Shrine Ship description was badly outdated. Fixed it now.

Also, attempting any mission with 2-3 gals? Especially a large one? It's torture mixed with suicide.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 25, 2018, 05:27:06 pm
Craft are not restricted by speed, just what is space capable.

Why isn't the Fortuna allowed there, then?

Also, attempting any mission with 2-3 gals? Especially a large one? It's torture mixed with suicide.

Well, I didn't actually do it.  First time it showed up, I only had a Nightmare; and even before knowing just exactly how huge the map is, it was clear that 3 gals wasn't gonna cut it.  So after failing to even advance past the starting area, I bailed while taking a few new captives along the way.  The second time came way later, and by then I had a Devastator.  Even with 8 gals and a hovertank, it still took quite a long while to clear.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 25, 2018, 05:34:34 pm
huh your right, but craft restrictions are just what Dioxine tags, it up to him be consistent to his fluff statements.

The engine does not have the capacity to sort by stats for whats allowed, only either by explicit tags or category tags.

Now if your set your tags just so you could represent a restriction by a stat. But still up to the modder to get it right by going through the entire list manually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 25, 2018, 05:43:38 pm
So either the speed limit fluff is reduced to 2500, or the Dragon is banned from space freighters.  Which will it be?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 25, 2018, 07:21:41 pm
So either the speed limit fluff is reduced to 2500, or the Dragon is banned from space freighters.  Which will it be?
Not my Dragon!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 25, 2018, 10:14:41 pm
Reducing speed limit would allow the Pachyderm to go in. Well, by the time you get the Dragon, it doesn't matter anymore. Let's say it's an exception; it'd be only unfair if a ship checked out the requirements but couldn't go. You can check which craft can go anytime the mission spawns, anyway. Deliverator is not a super-advanced tech, either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 26, 2018, 01:32:31 am
I guess that's fine.  But I just came up with a third option: Increase the Dragon's speed to 3000.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2018, 04:16:30 am
I do feel the dragon could do with a smidgen more speed, mostly cause the eridian dominator almost never slows down and the dragon is *just* a hair slower. Between the dominators mission profile sending it zipping from spawn to target and the dominator being pretty beefy in the air, i would appreciate an actual tank craft being able to engage it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ciruil on July 26, 2018, 06:59:34 am
Maybe Dioxine need to do somefing thith craft balance. Nightmare piloted by lokk'naars thith maxed reactions and multivectored thrusters in missles slots is nearly unvulerable dodgertank. Crafts thith heavy weapon slots too slow. "Tank" crafts is useless because too slow, and easily replased by "dodgertanks".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2018, 08:05:58 am
A fair point, however maxed reactions on a loknarr takes quite some time on field to train up. At most 90 starting reactions vs cap of 140. 50 points is at minimum 9 missions if you get the full possible gain. More reasonably your looking at around 18. That's if you have max initial reactions, floor is actually 50.

Assuming an average of 2 battles a month that's 9 months or more depending on where you started. Somehow i dont think there will be very many of these ace loknarr in the average campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ciruil on July 26, 2018, 08:16:53 am
A fair point, however maxed reactions on a loknarr takes quite some time on field to train up. At most 90 starting reactions vs cap of 140. 50 points is at minimum 9 missions if you get the full possible gain. More reasonably your looking at around 18. That's if you have max initial reactions, floor is actually 50.

Assuming an average of 2 battles a month that's 9 months or more depending on where you started. Somehow i dont think there will be very many of these ace loknarr in the average campaign.
Intercepting enemy ships training pilots bravery, firing and reactions. My lokk'naars pilots was slowly but easily trained in interceptions, not in any ground missions
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2018, 08:56:43 am
Pilot training is capped at 75 reaction the other 65 must be from ground combat only.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 26, 2018, 10:04:33 am
How bad is assaulting landed government UFO ? Do I only get negative points for killing units or is there another surge of negative points?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 26, 2018, 10:10:31 am
Government is considered a neutral/ally faction.
Missions done by the government usually don't net negative infamy.

[=] Don't shoot down their crafts or you get negative points and maybe even force a "crackdown" mission against your hideout(s).
[=] Don't kill them in battlescape. You can capture every enemy of a landed government ship and can score a positive score afterwards.

They also sell quite nicely, but have decent armor and equipment based on the vessel you try to board.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 26, 2018, 01:50:41 pm
I think I finished my game too early (late year 3) so I never saw them.  When did the snakemen show up to do their mutant suppression thing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2018, 02:58:41 pm
Dunno but cullings are right bitches to score well on and even sorta dangerous with late game gear. Between SR carbines, Bio damage grenades that get thrown at single gals, fire and chem rounds in launchers, and abundant crysalids, celatids and rockies it gets really messy. Most of the map ends up on fire or covered in smoke.

there is basically no outfit you can wear that isn't gona take severe damage from something. Saving grace, most of the snakes are not that hard to kill.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 26, 2018, 04:55:05 pm
Wow, I guess that's why they show up so late.  I wonder where the snakemen's appearance will eventually lead to.  Guess I'll find out the next time I play after several more versions go by.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 26, 2018, 06:31:05 pm
Actually amend the no outfit thing, flying armors mitigate the plague bugs if you stay off the ground, so your left with fire, chem, and laser to combat, which is doable.

And i suppose bio and pestulator suits would resist basically the whole encounter aside from the crissys chewing on there face.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on July 26, 2018, 06:33:19 pm
Wow, I guess that's why they show up so late.  I wonder where the snakemen's appearance will eventually lead to.  Guess I'll find out the next time I play after several more versions go by.

Late? Got Mutant Culling somewhere Q4 Y1 and now I've got in Q2 Y2... 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Nalca on July 26, 2018, 08:19:15 pm
I used a combination of Assault Armor and XG Assault and that worked very well against a culling.
The shield of this armor is really good ! (150/30)

But one year after the start of the game, it's look like a very intense battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 26, 2018, 11:20:43 pm
Again on medikits; from next version and on may be refillable proportionallt on the amout of bandages in the base? After all bandages are the "ingredient" to manufacture medkits, it would make sense plus no need to go crazy producing them in the manufacture screen? And afrerall still a nice touch without disrupt balancing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 27, 2018, 04:45:43 am
Well, either I was very unlucky (or lucky) with never having seen a single snakeman in 3 years or my mid-game updating (I started on 0.99J2, before snakemen were a thing) didn't implement them properly.  Doesn't matter, my game's done; I'll just deal with them (and who knows what else) on my next playthrough whenever that is, but now other games beckon me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Martin on July 27, 2018, 09:26:19 am
I wonder where the snakemen's appearance will eventually lead to.

Floater reapearance and loyalist sectoid reapearance. Maybe they start showing up in different order depending on how you are porgressing on the tech tree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 27, 2018, 09:56:08 am
Well, either I was very unlucky (or lucky) with never having seen a single snakeman in 3 years or my mid-game updating (I started on 0.99J2, before snakemen were a thing) didn't implement them properly.  Doesn't matter, my game's done; I'll just deal with them (and who knows what else) on my next playthrough whenever that is, but now other games beckon me.

Well on 0.99J4 in Oct 2601 mee too never saw them too! (in jack sparrow mode, of course ) :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2018, 10:20:43 am
The pool of enemy factions gets bigger and bigger with each new addition.
It can take a while to get the new encounters and missions.

Take your time, it's not like there's a large red bar on the top of the screen that slowly fills up or something.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Martin on July 27, 2018, 03:07:08 pm
Reticulans may not spawn due to faction crowding.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2018, 04:01:54 pm
Reticulans may not spawn due to faction crowding.

But if they spawn, you'll get plenty of them doing trading missions.
Also you can RNG an Imperial Drone and get ALL of the reticulan faction's member in one swoop. Not garanteed but possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 27, 2018, 05:05:49 pm
It was near the end of year 1 before I saw my first sectoid.  Took that opportunity to grab everything I needed from them as well as buy an elder from Saya rather than wait for a sectoid bunker mission.

Edit: Forgot to mention, the Govt/Reticulan Files got changed from the last time I played.  Now it's just the Reticulan Files and it lets you research any live sectoids you might've missed (which is apparently still possible as Reticulan Hive is still a possible free tech).  However, they no longer tell you about govt fusion cruisers and govt sirens, seems you have to actually attack those now to learn about them.  In that case, I'd rather just leave them alone like I always did; why attack the hand that feeds you, especially now that they're buffed with sectoid tech?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2018, 10:36:25 pm
Damn that new backdoor for the airbus caught me by surprise xD
At least the nurse was so fucking surprised that all her varmint rifle shots failed cqc check.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on July 27, 2018, 11:44:14 pm
Snakemen spawn super early if you play on Jack Sparrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on July 28, 2018, 05:37:30 pm
Snakemen spawn super early if you play on Jack Sparrow.
in oct 2601 on that mode, never aae them. neither in j.xx branch.

And hey, in sept i had a base attack by the dark ones, but still had not enconter them, aside a small failed tentatuve on the hhot pursuit mission. That was th 4th attempt, before had academy and ratmen! But may bask attack from doom enemies made more rare? ( it spawned s 50+ expedition wich im always not able to take out with 10 gals and warrior armors musjets and shotguns, other 7/8 are wounded yeah im quite adventouros!) Since they are devilish foes, they are not supposed to have "intelligence", may be made into someone else (humanists using them) puppets? I'sse these only on ground mission/random encounter (such as doomed faem mission) othervise i'll have to edit my .sav file before the raid takes place changing diff levelbto beat such attack, i've done and actually it worked!!

edit: are the zombies sopposed to csrry only UAC weapons? i. vase ceackdowns ive seen some with more standard weapons (heavy shotguns) and even some unarned
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: cc on July 29, 2018, 05:37:22 pm
Is it still possible to capture Sectopods? I had a few going down stunned, but they died instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 30, 2018, 02:22:03 am
Not anymore.  Like in regular Xcom, sectopods have become just as uncapturable as cyberdiscs.  So now I have to once again question their disassembly manufacturing options that will most likely never ever gonna get used ever.

I'm still surprised that tanks and hovertanks can be captured.  I mean if you can miraculously capture a hovertank and research it, you'll be able to get Hovertank Chassis for free and start building your own right away.  Well, provided you have some fuel capsules.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 30, 2018, 03:21:20 am
Eh id call it balanced, at least with Dioxine semi supporting/including the more tanks sub mod. The piloted versions of HWPs like discs and sectopods are better in every respect but HP then there normal counterparts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 30, 2018, 10:35:19 am
All super-crucial technologies that require captives function as intended as far as I can remember.
100% techtree is impossible to unlock and gives no reward anyway.

As long as a sectopod and cyberdisk leave a salvage husk behind, you can build them from scratch.
I doubt it's intended to 'stun' and 'mindcontrol' those terror-units. It worked in vanilla, because spaghetti coding and OP psyonics but we're talking business in piratez.

If you guys risk your squad to wipe during capture-attempts of cyberdisks and sectopods do me a favour:
Do it on Jack Sparrow Mode with Supermutant enabled. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zippicus on July 30, 2018, 03:17:12 pm
There's really no point in capturing "live" cyberdisks or sectopods.  If you look through the tech tree both wrecks and the actual units give the exact same research topic, and there's no extra research dependencies requiring a "live" subject.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 30, 2018, 04:08:59 pm
The "difference" was the amount of components you got from disassembly of a live robo unit capture. You need 2 killed units per HWP you build for yourself, or 1 live.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 30, 2018, 09:25:51 pm
The "difference" was the amount of components you got from disassembly of a live robo unit capture. You need 2 killed units per HWP you build for yourself, or 1 live.

I shall not mindcontrol robots, unless I plug my brain into it's USB-drive.
I can roll with the rule of "un-stunnable" and "no mind, no control". With a portion of reality in mind, the only way to 'stun' a robot is to fry the circuits (emp etc.)
Result is a non-functioning husk with destroyed insides. Academy and stargods are smart enough to hide the on/off- switch somewhere save and sound so some shipwrecked pirates can't turn around their pets against themselves. They sure can but only with reverse-engineering!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 31, 2018, 02:39:50 am
Then get rid of the disassembly options that'll obviously never ever gonna get used, hide them like with the boomosaurus ammo so new players don't get the wrong idea that cyberdiscs and sectopods might be capturable when they really cannot ever be.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zippicus on July 31, 2018, 03:49:06 am
Then get rid of the disassembly options that'll obviously never ever gonna get used, hide them like with the boomosaurus ammo so new players don't get the wrong idea that cyberdiscs and sectopods might be capturable when they really cannot ever be.

I might be remembering this wrong but I thought the disassembly options were put in due to people doing crazy things like lifting off their ship with said terror units on board.  And who knows what the future holds, maybe they might be able to be captured sometime.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on July 31, 2018, 04:13:34 am
The option is fine to exist and remain "supported" but yes it should be hidden when not possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on July 31, 2018, 04:40:19 pm
lifting off their ship with said terror units on board

Dunno when, but that stopped working some time ago.  I tried to take off with a merc shock trooper on board and didn't get him, I had to reload and stun him first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LytaRyta on July 31, 2018, 05:34:17 pm
I might be remembering this wrong but I thought the disassembly options were put in due to people doing crazy things like lifting off their ship with said terror units on board.  And who knows what the future holds, maybe they might be able to be captured sometime.

 :D ;DD it wasnt, werent "crazy things, - it were wonderful, cool, & very funny crazy tricks!  :P

anyway, it´s a bit sad, amuch sad, that tricky possibility (up-lifting, & "kidnapping enemi hard-stunnable (big) units) was blocked, dis-avalaibled.. ;S :/(

i hope dioxine will return it into game, someday soon.. ;S
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 01, 2018, 12:50:00 pm
Never.

(Mostly because I don't do code, "just" the mod, so I couldn't even if I wanted; but I did ensure that bug was removed).

As for the "useless" options... better have them and don't need them, than don't have them and get the game crashed when a player does something unexpected.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 01, 2018, 01:24:58 pm
Stealing intact / combat-ready enemy units with the "abort/flee" function makes no sense.
Considering a team 'stole' a functioning cyberdisk/howertank that way or something extremely tough like a merc shocktrooper
I doubt that the team inside the craft can deal with them off-screen if the commander can't be bothered to deal with them during the battlescape in the first place.

If we apply logic further to explain why the enemies 'vanish' from the craft off-screen It's something like that:
[=] anything that can fly/hower on it's own breaches though the doors of the craft and escapes back to the team
[=] anything that can't fly/hower will be tossed out of the craft to secure the safety of the crew
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Haggashed on August 01, 2018, 06:38:25 pm
Are we supposed to start with spectre or did i screw something up?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on August 01, 2018, 06:53:11 pm
is normal for this version, it may or may not go away in the future, as it was dioxine showing off the new transformation OXCE+ code.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Haggashed on August 01, 2018, 07:03:28 pm
is normal for this version, it may or may not go away in the future, as it was dioxine showing off the new transformation OXCE+ code.
ah all right i was just confused cause i only had 1 hand, 3 repentias, which seem to be hands? and two spectre.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 01, 2018, 08:11:45 pm
ah all right i was just confused cause i only had 1 hand, 3 repentias, which seem to be hands? and two spectre.

The confusion is understandable.
Basically it was a bug, but Dioxine thought it was funny enough to keep it in this version for laughs. That's why it's called "Halloween Comes Early".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 01, 2018, 10:56:57 pm
What's the safest way to train Lokknars in way of the pilot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 01, 2018, 11:52:35 pm
What's the safest way to train Lokknars in way of the pilot.

Shove them into the pilot-seat of any fighter-craft and let them hunt civilian traffic that doesn't shot back at you.
Dojo/Spa and missions while wearing the shadow-armor suits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 02, 2018, 01:58:22 am
Does Pilot seat improve firing/reactions/bravery up to maximum? Dojo/Spa don't do that right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 02, 2018, 02:10:17 am
Yeah, piloting can train firing, reactions, and bravery up to their maximum.  Dojo/spa has a cap on firing and reactions, and it doesn't even train bravery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 02, 2018, 09:33:24 am
Fast way to train bravery to 90:
Run Nudist on a map you can clear without any risk of taking damage (like church raid while wearing guardian armor) and go full-capture with the gals.
Stunning enemies doesn't raise moral. The lokk'nars / peasants / slaves / ubers will panic once moral drops to 49 and less.

Everytime they resist panic, they can roll for a +10 bravery growth. Around 3-4 rounds of no-panic and you're good to go.
HP, Str and Stamina also increases with every resisted panic round.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 02, 2018, 09:46:29 am
Use ropes while you're at it, they also train bravery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 02, 2018, 10:20:35 am
Use ropes while you're at it, they also train bravery.

True. But I usually go with whips to train throwing.
Firing/Melee is quickly trained but throwing takes a bit longer to get a good throwing-arm into the squad. 60-80 throwing isn't the best value to start with in an environment where every turn counts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Eddie on August 02, 2018, 03:42:36 pm
What's the safest way to train Lokknars in way of the pilot.

Do civie missions at night. Hide your Lokk'Naar in the dark. Put flares where the civies are. The Lokk'Naar can now reaction fire on the illuminated civies without being spotted. I use shotguns with rubber bullets.
For safety, have gals in armor stationed a little further ahead of the Lokk'Naar. If a civie comes close, the armored gal is spotted first and fired upon.

Bonus objective: Position your Lokk'Naar at a distance where reaction shots hit with low accuracy (~15%). You don't need to hit with reaction fire to get xp. The longer the target remains standing, the longer you can use it for target practice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: new_civilian on August 03, 2018, 12:40:20 pm
Just a proposal after watching the end of Meridians (and another) Youtube LP again: Maybe you should use the allien base from XOPS as a final base, it looks inredible and would be a change from the default Ubase graphics. Not sure if that already has been changed, if so disregard my post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 04, 2018, 02:12:34 pm
Finally in jack sparrow got into may 2602! In april finally encountered snakemen & chrissalyd on a mutant culling mission (first time i take it) and it's kinda mpossible!! May be that acid rain be saved for a non combat mission type, at least?  :)

edit: sorry for typos
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LouisdeFuines on August 04, 2018, 02:21:52 pm
I`m in 2607 and haven`t encountered any snakemen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2018, 02:30:39 pm
@Niculinux, learn to fucking write because I cannot understand a thing from that garble.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 04, 2018, 02:59:08 pm
I`m in 2607 and haven`t encountered any snakemen.

On which difficulty level are you playing? I usually pick "Jack sparrow" (most difficult one)

@ Dioxine: edited previous post, sorry again
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ciruil on August 05, 2018, 08:01:53 am
Fast way to train bravery to 90:
Run Nudist on a map you can clear without any risk of taking damage (like church raid while wearing guardian armor) and go full-capture with the gals.
Stunning enemies doesn't raise moral. The lokk'nars / peasants / slaves / ubers will panic once moral drops to 49 and less.

Everytime they resist panic, they can roll for a +10 bravery growth. Around 3-4 rounds of no-panic and you're good to go.
HP, Str and Stamina also increases with every resisted panic round.
Arm naked Gals thith shepherds staffs and you can train bravery to max by skipping turns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 06, 2018, 11:58:25 am
Nearing the end-game (or close enough to one, I think) and I see the game trying to tell me I should have some of my gals running nude. Doesn't help/does help that the synths have two types of nude outfits for all three environments. So yeah.. I have my first synth in her forearms-covering variant of the nude outfit.

However in the battlescape I did not like the sight of the pubic hair on my blue-haired synth gal since it looked way too out of place for my tastes so I went and did some battlescape sprite editing with one of the proper painting programs for this game and overhauled all of the nude synth sprites (to my knowledge) along with the main default nude gal birthday suit.

edit: Agh, sorry about the row of attachments. I'd like to put them in a spoiler or something if I could. There! Shortened them and put the rest in the rar file.
Altered files: PIR_500.png, PIR_662.png, PIR_663.png, PIR_666.png, PIR_667.png, PIR_668.png, PIR_669.png
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 06, 2018, 03:35:08 pm
Disgusting.

;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 06, 2018, 07:43:16 pm
What is considered good equipment for Mansions other than going full suicidal with grenades?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LytaRyta on August 06, 2018, 08:12:09 pm
Nearing the end-game (or close enough to one, I think) and I see the game trying to tell me I should have some of my gals running nude. Doesn't help/does help that the synths have two types of nude outfits for all three environments. So yeah.. I have my first synth in her forearms-covering variant of the nude outfit.


 :o  How that? ??  ???
i dont get it abit..

hwen, and how, the game tell it to yu..?  ???

and WHY
it all
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on August 06, 2018, 08:53:03 pm
Most Syn outfits have a guantleted version that better at melee and has spiked gauntlets melee, but less good at shooting. So alot of stuff has near identical versions which does clog up the outfitting process.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 06, 2018, 09:09:22 pm
:o  How that? ??  ???
i dont get it abit..

That's what happens when you play this awesome mod for hours upon hours doing a research spree after research spree and then reading everything that has been researched and then digest it while in battlescape either cutting down foes with a Tech Sword or capturing them with stun weapons... until you feel like some disembodied lovecraftian entity seeking knowledge of the lore within the game and how to master it only to then realize you need an in-game gal as an your extension of your disembodied sense of self (or lack there of).

Honestly I'm not sure how my mind went there, I'm pretty sure I did lose some of my sanity (as usual) and gained a fair amount of VooDoo while at it. Oh well, wubba lubba dub dub, my brain is an enigma. o_o

In all seriousness though, even when I'm not playing the mod and playing something else entirely the mod's soundtrack tends to play by itself in my mind sometimes, thankfully in a good way as it gets me thinking about what to do next and brings me in a deep zen-state of some sorts. 8)

Most Syn outfits have a guantleted version that better at melee and has spiked gauntlets melee, but less good at shooting. So alot of stuff has near identical versions which does clog up the outfitting process.

Huh, so that's why the vessel synth crew icon has that long blade looking item (retractable?) reminds me of those Borg tendrils, I thought that was the Tech Blade there for a while as I have been on a melee roll for a long while now with melee weaponry. I rarely use ranged weaponry in battlescape anymore but when I do, I tend to go chain-gunning with upgraded boarding guns for some good ol' dakka-dakka fun shooting spree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 06, 2018, 09:09:59 pm
What is considered good equipment for Mansions other than going full suicidal with grenades?
Cougar mini SMG
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 07, 2018, 03:10:14 am
Cougar mini SMG

Note that it's a late-game tech, you'll need School Graduation for that.  But in the meantime, you can make do with the smartpistol which you'll need to make mini cougars anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Sahti Waari on August 07, 2018, 09:52:50 am
Hello,

Anybody knows how to find last enemy in a Space Freighter mission. Screenshot in attachment.
I killed every one and "bug hunt mode" shows me this last enemy but I can't find a way to reach him.  :-\

Please help, thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on August 07, 2018, 06:38:30 pm
I think somethings gone and space walked again. Enable debug mode with instructions on this page https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Hidden_Features_(OpenXcom) (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Hidden_Features_(OpenXcom)) Reveal where it is, if its outside the ship like i think it is, post screen shots to bug thread, then control K to kill him off, and end the mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 07, 2018, 08:11:28 pm
I don't understand how this happens, there are no spawn points outside... Maybe the engine gone bananas over how complex is the mapcode for this map...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Meridian on August 07, 2018, 08:16:03 pm
I don't understand how this happens, there are no spawn points outside... Maybe the engine gone bananas over how complex is the mapcode for this map...

If you give me "New Battle" config to start such mission, I can have a look what's going on...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 07, 2018, 08:27:07 pm
Please try Space Freighter Raid (STR_SPACE_FREIGHTER) with race Trans-Stellar (STR_TRANS_STELLAR). Admittedly I tried launching it several times and nothing spawned off map, but turns out it's not like that every time...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: legionof1 on August 07, 2018, 09:52:09 pm
Yeah i tried it a few times in new battle and couldnt get it to reproduce. But it did happen so fuck if i understand.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Nalca on August 08, 2018, 08:46:39 am
I tried a few time and got a reaper on the roof.
Saved game is attached if it help.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Meridian on August 08, 2018, 11:32:51 am
Please try Space Freighter Raid (STR_SPACE_FREIGHTER) with race Trans-Stellar (STR_TRANS_STELLAR). Admittedly I tried launching it several times and nothing spawned off map, but turns out it's not like that every time...

I didn't find anything suspicious in the code (doesn't mean there isn't).
The wrong spawns seem to happen on the 10th floor (on all 4 sides)... easiest way to reproduce (on Superhuman) is to replace all race members with Reapers, see attached screenshot.
Please check if there are any spawn points there.

PS: also, while trying to find anything, I have implemented 2 new features:
- switch to standard battlescape palette (i.e. remove palette from starting condition)
- render all discovered tiles with maximum brightness (=night vision on steroids, without color change)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2018, 05:25:31 pm
If there were any spawn points there, the bug wouldn't be baffling like it is...
I checked for the n-th time and there simply aren't any. Unless I'm going crazy...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Meridian on August 08, 2018, 09:54:48 pm
If there were any spawn points there, the bug wouldn't be baffling like it is...
I checked for the n-th time and there simply aren't any. Unless I'm going crazy...

Does the map look the same all the time?
If yes, here are the exact node positions (where 2x2 reapers can spawn) on the map (there are 8 together on 10th level, 2 in each quadrant, symmetric).

Generated on Genius difficulty, so only real node positions are used... some reapers could not be spawned and were deleted.

Code: [Select]
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000000
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (15,16,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000001
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (9,3,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000002
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (9,3,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000003
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (16,4,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000004
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (16,4,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000005
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node position: (15,16,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Unit: 1000006
[08-08-2018_20-48-25] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (28,24,6)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000007
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (28,24,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000008
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (18,20,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000009
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (4,16,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000010
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (4,16,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000011
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (60,20,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000012
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (58,60,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000013
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (20,60,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000014
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (18,58,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000015
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (58,18,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000016
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (24,53,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000017
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (60,58,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000018
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (2,11,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000019
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (57,22,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000020
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (47,53,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000021
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (13,15,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000022
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (20,18,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000023
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (16,15,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000024
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (2,11,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000025
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (2,3,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000026
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (13,7,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000027
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (62,16,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000028
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (26,29,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000029
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (2,3,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000030
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (16,11,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000031
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (54,51,1)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000032
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (16,62,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000033
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (15,67,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000034
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (16,11,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000035
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (21,20,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000036
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (25,45,0)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000037
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (65,16,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000038
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (56,56,9)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000039
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (13,7,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000040
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (10,16,11)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000041
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (10,16,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000042
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (25,38,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000043
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (26,50,4)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000044
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (26,50,6)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000045
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node found.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node position: (25,38,6)
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000046
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000047
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000048
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000049
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000050
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000051
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000052
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000053
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000054
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000055
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000057
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000058
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000059
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000060
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000061
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000062
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000064
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000066
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000067
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000068
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000069
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit deleted.
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000070
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000071
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000072
[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Node not available.
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000078
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000083
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000084
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000086
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000087
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000093
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[08-08-2018_20-48-26] [INFO] Unit: 1000095
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Just nodes:
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (18,20,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (60,20,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (58,60,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (20,60,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (18,58,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (58,18,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (60,58,10)         #<-----------------------
[08-08-2018_20-48-26]   [INFO]   Node position: (20,18,10)         #<-----------------------
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: kevL on August 09, 2018, 02:46:45 am
check the

FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_E00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_N00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_S00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_W00

.MAP files

Looks like they have spawn-nodes on those external roofs.

(conversely the other half-maps appear to have nodes that are internal to the structure)

... unless i'm mistaken about which map-modules are actually used, I didn't trace that - just set things up in Mapview(2) and compared what I saw to the screenshots above.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 10, 2018, 01:17:33 pm
Where do you get more Industrial Scanners? I don't see it being Purchasable or able to Manufacture.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 10, 2018, 01:31:53 pm
One specific ship-type usual run by the academy has 3 or 4 scanners among the salvage loot.
The ship has an academy engi on board and uses one of the vanilla-ship maps (or close to the default design).
Sorry, can't remember the name of the shiptype /-name  :-[
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 10, 2018, 04:06:00 pm
Industrial scanners are actually just repainted examination tables from vanilla UFO, so you can find them guaranteed in envoys (abductors).  Problem is, I've never seen anyone but ethereals use envoys.

The easier method is to assault cutters (large scouts), because one of its layouts has exam tables/scanners.

Edit: I suddenly felt like listing which UFO was renamed to what in Piratez, so here you go.

Small Scout - Scout
Medium Scout - Roundabout
Large Scout - Cutter
Harvester - Shrine Ship
Abductor - Envoy
Terror Ship - Terror Ship
Supply Ship - Frigate (Piratez supply ship is a different ship)
Battleship - Cruiser (Piratez battleship is a VERY different ship)

And heck, I'll do Solar's extra UFOs too:
Fighter - Fighter
Sentry - Sentry
Excavator - Excavator
Lab Ship - Science Vessel
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 10, 2018, 05:10:27 pm
May we have handles buyable at the black market? Right now cattle prods, ball bats and stun batons are; i'd suggest to have handles and bats buyable from the start, while baton and prods buayable after some research-unlocking, since these are more "technological" hardware :)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 10, 2018, 05:40:27 pm
You do know that you can manufacture handles right from the start, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 10, 2018, 08:56:47 pm
You do know that you can manufacture handles right from the start, right?

umh actually...no, really!??! Anyway having them.for buying won't hurt, i think :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 11, 2018, 01:11:22 am
Well, you can't.  Why buy what you can easily make?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: khade on August 11, 2018, 07:00:29 am
I think they cost nothing but time to make, what are you paying those Runts for anyway?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 12, 2018, 03:24:55 pm
How is it possible that a fresh base after few days of existence is targeted for retaliation even if I didn't have any activity in that region. Is this something from standard version? I mean I couldn't even managed to build barracks. I even put few fighters, but nothing was detected and blam base gone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 12, 2018, 04:35:51 pm
How is it possible that a fresh base after few days of existence is targeted for retaliation even if I didn't have any activity in that region. Is this something from standard version? I mean I couldn't even managed to build barracks. I even put few fighters, but nothing was detected and blam base gone.

1) playing on "jack sparrow" mode?

2) Have the option "aggressive retalitstion" turned on?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 12, 2018, 04:40:38 pm
It can happen on lower difficulties without aggressive retaliation on as well. Just tough luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: wolfreal on August 12, 2018, 07:47:17 pm
That is why I always start with an outpost and a burrow, and well, an hangar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 13, 2018, 01:32:25 am
I guess you got unlucky with a random crackdown, either from a faction or ratmen/bogeymen marching around on foot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 13, 2018, 11:43:42 am
Outpost and monster den ASAP and get a minimum of defence-squads located in the new turf.
Even a little ratman goon-squad can cost you 1.5M $ of do$h.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 13, 2018, 06:05:25 pm
I have yet to get animal poison (but it is on its way, last possible choice for the spartan lieutenant currently being interrogated!), and damn, a lot of research and important bits like the still require it.
(February 2602)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 13, 2018, 07:50:26 pm
Even outpost wouldn't do. I've sort of cheated to test who makes it and I don't know why but it's the Church doing crackdown in the Pacific. Now Pacific is a big region and I didn't do any missions there against the Church which is very strange. In fact last few months I had fights against Academy and the Guild. I only had one mission against the Church (Boot camp) but it was in Europe.  As it stands now I'm just telling myself that this mod has something against "Boob Paradise" (that's the name of base) on Hawaii
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 13, 2018, 07:56:40 pm
check the

FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_E00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_N00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_S00
FREIGHTER_STRUCTURE_LINK_W00

WTF? My mapblocks do not have these spawn points...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LytaRyta on August 13, 2018, 09:51:46 pm
btw.hey, those woodoo-oriented gals are still some weak, significantly, in their "voodoo" powers, / skills,

- in compare, for example, with such Lyta, from Babylon5 (mu´hehe :p ;D
(yap, she is (as once as *Touched by Vorlons*) thousands, ~~million grade more powerful all-psionics person..
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: LytaRyta on August 13, 2018, 10:16:14 pm
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Hands_(Piratez)#Psionics_AKA_VooDoo
Psionics AKA VooDoo
Psionics is now called VooDoo because it's in the future and pirates aren't very smart and it looks like magic! Anyhow, keep in mind hands are not as resilient as vanilla X-Com soldiers, nor will they ever become capable of walking Psi Gods as Psi-Amps are no longer equipment to carried, but VooDoo-amplifying armor must be worn instead. In addition, VooDoo Skill and Strength are not as high as vanilla X-Com soldier values.
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Hands_(Piratez)#Psionics_AKA_VooDoo



.. - but, i would suggest, recommend jus exactly OPPOSITE - they, X-piratez gals, would be got abit higher psionics skills, /powers, as X-COM agents, from almost 600 years before..

why? :

+  hellerium
(Ellerium-115++) - lets suggest, imagine theory, about how existence of super-heavy, stabile elements, got (mostly positive) "mutantive", mutating effects on common human race, --===>  origin, genesis of *Uber" 

( +and direct implementing, using those super-heavy element into fyziology of this new stabile, mutant sub-race, *Uber-strain"  --===>

----->  origin, "activation´, and amplification, strengthening - also psionics gifts, telepatics skills (until creation of mutant Uber-strain amybe no-existent, -but, more probable, more ..fitting, - until rise of mutant uber -strain, those psionics skills were just, genetically,  recessive, dormant genes...  - until woked-up by mutations, by sub influencies superheavy Hellerium element
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: kevL on August 14, 2018, 12:37:09 am
WTF? My mapblocks do not have these spawn points...

idk... I downloaded 099J4 just to check for possible bugs (regarding the rogue spawns) in Mapview. But (attached) is the route-file in hex

The first three bytes on each row are positions (y/x/z [sic]) of route-nodes (note that on the z-axis, 00 is top level of a MAP).

and if there are no nodes in a map-module the route-file should be empty. I don't know what's supposed to be there and what's not, so over to you, sir

ps. The last byte on each row is spawnweight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 14, 2018, 02:33:35 am
I think I found what was wrong... The files in my map editor were not the same as the files in the game directory.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: kevL on August 14, 2018, 02:56:16 am
k
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: BBHood217 on August 14, 2018, 03:21:20 am
I've sort of cheated to test who makes it and I don't know why but it's the Church doing crackdown in the Pacific. Now Pacific is a big region and I didn't do any missions there against the Church which is very strange. In fact last few months I had fights against Academy and the Guild. I only had one mission against the Church (Boot camp) but it was in Europe.  As it stands now I'm just telling myself that this mod has something against "Boob Paradise" (that's the name of base) on Hawaii

How late are you in the campaign?  Because at some point (around two years, maybe less depending on difficulty), a random crackdown can happen per month where one random faction randomly picks a random region to randomly scan for pirate hideouts.  Any faction capable of flying ships can do this with no regard to previous transgressions; so in your case, the Church just decided to randomly scan the Pacific one day and just happened to get lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: khade on August 14, 2018, 04:24:40 am
Ubers and their voodoo capacity, as well as the Lunatics and their higher potential capacity, have lore reasons.  Also, you're arguing that the setting equivalent of(let's say) orcs would be more psychically adept than more human genetic strains?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 14, 2018, 03:48:21 pm
I got aml mission named "abandoned mine" or something (cannot remember well sorry) but it startes in a jungle map with hundred of loads of dark ones troops, i was with mu sic gal on airbus and fled away, soon after my 2 bases started to being raided every now and then by these, i even had to cheat by lowering diff level in a saved game  because was overwhelmed by a 50+ dark ones units!

Same appened in another game when i escapede from an "hot pursuit" mission. My personal point is, dincevthey are possede and does not show "intellectual reason" they dhold not hzve the mesns ho track'n sttack a piratez base, i'd use them only in particular missions though  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 14, 2018, 03:57:19 pm
Dark ones are pretty easy, their good units don't spawn in hideout attacks (at least I haven't seen them there). Shotguns are great against them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 14, 2018, 04:02:52 pm
Dark ones are pretty easy, their good units don't spawn in hideout attacks (at least I haven't seen them there). Shotguns are great against them.
i had 2 or 3 crackdown from those instead, maybe depend on diff kevel, also because imps, possessed chaingunners and rocket guys are a real pain in the ass  :'( im forced to cheat when they attach my base :'(

edit: if anybody cares, here is my most advanced game, press here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4058.msg101020.html#msg101020) to see my mess progress!! I have 3 hideouts 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 14, 2018, 04:41:33 pm
In hideout defence missions there is almost no reason to stand in the corridors during the enemy turn. Just retreat to the rooms while you weather the main attack. Even if the defenders of one room are killed (not common at all against dark ones) you'll have more in other rooms. Imps are annoying when they hit you, but weak.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 14, 2018, 05:35:19 pm
How late are you in the campaign?  Because at some point (around two years, maybe less depending on difficulty), a random crackdown can happen per month where one random faction randomly picks a random region to randomly scan for pirate hideouts.  Any faction capable of flying ships can do this with no regard to previous transgressions; so in your case, the Church just decided to randomly scan the Pacific one day and just happened to get lucky.

October 2602
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 14, 2018, 07:19:19 pm
Hey actually i noticed (better late than never!) some kind of "inconsistency": watching silencer playthrough (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6414.msg101569.html#msg101569) in the manufacturing prohect screen, the one where you assign runts to s specific job) there is a string that reads "workshop space aviable", now since in piratez a workshop needs to be researched and the starting one is labelled "extractor", may that  string be changed in "labor space avaiable" or "work space avaiable".

Don't know if it is even possible, pheraphs its an harcoded thing? Whatever :)

Edit: Also: if gals found themselves in an abandoned base, they should have only knowledge of weapons/stuff the may have seen or "experienced" in captivity or used in the getaway as the introfuction states clearly), so how about to remove boarding gun, handcannon and nearly all weapons currently present in  bootypedia? I don't think academy uses flintlock, first patrols in the game dont use them, so at least i'd left tools academy nurses uses and should be starting gals equipment, flintlocks and early firearms may be unlocked with the black market

Edit 2: i'd also remove the robot guard in the watchtower and warehouse and whatever other missio is usin it and place at least a couole of enemyes as guard patrolling near the entrance, kinda a bit more "realistic" but most of all painfull of course!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 15, 2018, 01:50:34 pm
I think the guard is mostly there to keep the enemies in the tower.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 15, 2018, 03:10:48 pm
I think the guard is mostly there to keep the enemies in the tower.

Yes i know, that was just to make thinghs different. A couple of question: are planned for next versions some more geoscape and battlescape music tracks? And also early game missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 15, 2018, 04:06:22 pm
watching silencer playthrough (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6414.msg101569.html#msg101569)
damn, this guy's inventory management is painful to watch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 15, 2018, 04:25:10 pm
damn, this guy's inventory management is painful to watch.

Every player's inventory management is painful to watch. Unless it's yourself doing the management.

I have watched Silencer's playthrough yesterday and I was rather impressed with his skills.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 15, 2018, 04:42:48 pm
Every player's inventory management is painful to watch. Unless it's yourself doing the management.
True. I would still say it's pretty bad in general. He pretty much ignores grenades, consumables, secondary weapons, unless it's a stunner. His weapon selection is pretty limited. Although he's pretty lucky to get 3 haxxors. In my campaighn im in the first month of a second year and i only have one.

Edit: ok let's analyze his latest episode 61 where he beats a bandit pogrom so i don't come as empty worded.

On grenades: you can see this early on when the enemy density is very high. There's a moment where there is a blood hound behind the corner and 2 highwaymen grouped together, near an explosive barrels no less. All it takes is one frag grenade to kill them. Instead he moves a LMG, does a burst, misses, same with second gal, the third hand finally finishes the blood hound. So instead of taking 1 action to kill 3 enemies he took 3 and killed one. He had rocketeers and grenade launchers, but still there's a moment when he shoots an rpg into 2 ghouls in a small gap between a building and this yellow industrial box and it goes sideways and hits the obstacle. The distance wasn't huge, throwing would be a way safer bet, even with a demo(wo)man.

Consumables: this is the biggest mistake. He got gassed at the spawn, tough luck, but that's to be expected from the ghouls. Then the wounds start accumulating and gals start dropping like flies. The only thing he has is a single barrel of x-grog... the RPG gal runs to retrieve it... and drops unconscious on the stockpile. This was pretty funny, i have to admit. But on the serious note, this is huge. A knocked out gal does as much as the dead one, and this kind of "death" you can easily prevent.

On weapon selection i wouldn't say anything. I don't know why he ignores shotguns(my guess is because he values armor penetration but that's fixed by carrying grenades to throw instead), but in general it's not bad.

He should definitely consider sidearms on heavy weapon users though. There were a couple of times when he skipped a turn with HMG because it's 50% tu to shoot, that means if you turn you only do 1 burst. With 49% tu it's enough to draw a pistol or a sawn-off, do a snap or two and put it back. Yes, his hmg was at 75\75 weight, but at this point i would rather drop a spare ammo box. Same with the RPG gal. What if an enemy is next to a teammate? If you value a rocket in a QD slot so much, at least you can put a black adder? fisticuffs? at least something not explodey?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Rince Wind on August 15, 2018, 06:45:21 pm
Ah, the HMG. One of the best sniper rifles there are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 16, 2018, 01:41:44 am
damn, this guy's inventory management is painful to watch.

i was thinking about cutting those, but then I've decided not to bother because you can just skip it after all. Yes I know my inventory management is piss poor, but I'm too lazy to improve.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 16, 2018, 02:17:21 am
I like Silencer's style.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 16, 2018, 05:38:21 am
i was thinking about cutting those, but then I've decided not to bother because you can just skip it after all. Yes I know my inventory management is piss poor, but I'm too lazy to improve.
Do you know about the saving loadout feature with f5\f9? I make several basic presets in different weight intervals, something like 20\35\50 kg. 20 would be the minimal set with about 5 different grenades and bandages to save weight. 35 is a standard preset with a medkit, stimms, painkillers, maybe an extra grenade. 50 is for someone with a light weapon and it features panzerfaust and swapping some utility grenades for damaging ones. Yes, management can get tedious, that's why you load a preset closest to the weight you want, remove what you don't need with 1 click, then plop a weapon and you're good to go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Zharkov on August 16, 2018, 10:13:00 am
[…] watching silencer playthrough (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6414.msg101569.html#msg101569) […]
I cannot help but wonder what happened Part 10?!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 16, 2018, 11:03:33 am
I've been noticing that my synth gal tends to tire much faster than she did as one of the main 7 uber gal. What gives? Some actual power consumption element that runs in battlescape for synth soldiers or something? If so then I would like to alter that stamina-drain/health-stun effect wherever it is if I can, otherwise I'll revert my main gal back to her uber form.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: ivansanchez on August 16, 2018, 11:31:36 am
I've been noticing that my synth gal tends to tire much faster than she did as one of the main 7 uber gal. What gives?

Let me quote the Bootypedia article about Syns, emphasis mine:

Quote
>>> Bravery is always 0, no Stress.
>>> Always counts as if wearing Exosuit.
>>> Instead of exhaustion, they suffer from overheating. The less Energy, the higher heat. If Energy is below 300, they start taking Stun damage.
>>> Health regeneration of 3/turn, but low Energy regeneration. Stun and Energy regeneration unaffected by Health.

Maybe try combat drugs (or the drug dispensor) for once? The penalties of combat drugs don't really matter to Syns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 16, 2018, 12:07:48 pm
Wait, there is an option to turn gals into syns now???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: FG on August 16, 2018, 12:29:32 pm
Wait, there is an option to turn gals into syns now???

Only with mods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 16, 2018, 12:51:08 pm
Let me quote the Bootypedia article about Syns, emphasis mine:

Maybe try combat drugs (or the drug dispensor) for once? The penalties of combat drugs don't really matter to Syns.

Ahhh, that explains it. Thank you. I haven't yet gotten to unlocking tips/hints in my in-game bootypedia for synth gals. So I far I have the two synth nude outfits in bootypedia and I have no idea what is the description for their armors yet. Thankfully the gal I converted through save editing from a uber to a synth is a leader so I have access to all of the outfits that have not even been researched yet.

Definitely gonna try the combat drugs, again thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: niculinux on August 16, 2018, 01:18:08 pm
Wait, there is an option to turn gals into syns now???

here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6495.0.htmlhere)


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: silencer_pl on August 16, 2018, 02:17:22 pm
I cannot help but wonder what happened Part 10?!

I was watching youtube on my Smart TV and then I got comment, I replied and I wanted to delete the video from queue, but I had my brain turned off for brief moment and I deleted the video.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 16, 2018, 06:56:41 pm
Bleh, combat drugs are too underpowered for my overpowered artificially altered soldiers, especially for my synth gal. Took a shot of it when she ran low of stamina again after a long trek across battlescape.. it did bugger all and only sent her to recovery for 2 days. Wordpad save edit saves the day yet again!

I'm seriously considering either changing my main gal back to uber.. or modding that overheat/stamin-drain/stun-damage so I can continue using synth. I prefer the latter aka to mod it because I've grown to like synths.

In what file is that stamina-drain/overheating rate determined because I'd love to lower it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 16, 2018, 07:16:33 pm
What a cheater. Seriously, synths underpowered for you? Disgusting.
Also this what's modding synths to be mass-productible brings: disappointment. Because in such a case, people don't bother with the effort of learning how to use them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2018, 12:59:34 am
New version uploaded. Have fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: ivansanchez on August 17, 2018, 01:39:13 am
I haven't yet gotten to unlocking tips/hints in my in-game bootypedia for synth gals.

Wait, WTF?! How the f*** are you using Syns without researching "Syn examination" first? IIRC that's a research requirement for getting your first Syn.

And I guess you haven't bothered with reading about the chiller armor suit either?

If that's the case, I gotta agree with Dioxine here:

What a cheater. Seriously, synths underpowered for you? Disgusting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 17, 2018, 02:30:58 am
What a cheater. Seriously, synths underpowered for you? Disgusting.
Also this what's modding synths to be mass-productible brings: disappointment. Because in such a case, people don't bother with the effort of learning how to use them.

What!?? NO! LOL! No, of course not! Synths are not underpowered here. Please let me just explain myself before everyone jumps the gun and jerks the knee here.

First I like that the synths are not mass produced units because I am a quality over quantity type of guy. I rarely use more than 2-5 units which of course depends on how much enemies there are on the map and how many manage to hide from my initial battlefield scanning sweeps. I mostly get the job done with only one unit usually and that is always with my main commando character.

What I deemed underpowered here were combat drugs specifically, not my commando gal as a synth (who is inhumanly/inuberly powerful stats-wise). The thing with my commando character aka the main unit for the past years I've played OpenXcom with has always been someone who've I've cheated over max stats so I can have easier and fun relaxing time blasting my foes apart without feeling like jamming my keyboard through my monitor after some 10th fail after fail.

I don't seek challenege, I seek relaxation of mowing my foes down with ease in games. Yes I am a cheater and I don't care and that's primarly because of an actual real-life medical condition I have. I only cheat in singleplayer games and I highly prefer singleplayer games because of being able to change things to my liking.

Wait, WTF?! How the f*** are you using Syns without researching "Syn examination" first? IIRC that's a research requirement for getting your first Syn.

And I guess you haven't bothered with reading about the chiller armor suit either?

For crying out loud, I've been playing the game all day managing my bases, inventories and whatnot.. I haven't gotten to reading newer bootypedie entries I've unlocked. I do have Syn Examination researched but I only read through it once and I was so sleepy at that point that I basically forgot it (that was a few days back), that's what happens when you stay up til the morning of the next day! >.<
I haven't even tested the chiller suit yet, excuse me for not having done that yet.

I only seek (or sought I guess) modding help here not whatever this presumption-fueled mess is, good grief.. disgusting.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: BBHood217 on August 17, 2018, 02:40:52 am
Quote
- Enemy tanks and armored cars are no longer capturable

RIP early Hovertank Chassis.  And now Robot Disassembly has even more completely useless manufacturing options.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Droggarth on August 17, 2018, 03:13:11 am
Solved the modding issue myself I was having with rage and from indignation. My synth commando is properly over-overpowered now, goodbye overheating/stamina-drain. 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Dioxine on August 17, 2018, 03:16:28 am
I don't seek challenege, I seek relaxation of mowing my foes down with ease in games

Fair enough, just Piratez is a wrong game for that.

Also if you seek cheating, I mean modding help... Please start a new topic or whatever, just don't bring that kind of stuff here, which is my personal stomping grounds and supposedly the thread to discuss important stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J4 - 19 Jul - Halloween Comes Early
Post by: Droggarth on August 17, 2018, 04:07:22 am
just Piratez is a wrong game for that.

Wrong game or not, this is why I mod and thus am able to enjoy OpenXcom and its mods. TBH, I've played Piratez far longer this year than I did the original game with OpenXcom last year.

I'll fuck off now and go straight to modding help sections or whatever next time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: niculinux on August 17, 2018, 08:13:36 am
New version uploaded. Have fun!

Yay! Wrenches are more easy to be found now?

RIP early Hovertank Chassis.  And now Robot Disassembly has even more completely useless manufacturing options.

So it is an useless option now or what?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: FG on August 17, 2018, 08:58:53 am
New version uploaded. Have fun!

Cheers!  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Zippicus on August 17, 2018, 10:57:35 am

So it is an useless option now or what?

Kinda sorta maybe.  You weren't ever supposed to be able to capture tanks, and the option to disassemble tanks was only put in because people found exploits to capture them anyways.  So think of the disassembly option as a safety net, those are useless too .. unless someone falls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: niculinux on August 17, 2018, 11:30:38 am
Kinda sorta maybe.  You weren't ever supposed to be able to capture tanks, and the option to disassemble tanks was only put in because people found exploits to capture them anyways.  So think of the disassembly option as a safety net, those are useless too .. unless someone falls.

So it's still present in .J5? Or oheraps it may have an utility since it may work with these "corpses"?? (tank debris)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 17, 2018, 11:55:58 am
0.99J5 16-Aug-2018

- Temple Raid needs to be approached by foot now.

We can only approach Church of Sirius Temple using an expedition now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 17, 2018, 12:06:54 pm
no, that line talks about the craft no longer being on the map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Zippicus on August 17, 2018, 12:24:14 pm
So it's still present in .J5? Or oheraps it may have an utility since it may work with these "corpses"?? (tank debris)

I don't know how to make this any clearer.  If you play normally you'll never ever capture a tank so it doesn't matter if you can disassemble them or not.  Leaving the option to disassemble them in the game doesn't matter either.  In short, nothing to see here, move along.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: niculinux on August 17, 2018, 12:29:40 pm
I don't know how to make this any clearer.  If you play normally you'll never ever capture a tank so it doesn't matter if you can disassemble them or not.  Leaving the option to disassemble them in the game doesn't matter either.  In short, nothing to see here, move along.

thanks sorry, the mod is really complicated, really need of foolproof explanations :)

0.99J5 16-Aug-2018

- Temple Raid needs to be approached by foot now.

We can only approach Church of Sirius Temple using an expedition now?

Actually i think makes sense, but don't know how, civilian vessels approaching the site suited well anyways, but whatever!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 17, 2018, 02:12:11 pm
New version uploaded. Have fun!
Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: LouisdeFuines on August 17, 2018, 02:51:54 pm
As nothing else is told I consider this version to be compatible to my savegame of J4...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ciruil on August 17, 2018, 08:01:14 pm
- Dragon's speed raised to 3000
- Rebalances to Heavy Craft Weapons
- Loknar cap on REA reduced to 125

Looks like Dioxine paid attention to my post about unvulerablity of interceptors piloted by lokk'naars whith maxed reaction and thrusters in missle slots, that maked heavy and tanky crafts useless. But now lokk'naar soldiers pretty useless, maybe they need some buff in another stats?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 17, 2018, 09:20:56 pm
15 off the cap still leaves loknars as the top of the reactions heap. Still 25% better cap then a gal, and still way more then needed to give them the advantage in reaction fire calculations against almost all foes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: HT on August 18, 2018, 01:14:32 pm
Yay, a new version, finally! I suppose the starting gals are back to normal, right? Also, Brainers got an introduction. Will we get one for the starting Runts too, assuming it's not here already, I mean?

Also, the Cunny Gals are not rebel pirates as I expected, but the cannibal negro stereotype, complete with spears. Good thing that SJWs will never play this (then again they cannot touch classic/things older than five years of history stuff, as that reminds them of reality, which they hate).  ;) Will you make a reference to Wakanda at some point?

Now seriously: What does the Gladiator transformation do? I suppose it increases the Gal's melee stats, the 'pedia article is a bit vague except stating the prerequisites. Also, can a Gal transformed with a Shake-up ceremony ever get rid of the penalties?

In fact, can multiple transformations stack? Say, a gal that starts with Shake-up, undergoes gladiatorial training, then goes Repentia and finally Spectre upon death.

Finally: Will we have a "voodoo-focused" transformation at some point too?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: LytaRyta on August 18, 2018, 02:06:54 pm
haha, "leftards", / "gutmensch - good points!;DD :DD

but anyway, in y.2603 the negroes, and arabics too, are almoston verge of  exctinction, becouse, from, and around  the year 2284... (i still must think-outf the lore, create the backstory for this, yet..)

SJWs, /leftards havent enought hight iq for playing such complex game like this..
they are too ..dumb to get into xPiratez ;P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 18, 2018, 05:40:49 pm
snip

Now seriously: What does the Gladiator transformation do? I suppose it increases the Gal's melee stats, the 'pedia article is a bit vague except stating the prerequisites. Also, can a Gal transformed with a Shake-up ceremony ever get rid of the penalties?

In fact, can multiple transformations stack? Say, a gal that starts with Shake-up, undergoes gladiatorial training, then goes Repentia and finally Spectre upon death.

Finally: Will we have a "voodoo-focused" transformation at some point too?

The gladiator transform is a substantial gain in many stats, not just melee. The "penalties" from shakeup is just lost experience, go earn some more, nothing permanent. You can undergo multiple transformations, but its up the individual transforms for the requirements. For example shakeup only works on "hand" class type gals. So doing repentia before shakeup doesn't work but the opposite order does.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Martin on August 18, 2018, 06:52:27 pm
Also, the Cunny Gals are not rebel pirates as I expected, but the cannibal negro stereotype, complete with spears.death.

They are clearly not based on any african culture but on south american natives. Noticed those blowpipes?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 19, 2018, 12:26:54 pm
They are clearly not based on any african culture but on south american natives. Noticed those blowpipes?

I personally think they are based on Diablo II more than anything else. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Martin on August 20, 2018, 09:08:00 am
I personally think they are based on Diablo II more than anything else. :P

Those wierd goblins, like everything in act 3 were based on native south american stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2018, 10:44:24 am
Also, the Cunny Gals are not rebel pirates as I expected, but the cannibal negro stereotype,

If anything, they're inspired by South American culture, and only an ignoramus would call these Negroes. Not all dark skinned people are Negro. Not all light skinned people are "caucassian" (a dumb word swap for Aryan which excludes many very much white peoples, like Finns who are not Aryan but Uralian). If you laud White supremacy, do not embarass your cause with that kind of poor knowledge or lack of intellectual acumen you clearly show. (All the stuff you ask about is either explained in-game in text, displayed in the Transformations menu, or both). Also you can laugh at their spears... and die laughing.

Will you make a reference to Wakanda at some point?

Wakanda is just another Hi Tech Isolationist Utopia: Holier-than-thou, ossified in thinking, unwilling and indeed incapable of any sort of expansion. Such Utopia is costly to run and can only degenerate with time. Finally it always faces a crisis it is incapable of surmounting. If lucky, they get conquered by an expansionist empire and end up as slaves. If unlucky, they get destroyed by forces of nature and end up as a curious ruins, containing the skeletons of the final inhabitans, bearing clear marks of malnutrition and violent conflict.

Oh, yeah. And I seriously think the Black Panther was one of the worst movies ever made, if not THE worst movie ever made. And I've seen a lot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Martin on August 20, 2018, 01:45:48 pm
Technicaly, aryan should be only used for indo-iranic people who are only distantly related to modern europeans.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 20, 2018, 02:16:37 pm
Oh, yeah. And I seriously think the Black Panther was one of the worst movies ever made, if not THE worst movie ever made. And I've seen a lot.
I hope you watched it through torrents. Because no matter how bad the movie is they will dismiss any criticism because everyone else is a "nazi", and if you give them money they will keep making another ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: LytaRyta on August 20, 2018, 04:54:43 pm

Wakanda is just another Hi-Tech Isolationist Utopia: Holier-than-thou, ossified in thinking, unwilling and indeed incapable of any sort of expansion. Such Utopia is costly to run and can only degenerate with time. Finally it always faces a crisis it is incapable of surmounting. If lucky, they get conquered by an expansionist empire and end up as slaves. If unlucky, they get destroyed by forces of nature and end up as a curious ruins, containing the skeletons of the final inhabitans, bearing clear marks of malnutrition and violent conflict.

Oh, yeah. And I seriously think the Black Panther was one of the worst movies ever made, if not THE worst movie ever made. And I've seen a lot.


"..about Hi-Tech Isolationist Utopias.."

..but, you can somehow count into such "HiTech Utopias" also, for example, - Japan, & Israel

(..and Hongkong, Kuala-Lumpur, and Singapur too..)



btw. - Is size of area (of such Utopias) also between their .."signs ? as their feature ?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 20, 2018, 05:33:36 pm
Both Japan and Israel are expansionist (culturally, economically, politically, and at varied times, militarily too), and this makes for a world of difference. I guess I muddled things when I said Isolationist when I meant Extreme Isolationist (both xenophobic and anti-expansionist).

Singapur, Honkong etc. are not independent and act under an umbrella of a larger state.

The real world example of such utopia would be arguably the Aztec, the Maias, or the urban native civilizations in North America. However, irl this doesn't happen as often, since idealized examples like Wakanda do not exist.

And of course, the smaller the utopia is, the sooner it will meet its end.

@Martin:
No, that is not what Aryan is. Aryan is the most accurately named Indoeuropean, and shares a heritage of a common land of origin, namely steppes north of Causassus, in the land called Scythia or Sarmatia. This does include Persians and to some degree, Indians (although their blood got mixed with numerous indigenous inhabitants of the Indian Peninusula, while Europe was likely more or less empty when Indoeuropeans arrived).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Serpentium on August 20, 2018, 05:42:55 pm
Honestly, can't really blame how unrealistic Wakanda is in the movie. This is marvel we are talking about; where 50% of the universe's inhabitants can be snuffed out with the snap of a finger and giant cosmic demigods devour whole planets.

I guess if they departed just a bit from the Black Panther lore from the comic books, they could have made a better movie.  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Rince Wind on August 20, 2018, 05:46:35 pm
The problem is that the formula works less and less. There is stuff happening, people fight for whatever reason, and at the end there is a huge fight with lots of CGI and little to no suspension. In Infinity War that last fight was the most boring bit. And the other fights weren't much better. Not as bad as Ultron though, which for me is the worst of the newer MCU movies.
They need to shake it up a bit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: HT on August 20, 2018, 07:30:56 pm
The gladiator transform is a substantial gain in many stats, not just melee. The "penalties" from shakeup is just lost experience, go earn some more, nothing permanent. You can undergo multiple transformations, but its up the individual transforms for the requirements. For example shakeup only works on "hand" class type gals. So doing repentia before shakeup doesn't work but the opposite order does.

I see. Thanks for the info!

I personally think they are based on Diablo II more than anything else. :P

Never finished the game so I cannot say.

They are clearly not based on any african culture but on south american natives. Noticed those blowpipes?

It's possible. However, I went with the most common cliché, hence why I said "stereotype". The fact that the game mentions their connection with the Zombie Masters (and thus Vodoo) and their cannibal tendencies reinforces it.

*angry rant*

Wow, overreacting much? How the hell did you conclude that I'm a possible supremacist? Is it bad to poke fun to a new unit in a game filled with politically incorrect stuff?  Also, for your information, I haven't played the new version enough to access this new Gladiator transformation (or the other ones to begin, I was waiting for a new version to start over). I  only saw the new 'pedia description by using the random battle generator since I was curious about this new unit, but the entry only tells the prerequisites, not the advantages upon completion, hence why I asked.

If the Wakanda mention is what offended you, I was joking.

This game doesn't take itself too seriously after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Martin on August 21, 2018, 01:38:33 am
Wow, overreacting much? How the hell did you conclude that I'm a possible supremacist?

When it quacks like a duck... 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 21, 2018, 01:56:49 am
Angry? Hardly. Why people constantly think I am angry, while the actual feeling is disgust and an impulse to bring the light of reason to where only chaos and dark superstition reigns.

But yeah, if you're offended that I took your words at face value, you must excuse me - for me, you're just one of dozens of anynymous faces here, and I have no means of telling if you joke or not. If you're not a nutcase, good for you, but if you were, you would hardly be the only one OR the worst...

Honestly, can't really blame how unrealistic Wakanda is in the movie.

I don't have a problem with any lack of realism; it is of course overblown as this is a mythical story. It only makes it all clearer what it is - and it is nothing nice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Rince Wind on August 21, 2018, 01:44:51 pm
What does "only the best performing mission counts" mean in the Bullet Magnet condemnation? Only missions with a certain minimum amount of attacks?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 21, 2018, 03:02:03 pm
In the case of bullet magnet it means only the single mission in which a gal got hit the most counts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Rince Wind on August 21, 2018, 03:48:33 pm
So to "improve" she would need to get hit more in another mission? Good to know, thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: niculinux on August 21, 2018, 08:37:23 pm
Some news fomr 0.99.J5  :D i n this version seems muskets are really inaccurate, plus even startin civilian enemies (academy included) seems more resistant! Havin very big trouble as it if not were enough for the game itself, i am not even able to win the first crackdown!!
Demotivational save attached

ah should really stop playing thi torture game !!   :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 21, 2018, 09:14:04 pm
You're hallucinating again. Neither muskets nor civilians have been changed for a long, long time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: niculinux on August 21, 2018, 10:01:26 pm
You're hallucinating again. Neither muskets nor civilians have been changed for a long, long time.

ok thanks so my gals really suck at fighting then :) yes paying more attention to their statistics..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: wolfreal on August 22, 2018, 11:10:47 pm
It is intended that Topless does not consider current stun level when calculating energy recovering?

EDIT

On the same line...

Gravity Harness give you more stun recovery actually, bootypedia says that it should add stun, not recovery it.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ridаn on August 23, 2018, 01:59:40 am
Im at 25th Apr 2604, and still havent found a Single Aqua Arrows Quiver, even though Ive done multiply of each Pyramid of Pain, Hell Cruise, They Came From the Sea, and the like.
Im locked out of Aqua Bullets, Extra Cannon Munitions (and damn do I love Autocannons, wish we had a gyro-stabilized one), and ultimately XG weapon line. Underwater missions were also a massive pain until I got Heat Rays, not sure if that Auto-Harpoon locked behind the quiver would made a difference. (Actually not sure if Heat Rays are meant to go underwater either, they really help with vision there.)
Is it just a case of bad RNG? Havent found any Sonic rifles on Hell Cruises either, but its no big deal.
Its not as severe a problem as one with elusive wrench someone else had, but may be add Aquaplastic weapons topics, including Aqua Quiver, to Deep One warrior/nomad research?
Also may be add Aqua Plastic Extraction recipes for Aqua Hatches, Tridents and the like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ashghan on August 23, 2018, 11:48:23 am
I'd second that. I assume that tying that whole research line to arrows is to show the brainers that Aqua Plastics can be weaponized. But then again, doesn't the trident or the hatchet show that as well? Heck, even the coral crossbow bolts (I'd assume they're AqP-tipped as well) should work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2018, 05:47:35 pm
It is intended that Topless does not consider current stun level when calculating energy recovering?

EDIT

On the same line...

Gravity Harness give you more stun recovery actually, bootypedia says that it should add stun, not recovery it.

Thank you, both fixed.

Im locked out of Aqua Bullets, Extra Cannon Munitions (and damn do I love Autocannons, wish we had a gyro-stabilized one), and ultimately XG weapon line. Underwater missions were also a massive pain until I got Heat Rays, not sure if that Auto-Harpoon locked behind the quiver would made a difference. (Actually not sure if Heat Rays are meant to go underwater either, they really help with vision there.)

Locked out, so what? You do have Heat Rays, for example, so it doesn't sound like you're too hampered, weapon wise. You won't claim the mod has a shortage of weapons, would you? :)
Unless it locks out key technologies, like Higher Studies, then say so, because that'd be a legitimate omission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: alcatraz on August 25, 2018, 10:48:09 am
So I loaded up the newest version for a new campaign, and discovered that the weapon descriptions have gone from crisp blue on deep red and black, to light brown poo on dark brown poo, presumably via the new and very funny Anal button which I now have to press to get basic information that used to be on the first page.

I can't do much about the unwanted anal, but is there any way I can adjust the colors?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Meridian on August 25, 2018, 02:17:26 pm
So I loaded up the newest version for a new campaign, and discovered that the weapon descriptions have gone from crisp blue on deep red and black, to light brown poo on dark brown poo, presumably via the new and very funny Anal button which I now have to press to get basic information that used to be on the first page.

I can't do much about the unwanted anal, but is there any way I can adjust the colors?

Thanks for the kind words, it is always nice when I see people recognizing all the effort that we put into our work.

1/ As for returning to original colors, you can do that by finding the following two pieces of ruleset and deleting both of them

Code: [Select]
  - type: articleItem
    elements:
      - id: button
        color: 146   # gold
      - id: text
        color: 150   # grey
      - id: list
        color: 150   # grey
        color2: 133  # light blue
      - id: ammoColor
        color: 34    # red

Code: [Select]
  - type: PAL_DGOOD_NORMALPEDIA
    target: PAL_BATTLEPEDIA
    file: Resources/Pals/dgoodpal_normal_mdf.pal

2/ As for removing the INFO/ANAL button, it will be possible in the next version by adding a following line

Code: [Select]
hidePediaInfoButton: true
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 25, 2018, 05:59:35 pm
Do note that the upcoming ruleset option meridian mentioned will only hide the anal button, it will not add the info migrated to that section back to the normal entry. You would have to add that info back to the affected pedia entries yourself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: alcatraz on August 26, 2018, 09:14:47 pm
Thanks for the kind words, it is always nice when I see people recognizing all the effort that we put into our work.

Well I could have given a dispassionate criticism of the harder-to-read text and the extra clicks required for the information, but it was poo-colored with an anal button, of course I'm going to make fun of it at the same time.

Plus, I don't actually want to hide the Anal button, I still need the information on that screen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: wolfreal on August 27, 2018, 01:06:33 am
Color Scheme is mod dependent.

Info/Anal is a great tool, because it removes the bloat from the pedia article, and move back to another, easy accessible screen. But you have automatically the information about power and skill scaling in the front page, that is normally everything you want or need to know.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 27, 2018, 11:21:13 am
So I loaded up the newest version for a new campaign, and discovered that the weapon descriptions have gone from crisp blue on deep red and black, to light brown poo on dark brown poo, presumably via the new and very funny Anal button which I now have to press to get basic information that used to be on the first page.

It was added because of autists like you, so you can wank to the data all the day without me having to slave endlessly to keep the hand-written pedia entries up to date and within limited space. Also, crisp blue on red and black? What kind of shrooms were you taking.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: NeverAfter on August 27, 2018, 08:09:12 pm
Was wondering if it might eventually be possible to set up something that would let you "autoresolve" easier more generic missions so you don't have to keep repeating the same missions so many times. Like, you bring a bandit gang or two under your control, and you can use them to resolve easier missions, but you only get a small amount of infamy and some credit chits as your cut or something.

I have no idea if the engine would allow this, but its just an idea that keeps rolling around in my head after I start to get burnt out on running so many battlescape missions, so I thought I'd at least kick it out there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Rince Wind on August 27, 2018, 08:18:31 pm
Just ignore the missions. No one expects you to do them all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: wolfreal on August 27, 2018, 10:46:34 pm
You don't really need to do maybe half of the missions or less. You can ignore missions easily. Even pogroms are ignorable to a degree. I like to try almost all the missions, but eventually the infirmary gets full, and those periods are not so critical. And those missions that get easy are good to train novices.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 28, 2018, 12:24:09 am
Some early missions are still fun later in the game, like bandit town. It sort of evolves from dealing with a challenge of handling a lot of enemies on an open map to a shooting gallery where you can bring heavy weaponry and enjoy the carnage, while farming multi-kill condemnations and stuff.

And then there are missions like the red barn and bandit caves. No fun at all.

And those missions that get easy are good to train novices.
The last patches helped a lot. Namely, shakeup and gladiatorial training. Huge thanks to Dioxine for reducing the need to grind rookies.

Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: KZad Bhat on August 28, 2018, 09:25:08 am
Easy missions are also a good testing ground for weapons you haven't used yet, to see how they work. That way if they're not as worthwhile as they first seemed, you're not at a loss getting a few gals rearmed while the others mop up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ridаn on August 29, 2018, 12:21:09 am
Anyone ever uses Super Sawed-Off? Its almost twice as heavy as default one, ammo eats up just as many slots, is slower to fire, and is behind Cougar SMG in research.
With new shotgun accuracy shotguns became actually playable, and Sawed-off was my go-to for quickdraw slot early on. Yet the upgraded one comes way too late, and doesnt offer much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Dioxine on August 29, 2018, 12:46:46 am
and is behind Cougar SMG in research.

Woops, a bug. Should be Assault SMG, which changes quite a LOT :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: legionof1 on August 29, 2018, 12:47:36 am
The super, may be slower to fire, but it does have much more effective range. Normal one starts falling off at 4 tiles, 10 accuracy per tile. Super starts at 6, with 8 per tile.

With the better mode accuracy and better falloff the super has an effective range of about 10 for autofire and 12 for snap, while getting 100% shots. The sawed on the other hand is 4 for auto, and 7 for snap.

Also super has 6 gauge ammo with 4 more damage per pellet, and 15% better spread which further improves its outer range performance. Less pellets thou.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: Ridаn on August 29, 2018, 01:14:35 am
Each chem pellet permanently removes some armour, right? So, up to 16 Chem procs per Auto? Looks like Sawed-Off is actually a pretty solid choice for side arm all the way through the game.
Still, Id rather go with a basic one, just because of the speed and weight.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: KZad Bhat on August 29, 2018, 01:12:49 pm
Anyone notice the sonic guns sound a lot like something from the Commodore 64? Is that the vanilla TFTD sound for them, or something used for XPiratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J5 - 16 Aug - Hunter, Hunted?
Post by: BBHood217 on August 29, 2018, 02:33:01 pm
I dunno what that specific sound is, but it's not the sound that sonic guns make in TFTD.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on August 31, 2018, 10:18:09 pm
New version is up, enjoy!
Details, like usual, in the opening post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: XCOMJunkie on August 31, 2018, 11:11:36 pm
Alright! Thanks Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: sanyaskillpro on August 31, 2018, 11:52:59 pm
thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: wolfreal on September 01, 2018, 01:16:45 am
0.99J6 31-Aug-2018
- New Armor: Chain Mail / Shield

- Update: The current Combat Stress system replaced with an updated version of the old one (constant, slow Morale loss).
- Update: Reverse is true for enemies now. Because of that, Bravery score of many enemies lowered.

- Increased REA bonus (and STA in one case) on most Loknar armors by 5-10

- Prizes which have been already researched disappear from the manufacturing list

Lovely addition, that shield can give a new life to the already useful chain mail.

I guess the updates to bravery and stun system is to stimulate quicker combats, and punish camping a little more. It is interesting. Let's see how it goes.

REA bonus great!. They return the old loknars in combat, leaving the air combat balance.

And the prizes, super useful!.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: BBHood217 on September 01, 2018, 03:58:09 am
Quote
- Advanced the Red Mage arc a step

Goody, more art of Rin Toh--er I mean the Red Mage!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: FG on September 01, 2018, 11:49:48 am
New version is up, enjoy!
Details, like usual, in the opening post.

Keep 'em coming  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Colonel Rick on September 01, 2018, 08:24:58 pm
I may just not be seeing it anywhere.  But I wanted to give you props for the music choices.  IDK what's original and what's taken from UFO/TFTD, but it's solid.  The opening piece gets me hyped to go plunder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: wolfreal on September 02, 2018, 04:05:20 am
Question.

Does Full plate should not have at least a little resistance again plasma?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2018, 05:39:20 am
It may not have % resists, but plate is probably the first armor that you can survive a plasma hit in on straight armor value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: wolfreal on September 02, 2018, 06:01:27 pm
True. But Chainmail have 30% resistance against plasma. And Full plate is based in chainmail. I was thinking about at least a 10%. But you are right, and with the shield, you can have good luck against plasma.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: ohartenstein23 on September 02, 2018, 06:15:38 pm
It's based on different types of protection; the rationalization for chainmail's resistance to plasma is that it's largely made from superconductive wire, which is good at dissipating energy attacks.  Plate mail uses the chain mail to provide structure to the heavy plates used for protection, but it doesn't use the superconductive wire for the protective bits.  Also, I'd think that adding a plasma resist to plate mail might make it too strong of an armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Ridаn on September 02, 2018, 09:23:32 pm
May be tone down smoke from Battlelaser? Weapon meant for power-armored soldiers just screws them over, since power armors do not have thermovisors.
And Fatty could probably set up smoke cover by itself.
Overall not a huge fan of adding smoke to all lasers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: sanyaskillpro on September 02, 2018, 10:01:34 pm
Overall not a huge fan of adding smoke to all lasers.
well yes it's probably a nerf but i like it as a realistic feature, it's always nice to see the battlefield evolve from pristine to ruined with smoke and fire everywhere

i also enjoyed when lasers did not leave wounds(they're supposed to cauterise) but it got reverted - i guess maybe because it made early missions vs laser enemies way harder - if you have no way to heal up from wounds you'll die from a thousand cuts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6 - 31 Aug - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 02, 2018, 10:38:24 pm
Don't they still cause fewer wounds though?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 03, 2018, 12:39:02 am
It was reverted because I got mobbed into reverting it by maddened crowds :)

EDIT: hotfixed previous upload. See first post for fix list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: BBHood217 on September 03, 2018, 02:43:53 am
Quote
- Ambience sounds added to some missions

If this includes underwater missions, then they're one step closer to an authentic TFTD experience.

All we need now are the aquatoids.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 03, 2018, 01:04:04 pm
And Tasoth!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: LouisdeFuines on September 03, 2018, 06:26:42 pm
And the damn REAL Deep One from TFTD!  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 03, 2018, 06:48:18 pm
TftD had its Lovecraft lore wrong though. The real Deep Ones are the Gillmen.

The TftD Deep Ones are assholes though, we already have Celatids for their role.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: LouisdeFuines on September 03, 2018, 07:35:03 pm
I loved that assholes with the long tube nose.  8)

Each alien more means fun to me,.....aside from the lobsterman.  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: BBHood217 on September 04, 2018, 02:33:19 am
Assuming they're ever gonna be implemented into Piratez, we'll still need a different name for the TFTD deep ones.  Someone suggested "janitors" or something?  Not actual janitors, but a name that sounds like it that I can't remember right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: legionof1 on September 04, 2018, 03:11:37 am
janissary? that's what scorch called em in XCF
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 04, 2018, 12:20:09 pm
The gals will probably just call them "Spitters".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Roxis231 on September 05, 2018, 10:26:53 am
I've just put the latest version of my Armour mod up.

Sorry it took longer than I thought.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 05, 2018, 04:42:03 pm
Thank you Dioxine and everyone who helped make this mod. I started playing about a month ago and been playing hours every day since. This is without a doubt one of the best games I ever played and it's a testament to how well it's designed that after so many hours in I still have almost no gameplay fatigue.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 05, 2018, 07:32:15 pm
What is the lore behind bandits having access to military grade ships like Cruiser?

Also damaged grav unit. Is it there way to get it somehow other than killing academy drones? Building flying suits takes a lot of them. Grav Harnes, then Hover, then Dragonfly, that is like 5 units?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 05, 2018, 08:08:54 pm
What is the lore behind bandits having access to military grade ships like Cruiser?
It's not explained. Since they also have power armor, I guess they stole them somehow.

Is it there way to get it somehow other than killing academy drones?
You can later build them and even later buy them. A couple other enemies are also sources for them (like the Cyberdisc).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 05, 2018, 08:18:05 pm
You can even steal complete grav harnesses from raider buzzards.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: KZad Bhat on September 06, 2018, 09:34:44 am
You can also get grav units from Megapol Enforcers and Apemen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Ridаn on September 06, 2018, 01:39:31 pm
Can we do stat boosting Consumables with new Soldier Transformation mechanic? Eating Cakes on the battlefield is such a chore.
Something like
 Magical Tea Party - consume Magical Cake (and Rum) for +10Bravery and X Reaction.
 Boosted Surgery - consume Regeneration Chamber and some Hellerium, decrease Wounded by X. (can Wounded go negative without crashes?)
 Youth Injection - consume Longevity Serum, get +10 on all stats, lose X Bravery
and so on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: incas on September 07, 2018, 05:04:41 am
@Dioxine
Is the mod balanced around a certain difficulty level?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: wolfreal on September 08, 2018, 12:29:24 am
Can we do stat boosting Consumables with new Soldier Transformation mechanic? Eating Cakes on the battlefield is such a chore.
Something like
 Magical Tea Party - consume Magical Cake (and Rum) for +10Bravery and X Reaction.
 Boosted Surgery - consume Regeneration Chamber and some Hellerium, decrease Wounded by X. (can Wounded go negative without crashes?)
 Youth Injection - consume Longevity Serum, get +10 on all stats, lose X Bravery
and so on.

I think there is now enough transformation boost. Gladiatorial, shakeup, repentance, and you have classic gyms, Luxury Spa, etc.

Those consumables are one battle boosts.

@Dioxine
Is the mod balanced around a certain difficulty level?

Blackbeard if I remember well., maybe davy jones.

Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: KZad Bhat on September 08, 2018, 11:46:09 am
Yes, it's balanced to Blackbeard, the default difficulty of a new game in XPiratez. And from experience, I can tell you Captain Kidd can actually be harder once you get to mid-game, because it's difficult to get the things you need to research to go further, as well as to get enough prisoners to interrogate. I haven't carried one on long, but I think Jack Sparrow may get marginally easier than the others, if played right, at the mid- to late-game point because you keep facing so much more in tech and people, and those people are harder to kill . . . especially when you'd rather knock them out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Zippicus on September 08, 2018, 04:27:35 pm
I have a love/hate relationship with the JS difficulty.  I love all the extra loot, but hate the hour long combat missions required to get said loot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: wolfreal on September 09, 2018, 02:50:57 am
JS is hard. Yes, you have extra loot, but as Zippicus says, the battles can get really long. The other thing is that the extra loot can be good, but errors in JS are really harsh, and crackdowns/bases/pogrom can get very tricky. An "early" (Starting second year) mercenary/church/stargod crackdown in your early base and you are totally scrub, and normally, those years crackdowns mean lot of sacrificed units. I do the shameful month savescumm when I have a really bad month. (At least I need to repeat all the month with a new seed. Don't hate me :P). And you have to run a lot from missions.

I don´t think the "extra loot" is unbalancing considering everything. In the end, you need to advance much faster in JS so you don´t get a game over. I think JS without the extra loot could get between Nintendo Hard and Unwinnable.

I think Superhuman Xcom file is harder.. (At least, that is my impression).

In the end, I think the balance of Piratez  is very good in all the difficult levels. But I have not tried less than Davy. (I´m masochist  ;D).

Maybe, if there is a way to get some items just a little costly in JS (Ships, for example, or manufacturing cost of some non-intended to be profitable items.) (And just a little more  :P), that can be interesting. But I think there is not code in the engine for that.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 09, 2018, 04:53:34 pm
How do you perform Gladiatorial training? I have beast den, but I don't see any option to perform anything. RMB just open the content, there is no manufacture, nor in soldier diary I don't see any option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Ridаn on September 09, 2018, 04:57:23 pm
How do you perform Gladiatorial training? I have beast den, but I don't see any option to perform anything. RMB just open the content, there is no manufacture, nor in soldier diary I don't see any option.
Hands menu in basescape has a dropdown submenu in its left-bottom corner, training and soldier transformation are done from there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 09, 2018, 05:42:59 pm
Duh... My brain simply ignores this drop down :/

Why gladiatorial training reduces skills that are over the max ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Ridаn on September 09, 2018, 08:14:52 pm
Duh... My brain simply ignores this drop down :/

Why gladiatorial training reduces skills that are over the max ?
If I get that right that mechanic is meant for soldier transormation. During Gladiatorial Training Gal gets converted to Gal and overflowing stats get cut down to cap defined by its soldier type.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 11, 2018, 12:54:52 am
Where can I capture technomancer?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 11, 2018, 07:00:04 am
Where can I capture technomancer?
Cave of the Technomancer. Part of the Red Mage storyline.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 13, 2018, 02:50:24 pm
Holy moly the destructor outfit is cool. Just built my first one and went to a merc base to test drive it. It combos amazingly well with the hellblade (by design I imagine): It's not apparent at first sight but the hellblade's vamp effect works for any damage you do while holding it, not just damage with the sword itself. So if a destructor gal holding a hellblade nukes a merc she gets back a bunch of TU and morale (and health if you need it). Then you pop combat drugs to restore the energy used and you can then fire again - which in turn restores the morale lost to the combat drugs - ad infinum potentially. I managed to do four ball of annihilation shots in a turn like this.

I also tried just meleeing with the hellblade with a crystal skull in the other hand. You sure get your TUs back all right but you run out of energy way too fast. I think I'd rather just use a force blade for melee.

Does anyone here use the drug dispensers? I thought about it but I'm pretty sure I'd rather just pop combat drugs when I need them rather than sacrifice a bunch of inventory space for a weaker effect over time. Especially when my battles now tend toward the short and explosive. On a related note: can syns panic?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 13, 2018, 05:40:36 pm
I suppose Syns will panic if their Morale drops below 50. However, they do get constant Morale recovery and do not suffer Morale loss due to friendly casaulties (or at least they shouldn't). Therefore they can lose Morale only to Morale-damaging weapons.
Also it's nice to see when a player puts high-end equipment to good use :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 13, 2018, 06:12:55 pm
I was thinking about morale loss from combat drugs and/or dispensers. Didn't notice they gain morale back so I thought since they have 0 bravery they can get stuck on low morale (or drink something). Well doesn't matter, syns are stupidly overpowered anyway.

Thematically though I assumed the 0 bravery means to imply the syns were engineered to have no concept of fear (or compassion). Logically this would imply they should be immune to all morale damage altogether. But that is probably not supported by the engine? Or undesirable for at least a bit of balance?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 13, 2018, 06:40:02 pm
This is how the engine works. Dunno what is logical, being set on fire should generally damage morale... It can be only countered by having the unit have 110+ Bravery, but this just doesn't seem right with the Syns. Besides, it'd make them very effective at using several special weapons, which would be undue advantage.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: nrafield on September 13, 2018, 10:16:02 pm
Drug dispensers are really useful if you field units with armors that give you stun over time or otherwise don't prepare yourself for harsh weather conditions. It is really terrible to recover less than 10 energy per turn for a badly equipped gal when you can't end the combat quickly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: ohartenstein23 on September 13, 2018, 11:15:45 pm
It is possible to disable weapons damaging morale on syns, but this requires a script that sets morale damage to 0 for certain armors, and it's hard to communicate any info from a script to the player.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 13, 2018, 11:36:50 pm
I don't see such a need. Syns are not supposed to be completely emotionless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 14, 2018, 04:47:31 am
Small suggestion: make plasma dagger and sword researchable like other items. Buying should still be locked behind the bounty prize but it should be possible to research the ones you loot from colonial marines so the player could see their bootypedia article.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2018, 07:30:58 am
With the current logic, it'd mean that you'd have to research them after getting the prize as well...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Alex_D on September 14, 2018, 11:44:25 am
Now the prize items do not show in the manufacturing after it is researched.
Would it be possible to do the same for interrogating VIPs ? This is not to show the "I: etc" after the "Broken etc" has been researched.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 14, 2018, 12:09:34 pm
With the current logic, it'd mean that you'd have to research them after getting the prize as well...
Oh shit nevermind. I thought it was possible to give two techs for free at once without making it a hard dependency, but clearly it isn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 14, 2018, 01:31:07 pm
Working on new stuff...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Rince Wind on September 14, 2018, 02:08:15 pm
 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 14, 2018, 03:03:33 pm
I see the Polish-reticulan cooperation is going strong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 14, 2018, 03:50:21 pm
Nice coincidence with their surnames... Or mabye it isn't a coincidence? All I need more than that are Cyborgs and some C&C content. I wish I could do something else than translation. Sprites and stats are beyond me becouse I don't even know how to start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: legionof1 on September 14, 2018, 04:19:47 pm
Woot troop variety.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: FG on September 14, 2018, 11:32:33 pm
Working on new stuff...

ETA?  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Alex_D on September 15, 2018, 08:30:27 am
D-A: Laspistol or D/A: Laspistol ?

It messes up with my OCD  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2018, 12:27:09 pm
Good! I believe in Gestalt therapy :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Stoddard on September 15, 2018, 03:39:46 pm
This spectacular triumph against evil forces of cereals and vegetables feels a bit wrong:


  (http://imgur.com/xvIrkJRl.png)
 (http://i.imgur.com/xvIrkJR.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Bloax on September 15, 2018, 06:17:39 pm
The Fearsome Artificial Famine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2018, 06:29:13 pm
Uh, but murdering, robbing and enslaving people doesn't feel wrong? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Alex_D on September 15, 2018, 09:37:49 pm
Good! I believe in Gestalt therapy :)

Thanks :)

By the way, when you get to enslave the Ninja Gals ? I have my jail base with all of them waiting for the research tech to activate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 15, 2018, 10:54:21 pm
How am I suppose to fight the ghost somethings in Sea Oddity mission?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2018, 12:57:56 am
Ghosts are very resistant to physical damage, as it should be expected. Such situation usually means you need to use something else, or, failing that, use more physical damage. Ctrl+H shows if your last attacks did any damage, I believe this is written in the Hotkeys article. I won't tell more because that'd be a spoiler.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 16, 2018, 03:49:56 am
Ok, so looking into ruleset I wild guess that ghost take 100% damage from Mind and Charm type damage. So in my situation from what weapons I have is only wand of pain. It worked perfectly. However I think some adjustments should be made. I vaguely recall having sea oddity mission prior to reaching voodoo tech. In such case the mission ended in part 1 (killing all the aquatic enemies), but having unlocked voodoo the second part got unlocked. But I think the part got unlocked way to fast. As soon as I've unlocked voodoo, I've ordered construction of the school and now In the month where first hands get their voodoo training. Shouldn't the ghost part start appearing when I have at least 1 hand recorded finishing voodoo training? Also if I fly to the mission at night, shouldn't the second part also be at night making it easier to spot the ghosts?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Vansi on September 16, 2018, 03:53:34 am
I totally finished that mission with ghost gals twice, without any voodoo, and using only weapons that fall into "underwater" category and are usable during stage 1.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2018, 04:34:38 am
Shouldn't the ghost part start appearing when I have at least 1 hand recorded finishing voodoo training?

You ask impossible, the mission generator doesn't have a way of knowing THAT. Assuming I'd be interested in such hand-holding anyway. Besides, like Vansi said, you don't need any Wand of Pain. It's doable even with the starting weapons.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: ivandogovich on September 16, 2018, 05:21:04 pm
The humble anchor can often do a number on ghosts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2018, 05:23:49 pm
You can learn the ghosts' resistances from Arcane Books and I think some other sources. So it's not like you're forced to go in blind. You can also bail.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 16, 2018, 05:55:16 pm
So I finally unlocked higher studies. It's amusing that the saber ultimate fighter looks rather mundane and unimpressive compared to the nightmare. The dragon is suitably badass though.

Does anyone find the sorceress a bit underwhelming? I mean sure it's cool, but having both hands locked is so crippling. Especially if you actually want to use mind control you basically need to attach a support to re-energize her all the time. Also it's a bit unfortunate that the ultimate voodoo outfit can't use any voodoo items besides the built-ins. And the MC itself, I dunno. I need to experiment more but so far it barely seems worth the effort compared to just shooting someone with an XG gatling or something. It's all really just an issue of balance. I perfectly understand that the lategame especially is not finished in this mod and currently the lategame weapons and armor are quite overpowered compared to anything else making special tricks feel redundant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Zippicus on September 17, 2018, 04:42:42 am
The saber is actually pretty nice.  It's super fast, has a shield, has a nice dodge bonus, and for the times you do take damage it has a repair bonus.  If you want to shoot down a hotrod this is the ship to do it with.

As far as the VooDoo outfits go, they're all useful for their special niche, but yeah it's hard to go wrong with an XG chaingun lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 17, 2018, 03:12:28 pm
If you don't have an instant hard-on after researching Sorceress, it means you picked the wrong codex. Also in general it is quite silly to criticize things you have only vague idea about.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: legionof1 on September 17, 2018, 03:19:24 pm
The sorceress inst very good right now with the current state of morale degen, since the majority of the powers cost morale, and your hands are blocked. The other codex "top" voodoo outfits are more flexible.

MC as a whole is pretty weak in piratez, for both you and the enemy. It's base chance of success is lower on top of weaker stats used for it compared to vanilla. It was nuts in vanilla but here its probably a waste of TU in most situations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: AgentFransis on September 17, 2018, 03:35:57 pm
If you don't have an instant hard-on after researching Sorceress, it means you picked the wrong codex. Also in general it is quite silly to criticize things you have only vague idea about.
I wasn't really "criticizing", just wrote down some quick thoughts. This is a discussion board, no?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Abyss on September 20, 2018, 10:27:17 pm
Guys guys sorry for the offtop, but can someone make a hint on where to find these shields (prismatic shields i guess) in order to get to the higher studies?
I'ma bit of stuck into the progress, the only ship isn't shot down is the Silver Towers.
But they are so strong :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Vansi on September 20, 2018, 10:28:46 pm
So I took 99J6b for a small test run. Two things:

Slave Emancipation was producing data disc, now is producing cultural wealth. Description is not updated. And I have no idea what to do with cultural wealth. Fence screen suggest this is some sort of resource, but I can't use it in manufacture sceen. I can't research it. I can sell it, but it is worth 0. Do I need more research? Like all the stuff added between 99J2 and 99J6b? Or is it for future use, that is not implemented yet?

Plasma weapons are setting things on fire. It is cool new feature, but it should be limited only to flammable stuff (or low durability). Because right now it is setting on fire gals in custom power armor, and that armor is made of plasteel and this doesn't make sense. Plasma weapon is not a flame thrower, it doesn't cover target with flammable liquid...           
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 20, 2018, 11:48:18 pm
The overwhelming opinion was that discs were useless (and the whole Emancipation was pointless), so this is being replaced with a new resource for future use.

The setting of power armor on fire can be rationalized as simply heating the surface up to the point where it glows. It takes a really major hit to lit a power armor anyway. It's not immune to fire, is it now. So I don't think the underlying game logic is faulty at all. And even if it was, we have to live with that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 20, 2018, 11:52:36 pm
Guys guys sorry for the offtop, but can someone make a hint on where to find these shields (prismatic shields i guess) in order to get to the higher studies?
Ninja Seeker vessels which, depending on difficulty, start appearing between months 24 and 30.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Martin on September 21, 2018, 09:11:16 am
They should be showing up sooner. By month 24 you can be shooting down battleships regulary. Between month 18 nad 24 (depending on difficulty) would be optimal I guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 21, 2018, 06:48:33 pm
They should be showing up sooner. By month 24 you can be shooting down battleships regulary. Between month 18 nad 24 (depending on difficulty) would be optimal I guess.
Sorry, I remembered incorrectly. On Jack Sparrow (highest) difficulty they start appearing in month 12; month 24 on every other difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 22, 2018, 07:16:24 am
By month 24 you can be shooting down battleships regulary.

That is a highly skewed view. An average player won't have such capability until a year or so later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 22, 2018, 09:12:59 am
Ninja Seeker vessels which, depending on difficulty, start appearing between months 24 and 30.

I had few Ninja Seekers and they explode when shot down - no crash site. Are they uber fragile or something? Using your standard seagull missiles and 50mm/reticulan plasma.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 22, 2018, 09:21:06 am
I had few Ninja Seekers and they explode when shot down - no crash site. Are they uber fragile or something? Using your standard seagull missiles and 50mm/reticulan plasma.
They're sturdy enough that those weapons shouldn't make them explode. Did you accidentally shoot them down over water?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Alex_D on September 24, 2018, 03:01:34 am
So, in my campaign I'm delaying purposely the Voodoo research.
After a while, I managed to buy some Persuadotron 2000s, so:
Upon the first mind control, I noticed that now I can see the VooDoo stats of the Gal that used it.
Is this a feature or a bug?
I like it as a feature, as it allows me to screen for PSI strength of the Gal.
Or I'm missing something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Zippicus on September 24, 2018, 03:41:23 am
Yeah that's normal behavior, stuff that trains VooDoo will cause the stats to show up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 24, 2018, 06:45:46 am
Well this is actually a bug, since Persuadotron is not supposed to train Voodoo. A small omission in the code; already fixed in OXCE+ 5.0 afaik.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 24, 2018, 11:18:30 pm
They're sturdy enough that those weapons shouldn't make them explode. Did you accidentally shoot them down over water?

Nope, just attacked another one with laser cannons - blown to pieces was the message. Reticulan Plasma Charger also blows them to pieces.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Ridаn on September 24, 2018, 11:25:23 pm
Nope, just attacked another one with laser cannons - blown to pieces was the message. Reticulan Plasma Charger also blows them to pieces.
Use looted Gauss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 25, 2018, 12:55:24 am
That contradicts of "being sturdy". Tried it, and still blown to pieces.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: cc on September 25, 2018, 08:02:03 am
That contradicts of "being sturdy". Tried it, and still blown to pieces.
Don't misquote me. There's a difference between "being sturdy" and "being stury enough". ;)
Anyway, they're about as tough as a Runabout, so Gauss Cannons shouldn't blow them up either (unless I'm missing something special about them). For the record, I used the Tractor Beam (I was doing a mid-campaign update). Still required me to disengage before the landing was forced, but no explosions.

EDIT: I just got to thinking - I had to disengage before the landing was forced. Maybe the same happens with the generation of a crash site - you have to disengage after damaging them enough. At their hull level, only a few weapons (Obliterator Cannon, Hammermite, Meteor, Avalanche, Fusion Ball, and Implosion Bomb) should be capable of blowing them up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: silencer_pl on September 25, 2018, 09:32:10 am
How the heck should I know WHEN to disengage. I tried few times and never succeeded.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 25, 2018, 04:52:36 pm
The ninja craft is using a trick with the Chromatic Shield, this might be the cause. I will adjust it and we'll see what happens.

EDIT: Found the cause. Ninjas, using the HK algorithm, have 50% of going down normally and crashing and 50% of fighting to the death. This behaviour will stay. I will however adjust this faction to make it less hard to get the Prismatic Shield.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Abyss on September 25, 2018, 10:35:14 pm
Ninja Seeker vessels which, depending on difficulty, start appearing between months 24 and 30.
Thanks a lot. I guess that's correct. I did not loot them, thought they are not a trouble but mosquitos.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Abyss on September 25, 2018, 10:53:16 pm
I will however adjust this faction to make it less hard to get the Prismatic Shield.
Could there be two types of missions, when you deploy your team to Help Loknaars against NS?
One is typical and the second one with the the story:
"It's a trap. Ninja Seekers were awared of our vessel coming and forced us to land nearby. They seem to be confident that we are an easy prey, but are we?"
with certain chance of the mission and a stronger enemy. And Prismatic Shields.

Edit:
There is little "It's a trap" missions, and that makes me feel like a master of the game. That's a wrong feeling for the Gals who, I would say so, do they first steps in the understanding of this big and cruel world.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Dioxine on September 25, 2018, 11:13:01 pm
Well I love trap missions, but every one there is, caused a tremendous outrage of whiny crybabies :)

New version up... will send the link in a second.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on September 25, 2018, 11:43:39 pm
Any clues how to proceed with Dr. X story line after prison cells and researching database? Also after Padlocks of chaos what to do next for Red Mage quest? I've researched the Black Mask and it's origins.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: Abyss on September 26, 2018, 12:20:18 am
Well I love trap missions, but every one there is, caused a tremendous outrage of whiny crybabies :)
:( I am the crybaby that outrages you for not making trap missions. Seriously, I want to lose my squad at least once in the Will of the Steel regime. I want to be hunted tougher.
New version up... will send the link in a second.
Already downloaded to play from the beginning. The initial missions are loaded with the atmosphere of X-Piratez at the strongest level. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on September 26, 2018, 12:43:14 am
Any clues how to proceed with Dr. X story line after prison cells and researching database? Also after Padlocks of chaos what to do next for Red Mage quest? I've researched the Black Mask and it's origins.

For the former you need to get a academy counselor from the cruising counselors mission, for the latter the padlock is as far as the arc progresses. Neither is fully complete.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on September 26, 2018, 01:00:08 am
But to get the Technomancer I was said that I need to progress the Red Mage story, but the Padlock only gets Mage and Noblewoman , Big Zombie and Vampire Bat as new enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: netron on September 26, 2018, 03:39:31 am
A mission should spawn some time after you researched the black mask. Also, for the record, for Higher Studies I am also stuck on prismatic shields and heavy gauss, which is also blocking other things like the armory tower. Only saw one seeker vessel so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on September 26, 2018, 05:03:54 am
oh right technomancer oops, my brain is behind these times of rapid updates  ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on September 26, 2018, 06:02:40 am
The Ratmen Rodeo Spawns Zombies instead of the Ratmen.
I love these new wire fences in the "Help the Loknaars" missions. Hope there would be old wood fenced missions as well. 
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Drasizard on September 26, 2018, 08:28:04 am
I was a year into a new campaign with the last version so will loading my save into the new release cause any issues?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on September 26, 2018, 08:53:40 am
The Ratmen Rodeo Spawns Zombies instead of the Ratmen.
I love these new wire fences in the "Help the Loknaars" missions. Hope there would be old wood fenced missions as well.

Zombies are kind of jerks like that, they always show up to parties uninvited.

I'm not sure on the numbers but there's a small chance that zombies can infiltrate most missions, so you just got (un)lucky there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on September 26, 2018, 09:24:46 am
Zombies are kind of jerks like that, they always show up to parties uninvited.
I'm not sure on the numbers but there's a small chance that zombies can infiltrate most missions, so you just got (un)lucky there.
I've got four zombie missions in a row, the difficulty is 4, supermutant mode on. And still no Ratmen(
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 26, 2018, 09:40:58 am
I was a year into a new campaign with the last version so will loading my save into the new release cause any issues?

If you haven't used the Armored Cars and Tanks mod, it will be fine.
If you have, you are still fine, probably.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on September 26, 2018, 10:26:11 am
I've got four zombie missions in a row, the difficulty is 4, supermutant mode on. And still no Ratmen(

That's unusually high, while possible it seems like something might be misbehaving.  You should probably report it in the bug thread and include a save game so people can take a peek at the variables and whatnot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on September 26, 2018, 12:02:23 pm
I downloaded the update. Nice. As usual, only update a game save in Geoscape, never in Battlescape.

My observation is my precious Battletank that was being painstakingly assembled in a workshop became a sort of gun and was unable to load onto the Fortuna.
Now I'm assembling a Tank Howitzer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ivandogovich on September 26, 2018, 05:28:37 pm
 Battle tanks are now a multiple component project that yield a tank armor that your peasants and lokks can pilot.  The old tank project now makes the weapon component of the project, iirc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J6b - 2 Sep - The Dwindling Flame
Post by: FG on September 26, 2018, 07:35:59 pm
Well I love trap missions, but every one there is, caused a tremendous outrage of whiny crybabies :)

New version up... will send the link in a second.
thx again :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: LytaRyta on September 27, 2018, 01:41:52 pm
..as I see'n in ufo-piratez_pedia, you began introduce few new factions, /kind of  units
(for Example,
Technocrates - Omega_Networks

(heh smthng similar alike Skynet, / Borgs :P ;D)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on September 29, 2018, 04:35:22 pm
Nightmare, Brave Whaler, Agile Fighter, any tips which is  better at dealing with what type UFOs? Can Agile Fighters  deal with V. Large UFOs like Cruisers, Battleships, Dominators? Also what would be replacement for Kraken in terms of toughness and speed?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: LytaRyta on September 29, 2018, 04:41:35 pm
Nightmare, Brave Whaler, Agile Fighter

Sabre!  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on September 29, 2018, 04:54:03 pm
Let's not jump into final tier crafts. I'm half way to higher studies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Marza on September 29, 2018, 08:25:50 pm
Depends on what aircraft weapons you have available. If you can manufacture hammermites/avalanches missiles, then you can pretty much take on any shipping in the game (as long as you can field enough craft to carry enough ordinance to the fight). Light weapons usually have greater damage potential than missiles, are inexpensive to rearm, are fantastic for collapsing shields, but are often defeated by armour.

In general:

Until you unlock the Dragon, the only tank craft replacing the Kraken is an Agile Fighter equipped with light shield generators.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: The Think Tank on September 29, 2018, 10:59:25 pm
Truthfully, I am quite fond of the Barracuda and the Swordfish even in the late tier. Though I should note that you really should not be tackling V. Large ships with a single vessel of your own at all. Safety comes in numbers, and usually I'll have a bait ship attack first (either a Barracuda with shields if needed, or a Scarab if you can get one) and then two Swordfish armed with lots of heavy guns (Railguns, Laser Gat Cannons and the like work really well here) and then one ship with some Tesla Coils to really drain those shields quickly. Every person will have a different setup that suits their needs best, but multiple ships is definitely the way to go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on September 29, 2018, 11:27:09 pm
Right now my strongest light weapon is Lascannon, Strongest Heavy is Ramjet, though I have naval gun, but I think it's worse than Ramjet. From missiles I have Stingray, Avalanche, Hammerite, Medusa. I have unlocked assembly of gat laser but don't have parts to assemble them. The ships I've mentioned all travel at speed of 5k+ which means they can intercept anything, but they are squishy. Now Kraken can take punishment but is so slow and if I manage to tank for example Cruiser, Bomber or Destroyer it gets out of picture for quite a while.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on September 30, 2018, 12:47:42 am
Right now my strongest light weapon is Lascannon, Strongest Heavy is Ramjet, though I have naval gun, but I think it's worse than Ramjet. From missiles I have Stingray, Avalanche, Hammerite, Medusa. I have unlocked assembly of gat laser but don't have parts to assemble them. The ships I've mentioned all travel at speed of 5k+ which means they can intercept anything, but they are squishy. Now Kraken can take punishment but is so slow and if I manage to tank for example Cruiser, Bomber or Destroyer it gets out of picture for quite a while.
Enemy UFO target your fighters in the order they came into range. Have a tank fighter (Kraken or Barracuda with a Lokk'Narr pilot) approach, then send in the rest of the fleet. Mass Avalanches against the mentioned ships with Naval Guns for backup fire.
Lascannons won't damage them (much) and Ramjets are only good for sniping the entry-level military ships. Hammerite will work a bit longer, but Bombers are pretty much the limit for them.
Stingray gives too little bang for the buck, Medusa is useless (enemies with weak shields can be easily done-in by more versatile weapons and enemies with strong shields laugh at the Medusa).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on September 30, 2018, 01:55:14 am
Which one was the Agile Fighter again?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on September 30, 2018, 08:53:21 am
Which one was the Agile Fighter again?
Barracuda.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on October 01, 2018, 08:09:13 pm
J7. Found a bug that allows to buy unlimited dogs which then need to be transfered or sold because of no spare space in the pits. Which then makes the stuck in the sell/transer screen right after the purchase.
I.e. space for 5, I buy 10 and have to reload the game.
Which sucks because of the supermutant mode in the hard difficulty with 2 days of the progress :(

Edit:
Reloaded just by Alt+Tab and closing the game.
Everything is ok. Still have to check available space before the purchase.

Edit 2:
Attached a savegame file. 13 dogs out of 4 are in the transfer to the base. Please skip a day so they will arrive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 02, 2018, 11:41:10 am
thank you for the report abyss, we do have dedicated pinned bug thread for such things the you may encounter in the future
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Vansi on October 03, 2018, 01:57:47 am
So I just had unpleasantness of playing Sunday Town mission for the first time in J7. As it turns out, friendly cats have been added to this mission, so they can be killed by zombies... Was that really necessary? Is it improving gameplay in any way? Your mod is incomplete without it?   

What the hell is wrong with you, Dioxine?! What will be the next? Cultists of Apocalypse raping virgins? Live sacrifices made of children? Dude, there are some fucking red lines, that you should not cross.

       
   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 03, 2018, 02:26:49 am
and outright murder and wholesale slavery isn't a red line?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Ves on October 03, 2018, 02:29:26 am
Did you see them get zombified? Might not be intended , since in J6:

 Fix: Cats and Rabbits can no longer be zombified

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Marza on October 03, 2018, 03:18:35 am
If the death of cats at the hands of zombies crosses your ethical limits, then the truth is going to be really uncomfortable.

This mod must have crossed your moral boundaries years ago. And as for the child sacrifice and the rape of virgins... well... its not outright stated but we're pretty much halfway there, looking at the available lore of this crapsack Earth in 2601.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 03, 2018, 03:24:23 am
I guess I should probably avoid relating any tales involving rocket launchers and kitty cats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Vansi on October 03, 2018, 03:47:03 am
and outright murder and wholesale slavery isn't a red line?

There is difference beetwen essential features and additions that serve no purpose, except for fulfilling some sick and sadistic fantasies. Murder is present in almost every game, but how many games have cats killed just for fun of it's creators? 


If the death of cats at the hands of zombies crosses your ethical limits, then the truth is going to be really uncomfortable.

If the death of defenseless cats at the hands of zombies that serves absolutly no purpose doesn't cross your ethical limits, then truth is, you need help.

This mod must have crossed your moral boundaries years ago.

I don't play that long and this is first time I feel something is unacceptable. And I had my doubts when I saw ship in the shape of swastika. And I still have my doubts when I see swastika pattern on the grass (in minimap view). But Dioxine said this mod is about boobs and fighting nazi assholes. I guess he forgot to mention that he will force us to watch cats being slaughtered for no reason at all.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Marza on October 03, 2018, 04:38:22 am
You are making grand, sweeping and alarmist assumptions about me and my mental health, based on your observation of one particular in game mission. I strongly recommend you don't do that again. Thankfully I can find it, in my giving heart, to forgive you.

The cats sometimes appear in a variety of missions (including the Sunday Town mission with the zombies) as civilians to be rescued, along with the rest of the civilian population. They provide a unique reward if rescued. Now, it appears you somehow come to the conclusion that the cats only exist to be killed in horrible fashion and that they were implemented because I enjoy watching life suffer a cruel death. Anyone who thinks that is wrong. If this was your line of thought, then you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Do not make your problem my problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Vansi on October 03, 2018, 05:17:56 am
Thankfully I can find it, in my giving heart, to forgive you.

I don't give a single damn about your patronizing forgivness so you can shove it in your anus.

Now, it appears you somehow come to the conclusion that the cats only exist to be killed in horrible fashion

I have done Sunday Town a dozen times, but in J2. There was no cats. Never.  And I am playing Piratez since april. I have never seen a single cat, in any mission and I have done hundreds of missions. And now in J7 we have cats. So yes, that is exactly what I think.   

and that they were implemented because I enjoy watching life suffer a cruel death.

LOL.  Do you really think that something was implemented because of you?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 03, 2018, 05:54:25 am
I have done Sunday Town a dozen times, but in J2. There was no cats. Never.  And I am playing Piratez since april. I have never seen a single cat, in any mission and I have done hundreds of missions. And now in J7 we have cats. So yes, that is exactly what I think.

Like Marza already said, cats were added to some missions so you could rescue them and unlock them as usable units.  So if that's what you thought then yes you would be correct, if you thought something else then it's probably incorrect.  That being said it's probably not something that would interest you since the bad guys would shoot your cats just like they shoot at dogs and parrots and whatnot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2018, 07:35:34 am
The cats sometimes appear in a variety of missions (including the Sunday Town mission with the zombies) as civilians to be rescued, along with the rest of the civilian population.

That's all there is to it.

If the death of these cats feels uncomfortable... Then it is only right. However, Vansi, I don't start moral crusades over people mass-murdering civilians with explosives, or doing the same with Lokk'Naar soldiers because they cannot be bothered to devise a better strategy than mass suicide bombings. Even if it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Btw. I wasn't aware of any sfastika shapes in the grass... but it is easy to take any spirals for sfastikas. Just look at our galaxy's view on a small picture, with the right state of mind...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 03, 2018, 09:45:06 am
Vansi . . . did you miss that in J6 and earlier . . . giant rats were killing cats for our sick amusement? I mean, me, I tried to save the cats . . . I love to rescue the friendly cats. Because, well, cats. They've already been getting killed.

And, Dioxine, I'm guessing that disabling zombification of cats and rabbits in J6 has something to do with why the cats are being added on these missions here in J7, and not earlier?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Marza on October 03, 2018, 11:32:22 am
I'll summarise the nub of the matter Vansi.

This mod takes place in a fictitious and alternate universe, where absolutely horrible events occur. Many of these tragedies can be witnessed in game by the player (or even be carried out by the player).

I can play this mod for an hour or so, then put it down. The events that occur in game do not influence my behaviour or actions in reality, because it's just a game where I can figuratively put it in a box where it doesn't contaminate my moral fibre.
I've also read through the entirety of Frank Herbert's Dune series and I haven't embraced spiritual and political meddling in my life to achieve my goals. Impressive isn't it? It's as if violent video games actually don't increase the likelihood of people having a casual attitude to violence!

You can not, else you wouldn't be posting your ethical disdain on the topic.

We have a difference in values that this conversation will not seal. It's a problem for you to deal with, not me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 03, 2018, 01:54:27 pm
I don't think any of us here enjoy tormenting cats. This is why they are in the game; they're supposed to be saved. (Or not. It's up to you.)
Well, at least it's not another complaint about tits from some Eaglelander, so I guess it's something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 03, 2018, 02:02:47 pm
I will go a step further. Violence, erotica and madness is crucial to all art; including video games. If someone thinks this is for the sake of anybody's "amusement", I suggest getting back to degenerate porn and not bothering men of culture. I find such a notion so insulting it kinda went right over my head when I read Vansi's post at first.

The aspect of violence is especially important, as video games allow to study, train and execute endless forms of violence in a safe environment. Do video games spread violence? Hell yes. Denying this is denying ourselves as gamers. Do they make people violent? I'd say quite the opposite. Learned people are universally less violent. Unless they're unhinged, but that is a problem they should face and overcome in their real life, not in video games.

And, Dioxine, I'm guessing that disabling zombification of cats and rabbits in J6 has something to do with why the cats are being added on these missions here in J7, and not earlier?

I forgot to add the zombie immunity flag (because cats and rabbits were lifted from Clownagent's mod, and he apparently forgot about this too) and as soon as someone reported the bug, I fixed it, end of story.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 03, 2018, 04:28:13 pm
Kill, capture and enslave humans and mutants that have diffrent opinion? > I sleep
Cats added to the mission where zombies might kill them? > Real s*it!

I will argue more, but later.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: doctor medic on October 03, 2018, 06:25:32 pm
For all its worth i dont feel bad for blowing up mercs,these guys were asking for it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 03, 2018, 06:50:32 pm
I don't understand something about Academy Counsellor missions. I understand the fact "Be careful lots of charm attacks". Ok fine, it means get armor that has super high charm resistance. So I took  thief suit it has 35% charm. Took Highest ranking pirate for a spin. She has 57 Voodoo power and 40 voodoo skill. This should be sort of enough defense against charm attacks? If yes then something is wrong because 2 successful Academy Thrall attacks can get almost 90HP of stun damage. Isn't this too high?

Now  the second thing. I've used small launcher to stun Counsellors themselves but it sort of looks like their stun regen is super high. If they get stunned by 1 shot they will wake up in next 1-2 turns. Firing additional shots after that just increases that to 4-5 additional turns. Considering that this is 1 woman mission it's pretty almost impossible to get one stunned and not getting charmed to death by all the minions.

Am I missing something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 03, 2018, 07:34:51 pm
Because of the one gal restriction its far more effective to go for lethal damage till you get down to the last few guys. IF is thrall>kill. There are several counselors most of the time so dont be afraid to lethal up a few.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 03, 2018, 08:00:17 pm
Yes I went lethal, but since everyone spawns sort of in one vertical line I was sort of hold up in the casino room and all three counselors went there straight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on October 03, 2018, 10:09:11 pm
Am I missing something?
Stun recovery is based on current health. If you can, rough 'em up a bit before sending them to sleep.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 03, 2018, 10:15:58 pm
Well, at least it's not another complaint about tits from some Eaglelander, so I guess it's something.

Really, people have been complaining about the boobs?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Vansi on October 03, 2018, 10:26:07 pm
However, Vansi, I don't start moral crusades over people mass-murdering civilians with explosives, or doing the same with Lokk'Naar soldiers because they cannot be bothered to devise a better strategy than mass suicide bombings.

I don't care how people are playing your mod, it is their choice. But they are playing within the boundries set by you.   

Btw. I wasn't aware of any sfastika shapes in the grass... but it is easy to take any spirals for sfastikas. Just look at our galaxy's view on a small picture, with the right state of mind...

Here we are again. You are again suggesting that I see something that is not there. Screenshot will be provided. And then you are suggesting that I see swastika in the grass, because of what? What is my state of mind ? Am I nazi ? That is what do you want to say? If that had been correct, I, as a nazi would be pleased. There wouldn't be criticism from me. But there is swastika ship in the mod, there is swastika grass in the mod, and I didn't put it there. You did.

So, what is your state of mind, Dioxine? Because I am beggining to see very disturbing picture...   

Vansi . . . did you miss that in J6 and earlier . . . giant rats were killing cats for our sick amusement?

Please, read again my post #6073.

This mod takes place in a fictitious and alternate universe, where absolutely horrible events occur. Many of these tragedies can be witnessed in game by the player (or even be carried out by the player).

Yes, I agree. Most common type of tragedy is as following: ship shot down and surviving crew is killed or enslaved, in best case scenario only kidnaped and ransomed. All done by the player. Is that not enough? Do we really need slaughter of the cats added on the top of the things?     

I don't think any of us here enjoy tormenting cats.

Well, I have doubts. Very serious doubts.

This is why they are in the game; they're supposed to be saved.

I disagree. Lets be honest, how many times did you saved civilians? In most missions all civilians are dead in about 5 turns. In Sunday Town mission even faster, as every dead civilian becomes zombie, 2-3 turns and they are all dead. And if civilian survives, it is a fluke, simply because RNG didn't spawned enemy near by.     

Cats were added to be killed. It is their purpose, same like with civilians. And fact that by the fluke you can occasionally save cat or two doesn't change that. Fact, that cats have some usefull abilities doesn't change that. In the grand scale of campaign cats as a combat or support units doesn't matter at all.       

I will go a step further. Violence, erotica and madness is crucial to all art; including video games. If someone thinks this is for the sake of anybody's "amusement", I suggest getting back to degenerate porn and not bothering men of culture.

In 17th or maybe 18th century men of culture were killing cats on stage by strangling them or burning them alive. It was "entertaiment" of the epoch and people were actually buying tickets to see how this sick fucks are tormenting and killing defenseless animals.

But times have changed. In the last 100, 150 years no artist has rise to fame by tormenting animals or by portraying it, as this is universally viewed as sick barbarity. And I don't recall any game developer which said "Hey, our game has a new, cool feature, you can now watch cats being killed for no reason. Awesome!!!".   

Apparently Dioxine, who considers himself man of art and culture, knows all about this. Nevertheless he said "hold my fucking beer".   
   

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Faceless Stranger on October 03, 2018, 10:41:13 pm
You must be really bad at the game if you aren't able to save civilians, let alone cats. Loss of life is an inherent part of any war for earth, surely you understand this. Your problems are your own. Don't put them on a creator, when all you can create is a headache. Come back with more civility.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Meridian on October 03, 2018, 10:48:52 pm
At this point, this is just pure trolling.

I suggest ignoring all such trash talk and limit answers only to "relevant" questions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2018, 12:20:58 am
Yeah there is no point in further answering someone who's out there only looking for a fight. Not taking the bait, Vansi, sorry. You gotta either calm down or try harder, as your insults start to sound hollow. I'm also starting to consider investigating your true identity and agenda. But for now I am content to count you simply as a troll.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Vansi on October 04, 2018, 01:27:51 am
How typical. You don't have answer to my arguments, so you are calling reinforcements - threats and paranoid conspiracy theories. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Stoddard on October 04, 2018, 01:33:57 am
How typical. You don't have answer to my arguments, so you are calling reinforcements - threats and paranoid conspiracy theories.

How exciting your thought patterns are. Please continue delivering, I beg you.

On a serious note, this is a subject for a completely different thread in a completely different (sub)forum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 04, 2018, 03:56:23 am
How typical. You don't have answer to my arguments, so you are calling reinforcements - threats and paranoid conspiracy theories.

Well you're no Skankhunt42, but if you keep practicing maybe one day.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: LexThorn on October 04, 2018, 07:03:53 am
How typical. You don't have answer to my arguments, so you are calling reinforcements - threats and paranoid conspiracy theories.

Let`s just kick this toxic individual outta here and live peasefully again...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 04, 2018, 07:47:26 am
So the reloading cost of the Tank 60mm AC secondary grenade launcher is 999. Was it totally intentional ?

(I just found out during battle)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 04, 2018, 08:32:50 am
Please, read again my post #6073.

Yes, I did, the first time . . . and either you're specifically ignoring the entire mission, or you never did the infested cellar, which for several versions has had the cats . . . being attacked by rats. For the first several times I couldn't save any of the cats until I learned the mission better. They are there to be saved . . . you're just not good enough to save them.

This is the last I bother with you, because you are truly the most annoying dipshit I've seen on here. You are either stupid, or a troll, and either way I'm all for having your account deleted to save the rest of us from the idiocy that exists either way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 04, 2018, 09:33:53 pm
So the reloading cost of the Tank 60mm AC secondary grenade launcher is 999. Was it totally intentional ?

(I just found out during battle)
Yes secondaries are generally not ment to be reloaded, but usually have high ammo count.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 05, 2018, 07:03:00 am
Yes secondaries are generally not ment to be reloaded, but usually have high ammo count.
All primary and secondary guns on manned vehicles that I have tried can be reloaded, except for this one, where it's obvious that 999 TUs for reloading is meant to prevent the player from reloading it. The downside is one is stuck with only 6 rounds of mortar stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 05, 2018, 11:24:55 pm
Why does shooting down Heavy Freighter on Secure Freight mission causes negative points? At least that's what I understand from Notoriety points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 06, 2018, 12:24:51 am
Why does shooting down Heavy Freighter on Secure Freight mission causes negative points? At least that's what I understand from Notoriety points.

No, it yields major positive score. Just checked.

So the reloading cost of the Tank 60mm AC secondary grenade launcher is 999. Was it totally intentional ?

These things are not meant to be reloaded in battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 06, 2018, 01:13:56 am
I've downed 2 bombers and none gave me the implosion bomb launcher. Is it random to get it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 06, 2018, 03:26:02 am
It's not exactly random, but yeah it's not guaranteed to be packing an implosion bomb launcher.  Sometimes you can destroy it during the shoot down if the ship has the bomb launcher as well so there's that too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on October 06, 2018, 03:45:47 am
Craft weapon parts are inside the engine rooms, so getting them to drop is a matter of hoping said rooms are still intact after you shoot down the shipping; and if they are intact, then make damn well sure they're not exploded during the ensuing fight.  Alternately you can assault the shippings while they're landed so all the engines and thus part drops are intact, but most shippings with the really good craft weapons usually don't land at all.

But if you want guaranteed implosion bomb launcher parts, go after the Marsec viper fighters; you'll always get some because the parts apparently aren't in the engine room, so there's no chance of them getting destroyed along with the engines.  You may have to wait a long time however, as viper fighters only show up late in a campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 06, 2018, 04:23:20 am
yeah bombers are a bad source for the implosion launcher, since on that ship the item is in the center of the upper rooms and as such will be destroyed if any of the engines go up
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 07, 2018, 12:49:16 am
Is there a mod that works with X-Pirates that modifies how Interceptors plan their routes? I mean instead of going towards current position, interceptor should go towards the destination the UFO is going.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 07, 2018, 01:34:28 am
This is not a mod option, it's an advanced option in OXC but was disabled in OXCE as it causes slowdowns on the geoscape and doesn't play nicely with OXCE's hunter-killer code.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on October 07, 2018, 10:49:22 pm
Suggest that Impaler is too strong.
Actually, the strongest weapon in the game, except for the Chineese Dragon.
3*V.Power^2 + 100% armor ignore.
Any Gal with V.Power above 55 takes any VIP knocked down with 3 shots. Gal with V.Power 66 - 2 shots. Makes enemy base raids too simple.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 07, 2018, 11:48:33 pm
Disassembling some of the adv. laser clips requires the clip and superconductive wire to yield a lesser quality clip and hellerium. Would it be the wire be part of the yield rather than the ingredients?

Another one. I got two Siberia bases raids in two consecutive months. Is that even possible? I assume it is a game RND issue that may go away by the next month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on October 08, 2018, 02:10:30 am
The impaler might be too powerful, but on the other hand you might go an entire campaign without ever seeing one.

As for Siberia, I think it'll keep showing up until you research the Russian Files.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on October 08, 2018, 03:38:26 am
The impaler might be too powerful, but on the other hand you might go an entire campaign without ever seeing one.

Passed the compaign three times, always got from 2 to 3 Impalers. Right now I don't even understand how they summon in the inventory, thought they are Dark Tower's artifacts. But only raided DT once. Right now got three.

Nevertheless, I think that getting the first one is too easy. And that breaks the challenge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 08, 2018, 06:19:21 am
I've played 4 or so games in a row without seeing an impaler (BFG's have been pretty scarce lately for me too) so it's all RNG.  I was about to ask here if they got removed from the game lol.  I'm pretty sure I've only ever found them in the little pink ships.  I'm cool with their power level, they're similar to other end game tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 08, 2018, 07:24:23 am
As for Siberia, I think it'll keep showing up until you research the Russian Files.
I researched it almost right away. But it's possible the second mission was scheduled before the research was completed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 08, 2018, 09:33:51 am
Most likely the case, mission are generated at the start of a new month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Foxhound634 on October 08, 2018, 05:20:35 pm
I started following this mod project quite a while ago, played it then, but stopped due to it not being finished. I figured it was somewhat close to completion back then, but am i correct in assuming that even after so much time, there is still no end in sight in the foreseeable future?

Don't get me wrong, i like that a game has a lot of content, and know that implementing advanced systems on an ancient engine takes time...but it seems that every update adds filler content, e.g. extra weapons to an already bloated sea of possibilities. Why not focus on completing the underlying systems and releasing version 1.0? This seems much more important, because systems change the way you play the game, in contrast to going from 19 weapon choices to 20. And said extra weapons can always be added after version 1.0.

Once again, i'm not questioning the quality, just the priorities.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Ves on October 08, 2018, 06:32:18 pm
What would you say is still missing that keeps you from playing it? I mean, you can complete the campaign and after winning you even get an outro. I think it is amazing that you can come back to the mod after a while and discover what has changed since you last played it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ivandogovich on October 08, 2018, 06:48:11 pm
@Foxhound634
I think that the short answer,  is no.  Its not complete.  Its still pretty far from completion.

  There are still a lot of things that Dioxine wants to add, including multiple endings, filling out the current arcs, etc. 

All of these take time, and that is something that is finite for all of us.  The fact that this is one of the most compelling games I've ever played, even in its "incomplete" state makes me happy to wait on the development timeline however quickly or slowly it moves.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Meridian on October 08, 2018, 06:57:26 pm
"finished" and "1.0" have no correlation... it's all just in our heads

the same rationale that keeps you from playing a mod that is not v1.0 yet is keeping dioxine from calling it v1.0... and that rationale is very irrational

in my opinion the mod is in its 3rd or 4th major generation already, so it should have a number like 3.x.x or 4.x.x... but as I said... that thing in the head sometimes doesn't play rational

PS: major.minor.patch.build naming is anyway obsolete in the industry today... exactly for the reasons above... year-month.build naming (or similar) will completely take over in the coming years... all big players have already switched years ago, just look at how Windows updates are called, how Ubuntu versions are named, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 08, 2018, 07:38:42 pm
Well, why not call it 1.0? Short answer is, because I don't feel it's finished... and it's not about adding minor stuff. I won't feel it's finished untill all 6 planned endings are in place... And why I am not focusing on it? Well I am, but first, this is a large undertaking, second, I'm getting sidetracked all the time :)
I believe in shared experience in games. That's why I won't call it 1.0 before I feel like I can die tomorrow and be content with everyone playing that version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Rince Wind on October 08, 2018, 09:00:44 pm
Also we wouldn't want you to burn out because you feel the need to put an end to it or to implement this thing asap while that other thing is way more interesting to you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2018, 12:31:09 am
Btw. there was a lot of real progress done lately, but it is both hard to spot in the changelogs (as it hides under cryptic and general descriptions, like "this arc moved forward"), also hard to spot in the game unless you're quite advanced in the campaign...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Foxhound634 on October 09, 2018, 12:33:17 am
Ok, well i might give the current version a try then. Couple of questions tho:

1) How many endings are there currently?

2) Is there any particularly awesome stuff (missions, systems, etc.) that has yet to be implemented?

3) Is there any non-ufopedia tutorial in the game? Maybe some tutorial mission that explains all the new or revamped systems that are not inherently obvious (like the stealth system)?

4) Is there a complete packaged download for this mod and its dependencies, so that you're certain you got everything for the intended experience?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 09, 2018, 02:30:51 am
1) only the generic blow up the brain ending, but more then one type of craft can get there now.

2) Probably some specifics set pieces and arcs are largely missing, but there has been a ton of new stuff in the last 8 months.

3) There are a ton of guide pedia pages and most are pretty detailed, downside is that the engine level requirements for a pedia entry, requires it to be a tech all its own. So there are now somewhere upwards of a 100 of the things. And they are mostly linked to research of captives. Its nicely organic from a fluff standpoint, you learn things as the gals do, but its pretty annoying from a player technical standpoint. But that said if you want to read everything in one swoop quick battle has all techs unlocked so you can goo look at all of them if you really want.

4)The link on the first page is the complete package, aside from the original UFO files required to run any opencom mod. There are a few submods floating around but those are are mostly just QoL alterations. Or in the case of greattuna's piloted tanks and ACs in the process of being integrated into the main mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 09, 2018, 04:27:03 am
2) Is there any particularly awesome stuff (missions, systems, etc.) that has yet to be implemented?

Not sure what qualifies as "particularly awesome" tbh. I try for all stuff to be more or less awesome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Martin on October 09, 2018, 09:50:03 am
I think the priority should be finishing the Wiz Biz rewards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on October 10, 2018, 03:01:56 am
I'm sure we can start summoning dem demons once the rest of Rin Toh--er, the Red Mage's quests are implemented.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Foxhound634 on October 10, 2018, 03:56:58 pm
I guess i could also rephrase it as:

What would be the next big milestone?

How many milestones until dioxine feels the mod is done (just a very rough estimate, months, years)?

Is there any roadmap for these milestones?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: AgentFransis on October 10, 2018, 04:35:52 pm
Jesus, you sound like my project manager.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 10, 2018, 06:20:27 pm
You're forgetting I'm not getting paid for this, Foxhound. It will be done when it will be done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ivandogovich on October 10, 2018, 07:36:37 pm
@foxhound

If I hazard a guess based on past development, and based on a general idea of how much stuff is yet to come (nothing official, just things heard discussed in Discord, etc).  ....


I'd say at least 2 more years of development it likely, maybe more. 

So I'd recommend settling in and enjoying the ride.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 10, 2018, 07:44:55 pm
Is there a good way to clear those mines in Bank heist?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ivandogovich on October 10, 2018, 08:11:25 pm
Is there a good way to clear those mines in Bank heist?

Not really.  Use a gas resistant armor.  Or best tactic I've heard yet is use a Novice with Heartgrip and take out the punks without even getting into the safe.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 10, 2018, 09:31:33 pm
Is there a good way to clear those mines in Bank heist?

Auto-Ax is enough to roll trough those Safe walls. Get two-three and you can break there very fast from the outside.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: hardcode on October 10, 2018, 10:04:57 pm
Is it possible to obtain Plasma Caster in .99j7? I don't see any mentions in Piratez_Factions.rul
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on October 11, 2018, 12:27:01 am
Is it possible to obtain Plasma Caster in .99j7? I don't see any mentions in Piratez_Factions.rul
I think the followingweapons are currently unavailable, but I could be mistaken:

Sonic Cannon
Marsec Mega-Cannon
Marsec Multilaser
Marsec Mega-Flamer
Homing RPG
Plasma Caster
Plasma Eliminator
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Melodeiro on October 11, 2018, 04:17:26 am
On base defense, my soldier may randomly spawn at the location, marked by red arrow (screenshot (https://imgur.com/a/PVsOzYM)). Right between 50 enemies, and thats in 97% means death for him, because most others spawn at the living rooms, or other safe positions. Does it works as intended? version 0.99J7. I can imagine, that this soldier is just "walked around" and left where he was, when enemies invaded, but i guess, there should be some alert before they come in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 11, 2018, 04:41:21 am
It intended if rare, that happens when there are not sufficient spawn points for your units, it starts stealing from the enemy spawn points.

That particular gal has it a little bit worse because linking hangers on the NS axis means the small room is open from the back due to the adjacent hanger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Melodeiro on October 11, 2018, 10:17:50 am
Well, thats true, once i did spawned in the top hangar, and just left gal there for the whole battle. Nobody didn't came to check out.

I have 13 gals, and sometimes they all spawns outside hangars, sometimes one - inside
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Martin on October 11, 2018, 10:43:28 am
I think the followingweapons are currently unavailable, but I could be mistaken:

Plasma Caster

Well that would prevent one form breaking into plasma weapons wouldn’t it? I am fairly sure the plasma blunderbuss depends on plasma caster.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on October 11, 2018, 05:49:58 pm
Well that would prevent one form breaking into plasma weapons wouldn’t it? I am fairly sure the plasma blunderbuss depends on plasma caster.
It does, but Plasma Weapons doesn't depend on Plasma Blunderbuss. They depend on Broken Academy Provost, Arcane Interface, and Magischen-Motors.

Plasma Caster locks:
Plasma Blunderbuss
  Light Plasma Gun
  Armor Piercing Lasers
    X-Plasma Weapons
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 12, 2018, 02:02:21 am
quick question.

In the mod, if there is a explosion in battlescape, is there any kind of shielding by the object that is on top towards the objects below ? For example, on a tile, you have a pile of stuff, and the object on top (the visible object in battlescape) is something sturdy, say sandbags. And an explosion occurs nearby. Are all objects on the tile affected equally (and thus potentially destroyed) or the explosion "shockwave" stops with the sturdiest object in the pile leaving the remaining intact ?

I remember in the past all objects on a tile were affected equally. But since relatively recent changes in OXCE, I'm not sure anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 12, 2018, 04:43:48 am
so far as i know all items are still affected equally in the case of an aoe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 12, 2018, 04:48:46 am
All items in a tile are hit equally by an explosion, none of the OXCE updates have changed that.  The only reason one item might be destroyed and another not is just the items' "armor" values.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 12, 2018, 09:49:24 pm
Thanks for the clarification.
I was thinking in a game mechanic where the top object (largest, heaviest?) would shield the other objects from AOE events. Think about the possibilities.
I suppose that the only instance where this happens is when a map object is generated and the dropped objects are sort of trapped inside. Then these map objects need to be destroyed before the object below is available for picking or damage. Minecraft anyone ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 13, 2018, 12:53:20 am
And that would serve... What purpose...?
It doesn't even make much sense, considering there can be an unlimited number of items on a tile, so it's super abstract. You may have an ulterior motive here (killed people shield loot with their bodies, so you can blast with rockets more freely), but that is not a reason enough to pursue such idea.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 13, 2018, 03:15:13 am
I could see its use in sequential explosions localized to a single area without having to make the "emitter" chain invulnerable to demolition. You could do runaway portals and other environmental challenges. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 13, 2018, 03:27:58 am
Just on a purely selfish level, I've had my stockpile explode on me before and kill 15 gals in one go, so something like that could have come in handy heh.  But really it doesn't sound like something that even if it were feasible would not be worth the effort.  Beyond that, I've never been one to let a little thing like loot destruction (or civilians, cats, etc) come between me and plasma rocket usage.

Edit, brain was going faster than my fingers again, definitely meant to say NOT worth the effort lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 13, 2018, 05:11:48 am
And that would serve... What purpose...?
It doesn't even make much sense, considering there can be an unlimited number of items on a tile, so it's super abstract. You may have an ulterior motive here (killed people shield loot with their bodies, so you can blast with rockets more freely), but that is not a reason enough to pursue such idea.

You are correct in ulterior motive, albeit not precisely on that one. I was thinking into using sandbags not only as vehicle backpack fillers, but to protect downed (sleeping?) units (enemy, friendly) from nearby blasts.   In some games, while I chase for the last enemy unit, I use the high mobility of quads, cars, and tanks to ferry downed units to a single stacking area where a hand can keep them in check. At the end I found more useful MAG rockets than explosive rockets to take heavily armored enemy units.

From a RL perspective it can have some sense in some objects shielding others. Larger ones to smaller ones perhaps. I'd even suggest that the mechanic of a soldier kneeling could be read as a blast shield (his/her body) for the objects under on the tile.

But I agree with you that it can get complicated to implement, especially with this game mechanic of having potentially hundreds of items on a title. Hard to decide how the shielding would occur. I know it is just wishful thinking.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 13, 2018, 07:07:50 am
Well, I can see something in what Alex_D brings up, but it would require new engine code to give some items, like sandbags being an excellent example, some capacity to block fire and explosions. Then those kind of items can become mobile cover. Take some extra time units to walk on the space they're sitting in, provide minor protection from fire and explosions for items that share the tile, and provide cover from gunfire and explosions to objects opposite from the source.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Dioxine on October 13, 2018, 08:08:35 pm
I start to really regret adding these sandbags...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Rince Wind on October 13, 2018, 08:24:49 pm
:D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 13, 2018, 08:54:47 pm
I start to really regret adding these sandbags...

Forget what I said. Please don't remove/nerf them!

The sandbags are essential for my battles, as they provided a surviving chance to vehicles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Rince Wind on October 13, 2018, 08:57:07 pm
Damn, those smugglers can really get a lot of juice out of their engine. So quick in such a large ship with just one is not too shabby.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 14, 2018, 02:24:00 am
Damn, those smugglers can really get a lot of juice out of their engine. So quick in such a large ship with just one is not too shabby.

They can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on October 14, 2018, 05:07:28 am
Plasma Caster locks:
Plasma Blunderbuss
  Light Plasma Gun
  Armor Piercing Lasers
    X-Plasma Weapons

I've gotten all of those, so obviously the caster exists in the game somewhere.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on October 14, 2018, 08:43:25 am
I've gotten all of those, so obviously the caster exists in the game somewhere.
Well, I've gotten Plasma Blunderbuss and Light Plasma Gun because I've continued playing from an earlier version. Is it the same for you or did you start fresh with 99J7?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: BBHood217 on October 14, 2018, 01:02:09 pm
Nah, the playthrough where I got all that tech was from v0.99J2-J4.  Haven't played since then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Alex_D on October 14, 2018, 11:26:04 pm
By the way, do shields stack?
Either craft or personal shields, do they stack?
Like my craft (say Snake) has shields by default, but if I add a heavy shield, I should have more, right?
Same with armors/suits that have shields, and then I add another hand-held shield on top.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: magus1 on October 14, 2018, 11:28:03 pm
Sandbag? A Sandbag?!!! (paraphrasing "The Importance of Being Earnest".

 :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ohartenstein23 on October 15, 2018, 12:39:41 am
By the way, do shields stack?
Either craft or personal shields, do they stack?

Craft shields stack, as shield HP is all drawn from the same 'pool'.  Regeneration is the same, there's only a single regeneration stat per craft, so it applies to the full shield HP pool.

Personal shields and shields on armor do not stack in the same sense, they're all separate code-wise.  They will still all work though - when a unit is hit, personal shield items in your hands are considered first, then once those are depleted any power leftover has to contend with shields on the unit's armor.  For example, if an incoming projectile has 100 power, and you have a hand-held shield with 25 points left and an armor shield with 100 points left, the hand-held shield will be depleted and your armor shield will take 75 points of damage but still hold.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Drasizard on October 16, 2018, 02:23:26 am
Doing an assault on the guild base and nothing is so much as scratching the Guildmaster. Were they buffed recently because he's tanking panzerfaust hits to the back with zero damage when one is enough to kill a Marsec Bodyguard.

Any recommended can openers anyone would like to suggest at different points in the game? Or a reliable way to capture power armored foes beyond hope you don't kill them in one go?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: ivandogovich on October 16, 2018, 02:34:19 am
Doing an assault on the guild base and nothing is so much as scratching the Guildmaster. Were they buffed recently because he's tanking panzerfaust hits to the back with zero damage when one is enough to kill a Marsec Bodyguard.

Any recommended can openers anyone would like to suggest at different points in the game? Or a reliable way to capture power armored foes beyond hope you don't kill them in one go?

The Guildmasters have a massive shield that is soaking up the damage from your panzer faust.  You can see this as the color flash on the battle sprite.  Once you reduce it enough, you will then only be dealing with his incredibly souped up power armor. 

I like voodoo for these targets.  I was able to take one down with 3 shots from a Wand of Pain in my earliest encounter with them, in this campaign.  Seduction can be super strong too.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Drasizard on October 16, 2018, 02:45:49 am
The Guildmasters have a massive shield that is soaking up the damage from your panzer faust.  You can see this as the color flash on the battle sprite.  Once you reduce it enough, you will then only be dealing with his incredibly souped up power armor. 

I like voodoo for these targets.  I was able to take one down with 3 shots from a Wand of Pain in my earliest encounter with them, in this campaign.  Seduction can be super strong too.

Sadly no Voodoo yet. Do his resistances work for his shield and do enemy personal shields regenerate because I've knocked out Reverends before and when they got back up they still had the shiny shield effect on their sprite. When I look at my hits using ctrl-h to chech for damage does damage to shields not count because I'm just getting 0's
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: legionof1 on October 16, 2018, 05:48:39 am
Shields dont benefit from the underlying armor's resists, they have there own, explained in pedia articles. And they do regen, in pedia enemy exam topics sheilds are listed in the following format: max capacity/regen per turn (type).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: cc on October 16, 2018, 06:31:07 am
When I look at my hits using ctrl-h to chech for damage does damage to shields not count because I'm just getting 0's
Yes, damage to shields is displayed as zero in the hit log.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Rince Wind on October 17, 2018, 06:22:22 pm
Shotguns are a reliable way to quickly reduce shields.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Abyss on October 17, 2018, 11:36:56 pm
Ninjas - I feel that they are meant to be a counterside in the compaign of the global dominance.
Meant, the Ninja Seeker - Is it the final stage for their development?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 18, 2018, 01:05:57 am
I just assumed that the ninjas were included as a rival organization to play into the whole ninjas vs pirates thing.  And clearly pirates would win  :P
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: doctor medic on October 18, 2018, 03:09:18 pm
Is it me or does Xpiratez also seem to have some cyberpunk themes as well?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 18, 2018, 03:22:46 pm
Is it me or does Xpiratez also seem to have some cyberpunk themes as well?

sure, mostly the Euro-Syndicate.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 19, 2018, 07:33:44 am
Think of X-Piratez as being Russian anime . . . where there is just really no concern whatsoever about genre. Just think of how many anime shows and manga book combine western, sci-fi, fantasy, and crime drama all into one, because none of that matters in comparison to whatever story they can put together. And like the best anime and manga, Dioxine actually manages to put together a good coherent story without having to worry about genre. That's the only reason most ever do bother with a genre at all, it helps keep things coherent.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: arbee81 on October 19, 2018, 10:16:39 am
I've had success using pikes and spiked maces against guild masters in some early campaign base defenses.  The spiked mace was on a max strength, near max melee gal.  The pike was on gals near the end of dojo training, and I had to resort to just inflicting a few wounds then running away and let blood loss knock him out.  Lost all but 2 hands (out of 10) to that one.  Miniguns are good for chipping away at his armor to the point where other things can hurt him.  I'm playing on difficulty 2 (John Silver, I think?), so I don't know if this would be viable on the higher difficulties
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 20, 2018, 01:04:26 am
Can someone name all the transporters that can do 0g missions?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 20, 2018, 01:26:07 am
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)

This is pretty accurate, expand "Vessel Environment Matrix". Few might be missing and few might be changed, but overall... Most is right.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 20, 2018, 02:21:02 am
New version uploaded. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on October 20, 2018, 08:41:58 am
New version uploaded. Enjoy!
Yay!
 :)

By the way
Does the Red Tower spawns enemy units as the Summoning circle does?


EDIT:
Quote
- Update: Sandbags removed from researchable items
:(
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: silencer_pl on October 20, 2018, 11:13:57 am
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)

This is pretty accurate, expand "Vessel Environment Matrix". Few might be missing and few might be changed, but overall... Most is right.

Thanks.


More questions.

Do I need to keep Meanace class ship or can I safely replace it with better transport ship like for example Thunderhorse. Example switch Metallo to Thunderhorse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 20, 2018, 12:58:02 pm
Quote
Update: Possession slower in general (both AI and player's), buffs to voodoo dispensed where due to compensate (Terror same as was or faster)

Do you mean progression? Because only thing I connect with possession is the doom faction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 20, 2018, 01:47:11 pm
It seems that with new version I cannot build Autolaser, though I can disassemble it or construct batteries and no I don't have it in the workshop queue. I even selected hideout with no workshop and filtered in facility missing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: robin on October 20, 2018, 01:48:46 pm
- Fixes to Robin's Apocalypse ship tilesets (Airbus, Aircar etc etc), some map updates
Hey Dioxine, do you remember what you fixed? I'd like to know so I can eventually fix that too.
Thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 20, 2018, 02:03:02 pm
Am I understanding invisibilty wrong? Assassin suit has 22/25. I fire at enemy from greater range and he just retaliates back as if the unit was visible. Shouldn't the unit be invisible from range greater than those numbers?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: FG on October 20, 2018, 02:17:26 pm
New version uploaded. Enjoy!
nice!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 20, 2018, 06:29:33 pm
Hey Dioxine, do you remember what you fixed? I'd like to know so I can eventually fix that too.
Thanks.

Well I changed the armor values on these ships, then I fixed these values because I forgot about changing values on the roof; so probably you don't have to fix anything.

Am I understanding invisibilty wrong? Assassin suit has 22/25. I fire at enemy from greater range and he just retaliates back as if the unit was visible. Shouldn't the unit be invisible from range greater than those numbers?

Assassin suit has no invisibility nor camo, tho...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 20, 2018, 06:49:09 pm
Eh, don't know why I've understood Inv. 22/25 as invisibility :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: robin on October 20, 2018, 07:59:02 pm
Well I changed the armor values on these ships, then I fixed these values because I forgot about changing values on the roof; so probably you don't have to fix anything.
I see. Thank you for the info.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 20, 2018, 09:06:34 pm
Do you mean progression? Because only thing I connect with possession is the doom faction.

Possession is the mods name for the vanilla mind control action.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 20, 2018, 09:32:48 pm
Ah, ok, I never got that far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: HT on October 20, 2018, 09:50:39 pm
So, what happens with Sandbags now? Can you still get them somehow? What happens if your save before updating still has them somewhere?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 20, 2018, 10:57:07 pm
New games, and those game that have yet to reach them will no longer have access to them. If you already have it enjoy the imbalance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: niculinux on October 21, 2018, 12:38:27 am
Hello, the 0.99J8 is mostly a balance/fix update. A very little sidenote: since ol' revolver and six shooter are really similar (only accuracy differences) may the s-shoter be replaced by another type of pistol? These are 2 similar weapons both avaiable atbthe start, in see no reason in that  :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 21, 2018, 01:28:25 am
I haven't been playing.  What are, or were, sandbags?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 21, 2018, 01:45:36 am
It was a very heavy protective gear (150 "weight" units) that halved piercing, laser and plasma damage. Pretty usefull on cars and tanks, but could be overused by normal gals, becouse TU penalty applies only after starting turn with additional weight.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 21, 2018, 02:14:09 am
yeah bolting decent resist on lower tier gal armors unfortunately trivialized alot of foes. Chainmail/tac+sand bag, pushed you out of range of almost all common weapons. And also almost assured survival against alot of higher end stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 21, 2018, 03:42:49 am
After this update, can you still get sandbags from other sources?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 21, 2018, 05:07:20 am
Hello, the 0.99J8 is mostly a balance/fix update. A very little sidenote: since ol' revolver and six shooter are really similar (only accuracy differences) may the s-shoter be replaced by another type of pistol? These are 2 similar weapons both avaiable atbthe start, in see no reason in that  :-\

The Six Shooter also reloads a lot faster than the 'Ol Revolver.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J7 - 25 Sep - It Can't Go Wrong
Post by: Zippicus on October 21, 2018, 06:18:13 am
More questions.

Do I need to keep Meanace class ship or can I safely replace it with better transport ship like for example Thunderhorse. Example switch Metallo to Thunderhorse.

No you don't need to keep the menace ship around, heck you don't even really need to build it in the first place.  I generally ship it off to my B-team, or C-team bases since it's still a nice transport for a lot of missions once I have better transports available for my A-team.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 21, 2018, 07:37:59 am
After this update, can you still get sandbags from other sources?

So far as i know you could only make them yourself, therefore you would have had to have unlocked them prior to this most recent update.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Slax on October 21, 2018, 01:03:08 pm
Time traveling typo in the OP.
Quote
0.99J8 19-Oct-2017

 ;D

Been playing this a ton. Kudos and thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: solomonaf on October 21, 2018, 02:32:50 pm
Love this mod! I'm upgrading from .99J2. Will there be a problem resuming my saved game in the new version, .99J8? To give you an idea of where I was in the game when I saved it, I was in the middle of researching Full Plate Mail.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 21, 2018, 04:14:12 pm
Where can I get Reticulan Elder?

Also how can I trigger faction to build a base? I had 3 bases but all of them were Academy and I need a trader and church base for their highest members. I know I can kidnap them, but the cost is big.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 21, 2018, 04:29:28 pm
You can't trigger them into building bases.

You can buy the reticulan elder, not sure if you need mercs or Saya, or you need to follow a probe to a reticulan HQ (not the actual name, but it should be obvious).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 21, 2018, 05:08:09 pm
After this update, can you still get sandbags from other sources?

try add them manually in savegame file  8) lôl

(edit & write-in them in notepad)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 21, 2018, 07:16:56 pm
its saya for a ret elder.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: niculinux on October 21, 2018, 08:18:25 pm
In 0.99J8 still the "bring down the watchtower" mission still spawns in a leke/swamp zone; may taht not being carried out for the next relases? Done not make sense a tower in such terrains :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 21, 2018, 09:11:04 pm
I've researched Mutant Self Defense Force. It says that Pogroms should stop but on next month I still have mutant pogrom. Should that happen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2018, 09:19:02 pm
It doesn't disable "freelance" Pogroms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 21, 2018, 11:14:22 pm
What are 'freelance' pogroms?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Ves on October 21, 2018, 11:59:53 pm
Pogroms that don't give negative score if you ignore them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on October 22, 2018, 12:05:54 am
So now Megapol units
spawn with plasma weapons?
I was going nonchalantly to try to capture some Wolfmen for slaving, when they fired at me. Luckly they missed and my gal was with an Assault Marine Armor.
I like the challenge and the new loot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 22, 2018, 04:27:57 am
Pogroms that don't give negative score if you ignore them.

Not entirely true.  Ignoring a freelance pogrom still has an infamy penalty, but it's far less severe than ignoring a mandatory pogrom.

Spoilers for exact score values (from the last time I checked the rulesets which was back in 0.99J4):
ignoring freelance pogrom = -100 infamy
ignoring mandatory pogrom = -1000 infamy
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 22, 2018, 08:01:33 am
well to be fair a bad clear of a freelance pogrom is probably worse the the mere 100.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: doctor medic on October 22, 2018, 09:15:09 am
Still even if you screw up a bandits pogrom with the sheer amount of enemies you should be able to not go down to negative score even if you lose all civilians
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 22, 2018, 10:11:02 am
Still even if you screw up a bandits pogrom with the sheer amount of enemies you should be able to not go down to negative score even if you lose all civilians

12 civvies on average, -1200, less kills/captures at like 10-20 a pop. If the loots bad you wont break even without saving some civvies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 22, 2018, 11:09:28 am
The loot alone can be woth the negative score, some crucial items might be hard to come by otherwise.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Slax on October 22, 2018, 05:40:15 pm
So now Megapol units
spawn with plasma weapons?
I was going nonchalantly to try to capture some Wolfmen for slaving, when they fired at me. Luckly they missed and my gal was with an Assault Marine Armor.
I like the challenge and the new loot.

Aw, man. I thought that happened due to progression.

"We're losing A LOT of beast cops out there. Maybe we should... you know, retire the old revolvers?"
Dang.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 22, 2018, 08:00:47 pm
I saw a "Hidden/covert enemy tactics" option in the menu. What does that make?   
and opposite, is there any chance to make enemy more agressive/attacky so they wont just patrol the field but will also try to assault the ship of the pirates?

And one very naive question, is there possibility to make neural network script for the types of the enemies so they will improve their behavior over the time during the progress?   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 22, 2018, 09:53:11 pm
I saw a "Hidden/covert enemy tactics" option in the menu. What does that make?   
and opposite, is there any chance to make enemy more agressive/attacky so they wont just patrol the field but will also try to assault the ship of the pirates?

And one very naive question, is there possibility to make neural network script for the types of the enemies so they will improve their behavior over the time during the progress?

The option for "sneaky" AI makes them more prone to using cover and trying to ambush you based on your last know position. Any setting to make the enemy more aggressive is not exposed to the player.

No the engine is pretty basic as far as what the AI does. Its a bunch/list of IF X then do Y statements. The modders can alter some of the values those statements use to assess with but that's pretty much it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 23, 2018, 12:14:28 am
What's the "best result"  of handling Dr. X? I followed every path except corruption. Couldn't turn her into vampire because of the lack of blood, but is the opposite better? (not hire).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 23, 2018, 03:01:04 am
I asked that same question months ago. (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6409.0.html)  I think "prank" gets you the most out of Dr. X.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2018, 03:13:39 am
I asked that same question months ago. (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6409.0.html)  I think "prank" gets you the most out of Dr. X.

It's also the most romantic route, at least that's how I feel. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 23, 2018, 06:08:52 am
As is prank path is the most rewarding. Although the vampire is quite powerful if you get the arc that far in the first 2-3 years of play, as she the single most powerful unit with the seduction power. Really strong at getting safe captures, and certainly safer to risk since you can rez her.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 23, 2018, 09:24:36 am
Thanks, I thought as such. Anyway another problem that bothers me.  I need Merc Engineer for better armor - probably power armor that can go to space, however I haven't seen mercs for quite a while and I can't "hire" one. Are they gone after researching Contact: Mercs?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 23, 2018, 12:37:36 pm
No, mercs are always around whether you can contract them or not; after all, they have clients other than you.  It's just a matter of RNG; they'll go on a contract mission or hideout construction mission eventually, even if eventually might mean as long as a few years.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 23, 2018, 03:23:11 pm
The thought was, that the Pogrom semantics lead us mostly to the anti-jewish insurrections throughout the history. That could be sensitive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 23, 2018, 03:36:49 pm
The thought was, that the Pogrom semantics lead us mostly to the anti-jewish insurrections throughout the history. That could be sensitive.

I wouldn't go that far. Only Humanists conduct pogroms for their ideology. Mercs, Spartans and Bandits do it for money and Star Gods do it to punish our band of Pirate Gals for their deeds. Everyone do it for target pratice becouse they ecounter little to no ressistance without our help.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 23, 2018, 05:11:09 pm
Anti jewish pogroms were also mostly done for money. You see, christians don’t look kindly on moneylending but judaism has no such taboo, so european jews were naturally pushed towards banking. And when somebody sufficiently important couldn’t pay his debts it was pogrom time... (of course there were also pogroms for due to racism, religious animosity and even the fact that noblemen employed jawish tax collectors)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 23, 2018, 06:46:13 pm
Also the general need for a scapegoats.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 23, 2018, 07:14:41 pm
Stop it already with the "pogrom = Jews" brainbug. Many other ethnic groups suffered the same, most notably Armenians (from Turks) and Chinese (from the Japanese).
A pogrom is a pogrom, it is not related to any particular historical events. Just drop this nonsense already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2018, 07:54:22 pm
The thought was, that the Pogrom semantics lead us mostly to the anti-jewish insurrections throughout the history. That could be sensitive.

Read up the etymology of the word before you start behaving like Bibi. TLDR: No Jews own that word.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 23, 2018, 09:12:49 pm
Read up the etymology of the word before you start behaving like Bibi. TLDR: No Jews own that word.
I am Russian and I believe this word has russian origins. I suppose I knew the ethymology before I had to ask that question. I am not a Jew too.
So here's the thought, no offence, I just wanted to know if it applies to the subject or not.
Please forgive my lack of... whatever it is. We are all here delighted with what you do (X-Piratez).

EDIT: In modern Russian "Pogrom" is a rarity with major sense linked to anti-Jewish actions.
 
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 23, 2018, 10:13:08 pm
I guess it's not like that, so whole country linked it to something, but some "kind" of people in general. In Poland word "Holocaust" changed meaning in "casual" language to slaughter of Jews and only that. Everyone I speaked with about that topic was "angry" when "Holocaust" was used when describing anything besides World War II and mass murder of Jews.

But this isn't a topic, or even forum to talk about that. There is no conspiracy, nobody is favoured, or secretly frowned upon. It's about "cool" post apocaliptic earth with alien overlords, how humans live in this world and how our band of Ubers that escaped imprisonment will deal with it.
At this point I'm only waiting for cyborgs on both sides just to place X-Piratez higher in "coolness" than C&C tiberium sun/firestorm universe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 23, 2018, 11:03:44 pm
I never meant to chastitize you, Abyss. Pogrom afaik comes from the slavic word for thunder, and is generally associated with slaughter. Any similarity with Jew Pogroms is of course fully intentional as well, as we have people getting ethnically cleansed in either case, so it seemed the most fitting description.

And when we're at it, I recall that holocaust (not "H"olocaust) means burnt sacrifice in some ancient language, forgot which.

And if something/someone in the lore is frowned upon, it is not in secret but written in open text. Stories just need to have morals, but art should keep away from any political activism.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 23, 2018, 11:51:18 pm
Are piloted tanks suppose to report "Not enough energy" while having like full bar of energy? I'm using Tank *H-Lascannon. After firing 3 round of auto laser the tank reports that message despite having lots of energy. I can't even also fire the Heavy Laser.  I can fire on next turn though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 24, 2018, 01:09:47 am
Are piloted tanks suppose to report "Not enough energy" while having like full bar of energy? I'm using Tank *H-Lascannon. After firing 3 round of auto laser the tank reports that message despite having lots of energy. I can't even also fire the Heavy Laser.  I can fire on next turn though.

That is what supposed to happen after two or three shots.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: KZad Bhat on October 24, 2018, 07:21:27 am
Dioxine, the word pogrom is in fact Russian, according the Wikipedia.

Quote
First recorded in 1882, the Russian word pogrom (погро́м, pronounced [pɐˈgrom]) is derived from the common prefix po- and the verb gromit' (громи́ть, pronounced [grɐˈmʲitʲ]) meaning "to destroy, to wreak havoc, to demolish violently". Its literal translation is "to harm".[10] The noun "pogrom", which has a relatively short history, is used in English and many other languages as a loanword, possibly borrowed from Yiddish (where the word takes the form פאָגראָם).[11] Its widespread circulation in today's world began with the anti-Semitic excesses in the Russian Empire in 1881–1883.

And while I can't say for other languages utilizing, or the English use in other countries, but in the US it is very tightly associated with the Russian government's violence against Jewish communities from that time, even if the same kinds of actions have been taken by so many other groups throughout the world and across time, against practically every other group to have ever existed.

And I wasn't sure about the language holocaust had come from either, but found it was Greek. Other than that, exactly correct that it means burnt sacrifice.

Quote
The term holocaust comes from the Greek ὁλόκαυστος holókaustos: hólos, "whole" and kaustós, "burnt offering".[11][f] The Century Dictionary defined it in 1904 as "a sacrifice or offering entirely consumed by fire, in use among the Jews and some pagan nations".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on October 24, 2018, 09:22:06 am
I'm using XG Assault now, just for fun.
Question: Is the bullet animation supposed to be slow versus the XG Sniper, which is fast,  or normal like everything else?
(I haven't tried the other XG guns, thought)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 24, 2018, 01:02:56 pm
Dioxine, the word pogrom is in fact Russian, according the Wikipedia.

There was a very correct point from Dioxine that art should be kept away from the all political activity, thus coming true art for ages.
As for me, suddenly I realized that the beautiful word Pogrom (it is, indeed, has aestetics) had been privatized by Jews, as well as the word Holocaust. This is not intended to be discussed here, in the game forum.
So from now on I am purely on the Dioxine's side, telling you that no Ethnical group, nor some kind of minority has no right to tie the words with former opression being held on them.
EDIT: In case if major sense of the word dramatically changes from initial

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 24, 2018, 01:42:52 pm
Well this is obviously not related to Russian jews (or any other jews for that matter) so this discussion is essentially pointless.  If someone is butthurt over a video game that's their problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2018, 03:15:21 pm
Are piloted tanks suppose to report "Not enough energy" while having like full bar of energy?

Yes, and their energy bar is hardly full when it is nearly depleted. Just the GUI is only showing the last 140 units. This mechanics, to explain, is meant to differentiate "gun time" from "tank time". Note that with 700 or 800 Energy, energy used for moving is minor (while time used is as normal). So a gun has a low limit on ROF imposed by Energy pool, and a high limit imposed by TU pool.

Dioxine, the word pogrom is in fact Russian, according the Wikipedia.

You did not dig deep enough. Gromit' comes from grom, which is thunder. And it is not unique to Russian language, is the same in Polish, has deeper slavic roots. While Wikipedia is very useful, one should not take it as the ultimate source of knowledge.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 24, 2018, 04:01:34 pm
There was a very correct point from Dioxine that art should be kept away from the all political activity, thus coming true art for ages.

What? Art is always a bit political because humans are political creatures. When you want purely apolitical art you have to look at bowerbirds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 24, 2018, 04:28:15 pm
Semantics. Apolitical means free from political activism (signing under banners of this or that group), not free of political thought which is impossible. Reduction at absurdum is understandably fun, but not very constructive.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: stvip on October 25, 2018, 06:35:51 am
What is this discussion?  I thought we were all agreed that Dioxine is a rabid anti-feline and the whole point of this mod was to encourage others to consummate his twisted cat-torture obsessions?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: doctor medic on October 25, 2018, 08:46:23 am
The constitution says nothing about hitting cat girls with baseball bats and i will continue doing that gash darn it.

In actual news i got barrel bombs and im using them willy nilly whenever im in a bad spot or even pogroms and they dont fail to dissapoint me as of yet.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 25, 2018, 11:50:16 am
Barrel bombs truly shine on missions from Jack where you have to defend fort against Deep Ones. One barrel on each side and you pretty much won already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 25, 2018, 11:55:52 am
Nuke mortars work for that mission too, apparently they don't mind if the fortress has some big holes in it when you're done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 25, 2018, 12:38:22 pm
The nuke is a bit of an overkill and tends to blow up loot. Same with a barrel bomb. The humble gas grenades are sufficient for that mission and generally great everytime you face deep ones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Hadza on October 25, 2018, 12:53:45 pm
Nuke mortars work for that mission too, apparently they don't mind if the fortress has some big holes in it when you're done.

Just use gas mortars, their huge blast range guarantees about 10 kills per shot. Haven't tried a grenade yet though.

One other thing to note, I've seen someone mention that prismatic shields drop from ninja seekers, but how would I get one to land? Every time (about 4 times) I've tried downing one, it always exploded even when I tried finishing it off with a charger laser (6 dmg, lowest in game).

Also, ironically, ninja'd
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 25, 2018, 07:05:38 pm
With recent update it's much easier to get them down. Unfortunately they are not 100% to go down and prefer to get blown up
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 25, 2018, 11:44:35 pm
Seriously, Impaler is too strong.
No sense for other stunning stuff. 0.03*VP^2.
Why would I use stunning bombs and microlauncher if there is an Impaler with unlimited ammo, Low energy cost and tremendous 200% accuracy for a shot which totally ignores any type of the armor?

By the time for microlauncher to be decoded there's 2-3 Impalers in the inventory.
And thats for the all compaigns I've started.

Even in Iron man mode (Hard difficulty).
I have lost in the battles about 300 gals, every battle was pretty a challenge.
First impaler? 10 gal loses by the same amount of time.
Harbinger Gal with an Impaler? A Rembo that stifles a squad of Marsec Bodyguards solo.
There is no challenge no more.

Impaler sell price? 30000 or whatever it is? Seriously? It should be a rarity with sell cost of 20 millions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 26, 2018, 12:02:14 am
Sure gas is nice and all, and it works great, but it's nowhere near as satisfying as the epic kaboom that wrecks half the map in one shot  ;D

@Abyss  The great thing about a single player game is that you can do whatever you want, if you think a piece of equipment is too good, or too bad, or ugly, or whatever, just don't use it.  You can solve your own problem in this case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2018, 12:22:48 am
Well it is a legitimate problem; the Impaler still has no ultimate place in the game's balance. For now it is bundled in Love Ships along other similar endgame weapons. What I can do for now is to push Love Ships up the tech tree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 26, 2018, 12:56:46 am
Well it is a legitimate problem; the Impaler still has no ultimate place in the game's balance. For now it is bundled in Love Ships along other similar endgame weapons. What I can do for now is to push Love Ships up the tech tree.

Nerfing the Impaler would be a problem? As a hellish thing:
- making it consuming more energy (e.g. one shot for the turn),
- seriously reducing morals per shot and constantly, but slightly reducing morals per turn while in inventory
will be making it more challenging to use, I guess
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2018, 03:56:50 am
Does it really need nerfing tho, being a strictly endgame thing? But these morale nerfs would make it more climatic, I guess...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on October 26, 2018, 04:48:58 am
RIP best friend impaler   ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 26, 2018, 06:01:09 am
Does it really need nerfing tho, being a strictly endgame thing? But these morale nerfs would make it more climatic, I guess...

I see your point. Can I consider it a legal cheat?
Morale nerfs of course will make it more restricted-usage weapon, but in the other hand - why indeed would it be a Star-God-battering-weapon? Is it a technology that surpasses Star God magic? Is it unknown to them?
What is the history of that weapon? Should be there some blood magic lock that makes it useless until the specific research?

From the player point of view it looks like: in the serious base mid-game defense you have to equip 15-25 dogs with activated explosive satchels (e.g. marsec strike or mercenaries strike with plasma/gauss weapons). And most of them move on a suicide. But the single Impaler-gal eliminates half of the attackers. Usually takes 1-2, rarely 3 shots.
It is the equvalent of the power hidden in this spear, IMHO. Lost expeditions, thousands of MIA, legends of supreme Voodoo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2018, 06:07:50 am

I see your point. Can I consider it a legal cheat?
Morale nerfs of course will make it more restricted-usage weapon, but in the other hand - why indeed would it be a Star-God-battering-weapon? Is it a technology that surpasses Star God magic? Is it unknown to them?
What is the history of that weapon? Should be there some blood magic lock that makes it useless until the specific research?

That part of the game does not exist yet.

From the player point of view it looks like: in the serious base mid-game defense you have to equip 15-25 dogs with activated explosive satchels (e.g. marsec strike or mercenaries strike with plasma/gauss weapons).

Well not really... some players play like this, but other try devising more effective tactics... The idea is that by the point you get the Impaler, this is no longer relevant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 26, 2018, 07:23:38 am
Well impalers start showing up after you unlock the well wisher's 3rd message, and they seem to be some kind of anti star god entity.  So it would make sense that they would give you stuff that works against star gods.  Anyways they seem fine to me as an end game stun weapon that doesn't require a specific codex or anything, especially since some stuff requires star god parts to manufacture.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Hadza on October 26, 2018, 08:22:23 am
I don't see impaler as being too op tbf, especially considering that I've got none in my campaign (still got about 10 heat rays, 2 herders and 0 dragons) in my playthrough where I specifically rushed the third message (it's because I've seen it in that dream, I swear).

On the other hand, are buggies supposed to cast voodoo through walls?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 26, 2018, 09:15:13 am
Well impalers start showing up after you unlock the well wisher's 3rd message, and they seem to be some kind of anti star god entity.  So it would make sense that they would give you stuff that works against star gods.  Anyways they seem fine to me as an end game stun weapon that doesn't require a specific codex or anything, especially since some stuff requires star god parts to manufacture.

Do they? I had Strange Message 3 unlocked for quite a while,  and yet I don't have a single impaler.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 26, 2018, 12:27:49 pm
Do they? I had Strange Message 3 unlocked for quite a while,  and yet I don't have a single impaler.

Yeah they can be found in the pink ships, but it's all RNG dependent so it's not guaranteed that you'll find any.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 26, 2018, 12:59:17 pm
Shouldn’t UAC BFG be considered a legal cheat too? You can get it way earlier than the Impaler and if you rush certain very usefull techs it is possible to massproduce the batteries by first quarter of the second year. I only ever saw the very toughest of foes (zombie troopers, cyclopes etc.) survive a hit.

And what about baby nukes? You can fill all your baby nuke needs forever the moment one of the weaker factions (academy, certaon guild crew compositions) builds a base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 26, 2018, 03:04:05 pm
Well impalers start showing up after you unlock the well wisher's 3rd message

Note that first impalers are coming from the mysterious tower missions, far before the pink ship

swarm
Shouldn’t UAC BFG be considered a legal cheat too? And baby nukes...
.
See, you either don't understand my point or just troll me.
Presuming first: The balance of firepower, side effects and required ammo for BFG and nuke mortars from the basic supply ships are totally understandable.

There is no point in nerfing for those who abuses savegames: Impaler is just a perfect weapon for a fast win. That's more storymode with a seemblance of tactic game. But for me and others who play with IM or the honor system there is a balance crack. E.g. hard turn-calculating before and no more brain strain after.

Well not really... some players play like this, but other try devising more effective tactics... The idea is that by the point you get the Impaler, this is no longer relevant.
Well there's not much you can do with the base defence in the early-midgame in ironman vs mercs where a single merc can eliminate a whole team of gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 26, 2018, 04:09:40 pm
Note that first impalers are coming from the mysterious tower missions, far before the pink ship

That doesn't sound right at all.  I'll have to take your word on that one though since I've never seen one drop there.  Although I haven't seen an impaler drop for like 4 games in a row so I'm not in a position to say for sure heh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 26, 2018, 04:58:38 pm
You can always choose not to use certain weapons. If impalers or BFGs or XG series railguns or whatever make it too easy, just don’t use them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 26, 2018, 05:16:37 pm
Note that first impalers are coming from the mysterious tower missions, far before the pink ship

There is like 1% chance of finding an Impaler there... Good luck :)
You just got extremely lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: FG on October 26, 2018, 05:21:34 pm
I think the core idea behind tons of weapons is you can play it any way you like. There's no such thing as Balance. In terms of gameplay, "Balance" doesn't based on pure math.
The most important questions here: "Was it fun" and "Is it worth my time"?  :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 26, 2018, 05:43:06 pm
oh nooo, dont touch Impaler, please! :o :( ;( :(( :/ :/(

https://www.google.com/search?q=sad+kitty

hehe

(for this, (unwanted changes), i rather keep´ing (almost) all versions of Piratez 8) lôl )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 27, 2018, 02:13:14 am
Game statistics:
J3/J4: 7-9 MT missions - got 2 or 3 impalers
J6: 6-7 MT missions - got 2 impalers
J7 IM: 2 MT missions (btw these missions seriously lag in this version) - 1 impaler. +3 from PSoL. 



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 27, 2018, 02:43:27 am
I'm kind of doubting that, you're way into the unbelievable range of drops for those.  Unless you're save scumming like crazy or some mod you're using is modifying the loot drops.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on October 27, 2018, 03:01:00 am
Where do BFGs come from?  Because I've never ever seen one outside of Quick Battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 27, 2018, 04:47:29 am
Game statistics:
J3/J4: 7-9 MT missions - got 2 or 3 impalers
J6: 6-7 MT missions - got 2 impalers
J7 IM: 2 MT missions (btw these missions seriously lag in this version) - 1 impaler. +3 from PSoL.

Well cool; after checking more closely, the chance of obtaining an Impaler in that mission is actually closer to 5% than 1%.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 27, 2018, 05:59:39 am
Unless you're save scumming like crazy or some mod you're using is modifying the loot drops.
Nope. It is pointless for a savescum to convince the mod developer to nerf the imbalanced weapon that helps to oneshot, see? 
Try the iron man, it makes the game completely different, immersing you into the survival thriller with the  wicked world)

A little more suggestions:
I used the tactics of kidnapping raids on enemy bases (2-3 enemies and goodbye) but no one punished me for that. I mean, I know that score is already lost, but the missions were successful for me. After 3-4 base raids in the single month still no crackdowns.

Weird little enemies that have no hellerium addiction - can I propose they should slowly die in the base's lower level? 

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on October 27, 2018, 08:19:34 am
Nope. It is pointless for a savescum to convince the mod developer to nerf the imbalanced weapon that helps to oneshot, see? 
Try the iron man, it makes the game completely different, immersing you into the survival thriller with the  wicked world)

A little more suggestions:
I used the tactics of kidnapping raids on enemy bases (2-3 enemies and goodbye) but no one punished me for that. I mean, I know that score is already lost, but the missions were successful for me. After 3-4 base raids in the single month still no crackdowns.

Weird little enemies that have no hellerium addiction - can I propose they should slowly die in the base's lower level?

You should probably stick to the honor system rather than enabling iron man, most of the time the game works fine but occasionally bugs pop up and being able to provide a save game helps squish those bugs.  And even at 5% drop rate those numbers are still pretty skewed, you're looking at doing those towers in double digit numbers to achieve those rates.  I normally only see those mysterious tower missions pop up a few times per game.  Are you farming missions for in game years or something ?  There's nothing wrong with doing that, play however you want, just trying to make sense as to how you're finding so many of those things when no matter where they come from they're rare.  That aside, you can substitute any number of weapons for impalers and make the same argument you're making so I'm not sure why you're so fixated on them, everyone needs a hobby I guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 27, 2018, 10:55:26 am
most of the time the game works fine but occasionally bugs pop

The game was 100% (300+ hrs of gameplay through the versions) stable through previous gameplay with the savegames.
So... I decided to make a move forward. Through total 150+ hours of gameplay in IM there was just one bug that crashed the game (Magic girl kill led to a non-responding interface), and it occurs in the IM (thank you mr. Murphy). Stoddard saved me that time, enabling the interface. Thank you again Stoddard:)
So yeah, you are right. Also, you were the one who agitated for the same change back then in the Bugs&Crashes Report thread.
But amazing atmosphere dissolves knowing that you can reverse any mistake. Sorry, I really cannot do this no more, it is like a drug. Not trolling you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 27, 2018, 12:28:34 pm
A little more suggestions:
I used the tactics of kidnapping raids on enemy bases (2-3 enemies and goodbye) but no one punished me for that. I mean, I know that score is already lost, but the missions were successful for me. After 3-4 base raids in the single month still no crackdowns.

Weird little enemies that have no hellerium addiction - can I propose they should slowly die in the base's lower level?

Neither is doable in any way I know on the OXC engine. And the second one would be contrary to the lore, it is not toxic in that way. And if it was - well, why add sewers in the first place then, lol :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 27, 2018, 07:42:46 pm
Game statistics:
J3/J4: 7-9 MT missions - got 2 or 3 impalers
J6: 6-7 MT missions - got 2 impalers
J7 IM: 2 MT missions (btw these missions seriously lag in this version) - 1 impaler. +3 from PSoL.

whats are J3, Jx, and "MT"
?
and "PSoL"



(i dont know means of these ..shortcuts
(acronyms
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on October 27, 2018, 08:28:22 pm
whats are J3, Jx, and "MT"
?
and "PSoL"
From the context it's:

Jx = Game version (0.99J8)
MT = Mysterious Tower mission
PSoL = Pink Ship of Love vessel
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 27, 2018, 09:00:45 pm
~~ ^^  thx.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 28, 2018, 10:13:45 pm
@Dioxine :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG_UMYngoTc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR1RcVFRJ-U

abit punk. :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 28, 2018, 10:59:42 pm
Upgraded, first mission is padlocks of chaos. I go there with the usual team: gals and a tank.
The Lock is in her underwear, damn. Try around with using another craft, with unequipping and reequipping, nothing works. I wait for the next thing, which is some landing ship, go there and it works.
At this point of time it dawns on me that tanks might not be allowed anymore and I look in the what to wear list.
So - no more tanks for padlock of chaos. :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 29, 2018, 02:25:32 am
At least you got to see your Lokk in an underwear, irate about her tank suddenly disappearing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 29, 2018, 12:37:46 pm
So - no more tanks for padlock of chaos. :(

Damn shame, that is a mission where heavy weapons are much needed. You can still do with rocket launchers, mortars, lascannons, fairy dragon etc. but these are less convinient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 29, 2018, 06:37:56 pm
Yes, but after bringing only 2 out of 13 home without injuries on my first try this one worked way better. The two new Juggernaut Armors certainly helped (one got injured by the 2nd stage of a zombie trooper, but their weapons were useless). Most gals can go out again right away, 3 that will be in the sickbay for 1-3 days and two that need a bit more time. I got really lucky when a vamp missed three hits against my weakest gal though.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 29, 2018, 07:48:02 pm
:S ..so, in some mission there are unavalaible tanks? ?

(and which ones - those new "wearable tanks", or classical tanks
?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on October 29, 2018, 08:49:48 pm
The wearable tank is not in the list of allowed outfits.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 29, 2018, 09:26:35 pm
lôl, *wearable tanks" - invention just of 1pc-game xPiratez, and her developmnt, ~~2 -  3 man´s team :p 8) :8

lôl

(it even would be worth of thinkin.about go for patent that (whole) concept,

of *wearable "tank" - as such next phase, after the those (Ironman´ish ´)  Power Armors..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 29, 2018, 09:40:00 pm
Is it possible for the transport ship to have somewhere either in Description or in ANAL information what mission types are they capable? Like can it into space, can it do mansion, can it do infiltration, can it go underwater. Yes I know some key ships have this information, but some don't. Or maybe in mission screen do a button similar to: "What to wear?", called Available Rides. Yes I know it is somewhere in ufopaedia, but really it would be much better to have this in-game without the need of either memorizing or having 100 charts written down.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 29, 2018, 09:45:48 pm
^^ exact this!

and for armours and clothes too - which are suitable for underwater missions,
which for space (0-g) missions, and so.on
best in form of table
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 29, 2018, 11:08:52 pm
Is it possible for the transport ship to have somewhere either in Description or in ANAL information what mission types are they capable?

But who will presume some type of a mission before it is invented? Who will know that you are going to dive into a real ocean, who will tell you that you'll gonna reach the space? So I vote for not to describe it in the main screen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Ashghan on October 29, 2018, 11:55:47 pm
I think the current option is somewhat fair - if you try to send a wrong ship you get info on which of your researched craft can do it. Sure, it makes you skip that particular mission, as you most likely don't have that particular craft available, but you can be prepared next time that mission spawns. Plus you get to know some hidden fact about ships - I did not know that Prospector can dive before that popup told me.

On that note - could some form of space suit (0-G) with a bit better protection be possible? Something between 20 armor of regular space suit and power armored harbinger? Slapping some plasteel and superconductive circuits on a space suit can't be that hard. ;) I know superhero armor exists, but it's as deep in the tech tree as harbinger, so not that useful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on October 30, 2018, 12:38:43 am
Space based enemies, aside from killer droids, are low tier grunts. Not allowing better armours makes these missions a bit more fair.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Moon_Dew on October 30, 2018, 12:49:07 am
What's the point of Expeditions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on October 30, 2018, 06:32:58 am
What's the point of Expeditions?
Free research and the associated (rather small) infamy boost from it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 30, 2018, 09:14:37 am
What's the point of Expeditions?

If you are playing "honor/supermutant" you can roll a bad mission that will kill all of your gals. In that case Airbus don't return to your base and without expedition and early in tech it would be gameover without a "transport craft". Expeditions can also take mission underwater so it's a good thing to use it before being able to afford Aircar and some weapon to shoot down civilian traffic.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on October 30, 2018, 09:32:12 am
But who will presume some type of a mission before it is invented? Who will know that you are going to dive into a real ocean, who will tell you that you'll gonna reach the space? So I vote for not to describe it in the main screen.

At this stage of this mod, I think all of this is known.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on October 30, 2018, 05:43:30 pm
If you are playing "honor/supermutant" you can roll a bad mission that will kill all of your gals. In that case Airbus don't return to your base and without expedition and early in tech it would be gameover without a "transport craft". Expeditions can also take mission underwater so it's a good thing to use it before being able to afford Aircar and some weapon to shoot down civilian traffic.

Partially true, but at the higher diffiulty levels use of expeditions means you have insufficient funds to buy an aircraft. Pretty much game over. Tried this option only once in the early attempts with Hard/SM.
No real efficiency. Boost economics instead. Fast, really fast. The initial aitcrafts are pretty cheap.
AND they have doors) 

--- Offtop is one thing, but double-posting? Heresy! ---
Solarius dont scorch me, I'm a newbe)

Offtop. Toyota pickup tech tree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Slax on October 30, 2018, 07:29:42 pm
What's the point of Expeditions?
Range for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 30, 2018, 08:05:17 pm
Offtop. Toyota pickup tech tree.

 ;D and also Toyota Hilux!

(or Hilus? :s

..and one i´ve seen also Toyota with some big roket on its back (such almost Scud´ class tactical rocket, or so, medium size rocket - any of those smaller1 from that class..)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2018, 05:10:29 pm
Is it possible for the transport ship to have somewhere either in Description or in ANAL information what mission types are they capable? Like can it into space, can it do mansion

Divulges meta-knowledge (immersion break), there is no space for such description, new mission types would break it, etc, etc. Also would have to be done by hand, so gl finding willing slaves.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on October 31, 2018, 09:55:59 pm
how, respectively wghere can i get the older versions of xPiratez? ?

e.g. if i want those *Sandbags and such defense_layer stuffs, - i want,need 99J7 ver. -

who got yet .J7 ? 
(and older amybe too

--- posts merged. Please don't make me issue a warning ---

or how way can get Sandboxes again ?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: silencer_pl on November 01, 2018, 12:30:39 am
who got yet .J7 ? 

Check PM
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 01, 2018, 01:17:51 am
At this stage of this mod, I think all of this is known.
I speak literally not about the player, but gals and a Captain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 01, 2018, 02:48:11 am
Divulges meta-knowledge (immersion break), there is no space for such description, new mission types would break it, etc, etc. Also would have to be done by hand, so gl finding willing slaves.

So far I'm at the mercy of the wiki info (Vessel Environment Matrix (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vessels_(Piratez)#Vessel_Environment_Matrix)) to decide if this or that craft is worth to build.

On one hand, I see the issues of immersion break for certain missions, present and future, if that info is readily available in the ANAL tab or even the vessel description.

On the other hand, general knowledge if a certain craft can reach some missions is beneficial, since it's expensive in game days (and time IRL) to get a craft that can reach space, or underwater, or some infiltration missions.

I believe the general criteria in the game is somewhere like: electric vessels cannot go to space, but are generally inconspicuous enough to perform most infiltration missions. Most Hellerium vessels can go to space if they can attain certain velocity or acceleration (escape velocity?). Some vessels with doors can go underwater. Additional exceptions can be done on specific vessels.

My current fleet is: Fortuna as the main all-around landing craft. Nightmares for interception and the occasional easy ground mission. Sabres for interception and that single mission aboard the Academy cruise ship where charm resistance is a must (I used a Jetbike before, I have yet to try the Sabre on this one). One Air speeder for the occasional Air race mission (or to assist shooting other vessels), as it's the fastest non-Hellerium powered vessel available. I still have a Snake that I plan to retire soon. I believe I'm missing one mission type I cannot reach.

I'm looking for an all around vessel that can replace the Fortuna and is fast enough to catch up with Space Freighters and can perform underwater or mansion missions. So far the Deliverator appears to fulfill all check marks, except that the troop complement is rather small. The previous mission was done with a Nightmare, and the play honoured the craft name...

Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 01, 2018, 05:26:24 am
You don't need any other craft for space, becouse Kraken is multi-purpose:
Underwater: Check
Mansion: Check
Space: Check
Layout: Great layout to defend yourself from inside. Only one ground entrenance that is protected from 3 sides by craft itself. Exit on "first" level and doors inside keep anything melee based away from your gals.
Capacity: Decent. 8 gals, no 2x2 units.
And what's best: You can get it regardless of choosed Codex.
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 01, 2018, 06:43:30 am
Thanks for the advice. I never tried the Kraken for anything, specially turtling upon landing. Maybe I'll build one just for fun.

In the early part of my current campaign I used to camp inside the Airbus and hit the enemies with two dedicated meele gals (with Bardiche, and later Vibro-Axes), who will chop any enemy close enough. The rest of the gals were on medikit, Aye-phone, or grog duty. I kept the Airbus for way longer that I should. I switched to the Pachyderm for a bit before getting the Fortune from the Grey Codex.

Now, I suppose I'm a bit advanced on the campaign. On the Fortuna, I carry the best five gals (that are not wounded) and two gals in vehicles (either car with HMG/PS or Tank 60AC w/HVAP rounds, and even Tank H-Las). Now, wearing the Annihilator suit, the gals are much less vulnerable to Voodoo, and can handle their own (read: not die) against Star Gods, Sectopods, CMs, and the like. Their main weapons are the Death Blossom w/HVAP rounds, and Vibro-Ax. Their complement include a neural whip, stimms, aye-phones, healing gel, pre-primed knockout and EMP grenades.

The Fortuna does everything I need, except that is not fast enough to catch up with Space Freighters. For that, the minimum speed needs to be 3000, if I remember correctly. My only available craft was a Nightmare when the mission spawned. But the craft only carries 3 crew. The grind was a nightmare. At least the killing of so many enemies kept the gals morale high.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Zippicus on November 01, 2018, 12:32:19 pm
The Kraken is really really slow, it's great for tanking all the damage when you have to use multiple interceptors.  It takes a bit of practice to use it, I've missed more than a few interceptions due to it being so slow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on November 01, 2018, 03:48:14 pm
Kraken can't catch Space Freighters if I remember correctly. The Dragon, however, can. You'll still need something else for Air Races, though. A Codex craft with STC speed upgrades (either Fusion or Ethyr Drives) does nicely for that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on November 02, 2018, 02:32:56 am
I have yet to try the Sabre on this one

It'll work just fine; the counselor mission's only restriction is one single gal only, so the only ships that can land there are the Jetbike, Rail Pod, and Sabre.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Hadza on November 02, 2018, 10:10:20 pm
It's somewhat counterintuitive that spaceworthy vessels can't reach a space freighter (until after you get the prompt). Prepped a Prospector full of gals to take on one, am disappoint :c
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 02, 2018, 10:34:44 pm
what ist *Zubrin ? ?
   
{ 9,999    1    9,999 *    333    200    0    0    0    None    None    50    0    0    None    8/1 }

?

some teleport.portal, or such ?

--- posts merged ---

and Dragon    Yes    Yes    Yes    Yes 

cwould be able to go also to Cydonia, Mars..
(and has got Armor at least 15 [mal by mat Armor nejmín 15, najmenej] ,   not only 6, as now..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on November 02, 2018, 11:50:42 pm
It's somewhat counterintuitive that spaceworthy vessels can't reach a space freighter (until after you get the prompt). Prepped a Prospector full of gals to take on one, am disappoint :c
You need to have at least 3000 speed to catch up to it. You think it's just gonna wait for you? ;)

what ist *Zubrin ? ?
The Zubrin is the "low" tech Mars assault vessel.

cwould be able to go also to Cydonia, Mars..
(and has got Armor at least 15, not only 6, as now..
Dragon shouldn't be able to go to Cydonia as that's reserved for special crafts. Also, the armor's fine from my point of view - they are not meant to solo a Battleship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on November 02, 2018, 11:57:32 pm
The Zubrin is your discount ticket to Mars if you don't feel like waiting for the Conqueror or think you can win the game with only 8 (maybe) gals.  I've never tried using it in a regular mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 03, 2018, 12:12:04 pm
The Zubrin is your discount ticket to Mars if you don't feel like waiting for the Conqueror or think you can win the game with only 8 (maybe) gals.  I've never tried using it in a regular mission.

I just built the Zubrin as a test if I can make it to Cydonia with a small number of gals.
Out of the 8 seats, only 5 show for battle. This means the last 3 gals are MIA. Better fill the craft with 5 gals only.
The test mission was a disaster.
I managed to BFG my way to the pyramid entrance. Only Mercs protecting the surface. No biggie. I forgot to bring something to keep the morale up.
Now inside, it's all SGs, and their hateful one-shot-kiills-you Sectopods. Not enough ammo to move around. And with so many SG Coordinators, my gals, which were rated 50+ in Voodoo, were easily MCd. They didn't made it far near the Brain. Lost the test game.
I reloaded. I still have the Zubrin. Maybe I'll try again when I research all the plasma weapon tech and the Flechette MCs. I'm playing in Jack Sparrow level.
Something I noted on the Brain level, is my gals started with almost no TUs on the first turn. I read that's a bug, or is it a mod feature?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 03, 2018, 07:51:07 pm
The Zubrin is your discount ticket to Mars if you don't feel like waiting for the Conqueror or think you can win the game with only 8 (maybe) gals.  I've never tried using it in a regular mission.

@CC (catch) hehe)
@BBHood

well, but why such so much,_so too hight speed ? ( 9999+,
10k km/h


(..in the meanings of .."settings, .."environments of this game, and
..and in compare to others vehicles, of th game

if it is ´mean to be cheap, /prototype ..Mars mission vehicle (ship
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on November 03, 2018, 08:48:25 pm
snip
Something I noted on the Brain level, is my gals started with almost no TUs on the first turn. I read that's a bug, or is it a mod feature?

Multi stage missions inherit the state of your units when you transition. So if you press the button to transfer at the end of a turn with TU/energy expended, those carry over.

And the zubrin does randomly remove some of the gals you send, x% chance to survive per gal, its the price of using a shoddy low tech way to end the game. The zubrin exists expressly as a greater challenge in trade for a shorter game. Use at your own risk.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 03, 2018, 10:47:41 pm
Multi stage missions inherit the state of your units when you transition. So if you press the button to transfer at the end of a turn with TU/energy expended, those carry over.

So it's a feature. Therefore the way to avoid this is to wait one more turn before hitting the end of level button.

And the zubrin does randomly remove some of the gals you send, x% chance to survive per gal, its the price of using a shoddy low tech way to end the game. The zubrin exists expressly as a greater challenge in trade for a shorter game. Use at your own risk.
I tried with 5 gals, 8, gals, gal. It seems the game removes the gals in reversing order of loading. Thus, the Player needs to put the most important gals first. They stand a better chance of survival.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: netron on November 04, 2018, 12:12:46 am
Where do BFGs come from?  Because I've never ever seen one outside of Quick Battle.
I've gotten them in the Atrium of Anguish mission if I remember correctly, spawned by an imperial probe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 04, 2018, 12:26:07 am
So it's a feature. Therefore the way to avoid this is to wait one more turn before hitting the end of level button.

This is a bug; the devs inadvertedly introduced it during version merge. Move along, it will be fixed.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 04, 2018, 05:36:33 am
Indeed a bug. I saw one of Meridian's videos and there was this two level mission. His units spawned the second level almost without TUs, and he commented that

I tried again the Brain Level, and after neutralizing everyone on the surface, my gals started with almost no TUs. Below a bit of a battle report:

So after a bit of more research, I unlocked the Heavy Plasma Gun and the flechette stuff. I loaded everything on the Zubrin, all the nukes I had, BFGs, etc. Note that the battle is not 0-G therefore regular Earth surface inventory stuff works (e.g., Rum for healing).

After a couple of re-loads (my excuse: I was testing the RNG of the Zubrin), I got lucky and got all my 8 gals safe on Mars. The surface battle was fine, a bit protracted but not difficult to neutralize the Mercs and their Gauss Tanks.

With lots of wounded but none critical all my gals arrived to the Brain Level. Here's where the real "fun" started. I quickly realized that the plan is to spread out so to a MC gal cannot kill another gal. I lost nearly all of my team to friendly incidents. The advantage of being MCs is as soon as it happens these Sectopods will stop targeting my units. Yet, I still manage to kill several SGs and a few Sectopods, the later using none other than a Vibro-Ax. The best tactic is to camp inside a one-width door and wait for the Sectopod to end the turn on the other side. Then chop until victory. If possible toss a EMP grenade or use a Launcher EMP bomb before tossing.

I reloaded, as they managed to MC or kill all of my gals. I felt the play was still a test as there was no chance to survive it. However, this is where the SGs made a mistake. They MCs a gal and brought her to the corridor that is below the brain hall. While they focused their energy on my other remaining gal, they lost their grip on this one. I quickly seize the opportunity and start assaulting one of the lifts. I was down to my last gal. The SGCs bunched together blocking the lift, then I rushed to the other one. I had a choice, attempt to kill them or hit the brain. Let's say the choice was easy. See the screenshot.

It was a nice 3 month campaign IRL. I'll play again.

@ Dioxine. Is the next update a big or small one?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on November 04, 2018, 07:25:45 am
Yeah the final level is very much like that, the only objective is to break the brain by whatever means you have. Congrats on the zubrin win.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 04, 2018, 02:45:38 pm
Well winning through savescum is not really worth congratulating, lol. But the game was already beaten with Zubrin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 04, 2018, 10:36:02 pm
How about Mansion staff gets better guns after about year and few months into the game, just like Megapol does, potentially even replacing some weaker units with more elite guards. The moment I send it elite squad packing plasma pistols and plasma daggers it feels less like a challenge and more like a chore, but one I still do because of the substantial reward. Would that be doable?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 04, 2018, 11:27:29 pm
I don't think it'd make much sense. Besides, for many people it is the first chance to actually be able to win this mission - once they get top class equipment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Alex_D on November 05, 2018, 01:22:24 am
Well winning through savescum is not really worth congratulating, lol. But the game was already beaten with Zubrin.

More like the game beat me when I tried with the Zubrin.
If it wasn't for the overwhelming MCs I'd probably have done it without re-loading.

I still consider the Conqueror assault to be my official "timeline". It will be another few in-game months to complete all the stuff needed to build the ship in a timely manner, including the Annihilator suits. Money is not an issue anymore with my game. I'm attaching my save of just prior sending the Zubrin to Mars, for reference and mod tweaking if applicable.
I suppose I could have made more progress if I had "purchased" a Provost earlier in the campaign as opposite of waiting for the proper mission. I ended up purchasing her anyways. I'll wait for the next update before advancing the campaign a bit further. There is still some research to be done somewhere ;-)

Something I noticed is in the countless battles of this campaign, I don't remember I ever had a Blaster bomb fired my way. Is there something wrong with the mod or the aliens, or I was very lucky?

I remember in the original X-Com I usually panicked and direct all available firepower towards the blaster launchers. Nowadays, I do prioritize the attack on the EMP minilaunchers, Rocket, and RPG launchers, in that order.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 05, 2018, 03:24:01 am
Something I noticed is in the countless battles of this campaign, I don't remember I ever had a Blaster bomb fired my way.
Me too, btw.
AI can't put the waypoints I guess? :D 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 05, 2018, 08:03:05 am
Me too, btw.
AI can't put the waypoints I guess? :D

It can.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 05, 2018, 10:06:34 am
It can.

To my pardon, I played X-Piratez J7 with OXCE 5.0 which in turn had, as Dioxine mentioned, some errors in the AI scripts (or) else.
Probably OXCE 5.1 will show my gals the power of blaster (hope won't, it's Ironman mode)
Although, it is hardly believable that AI may use several waypoints to make a out-of-the-corner shot, presuming some enemies are there (out of the line of the sight, spotted a turn ago). But that would be nice.

At the moment, I think that I was playing the whole 0.99J7 game with semi-paperdolls instead of the dedicated "AI". Still immersive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Chromeo on November 05, 2018, 10:06:51 am
Hello all, no spoilers please, I just lost a territory to 'zero tolerance policy' and an enemy hideout appeared, I haven't unlocked enemy mission tracking yet so I didn't realise they were taking over, can I win it back by destroying the enemy hideout or have I lost it forever? As a perfectionist it would annoy me too much if that were the case. I know it's sort of silly but nonetheless, I'd have to reload many hours back presumably to avoid it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 05, 2018, 10:10:52 am
Hello all, no spoilers please, I just lost a territory to 'zero tolerance policy' and an enemy hideout appeared, I haven't unlocked enemy mission tracking yet so I didn't realise they were taking over, can I win it back by destroying the enemy hideout or have I lost it forever? As a perfectionist it would annoy me too much if that were the case. I know it's sort of silly but nonetheless, I'd have to reload many hours back presumably to avoid it.
Haven't seen this possibility implemented into X-Piratez. But OXCE has this option enabled for the modders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Chromeo on November 05, 2018, 10:11:31 am
Haven't seen this possibility enabled within X-Piratez. But OXCE has this option enabled for the modders.
So the hideout and the cutoff aren't related?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 05, 2018, 10:17:24 am
So the hideout and the cutoff aren't related?

Let's erase this back and look for the developer's answer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Chromeo on November 05, 2018, 10:24:55 am
Let's erase this back and look for the developer's answer.
Aight, no worries, thanks man.

Great mod to the devs by the way, some real killer work. Having a lot of fun so far.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: ivandogovich on November 05, 2018, 03:54:47 pm
At this point, once the Sway Government mission is complete, the nation leaves the funding pool and the enemy base is built.

This isn't a problem really, as the base provides monthly opportunities to attack their supply ships and farm lovely goodies like baby nukes and slaves.  The funding loss is negligible in the overall scheme as your general operating expenses should be covered by profitable manufacturing, ie Grog, Chemicals, etc. 

I recommend playing on and reaping the rewards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on November 05, 2018, 06:21:44 pm
So the hideout and the cutoff aren't related?
When you lose a country to Zero Tolerance Policy, a faction base is created in it. So they are related - but destroying the base won't get you the country back.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 05, 2018, 09:58:53 pm
When you lose a country to Zero Tolerance Policy, a faction base is created in it. So they are related - but destroying the base won't get you the country back.
But not the versa - the enemy base spotted in some territory doesn't mean the country will proclaim ZTP
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 06, 2018, 02:41:19 am
Hello all, no spoilers please, I just lost a territory to 'zero tolerance policy' and an enemy hideout appeared, I haven't unlocked enemy mission tracking yet so I didn't realise they were taking over, can I win it back by destroying the enemy hideout or have I lost it forever? As a perfectionist it would annoy me too much if that were the case. I know it's sort of silly but nonetheless, I'd have to reload many hours back presumably to avoid it.

Once it's gone, it's gone, that's how it is intended to work. Take the emotional hit like a man.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Chromeo on November 06, 2018, 11:36:28 am
Once it's gone, it's gone, that's how it is intended to work. Take the emotional hit like a man.
I reloaded like 7-8 hours and made sure no courier ships landed there, still happened anyway, FML. I just don't like irreversible failure states in videogames. There's enough of that in real life. Oh well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on November 07, 2018, 01:41:13 am
That's how alien infiltration missions worked in original Xcom, and sway local govt missions in Piratez are pretty much an exact clone of that.  Once it starts, the only thing you can do is delay the mission's progress by shooting down the initial waves.  But the final wave will happen eventually; and when the largest UFO shows up (just showing up is enough, it doesn't even need to land), the enemy base is built and the country cuts off its funding.

Piratez does use OXCE+ though, which has recently allowed enemy missions to be completely stopped by shooting down or ground assaulting the participating enemy crafts.  I don't know if sway local govt missions can be stopped that way, it depends on the numbers that Dioxine set for that mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 07, 2018, 02:54:34 am
It can be stopped by shooting down waves, if you're lucky. Also, "failure state"? The impact is mostly emotional. The mod is based on diminishing returns principle. If you want to be perfectionist, you need to extert disproportionately higher effort. If it wasn't so, won't people who are not perfectionists, but simply competent, come out as retards/poor players? I don't want it to be so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 07, 2018, 09:14:37 am
If you don’t want to lose the countries, you can rush the relevant technology. If you dedicate yourswelf towards this task, it can be done by... maybe september of the first year.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 07, 2018, 10:25:00 am
and when the largest UFO shows up (just showing up is enough, it doesn't even need to land), the enemy base is built and the country cuts off its funding.
At the 75-80% progress of the game I had 7 or 8 enemy bases through the map and only one country ZTP'ded me (at 20% progress, so far before).
I guess there are two or three separate mechanisms of enemy bases emersion.
Had countless waves though. Maybe I was good at the end-month scores?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Ridаn on November 07, 2018, 04:24:57 pm
I reloaded like 7-8 hours and made sure no courier ships landed there, still happened anyway, FML. I just don't like irreversible failure states in videogames. There's enough of that in real life. Oh well.
To the countrary, Id consider Piratez campaign without any significant losses an "imperfect" one. During last run I regularly lost veterans to dumb random stuff, and it grew to be way more fun and complete experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 07, 2018, 05:07:28 pm
Losing a country and letting enemy base exist might be worth it as it lets you farm supply ships. Of course it depends on what is building the base and in which biome. Academy on desert or other open plain is piss easy to farm if your menace class lands in good position that lets you snipe the goons from the roof without having to worry about geting nuked from the front. (holosuits are especially good for this)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Chromeo on November 07, 2018, 07:35:37 pm
It can be stopped by shooting down waves, if you're lucky. Also, "failure state"? The impact is mostly emotional. The mod is based on diminishing returns principle. If you want to be perfectionist, you need to extert disproportionately higher effort. If it wasn't so, won't people who are not perfectionists, but simply competent, come out as retards/poor players? I don't want it to be so.
I suppose. Still I was only asking a question, there's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to have fun the same as everyone else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Ridаn on November 07, 2018, 07:59:54 pm
Iirc its just the vanilla Xcom rules - once the Alien Infiltration (Zero Tolerance for XPiratez) mission is generated one of the region countries is gone from funding at the end of the month, and hostile faction base spawns there.
Being able to interrupt those is relatively recent addition, and is implemented as a %chance to deny the mission whenever any of mission UFOs are shot down.
At least thats how I get it, and I do take a long breaks from following all the development.

I suppose. Still I was only asking a question, there's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to have fun the same as everyone else.
Please, do not take offence, its just that whenever any project goes wide there will always be haters (it just happens), and creators have no choice but to sharpen the edges to stay sane. Do not take it personally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: BBHood217 on November 08, 2018, 01:54:44 am
At the 75-80% progress of the game I had 7 or 8 enemy bases through the map and only one country ZTP'ded me (at 20% progress, so far before).
I guess there are two or three separate mechanisms of enemy bases emersion.

Only two missions produce enemy bases both in original Xcom and Piratez: Alien base (secret hideout) and alien infiltration (sway local govt).  No doubt in your game, the enemy factions just wanted to build bases and only once harassed a local govt to do so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 08, 2018, 02:45:49 am
I suppose. Still I was only asking a question, there's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to have fun the same as everyone else.

...How was I rude? I just explained honestly my design philosophy. Is not wanting a situation where a non-perfectionist feels like a sucker - rude nowadays?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 09, 2018, 06:45:56 pm
I just got a convoy and loaded it up with gear and guns, but when intercepting one of the groups of infantry (3 guys with bows?), the guns on the convoy don't seem to do any damage to the infantry. Am i missing something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2018, 06:46:57 pm
Maybe you're simply missing, it's not an easy target.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 09, 2018, 06:56:49 pm
But i think i went through 100 rounds of ammo for the 25mm gun without a single hit. I think the blip lights up and you get a certain sound when it's hit, and i don't think that ever occured.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 09, 2018, 07:15:29 pm
But i think i went through 100 rounds of ammo for the 25mm gun without a single hit. I think the blip lights up and you get a certain sound when it's hit, and i don't think that ever occured.

If your pilots suck, it is certainly possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on November 09, 2018, 07:29:25 pm
Yeah the ratman gangs are both very small targets and have high evasion, you need at least 60% total accuracy(weapon+crew+ship) to have any chance to hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 09, 2018, 07:31:52 pm
Yeah the ratman gangs are both very small targets and have high evasion, you need at least 60% total accuracy(weapon+crew+ship) to have any chance to hit.

Wow ok, so how much acc do the pilots need to get there? And does that mean that my convoy is useless until then?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on November 09, 2018, 10:16:30 pm
Convoy is not really meant as an attack craft. You can bring a lot of bodies to the battle with them though, and that can be an asset on its own.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on November 10, 2018, 02:03:31 am
To figure out that start with the weapon entry in the pedia and go from there. Remember that craft with multiple pilots use an average of all pilots.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 10, 2018, 09:02:59 am
Convoy is not really meant as an attack craft. You can bring a lot of bodies to the battle with them though, and that can be an asset on its own.
Fixed: You can bring a lot of dead bodies to the battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2018, 01:44:17 pm
Convoy is not really meant as an attack craft. You can bring a lot of bodies to the battle with them though, and that can be an asset on its own.

Heh, didn't even think of that, but yeah that is actually really helpful.

Still, the convoy is early game tech, and if it only gets somewhat decent at combat when a lot of time has passed (where you have much better gals and tech), then it seems pointless giving the convoy weapon slots at all (since i assume the convoy will be replaced by a higher-tech alternative eventually?).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 10, 2018, 08:42:19 pm
..and *99J9 is Coming Soon :p ;D)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 10, 2018, 11:16:48 pm
Btw, i recently had my base assaulted, and noticed that the game lagged somewhat a lot, considering this is a dosbox game. Is this because the game is so heavily modified, and is there a way to fix it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 10, 2018, 11:24:59 pm
Btw, i recently had my base assaulted, and noticed that the game lagged somewhat a lot, considering this is a dosbox game. Is this because the game is so heavily modified, and is there a way to fix it?

You can change the resolution/scaling so that less tiles are visible at once.
You can turn off display filters, if you're using any.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 11, 2018, 08:00:29 am
You can change the resolution/scaling so that less tiles are visible at once.
You can turn off display filters, if you're using any.

In 0.99J7 I found quite a lot of lags in the Mysterious tower missions. No lags were observed in 0.99J5.
Does not depend on a terrain.
No filters, no scaling, the resolution is native.
Other types of missions generate no lags at all.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: legionof1 on November 11, 2018, 08:47:44 am
mystery tower is by far the lagiest map, since it uses all possible positive Z levels. The original game maxed at 3 z levels, the towers i think 15. Space maps have more(due to + and - levels) but they dont have floor terrain to render. And not much other terrain either. Uniform voids are easy on the engine.

The taller the map the more voxels are rendered and tracked at once. And truth be told the engine is not especially well optimized for its maximum limits, and we are compensating for these inefficient processes with modern hardware power.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 11, 2018, 05:35:24 pm
and we are compensating for these inefficient processes with modern hardware power.

This is insane, btw, considering the DOS game intended to be executed with x286.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 11, 2018, 05:49:41 pm
I've come across several items that can be worn, and they each have a certain 'gear slot' they belong to, but i cant figure out where those slots would be. Am i missing some tech to enable those slots or..?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 11, 2018, 05:50:30 pm
This is insane, btw, considering the DOS game intended to be executed with x286.

OpenXcom with vanilla maps, vanilla view distances, etc. also runs on anything... don't compare what cannot be compared.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 11, 2018, 05:57:09 pm
I've come across several items that can be worn, and they each have a certain 'gear slot' they belong to, but i cant figure out where those slots would be. Am i missing some tech to enable those slots or..?

I guess you mean shawls and such. Just put it in inventory and it will work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 11, 2018, 06:02:31 pm
noticed that the game lagged somewhat a lot, considering this is a dosbox game.

This is not a dosbox game. It's a C+ game. Don't let that dumb dos4gw screen confuse you. It's a fake.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Nychrome on November 13, 2018, 06:12:02 am
Yo, just made an account. Did a windows Defender scan of my computer earlier today and it says there was a 'Trojan:Script\Foretype.A!ml' at

File-c/Users/name/desktop/Dioxine_xpiratez/user/mods/Piratez/Resources/Corpses/Thumbs.db

It was the only thing the program picked up. Is the downloader or something compromised? I did a quick check through the forums to see if anyone else brought it up, no one did, not sure if that means I was the first to notice it or this is paranoia


Good mod otherwise!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Petethegoat on November 13, 2018, 06:24:02 am
Yo, just made an account. Did a windows Defender scan of my computer earlier today and it says there was a 'Trojan:Script\Foretype.A!ml' at

File-c/Users/name/desktop/Dioxine_xpiratez/user/mods/Piratez/Resources/Corpses/Thumbs.db
Thumbs.db is generated by windows (to display thumbnail images in windows explorer), so it's probably not anything malicious.


Does Dioxine have a patreon or anything similar? I try to give a couple bucks to a few creators each month, and I just remembered that Xpiratez exists, so I'd love to contribute if possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 13, 2018, 09:45:56 am
Does Dioxine have a patreon or anything similar?
Please check the donation link: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 13, 2018, 11:42:06 am
Yo, just made an account. Did a windows Defender scan of my computer earlier today and it says there was a 'Trojan:Script\Foretype.A!ml' at

File-c/Users/name/desktop/Dioxine_xpiratez/user/mods/Piratez/Resources/Corpses/Thumbs.db

It was the only thing the program picked up. Is the downloader or something compromised? I did a quick check through the forums to see if anyone else brought it up, no one did, not sure if that means I was the first to notice it or this is paranoia


Good mod otherwise!

Hi and welcome to the forum,

there is no such file in the PirateZ download package.

The file was most likely automatically created by Windows when you were looking at the folder's content in windows explorer.

The 'Trojan:Script\Foretype.A!ml' is a known trojan and therefore the likelihood of a false positive is (in my opinion) quite small... so you probably have a real infection... but the file was infected after you have downloaded piratez, because nobody else seems to have this issue.

Regards,
M.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on November 13, 2018, 06:21:13 pm
The 'Trojan:Script\Foretype.A!ml' is a known trojan and therefore the likelihood of a false positive is (in my opinion) quite small... so you probably have a real infection... but the file was infected after you have downloaded piratez, because nobody else seems to have this issue.
Windows Defender is very bad in indicating heuristic results (as in, it doesn't do it at all), so not necessarily. I'd upload the file to VirusTotal.com first before entering panic mode - takes all of five minutes and if he's infected, nothing new will be stolen in that time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 14, 2018, 01:30:38 pm
Some postcard to TS.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 14, 2018, 02:58:56 pm
Windows Defender is very bad in indicating heuristic results (as in, it doesn't do it at all), so not necessarily. I'd upload the file to VirusTotal.com first before entering panic mode - takes all of five minutes and if he's infected, nothing new will be stolen in that time.

My bad, the name of the trojan looked specific enough I thought it's a real name.
But yeah, this is just a generic name... so quite likely a false positive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 14, 2018, 08:52:02 pm
Some postcard to TS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qN72LEQnaU  :P 8) ;DD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: magus1 on November 15, 2018, 01:16:53 am
Dear Dioxine,

Have Tritons been ditched? I can't seem to make any. I am running J3  - no problem and J5 - no tritons. Sorry I am wailing but not well at the moment and I looked through the change logs and did not see anything.

Also, when I do those "catacomb" missions for coins where you can't see anything and there are spiders or three enemies, when I throw electro-flares the game crashes - sometimes.

Keep being great,

Maggy
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: DeWolf on November 15, 2018, 04:32:19 am
So are sandbags removed entirely or what?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 15, 2018, 01:17:35 pm
Dear Dioxine,

Have Tritons been ditched? I can't seem to make any. I am running J3  - no problem and J5 - no tritons. Sorry I am wailing but not well at the moment and I looked through the change logs and did not see anything.

Also, when I do those "catacomb" missions for coins where you can't see anything and there are spiders or three enemies, when I throw electro-flares the game crashes - sometimes.

Keep being great,

Maggy

You need to have RNG on your side and let the game spawn Reticulians early in your game, becouse you need their stuff researched to get Triton.

By pressing "Space", or clicking "Screen Lock" you can activate "Night vision" that lets you see what your gals can without darkness. I don't know anything about bug, becouse I use archers with flame arrows to illuminate areas (if I need to). Just stop using electroflares.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 15, 2018, 01:36:14 pm
Also, when I do those "catacomb" missions for coins where you can't see anything and there are spiders or three enemies, when I throw electro-flares the game crashes - sometimes.

Has been fixed in a recent OXCE version (28.10.2018 or newer).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 15, 2018, 02:27:14 pm
Nothing ever gets ditched except for rare cases of egregious design mistake - as it was with Hired Mercs before and Sanbags recently. Sometimes old stuff gets replaced/expanded, which can cause a grind too; a million voices screamed and fell silent when I removed the option to make prostitutes out of all female slaves :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 15, 2018, 04:08:23 pm
a million voices screamed and fell silent when I removed the option to make prostitutes out of all female slaves :)
Psionic prostitutes could have brought a lot of profit though

...I found myself as the blindfolded man;
With thousands of hands that caressed flesh of mine.
There is no place to rest for me since then.
Recalcitrant, with greed I stride from stash to stash
The hollow soul alike
That has been lost on boundary line.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on November 15, 2018, 07:27:37 pm
So you say we should be able to make loverboys out of mages?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 15, 2018, 08:07:21 pm
Hired Mercs? ? who they were ?
what they were like?
?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 16, 2018, 01:11:25 pm
Hired Mercs? ? who they were ?
what they were like?
?

Buyable auxilaries like blood dogs are now. They used the Megapol Apeman sprite, were just as tough and came with boom gun and punch attack. The ussue was that you could hire them the moment you managed to subdue any merc, which isn’t that hard if you camp in Airbus and wait untill one wanders close enough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 16, 2018, 07:50:04 pm
Can someone tell me whether the shotgun fist inflicts 1 damage and 10 stun on the enemy or on the user?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 16, 2018, 08:48:03 pm
Buyable auxilaries like blood dogs are now. They used the Megapol Apeman sprite, were just as tough and came with boom gun and punch attack. The ussue was that you could hire them the moment you managed to subdue any merc, which isn’t that hard if you camp in Airbus and wait untill one wanders close enough.

could you tell me, in what version it was, thoese "Hire´d Mercs (if you remember)
thx for answers
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 16, 2018, 09:18:52 pm
Can someone tell me whether the shotgun fist inflicts 1 damage and 10 stun on the enemy or on the user?

Forgot to also ask: I've gotten the admiral del corazon outfit, but i can't research it to find out what it does. What do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: ivandogovich on November 16, 2018, 11:10:12 pm
Forgot to also ask: I've gotten the admiral del corazon outfit, but i can't research it to find out what it does. What do?

Shotgun fist applies the 1 hp and 10 stun to the user.  To the enemy it applies 4 rounds of birdshot damage. (14 damage X 32 pellets in all blasts).

Admiral Del Corazon:  Huge boost to bravery but should be used by high ranking gals.  You can put it on a gal to see the impacts.  This makes bravery scaling weapons especially attractive (Boarding Guns, Handles, Billhooks, etc.).  Use Alt in the inventory screen with a gal wearing the outfit to compare damage potentials of these weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: wolfreal on November 16, 2018, 11:27:14 pm
Nothing ever gets ditched except for rare cases of egregious design mistake - as it was with Hired Mercs before and Sanbags recently. Sometimes old stuff gets replaced/expanded, which can cause a grind too; a million voices screamed and fell silent when I removed the option to make prostitutes out of all female slaves :)

What? You can make courtesan from slave maids, no?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2018, 08:50:27 am
Forgot to also ask: I've gotten the admiral del corazon outfit, but i can't research it to find out what it does. What do?

Check your Pedia matey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2018, 04:37:48 pm
Check your Pedia matey.

If you mean here https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Piratez then i already have. There's only one entry and that only describes its protections, weight and size, but not the other bonuses. But that's besides the point because it would be a lot more handy to have the entry in the in-game bootypedia (which doesn't seem to be there), and more importantly, let me know about potential tech dependancies (and ways to reproduce etc.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 17, 2018, 05:09:09 pm
If you mean here https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Piratez then i already have.

No... The actual Pedia. Not some online website.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2018, 05:28:16 pm
No... The actual Pedia. Not some online website.

But i already did and can't find it, and it's not in the research menu either
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Meridian on November 17, 2018, 05:57:38 pm
But i already did and can't find it, and it's not in the research menu either
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2018, 06:20:10 pm
I just checked again and there it was...am i just blind as a bat, or is there a dependancy that must be met before it shows up in the bootypedia (maybe that you have to use it for at least one mission?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Abyss on November 17, 2018, 07:06:17 pm
I just checked again and there it was...am i just blind
This forum is created to help you and me and thousands of other guys to understand the basics of the OpenXCom UI and mechanics. So please keep on learning like we all do!  :)

To the topic: there are two types of items - the ones already known, like the admirals outfit and the musketon and ones to be found (squeezed from the enemy bodies) and researched!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 17, 2018, 07:24:07 pm
I just checked again and there it was...am i just blind as a bat, or is there a dependancy that must be met before it shows up in the bootypedia (maybe that you have to use it for at least one mission?)

There isn't such a dependency. The article is unlocked the moment Gold Codex is first researched, along with articles on all other stuff you will get with it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 17, 2018, 07:56:50 pm
There isn't such a dependency. The article is unlocked the moment Gold Codex is first researched, along with articles on all other stuff you will get with it.

Ahh that explains it, because i got the admiral outfit as soon as i selected the gold path, but i didn't reseach the Gold Codex until later, which explains why i couldn't find the entry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 19, 2018, 08:50:31 pm
I've noticed several times where an enemy has his back to me, then i shoot at him or melee him a bit, and walk away...he hasn't seen me at all so far. But then while i'm walking away, he suddenly does a 180 and fires at me. Why does this happen and why don't my gals do the same?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: cc on November 19, 2018, 09:45:50 pm
I've noticed several times where an enemy has his back to me, then i shoot at him or melee him a bit, and walk away...he hasn't seen me at all so far. But then while i'm walking away, he suddenly does a 180 and fires at me. Why does this happen and why don't my gals do the same?
Once you shoot/attack an enemy, he can "see" you. If you then do an action that is worthy of a reaction check (like walking), it triggers. Since this is after attacking, your TU is likely to be very low and thus the reaction check succeeds.
Your Gals act the same. Just keep more TU in reserve to experience it. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: panzertoter on November 19, 2018, 10:14:54 pm
Hi, I already posted it in crash and bug forum section, do sorry for spam: After I try to load cyberdisc/hmg onto my craft (AUX capable) game crashes.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 19, 2018, 10:27:02 pm
so oookk,
well,
im going to make some fine, top -ultimate (power) armor, / ("leather, /or "chain" armor´ed clothes - just similar, in style like of

http://www.svetmightandmagic.cz/mmvi/mmvi_zbroje.php#02


where i shwould begin ?  what files i need to start edit ?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on November 19, 2018, 10:49:06 pm
Shouldn't you need Baby Nukes for the timed version? I've never seen a Baby Nuke in my current game and got Uranium Weapons Documentation from an Old Earth book, which means I can research timed Baby Nukes.
I know that it is pretty useless, but it seems wrong that I can do that at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 20, 2018, 02:29:52 pm
It makes sense, you know the schematics of one, you know how to do soemthing relatively trivial as to rig it with a timer. Why would you waste research on it at all even when you have a stockpile of nukes is another question entirely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on November 20, 2018, 11:17:33 pm
But I do not know the schematics of one. I know what nukes are, because I read a book about them, but I have never seen one. Baby Nuke itself is not researched yet. (or even an option, as I haven't seen one yet)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Martin on November 21, 2018, 09:11:03 am
I assume the documentation contains schematics for baby nukes. I assume people of earth aren’t ignorant about early 20th century physics and know about the nuclear wars star gods stopped, so the existence of nuclear fission weapons is no secret, they just aren’t allowed to develop them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 21, 2018, 01:10:40 pm
But I do not know the schematics of one.

You do. Check Ballista's or DC Mortar's entry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Rince Wind on November 21, 2018, 07:25:20 pm
Ah, cool, found it. Thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Droggarth on November 23, 2018, 03:41:45 pm
As far as mods that expand upon the core game(s) go, this mod is still a must have for me. Just recently started a new playthrough after updating to the current 0.99J8 version. Not sure how far I got in my previous playthrough but I'm far more excited about where the new playthrough has in store.

I still mod and cheat to play singleplayer games on my own terms and in my own way to get more out of them, that's just how I roll for years now and it's how escapism works for me the best. The more challenging a game is the more fun it is for me to mow down my foes with a modded/cheaty/witchraft supersoldier I am a Xenophilic Mutant Commando here for a reason you know. So go ahead call me a wierdo, disgusting, dirty mutant, alien scum, cheater or whatever you feel like. Get it out of your system like how I have to get it out of my system about how awesome this mod is.

I mean pillaging, plundering and being free to basically make the game's world one's bitch however one likes, that's just awesome! Thank you, Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Ridаn on November 23, 2018, 06:57:29 pm
As far as mods that expand upon the core game(s) go, this mod is still a must have for me. Just recently started a new playthrough after updating to the current 0.99J8 version. Not sure how far I got in my previous playthrough but I'm far more excited about where the new playthrough has in store.

I still mod and cheat to play singleplayer games on my own terms and in my own way to get more out of them, that's just how I roll for years now and it's how escapism works for me the best. The more challenging a game is the more fun it is for me to mow down my foes with a modded/cheaty/witchraft supersoldier I am a Xenophilic Mutant Commando here for a reason you know. So go ahead call me a wierdo, disgusting, dirty mutant, alien scum, cheater or whatever you feel like. Get it out of your system like how I have to get it out of my system about how awesome this mod is.

I mean pillaging, plundering and being free to basically make the game's world one's bitch however one likes, that's just awesome! Thank you, Dioxine!
You suck, welcome aboard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 23, 2018, 07:00:28 pm
No problem, you're welcome, just why such a weird coming out? What do you even mean, dude? You want to disgust me by claiming you're a cheater? Or what?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: LytaRyta on November 23, 2018, 07:06:35 pm
i cheat a little, abit too, - but only just as way to "update from those frequently versions changes, -e.g. -

 - what is more ..(time,/effective)worthly ? :

 - manually edit changes needed .."changes after every new versions
?
 - or start new game, after few, respectively after some more versions, editions - and help boost of ..progress, with little cheating ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Droggarth on November 23, 2018, 11:25:27 pm
No problem, you're welcome, just why such a weird coming out? What do you even mean, dude? You want to disgust me by claiming you're a cheater? Or what?

Aye, I am quite odd indeed, is my nature nowadays. Other than that I'm off to lurking in the shadows again after commenting on this update to the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J8 - 19 Oct - Mixed Bag
Post by: Dioxine on November 24, 2018, 12:39:14 am
Aye, I am quite odd indeed, is my nature nowadays. Other than that I'm off to lurking in the shadows again after commenting on this update to the mod.

Good, lurkers are the closest to my heart :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on November 24, 2018, 10:53:19 pm
New version up. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on November 24, 2018, 11:44:43 pm
New version up. Enjoy!

H-o-o-o-o-o-R-A-y-y-y-y!!!!!!!!!

UPD: Thx for the Impaler nerf. Didn't check yet but probably it will crush balance less with the morale drain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on November 25, 2018, 01:14:46 am
- Update: Base Defenses (SAM/Missile/Fusion get bigger radar, Flak/Laser/Gauss/Plasma maps reworked and a turret for tactical Hideout defense; Flak loses extra crew space; costs adjusted)

Are there plans to eventually add these to enemy hideouts too?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: ivansanchez on November 25, 2018, 03:05:42 am
0.99J9 24-Nov-2018
- Added cover art by Berggen

The new cover art is also used in the voodoo training screen, and the palette changes are kinda making my eyes hurt. Would it be possible to tweak those?




Edit: Similar palette effect happens when confirming building a new building.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on November 25, 2018, 03:45:05 am
Dear Dioxine, thank you and bless you for the change of nuke-things. No more losing a crew in one turn. Yes, I want to nuke them back but the balance is good. If this is not the place to sing and dance about Xpiratez then mea culpa, but I sing and dance...

Love what you do,

Maggy

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 25, 2018, 03:49:42 am
What are the different ship gun classes? I find it hard to figure out when a gun will say "light" in its description, but some not-so-obvious abbreviation in a ship's description.

Also, just saw there's a new version out. Is it possible to use my current saves with newer versions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: ivansanchez on November 25, 2018, 05:07:16 am
What are the different ship gun classes? I find it hard to figure out when a gun will say "light" in its description, but some not-so-obvious abbreviation in a ship's description.

"LT" stands for "Light", "HV" stands for  "Heavy", and "MS" stands for "Missile". "STC" is something different that you'll need to research.

Also, just saw there's a new version out. Is it possible to use my current saves with newer versions?

Usually yes. Do check the post titled "Upgrading saves between versions" (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4133.0.html) to see if any tweaks are needed. For what it's worth, I just upgraded to 0.99J9 from 0.99J8 on a mid-late game and everything seems to work without any problems.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on November 25, 2018, 05:10:53 am
Dear Dioxine, thank you and bless you for the change of nuke-things. No more losing a crew in one turn. Yes, I want to nuke them back but the balance is good.

??? I did not change the nukes. Or am I going mad...?

The new cover art is also used in the voodoo training screen, and the palette changes are kinda making my eyes hurt. Would it be possible to tweak those?

The game uses one and the same picture for all these things, so, no, I don't think so. Unless there is some way I don't know. Still worth it IMO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: FG on November 25, 2018, 06:58:40 am
New version up. Enjoy!

Nice! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Rince Wind on November 25, 2018, 12:54:08 pm
Sweet!
Haven't had a chance to download it yet, but one question: Do I still need 10 Hypno Panels for the VooDoo School? I just got 24 from your friendly neighbourhood academy and I wonder if I should wait building new schools because I could get three if they only need 8 now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on November 25, 2018, 05:35:51 pm
...Do you really think I care, or even remember? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Rince Wind on November 25, 2018, 06:30:23 pm
No. :D
But maybe someone else. Anyway, I downloaded and can have a look.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 25, 2018, 09:33:01 pm
I'm using a customzied StatStrings file, where i have different classes. One of them is a scout class that requires 80+ energy, and the improved version of that class is recon, with 120+ energy. Problem is that if the given gal don't fit into any of the former classes, they will ALWAYS become recon, even when they don't have 120+ energy. Can someone take a look at my file and tell me why this is?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on November 26, 2018, 09:59:12 am

0.99J9 24-Nov-2018
[...]
- New Ammo: Flintlock SC-Balls, Flintlock WP-Balls


What does these SC and WP letters stand for?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: FG on November 26, 2018, 10:38:32 am
What does these SC and WP letters stand for?

SuperConductive and White Phosphorus munitions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: BBHood217 on November 27, 2018, 01:28:45 am
And if you're wondering about those, they translate to electric and fire damage respectively.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on November 27, 2018, 03:51:44 am
Dear Dioxine, in reply to the thing I said about nukes, I am still running J5 and I have not had nasty nukers wiping out my squads. Also, where I used to collect baby nukes for fun and fire them back, I have just obtained only 4 and I am up to 2606.

Secondly, no alien bases detected at all, which is a good thing but curious.

I hope this makes sense.

Love,

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: ivandogovich on November 27, 2018, 03:58:50 am
Dear Dioxine, in reply to the thing I said about nukes, I am still running J5 and I have not had nasty nukers wiping out my squads. Also, where I used to collect baby nukes for fun and fire them back, I have just obtained only 4 and I am up to 2606.

Secondly, no alien bases detected at all, which is a good thing but curious.

I hope this makes sense.

Love,

Maggie

There was a bug in previous versions, that prevented enemy bases being built.  It sounds like you are suffering from that.   Baby nukes are extremely common on the Supply Ships that visit enemy bases every month.  I have 4 bases in my 2602 campaign, and I've harvested tons of nukes.

I highly recommend upgrading your campaign to get the bug fixes that are provided with each release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on November 27, 2018, 04:09:03 am
Thankyou Ivan! It probably explains my lack of progress too.

XXX

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 27, 2018, 11:11:14 pm
What are the requirements for bughunt to be activated? It has happened several times after a 25 or something turns, but i had a base defense where it never turned on (the battle lasted 150 or so turns).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 28, 2018, 01:24:44 am
What are the requirements for bughunt to be activated? It has happened several times after a 25 or something turns, but i had a base defense where it never turned on (the battle lasted 150 or so turns).

If I remember correctly it's 15 turns atleast and two-three enemies left.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on November 28, 2018, 01:33:41 am
15 turns and two enemies left.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on November 28, 2018, 02:13:44 am
The bughunt seems for me to always appear with 2 enemies - I remember being told that the enemies going insane helps it occur.

I just finished the space freighter mission. It took three evenings - the bughunt began when there was just a robot and a guy with a cattle prod left. 105 dead.

Some very nice loot though. Can we have a dancing banana emoji?

One thing, I needed to upgrade to J9 but I finished the mission I was in first; I was wondering if finishing an on-going mission before upgrading is a sensible thing to always do so you prevent crashes...

Love,

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: ivandogovich on November 28, 2018, 03:57:33 am
Upgrading a campaign is best done during a Geoscape save.  That way you avoid crashes if items were changed and (ie, new gunshot sound, but the save is still looking for the old one).   The other consideration is that its nice to do it before you begin a new month.  The beginning of the month handles all the mission generation for that month and upgrading before the month change allows any newer missions to be in the spawning pool.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: null-painter on November 29, 2018, 03:15:56 am
Hi Dioxine!

Long time lurker and fan here - both of xpiratez and your general demeanor. You make us something amazing for free and even respond to insane bullshit  posts creatively (I've pissed myself and been encouraged to research history from your responses :o).

Anyways, other than praise, wanted to mention a typo "strenght" in bootypedia for Wierdness - if typo reports are welcome. If not, just the praise!
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 29, 2018, 04:16:10 am
I recently found out i could right-click on stuff when buying/selling to see what that item is used for in manufacturing. As such, have items without dependencies any utility other than just selling? As an example, i happened upon a shadow lamp that then researched, but it doesn't have any dependencies (not hidden either) and already has been researched. So can i just sell it, even though its an artifact?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 29, 2018, 01:00:00 pm
I recently found out i could right-click on stuff when buying/selling to see what that item is used for in manufacturing. As such, have items without dependencies any utility other than just selling? As an example, i happened upon a shadow lamp that then researched, but it doesn't have any dependencies (not hidden either) and already has been researched. So can i just sell it, even though its an artifact?

If I remember correctly I've checked "research tree" for this item and it didn't showed anything further (research, or item), so I guess yes, you can sell it. Maybe in this new version it's changed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 29, 2018, 07:08:05 pm
Another oddity i just happened upon was a medium-sized megapol craft that i shot down and assaulted with gals. Everything was going just fine, i was taking cover behind my ship and killing wolf-men pig-men and the big brutes left and right. Then at one point when there are no enemies near my ship, i send one team forward to assault from one side while another takes cover behind the ship, out of sight. I click end turn, and my team that was taking cover spontaneously blows up. That whole team is severely injured and one of my high-health gals in warrior armor is even killed outright from full hp. Neither me or my enemies had thrown a grenade, and i hadn't primed and dropped any explosives either...so what happened?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on November 29, 2018, 07:09:28 pm
Probably engines exploded. Watch out if they're not on fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on November 29, 2018, 08:11:12 pm
Haha, i didn't know that was a feature...Well, one of of utterly blind gals MIGHT have fucked around with an incendiary grenade and accidentally lit the entire roof of my purple turtle on fire:D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Eddie on November 30, 2018, 12:34:39 am
I had a similar experience, from a ratman firing a scorpion. A stray bullet hit the left engine on the roof of the turtle, it caught fire and exploded a few turns later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: arbee81 on November 30, 2018, 03:19:00 am
I recently found out i could right-click on stuff when buying/selling to see what that item is used for in manufacturing. As such, have items without dependencies any utility other than just selling? As an example, i happened upon a shadow lamp that then researched, but it doesn't have any dependencies (not hidden either) and already has been researched. So can i just sell it, even though its an artifact?

Items required for buildings don't show up in the dependencies yet.  Most of that stuff has plenty of other really nice uses anyway, so it's not a big deal.  You probably wouldn't want to sell them unless desperate or you have a lot, but there are at least 2 that don't.  One is boom fruit, the other is used to make the printer.  One other thing to keep in mind is some items might not be fully implemented yet, or may be tied to research in a future version, so it's a good idea to keep 1 of any uncommon items you find tucked away somewhere if you have the space
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on November 30, 2018, 12:36:46 pm
this game (mod) will be oneday awesome, ^^~~2020 ~~ 40, just excellent

already is
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on December 02, 2018, 01:00:21 am
Hi Peeps, I have a Tank Bombard, a gyrocopter and a Drakkar with some Lokk'naars hanging about with nothing to do. How can I equip Drakkar with the tank or gyro? Or do I need a bigger boat?

Love,

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Negative on December 02, 2018, 06:02:38 pm
I have just converted Dr. X to vampire, Reserched her, got "revive Dr. X" production and... what next? Everything researched, she lies in base storage - how can I "use" her?

I have just converted Dr. X to vampire, Reserched her, got "revive Dr. X" production and... what next? Everything researched, she lies in base storage - how can I "use" her?
Just equip them as the armor. Not in craft equipment screen, but from base menu.

posts merged - Dioxine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Rince Wind on December 02, 2018, 06:09:43 pm
They still take up auxiliary slots though, iirc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 03, 2018, 10:13:28 am
Dioxine, I have a little request.
Please do a $1M safe a stunning/concussive weapon, just for the sake of weirdness.
Not the overpowered but decent one.   

--- posts merged ---

Dioxine, I have a little request.
Please do a $1M safe a stunning/concussive weapon, just for the sake of weirdness.
Not the overpowered but decent one.

Meridian,
Please add the fourth column in the "select crew screen" that represents current armor if possible. It will be so nice, when you have 50+ gals and constantly select the armor for the various types of missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Meridian on December 03, 2018, 10:19:02 am
Meridian,
Please add the fourth column in the "select crew screen" that represents current armor if possible. It will be so nice, when you have 50+ gals and constantly select the armor for the various types of missions.

There is no more space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on December 03, 2018, 12:48:10 pm
Thank you for the new lascannon tank! It is so cool, the look, the awesome damage. And thank you for telling me how to equip it to my Drakkar. Lokk'Naars? More like Rock'naars now!

Love.

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 03, 2018, 03:53:23 pm
There is no more space.
Not even like that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 03, 2018, 04:01:44 pm
There is "ARMORS" menu, you know. As well as pressing "A" when equipping. As well as "Change Armor" button when viewing gals in the "hands" menu.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 03, 2018, 06:29:26 pm
Doors are overpowered. The enemy behavior script is very poor at invading your craft to the point that I could take frigate by simply camping inside a Snake, poping out the top hatch to see if any G.O. wandered nearby and droping granades on them without fear of eating a gauss bullet in retaliation. Took about 25 turns since I got lucky and wiped out almost a third of therm on turn two by satchel charge as they spawned right next to the craft but if that did not have happened it would only take me longer. Perhaps assaults on military vessels should have a time limit to encourage a more agressive approach...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: legionof1 on December 03, 2018, 08:10:02 pm
Yeah that the fault of pathing, the engine wont attempt to path to occupied tiles, since that part also keeps unit from trying to walk into terrain. So if you block all your doors/lifts the engine treats it like a wall off. Unless someone want to rework the pathing code from scratch, doors with troops behind them are always gonna be like that.

The morale degen is supposed to partly address the need to get out of the craft and get to it. But it cant be much more severe then it already is, or you would panic way to much while hunting for the last few dudes in certain maps/missions.

One could put the self destruct charges from the supply ship on more faction vessels, but that may not be appropriate for a blanket use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Meridian on December 03, 2018, 08:26:22 pm
Be careful what you wish for.

Also, if you find an exploit, it doesn't mean you must use it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 03, 2018, 11:02:44 pm
Doors are overpowered.

Tell me about it...

Also, if you find an exploit, it doesn't mean you must use it.

Exactly. Nobody forces you to be gay :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 04, 2018, 04:55:17 am
A trouble with the new Syn mechanics, I have a Surgery Room and all the prerequesites, nevertheless Syn rebuilding is blocked. What's wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ves on December 04, 2018, 05:48:42 am
Is there room for her in the barracks?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 04, 2018, 06:33:47 am
Is there room for her in the barracks?

You are correct, I'm a dumb. Thanks alot, would never had this checked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 04, 2018, 11:29:49 am
Also, if you find an exploit, it doesn't mean you must use it.

I am not blocking the doors with my gals. I sometimes have a gal with a tech blade stationed next to the door on Snake to reaction-hit anybody trying to enter, but it’s mostly unnecessary, the enemies rarely try to enter even if when can.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 04, 2018, 08:04:39 pm
I am not blocking the doors with my gals. I sometimes have a gal with a tech blade stationed next to the door on Snake to reaction-hit anybody trying to enter, but it’s mostly unnecessary, the enemies rarely try to enter even if when can.

Say it to a humanist tank, that destroyed my team and the blowfish once. Opened the door and freakin vaporized the whole crew.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 04, 2018, 09:05:36 pm
Well, if the AI is not that great, I hope someone improves it. That's all there is to it. It's not a mod issue anyway, but main code.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on December 05, 2018, 03:53:34 pm
Okay, tanks.  I love them. I load them up with lasbats and even have lasbats in backpack of Lokk'naar but go to battle and tank isn't loaded. Same thing happens with Bombard. What am I doing wrong?

Love,

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Rince Wind on December 05, 2018, 04:09:06 pm
Seems to be a bug that tanks often don't get their loadout. Just have a look before the battle starts and if necessary load the weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 05, 2018, 04:40:19 pm
Not a bug but a necessary feature. Tanks, I think all of them, can use several two types of ammo. Should they come loaded, you wouldn’t be able to unload the ammo to excahnge it for something else as you need free had to unload and the tanks come with a fixed weapon in both "hands". Now this wouldn’t be much of an issue in campaign short of wanting to load two tanks each with different kinds of grenades for their auxilary launcher, but it would make it impossible to change ammo in custom battles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ves on December 05, 2018, 06:25:35 pm
There is a new option in OXCE to allow unloading, even if the offhand isn't free. The ammo then is dropped to the floor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Alex_D on December 05, 2018, 07:44:16 pm
There is a new option in OXCE to allow unloading, even if the offhand isn't free. The ammo then is dropped to the floor.
But does this mechanic works only if one can pick the gun with the mouse and drag it towards the unload icon? For tanks and similar units this may not work as the guns are fixed to the unit. Maybe there is a shortcut?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ves on December 05, 2018, 10:36:37 pm
But does this mechanic works only if one can pick the gun with the mouse and drag it towards the unload icon? For tanks and similar units this may not work as the guns are fixed to the unit. Maybe there is a shortcut?

Yes, you are right. You have to be able to drag it.  :-[
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2018, 01:27:27 am
Not a bug but a necessary feature. Tanks, I think all of them, can use several two types of ammo. Should they come loaded, you wouldn’t be able to unload the ammo to excahnge it for something else as you need free had to unload and the tanks come with a fixed weapon in both "hands". Now this wouldn’t be much of an issue in campaign short of wanting to load two tanks each with different kinds of grenades for their auxilary launcher, but it would make it impossible to change ammo in custom battles.

Who cares about custom battles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 06, 2018, 12:41:21 pm
Still I think it is more convinient to fill on the pre battle equipment screen rather than having to change the loadout in the hideout before sending out the craft, especially in case of bombard where not all the ammo types are straight upgrades form the base one.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 06, 2018, 06:45:25 pm
Still I think it is more convinient to fill on the pre battle equipment screen rather than having to change the loadout in the hideout before sending out the craft, especially in case of bombard where not all the ammo types are straight upgrades form the base one.

You can fill it pre battle, save the template and then all you have to do is to search the vehicle, F9 and here you go.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Alex_D on December 06, 2018, 09:12:55 pm
If I remember correctly, the template prefill (F9, or any shortcut for that matter) would fill the back pack, but it doesn't fill the ammo for permanently fixed guns. I remember that I would press "Z" for autofill after pressing my shortcut key for the tank.
Maybe it got fixed in a newer OXCE release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 06, 2018, 10:28:01 pm
Loading pre-battle as opposed to in base is rather unwise.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Alex_D on December 06, 2018, 11:28:17 pm
I mostly pre-load my team before leaving the base, with a quick check before battle, mostly to correct a minor loadout if the battle is during day or night time.

The risk of only loading pre-battle is if one accidentally drop a pre-primed grenade (that is not smoke) and forget to pick it up (or deactivate), then said grenade will explode potentially wiping out the whole inventory of the craft and some of the crew with it. The crew can be replaced but some of the inventory is rather unique or hard to manufacture  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 07, 2018, 02:01:23 pm
The craft has unlimited, or practically unlimited, capacity, so it really doesn’t matter. I just carry everything I might need (except Chinese Dragons and other rare/expensive specialist tools) and rearm before battle according to intel and I still have oportunity to pick better suited tools during the battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 07, 2018, 07:02:15 pm
Dioxine, I suggest a couple of fusion torch batteries are not enough to power up an intecontinental vehicle...
Thus I think it will be a nice to implement the "power packs", say, of 80-100 batteries each.
Then a couple of these powerpacks will be able to take off an interceptor from the hangar.
The cost of a single one could be reduced to $2k. Then it won't hurt much.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 07, 2018, 10:11:06 pm
Dioxine, I suggest a couple of fusion torch batteries are not enough to power up an intecontinental vehicle...
Thus I think it will be a nice to implement the "power packs", say, of 80-100 batteries each.
Then a couple of these powerpacks will be able to take off an interceptor from the hangar.
The cost of a single one could be reduced to $2k. Then it won't hurt much.

I always thought that batteries were needed for runts to weld plasteel sheets together. Where is it written, that they are used to power the vehicle? Most are using Tiberium (hehe) Hellerium, several are battery powered (power grid) and few burn chemicals.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 07, 2018, 11:09:14 pm
..also some "cargo ship would be nice, (something like truck in air, /space..

such space equivalent of A-400M, Antaonov An-160, /An-225, or C-5 Galaxy..
slowly huge ship, with alot of cargo (and units, /crews) space,
and almost unlimited, all-planet (whole-planet) range -
- powered by *hEllerium (energy capsules, /energy bateries-packs)

(flight range = ~~ 160 - 360 000 -480 thousand miles.. at once flight )
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 08, 2018, 01:14:41 am
..also some "cargo ship would be nice, (something like truck in air, /space..

such space equivalent of A-400M, Antaonov An-160, /An-225, or C-5 Galaxy..
slowly huge ship, with alot of cargo (and units, /crews) space,
and almost unlimited, all-planet (whole-planet) range -
- powered by *hEllerium (energy capsules, /energy bateries-packs)

(flight range = ~~ 160 - 360 000 -480 thousand miles.. at once flight )

That's literally "Leviatan", "Conqueror", or "Thunderhorse". Play the damn game/mod before making any suggestions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 08, 2018, 01:32:00 am
I always thought that batteries were needed for runts to weld plasteel sheets together.
I am d*mb as ever, thank you for the explanation!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 08, 2018, 08:12:06 am
I have done the underwater oddity mission two times now, but i have a question that i will try to ask without spoiling anything. The first time, i happened upon the 'goodies' by accident because there was no visual indicator of the stuff, though the location hinted very subtly at something being there. The place i'm talking about is where three of the enemies spawn close to each other, but i'm not sure whether or not there are more places to check out for goodies. Given the intricate nature of the mission, exploring every inch is quite risky, so am i missing out?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 08, 2018, 12:31:10 pm
That's literally "Leviatan", "Conqueror", or "Thunderhorse". Play the damn game/mod before making any suggestions.

These come pretty late in the game. I think Lyta meas the literal air truck you can shoot down in the game (K9-truck or something like that, has a crew of three labourers, carries chemicals and consumer goods). It could serve as a slower, more spacious space incapable alternative to the Pachyderm, but IDK if it’s necessary.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 08, 2018, 01:58:15 pm
I never have any idea what LytaRyta means. I stopped caring long ago.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 08, 2018, 04:39:53 pm
These come pretty late in the game. I think Lyta meas the literal air truck you can shoot down in the game (K9-truck or something like that, has a crew of three labourers, carries chemicals and consumer goods). It could serve as a slower, more spacious space incapable alternative to the Pachyderm, but IDK if it’s necessary.

Then Convoy is all you need. It's slow, but very spacious and early in the game. Only few missions dissapear even when targetted by your ship, so It's usually not a problem when you have two teams. One for small, but fast respond to easy missions and one big and slow for huge missions.

Besides, all Hellerium powered crafts are in midgame, or early only if you rush them in research, not even talking about " powered by *hEllerium (energy capsules, /energy bateries-packs)" which is pretty lategame.

Triton is good if you are RNG lucky to get Reticulians early for big amount of soldiers and two vehicles. If everything fails: Zeppelin/blimp/airship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 09, 2018, 09:15:49 pm
I really like the Harquebus introduced in 0.99J9 (a downgraded version of the musket!) but the sprite needs some more consistent gunbutt, i think. Slso, why it's mounting a bayonet on it? These did not mount any blades. i hope it would be temoved from futher versions, so that bayoneted muskets may make more sense
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 09, 2018, 11:50:09 pm
I was just browsing the internet - usuall, but something caught my eye.
Naked gals on the battlefield make more sense/it's more "realistic"/it's more "belivelable" now.
Term: "General Butt Naked"
Sounds silly, but it's not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on December 10, 2018, 12:48:14 am
Dearest Dioxine,

Lyta speaks in syncronise.

which stupidly, is only spoken by Lyta.

(I still cannot arm my las-tanks)

Love,

Margozeta
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 10, 2018, 06:01:51 am
i hope it would be temoved from futher versions, so that bayoneted muskets may make more sense
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 10, 2018, 09:24:30 am
It won't.

Got it...but at least may the RCF carabine get a gunbutt attack option, like the ol' carabine?   :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 10, 2018, 02:10:22 pm
Got it...but at least may the RCF carabine get a gunbutt attack option, like the ol' carabine?   :)

Isn't RCF carabine too fragile to be used like that? It's not chunk of wood, it's carabine: Mix between SMG and Rifle.
I know that RCF is a good weapon, in all my runs I did in Piratez, there was always a stage when RCF carabine was a standard issue weapon for all gals that just went out of "Shotgun Training" reaching about 80 accuracy.
Since gals can punch with their fists, it's not that necessary. Put a handle into QD slot. It only costs 2 to move it to the hand and it also costs 2 to  drop it on the ground. 4 Time Units are not that much when gals after few missions and kill have 100+ TU's.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 10, 2018, 04:36:20 pm
Isn't RCF carabine too fragile to be used like that? It's not chunk of wood, it's carabine: Mix between SMG and Rifle.

It is too fragile, the stock is for aiming only.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 11, 2018, 12:15:02 pm
I just tried the City Raid mission, and i put some of my gals in thief gear, but the others became 'boxed'. Do i need to break them free with a pickaxe or something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 11, 2018, 05:22:12 pm
I just tried the City Raid mission, and i put some of my gals in thief gear, but the others became 'boxed'. Do i need to break them free with a pickaxe or something?

As far as I know you cannot break them out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: cc on December 11, 2018, 06:21:17 pm
I just tried the City Raid mission, and i put some of my gals in thief gear, but the others became 'boxed'.
Box armor is the hack used to handle players using armor they shouldn't for a mission. You can't break them out of that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 11, 2018, 08:40:42 pm
That's what you get for not reading the briefing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 12, 2018, 12:28:20 am
That's what you get for not reading the briefing.

I did read the briefing (the 'no mutants' thing was the culprit i guess), but i wanted to see what happened. Why not just make a prompt like the one you get when targeting a mission with the wrong type of craft, saying "some of your gals are not suited for this mission"? Also, gals having the wrong outfit isn't a problem with missions like mansion raid, where they will just default to maid outfit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2018, 12:41:53 am
So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. What is your problem, then? Wanna be held by your hand? Also apparently you did NOT read "what I can wear" tab, and you're whining about the lack of prompt?
Give me a fucking break.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 12, 2018, 11:06:21 am
So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. What is your problem, then? Wanna be held by your hand? Also apparently you did NOT read "what I can wear" tab, and you're whining about the lack of prompt?
Give me a fucking break.

I did indeed see what happened. I saw an aspect of the mod that has nothing to do with handholding and everything to do with objectively making the mod better. You're not even contesting that since you say yourself that the boxes have no gameplay value. So instead of attacking the messenger, maybe learn to recognize constructive feedback and not excuse a shortcoming of the mod by calling it whining. And it sure isn't the first time you denigrate and berate people in here for asking sensible questions. Remember that we all want the same thing here, for the mod to be at its best.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 12, 2018, 12:05:53 pm
I did indeed see what happened. I saw an aspect of the mod that has nothing to do with handholding and everything to do with objectively making the mod better. You're not even contesting that since you say yourself that the boxes have no gameplay value. So instead of attacking the messenger, maybe learn to recognize constructive feedback and not excuse a shortcoming of the mod by calling it whining. And it sure isn't the first time you denigrate and berate people in here for asking sensible questions. Remember that we all want the same thing here, for the mod to be at its best.

Well... It's not like those are "shortcomings" of the mod, but rather engine that is stretched to it's limits. Nobody before you had that kind of problem and missions like that existed long before, nobody had a problem.
There is no "fluff" text in the mod besides weapons and items descriptions.
You saw "What to wear", you choosed to send them anyway and you asked: "What could I do with "box" that appeared to gals that were "forbidden" on this mission?"
If I would do something like that, I wouldn't ask, I would know that this is some sort of "failsafe" for people that do it in spite of the rules.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 12, 2018, 01:48:57 pm
Well... It's not like those are "shortcomings" of the mod, but rather engine that is stretched to it's limits. Nobody before you had that kind of problem and missions like that existed long before, nobody had a problem.
There is no "fluff" text in the mod besides weapons and items descriptions.
You saw "What to wear", you choosed to send them anyway and you asked: "What could I do with "box" that appeared to gals that were "forbidden" on this mission?"
If I would do something like that, I wouldn't ask, I would know that this is some sort of "failsafe" for people that do it in spite of the rules.

The 'problem' (minor as it may be) is that the game (or mod or engine or whatever) doesn't want you to do X, so it does Y to prevent you from that. A good example is the space and underwater missions, where you get a popup that notifies you that you are not allowed to use the craft you are trying to use. That works just fine, because it tackles the problem by restricting you as the player before the problem ever has a chance to manifest itself. That's in accordance with how the game treats you in general: By simply denying you the possibility of doing what you're not supposed to, or don't have the resources to etc. That's not the case with the City Raid mission however. It tells you not to do X, but it doesn't actually prevent you from doing it. Maybe you forget the rule, maybe it slips your mind, maybe you're mistaking the mission for another. The specific reason doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't find out until its too late where the problem has emerged, and then the mission can easily be wasted. And that's where my question originated from: In all similar situations of preventing the player from doing X, it's tackled by Y method, so why isn't that the case here? That's actually a reasonable question, and remember that just because you may have a lot of knowledge about the technical stuff like limitations of the engine, doesn't mean everyone else has that insight...which is why ridiculing people for their curiosity and just assuming they're whiny children, is all the more an asshole way of behaving...especially because it's uncalled for. I didn't insult Dioxine neither personally or professionally, and yet he just assumes the worst about me. Whether that stems from a feeling of moral superiority because he is the main creator of this quite significant mod or not, i can't say. What i CAN say is that you don't win any friends in life by acting like that...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 12, 2018, 03:53:14 pm
Other missions prevent you from launching the craft (or change outfit for something basic that is allowed), that's true. Yet it's obvious for me that if they did and this does not and there is something else created for it's place, then it had to be there for some reason. I'm 100% sure it's not overlooked.

This forum had multiple people who were arguing about meaningless shit like name "Black March" for region in game being created only as a nazi reference and gloryfication, word "Pogrom" (terror attacks on mutants in cities) relating only to Russians/soviets "things" (I don't remember what exactly, but something very simillar to "Black March" issue).

It's meaningless, one droplet and it's started to being argued and complained in the scale of climat change.
It's not overlooked, read missions briefings, read "What to wear" and don't try to break the game on purpose.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Negative on December 12, 2018, 09:27:00 pm
Just think about those gals in boxes as they are hiding. From "WARNING MUTANTS DETECTED! CITY PURGE INITIATED! NAPALM BLASTS IN T-MINUS 10, 9, 8..."
Think this is a sort of "disguised" mission, where you should not frame Mutant Alliance. Just some regular pureblood bandits raided city, nothing to worry about...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2018, 11:06:30 pm
In all similar situations of preventing the player from doing X, it's tackled by Y method, so why isn't that the case here? That's actually a reasonable question, and remember that just because you may have a lot of knowledge about the technical stuff like limitations of the engine, doesn't mean everyone else has that insight...which is why ridiculing people for their curiosity and just assuming they're whiny children, is all the more an asshole way of behaving...especially because it's uncalled for. I didn't insult Dioxine neither personally or professionally, and yet he just assumes the worst about me. Whether that stems from a feeling of moral superiority because he is the main creator of this quite significant mod or not, i can't say. What i CAN say is that you don't win any friends in life by acting like that...

The answer is quite obvious: because it's impossible. I'm a moder, not a coder. I use my influence on the coders sparingly, because they are, too, doing this for fun, like me. I already called the current solution a "hack". And don't give me that "moral superiority" or "you don't win friends like that" crap. I'm not here to win any friends nor feel morally superior, that's fucking ridiculous. Neither did I assume anything about you, don't have the time to assume anything. How about YOU considering the fact that I'm just a single person and I cannot wish things into existence, I have to actually make everything there is. I WORK on this mod, I'm not a desk service to handle disgruntled fans and relay orders to some underground slave dwarves.

If you can't handle a harsh answer, too bad. I guess you set yourself up for being insulted.

 There is a lot of handholding in the mod, but don't act surprised if there is no handholding somewhere. The method where the game prevents you directly from doing stupid things (by disallowing craft) is also a hack, just a different one. My design philosophy is actually that doing stupid things MUST BE ALLOWED, unless there is no ther choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 13, 2018, 09:40:01 am
The answer is quite obvious: because it's impossible. I'm a moder, not a coder. I use my influence on the coders sparingly, because they are, too, doing this for fun, like me. I already called the current solution a "hack". And don't give me that "moral superiority" or "you don't win friends like that" crap. I'm not here to win any friends nor feel morally superior, that's fucking ridiculous. Neither did I assume anything about you, don't have the time to assume anything. How about YOU considering the fact that I'm just a single person and I cannot wish things into existence, I have to actually make everything there is. I WORK on this mod, I'm not a desk service to handle disgruntled fans and relay orders to some underground slave dwarves.

If you can't handle a harsh answer, too bad. I guess you set yourself up for being insulted.

 There is a lot of handholding in the mod, but don't act surprised if there is no handholding somewhere. The method where the game prevents you directly from doing stupid things (by disallowing craft) is also a hack, just a different one. My design philosophy is actually that doing stupid things MUST BE ALLOWED, unless there is no ther choice.

"Because it's impossible in a technical sense, even though the cases might seem similar"

...There, that's the answer you could have given from the start, which would have told me all i needed to know. Concise, objective and to-the-point. Instead, you chose to unload on me because i can't read your thoughts, and now you're erecting straw-men left and right. I never demanded a damn thing from you, i never claimed you have an easy workload, i never claimed you are a help desk, and i'm not a disgruntled fan...and yet you claim that you're definitely not assuming anything about me...what a joke.

And don't give me that bullshit about a harsh answer. What you said initially wasn't an answer to my question, it was just an insult that told me to stop crying and had nothing to do with actually addressing the question. Real helpful. Here's a thought: if you don't wanna address a given question, how about you just don't answer it at all, instead of shitting all over people who are actually just curious.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 13, 2018, 12:07:10 pm
Look again on your first question: "I just tried the City Raid mission, and i put some of my gals in thief gear, but the others became 'boxed'. Do i need to break them free with a pickaxe or something?"

cc response: "Box armor is the hack used to handle players using armor they shouldn't for a mission. You can't break them out of that."

Dioxine response: "That's what you get for not reading the briefing."

Isn't that clear? That response was insulting?

Your next post: "I did read the briefing (the 'no mutants' thing was the culprit i guess), but i wanted to see what happened. Why not just make a prompt like the one you get when targeting a mission with the wrong type of craft, saying "some of your gals are not suited for this mission"? Also, gals having the wrong outfit isn't a problem with missions like mansion raid, where they will just default to maid outfit."

In other words: "I read briefing stating that this (action) is forbidden, but I did that anyway to see what will happen."
That's it, this is the point where you should end your questions after realising that this action was locked, but in other way for some reason. It wasn't hard to assume that it's technical reason.

It's equal to:
- "Hey guys! I just saw a video where some guy said that 'system32' is slowing my computer, so I deleted file 'system32'. Why my computer is not working anymore like it used to? Should I plug in another mouse?"
- "That's what you get for doing things without any research."
- "I did the research and I know that this is an important system file, but I did it anyway to see what will happen."
- "So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. Wanna Handholding? Gimme a breake."
- "What does it have with handholding?! That has nothing to do with Handholding! Why isn't that file locked from deleting?"
- "It's impossible to do, if it is possible to break if not used properly."
- "REEEEEE! Why you are insulting me! Reeeee! I was curious what will happen if I will do something that I shouldn't!"

This is how it looks in short.

Maybe you need another example?

- "Hey guys! I just stabbed some random guy with knife 43 times. Why is he dead and police is arresting me?"
- "That's what you get from not knowing the law."
- "I know the law, but I wanted to see what will happen if I will stab a person 43 times."
- "So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. Wanna Handholding? Gimme a breake."
- ""What does it have with handholding?! That has nothing to do with Handholding! Why isn't knifes banned?"
- "It's impossible to do, if it is possible to break if not used properly."
- "REEEEEE! Why you are insulting me! Reeeee! I was curious what will happen if I will do something that I shouldn't!"
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Foxhound634 on December 13, 2018, 04:57:28 pm
Look again on your first question: "I just tried the City Raid mission, and i put some of my gals in thief gear, but the others became 'boxed'. Do i need to break them free with a pickaxe or something?"

cc response: "Box armor is the hack used to handle players using armor they shouldn't for a mission. You can't break them out of that."

Dioxine response: "That's what you get for not reading the briefing."

Isn't that clear? That response was insulting?

Your next post: "I did read the briefing (the 'no mutants' thing was the culprit i guess), but i wanted to see what happened. Why not just make a prompt like the one you get when targeting a mission with the wrong type of craft, saying "some of your gals are not suited for this mission"? Also, gals having the wrong outfit isn't a problem with missions like mansion raid, where they will just default to maid outfit."

In other words: "I read briefing stating that this (action) is forbidden, but I did that anyway to see what will happen."
That's it, this is the point where you should end your questions after realising that this action was locked, but in other way for some reason. It wasn't hard to assume that it's technical reason.

It's equal to:
- "Hey guys! I just saw a video where some guy said that 'system32' is slowing my computer, so I deleted file 'system32'. Why my computer is not working anymore like it used to? Should I plug in another mouse?"
- "That's what you get for doing things without any research."
- "I did the research and I know that this is an important system file, but I did it anyway to see what will happen."
- "So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. Wanna Handholding? Gimme a breake."
- "What does it have with handholding?! That has nothing to do with Handholding! Why isn't that file locked from deleting?"
- "It's impossible to do, if it is possible to break if not used properly."
- "REEEEEE! Why you are insulting me! Reeeee! I was curious what will happen if I will do something that I shouldn't!"

This is how it looks in short.

Maybe you need another example?

- "Hey guys! I just stabbed some random guy with knife 43 times. Why is he dead and police is arresting me?"
- "That's what you get from not knowing the law."
- "I know the law, but I wanted to see what will happen if I will stab a person 43 times."
- "So you wanted to see what happens, and you did. Wanna Handholding? Gimme a breake."
- ""What does it have with handholding?! That has nothing to do with Handholding! Why isn't knifes banned?"
- "It's impossible to do, if it is possible to break if not used properly."
- "REEEEEE! Why you are insulting me! Reeeee! I was curious what will happen if I will do something that I shouldn't!"

Are you for real dude? I just pointed out how dioxine straw-manned me left and right and now you're doing it too? Please get your info right before you join in on the condescending shit-talk. I'm not talking about the break-gals-out-of-those-boxes question, i'm talking about the NEXT question about why you as the player wasn't just forbidden to launch the mission, like you are in many other situations. That's the question dioxine blew up about.

But you know what, this is way past being about the specifics of the question itself. You guys act like i committed a transgression against humanity, because how dare someone without the technical know-how ask a curious question, right? Yeah fuck guys like that, better ridicule and shit all over them instead of actually addressing the question itself. But you know, if that's how you wanna conduct yourselves, go right ahead. I won't be asking questions or giving feedback anymore even if it would help the mod, so you win. Because i for one have a spine and i don't need your negative shit, poisoning my mood. But i'm sure other people will still ask questions, so you still have people to insult. Yay!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 13, 2018, 06:18:04 pm
Are you for real dude? I just pointed out how dioxine straw-manned me left and right and now you're doing it too? Please get your info right before you join in on the condescending shit-talk. I'm not talking about the break-gals-out-of-those-boxes question, i'm talking about the NEXT question about why you as the player wasn't just forbidden to launch the mission, like you are in many other situations. That's the question dioxine blew up about.

But you know what, this is way past being about the specifics of the question itself. You guys act like i committed a transgression against humanity, because how dare someone without the technical know-how ask a curious question, right? Yeah fuck guys like that, better ridicule and shit all over them instead of actually addressing the question itself. But you know, if that's how you wanna conduct yourselves, go right ahead. I won't be asking questions or giving feedback anymore even if it would help the mod, so you win. Because i for one have a spine and i don't need your negative shit, poisoning my mood. But i'm sure other people will still ask questions, so you still have people to insult. Yay!

Let me say one thing: I don't know jack shit about engine and it's limits. I'm not a coder, I'm not a moder, I barerly know the language to the point of that is obvious by looking at posts I'm making, but I trust mod's creator that he did everything he could for this to work.

I could ask the question: Why bamboo stick is breaking when my gal misses, or just attacks air? It's illogical! I can assume by just knowing mechanics of original game (everyone can learn those machanics by just playing the damn game), that bamboo stick is created as firearm with ammunition that have to be "fired" every time.

All of that is just wasting time, you got the answer to your question that you didn't asked in proper thread. Do what you think is best now.
"Case" resolved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: HT on December 13, 2018, 06:42:32 pm
wow, what a bit of a shit-storm for so little.

Random questions for fun, if it's not asking much: Is there an in-game reasoning about the boxes? Is that meant to represent your gals being captured and literally boxed? Can they still be killed if an explosion happens nearby?

Lastly, will next version have new stuff for the Bugeyes soldier-type?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 13, 2018, 07:42:01 pm
just 1idea :

what about paralyser &, AND  pistol (revolver) in one ? ?

this 2 thing in one (short) hand weapon ?



(´´ may be also revolver, uzi, or also any bigger guns.. )
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 13, 2018, 07:52:08 pm
Because i for one have a spine and i don't need your negative shit, poisoning my mood. But i'm sure other people will still ask questions, so you still have people to insult. Yay!

Congratulations, I'm sure now you're really happy with yourself. I suggest you stop deluding yourself that I have any personal interest in you, much less any interest in making you a "strawman". I've been insulted too many times myself to really care about your precious ego.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Peteruta on December 13, 2018, 09:44:11 pm
Leichenfledderer Ihr!!!
Go on Diox and do your game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 14, 2018, 11:47:33 am
As for here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5821.msg107388.html#msg107388), i've just sligthly modifyed the Harquebus, removing that blade and addin a consistend gunbutt,please anyways note that the handob does not display a bayonet, as well as the firing entrance of the barrel is different ("flat") so whoever want to use in their game may raplace the file  :o ;D

Edit: oh can't remember whether posted before: wrench may also be recovered in certain missions such as tower ones (watchtower, comm tower, see thay may have a toolbox for maintenance purposes) as well as these spawned in industrial zones/ports  :)

Edit 2: And for even more kind of coerency the current musket msy be rensmed flintlock musket (https://www.google.com/search?q=musket&tbm=isch&chips=q:musket&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn&hl=it&ved=2ahUKEwi4yuiC35_fAhWG-6QKHaOLDToQ3VZ6BAgBEBY&biw=360&bih=564) to pair with flintlock pistol (https://www.google.com/search?q=flintlock+pistol&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjgi4Pq35_fAhXP0KQKHQcwBsMQ2-cCegQIABAB&oq=flintlock+pistol&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.3..0j0i30l4.5669.9068..9451...1.0..0.570.3808.2-9j1j2j1......0....1.Uq9ggqNWLQY&ei=UdsTXKAfz6GTBYfgmJgM&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn&biw=360&bih=564&hl=it)?

Edit 3: also a musketoon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musketoon) may be a nice idea :) I did not know how many variants of ancient firearms are named in english language, but this is commonly associated with piratez (wikipedia quote) so may be appealing ;D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: magus1 on December 14, 2018, 10:33:18 pm
Dear Dioxine, thank you for the beautiful tanks - are they based on a panzer 4? Also, the tank often unloads the ammo between missions, or upon being loaded ends up in the mission having no ammo.

Can anyone recommend a good tactic for taking Star God's silver Tower ships down, please?

Kisses,

Maggie
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ashghan on December 15, 2018, 12:52:20 am
Basic strategy is the same as for any other high-power shipping - 1 fighter for tanking (with a high REA Lokk'Narr pilot, mandatory), 3 fighters for damage. It's just a question of scale. The problem here is the super fast recharge on the shield. There is no chance of taking it down gradually (unless - you have a fleet of quad-gattling dragons available, but then you wouldn't be asking about tactics ;) ). 3 whalers with avalanche can work, supported by a tanky fighter. Your best bet is taking down the shield (and hull, preferably) in one, huge salvo. 9 avalanches should do it even with crappy dmg rolls. 6 are risky, and you will most likely need to do enough hull damage to crash it in another way. Towers have no armor, so gattling lasers are not a bad choice, as long as you can field a decent number of them and can survive the damage output of the Towers (high power, high accuracy shots with medium delay - about the same as a destroyer). They also have an extremely short disengage window (around 25-30% of what other craft have, even shorter than corvettes), so you damage window is fairly short, unless you use fighters that can keep up (whaler, sabre and nightmare). High bravery pilot(s) are a must for any craft that will need to fight longer than 1 shot from avalanche. Implosion bombs are bad - short range, half shield damage and low accuracy (Towers' dodge bonus). They may be viable (not reliable) as a 'finisher' if you blew the shields, but not the hull - 2 bombs should crash it.

Silver Towers is, in essence, a troll ship. I consider it a last resort - a guaranteed, if challenging, way to get a SG Coordinator. IF you can survive the land battle as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 15, 2018, 11:49:03 am
As for here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5821.msg107388.html#msg107388), i've just sligthly modifyed the Harquebus, removing that blade and addin a consistend gunbutt,please anyways note that the handob does not display a bayonet, as well as the firing entrance of the barrel is different ("flat") so whoever want to use in their game may raplace the file  :o ;D

Facepalm. You do realize these kinds of weapons never had any stock, because they were not shoulder-fired?


Edit 2: And for even more kind of coerency the current musket msy be rensmed flintlock musket (https://www.google.com/search?q=musket&tbm=isch&chips=q:musket&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn&hl=it&ved=2ahUKEwi4yuiC35_fAhWG-6QKHaOLDToQ3VZ6BAgBEBY&biw=360&bih=564) to pair with flintlock pistol (https://www.google.com/search?q=flintlock+pistol&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjgi4Pq35_fAhXP0KQKHQcwBsMQ2-cCegQIABAB&oq=flintlock+pistol&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.3..0j0i30l4.5669.9068..9451...1.0..0.570.3808.2-9j1j2j1......0....1.Uq9ggqNWLQY&ei=UdsTXKAfz6GTBYfgmJgM&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn&biw=360&bih=564&hl=it)?

Who cares about such "consistency"? Jesus, what a master nitpicker.

Dear Dioxine, thank you for the beautiful tanks - are they based on a panzer 4? Also, the tank often unloads the ammo between missions, or upon being loaded ends up in the mission having no ammo.

No, it is based on a rip from Xenonauts. Always make sure the ammo is loaded on board to avoid such issues.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 15, 2018, 12:06:03 pm
Facepalm. You do realize these kinds of weapons never had any stock, because they were not shoulder-fired?

No, sorry, actually i'm not  a weapon historician ;D but goolge displays these with stocks so i'm bit confused :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Negative on December 15, 2018, 04:15:11 pm
Facepalm. You do realize these kinds of weapons never had any stock, because they were not shoulder-fired?
Sorry, but main difference between harqubuis(which is a wide concept by itself) and older early hand-held firearms(like hand cannons) is the Stock. When harqebuis and musket co-existed, the musket was heavier, longer and was considered an "armor-piercing" weapon. Later, up to XVIII-XIX cuntury muskets became lighter and lighter, and ended weighting just a little more than modern rifles(about 4 kg).

I am not a historian, but I do some historical reenacment. so I held both of this firearms at hands, aimed and even shot from some of the late muskets(harqebuis was shattered one). :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 15, 2018, 07:18:33 pm
Well I would call it properly a "handcannon" but we already have too many similarly named weapons... I do realize harquebus is not a proper name.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 15, 2018, 09:03:09 pm
(..1article) about 6.th Gen. "Fighters"

(.."successors of today´ Fifth´Generation´ Fighters ( F-22, F-35, Su-37 Berkut) are already under development.. :



https://cdr.cz/clanek/stihaci-letouny-6-generace-uz-jsou-ve-vyvoji-jaci-budou-nastupci-f-22-su-57


https://cdr.cz/sites/default/files/nova-stihacka-6gen.jpg

(https://cdr.cz/sites/default/files/nova-stihacka-6gen.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 16, 2018, 12:00:09 am
What it has to do with X-Piratez? To the point it is warranted to post it on the main thread? This is not dissing, if you post something, elaborate.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 16, 2018, 12:21:20 am
^^~~  @Diox.   hi!, i forgot to mention, i just like this design, and i wanted to remind the very resemblance of design some of Piratez´ ships (mostly quick, speedy fighters..)
besides, it got interested, impressed me that tail-less solution of plane.

btw. about posting it on main topic - i can re-move it to any other proper thread if needed (for example, thread /topic about weaponry, militaries, hi-techs, etc....), if you wish, no prob.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 16, 2018, 03:55:18 am
Oh, don't mind it. Just a thing to remember in the future.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 16, 2018, 01:50:01 pm
Hey, how about some renaming:

Harquebus--->firespitter
laslock shotgun ---> laslock scatter

and introdicing a laslock musket? These hardware may be manufactured by the laslock company, a firm specialized in mixed vintage-high tech firearms, kind of blackmarsh competitor, along with eurosyndicate weapons.  8)

Edit: in general ancient and/or gunpowdered weapons should be made avaible  early in the game like  bombard for example. Shold be very unwieldy kinda a version of the mortar with limited damage and range, plus, slow to fire and reload, like the x-bow and balista. May it be unlicked right after having researched "flintlok and bombs"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Nychrome on December 16, 2018, 08:02:43 pm
The file layout seems to have changed since I last updated. Does anyone know how to get into the Piratez_lang equivalent?

Saw 'Hellerium' used to be named 'Nuclear Fuel' in the Bay12 let's play and that sounds wonderfully grungy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 17, 2018, 09:38:59 am
Oh boy that was ages ago. It is still described as nuclear fuel, but I changed that stand-in name for Hellerium years ago. The language file is now located in /Language folder.

Also Linux, the early game equivalent of mortar is obviously the Assault Cannon.
Your names are too close to existing weapons, Spitfire and Scatter Laser.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 17, 2018, 03:33:54 pm
Well I would call it properly a "handcannon" but we already have too many similarly named weapons... I do realize harquebus is not a proper name.

oh, i tryed :)

Also Linux, the early game equivalent of mortar is obviously the Assault Cannon.
Your names are too close to existing weapons, Spitfire and Scatter Laser.

Someone may have some good suggesiton(s)?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Abyss on December 20, 2018, 06:58:46 pm
(.."successors of today´ Fifth´Generation´ Fighters ( F-22, F-35, Su-37 Berkut) are already under development.. :
Su-37 in not a 5th gen fighter, it is a test platform for a set of design decisions. But yeah, Nightmare somehow resembles one. If now the frontward oriented wings are proved to be wrong choice for the crafts speeding beyond 2 Machs, in the future a plasisteel designed wings may have way better aerodynamic resilense
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Negative on December 22, 2018, 11:01:29 pm
I'm in VERY big need of Implosion bomb launcher. Okay, started pissing off the Guild and Academy - as a result, a retalation BOMBER appeared. "Big Bird Down" operation started, Avalanches fired, two M-wings lost, bomber down. Ground operation started, bug-eyed elites spread mayhem between marcs, shadows daggers tear apart their armor, we even shot down the hovertank after 30 or more BattleLaser hits! Half of main troop goes to the hospital, one to the graveyard and... no launcher? No implosion bombs? What was that for? Arrrrr. Nice game!

Now the real question. Should I try to take the bomber intact(if it ever lands)? wait for viper spacefighter to appear or just take down another one?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 22, 2018, 11:41:32 pm
The very only problem i see  on xpiratez is the need of the wrench to advance in research; as of 0.99J9 i started a couple of new gsmes and in aug 2601 still did not find it. Currently it may be recovered only raiding G.O. medium ships; wish it may be part of loot at least in a couple of early missions? That's the only flaw i see in the mod.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 22, 2018, 11:54:54 pm
wrenches (and other technician tools) just ARENT, are NOT on store, - and will NOT be! mueheheh

just shortage of delivery, /supply -chains ;p lôl
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Eddie on December 23, 2018, 05:09:30 am
The very only problem i see  on xpiratez is the need of the wrench to advance in research; as of 0.99J9 i started a couple of new gsmes and in aug 2601 still did not find it. Currently it may be recovered only raiding G.O. medium ships; wish it may be part of loot at least in a couple of early missions? That's the only flaw i see in the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: BBHood217 on December 23, 2018, 05:37:51 am
Should I try to take the bomber intact(if it ever lands)? wait for viper spacefighter to appear or just take down another one?

It's very rare (or maybe not even a possibility) for a bomber to land, so trying to get a bomb launcher part from one is all RNG as the odds of the engine room containing the launcher drop remaining intact aren't very good.  If you're not up for another bomber fight (which might still not give the launcher anyway unless you wanna savescum for it), I suppose waiting for the viper fighters while you do other things could be an option; at least with viper fighters, their bomb launchers are guaranteed as their drops are not located in the engine room.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 23, 2018, 09:56:55 am
Viper fighters come very late in the game. It’s better to try your luck with bombers untill then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Zippicus on December 23, 2018, 10:29:05 am
I've never had any problems with the wrench topic.  That might be because I tend to go capture heavy and there's a lot of common enemies that give wrench when interrogated.  And yeah the implosion bomb launcher can be a pain sometimes.  The bombers aren't guaranteed to be carrying an implosion bomb launcher and on top of that it's fairly easy to destroy the weapon when you shoot it down if they do have one.  That's one of those situations when I don't feel guilty about save scumming after like the 3rd bomber shoot down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 23, 2018, 10:38:40 am
I've never had any problems with the wrench topic.  That might be because I tend to go capture heavy and there's a lot of common enemies that give wrench when interrogated.  And yeah the implosion bomb launcher can be a pain sometimes.  The bombers aren't guaranteed to be carrying an implosion bomb launcher and on top of that it's fairly easy to destroy the weapon when you shoot it down if they do have one.  That's one of those situations when I don't feel guilty about save scumming after like the 3rd bomber shoot down.

Well so i suppose im really unlucky then, since in my games (always at "jack sparrow") i very rarely manage to ground assault civilian shios, evrn more medium and large ones, that's my main problem. :'( once i was in early 2603 and never find a single one. Relying ont the warehouse wars missions is quite annoying also because cannot rember how to research then.  ???

I think large civilian ships may be more easy to intercept because shoild be slow ones, instead these rin away at the speed of light :o Any chance, Dioxine?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Zippicus on December 23, 2018, 11:25:24 am
I mostly avoid civilian shipping since I try not to piss off the local governments.  And really Jack Sparrow should make it easier to find (more enemies to capture and thus interrogate).  I can't look right now since I don't have xcom installed on this computer, but if you scan the tech tree for the wrench topic you'll see a big list of enemies that can give wrench from interrogations, plenty of which can be found in a lot of early missions.  Just from memory Tough guy/gal and highwaymen have a fairly small "give one free" list and they're in multiple early ground missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 23, 2018, 11:30:01 am
I mostly avoid civilian shipping since I try not to piss off the local governments.  And really Jack Sparrow should make it easier to find (more enemies to capture and thus interrogate).  I can't look right now since I don't have xcom installed on this computer, but if you scan the tech tree for the wrench topic you'll see a big list of enemies that can give wrench from interrogations, plenty of which can be found in a lot of early missions.  Just from memory Tough guy/gal and highwaymen have a fairly small "give one free" list and they're in multiple early ground missions.

I know about the tech viewer but i don't use it  :o (im a real masochist) but actually any interrogation never gave me the wrench do again i suppose ive a really bad luck. Thanks for the answers!

edit: breaking news: after startin frim scratch 3/4 brand new games it appears that labourer ships carrying wrenches are likely to spawn at the very beginning of the game - between jan and march 2601 - if i miss these will hardly spawn in the next months so the rate of them appearing should be increased or something :?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 23, 2018, 06:45:28 pm
Engineers in "mining" ships usually are spawned with wrenches. Also "Gov agents rescue" mission with ballers. Just start to target civilian traffic. If you will stun everybody, you won't get negative score.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on December 23, 2018, 09:54:56 pm
Engineers in "mining" ships usually are spawned with wrenches.
that is the issue (see previous post)

Also "Gov agents rescue" mission with ballers.
never ever recovered after such mission

Just start to target civilian traffic. If you will stun everybody, you won't get negative score.

Relly hardc and kinda impossible with airbus. Once i got snd equupped aircar is a bit easy.

@ Dioxine: it may be even possible get positive score from ground assault small and very small civilianbships? I mean nobidy cares about ordinary people, but the power and the rich

edit: typos :'(

edit: 2: By the way, i'd like to see switched the spawning rate of the missions "infested cellar" and "death and taxes", the former happens more frequuently than the latter, well you don't need piratez to clean an infested cellar with rats every day  :-\ very atipical  :o as the rest, looking forward to another wonder-full relase!  8)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: LytaRyta on December 24, 2018, 05:34:36 pm
@niculinox still typos :D ;D lôl

btw. happy pretty Christmas, /free-time,  today, and in y.2603 too :p ;D)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 25, 2018, 04:14:27 pm
Oi lads, I need some help. Enemies just destroy my new base that does not even have anything in it yet, except, fire mines, hangar and extractor. I cant find a way to prevent it. I am building flak, but I cant finish it in time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: cc on December 25, 2018, 05:32:47 pm
Oi lads, I need some help. Enemies just destroy my new base that does not even have anything in it yet, except, fire mines, hangar and extractor. I cant find a way to prevent it. I am building flak, but I cant finish it in time.
Ship everything out and sell all buildings. Sometimes you just have bad luck and lose a base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Zippicus on December 26, 2018, 04:33:45 am
Oi lads, I need some help. Enemies just destroy my new base that does not even have anything in it yet, except, fire mines, hangar and extractor. I cant find a way to prevent it. I am building flak, but I cant finish it in time.

Ben there, done that.  Generally speaking it''s just dumb (bad) luck that happens.  There's not much you can do if the enemies target your new base, it just happens sometimes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Eddie on December 26, 2018, 08:01:30 pm
Oi lads, I need some help. Enemies just destroy my new base that does not even have anything in it yet, except, fire mines, hangar and extractor. I cant find a way to prevent it. I am building flak, but I cant finish it in time.

Next time build a burrow first so you can put defence troops. Piratez has way more base attacks (unprovoked, even) than vanilla. Your fault for leaving the base naked for so long.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 27, 2018, 01:49:16 am
Next time build a burrow first so you can put defence troops. Piratez has way more base attacks (unprovoked, even) than vanilla. Your fault for leaving the base naked for so long.

I neither wanted to get defense troops, nor did I want to get attacked, so kinda games fault. I really did not have any luck with base defense this playtrough, as I had to defend the base with muskets and no armor against Dark Ones (Doom stuff), 2 times in a single week.
I did the things the way I did, because I am preparing myself to do a challenge playtrough of pirates (I may out it on Youtube, but I'm no Youtuber, I'd do it only if someone is interested), so I experiment a lot. Challenges are:
No explosives (not really a challenge, they are basically cheating, so I never use them).
No using bought or looted equipment (unless I can make it myself, I'm not going to count the number of bullets and bandages or sell equipment and than make it myself) unless its mandatory (I have to use the bus, I think), but I can buy/loot materials and stuff.
No buying more girls (recruitment only trough workshop), but I can get more Runts and Brainers.
I thought about no shotguns and/or snipers, but that limits what I can use so much it gets boring. Also, no codex, but it seems impossible at this point.
Any thoughts and comments are welcome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Rince Wind on December 27, 2018, 03:00:19 am
Melee is closer to cheating then explosives, though in my opinion neither is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 27, 2018, 03:46:40 am
This is the cost of not wanting to get defense troops; refuse to deal with the aspect of the game, it might bite you. That's an interesting challenge though, good luck on it. From conversations with Dioxine, his goal is making the game challenging enough that things like explosives and melee aren't cheating - if you have access to it, not using it is a personal preference.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ashghan on December 27, 2018, 10:48:05 am
...nor did I want to get attacked, so kinda games fault.[snip]
Sorry, but I just had to point it out. You do know that retaliation (base search/attack) is in the game whether you want to acknowledge it or not. You chose to limit your options of defending the base (ie. bulding a burrow/hiring gals to defend it). So no, it's not the game's fault - you knew what was coming but you chose to ignore it. By the way - in Piratez some battles are not winnable, that's part of the mod's charm. You will need to learn when to stand and fight (and how much is it going to cost you) and when to cut your losses, pack up and retreat. Is losing the base a setback? Sure it its. But it's not your main base, so it's not game over at any rate. Just greater challenge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 27, 2018, 12:18:56 pm
Sorry, but I just had to point it out. You do know that retaliation (base search/attack) is in the game whether you want to acknowledge it or not. You chose to limit your options of defending the base (ie. bulding a burrow/hiring gals to defend it). So no, it's not the game's fault - you knew what was coming but you chose to ignore it. By the way - in Piratez some battles are not winnable, that's part of the mod's charm. You will need to learn when to stand and fight (and how much is it going to cost you) and when to cut your losses, pack up and retreat. Is losing the base a setback? Sure it its. But it's not your main base, so it's not game over at any rate. Just greater challenge.
I understand your point of view, but I already had waay too many base attacks (Two in a week with muskets is not fun). And what retaliation on the base that has empty hangar and no personnel in it. What did it do? Yes, its the aspect I choose to ignore, as base defense missions are second most boring after jungle, but those are straight up broken. There was not even ship attacking me (I patrolled above the base). So my base, that has no facilities, was found by enemies (10 bucks its dark ones again, that I cant beat in so small space even if I was defending it with troops) even if my patrolling craft seen nothing? I wont acknowledge that.

--- posts merged ---

Melee is closer to cheating then explosives, though in my opinion neither is.
Okay, one of these has you exposed after attack, you have to expend (a lot) energy, and you have to physically reach an enemy, and you can still miss, get blocked.
Other one leaves you in as much cover as you want, you don't even have to see the enemy, and there is nothing he can do once you throw your weapon.
Damage about evens out. You can just compare enemies if you want. Who does more damage in, lets say, Dark Ones. Imp or a Deamon? Sure, Imp does little (bullshit and unpreventable) damage, but in about a year I play this game, Deamon never damaged me. Also, one will just chug away at you and then hide, and other one will charge at you and get exposed. Sure, player is better than AI, but same rules apply to him.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 27, 2018, 12:53:33 pm
Two base defences with muskets? That means, like, first or second month. How did you get a second base that early?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 27, 2018, 01:04:26 pm
What is even your angle, Mithra? Don't like base defenses? Well too bad, until you have the money and tech to set up Shrouds or massive stacks of defensive buildings (or at the very least, some interceptors), you will be getting these. I would advise stopping to imagine how the game is in your head, and instead accepting the reality of what it really is (this goes for melee and explosives as well; melee is risky, and explosives destroy loot; hardly unbalanced imo, at least in these aspects). Or maybe I was missing something in your argumentation, please enlighten me then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ashghan on December 27, 2018, 01:22:28 pm
The base detection and attack mechanics are a bit complicated, but that's how it always have been.

1. A UFO (or a foot party) patrols in the general region (eg. North Africa) where your base is located. How do they know which region? I guess it's random, but you can call it gossip or someone tipped them off. If a UFO flies close to your base (no idea on the exact range) it has a *chance* (with bonus depending on base size) to discover it. There is no attack right away, the discovering UFO just flies away. I heard that if you shoot the UFO before they had a chance to detect you base you have a chance to interrupt the retaliation altogether - not sure if it's a planned feature or already implemented.
2. After a couple of days an 'assault' UFO appears, heading straight for your base at full speed. The major factions use specialized UFOs for that (Boarding Torpedo, Breaker, Assault Transport or Cruiser), with speeds over 5000kt, so these are almost impossible to intercept and very hard to detect. The last part is due to the fact, that radar sweeps are made every 30 minutes (and not 100% successful). In this time an assault craft can cover over 2500 miles, which is the general range of a base radar (craft have significantly less). So it is entirely possible that the assault UFO can reach your base before any radar can even pick them up. Not sure how dark ones and ratmen do it - if they use similar vessels or a different mechanic (besides - realistically, how would a radar detect a squad of soldiers on foot?).
3. After the assault craft reaches the base, the defenses get a chance to fire. They need to do enough damage to destroy the attacking vessel. There is no crashing and AFAIK any damage that didn't destroy the ship is irrelevant*. So with anti-UFO defense you go big or not at all. Not sure if assault craft size matters for to-hit consideration.
4a. If the assault craft is destroyed before landing, another one is sent in a couple of days, ad nauseam. Either your defenses fail at some point, or you get a steady stream of attacks. Basically you *will* have a base defense mission at some point, anti-UFO just gives you time to prepare and do it on your terms. Not sure if destroying an assault craft gets you points or not.
4b. The craft is not destroyed - it lands successfully - the base defense mission starts. If you win - the aliens 'forget' about your base and will not send another assault craft. But they can still start the retaliation mission again and detect the base again and so on, the process repeats. If you lose - well, you lose the base and the retaliation is over as well.

If i'm wrong somewhere, please correct me.

* As a point of reference, you need 2 flak cannons or SAM sites to reliably shoot down the smallest attack unit (the Torpedo - 400dmg). One of any of those has a chance to do it (on good roll) but it's in no way reliable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 27, 2018, 01:32:33 pm
The base detection and attack mechanics are a bit complicated, but that's how it always have been.

1. A UFO (or a foot party) patrols in the general region (eg. North Africa) where your base is located. How do they know which region? I guess it's random, but you can call it gossip or someone tipped them off. If a UFO flies close to your base (no idea on the exact range) it has a *chance* (with bonus depending on base size) to discover it. There is no attack right away, the discovering UFO just flies away. I heard that if you shoot the UFO before they had a chance to detect you base you have a chance to interrupt the retaliation altogether - not sure if it's a planned feature or already implemented.

Already implemented, but not in the case of retaliation - they cannot be interrupted.

3. After the assault craft reaches the base, the defenses get a chance to fire. They need to do enough damage to destroy the attacking vessel. There is no crashing and AFAIK any damage that didn't destroy the ship is irrelevant*. So with anti-UFO defense you go big or not at all. Not sure if assault craft size matters for to-hit consideration.

Size does not matter, it's always the hit chance mentioned in defensive building's entry.

4a. If the assault craft is destroyed before landing, another one is sent in a couple of days, ad nauseam. Either your defenses fail at some point, or you get a steady stream of attacks. Basically you *will* have a base defense mission at some point, anti-UFO just gives you time to prepare and do it on your terms. Not sure if destroying an assault craft gets you points or not.

This is a vanilla bug. It does not apply to Piratez.

* As a point of reference, you need 2 flak cannons or SAM sites to reliably shoot down the smallest attack unit (the Torpedo - 400dmg). One of any of those has a chance to do it (on good roll) but it's in no way reliable.

Minor factions sometimes use even weaker craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ashghan on December 27, 2018, 06:39:51 pm
Thanks for all those replies. They filled some of the information gaps I had regarding retaliation.

Also there are not many craft weaker than 400dmg. Only one that comes to my mind that could be used in a raid is the Raider Barque. Anything else is either too small to be considered assault (like Cutter or Fighter) or tougher than the Torpedo.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Martin on December 28, 2018, 11:16:42 am
You only want to shoot down ratmen, humanists, mercs and star gods (untill late game when you hunt for coordinator), everything else provides valuable loot and captives compared to how tough they are thus you want to let them in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 28, 2018, 01:39:29 pm
What is even your angle, Mithra? Don't like base defenses? Well too bad, until you have the money and tech to set up Shrouds or massive stacks of defensive buildings (or at the very least, some interceptors), you will be getting these. I would advise stopping to imagine how the game is in your head, and instead accepting the reality of what it really is (this goes for melee and explosives as well; melee is risky, and explosives destroy loot; hardly unbalanced imo, at least in these aspects). Or maybe I was missing something in your argumentation, please enlighten me then.

No, both were against my first base, and it was probably 3 or 4, maybe even 5th month. I was just burnt out from base defences after that, as those are so long. I get combat stress per turn, too. And I was so annoyed attack happened 2 days before flak was built.

---posts merged. Pls stahp :)---

What is even your angle, Mithra? Don't like base defenses? Well too bad, until you have the money and tech to set up Shrouds or massive stacks of defensive buildings (or at the very least, some interceptors), you will be getting these. I would advise stopping to imagine how the game is in your head, and instead accepting the reality of what it really is (this goes for melee and explosives as well; melee is risky, and explosives destroy loot; hardly unbalanced imo, at least in these aspects). Or maybe I was missing something in your argumentation, please enlighten me then.

Ok, first thing I must say is I love this mod, and consider it a peak of xcom and postapocalypse genre. T a point I would beat up someone if he disagreed with me until he stoped moving. I dislike/like some things others or maybe even most people don't. So don't take this as an insult. I just asked if there was a way to save my base without reloading some old save, and things turned into "Why did you not add a whole army in a 3 buildings base, that has no storage or living space? Your fault for not liking it." If you accepted xcom as it is, you would have never made this mod (I would love to see some very early version of Piratez). As a matter of fact, Openxcom would not be made in the first place. Sure, I'm not saying my ideas would revolutonize the genre like previous two, but you can forgive me for wanting to skip, at least skim, if posible, on a few (base game) features. I use melee all the time, its so damn fun, with high risk/reward, and losing loot is hardly a point that makes me want to use explosives more. Sorry for typos, not using my keyboard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Ridаn on December 28, 2018, 02:29:03 pm
I just asked if there was a way to save my base without reloading some old save
You can edit your save file with a Notepad, and just remove that mission, make sure there are no active ufos during saving though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Eddie on December 28, 2018, 08:19:39 pm
There is one base defence mechanic that was not yet mentioned: If one mission detects your base but fails to attack it, the next mission will not send search Ufos but immediately send the attack Ufo. This happened to me with the ambulances. The ambulances detected my base, but I could shoot them down before they reached it. Later, a ratmen harassment spawned in the same region and proceeded right to the attack run, as the base was already flagged as "detected". There were no ratmen patrols to warn me of the attack.

I just asked if there was a way to save my base without reloading some old save

What answers were you hoping for? You have a base where you cannot put troops and base defence is not finished.
Sooo... besides cheating, intercepting the attacking Ufo is the only option. However, most base attacks use Ufos for the assault that are designed to be unstoppable, either by having ridiculus speed or big size. For example the ratmen do a foot assault. You are not supposed to be able to intercept this, but because of game mechanics a Ufo needs to be spawned for the attack to happen. The solution is a "fake" Ufo with ridiculous speed that is interpreted as a comm signal. If it is one of those, you cannot stop the attack.

If you are doing a challange run it is not your first playthrough. Then you should know this mod has scripted early base defence missions. The ambulances looking for your base are guaranteed to show up in april of the first year. If you don't research the hideout search order, they will show up again a few month later. They pick a base at random, so there is a good chance your newly built base will be a target. Even if the new base did not do anything and it is just a hangar. Because of this mechanic, building a new base at the end of march is unadvised. The ambulances are slow enough that you can shoot them down though (if you can detect them). There are several more of these type of missions (ratmen harassment, Necropirate harassment, etc.) that start quite early, so leaving a base blank is always a risk.

The burrow is cheap, builds fast, has housing AND vault space. You can build over it. It is a very cheap and convenient one building solution to enable a defence force in a base. The mod makes it very easy for you to have defenders at your base. If you don't build a burrow in a new base, I would simply call it bad strategy. Because the build over mechanic saves you build time, I tend to spam burrows in all my bases. If you say you cannot beat the attackers because you chose to limit yourself to muskets, well... Challange means you wanted a higher chance to loose stuff.

I was just burnt out from base defences after that, as those are so long. I get combat stress per turn, too.

You choose to do a challange and then complain that the fighting is not fun / gets tougher?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 28, 2018, 09:34:11 pm
Hm, I did not think about build over mechanics. Maybe burrow and an outpost to kick start a base is not a bad idea. Thanks, I'll know for the next time. Also, I am not doing challenge yet, I'm doing a prep run, so I do a bit of a less min/max, and more chilled game. I was not really paying heed to it. I know the ambulance stuff, I finished that. I know about base attacks, but this playtrough had way too many of them, and I don't like them in a first place. I had really rough couple of days, and this game was only good thing I had. Come on, lads, forgive your brother, I did not want to insult anyone. I make mistakes, we all do. Some are just sane enough not to post them on internet. Thank you all for your help, and sorry for wasting your time. Expecially Dioxine, I'm a big fan of your mod. You helped me not pull the curtains on myself. But seing how many people I annoyed maybe I should have...

PS: How do I merge posts, I can feel the lad who did it for me is already prepaired to use Voodoo on me next time?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Dioxine on December 28, 2018, 10:51:14 pm
Nobody is insulted. Have 2 tips:
Tip 1: always put defenders in a base in the same month you started its construction. It is very unlikely it will be targeted in that month. Tip 2: dogs and cats make early hideout defences much more bearable.

Consciously or subconsciously, you betted on your hideout not needing protection (despite being advanced/experienced enough to have Flak Cannons) and you lost the bet. It's nothing bad. Just accept it. Sometimes the only thing that separates great winners from great losers is blind luck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Eddie on December 29, 2018, 01:15:31 am
No hard feelings. Man, I know the feeling of the game giving you a hard time. That's why I don't feel too bad about reloading. I'm playing to have fun, not to get frustrated. If you don't feel like doing a base defence mission, just edit the save. No one will blame you, it's single player :-P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on December 29, 2018, 01:30:17 am
New version uploadeded. Have funs, nya.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: FG on December 29, 2018, 08:04:58 am
New version uploadeded. Have funs, nya.
Much Appreciated! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on December 29, 2018, 11:51:35 am

v.J10 28-Dec-2018
[...]
- Civilians worth more points
[...]
That would mean less negative points or (hopefully) positive score, at least in some cases?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 29, 2018, 12:07:36 pm
That would mean less negative points or (hopefully) positive score, at least in some cases?
In my experience, its free points in "help the Lokk'Nar" mission. They are amazing for scoring, I think you could make a month in positive (score) by just doing them, if no pogrom happens, of course. Hunting missions are a mixed bag, depends on who spawns where. Pogrom is (usually) in no way free points, but you get a great reward for (usually) great effort. Or you are left standing in ruins full of corpses. It sometimes happens, as it does in IRL pogroms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 29, 2018, 03:47:06 pm
PS: How do I merge posts, I can feel the lad who did it for me is already prepaired to use Voodoo on me next time?

Just edit your old post, write "EDIT:" or something and then put in the new message.

If you are particularly focused on making sure the post is new, copy the text from the old post, delete the old post, then put the old and new text in a new post.
That's how I do it anyway. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on December 29, 2018, 05:22:15 pm
Thank you all guys for a new version!
I have a long standing question though: why any major fraction that attack your hideout always equips the crew with plasma weapons? (highest difficulty, Ironman)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 29, 2018, 05:50:02 pm
I have a long standing question though: why any major fraction that attack your hideout always equips the crew with plasma weapons? (highest difficulty, Ironman)

Why not? They're major factions.
Minor factions have their own weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on December 30, 2018, 03:28:05 pm
As for 0.99J10 are there still kisions for which is exclusively  required an airbus? If so, i'd like to have only mossoons that require any civilian unarmed vessel (mostly infiltration ones) and not airbus only. Any chances for the next relase?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Rince Wind on December 30, 2018, 06:57:14 pm
I think there was never one? You could always use the airvan as well, iirc. And it is only one mission I think, and that has a really good reason.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on December 31, 2018, 10:14:04 am
I know of Mansion something, probably infiltration. Haven't done it, so I don't know how good it is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 01, 2019, 08:36:14 pm
Sorry, post moved here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg108111.html#msg108111)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 03, 2019, 03:19:05 am
None of this is real issue. Give me a break with such hair splitting (this also goes for your last "bugreports").
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 03, 2019, 12:27:45 pm
None of this is real issue. Give me a break with such hair splitting (this also goes for your last "bugreports").

ok sorry, not supposed to issu-reporting, only simple tips. Will do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: RSSwizard on January 05, 2019, 03:08:33 am
The base detection and attack mechanics are a bit complicated, but that's how it always have been.
...
Not sure how dark ones and ratmen do it - if they use similar vessels or a different mechanic (besides - realistically, how would a radar detect a squad of soldiers on foot?).
It might be complicated or abit late to suggest this but the Dark Ones base assaults, and ive never had to deal with one personally, I would believe should be using a Comm Wave to simulate the reference to teleporter invasions from Doom.

Another idea ive had for the ratmen foot patrols is they should In Fact have a UFO type. Its just not the usual kind of ufo ("All Terrain Vehicle"). Since they go across the land and even cross the water at about speed 100 it implies they've got their hands on some handy but not that impressive teck. Id imagine they would have a couple large hovercraft things with defensive stations abit like a ufo but without a roof to it, and no salvageable engine. Two of them side by side or something like that. This would be intimidating enough to locals and they'd cough up whatever info the marauders want.

Id like to collect the loot from them out in the field without letting them near my base. In fact id like to collect loot from the Entire Band of marauders. There should be a way to forcibly land on them without killing them. Maybe give them 15 hp instead of 1 so that a hit from an autocannon can lock them down for a combat. I forget whether they ever stop to "land" with a green x so that you could get a ground mission with them.

The inspiration comes from the Splogorth guy and the maiden slaves protecting him on his hovercraft from the game RIFTS. Its a searchable image, splugorth slaver barge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zippicus on January 05, 2019, 03:32:46 am
Technically the ratman patrols do have a craft.  If you hit them with a tractor beam you go into ground combat with a landed tiny UFO and one ratman.  Granted it's probably just there for mechanical reasons rather than for flavor or whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 05, 2019, 03:37:44 am

Id like to collect the loot from them out in the field without letting them near my base.
Do you really need the loot from ratmen by the time you can get an autocannon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: RSSwizard on January 05, 2019, 04:32:49 am
Do you really need the loot from ratmen by the time you can get an autocannon?
MONEY
KILLS
EXPERIENCE
and some points too
until mid 2nd year every drop is worth it to some degree

edit - being able to kill 5-8 ratman foot patrols at like 10 units strong each is 50-80 ratmen deaths, possible dog captures, and 5-8 missions where you can get bumps on stats with ladies. Its like xp grinding. And having them basically out in the open without your base architecture or farm houses giving them an advantage is kinda groovy.
mob leutenants are loot too
and ammo clips are kinda important loot
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Toothless Shark on January 05, 2019, 11:04:24 am
Ratman missions - a place where i level up my throwing skills. Please keep them as they are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Martin on January 05, 2019, 02:01:25 pm
Ratmen could get a boost in equipment later in the game just like the Megapol does. Perhaps not low tier plasmaguns, just some hunting lasers and the like would be enough to make them not a total pushovers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 05, 2019, 02:41:14 pm
Its like xp grinding.
to be honest i think grinding should be reduced, not increased, of course the ratman patrols would be completely voluntary but then i don't see many people grinding 10 patrols and trying not to die from boredom
yeah if you play on 5th difficulty then every little bit matters but i'd rather play on 4th and avoid grinding, adding shakeup and gladiator training was a step in a right direction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99J9 - 24 Nov - Needs More Muskets
Post by: niculinux on January 05, 2019, 03:47:02 pm
edit - being able to kill 5-8 ratman foot patrols at like 10 units strong each is 50-80 ratmen deaths, possible dog captures, and 5-8 missions where you can get bumps on stats with ladies. Its like xp grinding. And having them basically out in the open without your base architecture or farm houses giving them an advantage is kinda groovy.
mob leutenants are loot too
and ammo clips are kinda important loot

I agree but the only benefit i think it's some xp; oatroks usually would not carry money and they use pretty low tech weapons that give trouble only in the beginning. The sole thingh to fear are the flintock they carry, and nit all if them AFSIK assaulting their villages.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: BBHood217 on January 05, 2019, 11:52:29 pm
Technically the ratman patrols do have a craft.  If you hit them with a tractor beam you go into ground combat with a landed tiny UFO and one ratman.  Granted it's probably just there for mechanical reasons rather than for flavor or whatever.

Yeah, craft that you're not meant to ground assault use the default small scout UFO.  Having said that, I think the ratmen patrol should finally get their own "craft" since you can tractor them like you said.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Stoddard on January 06, 2019, 12:12:59 am
I think the ratmen patrol should finally get their own "craft" since you can tractor them like you said.

I'd rather tractor them up in the sky and release rather than wasting time and craft ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 06, 2019, 02:17:11 am
There's no "craft" because you make them scatter. Maybe RSS wizard doesn't like the novelty of un-lootable "ufo" but that's no frigging ufo. It is to simulate patrols.
As for tractor beam, no fix needed - you have the single guy you caught, have fun ;) Besides it's endgame so rules are relaxed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 06, 2019, 05:40:09 am
Why not? They're major factions.
Minor factions have their own weapons.
I suggest a second and the third base attack scenarios for the middle game.
e.g. when they don't consider piratez as a the global threat: no need for a global command staff, only middle category, one armored bodyguard (or else for a different fraction) to command the strike, upper-medium tier weapons and so on.
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 06, 2019, 09:36:09 am
Splitting hairs for tons of work and little value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zippicus on January 06, 2019, 09:58:36 am
Yeah, craft that you're not meant to ground assault use the default small scout UFO.  Having said that, I think the ratmen patrol should finally get their own "craft" since you can tractor them like you said.

I'm not really sure what you mean, I've caught tiny UFO's on the ground in vanilla Xcom plenty of times.  They're clearly a thing that exists, and being able to assault them on the ground is "normal".  In fact I don't think I've ever seen one survive a hit in air combat so a landed craft might be the only way to see a ground assault.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: BBHood217 on January 07, 2019, 12:12:29 am
I'm not really sure what you mean, I've caught tiny UFO's on the ground in vanilla Xcom plenty of times.  They're clearly a thing that exists, and being able to assault them on the ground is "normal".  In fact I don't think I've ever seen one survive a hit in air combat so a landed craft might be the only way to see a ground assault.

Lemme explain.  There are UFOs in XPiratez that you are not meant at all to ground assault because they're way too fast or way too fragile by design.  However, the game engine still needs to assign a UFO to them anyway in case you miraculously somehow got them to land (or much more likely, played them in quick battle) so the default small scout is used.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zippicus on January 07, 2019, 09:39:42 am
Lemme explain.  There are UFOs in XPiratez that you are not meant at all to ground assault because they're way too fast or way too fragile by design.  However, the game engine still needs to assign a UFO to them anyway in case you miraculously somehow got them to land (or much more likely, played them in quick battle) so the default small scout is used.

Yeah I get the mechanical part, I was more taking issue with the "not meant to ground assault".  We're given the tools we need to bring them down intact with the tractor beam.  Granted it's easier to just blow them away but using a tractor beam is a valid option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 07, 2019, 05:47:36 pm
Yeah I get the mechanical part, I was more taking issue with the "not meant to ground assault".  We're given the tools we need to bring them down intact with the tractor beam.  Granted it's easier to just blow them away but using a tractor beam is a valid option.
Does tractor beam use leads to any damage dealt to the craft during the landing?

@Dioxine,
The Freaks - cost only 2000 Jack's tokens and often offer a lot more for the basic skills than Veterans for a lower price ($400K vs $175K + much lower payrate). Often when you recruit 20-50 Freaks at one time there is a huge chance that 20-30% of them will have a killing machines characteristics, with literally 80-120% for the 5-6 parameters out of 9 (don't count the Voodoo skills).
The suggestion: Make them a super-option for a Jack's Prize tree (change from 2000 to 4000-5000 points?), or make them costier (from $175K to $900K). This will alter the balance:

The point :
- Veteran's stats often look almost non competitive to the selected Freak's ones (read: each fifth Freak is almost a full-stat soldier with no need to train, except for the 2-3 stats)
- 2000 tokens is the easy price and may usually be paid off even before the Veterans recruitment got enabled.
- such hiring mechanisms make middlegame less challenging even with highest level difficulty and Ironman mode (I'm sorry to repeat this reason too often, it's not an argument). But I want to suffer little more with unability to recruit a 100 Freaks for no price to choose 15 Terminators and dismiss other 85. Too good chances for a lottery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Ashghan on January 07, 2019, 07:24:27 pm
Does tractor beam use leads to any damage dealt to the craft during the landing?
None whatsoever. Mechanically it's like catching a landed UFO. The 'forcing it down to the ground' is implied rather than actually done. Not sure what is the timer on landing (I assault immediately if I actually bother to tractor) - 30 minutes at least, maybe more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Eddie on January 07, 2019, 10:12:36 pm
Abyss, you do know that freaks have lower stat caps than regular soldiers, yes? Freaks won't improve as much as veterans.
Freaks are capped at 110 firing and 85 throwing. So freaks are worse at ranged combat but can be better melee fighters. It's a tradeoff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 08, 2019, 05:28:55 am
Abyss, you do know that freaks have lower stat caps than regular soldiers, yes? Freaks won't improve as much as veterans.
Freaks are capped at 110 firing and 85 throwing. So freaks are worse at ranged combat but can be better melee fighters. It's a tradeoff.

Freaks are sometimes capped in firing, sometimes in other stats. Yes. Randomly.
But there is not much to consider between a Freak that comes with 5 stats almost at max and a veteran that comes with all stats at 60-70%. Not also 120 max firing cap is a point to consider buying a veteran for 400K. Freaks are also the best crew for the Harbinger armor due to 110-120 time units given at the recruitment point.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 09, 2019, 05:46:50 pm
If you're able to just buy 100 freaks and kick out 90 for a net loss of $15M and 21 days wait, this doesn't mean all that much. Nothing much matters by this point and you should be going to cydonia not playing tamagochi with gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: magus1 on January 10, 2019, 03:23:49 am
Dioxine, TY for the lols! I watched a YT docu on men who have these "real life" dolls - I hope it doesn't get that serious...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 12, 2019, 11:58:04 am
That's the middle game, not even gauss reseached.

You should be going to cydonia not playing tamagochi with gals.

With all tremendous work done by your side it is indeed a tamagochi with a storyline and a simulation of economics, RPG and TBS. Not me to assert how RPG part is valuable. And that was YOUR effort to create such characters and the plot around them. What I suggest, the beginning challenge and roleplay somehow lose tightness by the moment you aquire freakinators. The veteran gals are nervously smoking with no job to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on January 12, 2019, 01:41:53 pm
That's the middle game, not even gauss reseached.

With all tremendous work done by your side it is indeed a tamagochi with a storyline and a simulation of economics, RPG and TBS. Not me to assert how RPG part is valuable. And that was YOUR effort to create such characters and the plot around them. What I suggest, the beginning challenge and roleplay somehow lose tightness by the moment you aquire freakinators. The veteran gals are nervously smoking with no job to do.

I don't remember if Dioxine, or someone else once said once, but it was pretty smart: "If you think this is "cheating", or "broken", then don't abuse it".
Case with "Synthetic Gal" was the same. Maxed out stats on Synth allow you to kill multiple foes with melee weaponry in signle turn thanks to big TU pool etc. It's hard to get Synt, it's pretty far from the game start/close to the game end.
Buying 100 freaks is abusing the system. Giving it 5000, or 10000 "Jack Points" to get them won't solve the issue. In early game it will be impossible to get and not worth it and in the end game you could abuse it too.
It's not Dioxine fault that you are buing 100 freaks. They were intended to be rare, uncommon etc. We are not little kids. We are using fork as it is intended, nobody's fault if we will stick it into electric socket.
I would never even think about buying so much freaks. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Stoddard on January 12, 2019, 02:53:27 pm
I don't remember if Dioxine, or someone else once said once, but it was pretty smart: "If you think this is "cheating", or "broken", then don't abuse it".

Quote
- Doctor, it hurts when I do this!
 - Then don't do it

Still the best medical advice available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on January 12, 2019, 04:46:28 pm
Still the best medical advice available.

Maybe, but:

" - Here, take this pill bottle with 100 pills, take one after waking up and one before going to bed."
" - Doc! I took 50 pills in the first day!"
" - Yeah, it's my fault, let me give you "idiot-proof" pill bottle that vends one pill after 12 hours and this pill bottle is also indestructible, becouse in case of you purposely smashing it and swallowing every single on of them, it's still my fault, not yours."

I can imagine only one "good" way to limit buying 100 freaks at once: Shop stock limit.
Is it possible to limit items to buy in the "black market"? Stock could reset each month with RNG chance to have more/less of certain "goods".

100 freaks "problem", if taken seriously, can be only a drop in a sea of other, similar. I can build 5 "animal pens" that give my hideout ability to be defended by 100 dogs. Having them makes any hideout defence costs only lives of those dogs = Broken mechanic. Restrict buing dogs untill end game, becouse it's too easy to defend hideout with 100 dogs.
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Meridian on January 12, 2019, 05:11:16 pm
No, it's not currently possible to limit the availability of items on the black market.

I'd suggest not caring about people who abuse the system... no matter how many features and limitations will be implemented, there will always be some cheese...  if the top 2% most "profitable" features are cheese... and you remove them... the next 2% will become cheese. Ad infinitum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 12, 2019, 05:15:49 pm
Case with "Synthetic Gal" was the same. Maxed out stats on Synth allow you to kill multiple foes with melee weaponry in signle turn thanks to big TU pool etc. It's hard to get Synt, it's pretty far from the game start/close to the game end.
Actually what if freaks are moved into space too? You know that mission where you get 4 stasis pods with gals. What if we get freaks instead? Like they were literally too freaky to store on the earth. Makes no sense to have such a security measure(a clandestine space station) to just store normal ubers there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 12, 2019, 07:25:55 pm
Glad that Freak point had such an attention in both ways. Thank you all.

Most of responds are related to the point "how dare you abuse the system". Well I play Iron man and that mean I try to use most of the mechanics available. I guess the savegame abuse gives the different point of view for the Freak issue. But trust me I am a big fan of both X-Piratez and X-Files modes and trying to make my possible contribution into balance, with no other options given at the moment.

So back to the question: the point was that 20-25% of Freaks start with 100-120 TU. And 8-12% with 110+ TU and 130+ energy. Plus 1-2 random pararmeters maxed. And that's making them ultimate choice for the middle game, reducing the Veteran's value. Which are costier and weaker. The freaks are usually got unlocked far before the Veterans purchase enabled. Gotta reverse that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 12, 2019, 08:31:58 pm
I kinda liked when they required rags. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 12, 2019, 09:06:39 pm
Most of responds are related to the point "how dare you abuse the system".

They are not. Think before posting. If you can sink $20M into creating your dream gals, but still are in the "middle game", it's you being fat and not spending resources toward the end goal but towards creating dream gals (who still can get killed if you don't play super cowardly). Putting blame for such an outcome on me is preposterous - it's your playstyle. I respect it, but don't expect me to balance the game with it in mind (at the price of fucking it up for other playstyles).

And that's making them ultimate choice for the middle game, reducing the Veteran's value. Which are costier and weaker. The freaks are usually got unlocked far before the Veterans purchase enabled. Gotta reverse that.

You do realize that this is a misinformation. To get a freak who's better than a veteran, you have to spend like $2M on average, compared to $0.4M on veterans. We won't be talking like that, mister.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 16, 2019, 10:06:02 pm
I can build 5 "animal pens" that give my hideout ability to be defended by 100 dogs. Having them makes any hideout defence costs only lives of those dogs = Broken mechanic.
Interesting that you had it pointed :):
There was and is a possibility to buy unlimited amount of dogs and bloodhounds with and without animal den in J9. Is this a feature or a bug - I don't really know.
The feature in the X-Files by Solarius Scorch: your manufacturing projects are not binded to the storespace. So you can manufacture far beyond any space available, even if it is overloaded already. And I understand these for they are logically feasible.

The freaks problem lays deep underneath the main issue: how to proliferate an astounding beginning of the game into the astounding end. And there is no end yet, actually. Even the Fraction's bases are not yet reworked: only units are implemented.
That's why I try to stretch the 0-30% progress to the maximum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Dioxine on January 18, 2019, 10:53:25 am
Interesting that you had it pointed :):
There was and is a possibility to buy unlimited amount of dogs and bloodhounds with and without animal den in J9. Is this a feature or a bug - I don't really know.

It is a hack: I made dogs use "prison space" instead of living quarters or stores, and prison space is not checked by the game when you're buying stuff. Hopefully some day this loophole in the code will be fixed, maybe already was.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zharkov on January 18, 2019, 03:04:35 pm
It is a hack: I made dogs use "prison space" instead of living quarters or stores, and prison space is not checked by the game when you're buying stuff. Hopefully some day this loophole in the code will be fixed, maybe already was.

So this is what the prisonType: 2 is about?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 22, 2019, 05:45:39 am
Glitch Report? Did an Infested Cellar mission. Killed everything I could see. Passed 100 turns without a peep from the enemy, and yet it still doesn't count as cleared. What is happening?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 22, 2019, 10:37:57 am
Glitch Report? Did an Infested Cellar mission. Killed everything I could see. Passed 100 turns without a peep from the enemy, and yet it still doesn't count as cleared. What is happening?
Take a pickaxe and dig to the darkness.
A mighty enemy shall meet thee on the other side (a couple of rats).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zharkov on January 22, 2019, 02:36:13 pm
Just wondering, Dioxine, why did you force deactivate the "enemy landing alert"?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 22, 2019, 11:29:16 pm
Take a pickaxe and dig to the darkness.
A mighty enemy shall meet thee on the other side (a couple of rats).

Is that the actual solution, or just a workaround for a bug? I saw what I thought was a weak wall, tried blowing it up with an HE Grenade and it did nothing. Am I gonna need to bring Pickaxes on future missions like this?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zharkov on January 22, 2019, 11:42:11 pm
Is that the actual solution, or just a workaround for a bug? I saw what I thought was a weak wall, tried blowing it up with an HE Grenade and it did nothing. Am I gonna need to bring Pickaxes on future missions like this?

There should be a pickax to pick up close to your starting location.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 23, 2019, 01:16:41 am
I saw the pickaxe, but just thought it was a mediocre melee weapon. I also thought dirt was indestructible, although that was vanilla UFO defense, so they could have changed it for Piratez. Just take the pickaxe and attack every wall I can?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Rince Wind on January 23, 2019, 01:56:48 am
Just take a look at the map and look where a room could be.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 23, 2019, 02:13:51 am
I don't have the game open, but we were boxed into the lower left hand corner of the map. So dig north.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zippicus on January 23, 2019, 03:57:32 am
Yeah you can dig through most walls, the info tab on weapons will list stuff like bonus damage for structures (I forget what the exact wording is).  You may have to hit walls a few times to make any progress so digging can be slow.  You'll just have to keep at it.  There's a handful of missions where you're going to have to dig so make sure to toss some digging tools into your transport craft(s) just in case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: legionof1 on January 23, 2019, 07:53:33 am
Never leave home without demolition, at least until someone gets around to making the map randomization validation coding that ensures connectivity. Even then that just unintentional blockage, things like the mansion map, and the reynard prison are this way intentionally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 23, 2019, 11:33:44 am
My humble 2 cents': actually "infested cellar" misison should not need pickaxex to be accomplished, it's just a cleanse operation, maybe some electrical lights may be added; see it's  not a tomb rider mission. Instead, the last mentioned should require these, it is a bounty mission if i happen to remember correctly  :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Rince Wind on January 23, 2019, 11:39:22 am
Most of the time it doesn't. I never had to dig in a cellar so far.
But sometimes the map generator doesn't like you. That is why Dioxine was nice and put a pickaxe in the mission, so you can do it even if you forgot to bring your own/don't have one yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 23, 2019, 04:59:21 pm
Most of the time it doesn't. I never had to dig in a cellar so far.
But sometimes the map generator doesn't like you. That is why Dioxine was nice and put a pickaxe in the mission, so you can do it even if you forgot to bring your own/don't have one yet.

Actually it happened nearly every time i engaged that mission. Actually i tend to ignore it, unless i have some protection, let's say at last warrior armor or something that guarantees protection over 30 points :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Abyss on January 23, 2019, 06:07:48 pm
Actually it happened nearly every time i engaged that mission. Actually i tend to ignore it, unless i have some protection, let's say at last warrior armor or something that guarantees protection over 30 points :)
It is a pretty boresome mission type that I tend to skip too. In such a large game there is no real need in killing rats in the catacombs. Seriously!
What I will be not skipping is a type of mission when TONS of rats are able to attack my squad within the next turn. When the cellar is a huge room and gals are in the middle. With ability to retreat, of course)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 23, 2019, 07:30:36 pm
It is a pretty boresome mission type that I tend to skip too. In such a large game there is no real need in killing rats in the catacombs. Seriously!
What I will be not skipping is a type of mission when TONS of rats are able to attack my squad within the next turn. When the cellar is a huge room and gals are in the middle. With ability to retreat, of course)

Actually on second thought it would make more sense it be a level D bounty mission; replacing it with a more ordinary one, for instance bank robbery that would also fit nicely amonge the starting and no bounty ones; without the turn limit as it have now. Or replace with a brand new one, if so any ideas?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: alcatraz on January 24, 2019, 06:27:05 am
I just send 1 gal with a grav harness and a decent snapfire weapon like a shotgun. Not had any problems with that.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 24, 2019, 11:29:33 am
I just send 1 gal with a grav harness and a decent snapfire weapon like a shotgun. Not had any problems with that.

Sorry but that would be not too squandered for such mission? Don't know :-\ it's a very atypical mission
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: Zippicus on January 24, 2019, 03:06:17 pm
I usually send gals that need reaction training and give them all shotguns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: legionof1 on January 26, 2019, 06:41:00 am
Yeah, there is just nuff space in the starting area to hover over rats there by making you immune to attack(you cant melee up, only adjacent) That said you do eventually have to come down cause not all the rats will come through the starting room, which is the only space with assured vertical clearance for the trick.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J10 - 28 Dec - Christmas Underground
Post by: niculinux on January 26, 2019, 09:32:25 am
Yeah, there is just nuff space in the starting area to hover over rats there by making you immune to attack(you cant melee up, only adjacent) That said you do eventually have to come down cause not all the rats will come through the starting room, which is the only space with assured vertical clearance for the trick.
Suppose i was unlucky then because not so few rats went upstairs in the staring area cauding trouble! I finf strangely an engaging mission if you're not well armored :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on January 27, 2019, 08:17:20 pm
New version up. Huge update. Enjoy. And shame on donators, yet another of a long line of months with just 1 guy donating.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on January 27, 2019, 11:37:26 pm

- New Missions: Siztzkrieg



In case this is meant in contrast to "Blitzkrieg", it is actually "Sitzkrieg" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 28, 2019, 08:09:09 am
How do I get craft with more soldier capacity than the Blowfish? I thought it was, build a workshop, use the drill on the green codex, build the Bonnaventura and or buy the Turtle, done. But a single workshop isn't enough to use the drill, and I can't build any more workshops in the same base. I was looking through videos online and saw some kind of 2x2 workshop, how do I get that/what is it called (looked in the tech tree for Large Workshop and found nothing), or is there some other weird way of getting more workshop space?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on January 28, 2019, 09:47:18 am
Workshop + still + extractor is enough
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on January 28, 2019, 09:55:48 am

In case this is meant in contrast to "Blitzkrieg", it is actually "Sitzkrieg" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War).

Gotta try it ASAP!

How do I get craft with more soldier capacity than the Blowfish? I thought it was, build a workshop, use the drill on the green codex, build the Bonnaventura and or buy the Turtle, done. But a single workshop isn't enough to use the drill, and I can't build any more workshops in the same base. I was looking through videos online and saw some kind of 2x2 workshop, how do I get that/what is it called (looked in the tech tree for Large Workshop and found nothing), or is there some other weird way of getting more workshop space?

AFAIK it is called "factory" i think but i have no idea on how to unlock it  :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Bearinger on January 28, 2019, 12:23:09 pm
How do I get craft with more soldier capacity than the Blowfish? I thought it was, build a workshop, use the drill on the green codex, build the Bonnaventura and or buy the Turtle, done. But a single workshop isn't enough to use the drill, and I can't build any more workshops in the same base. I was looking through videos online and saw some kind of 2x2 workshop, how do I get that/what is it called (looked in the tech tree for Large Workshop and found nothing), or is there some other weird way of getting more workshop space?

Have you tried canceling all other projects? Using the drill requires that it be the only project in the workshop at the time and you only get to use about half your runts to complete it.

0.99J8 19-Oct-2018
- Tanks can no longer be used in underground missions

v.J10 28-Dec-2018
- Secret Bases now count as Underground enviro

Also I just saw what you did there, and it makes me sad. My double tank, Spy Zeppelin, Base taking strat is now ruined :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on January 28, 2019, 03:07:29 pm

Also I just saw what you did there, and it makes me sad. My double tank, Spy Zeppelin, Base taking strat is now ruined :(

Well hard not to see when it's open text. Variety is the name of the game; if your strat was to nuke everything with tanks, you have to try something else in a larger amount of missions. It was also always kind of stupid that tanks fit into tunnels, but I did not think about it seriously until during making the latest batch of crewed tanks, with hovertanks putting stuff into perspective. Unless you suggest something untoward, then I can suggest you something untoward, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on January 28, 2019, 03:34:09 pm
Why is the Red Codex geting so much nice stuff? Great fighty carrier of a menace class that goes underwater too, probably the best out of them, STC crafts with decent gimmics and tons of battlescape content, including some of the most powerful things such as Hellgun and now the Chinese Dragon is limited to it too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 28, 2019, 03:47:53 pm
But every tank in the game is kind of a mini tank, aren't they? And the "real" tanks are those you build after privatizing world peace.

I like how in Xenonauts you are free to bring a tank to an alien base but every room and corridor was cluttered with random boxes and consoles, granted you could drive over most of them. If we can't do it in openxcom maybe this is a good idea? Make more cluttered enemy base layouts, but give an option to bring a tank and blast your way forward.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on January 28, 2019, 05:42:34 pm
Tanks are a bit overpowered because the "AI" isn’t written to understand what different weapons are for, so it will happily shoot tank in the front with a gauss pistol and waste a rocket to kill a parrot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 28, 2019, 10:20:26 pm
Well, the truth is, the Red Codex has always been heavily criticized by some pr0-h4xx0r players. So no wonder Dioxine decided to boost it a bit, even though I like it a lot myself as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 28, 2019, 11:17:31 pm
Hallucinoid voodoo rape is insane. The entire blowfish gets MC'd in 3 turns. The only time i felt like i could break my voluntary ironman and savescum only abandoning 3 gals outside.

I guess the new underwater strategy is to have a throwaway peasant scout and give everyone else 2 anchors so they can't move or swing in case it's them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: BBHood217 on January 28, 2019, 11:33:10 pm
Okay, you can't bring your tanks to underground bases anymore.  But can the enemy still bring their hovertanks and sectopods?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on January 29, 2019, 12:44:00 am
Have you tried canceling all other projects? Using the drill requires that it be the only project in the workshop at the time and you only get to use about half your runts to complete it.

Also I just saw what you did there, and it makes me sad. My double tank, Spy Zeppelin, Base taking strat is now ruined :(
I have Hellerium Distilling and Chataue De La Mort running at all times, when I play next, I'll try shutting them down and using the drill again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 29, 2019, 12:58:56 pm
Yea, remember how projects take up workshop space. The drill one takes about 30 I think, which is more than half the regular workshop space.

First post on the forums btw. Glad to join you guys, piratez is easily the most amazing xcom mod I've ever played, and I've been playing since the time we started with the bonaventura.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: legionof1 on January 30, 2019, 03:34:26 am
Okay, you can't bring your tanks to underground bases anymore.  But can the enemy still bring their hovertanks and sectopods?

Two potential answers depending on if enemy deployments respect environmental settings. I surmise they ignore them, so yeah baddies still get there HWPs, you dont.

If they do respect envrio conditions, nerf for everyone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on January 30, 2019, 11:14:20 am
The answer is they enter through main door, not ventilation shafts, so they can bring any tanks they want.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on January 30, 2019, 01:15:28 pm
The answer is they enter through main door, not ventilation shafts, so they can bring any tanks they want.

So, tanks can still be used for base defense?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on January 30, 2019, 10:22:35 pm
Wow, Megapol has some better weapons, now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 01, 2019, 11:22:34 am
So, tanks can still be used for base defense?

Of course.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 01, 2019, 12:53:04 pm
I have to admit this version J11 is 20-30% more challenging than J9. Tech tree changes make it more and more interesting from version to version.
But subjectively there's still not enough massacre for the Ironman/Hardest, or just I got lucky not to deal with the Stargods in the first year).
Would you consider shifting the difficulty from (Easiest->Hardest) to the (Slightly Harder Than Easy -> Pain in the Ass) both for +Armor, +Quantity of the enemies, -Items sell cost?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 01, 2019, 06:05:51 pm
I like the idea of diverging research paths, and yea the game does seem slightly harder for whatever reason, but its still completely manageable. The fact I'm using more slave soldiers and less gals probably has something to do with it, though. I hope this run I get more chances to get my hands on power armor parts. I stopped my last run on J9 just after getting myself superhero armor, and all power armor parts I got were from marsec ops in guild pogroms. Can't wait to have squads of slave soldiers using old guns with eletro-pulse bullets.

Also yea, megapol got some cool stuff now. Now I'll be attacking them way more often. Before this they were just tanky furries with regular weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on February 01, 2019, 07:01:02 pm
I like how on hardest even the easier missions give a challenge just due to a sheer number of enemies, but for me the hardest missions\ships are too unforgiving because of the overtuned numbers and stats of their garrisons.

I already suggested it, but i think the difficulty is better balanced by changing the actual missions available to the player. I get watchtower mission in april of year 2, 4th difficulty, why? D level bounty hunts, rodeos. Remove them completely from the pool in like 6 months max. Basically once you hit the tech level to make the mission 99% safe then remove it from the pool. Like warrior armor+gun emporium removes ratmen rodeo. C badge + one of the tier 2 BH awards removes D level missions. And the same for ships, basically. Once you raid a few excavators maybe the factions should realise that you have a decent radar coverage and it's not not safe to use the rubbish vessels. Like if you have downed X excavators or did Y landed assaults then this ship is removed from the pool. Scouts should switch from cutters and runabouts to faster ships then if they keep being downed they should abandon designated scouts eventually and just scout with battleships.

This way the the overall game difficulty would be more like a campaign progression speed, instead of having more enemy mooks with super stats. I know it aldeady affects some aspects of campaign progression, but i would make it more radical.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 01, 2019, 07:14:26 pm
Can't you just ignore these missions? Instead of actively preventing people from doing them even if them want to?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 01, 2019, 08:17:54 pm
I get watchtower mission in april of year 2, 4th difficulty, why? D level bounty hunts, rodeos. Remove them completely from the pool in like 6 months max.

I enjoy killing Ratmen with Hi-end weapons :) Especially Super-SG and XG-Chainguns! 
Couple of times used Chinese Dragons, my bad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 01, 2019, 08:24:13 pm
Yeah, I meant people like this. ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 01, 2019, 09:16:01 pm
I personally never choose any difficulty above blackbeardDavy Jones because the number of mooks makes some missions really annoying. Good luck succesfuly capturing a merc supply ship in jack sparrow.

Also, keeping easy old missions in the game way past the point they aren't hard is actualy pretty useful. Sometimes you just need that bit of common tech you didn't get from an old enemy, and such missions provide you with plenty of common people to kidnap. Progression doesn't necessarily require all the old things to disappear forever, just the ones that don't make sense. For example, it doesnt make sense for the academy to try to raid your base full of heavy armor wearing gals carrying flak cannons with a ship full of nurses and researchers carrying varmint rifles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 01, 2019, 11:26:23 pm
Another thing is that I like maintaining many squads (at least one per base), and not all of them will be stellar. So I use such missions to give badly equipped rookies some action.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 02, 2019, 03:27:22 am
I already suggested it, but i think the difficulty is better balanced by changing the actual missions available to the player. I get watchtower mission in april of year 2, 4th difficulty, why? D level bounty hunts, rodeos. Remove them completely from the pool in like 6 months max. Basically once you hit the tech level to make the mission 99% safe then remove it from the pool. Like warrior armor+gun emporium removes ratmen rodeo. C badge + one of the tier 2 BH awards removes D level missions. And the same for ships, basically. Once you raid a few excavators maybe the factions should realise that you have a decent radar coverage and it's not not safe to use the rubbish vessels. Like if you have downed X excavators or did Y landed assaults then this ship is removed from the pool. Scouts should switch from cutters and runabouts to faster ships then if they keep being downed they should abandon designated scouts eventually and just scout with battleships.

This way the the overall game difficulty would be more like a campaign progression speed, instead of having more enemy mooks with super stats. I know it aldeady affects some aspects of campaign progression, but i would make it more radical.

You say it all like it was:
a) actually needed (the game was not created to entertain people, but to simulate a mysterious world).
b) easy to implement (what you propose is an insane level of manual-adjustment that would not only require huge workload, but also will be prone to endless bugs).
c) not implemented already (easy missions do get phased out, but slowly and mostly with clock, and almost never completely).
d) not already implemented with actually important missions which do depend heavily on diff level and tech progress.

I don't want people gaming the tech tree too much to avoid researching stuff just to keep some missions longer. That'd be madness and a huge blow to immersion.

Can't you just ignore these missions?

...Actually this is the most baffling part. Is someone pointing a gun to your head? Just ignore missions which you consider beneath your dignity.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 02, 2019, 08:08:53 am
One more suggestion regards the Craft Lascannon: Once you get it, there is a huge advance in overall geoscape score, due to the known reasons (no ammo, high impact strength, almost 100% accuracy with strong firing gals, medium range).
Literally it makes all the cannon guns and most missiles obsolete. Even the high-tier ones. Even the Heavy slots. What for the nuke warheads? No way, the CLC is much better :o

IMHO, it should be positioned lower than the trophy Gauss Cannon and Reticulan PC.
Say 10 DPS instead of 36, accuracy nerfed to 60%. Assuming that Charger laser makes 6 DPS, it makes sense. Besides, the level of technology gals possess at the moment of CLC aquisition is supposed to be lower than Reticulans and Major parties.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on February 02, 2019, 11:26:29 am
Besides, the level of technology gals possess at the moment of CLC aquisition is supposed to be lower than Reticulans and Major parties.

You are aware that schizotech (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SchizoTech) is a key design element of piratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 02, 2019, 12:33:20 pm
One more suggestion regards the Craft Lascannon: Once you get it, there is a huge advance in overall geoscape score, due to the known reasons (no ammo, high impact strength, almost 100% accuracy with strong firing gals, medium range).
Literally it makes all the cannon guns and most missiles obsolete. Even the high-tier ones. Even the Heavy slots. What for the nuke warheads? No way, the CLC is much better :o

Do you have numbers broken down to back these claims?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 02, 2019, 12:58:43 pm
Do you have numbers broken down to back these claims?
Please specify the evidence needed
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: LytaRyta on February 02, 2019, 02:33:33 pm
Lol
btw.what are thoese "Pew~pews" ?


and pls.dont touch on Craft'LasCannon (or even Gatling LasCannon), dont nerf.it, ~ I just cant play the game then! ;D lol
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 02, 2019, 02:52:17 pm
Lol
btw.what are thoese "Pew~pews" ?
Nukes  ::)

For the Lascannons - nerf is a must hence they are non-dependant on ammo. See you just fly around and stalk big ships with no cost, whereas the same amount of Ramjets don't even got a chance to force the equal ship. And that is, subsequently, for a couple: 22K*24 = 528K for the ammo. Half a million evaporated through the barrel. And two Lascannons made roughly out of 4 hand-held Heavy Lasers bring down 2-3 supply ships in a single combat mission.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on February 02, 2019, 02:57:42 pm
Nukes  ::)

For the Lascannons - nerf is a must hence they are non-dependant on ammo. See you just fly around and stalk big ships with no cost, whereas the same amount of Ramjets don't even got a chance to force the equal ship. And that is, subsequently, for a couple: 22K*24 = 528K for the ammo. Half a million evaporated through the barrel. And two Lascannons made roughly out of 4 hand-held Heavy Lasers bring down 2-3 supply ships in a single combat mission.

Okay, I start to see the problem. However, I think that in part this works as intended. The weapons you need to buy ammo for are intentended to be inefficient. But maybe not ineffective as in your example.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 02, 2019, 03:50:22 pm
Nukes  ::)

For the Lascannons - nerf is a must hence they are non-dependant on ammo. See you just fly around and stalk big ships with no cost, whereas the same amount of Ramjets don't even got a chance to force the equal ship. And that is, subsequently, for a couple: 22K*24 = 528K for the ammo. Half a million evaporated through the barrel. And two Lascannons made roughly out of 4 hand-held Heavy Lasers bring down 2-3 supply ships in a single combat mission.

I don't even....  lol.  First, don't shoot down supply ships, they land (although we may be talking about different things since enemy bases get 1 supply ship not 2-3).  Second, lascannons pretty much suck, their ONLY redeeming feature is the ammo, although I'll admit that ramjets suck worse.  They're only good for shooting down ships that won't blow your ass out of the sky no matter what weapons you're using.  Are you sure you're not thinking of plasma cannons ?  Those are pretty badass.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 02, 2019, 04:34:47 pm
The main point: challenge falls to zero since then you make a couple.

lascannons pretty much suck, their ONLY redeeming feature is the ammo, although I'll admit that ramjets suck worse.

Should CLC be better than Gauss, that is the question.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 02, 2019, 04:46:57 pm
The main point: challenge falls to zero since then you make a couple.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.  You're not going to be able to shoot down any real ships with lascannons.  I mean great you can mow down crap ships sure, but almost any other weapon can do that too.  Hell most ships you don't even have to shoot down, they'll land somewhere and you can take them out with 0 ammo used from any weapon.  The ones you actually NEED to shoot down will murder you if you go in packing lascannons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 02, 2019, 05:26:54 pm
Ye, the more serious enemy craft will blow you out of the sky if you try to take them down in a dick measuring match with lascannons. They're just a cheap and fast way to take down the more common and-or smaller ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 02, 2019, 06:07:01 pm
In 0.99J1 we  have 9  battlescape tracks and 12  geoscape. These  now have each its own name while before being lsbelled with prgressive number. The new track is "airrocks" in the geoscape. I would have  preferred anyway that the divergin paths topic may lead to slave soldiers as an alternative, like paesants; actually the "fighting force" bootypedia article seems to suggest that player shoul not enroll mercenaries, like the slave soldiers seems to be labelled. But whatever!!

Edit: these tracks are somewhat '90 feeling, especially the "astrorock" one, but my preferred one is "Vanity set" in geoscape and "synthetic dresms" in battlescape

Edit: 2: To complicate/make things more interesting, i thinck the initial "recruitment" topic should allow also brainer and runts recruitmen, not only the hands one, that would make things have more sense; right now the former ones are avaiable at the start
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: cc on February 03, 2019, 02:30:22 am
Do you have numbers broken down to back these claims?
Unless something major has changed in the last few (2 or 3) versions, the Lascannon has average DPS (~3.4, rank 15-ish) for a trained pilot. For an untrained pilot it places higher (~2.7, rank 10-ish). However, this assumes that the enemy craft is unarmored - in other words, the Lascannon is an excellent weapon for taking out the trash and/or doing pilot training, but against anything armored, it's useless. Okay, it is better than Ramjet and Gauss Cannon, but that's because those two suck. If there's a complaint to be had, it's that the Ramjet is useless when you get it: given the range of most enemies, 50 isn't a (big) advantage and the Ramjet has atrocious damage output (worst DPS of all heavy weapons). A slight damage bump to 45 or even 50 would make it a weapon that one can actually consider to use.

EDIT: Typo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 03, 2019, 03:01:16 am
Please specify the evidence needed

Not evidence but honest comparison, by numbers, I don't want to go untangling this mess with emotional claims as the only backing. Getting lascannons isn't easy, mind you, compared to the other weapons you mentioned (in passing, again, nothing concrete).

Ramjet is potentially your first heavy weapon (other is Quadcannon), costs you almost nothing but money, and is sold by shady characters. Figures it's crappy (maybe bit too much indeed). It does outrange all crappy enemy ships, tho.

As for gauss cannon, it is still lower on the list than lascannon, you can loot it pretty easily off enemies. If it sucks too much, we can think about buffing it.

Edit: 2: To complicate/make things more interesting, i thinck the initial "recruitment" topic should allow also brainer and runts recruitmen, not only the hands one, that would make things have more sense; right now the former ones are avaiable at the start

It is not doable. I won't adress the rest of your post as I did not understand it.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 03, 2019, 04:28:02 am
Not evidence but honest comparison, by numbers, I don't want to go untangling this mess with emotional claims as the only backing. Getting lascannons isn't easy, mind you, compared to the other weapons you mentioned (in passing, again, nothing concrete).

Ramjet is potentially your first heavy weapon (other is Quadcannon), costs you almost nothing but money, and is sold by shady characters. Figures it's crappy (maybe bit too much indeed). It does outrange all crappy enemy ships, tho.

As for gauss cannon, it is still lower on the list than lascannon, you can loot it pretty easily off enemies. If it sucks too much, we can think about buffing it.

The base for CLC nerfing suggestion is pretty much the same as for the Impaler. Aquire of the latter leads to the drastical change in the overall strategy of the game, that's what implied. For the Impaler it was too easy to lay down the strongest enemies (again, no ammo and supreme accuracy) in 2-3 shots.
For the CLC the change consists of switching to the globe, with possibility of the complete ignoring of the battlescape missions (average score of 5000 makes fun of the Pogroms and Cullings too). The ammo-independency makes this part of the Piratez non-Challenging, results in the fast income growth. And then you just find yourself with top-tier tech and even less challenge.

CLC is indeed not the first weapon to equip the ship with, but it is not that hard to aquire. The only component usually missing is Heavy Couplings, not actually that rare.

The ammo load of 50 charges each gives a possible 3600 DP for a interceptor with two, and 7200 DP for a interceptor with four. Again, with fine accuracy and fast reburst. Another competitive option - the missiles - do not deal the instant damage, it takes time to reach the target, countrary to the beam. 

For all you guys who tell that CLC suck: you are correct within the absolute scale. But for the moment it is a balance-changing weapon for almost no price. Medium interceptor with two CLC's brings down the Heavy Freighter and has a good chance of bringing down the Science Vessel. In my opinion - it is not balanced for the swarm-tactics which has huge potential within this game.

For the summary, my suggestion is that Gauss seems lacking the range and piercing potential, Ramjet is suggested to be buffed for it's price only.
And CLC must have an operation price, compared to 4-6K/shot. At least within the electricity bills :D
Or nerfed to 10-16 DPS, as mentioned.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 03, 2019, 01:21:36 pm
What is CLC? Charger Laser? (it only needs Heavy Couplings indeed). And what has super-rare Impaler to do with this? What has score for downing crafts to do with this (should it be lowered?) Collect your thoughts and focus, man, because I cannot follow your rants, I'm too dumb. You just throw around various accusations and claims without presenting any concrete numerical breakdowns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 03, 2019, 01:37:16 pm
CLC ist probably Craft LasCannon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 03, 2019, 01:43:26 pm
Yikes, just noticed that by not taking the "gals are superior" option, you'll depend on the recruit young uber research to unlock party(dep), and thus chateau de la mort, since "have a party" is locked behind the gal recruitment research. Jeez.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: LytaRyta on February 03, 2019, 01:48:43 pm
Pls, dont touch those Crafts' s Laser Cannons,
nor other cannons,
and definately pls dont nerf (already nerfed) Impaler!
:o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 03, 2019, 02:41:11 pm
Honestly it doesn't matter much to me anyways, I almost always hit ships that have landed so I don't blow up my loot shooting them down.  And stuff I shoot down, I shoot down with real weapons.  That being said, I'm kind of wondering what the heck Abyss is doing that lascannons make such a big difference.  It's kinda like the impaler fiasco, I didn't really get that either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Riph on February 03, 2019, 03:51:03 pm

...Actually this is the most baffling part. Is someone pointing a gun to your head? Just ignore missions which you consider beneath your dignity.

Agree with this sentiment. However, it does bring up an important point. A player coming in from Original X-Com knows only one global mission occurrence (Terror Site) and understands that if he fails to respond to that mission he will lose lots of points.
The fact that an X-Pirate doesn't lose points from ignoring a global mission is an idea that is never really explained. Perhaps this is something we could make more explicit through a Bootypedia entry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 03, 2019, 05:01:39 pm
Coming from regular X-Com that was obvious to me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 03, 2019, 05:39:07 pm
X-Pirate doesn't lose points from ignoring a global mission is an idea that is never really explained.
Agree, but there's some elegance in that decision as well. You do the first playthrough and somehow get it within the first year. There are score charts, btw, that could be tracked. Started it (to track) just in the last (4-th, I guess) rush through the game.
As following, I would actually delete the latter for the complete immerse into the cruel world ind it's strange dependencies.

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 03, 2019, 06:05:43 pm
To be honest I always interpreted it as the local govt not actualy expecting much from your group other than harassing and keeping the major factions worried, and even when you join the mutant alliance you're only actualy expected to respond to pogroms. Jack only pretty much expects you to buy stuff from him and protect the lok'narrs for whatever reason. At the end of the day, you're leading much more than a gang of criminals, so you're not expected to perform like a global defense elite team like X-COM was.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 03, 2019, 07:31:36 pm
8) But we are all safe, that is the point
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 03, 2019, 07:50:02 pm
The fact that an X-Pirate doesn't lose points from ignoring a global mission is an idea that is never really explained. Perhaps this is something we could make more explicit through a Bootypedia entry.

It is explained or suggested in many places, and also depends on a mission. Some of these do carry heavy penalties. It generally works best when you forget about all this "metagame", read briefings and think with in-game terms. And check the graphs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on February 03, 2019, 08:06:04 pm
Agree with this sentiment. However, it does bring up an important point. A player coming in from Original X-Com knows only one global mission occurrence (Terror Site) and understands that if he fails to respond to that mission he will lose lots of points.
The fact that an X-Pirate doesn't lose points from ignoring a global mission is an idea that is never really explained. Perhaps this is something we could make more explicit through a Bootypedia entry.
Both of you misunderstood what my post was about.
There was an exchange about the game diffuculty, whether on not the hardest is hard enough. My opinion is, it's hard but not in a fun way, i mean the battlescape portion of raising enemy numbers and their stats.
My idea if summed up is basically to remove the enemy once they become a cakewalk, by checking if you have beaten them enough times or if you have tech superiority. This way high difficulty could just make those scripts trigger faster instead of relying on more mooks with +20% stats.
And yes, i know that
1. It is already partially implemented, but i'd like it to be more radical(i said so in my 1st post). For example i know watchtowers get removed eventually, but my number would be 3 monts max, not in 1.5-2 years or whenever they get axed.
2. It would take a lot of Dioxine-hours to implement to the current pool. This is why this is just a suggestion, something to maybe keep in mind for future mission timers.
3. It is possible to skip missions. It's not even a point! The point is that you can farm those missions, assuming you play on high difficulty why would you skip a free mission? See, it creates some sort of loop, where: enemies have higher than average numbers and stats -> you farm completely harmless missions to get even -> you get overleveled if you keep farming long enough -> now there's a reason why enemies are overbuffed -> and it goes full circle

And this is why i play on 4 and break this circle: if enemies are fair -> no need to grind easy missions(yes i fucking skip them eventually) -> no overleveling on ratmen -> it's fair because neither player nor ai is ahead.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 03, 2019, 10:18:15 pm
You forget the point that highest difficulty level is not meant to be balanced in any way. But yeah, I agree on principle... but:

Making mission disappearance timers dependant on difficulty - as in ALL missions - would not be just
"little extra work", but TONS of work with huge potential for bugs (which I don't like), also tightening the play to make the challenge "feel just right" is endless loop. It's not out of the question BUT balancing highest difficulty level is very low on my priority list. I am interested in balancing middle difficulty.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 04, 2019, 12:01:44 am
You forget the point that highest difficulty level is not meant to be balanced in any way. But yeah, I agree on principle... but:

Making mission disappearance timers dependant on difficulty - as in ALL missions - would not be just
"little extra work", but TONS of work with huge potential for bugs (which I don't like), also tightening the play to make the challenge "feel just right" is endless loop. It's not out of the question BUT balancing highest difficulty level is very low on my priority list. I am interested in balancing middle difficulty.

I agree with sanyaskillpro but then it's a real pity leaving "jack sparrow" unbalanced. Let's hope for it, even slowly over versions :-\

edit: typo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 04, 2019, 04:50:10 am
Did I simply miss it: the gap between Human power armor (140 front armor) and, say, Doom 2 armor (48 front armor) is not yet replenished with some sort of mediocre and high-end carapace armor?
Was always looking on the govt and humanists super-troopers and wonder why won't I just strip them down to pants  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 04, 2019, 10:16:22 am
What is CLC? Charger Laser? (it only needs Heavy Couplings indeed). And what has super-rare Impaler to do with this? What has score for downing crafts to do with this (should it be lowered?) Collect your thoughts and focus, man, because I cannot follow your rants

I suppose that hence Craft Laser Cannon (CLC) tech is aquired before the Nuclear laser weapons tech, it must burn hellerium with every charge.
Not as much as plasma beam, but probably 1/2 or 1/3 per shot.

The main suggestion below the entire text was: Since you do aquire CLC's, the overall globe score allows you to skip battlescape mission for months (years, eternity), even the -2500/-1000 points ones with the severe positive score at the end of the month. 

I also think that battlescape craft/score balance is thoroughly designed, so I did not suggest to change it anyhow.
Main alarm comes from the point where you find yourself with high-tier weapons (XG) and Harbinger Armor, doing nothing but research and manufacture (with incremental growth of the funding too). This, in part, leads to the gap when there is no actual need in middle-high armor and firearms (Juggernaut Suit + Master Craft parted weapons).

It is pretty clear that most of the enemies are already taken and inprisoned by the moment (Minors, Guild, Academy and some Mercs).
 
CLC is comparable to the Ripper (?) cannon in terms of DPS, so it is implied that CLC should be Hellerium-fueled OR maintained with any other additional cost of expluotation. Otherwise it is a balance-deforming weapon.

What do you actually mean with "honest comparison by numbers"? I think it is pretty clear topic of discussion for what is mentioned above.

UPD:
To take down a Heavy Freighter you need roughly 250 Ripper Rounds, which equals $210K in resources (top trained gal with all maxed stats, or 350 rounds for a medium one ~$350K)
Making the equal score of 5000 points worth $700K - $900K spent on ammo resources + manufacturing time.

UPD 2:
How do you get out from the pool in the Luxury Spa?    ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 04, 2019, 02:29:58 pm
Did I simply miss it: the gap between Human power armor (140 front armor) and, say, Doom 2 armor (48 front armor) is not yet replenished with some sort of mediocre and high-end carapace armor?
Was always looking on the govt and humanists super-troopers and wonder why won't I just strip them down to pants  :D

Gotta agree, there is a pretty huge gap between the best human armors, while gal armors are pretty numerous and with well streamlined progression. Even in the early game there is a sizeable gap between human clothing (which isn't even armor) and piroman, then it progresses up to doom 2, and then there's a huge gap to testudo, though I guess you could use the loader suit, but the loader suit sucks :v
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 04, 2019, 03:04:38 pm

To take down a Heavy Freighter you need roughly 250 Ripper Rounds, which equals $210K in resources (top trained gal with all maxed stats, or 350 rounds for a medium one ~$350K)
Making the equal score of 5000 points worth $700K - $900K spent on ammo resources + manufacturing time.


I'm not sure why you think there needs to be some kind of cash/score balance.  And how do you factor in stuff like looted weapons and ammo ?  You've essentially got the same argument going there, no cost attacks for x amount of score.  And really by the time you're downing heavy freighters, cash should have long since stopped being an issue.  Hell I normally try to splash those into the ocean since they're a pain in the ass to deal with on the ground.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 04, 2019, 03:40:01 pm
I'm not sure why you think there needs to be some kind of cash/score balance.  And how do you factor in stuff like looted weapons and ammo ?  You've essentially got the same argument going there, no cost attacks for x amount of score.  And really by the time you're downing heavy freighters, cash should have long since stopped being an issue.  Hell I normally try to splash those into the ocean since they're a pain in the ass to deal with on the ground.

Not actually defined things in terms of cash/balance. But you are right, I consider this to be essential.
Say, you start to bring down supply ships and other crap when your income is $0,6-0,9M, and HF's when your income is roughly $1,2-2,0M. Then it makes sense. You consider whether to spend your funds on this mission or not, not only in terms of the battlefield.

I believe that literally few of us didn't abuse the strategy which I described above.
You definitely have to choose if you are going to produce the cannon rounds/missiles OR chemicals for the income. Ammo-free weaponry makes you literally bereft of this.

though I guess you could use the loader suit, but the loader suit sucks :v
Yep, sorry, forgot that the Loader is Hoomahn too.
But I want to strip the government guys too much, the armor is sexy. Isn't it fair?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 04, 2019, 04:09:07 pm
Making new armors is by no ways easy, so it'll take time. Nothing is for free, and working on Jack Sparrow being more entertaining means no work on more important things.

Also, HF's with such a tiny income? Interesting, $2M income is achievable by month 2-3 easily...
Big score for downing big ships is there so you can ignore ground missions you don't like; a reward for upping your air game and reduction of workload in mid-late game.
For now, I gave a decent buff to Gauss and a minor nerf to Lascannon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 04, 2019, 04:42:19 pm
Making new armors is by no ways easy, so it'll take time. Nothing is for free, and working on Jack Sparrow being more entertaining means no work on more important things.

Also, HF's with such a tiny income? Interesting, $2M income is achievable by month 2-3 easily...
Big score for downing big ships is there so you can ignore ground missions you don't like; a reward for upping your air game and reduction of workload in mid-late game.
For now, I gave a decent buff to Gauss and a minor nerf to Lascannon.

Thank you.

How do you get the income of $2M by the month 2-3 with protection payments increment of 3-10%?
I see, you've meant the overall income. I generally speak in terms of gov's payments only.
 
As for the overall Jack Sparrow balance I thought it is being calculated automatically, giving buffs to the armor and quantity of the enemies in the BF compared to the Blackbeard, which you do actually balance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 04, 2019, 04:55:04 pm
You can easily rack up 2mil if you're successful on every mission and sell the valuable stuff you get, like engines, money purses and bags + the infamy bonuses you get every month. Infamy bonuses are what you're looking for, since they'll always be far larger than whatever increase in income you get. Its not terribly hard to get +1mil bonuses, just make sure to rack up your score on the easy missions that give lots of score, like death and taxes.
Most D level bounty hunter missions also give lots of score for very little effort.

Making new armors is by no ways easy, so it'll take time. Nothing is for free, and working on Jack Sparrow being more entertaining means no work on more important things.

Also, HF's with such a tiny income? Interesting, $2M income is achievable by month 2-3 easily...
Big score for downing big ships is there so you can ignore ground missions you don't like; a reward for upping your air game and reduction of workload in mid-late game.
For now, I gave a decent buff to Gauss and a minor nerf to Lascannon.

I understand Dioxine, don't worry about it. I can't donate just yet, but I'll make sure to do it once I got myself some extra cashmonies so I don't end up donating pennies. I actualy had a decent amount on my paypal recently but I cashed it before I got approved on the forums.

Game is fine as it is, IMHO, I just mentioned the human armor gaps since its the first time I actualy started using slave soldiers seriously. The early peltast -> piroman/tac vest gap is by no means unbearable large, just larger than the gap between gal clothing -> warrior armor. The only signficant gap, IMO, is the doom2 armor -> testudo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on February 04, 2019, 05:28:24 pm
Hell I normally try to splash those into the ocean since they're a pain in the ass to deal with on the ground.

I actually like the ship design. Probably the most fun ship to breach. The safest place is actually on the ships roof, because enemies can't access it and it's high and wide enough so you're pretty safe if crouched. Usually i try to rush the roof with flyers filled with bombs and then start unloading into the windows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 04, 2019, 05:55:06 pm
Continuing the human armor late game gap: the doom2 -> testudo gap is kinda annoying mostly because by then you're constantly facing human enemies using some variation of carapace armor, and it feels odd lore and gameplay wise that you can't at least craft similar armor, or even just strip down hostages that wear them to get a damaged version which you can then repair, though that would take creating two armor variants for every armor, which is annoying, so just being able to craft them from the same materials you get from dead/interrogated enemies would be fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 04, 2019, 10:30:02 pm
Doom mk.2 armor is better than any carapace, tho...
Also I'm working on defender variant for humans already (this is to fix weird stuff where Mil Transports carry around armor for Ubers...).
Also "makes sense lore wise" doesn't mean I can just conjure it from thin air.

Also as in "free" I did not mean money, donations are always welcome although they cover maybe 10% of my expenses at best (depending on how you assume a normal hourly wage is). So donations by themselves do not influence my decisions in any significant way. Not free as in time and energy wasted, not used towards making more interesting stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 05, 2019, 04:18:21 am
You can easily rack up 2mil if you're successful on every mission and sell the valuable stuff you get, like engines, money purses and bags + the infamy bonuses you get every month.
I'll bring it back: only govt funding is evaluated in terms of stability and straight (as I believe, plus-minus) correlation of funding and tech, and thus missions occurence too. Not specifying infamy bonuses either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 05, 2019, 05:22:27 am
I'll bring it back: only govt funding is evaluated in terms of stability and straight (as I believe, plus-minus) correlation of funding and tech, and thus missions occurence too. Not specifying infamy bonuses either.

Government funding is fairly subjective, it's essentially performance based.  It's not really something you can rely on to be stable and consistent due to the random nature of missions.  Generally speaking as long as your infamy is high it will increase but factions can do missions that can cause governments to lower your funding or stop funding you altogether, and if it's outside your radar range you can't do anything about it.  The protection racket is definitely one source of income but I'm not sure it's anything you can use as a baseline, again due to the random nature of missions.  And Infamy isn't exactly the same as a base score of accomplishments.  If you shoot one guy you're score may go up or down depending on who you shoot.

It seems like you're thinking about this like the vanilla xcom where we play the global heroes saving the world (or apparently not in this case, since the aliens won in the pirates universe).  In pirates we're outlaws, barely tolerated by local governments mainly because we're causing problems for the 5 major factions.  The local government will turn on you and try to murder you along with everyone else if you piss them off enough.  You can play the game just fine with everyone hating you.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 05, 2019, 06:17:25 am
The protection racket is definitely one source of income but I'm not sure it's anything you can use as a baseline, again due to the random nature of missions.

Generally speaking, yes. In terms of one month. But for the wide statical sampling there is general growth of 2-5% for each month before the unlimited ammo CLC's and 7-10% right after. 

It seems like you're thinking about this like the vanilla xcom where we play the global heroes saving the world (or apparently not in this case, since the aliens won in the pirates universe). 
Please, you had it lost during the topic, I was arguing against the free superscore, not against anything else you've just mentioned. It's my 3-th playthrough with Jack Sparrow/Ironman throughout different versions. Within this tread I point something that I think to be challengebreaking.

And! I do not estimate myself as the tactics genious, so basically I believe this stuff breaks the challenge for any other guy who plays Piratez
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zippicus on February 05, 2019, 07:32:07 am
Generally speaking, yes. In terms of one month. But for the wide statical sampling there is general growth of 2-5% for each month before the unlimited ammo CLC's and 7-10% right after. 
Please, you had it lost during the topic, I was arguing against the free superscore, not against anything else you've just mentioned. It's my 3-th playthrough with Jack Sparrow/Ironman throughout different versions. Within this tread I point something that I think to be challengebreaking.

And! I do not estimate myself as the tactics genious, so basically I believe that this stuff breaks the challenge for any other guy who plays Piratez


I guess I'm not seeing that growth you're talking about since I rarely shoot down any ships at all, so I'm essentially going 0 cost from day one, it always seemed more efficient to me so that's what I did.  More loot, more captives, etc.  That kind of ties in with what you're talking about here, I'm always at what you're referring to as "free superscore"  but really that's just a drop in the bucket cash wise to me.  I make way more cash from captives, loot, and goods production than I ever will from the infamy bonus, it's always been just that to me, a bonus.  Infamy has always been something to me that doesn't really matter as long as it's positive so I can keep playing.  I get that you see some sort of problem with lascannons, so I would suggest that you not use them if they bother you that much.  I play just fine without lascannons (not because I think they're OP, but because I think they suck), you can too.



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 05, 2019, 05:40:04 pm
Downing ships does help but its still a small thing in comparison to what some missions can give you. Take for example the goblin zaxx d level bounty mission in which you have to blow up a red barn. Due to the sheer amount of (useless?) stuff you get from that mission, you can get +800 score from that mission alone, which is one of the easiest missions in the entire game, with the only easier one being the aircar race one, as long as you have a fast vessel that the mission allows.

And yes, while the missions are pretty much random, you can get loads of score just from missions and research alone without shooting down any ships. Hell, I only very rarely shoot down any ships, and my score is always above 2k, sometimes way more depending on what missions I get.
Really though, the amount of money you make through infamy is a secondary source of income at best once you get your alcohol production going, and probably even before that. You won't need those ship engines for a long time, and you can't do anything other than sell money chips for an even longer time, so already you're getting loads of cash with the loot you get on missions.

In short, can you get loads of free score and substantially increase your income by downing smaller ships with the charger laser? Certainly. Does it beat a factory base pumping out alcohol and other goodies nonstop? Nah. Money stops being part of the challenge at that point anyway, with the actual challenge being not getting murdered by mercs, star gods, etc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 05, 2019, 06:37:39 pm
Is there a reason why we can't disassembel Gauss Cannons?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 06, 2019, 12:22:26 am
Nobody coded that in, obviously? Does even anyone use the disassemble option?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 06, 2019, 12:32:19 pm
I do, sometimes its the easiest way to get some components that I need for other things. For example, the easiest way, IMO, of getting optronic parts is disassembling slave AIs. I think its mostly done to get stuff like optronic parts, energy weapon parts, those coil things, etc;
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 06, 2019, 03:48:16 pm
Nobody coded that in, obviously? Does even anyone use the disassemble option?

I disassemble spare heavy energy weapons to get the couplings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 06, 2019, 04:49:32 pm
The Gauss Ammo Disassembly topic gives the returns for craft weapons. So I was confused when I didn't find it in the workshop and had a look.
I want those power couplings, and I have way too many Gauss Cannons (or to few fighters I guess).

Edit: And I disassemble a lot of stuff. I don't need the money, but I can use (some of the) raw materials.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 06, 2019, 05:27:38 pm
Its also easier to get your hands on gauss cannons than handheld gauss weapons, due to what kind of stuff carries gauss weapons, so getting the option to disassemble them would help you get those components more easily.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: LytaRyta on February 06, 2019, 06:35:43 pm
..and what about give to Gals the motorbike? (motorcycle)?,
as such light "vehicle's

heh, it is such "hard~rockish, alike ^Lisbeth Salander'

motorbike ~ ligh, such Kawasaki,
or amybe heavy Harley~Davidson..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on February 06, 2019, 07:21:39 pm
I do, sometimes its the easiest way to get some components that I need for other things. For example, the easiest way, IMO, of getting optronic parts is disassembling slave AIs. I think its mostly done to get stuff like optronic parts, energy weapon parts, those coil things, etc;

There's also Personal Computers that you can disassemble. You get an Optitronic part per computer, and they're not hard to find at all, I have like 40 in storage I need to disassemble.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 06, 2019, 07:43:25 pm
As in 0.99J11 i still noticed (also here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg109806.html#msg109806)) that missions tend to spawn in same spots over and over; for instance Africa is less congested even in vanilka xcom?! :o Same for enemy ship landings; cannot recall much but in Europe the seem to love Soain, Ireland and UK :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 06, 2019, 07:57:24 pm
Nikulinux, are you a slider? A dimension hopper? :)
After every release, you discover "changes" which never happened. There has been no change in where missions are spawned. Similarly, there has been no significant change in economics (you recently mentioned stuff being more affordable). And so on, and so forth.
Humans naturally see patterns where there are none, it's a well-known mechanism. But you regularly take it to another level.
If I were to hazard a guess, you have some sort of issues with assessing your impressions, or with self-criticism. I am no psychologist, so maybe it's rubbish, but I thought I'd share because you should know.
Please don't be offended, you've done nothing wrong. I am just pointing it out of concern, since it could be a sign of, or lead to, paranoia. And that's not a good thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 06, 2019, 08:09:19 pm
Nikulinux, are you a slider? A dimension hopper? :)
After every release, you discover "changes" which never happened. There has been no change in where missions are spawned. Similarly, there has been no significant change in economics (you recently mentioned stuff being more affordable). And so on, and so forth.
Humans naturally see patterns where there are none, it's a well-known mechanism. But you regularly take it to another level.
If I were to hazard a guess, you have some sort of issues with assessing your impressions, or with self-criticism. I am no psychologist, so maybe it's rubbish, but I thought I'd share because you should know.
Please don't be offended, you've done nothing wrong. I am just pointing it out of concern, since it could be a sign of, or lead to, paranoia. And that's not a good thing.

Ok nevermind, sorry.😅 just to point out things that at least to me happened regularly. Lately i had some spare time to spend with the mod. I'm really unique ;D or veeery unlucky :'(

edit: typos
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: LytaRyta on February 06, 2019, 08:09:50 pm
Hei, Niculin. ~~  has a verygood talent to spot little changes, see a subtly details in bigger pattern  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: sanyaskillpro on February 06, 2019, 09:06:39 pm
Same for enemy ship landings; cannot recall much but in Europe the seem to love Soain, Ireland and UK :(
I can confirm this. At least the initial airbus landing spots are 100% scripted, if you start in europe. There are the same 6 spots: spain, ireland, scotland, iceland, denmark and bosnia.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 06, 2019, 09:11:00 pm
Nikulinux, are you a slider? A dimension hopper? :)
After every release, you discover "changes" which never happened. There has been no change in where missions are spawned. Similarly, there has been no significant change in economics (you recently mentioned stuff being more affordable).

Well, I guess he referred to
Quote from: Dioxine
- Buy Prices on basic firearms cut across the board

Though the prices of weapons hardly ever mattered for me. Apart from some of the more special things like Flak Cannons, Big Bens and so on I don't buy weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 06, 2019, 09:59:36 pm
I guess that change was made to mostly help people who choose to use hordes of slave soldiers from the start, since buying weapons for +12 slave soldiers can impact your cashmonies in a somewhat significant way, but not by much, and slave soldiers can't just lug around flak cannons and lmachineguns like its not big deal.
Not sure if this affected tommy guns, which is my favorite really early game weapon alongside shotguns, since they still cost a fair bit for a basic submachinegun, though it does make sense for tommy guns to be rather expensive, considering they were/are infamously expensive IRL.

Now that I'm using slave soldiers, I'm using the "normal" guns in much greater numbers, though the only ones I really care about are the ones that get different ammo types, like the ones that get eletro-pulse and plasteel munitions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 07, 2019, 12:37:21 am
I guess that change was made to mostly help people who choose to use hordes of slave soldiers from the start, since buying weapons for +12 slave soldiers can impact your cashmonies in a somewhat significant way, but not by much, and slave soldiers can't just lug around flak cannons and lmachineguns like its not big deal.

Really for sure 🙂

I can confirm this. At least the initial airbus landing spots are 100% scripted, if you start in europe. There are the same 6 spots: spain, ireland, scotland, iceland, denmark and bosnia.

@Dioxine: please it may be even possible to make enemy landings and flights completely random from the start?

Edit: @Dakkdakk: if you even care, please share your exprtience/game footage with slave soldiers here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.0.html) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 07, 2019, 03:33:27 am
I guess that change was made to mostly help people who choose to use hordes of slave soldiers from the start, since buying weapons for +12 slave soldiers can impact your cashmonies in a somewhat significant way, but

No, it's unrelated. It was one of these early-version relics that had to be fixed. Who'd pay $10k for homefront rifle, anyway? It seemed too unrealistic to tolerate any further.

@Dioxine: please it may be even possible to make enemy landings and flights completely random from the start?

They are, mostly. Except for a few scripted events like Academy Airbuses (but even these have random timings). Still landing places are random... to the extent the game allows it. Saying they're "scripted" to land in one of 6 rather large areas of Europe is true, but also doesn't really help, because it's still impossible to predict which one will be choosen and what exact spot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 07, 2019, 12:24:32 pm
They are, mostly. Except for a few scripted events like Academy Airbuses (but even these have random timings). Still landing places are random... to the extent the game allows it. Saying they're "scripted" to land in one of 6 rather large areas of Europe is true, but also doesn't really help, because it's still impossible to predict which one will be choosen and what exact spot.

Ok, I see, i just wonder if even a bit may be changed, it's since i play xpiratez (almost 3 years, on and off  :o :o) these things happen from the very first relases  :'( :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 07, 2019, 01:38:00 pm
Edit: @Dakkdakk: if you even care, please share your exprtience/game footage with slave soldiers here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.0.html) :)
My experience with slave soldiers can so far be summed like this:
slave soldier #11 is hit by a random shot from a civilian carrying a six shooter;
slave soldier #11 falls unconcious;
Gal #2 uses bandages/first aid kit on him just for the bravery increase;
back in the hideout, slave soldier #11 is eventualy discharged (read: kicked out of the hideout) due to his long recovery time and very low stats, and substituted by slave soldier #13, who somehow has worse starting stats

Seriously though, slave soldiers should be treated as little better than attack dogs until you get them some decent armors and weapons, and even then you should never get attached, unless they happen to be really experienced and/or have close to cap voodoo strenght. Using them as literal meat shields for gals is totally fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 07, 2019, 05:21:11 pm
How to efficiently train peasants so they can take on the reticulans in retuculan breeding dungeon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 08, 2019, 08:38:17 pm
In sept 2018 we have a new modportal:

https://openxcom.mod.io

any chanches to see it as the link in the first post instead of mediafire? Actually the portal one isn't updated: still refers to .J10 version :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 08, 2019, 09:36:08 pm
It was down when I was trying to upload. Later I forgot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: wolfreal on February 09, 2019, 06:25:13 am
Quick question:

Does wands are intended not to train Psi Skill?

I tried with wand of pain, airlessness and fire, and neither train psi skill. 

EDIT: I answered myself, it is going to improve skill only if you have psi skill > 0.

But.... why bugeye can train skill from zero with their built in attack? I guess that is intended.

OTH. Does terror and possession of the bugeye really does something? I have a bugeye right now with 25 skill and 72 vodoo power, and I can not see his/her terror or possession attack doing nothing. I have tried with megapool, bandits, sky ninjas, and some others. Even I used debug, tried with four bugeye, skill between 10 and 25, Vpower between 65 and 72, all four terrorizing the same unit, not more than 12-15 cells of distance, and that enemy does not go down to less than 90 morale. (Tried several times).

Maybe I´m bad on my head. Maybe the inbuilt attack should not be really powerful... I have not reviewed the rule-set.

Any light on the issue will be welcome.

EDIT2

Other question. Why pop up for ufos landing is forced to false?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 10, 2019, 05:26:22 pm

Other question. Why pop up for ufos landing is forced to false?

Because I think it ruins the game.
Regarding the rest, I don't see any game's misbehaviour on my side.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Stoddard on February 10, 2019, 06:04:35 pm
I always wanted to ask - is there some arcane reason to why the ridiculans' craft and the supply ship have 'CENSORED' as their representation on the intercept screens? Or is ot just because you didn't get to drawing them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Zharkov on February 10, 2019, 07:42:43 pm
I always wanted to ask - is there some arcane reason to why the riduclans' craft and the supply ship have 'CENSORED' as their representation on the intercept screens? Or is ot just because you didn't get to drawing them?

The Reticulans' crafts are often covered in indecent markings!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Roxis231 on February 10, 2019, 07:52:14 pm
The Reticulans' crafts are often covered in indecent markings!

That sounds like an aceptiable head cannon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: wolfreal on February 10, 2019, 08:40:18 pm
Because I think it ruins the game.
Regarding the rest, I don't see any game's misbehaviour on my side.

Thanks!.

I modded to force yes for my personal use. But it is ok.

On the other issues, yes, there is not misbehavior, I think now that psi is correctly balanced. I upped the skill to 60 and now is a different history. I think the balance is correct, after experimenting a little more.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: LytaRyta on February 10, 2019, 08:40:56 pm
ehh, why i just CANT find any PROPER, FINE! job´, /position.. :/( ;/( ;( :((

( ..& "settle in life, at finally.. )


Stop spamming. Consider this a formal warning. - Dioxine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 10, 2019, 11:45:22 pm
I really cannot see why before manufacturing handcannons, boarding guns and blunderbusses we have to research "Guns4us" and then "Bigger Guns", i find the second one unecessary, pheraphs it has a meaning? If not, hiw about to take it out?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on February 11, 2019, 04:24:22 am
I'm fairly sure that Guns4us unlock something, but I don't remember what.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on February 11, 2019, 05:12:31 am
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Electric Lasso isn't very good? Compared to the Cattle Prod, it does less damage, is less accurate, takes more TUs to fire, and the range bonus isn't very helpful because you can walk to an enemy from max range and use the Cattle Prod, and it will be more TU efficient. Maybe because the lasso doesn't trigger melee dodge, it is better?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: wolfreal on February 11, 2019, 05:56:09 am
Well, lasso give you a good energy damage, reaction disrupt, 7 of range, a more reliable damage distribution, can wreak weak walls, and fit were the cattle prod does not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: legionof1 on February 11, 2019, 07:03:37 am
I've seen a number of folks use the lasso with flying armor for monster hunts and other melee heavy encounters. You can hit them but they cant hit you. and no ammo costs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Rince Wind on February 11, 2019, 10:33:49 am
The lasso used to be 1 handed and was complementing pistols or smgs very nicely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 11, 2019, 12:28:18 pm
In 0.99J11 was added, among the lootable items, the sermon book for the church. I cannot research it, butit is planned to have some purpose or it's a sellable item? Consumer goods are supposed to be, but they appear in the lab research pool.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on February 11, 2019, 12:49:59 pm
Nearly everything appears in the lab research pool. If it is your first gameplay, or you play without tech tree review then it's another "gameplay" added, where you have to judge by the name and sometimes sprite, if it is something worth researching, or not. Anyway, any research gives infamy points so it's not fruitless, especially when researching orange.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 11, 2019, 01:20:02 pm
Some topics only become researcheable once you have unlocked some previous tech and/or facilities. Maybe you need a library up before you can research book? I haven't tried that yet. Or maybe its just not fully implemented yet.
OTH. Does terror and possession of the bugeye really does something? I have a bugeye right now with 25 skill and 72 vodoo power, and I can not see his/her terror or possession attack doing nothing. I have tried with megapool, bandits, sky ninjas, and some others. Even I used debug, tried with four bugeye, skill between 10 and 25, Vpower between 65 and 72, all four terrorizing the same unit, not more than 12-15 cells of distance, and that enemy does not go down to less than 90 morale. (Tried several times).

Maybe I´m bad on my head. Maybe the inbuilt attack should not be really powerful... I have not reviewed the rule-set.

Any light on the issue will be welcome.

Thats really odd. As my bugeyes are currently low in skill, I can't test this out properly just yet, but I already had succesful panic attacks and possessions with my bugeyes against possessed seargents and other dark ones, even with voodoo skill as low as 7 (even if the bugeye in question only had 53 voodoo power), and through distances of around 15 tiles.
At the same time, however, during a recent terror mission, my bugeyes were unable to do anything against ratmen.
I'll keep testing and report back my results.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 11, 2019, 07:27:17 pm
My bugeyes certainly can panic people. I managed to panic some Dark Ones at mere 12 points in Voodoo Skill.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 11, 2019, 07:45:31 pm
Trivia: is the ramshackle rifle supposed to be a FN FAL tribute? (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL) I suspect so, since the FAL are avaiable also in single shot version; but the clip is square shaped while here is a bit bent, for compatibility with the RCF carabine. Pheraphs these wil get eventually different ammo? Just food for thought ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: cc on February 11, 2019, 08:47:21 pm
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Electric Lasso isn't very good?
It's great for dealing with Academy Drones hovering way out of reach. Down with the mecha pigeons!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 11, 2019, 08:57:00 pm
It was pretty good in the previous version. Its slightly less useful now that it got changed into a two handed weapon, but still way better than other forms of ranged stun damage like the tazogun (which basically does the same thing but is pretty much disposable, meaning you need to buy more of them) and the tesla gun thing (which will fry most common enemies and is too short ranged to use against stuff that won't outright die to it, like mercs). You can switch to the electrical net once you get it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 11, 2019, 09:13:54 pm
Trivia: is the ramshackle rifle supposed to be a FN FAL tribute?
 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL)

No.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: cc on February 11, 2019, 10:41:50 pm
but still way better than other forms of ranged stun damage
Not counting the Reticulan Electrogun, of course. Also not counting the Impaler, though that one is rare-ish.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Ashghan on February 11, 2019, 11:17:35 pm
Trivia: is the ramshackle rifle supposed to be a FN FAL tribute?

I have no idea where you see the similarity to FN FAL, other than both being rifles. If anything, it looks (and feels, stats-wise) like Norinco type 85 submachine gun, and that's what I always imagined it to be. Yes, the caliber is different, but this isn't Jagged Alliance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 12, 2019, 12:09:41 am
I have no idea where you see the similarity to FN FAL, other than both being rifles. If anything, it looks (and feels, stats-wise) like Norinco type 85 submachine gun, and that's what I always imagined it to be. Yes, the caliber is different, but this isn't Jagged Alliance.

No, actually type 85 is more a submacjine gun if you search ober internet. Ok, done :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Stoddard on February 12, 2019, 12:10:09 am
I have no idea where you see the similarity to FN FAL, other than both being rifles. If anything, it looks (and feels, stats-wise) like Norinco type 85 submachine gun, and that's what I always imagined it to be. Yes, the caliber is different, but this isn't Jagged Alliance.

I thought it was more like a beaten-up Mini-14.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 12, 2019, 12:15:13 am
I thought it was more like a beaten-up Mini-14.

Maybe more a H&K G3A3 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_%26_Koch_G3) instead of a FAL. Actually we have a Ruger mini 14 (https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_Mini-14) in the game, it's the scoped carabine, avaiable once goblin zaxx's military supplies bounty prize :)

edit: switched link for the g3 from it to en, sorry  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 12, 2019, 01:20:55 pm
To me the battle rifle always kind of looked like a galil. But ye, the ramshackle rifle looks nothing like the FAL, more like a really beat up AR 15 variant of some sort.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 12, 2019, 02:13:35 pm
Why would firearms designed centuries from now look anythitng like contemporary guns and why would any apparent similarity be anything more than an accident?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 12, 2019, 02:34:50 pm
The firearms referred here aren't new designs, many of them are referred in the lore as being contemporary to the times of xcom, and are still being used because they're either leftovers from said period or the only things the general populace outside of the major factions are allowed to manufacture/use. I mean, RPGs, magnums, desert eagles, double barreled shotguns, etc, are all still around, so its does make sense for old guns to be around as well. Most of the common rifles are all old designs and not "firearms designed centuries into the future".

Hell, even the most advanced UAC weapons are centuries old, given how the UAC, in the xpiratez universe, seemingly existed at the same time as xcom and didn't last for much long after the aliens took over, being allowed to function until a disaster happened and brought the dark ones into the world.

One of the most flavorful things in xpiratez is how the gals, for the most part, aren't outright making new weapons based on alien tech, like xcom was, instead they're taking the weapons they can get their hands on and modifying them with new tech to make newer, better guns, or even just making newer, better ammo to use with them. Which is why I like the concept of specialized high tech ammo making older guns relevant again, like eletropulse and acid munitions, or stuff like the smartgun, which turns the AMG into a much better and accurate weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dioxine on February 12, 2019, 06:43:45 pm
I have no idea where you see the similarity to FN FAL, other than both being rifles. If anything, it looks (and feels, stats-wise) like Norinco type 85 submachine gun, and that's what I always imagined it to be. Yes, the caliber is different, but this isn't Jagged Alliance.

I'm inclined to agree that there's much semblance to Type 85, maybe it was indeed what the sprite was originally supposed to depict (I did not make it, I was just one of people who added modifications to it). But semblance doesn't mean intention. There is only so many ways you can resolve the issues of mechanism placement and ergonomics on a rifle, plus popular/abundant designs tend to be copied.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Alex_D on February 13, 2019, 03:15:27 am
If you want a Galil AR (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMI_Galil#AR), you can have a Galil (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6893.0.html) (shameless self-promotion  :) )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 13, 2019, 09:09:38 am
The firearms referred here aren't new designs, many of them are referred in the lore as being contemporary to the times of xcom, and are still being used because they're either leftovers from said period or the only things the general populace outside of the major factions are allowed to manufacture/use. I mean, RPGs, magnums, desert eagles, double barreled shotguns, etc, are all still around, so its does make sense for old guns to be around as well. Most of the common rifles are all old designs and not "firearms designed centuries into the future".

Hell, even the most advanced UAC weapons are centuries old, given how the UAC, in the xpiratez universe, seemingly existed at the same time as xcom and didn't last for much long after the aliens took over, being allowed to function until a disaster happened and brought the dark ones into the world.

One of the most flavorful things in xpiratez is how the gals, for the most part, aren't outright making new weapons based on alien tech, like xcom was, instead they're taking the weapons they can get their hands on and modifying them with new tech to make newer, better guns, or even just making newer, better ammo to use with them. Which is why I like the concept of specialized high tech ammo making older guns relevant again, like eletropulse and acid munitions, or stuff like the smartgun, which turns the AMG into a much better and accurate weapon.

Centered the point, flawless :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Petethegoat on February 16, 2019, 06:55:01 am
Picked this up again after not playing for a few years.

Still sublime. I expected to be playing Metro Exodus all day today, but I installed this while I waited on the download and well, I'm about to go to bed and Metro hasn't been started.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this amazing mod for all their hard work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: cc on February 17, 2019, 09:44:51 am
There might be the need for some rebalancing around slavery:
For both Yeomans and Slave Robots, Grav Units are the limiting resource. With Slave Robots being all-around better, Yeoman production seems like the less attractive option (Demonic Essencce is plentiful thanks to Bogeyman Swarms).
With the Pro Slave research, you can now turn Slaves into Slave Specialists. This means that Farmhouse could use a bump. As it stands, the combination of Slave Maid, Yeoman, and Slave Specialists would be equivalent to the Farmhouse (costlier, but also available earlier). If you can also produce Super Maids, the scale actually leans against the Farmhouse.

I recommend either removing Doom Armor SS from the Yeoman production costs (replace with Legion Armor) or bumping them up a bit.
Farmhourses could also use a slight bump. Alternatively, droping Slaves from the ingredients list and instead using peasant workers (represented by a light cost bump and reduced space/income - the workers now need to be paid) could also work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 18, 2019, 01:14:30 pm
I recommend either removing Doom Armor SS from the Yeoman production costs (replace with Legion Armor) or bumping them up a bit.

Doom Armor in the Yeoman production is one of the greatest eggs in the game.
But if the discussion is started:
- Doom 2 armor has no ability to fly and encumbers 15 wt (Doom 1 has)
- Slave soldiers have no Exp-boosting armor, that's a real truble. Weak bastards.
- Carapace armor extraction from Govt' elites option has already been proposed. You have mentioned that Doom2 armor is better than any. But, no.. Elites' armor is stronger in many aspects. Even laspistols hurt.
- a Martyr option, so they can die for the glory of Gals? (ironic)   

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 18, 2019, 05:17:45 pm
Currently into the midgame with a slave soldier golden codex run, and I gotta say the biggest challenge is keeping the damn bastards alive so they actual become skilled enough to be useful. Some start with decent firing skill, but it aint easy. I would recommend bumping the recruitment costs down a bit, since IMHO 15k for something thats just slightly better (and many times just as bad) than peasants kinda feels like I'm being shafted. The only reason I'm not using peasants is personal preference really, since they basically get the same armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Hadza on February 18, 2019, 07:36:11 pm
Is Jellyfish bad on purpose? It looks cool and has one of the coolest weapons in the game, but getting shot from below ALL THE TIME day & night makes it almost completely useless, at least when considering its crew of 7(6).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 18, 2019, 08:37:36 pm
Yes, the codex crafts are not balanced against one another but each codex gets at least one that isn’t shit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 18, 2019, 08:41:10 pm
It's funny, seeing this after having listened Surrealistik from the Discord server singing hymns to the absolute supremacy of Jellyfish over everything else for years straight. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: cc on February 18, 2019, 09:29:45 pm
Doom Armor in the Yeoman production is one of the greatest eggs in the game.
I'm not familiar with the "greatest egg" expression. Is that in the opposite sense of a bad egg, meaning something that's really nice?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 18, 2019, 09:31:38 pm
Speaking of codex craft, my overall experience with the gold codex goes somewhat like this:

The hawk could use a slight buff, maybe, damn thing is fast, sure, but basically serves no purpose since you can't really do anything with all that speed. The range is too short to be used as troop transport for anything much beyond double the the HWD range (which isn't exactly a small area, but much shorter then pretty much any other craft), it doesnt make a good interceptor since its really fragile AND takes a good while to repair AND is one of, if not the most expensive codex craft. I'm kinda on the edge about this one though, since to me it looks like one of those craft that really need you to stuff the right STC into it to become useful, and I haven't got to the point I can actualy craft STC yet, though by that time I'll probably have vessels that fill every role better than the hawk, so I don't see much of a point for the hawk atm.

The turtle is a pretty useful troop transport, and despite being so slow, its still way, way better than the skyranger merely for the fact it has actual doors, has pretty decent layout, and can go underwater. The three STC slots are intriguing, and could be used to maybe increase its speed and make it even better.

The shadowbat is the shadowbat, IE, its pretty great, though I do miss the conversion launcher.

I never actualy used the jellyfish so I can't give an opinion on it. I always saw the snake as the better choice, since not only can it go underwater, its also a pretty decent troop transport and decent interceptor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 18, 2019, 11:04:00 pm
I'm not familiar with the "greatest egg" expression. Is that in the opposite sense of a bad egg, meaning something that's really nice?

An Easter egg, placed within the game so oldfag like me can cry with happiness.  : :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: legionof1 on February 19, 2019, 01:23:57 am
Well to be fair, Surrealistik actively remodels the interior of his craft with terrain demo to make them suit his needs better. Surreal only uses the very upper floor of the jellyfish after chopping up the furniture so the whole crew can stand around that one hole. 6 gals one door vs the average persons 6 gal 4 holes.

The fish for the average player is pretty poor for defensive strats, without being obvious about it.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Eddie on February 19, 2019, 03:22:35 pm
The hawk could use a slight buff, maybe, damn thing is fast, sure, but basically serves no purpose since you can't really do anything with all that speed. The range is too short to be used as troop transport for anything much beyond double the the HWD range (which isn't exactly a small area, but much shorter then pretty much any other craft), it doesnt make a good interceptor since its really fragile AND takes a good while to repair AND is one of, if not the most expensive codex craft. I'm kinda on the edge about this one though, since to me it looks like one of those craft that really need you to stuff the right STC into it to become useful, and I haven't got to the point I can actualy craft STC yet, though by that time I'll probably have vessels that fill every role better than the hawk, so I don't see much of a point for the hawk atm.

The speed of the Hawk allows you to get to any point on the globe in under 3 hours. This is especially useful for assaulting landed UFOs. Other craft have to shadow them to get there in time. With the Hawk, you can wait until you actually see an UFO land and then launch. Very useful for areas covered by pigeons, which are usually areas far from your bases.

For aircombat, the Hawk is a dodge tank. See here:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6406.msg99007.html#msg99007 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6406.msg99007.html#msg99007)

Quote
The Golden Hawk seems to be the only shadow craft with long term potential. The Gatling Lascannon is the ideal weapon due to the hit bonus. The dodge bonus is just high enough, that you can get an almost invincible craft with a fully trained Loknarr pilot.
The combination Golden Hawk+Gatling Lascannon+Loknarr single-handedly kills everything up to bombers. If at some point you will also be able to get shadowtech, it will be even better with shields and possible complete invulnerability due to dodge. The Golden Hawk could be the best tank in the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 19, 2019, 03:46:34 pm
Problem is, with just a single blast from anything larger then a fighter, you lose your 1.2 mil craft and the well trained pilot you put inside. Not saying its useless, mind you, I have shot down several ships using the hawk + the flamecannon, but I'm gonna hold out on using it on any ships that can one shot it until I can stuff some STC into it to increase its survivability, either with shields or extra dodge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2019, 04:03:32 pm
Hawk is great. Scarab is also nice, not really a primary tank or interceptor, but the 25% damage bonus, two heavy slots, one light slot and one shadowtech slot has some serious long term potential too. Team it up with crab and it will brng shit down even without shadowtech! Turtle is good transport, even better with the extra fusion reactors.

Rest of the codex drafts are not very good, being any combination of slow, fragile, low capacity, awful layout and their gimmicks are not all that good. Well, three out of four codices get at least one decent craft and Gray is considered overpowered 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Hadza on February 19, 2019, 07:23:47 pm
Well to be fair, Surrealistik actively remodels the interior of his craft with terrain demo to make them suit his needs better. Surreal only uses the very upper floor of the jellyfish after chopping up the furniture so the whole crew can stand around that one hole. 6 gals one door vs the average persons 6 gal 4 holes.

The fish for the average player is pretty poor for defensive strats, without being obvious about it.

The concept is really great, don't get me wrong, but I do wonder if making your gals fish in a barrel is a necessary nerf for an otherwise decent all-rounder craft with a cool weapon (which often misses in very unintuitive ways). If I were to compare it with other craft (I've only really used green and gray codexes so far), the Worm has a different critical flaw in that if a stray shot dares hit any of its systems while you're camping the doors then your gals are as good as fresh steak.
Do other codex craft share a tendency of frantically driving their gals out of them? Is this Dioxine's way of punishing door camping?  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: legionof1 on February 19, 2019, 08:08:28 pm
The flaws to the worm have more to do with the way the hallucinogen charges are made. Its pretty hackish so there are some flaws that ideally would not exist.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Hadza on February 19, 2019, 09:39:43 pm
The flaws to the worm have more to do with the way the hallucinogen charges are made. Its pretty hackish so there are some flaws that ideally would not exist.

Ah, it's not just forgetting about those charges I'm talking about, that is understandable, but all the decoration-y tech panels inside it. They are literally made of explodium. If one of them gets hit (and believe you me they love to) the entire room goes ablaze ,_,
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Martin on February 19, 2019, 09:53:54 pm
Do other codex craft share a tendency of frantically driving their gals out of them? Is this Dioxine's way of punishing door camping?  :D

Not really. The Scorpion is designed  for aggresive playstyle while Shadowbat, Turrle and Snake are great for indoor camping
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 19, 2019, 10:00:47 pm
I think the scorpion actualy somehow makes enemies spawn closer to the craft, which while pretty useful against ratmen and whatnot, is kinda terrible against anything else. Its the craft for anyone that wants to go balls to the wall and get to the enemies immediately, or lose an entire team and craft to someone carrying a portable mortar with a mininuke. Its one of those things that sound pretty cool on paper but is terrible in practice unless you know what you're doing. Its good for raiding downed/landed ships fast, though.

Turtle is amazing for door camping and is easily the best troop transport you can get for a good while. Its basically a faster skyranger that doesnt burn chems and trades 4 unit slots for lots of moving space and actual doors, AND it can go underwater.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 20, 2019, 01:09:59 am
I think the scorpion actualy somehow makes enemies spawn closer to the craft,

Yes, you are right!

which while pretty useful against ratmen and whatnot, is kinda terrible against anything else.

No, you are wrong! ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: legionof1 on February 20, 2019, 02:00:33 am
Ah, it's not just forgetting about those charges I'm talking about, that is understandable, but all the decoration-y tech panels inside it. They are literally made of explodium. If one of them gets hit (and believe you me they love to) the entire room goes ablaze ,_,

Well to be fair lots of things in the shadowtech craft are explodium. The turtles topside engines for example. If those go off the eat the entire rear of the craft. Worm's actually a little bit lucky in that aspect the most serious explodes are inside. but YMMV.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Abyss on February 20, 2019, 01:46:30 pm
Is it a right time to put some comics into the tread?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 25, 2019, 01:04:02 pm
Actually, it's a real injustice that - stil in 0.99J11- armor piercing shells for shotguns and heavy shotguns are to be manufactured, while the ones for the sawed-off and double barred shotgun are avaiable for purchase (6g buckshot) once "Shotguns summary" is researched  :'( :'( while the former have to be manufactured once "Slayer bullets" are researched  >:(

A humble suggestion: may all the piercing ones be bought once"Shotguns summary" topic is researchd? As of the above mentioned verison only way to get them is lootong from enemies
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 25, 2019, 03:19:25 pm
Slayer bullets aren't good against armor tho, they're meant to inflict extra damage against unarmored foes, IIRC.

Anyway, against real armor in the early game, try to use your assault cannon, in the hands of a well trained gal it can even kill a merc trooper in a single hit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?
Post by: niculinux on February 25, 2019, 03:21:52 pm
Slayer bullets aren't good against armor tho, they're meant to inflict extra damage against unarmored foes, IIRC.

Anyway, against real armor in the early game, try to use your assault cannon, in the hands of a well trained gal it can even kill a merc trooper in a single hit.

I know, but i use it only when im able to manifacture explosive cannonball, as a grenade launcher surrogate. As the rest, hope things may change 🙂
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dioxine on February 25, 2019, 06:24:59 pm
New version UP, enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Rince Wind on February 25, 2019, 10:15:55 pm
Thank you, downloading.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Abyss on February 26, 2019, 03:01:08 am
Thank you!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Sahti Waari on February 26, 2019, 08:10:43 am
Hi, everyone!

Please remind me what techs I need to be able to start codex projects?

I spent half of a game but can't remember.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Abyss on February 26, 2019, 01:23:47 pm
Hi, everyone!
Please remind me what techs I need to be able to start codex projects?

Hey! Two possible solutions:
1) Make any possible type of mission you haven't done yet. Look for the loot.
2) Open options, 'advanced', enable the "tech tree spoilers" => YES, then open the research screen, tap with middle mouse button on any unresearched topic, then press "Q", so the search line will appear (It's like Google, dude)
Type something related to the codex or drill, or hull or something that makes sense. And then look for the missing stuff within the tech branch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Sahti Waari on February 26, 2019, 09:14:54 pm
Thank you, Boo ^)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 26, 2019, 10:04:46 pm
Wat, new update already? Geez, time to upgrade my campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on February 26, 2019, 11:38:03 pm
yay newz stuffs.

Edit: Sun blades are more meh now, still an upgrade over basic stars in terms of damage but the 70% shot accuracy is the worst of the family now with laser stars being a thing now. Given the very high accuracy of throwing weapons in general, stars are pretty low usage(outside of infiltration) already. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: cc on March 01, 2019, 07:35:50 am
then open the research screen, tap with middle mouse button on any unresearched topic, then press "Q", so the search line will appear (It's like Google, dude)
Or you could hit "Q" twice while in the Geoscape. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Abyss on March 02, 2019, 01:13:40 am
Or you could hit "Q" twice while in the Geoscape. ;)
Yeee:) Cool. I didn't know that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Zharkov on March 03, 2019, 02:59:00 pm
Appeasing Dr. X seems quite hard - how is the player supposed to know you need saftey goggles and stuff?

EDIT: AH, okay you have to manufacture the appeased Dr. X. I don't seem to get the message, that there are more manufacturing Options after Research in this case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dioxine on March 03, 2019, 06:28:42 pm
By that point, handholding of any sort would be a grave insult to the player.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Mrekalis on March 03, 2019, 08:11:50 pm
Just updated after another hiatus, wanted to say the new Geoscape looks great, especially the touched-up menu buttons and stuff. Normally I think stuff like shadowing and fancier interface buttons are annoying and pointless but here that little bit of extra detail actually really adds something. In general the game feels a bit more vibrant now.

This is kind of off-topic but I really wanted to share this anecdote: About three-ish years back, Fallout 4 had just come out and I was talking to a friend who'd purchased it. I got on the topic of how the "laser-muskets" in the game were a goofy idea and mentioned that it would have been more interesting if the game started you off with actual muskets to show just how badly things had degraded and how primitive the survivors had become. We concluded Fallout 4 just wasn't that kind of game, I think. Literal days later I downloaded X-Piratez from some backwater site with zero idea of what to expect, went on my first mission and found... you start off with actual muskets. Mind blown.

I still can't believe the sheer density of content in the mod and finding something I have an interest in made it into the mod is always a sweet surprise (ex. the raygun from Forbidden Planet, werewolves, Flash Gordon references). You've gotta be in the running for maximum number of references and content rolled into one game by this point. But the one that's always gonna stick with me is seeing that random idea I had just materialize by some insane coincidence. I was grinning like an idiot. Well, at least until my troops were slaughtered to almost nothing on the first mission, but that comes with the territory.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Rince Wind on March 04, 2019, 09:51:08 pm
Congratz to another RockPaperShotgun (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/03/04/modder-superior-a-swabbies-guide-to-x-com-conversion-mod-x-piratez/) article!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: LytaRyta on March 04, 2019, 11:12:57 pm
guys, you are becomeing famous! :o
(..and rich :p ;D )
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Bloax on March 05, 2019, 06:09:49 am
(..and rich)
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/bpccs5ar9uygikq/1536524790566.jpg)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dioxine on March 05, 2019, 06:55:12 pm
guys, you are becomeing famous! :o
(..and rich :p ;D )

More like poor, donations cover maybe 10% of developement costs, lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: suicicoo on March 05, 2019, 07:53:50 pm
i want to say thanks(again?) for this awesome mod, dioxine!
i have a question though:
did you try making bows with pocket-hold or offhand-hold ammo?
paying reload-times for a bow doesn't make sense to me.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 05, 2019, 09:20:38 pm
TU cost for reloading bows is very small... I don't see reason to eliminate this entirely.
It makes sense that Gal "opens" quiver to take another arrow and it's fast.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Sahti Waari on March 06, 2019, 10:45:28 am
Hello, everyone!

Could anyone please describe me home camo works?
I think, 26/8 means the enemy spot me from 26 tiles at day and 8 at night.
Does it mean 8/2 make soldier almost invisible?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: cc on March 06, 2019, 11:03:44 am
Could anyone please describe me home camo works?
A camo rating of 8/2 reduces the tiles you can be spotted from by 8 when illuminated and 2 when not (assuming the enemy has no spot).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: LytaRyta on March 06, 2019, 04:50:47 pm
I Suggest that Impaler would has (have) got also auto~shot too, let say 3x (well, with very, VERY slightly decreased accurancy...


and for engineers and workers~constructeurs, ~ lets give them some handy workshop' combineses, "engineers outfits - all with alot of pockets and sockets, for pocket tools, pencils et pens, knifves, screwdrivers, handheld tools & techie stuffs & gadgets, etc.. 8:) 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Ashghan on March 06, 2019, 05:42:13 pm
Hello, everyone!

Could anyone please describe me home camo works?
I think, 26/8 means the enemy spot me from 26 tiles at day and 8 at night.
Does it mean 8/2 make soldier almost invisible?

Basic sight range (for most units - there are exceptions) is 40 tiles in daylight. At night it's 9 for baseline humans with no NV equipment, 12 for gals, more for NV or mutants (sectoids/hybrids see really good in darkness). Zombies are blind (they have Sense, which detects living beings even through walls) so camo is useless against them.

Some enemies (as well as armors) have a Spot:X statistic, which reduces your camo and/or invisibility by X (up to 0 - camo can't be negative) for both day and night.

Invisibility is somewhat inverse of camo - 8/2 is the maximum range you can be seen by day/night. Invisibility:5 means you can't be spotted when you are 6+ tiles away from an enemy (barring Spot:).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Rince Wind on March 06, 2019, 09:25:35 pm



and for engineers and workers~constructeurs, ~ lets give them some handy workshop' combineses, "engineers outfits - all with alot of pockets and sockets, for pocket tools, pencils et pens, knifves, screwdrivers, handheld tools & techie stuffs & gadgets, etc.. 8:) 8)

It is called Runt Outfit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Ashghan on March 06, 2019, 10:44:11 pm
i want to say thanks(again?) for this awesome mod, Dioxine!
i have a question though:
did you try making bows with pocket-hold or offhand-hold ammo?
paying reload-times for a bow doesn't make sense to me.
It makes complete sense to me.
A) In reality quivers do not hold a lot of arrows - sport shooting quivers (placed at the hip/belt) hold 10-12 arrows (these are thin, light and not very long). "Historical" quivers held from 10-20 (belt quivers) to 20-40 (back quivers) - depending on the size of the bow (and thus arrows). Piratez-wise we can assume the quivers used are the smaller kind worn on the belt (so they do not take any actual equipment space).
B) Most of the time quivers were not worn in a way that was readily accessible - they usually had covers, strings, etc. that would keep the arrows protected in transport and/or from falling out during movement. Thus, the 'reload' of the bow is (I always assumed) the time-cost of preparing another quiver to fire, not the cost of 'reloading' the bow with a new arrow (which is factored in TU of a shot).

Also a question regarding "pocket-hold" - how do you expect holding a bundle of, say,12x 50cm arrows in a pocket without them interfering with movement and/or getting damaged? I once forgot my quiver to practice and had to shoot arrows held in a cargo-pants side pocket - doable, but forget about moving and bloody difficult to draw new arrows.
"offhand hold" (ie. you hold the arrows with the same hand that you hold the bow with) is good for 3-4 shots at most - impossible to hold more and still maintain a comfortable grip. And even then your accuracy suffers, because you don't have a sure grip.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 07, 2019, 10:34:16 pm
Its mostly a case of interpretation and gameplay vs reality segregation, though I do also think the current way bows are handled makes sense.

An alternative would be to have bows only handle a single arrow at a time, while at the same time making reloading really cheap in TUs, but that would be an annoying change to make for something that would add very little to gameplay, IMHO.

I do admit I don't use bows because of the energy cost per shot vs the possible damage dealt. It seems like they'd be good weapons for Lok'nars, since they almost invariably get good throwing and energy starting stats, but even then the damage is kinda meh. They aren't even good for training throwing, since you can just use whips and/or sunblades for that instead. Right now only the most hi-end bows are worth using, IMO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Rince Wind on March 07, 2019, 11:40:33 pm
Then you'd probably need a "quiver" slot as well, because reloading adds the cost to put the ammo in the offhand. And you'd probably need the arrows singly, because I don't think you can just take one from a stack. Neither sounds very practical.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 08, 2019, 01:39:29 am
Drawing another arrow is probably added to the TU cost of shooting. Just like with bolt action rifles, or pump shotguns.

Do pistol have "magazine" slot? No, it's inserted inside the gun itself. You can imagine quiver being clipped to back, or belt of a gal, during those TU that are required to "reload" bow.
Or we can ignore that little "inconsistency" since there can't be "realistic" solution because of engine limits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 08, 2019, 06:40:27 am
Low tech for bows is still fairly useful, given poison arrows, and flame arrows. Flame arrows in particular allow the best control of lighting in night missions. The combination of only a single tile lit and the rapid burnout means you can pretty much always keep your units in the dark and the baddies in light.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: LytaRyta on March 08, 2019, 02:43:19 pm
~~ what about (..surprise, surprise) ~~  join,/alliancing Humanists && *Shadows (~Dark Ones, Hell'Daemons) factions ?

Join, merge them both into 1cooperative alliance..

hehe, such "surprisingly" plot ..twist. :D ;D (plot pivot)

nj hey, *Celle Neues Rathaus*, Thule Order, In'Coming of the *Unknown "UberBeings",
neue,another "leap", step in ..humans race evolution, and so on..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 08, 2019, 02:58:50 pm
If this was viable, I'm sure that the Shadows would have done it already.
In fact, they're probably on it as we speak... But the results are very uncertain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Martin on March 08, 2019, 03:52:55 pm
Human magicians can probably summom them, it6s one of the unimplemented Wizard rewards and if my reading between the lines in correct magicians are overepresented among higher echeleons of Humanists. However either they cannot control them well enough or summoming a horde of demons makes SGs violently unhappy and so they rather do not do such things.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Jimboman on March 08, 2019, 03:54:38 pm
I really LOVE the Plasma Breaching Charge in J12.  It makes bank raids so much quicker...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 12, 2019, 02:34:45 pm
Oh, thank you for the trick Jimbo; I have just failed a bank raid.

I am getting a lot of crashing mid-maps but that is my rubbish lappy. I love J12 - I have alien base building again, smugglers have reappeared along with Reynard mission and a bunch of maps I haven't seen since J8. Love the new ones too - Sitzkrieg takes a bit of luck and thought. Can't get the bondage gear or the slayer for Lokkies with extra shield yet so a couple of maps are rather off-limit. Hmm...

Best thing is taking noob lokkies/peas out with a morale boosting Mistress (otherwise they panic) and getting them skilled up on small-fry baddy ships - dojo training only does so much - I found that out when some gals tried to defend a base invasion and they got burnt. Peas now have nice shooty-bang ability.

I take it nukes are still not on the menu; I have not seen any for months.

Oh, I adore the emp ammo and I found the flowchart tech tree (still can't unlock heavy plasma - don't tell me).

TY Dio (I keep finding more of your in-game jokes)!

Love,

mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: nicedayright on March 12, 2019, 06:31:33 pm
Doing my first gray codex run, and the arcane ray that comes with the jellyfish has me stumped. No matter which of the 14 directions I choose, it ends up splashing harmlessly on the wall of the turret cube. I get that it's like a blaster bomb, but how do i path it out of the ship?

Edit: nevermind, the funny-looking window is a door.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 12, 2019, 08:00:39 pm
And lo that day there was much rejoicing, for someone had found the solution on there own.  ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 13, 2019, 05:48:30 am
...and much laughter at sillies - guess who just took a gas bombard to an Eridian crash party...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Martin on March 13, 2019, 03:29:05 pm
Wait, aren’t they supposed to be choking resistant?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: sanyaskillpro on March 14, 2019, 04:35:51 am
Always take one against the deep ones though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 14, 2019, 12:16:32 pm
That's what I did Martin!

I gave up in the end...

That mortar looks groovy.

Mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 15, 2019, 02:13:38 am
Mortar is crazy good, when the terrain/enemy grouping cooperates.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Martin on March 15, 2019, 01:47:54 pm
Mortar is indeed groovy, but I find the humble grenade launcher to be more flexible as it can be fired once every turn form static position while mortar can only be fired every other turn. The gas round is golden against deep ones but when you can manufacture chemical weapons you surely have coupple of missile lanchers or autocannons that are even better at this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: N00b45454 on March 17, 2019, 05:11:12 am
I think I'm stuck, I just finished the unlocking stellar weapons research and I've noticed something. I got curious and searched up what I needed to go to mars and I found that some research needed a bio-tech lab. While I did choose the "hire" option for Dr. X, since it's my first playthrough and didn't bother looking up the rewards for the other options, I already looted her car before I got the option to get the blueprints. I am somewhat concerned that I might've locked myself out of the endgame by doing so. Is there any other way to get the bio-tech lab blueprints?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 17, 2019, 07:30:43 am
If you didn't get the biolab the alternative route is to capture a belter, an enemy type found on space freighter missions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: N00b45454 on March 17, 2019, 03:58:53 pm
If you didn't get the biolab the alternative route is to capture a belter, an enemy type found on space freighter missions.

Thanks, but that seems rather unfortunate as it has been a while since a space freighter mission popped up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 18, 2019, 07:34:32 am
Yeah streaky RNG is unfortunately something we are stuck with. Sometimes you wait ages for the progress gates you need.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 18, 2019, 03:44:55 pm
The mortar is pretty good if you got yourself a gal with a flying armor and a high place in the map onto which you can put her and have her kneel down and rain death across the map, or some sort of wall to block enemy line of sight, but its usefulness falls down pretty quickly once you start going against anything that is can easily kill your armored gals, because those kind of enemies are also much less likely to go down with regular mortars, and being able to fire only once every other turn doesnt help much either, and by then you probably have better/faster options.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 18, 2019, 11:38:25 pm
Eh mortar has a ton of longevity if your keeping up on research of ammo varieties. HE, WP, smoke, gas, Hell, and fusion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Alex_D on March 19, 2019, 06:19:26 am
Now the mortar is mentioned in the thread, I bring a thought I first had when I used it, for discussion.

In real life, although one person can do it all, usually the mortar is a crewed weapon. One person does the loading, and another does the firing. Converting it to a "proper" crewed weapon in Piratez like it is done in WK40 may be completely outside of Dioxine's plans.

Also, normally there is only enough TUs to fire the mortar, or reloading and moving a little. Originally, I was thinking into decreasing the TUs of firing to just allow reloading by a fast gal on the same turn, but I try to keep the mods stock, so I didn't do it.

However, I see the mechanics of recent OXCE builds, where certain actions can add some TUs to other units. And (I'm sure I'm not the first one) I was thinking if this can be implemented so the gal firing the weapon can have enough TUs to fire and reload in one turn, if a gal standing next to her (let's call her the loader) gives the TUs by an action to the gal holding the mortar. The plan is the shell that the loader gal is holding has the special properties of giving TUs with an action (say, with a melee or firing), by the amount required to reload the mortar from the ground. Then the loader gal throws the round at the feet of the mortar gal.

That's the easy part. The hard part is how to prevent abuse (e.g., loader gal giving TUs to non-mortar gals). Thus I don't know how the script need to be so only the gal that has a mortar shall receive the TUs. Alternatively the other way around could be considered. The mortar gives the ability to steal just enough TUs from a nearby gal (e.g. asking for help to the loader gal), thus having enough TUs to reload and fire again. This is less likely to be abused (e.g., the mortar gal borrows from a enemy unit standing next to her). Of course, the action needs to be fine tuned so the right amounts are transferred between units.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Martin on March 19, 2019, 12:57:45 pm
The easiest way would be to expand OXCE so that munition item held in hand can be scxripted to be able to perform "reloading attack" that adds the ammo to empty compatible weapon held by target and then deletes itself and fails if there’s no suitable target.

However, reloading action could throw the player/"AI" balance out completely, it woudl be easy to allow the player to do that, but difficult to get the "AI" to perform something so complex.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: alehhhha on March 19, 2019, 01:58:46 pm
Question to Mr. Dioxine (I apologize for my bad English)
Have you ever thought of introducing ways to expand the base in future patches? For example - to lay a tunnel between two nearby, so that they have common warehouses, prisons and buildings. (I apologize if I offer nonsense).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 19, 2019, 08:19:35 pm
Mortars are fine as they are atm, IMO, IE a powerful but kind of situational weapon. Its actualy very realistic to not be able to effectively use it on every mission because you just dont get a proper position to set it up on every map, and IRL mortars also did require significant setting up to be used effectively (that is, finding a stable place to set it up without getting shot from every direction).
Given gals are pretty much always just running out of a dropship and engaging whatever enemy they're against, its actualy kind of impressive they even employ mortars at all.

Also, its the closest thing to artillery we can get in an xcom kind of game, and I love me some artillery.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: LytaRyta on March 19, 2019, 09:26:43 pm
Now the mortar is mentioned in the thread, I bring a thought I first had when I used it, for discussion.

In real life, although one person can do it all, usually the mortar is a crewed weapon. One person does the loading, and another does the firing. Converting it to a "proper" crewed weapon in Piratez like it is done in WK40 may be completely outside of Dioxine's plans.

Also, normally there is only enough TUs to fire the mortar, or reloading and moving a little. Originally, I was thinking into decreasing the TUs of firing to just allow reloading by a fast gal on the same turn, but I try to keep the mods stock, so I didn't do it.

However, I see the mechanics of recent OXCE builds, where certain actions can add some TUs to other units. And (I'm sure I'm not the first one) I was thinking if this can be implemented so the gal firing the weapon can have enough TUs to fire and reload in one turn, if a gal standing next to her (let's call her the loader) gives the TUs by an action to the gal holding the mortar. The plan is the shell that the loader gal is holding has the special properties of giving TUs with an action (say, with a melee or firing), by the amount required to reload the mortar from the ground. Then the loader gal throws the round at the feet of the mortar gal.

That's the easy part. The hard part is how to prevent abuse (e.g., loader gal giving TUs to non-mortar gals). Thus I don't know how the script need to be so only the gal that has a mortar shall receive the TUs. Alternatively the other way around could be considered. The mortar gives the ability to steal just enough TUs from a nearby gal (e.g. asking for help to the loader gal), thus having enough TUs to reload and fire again. This is less likely to be abused (e.g., the mortar gal borrows from a enemy unit standing next to her). Of course, the action needs to be fine tuned so the right amounts are transferred between units.


real Moertars:

light mortars ~~36 ~~60 ~100 mm  caliber   ~ 2 men crew

1man -portable, moveable, at the man´back(pack)

or transportable on vehicles, trucks, APC, FPV (Fighting Personnel(Infantry) Vehicle)



heavy mortars ~~90 ~~120 mm calibers   ~~3 men crew!

must be carried by, of 2 men, at least

(transportable by, on trucks, FPV (BVP), APC (Armored Personal Carriers..), etc.. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Stoddard on March 19, 2019, 09:32:48 pm
I always thought it was something like 50mm since even 82mm weighs 60kg
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Zharkov on March 19, 2019, 09:39:10 pm
I always thought it was something like 50mm since even 82mm weighs 60kg

A 120mm mortar might be too heavy to carry around even for the gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Alex_D on March 19, 2019, 11:48:23 pm
The easiest way would be to expand OXCE so that munition item held in hand can be scripted to be able to perform "reloading attack" that adds the ammo to empty compatible weapon held by target and then deletes itself and fails if there’s no suitable target.
I like that idea. I'm not familiar with the scripting language, or what variables can handle.
EDIT: This idea of assisted re-loading could be optionally applied to other weapons that would be normally reloaded by other people, like some rocket launchers or perhaps heavy machine guns.

However, reloading action could throw the player/"AI" balance out completely, it would be easy to allow the player to do that, but difficult to get the "AI" to perform something so complex.
Well, I'd say on this instance: scr*w the AI! :) This is because I have yet to see the AI fielding these weapons against the gals, so I assume is a player only gun (I'm not giving Dioxine ideas  :) )

In my previous campaign, a few versions ago, my gals were never fired by the Blaster Launcher unless it was a reaction or panic fire. So if the mortar is made available to the enemy factions, I wonder if the AI would treat the mortar  the same as the BL (never firing it against the player). Note that I observed the same behaviour when I played my most recent campaign in XCF.

I always thought it was something like 50mm since even 82mm weighs 60kg
Yes, a 60 mm mortar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M224_mortar) or a 81 mm mortar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M252_mortar) are light enough to being carried by one superhuman gal (mortar tube, base plate and some rounds). The 120 mm mortar (https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/120_mm_mo%C5%BAdzierz_M120) indeed may be too heavy for the gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Stoddard on March 20, 2019, 01:39:09 am
Favourite quote from FM 23-90:

Quote
2. In case of a hangfire, kick the cannon several times to dislodge the round.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 20, 2019, 03:19:55 am
Funny, but not wrong, usually mortars hang fire cause the round gets wedged in the tube with debris and fails to reach the firing pin at the base.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: nicedayright on March 21, 2019, 02:04:02 am
A little surprised none of the comic book options unlock boxing glove arrows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 21, 2019, 11:55:27 am
A little surprised none of the comic book options unlock boxing glove arrows.


You mean something like this guy and his arrows for any occasion?

(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/heman/images/0/08/Bow_Character_Profile.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20181113111401)

To be honest, he would fit the Slave Soldiers path.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Zharkov on March 21, 2019, 04:00:34 pm


You mean something like this guy and his arrows for any occasion?

(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/heman/images/0/08/Bow_Character_Profile.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20181113111401)

To be honest, he would fit the Slave Soldiers path.

I never noticed, that his bow was so dysfunctional. He will fucking hurt himself with this thing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 21, 2019, 10:35:11 pm
The new she-ra cartoon has terrible and boring designs all around. The new She-Ra herself is pretty much the antithesis of the gals in xpiratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 21, 2019, 10:38:03 pm
The new she-ra cartoon has terrible and boring designs all around. The new She-Ra herself is pretty much the antithesis of the gals in xpiratez.

Yeah, she's more like 63'd Thor.
I like her new design though, it's relatively sensible...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: LytaRyta on March 21, 2019, 11:02:12 pm
She~Ra

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=She-Ra


Michael Straczinsky as creator? ? :o :S o.O

Joseph-Mich.Straczinski, as also creator, /producer "serious" Babylon5 sci-fi series?


(yu know, -it just doesnt "fit´ smthng such "childish anime show as She-Ra, - to him..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dioxine on March 21, 2019, 11:12:56 pm
However, I see the mechanics of recent OXCE builds, where certain actions can add some TUs to other units. And (I'm sure I'm not the first one) I was thinking if this can be implemented so the gal firing the weapon can have enough TUs to fire and reload in one turn, if a gal standing next to her (let's call her the loader) gives the TUs by an action to the gal holding the mortar. The plan is the shell that the loader gal is holding has the special properties of giving TUs with an action (say, with a melee or firing), by the amount required to reload the mortar from the ground. Then the loader gal throws the round at the feet of the mortar gal.

+TU items have been in Piratez for ages, man...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Alex_D on March 22, 2019, 01:34:28 am
+TU items have been in Piratez for ages, man...

Yes, I know. I was referring to those builds.

So, is there a chance for the proposed (or similar) mechanics for assisted reloading of large weapons, to be consider for future implementation into the mod ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: HT on March 22, 2019, 12:48:39 pm


You mean something like this guy and his arrows for any occasion?


Wow, when did cartoons become so bad-looking?

As for Piratez, are Poisoned and Fire Arrows capable of being used with Combat Bows and higher tiers, or not yet?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 22, 2019, 03:28:49 pm
Wow, when did cartoons become so bad-looking?

Flash animation seems to be in fashion. And it is often cheaper.

As for Piratez, are Poisoned and Fire Arrows capable of being used with Combat Bows and higher tiers, or not yet?

They're hunting bow only, and I  don't think it's "yet" - I am not aware of such plans for other bows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Zharkov on March 24, 2019, 02:36:59 pm
Wow, until now they never crashed but were destroyed. Did not know this was possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 24, 2019, 09:31:06 pm
Yeah they kinda have to be "crashable", because of the prismatic shield tech gate. Seekers or there crew are the only source, and you need them to get forcefeilds, which in turn gates higher studies and a bunch of shield related stuff.

Admittedly they where made with very close crash/kill thresholds, so it can be a right pain to advance this gate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 25, 2019, 10:42:38 pm
Thats odd, I almost always managed to only crash those, using seagulls+30mm or gauss. Guess I got lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 25, 2019, 11:05:22 pm
Ah, so that's where you get shields from.... All this time....
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Martin on March 26, 2019, 06:03:08 pm
You can buy the Ninja soldier from Saya for like 300K and she can tall you about those technologies. Aynway, anybody else things the ninjas are a bit underarmed for a serious rivals? They have great camo, fast reactions and are resonably tough but their guns just don’t cut it once you get blue armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on March 26, 2019, 07:50:39 pm
You can buy the Ninja soldier from Saya for like 300K and she can tall you about those technologies. Aynway, anybody else things the ninjas are a bit underarmed for a serious rivals? They have great camo, fast reactions and are resonably tough but their guns just don’t cut it once you get blue armors.

They were supposed to be rivals? Sure, they have Heavy Slugthrowers, but I'm not scared of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 26, 2019, 09:23:10 pm
They were supposed to be rivals? Sure, they have Heavy Slugthrowers, but I'm not scared of them.

Oh, I forgot about buying people - I have about 1.5 billion and have been trying not to buy; I don't know, I just feel I have not tried, but when the only ninjas I have seen in the last actual 3 months have been about once then I think - it is a mechanic of the game to buy tech too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 26, 2019, 09:32:54 pm
Saya route is new, i forgot about that. And yes as "rivals" the ninja eventually do die off as threats, that said they are the only faction that can attack your craft in flight, so they are still a problem well into the game, even if the ground combat gets easier. Also never underestimate a ninja's melee threat, they have the stats to really do a number on your gals when armed with fuso swords.

Buying
Oh, I forgot about buying people - I have about 1.5 billion and have been trying not to buy; I don't know, I just feel I have not tried, but when the only ninjas I have seen in the last actual 3 months have been about once then I think - it is a mechanic of the game to buy tech too.

Yeah buying VIP captives is the ingame solution to the highly streaky mission generation randomization. Factions can vanish for in game years sometimes, so there is usually alternate routes, or the ability to just buy your way out of the problem. Like after a certain point you have funds to spare but are stuck on tech gates, might as well allow you to buy away the bad RNG so a campaign doesn't take needless extra time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on March 26, 2019, 09:51:18 pm
You get some from Saya. For the others, you need to contact the Mercenaries, and that requires another Leader being researched. So you capture one legitimately (or get it from other research, like Church Priest having a chance to unlock Reverend), and then you buy the rest.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 26, 2019, 10:37:18 pm
I think I should do that - I'll give the ninjas another month game-time to turn up then get the info. at the moment I have unshielded gals with gauss weaps relying most of the time on the heavy tanks I bring along. Trying out mortars too after the chat about them - nice compact way of capturing some gassed nasties.

I have a bombard and just did a bank mission. Except there was no bank after two hellerium bombs. I stick ammo in the tank backpack to remind me to load the tank (I always forget).

Oh, a moment - do you mean Saya has more trophies to give since J9-10?

Mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: legionof1 on March 27, 2019, 05:01:55 am
Saya has picked up some extras since her first arrival. It was just reticulans originally, so you had an out for the reticualn/human coop branch. Namely the elder which only showed on 1 of the 4 imperial probes otherwise at the time.
While you can live without that branch in terms of ending the game, its a far sight simpler when you don't have to worry about terrors as frequently, and the rebel trading is propping up your score.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 27, 2019, 05:58:51 am
Hmm, I think I might have exhausted Saya - my old lappy went byewye last Summer due to a bad fan and then (yay!) I found my saves 3 months later on a USB stuck in a makeup drawer so I am still not sure what I have done on the tech tree.

Yesterday, I captured a gov general after a Biggiest fight ever (whip him from behind to stun) and then found (boo) he had no research for me.

I don't think I have seen an elder. I can buy one. Plus, I have stuck ALL fancy research and building expands into ONE base including old Earth lab and red tower and printer etc. All of a sudden I can manufacture almost anything...

I got a ninja ship an hour after bemoaning their lack on this thread and it blew into pieces even though I swiftly back-engineered a nightmare to carry a gauss.

Mags


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 27, 2019, 10:56:45 am
Ninjas can't into ship to ship combat, yarrr.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: magus1 on March 27, 2019, 07:35:30 pm
Sorry Sol, ninjas can't do what? (apart from quaff and wench :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 28, 2019, 02:29:40 pm
Can't into... ship combat... you know, their planes suck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Mathel on March 28, 2019, 02:55:45 pm
I do not remember their planes. Then again, I do not thing I have seen ninjas since I built my hyper wave decoders, so perhaps that is the cause.

To get prismatic shield, I eventually just bought Ninja warriors, as I did not see a way to capture them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Dioxine on March 29, 2019, 02:53:07 pm
New version is up, enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Zharkov on March 29, 2019, 03:19:04 pm
New version is up, enjoy!

Huh? winzip says this is not an archieve?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on March 29, 2019, 03:55:59 pm
Cool!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 29, 2019, 07:10:29 pm
Doesn't work on my end either. Winrar can't unpack it.

But many thanks for new version!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on March 29, 2019, 09:25:31 pm
Gambling seems broken with the odds being too good. I fed the slot machine 1000 chips and made profit of 3.65 million. When you gamble you should consistently lose money, not earn them, otherwise casinos and similar fine estabilishments woudl go out of business.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Zharkov on March 29, 2019, 11:27:10 pm
Doesn't work on my end either. Winrar can't unpack it.

Maybe our winrar-versions are not uptodate? I will test this tomorrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 30, 2019, 01:11:13 am
Maybe our winrar-versions are not uptodate? I will test this tomorrow.

Checked new version of winrar. Works just fine now!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Zharkov on March 30, 2019, 12:23:48 pm
Checked new version of winrar. Works just fine now!

Yeah, worked for me, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Sahti Waari on April 02, 2019, 05:13:40 am
Hello, everyone  :)

Does CONVOY transport support additional attachments or those empty slots are just because of a game engine feature?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 02, 2019, 08:12:01 am
The Convoy has alot of internal space so it can actually spawn its max load of HWPs. HWPs units take 4 tiles to spawn and the convoy can load 6 and 18 crew besides, for a total of 42 internal tiles needed. There's some extra tiles cause 42 does not divide by 2 into a even number, and the 2 carriers are identical and rectangles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: peirceg on April 03, 2019, 06:04:17 pm
Hey thanks Dioxine for the upload. Was trying to play the new version on my old save and the map generator crashed trying to do an underwater mission ; this was from my log ;

[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   OpenXcom Version: Extended 5.2 (v2019-03-04)
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Platform: Windows 32 bit
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Data folder is:
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Data search is:
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   - C:/Users/gianminer/Documents/OpenXcom/
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   - C:/Users/gianminer/Downloads/Dioxine_XPiratez_J13a/Dioxine_XPiratez/
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   User folder is: C:/Users/gianminer/Downloads/Dioxine_XPiratez_J13a/Dioxine_XPiratez/user/
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Config folder is: C:/Users/gianminer/Downloads/Dioxine_XPiratez_J13a/Dioxine_XPiratez/user/
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Options loaded successfully.
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   SDL initialized successfully.
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   SDL_mixer initialized successfully.
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Attempted locale:
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Detected locale: C
[03-04-2019_23-56-16]   [INFO]   Attempting to set display to 1920x1080x32...
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   Display set to 1920x1080x32.
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   Loading data...
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   Scanning standard mods in ''...
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   Scanning user mods in 'C:/Users/gianminer/Downloads/Dioxine_XPiratez_J13a/Dioxine_XPiratez/user/'...
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   reservedSpace for: xcom2 updated to: 4
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   reservedSpace for: xcom1 updated to: 4
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   reservedSpace for: piratez is: 4
[03-04-2019_23-56-18]   [INFO]   Loading rulesets...
[03-04-2019_23-56-22]   [INFO]   Loading fonts... AmigaFont.dat
[03-04-2019_23-56-22]   [INFO]   Lazy loading: 1
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Loading custom palettes from ruleset...
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_BATTLESCAPE_1
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_BATTLESCAPE_2
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_BATTLESCAPE_3
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_DGOOD_ACID
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_DGOOD_SEA
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_DGOOD_SPACE
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Creating a new palette: PAL_MARS
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Making palette backups...
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Data loaded successfully.
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Loading language...
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   Language loaded successfully.
[03-04-2019_23-56-23]   [INFO]   OpenXcom started successfully!
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   A fatal error has occurred: Map generator encountered an error: Unknown race: STR_DEEP_ONE_SEA_UNDERWATER defined in deployment: STR_SEA_CORAL_EXIT
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x896d00 OpenXcom::CrossPlatform::stackTrace(void*)
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x8984c0 OpenXcom::CrossPlatform::crashDump(void*, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x401520 exceptionLogger()
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0xc69648 MPEGaction::MPEGaction()
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x9a4940 OpenXcom::BattlescapeGenerator::run()
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x496ab0 OpenXcom::ConfirmLandingState::btnYesClick(OpenXcom::Action*)
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x8cd680 OpenXcom::InteractiveSurface::mouseClick(OpenXcom::Action*, OpenXcom::State*)
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x766f7210 malloc
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x401730 SDL_main
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0xae1030 console_main
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   ??
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x74518470 BaseThreadInitThunk
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x77bf4140 RtlAreBitsSet
[04-04-2019_00-00-25]   [FATAL]   0x77bf4140 RtlAreBitsSet


Thanks! Also, just tried another underwater mission - a bounty hunt mission and the same thing happened. Do I need to start a new game to get this to work?

Just continued with the save game into the next month - and tried another mission in the new month. Seems to be working as I can encounter deep ones again!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Roxis231 on April 04, 2019, 04:48:24 am
Hey Dioxine,

Just updated to J13a. After a short while playing I noted that the 'Alternate Armour - Smoke' and 'Alternate Armour - Tac' submods were not displaying correctly.

I think this was from the change to layered paperdolls.  A quick delve into the code and a few updated images, and I've got them working again.

I've attached the updated versions to this post.  To use - just delete the old, and unzip the new.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Sahti Waari on April 05, 2019, 01:39:02 pm
Hi, everyone

Using a Debug menu to see all available buildings I found an Aye of Gor (like a hyper-waive decoder with an eye)
But right-clicking on it shows no information about that building.

Could someone tell me what this building do?
I'm burning with curiosity :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on April 05, 2019, 02:08:49 pm
Judging by the name it has something to do with Imaginative Sex 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ashghan on April 05, 2019, 05:20:04 pm
It's a radar facility that supposedly covers the whole globe. It's unavailable though, likely a part of some planned feature. It's been in the files for quite some time now.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Devon_v on April 11, 2019, 02:03:43 am
She~Ra

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=She-Ra


Michael Straczinsky as creator? ? :o :S o.O

Joseph-Mich.Straczinski, as also creator, /producer "serious" Babylon5 sci-fi series?


(yu know, -it just doesnt "fit´ smthng such "childish anime show as She-Ra, - to him..

He wrote Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors before he did Babylon 5. He also did a lot of comic book stuff. B5 is kinda the aberration, but it just happens to be his best known work.



Really enjoying the changes since F4, and I haven't even started the game yet. Somehow there's even more flavor in everything, even more weapons, things like the "heightened senses" on the dogs are a wonderful touch. The ANAL button is the most fun I've had so far, finally able to delve into the guts of the weapons and understand how they function. Looking forward to trying out melee with the CQC mechanics. The cleaner Bootypaedia entries as a result are nice as well. So much to do...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Dakkdakk on April 11, 2019, 03:01:34 pm
The ANAL button is the most fun I've had so far
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J12 - 24 Feb - Wetworks
Post by: Devon_v on April 11, 2019, 08:00:58 pm

Anal bum cover.

This campaign is off to a great start. All my gals are weaklings who can't shoot straight and as a result they're all wounded. Also Polly died. Maybe I'll last long enough to start recruiting, I think I've almost got access to dogs.

I did have a multi side battle (see, I didn't say three-way!) between necropirates (thought they were ratmen at first, woops) and some castaways, so once the brainers figure out how to ask people to help out, they might...help out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Riph on April 13, 2019, 01:26:41 am
How far can a random gal or brigand see during the Day? The analysis button for the armors says that the default value for "Visibility at day" is 0, which suggests unlimited. But if that's the case, then concepts like "Camouflage at day" are meaningless, because infinity minus 6 is still infinity.

I had a look over at ufopaedia.org and its seems that original xcom had day vision of 20 tiles, but that seems low. Pretty sure my gals are spotting things further out than that.

I also had a look around the Bootypedia but had no luck.

How far is the default day vision range?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on April 13, 2019, 01:43:39 am
Dioxine might have changed it. Wouldn't be the first time he altered fundamental rules from vanilla.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 13, 2019, 01:50:44 am
20 seems likely, that's also what Firaxis' XCOM uses. (Or it might be 21 actually)

One way to check it would be to see how far a gal can shoot a long arm before she hits the 50% no LOS penalty.

Edit:
Did a quick check. Daytime visibility is at minimum 34 tiles, and that was just the point were the map ended. Perhaps day camo interacts with smoke and other LOS limiting effects, or at least means that if you're on the opposite end of the map, they might not be able to see you.

Attack dogs have a vision range of 30 tiles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Eddie on April 13, 2019, 02:27:34 am
Standard daytime visibility is 40 tiles. As far as I know there is nothing that has greater visibility range, but there are a few units that have a lower one. The parrot for example has only 30 tiles daytime vision.
This is important to consider when you use your parrot to spot enemies with camo such as ninjas. Ninjas have -15 daytime camo, so your gals can spot them from 25 tiles distance, while your parrot can only see them at 15 tiles distance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 13, 2019, 04:04:52 am
Whelp, picked up a pair of peasants, have two castaways on the road to recovery, and successfully completed a night raid on the Cult of Sirius. I'm really enjoying the early game balance, it feels like there's a lot more you can do, and there are more outs to horrible RNG. Peasants aren't great, but they can handle a ball bat alright, and they make capable medics, which frees my gals up to focus on the fighting. I did have to abort a ratman rodeo on account of the filthy bastards building their whole place out of chain link fences, and that was just too much incoming fire. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 13, 2019, 05:30:58 am
Rodeos suck until well into the mid game, the rats are pretty accurate and flintlock pistols with 42 base dmg are not fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 13, 2019, 02:59:20 pm
Rodeos suck until well into the mid game, the rats are pretty accurate and flintlock pistols with 42 base dmg are not fun.
Last time I played it was always wooden fences, and the claustrophobic environments weren't hard to deal with using shotguns. The wide open sight lines just favor the side with the numerical advantage too much to bother with right now.


The new night vision as default view is also lovely, really makes taking advantage of the gals' natural abilities not feel like a chore . Also the MMB "look" function is so nice for threat assessment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 14, 2019, 11:32:16 am
I have far more problems with those dogs hiding on the rodeo-map. Playing on difficulty 3 I have to scout for 2 dogs before I can do more risky plays against the ratmen.
Warrior-armor mitigates alot of flintlock damage. The armor value is adjusted to 42 increasing the odds far more in your favour.

If the mod teaches you anything, it's the fact that leaving anyone/anything outside of cover may result in casualties.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Jimboman on April 14, 2019, 04:02:16 pm
I have far more problems with those dogs hiding on the rodeo-map. Playing on difficulty 3 I have to scout for 2 dogs before I can do more risky plays against the ratmen.
Warrior-armor mitigates alot of flintlock damage. The armor value is adjusted to 42 increasing the odds far more in your favour.

If the mod teaches you anything, it's the fact that leaving anyone/anything outside of cover may result in casualties.

I look at it as an urban-warfare challenge.  Use your cover, don't expose youself and keep some TU's for reaction fire.  Pistols and knives are a must close-in.  The chain-link map IS nasty early on, but when you get decent armour and weapons (I'm up to Guardian and rail-guns) it's not too bad.

Piratez isn't the kind of game for a ten-minute 'ram-bam-thank-you-mam' to pass the time, it's a strategic AND tactical war-game and needs that kind of thinking to beat it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Jimboman on April 14, 2019, 04:14:46 pm
I had a tactical game against a science vessel last night.  I usually hate cyberdisks, but I recently got small launchers with EMP ammo so I tried that and discovered just one or two can take a cyberdisk down without it exploding.  I even got one AND a hover-drone in one shot!

I'm just wondering if they'll work against those pesky hover-tanks as well...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on April 15, 2019, 01:25:00 pm
EMP damage should work on all robots, but the bug ones take quad damage. It is also a good way to stun scientists, but they will likely need medical attention in order not to die from overstun
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 16, 2019, 01:10:23 am
Overstun is rarely a problem anymore, assuming your not inflicting large amount of hp dmg, almost everyone recovers 9% of current stun in addtions to recovery from health. So it pretty rare to lose someone you have only done stun to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 16, 2019, 01:41:44 am
Overstun is rarely a problem anymore, assuming your not inflicting large amount of hp dmg, almost everyone recovers 9% of current stun in addtions to recovery from health. So it pretty rare to lose someone you have only done stun to.
Yeah, I've noticed that stunning enemies is a lot more consistent, and they don't die all the time because one of my gals is too strong. The only issue sometimes is when they get back up and somebody reaction fires them even though they're harmless and will surrender once it's all said and done.


Cover I find is fleeting. Automatic doors are your friend. I "won" a lokk'narr rodeo by hiding in my aircar and having my dog check sky ninja positions until my one gal who can totally cut their heads off could dash out, get a kill, and hide again. Everybody died, but I got like 14 points and a bunch of swords. The ninja were standing out in the open and the pirates were striking from concealment.

Also cats are cool. Fantastic night vision, light up the targets with fire arrows, and fire away without retaliation.

Edit:

Query: Is the ghost icon on a unit an indication of overstun damage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on April 16, 2019, 01:28:45 pm
EMP minibomb on power armoured humans does enough damage for overstun to be a problem, despite it rarely kill them outrigh (which might not apply on lower than max difficulty where they have 20% less everything)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 19, 2019, 11:51:23 pm
Still really enjoying the rebalance of the early game. The choices are interesting, and not always what I assumed. I was expecting the Male Touch/Gals are Superior option to be more along the lines of "fine, you want dudes, here, pick this option", and yet it was a genuine choice with consequences, and staying the course as in older versions wasn't the "right"  path. The slavery/employment difference makes a big deal as well. In previous runs I always kept slaves because it was free storage, and the only other option was money, which wasn't generally the issue. Now that you literally have to choose between paying a fair wage or the lash, it's a whole different matter, and another consequence which I suspect will crop up again in the future.

I always enjoyed this mod for it's atmosphere and world building, but felt that the game itself was kinda shoehorned into it. That is so not the case anymore. Gameplay and the world feel so in tune now, it's so much more intuitive why something happens, or what you need to do. The extra narrative hand holding at the start and the push into "heroic swashbucklers" rather than "bloodthirsty pirates", plus making it clear that the Mutant Alliance has a hand in things from the start really gives the early game focus. Also I dunno if I just gitted gud, but combat feels a LOT more fair early.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Dakkdakk on April 23, 2019, 04:54:28 pm
Ye, at first I was a bit skeptical of making the player choose certain stuff and then be without the option they didn't choose, but dioxine did it in the best way possible IMO, you get to choose what you can get immediately, but you can still possibly get what you didn't choose with enough effort, except maybe for a few codex related things, and thats fine.
Also, the game really does feel more meshed with its setting now, and the early game, which is easily the most painful phase of the game since you have shit gals and shit weapons, became significantly more interesting. Its cool that the various soldiers options have their own perks rather than just being cheaper, weaker gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: VodkaBear on April 24, 2019, 10:58:55 am
Havent played for 2 years I think. Just downloaded a new version, so now I have bunch of questions:
1. Why "Summary" researches became available right after any single weapons from category is researched? I believe it should require at least n+ researches from category to unlock "Summary", isnt it?
2. I saw some discussions on slavery, so does it brings something negative, why I should prefer workers over slaves, or it's became unavailable if I choose to add mans instead of picking gals way?
3. Missions research. Dont they block each other? I mean topics with "!" marks. Asking because I've completed number of them in a raw in one month, and I dont see any sea missions, I have swimsuits researched and sub bought.
4. Casino seems too overpowered, I have insane amount of cash coming of it in very first month, which really shortens time to build new based -> have stable income way too early comparing to older versions.
5. Plantations - what they for? I have no manufacture recipes nor items appearing in the vaults, I expect something like wheat autogenerating, but dont see any.
6. Cooking - is there any recipes? I have tons of meat/veggies from missions but there no any recipes, I have "smth + cousine" research done.
7. The very first electro bus - can I sell it, doesnt it have some unique recipes like tiny drill?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Rince Wind on April 24, 2019, 11:43:35 am
3: They don't block each other, other then competing for limited space in the monthly mission pool.
New missions are generated at the beginning of the month and are taken from those in the overall pool. So the earliest you would see them is the month after researching the tech. But as it is randomly allocated there is no guarantee you'll see them then. I waited close to a year for ghoul town to appear.

5: They make you money just by building them as they have negative maintenance cost. You can research boom plantations as well, once you have found some boom fruits und it will explain the process in the bootiepeda article.
6: yes, royal boomosaurus, deep one pie and lobster soup, probably a couple more that I forgot.
7: You can sell it, but there is one mission where it is the best craft, because you can only use this one or the one with 5 seats. It is a story arc mission you only need to do once.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: VodkaBear on April 24, 2019, 12:38:27 pm
5: They make you money just by building them as they have negative maintenance cost. You can research boom plantations as well, once you have found some boom fruits und it will explain the process in the bootiepeda article.
Dumb me, I saw "-" sign but didnt took into account. So it seems pretty good choice for small interceptors hosting bases to fill it with plantations until better income recipes and workshops itself researched.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 24, 2019, 05:26:15 pm
1) Well the articles themselves outline basic functions of the class, while real world analysis would agree with your point, its a game, do you really want basic info turning a third of the way through a play-through?
2) Nothing particularly negative about slavery. Workers cost money, slaves provide it. The Slaves soldiers vs gals decision is mostly unrelated, aside from slave soldiers being produced from normal slaves vs buyable.
4) Probably a little, but then its a brand new feature as of the most recent patch j13. Balance isn't always right the first pass.
6) Most cooking recipes involve some monster like foes renderd corpse in addition to the eggs and veggies. All items need be researched before production is possible.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on April 24, 2019, 05:58:18 pm
Factory is just better version of Industrial Printer, or do I need to have them both in the base to manufacture what Printer can?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 25, 2019, 03:15:30 am
Dumb me, I saw "-" sign but didnt took into account. So it seems pretty good choice for small interceptors hosting bases to fill it with plantations until better income recipes and workshops itself researched.

They also don't require any upkeep or staffing and provide fairly open combat areas, in addition to being relatively cheap to set up.



Loving the trap missions so far. It's great that you can't assume that every mission will fit its usual parameters.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on April 25, 2019, 02:02:49 pm
Loving the trap missions so far. It's great that you can't assume that every mission will fit its usual parameters.

You can read "trapped" monster hunts by the weather-forecast.

Spider-/Bloodhound-/Scorpionhunt all operate with the "Hot" environment penalty.

If the forecast for those missions is "temperate" it's a trap 100%. Exclusions still exist so prepare for each monsterhunt like it's an ambush and always do these missions with daylight.
Ambush factions use fire-weapons to light up your squads countering night-ops armors advantage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Martin on April 26, 2019, 02:48:08 pm
I had bloodhounds spawn in temperate forrest.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Devon_v on April 27, 2019, 01:17:59 am
You can read "trapped" monster hunts by the weather-forecast.

Spider-/Bloodhound-/Scorpionhunt all operate with the "Hot" environment penalty.

If the forecast for those missions is "temperate" it's a trap 100%. Exclusions still exist so prepare for each monsterhunt like it's an ambush and always do these missions with daylight.
Ambush factions use fire-weapons to light up your squads countering night-ops armors advantage.

I thought that temperature was determined by terrain type on the geoscape? Or is it mission specific, and the missions can only spawn on appropriate geoscape terrain?

I've definitely seen missions that stated that the weather was a factor, and yet the actual mission had no weather effects, and I've had missions that said nothing about weather, yet had weather effects. I've taken it to be a possibility, but you have no perfect information, which is fair enough and in keeping with UFO generally telling you nothing and letting you work it out on your own.

In any event, the three traps I encountered were an academy outpost overrun by zombies, a castaway distress signal which was answered by zombies, and a hunt which was a sky ninja trap. None of them were carrying flame weapons. I've also learned to only hunt in daylight because monsters have really good night vision and generally ludicrous amounts of TUs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 27, 2019, 01:22:32 am
It depends on how each mission is configured. But the weather in the briefing is a clue. But no perfect information.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ninawindia on April 27, 2019, 04:25:03 am
So, how do I change what I can wear for what missions, cause space is impossible when it doesn't register space suits. :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on April 27, 2019, 06:04:58 am
So, how do I change what I can wear for what missions, cause space is impossible when it doesn't register space suits. :/

You don't have space suits by default, you have to build them or find them on missions. If you are asking how to equip different armor, the armor menu in the craft screen will let you equip new armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ninawindia on April 27, 2019, 06:16:15 am
You don't have space suits by default, you have to build them or find them on missions. If you are asking how to equip different armor, the armor menu in the craft screen will let you equip new armor.

Aye, I have space suits researched, I have them made, I HAVE THEM EQUIPPED EVEN! ...but, the mission doesn't know what kind of space suit armor is used in space missions, I'm guessing this is a bug in the rulesets? Same for undersea and the chiller.. it's funny getting into a diving suit to get naked in the water, again. >_> lol

While all that's said. Are underground missions, and base attacks supposed to be deckhand/runt only? Cause if I don't use either I go in naked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: legionof1 on April 27, 2019, 08:26:04 am
That sounds like a faulty/corrupted installation. Move your saves and config file to another folder. Wipe the install folder and reinstall. Copy back saves and config.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Roxis231 on April 27, 2019, 08:47:32 am
Aye, I have space suits researched, I have them made, I HAVE THEM EQUIPPED EVEN! ...but, the mission doesn't know what kind of space suit armor is used in space missions, I'm guessing this is a bug in the rulesets? Same for undersea and the chiller.. it's funny getting into a diving suit to get naked in the water, again. >_> lol

While all that's said. Are underground missions, and base attacks supposed to be deckhand/runt only? Cause if I don't use either I go in naked.

If You are useing my Alternate Armour mod - this is a known conflict that can happen when useing the 0.99j11 version with Xpiratez 0.99J13

Turn it off, or replace the Enviro_Changes.rul file in the ruleset folder with the one attached here. If it is this conflict - this should fix it.

I should be updateing the mod soon also.
A Updated version is now avaliable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Ninawindia on April 27, 2019, 09:03:39 pm
THANK YOU ROXIS! .. okay, so it was my major derp. Hehe, ty again. <3
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: cc on April 28, 2019, 12:00:21 am
Factory is just better version of Industrial Printer, or do I need to have them both in the base to manufacture what Printer can?
Factory is a better version of the Workshop. The Industrial Printer, while providing less workspace/tile used, offers all the production options of the Workshop/Factory and then some. If you want to optimize income, build a Factory. If you want to have more building options, build the Printer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on April 28, 2019, 04:21:50 am
Factory is a better version of the Workshop. The Industrial Printer, while providing less workspace/tile used, offers all the production options of the Workshop/Factory and then some. If you want to optimize income, build a Factory. If you want to have more building options, build the Printer.

You really want Printers. Most high powered energy weapons and armors can only be manufactured with a printer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Oleg on April 29, 2019, 01:17:41 pm
Hi. Sorry for these noob questions.
How can I improve Wodoo skils? Using Wands don't improve it.
I havn't any research project, 20 of June 2063. What can I do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: VodkaBear on April 29, 2019, 02:30:10 pm
How do I calculate acc/dmg for skill-dependent weapons? For example:
Rotogun has 25% base acc. But it also has acc multiplayer = 35 + 0,65*firing.  So it will be 25 + 35 + 0,65*firing or?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J13a - 29 Mar - Casino Royale
Post by: Rince Wind on April 29, 2019, 04:10:20 pm
VodkaBear: No. It is (35+0.65*Firing)*25


Oleg:
Have you interrogated a lot of people?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2019, 10:29:20 pm
New version uploaded. Changelog in the opening post. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Zharkov on April 29, 2019, 10:42:48 pm
- Fix: Guild Spacemen can fly

Of course they can!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Kharim on April 30, 2019, 09:57:45 am
Recoiless Rifle Plastasteel Shells? Can't wait to get my hands on them!

Wysłane z mojego Redmi 6A przy użyciu Tapatalka

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on April 30, 2019, 11:33:58 am
Thanks for update, Dioxine, glad you keep developing the mod so far.

Bunch of assorted questions:
1. How you guys protecting your hideouts? For now I keep peasants + loknaars at every base but it's actually a lot of save-loading, as they really lack of combat experience and I still have no access do guns like lasers to mitigate low skill. I've just grabbed a few lasers and gauss weapons but as I remember there a lot to research before I can use them and produce ammo. I have better weapons for gals, but they too heavy/skill dependent for others.
2. Dropship. I'm still using sub as my main troop carrier(jokes on me) because of 8 places. I have access to Snake but 6 places way too small for me. I keep researching all necessary things to build mine, but there still a lot of things to do until it ready, how do you manage this? (oof, just finished some new landed ship formed like "*" raid with 4 loknaars against guild with plasma, totaly not the experience I want to repeat).
3. Casino coupons - is there list of what can be redeemed from it? Also I only have redeem option for copper and iron, and no for others - is it right?
4. Cannot see an option of 50-150 damage randomness instead of 0-200, can it still be tweaked? I even want it to be 75-125, or even less.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Rince Wind on April 30, 2019, 04:27:56 pm
1: Dogs and Blood Hounds improve your defence. It won't work when the real factions show up, but by then you should make enough money to station gals and have them train in a dojo or a specialized training hideout. I also try to get 2 gals in each hideout quickly.
You can use laser weapons without researching them, so once you have a couple send some a one or two mags for each to you other hideouts. Heavy laser is something I want to have in each base asap, to deal with some troublemakers.
2: You have the codex, so build you codex ship.

4: It is basically decided on a per weapon base, so there is no global variable, you need to chance each weapon seperatly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on April 30, 2019, 05:41:53 pm
Thanks for update, Dioxine, glad you keep developing the mod so far.

Bunch of assorted questions:
1. How you guys protecting your hideouts? For now I keep peasants + loknaars at every base but it's actually a lot of save-loading, as they really lack of combat experience and I still have no access do guns like lasers to mitigate low skill. I've just grabbed a few lasers and gauss weapons but as I remember there a lot to research before I can use them and produce ammo. I have better weapons for gals, but they too heavy/skill dependent for others.
2. Dropship. I'm still using sub as my main troop carrier(jokes on me) because of 8 places. I have access to Snake but 6 places way too small for me. I keep researching all necessary things to build mine, but there still a lot of things to do until it ready, how do you manage this? (oof, just finished some new landed ship formed like "*" raid with 4 loknaars against guild with plasma, totaly not the experience I want to repeat).
3. Casino coupons - is there list of what can be redeemed from it? Also I only have redeem option for copper and iron, and no for others - is it right?
4. Cannot see an option of 50-150 damage randomness instead of 0-200, can it still be tweaked? I even want it to be 75-125, or even less.

1) I start out with peasants and attack dogs. If you're just being raided by the academy or some other low level guys it's more than enough. Get some grenades on the peasants (NOT black powder bombs, most of them can't muster the 50TUs 45TUs (J14) to throw one unless they move one tile or less) so that they can actually get killls. Militia training and armor helps, as does actually taking them on missions (and not getting them killed) if you can swing it.

2) Joining the Mutant Alliance gives you the old Skyranger which can help with deployment until you work out how to rebuild the Brainers' ship (Menacing Hull). You will be expected to stop pogroms at that point, but being able to bring more gals to a fight means you can stack the odds in your favor, or bring loads of peasants and just do what you can, casualties be damned. Like in the original game, just showing up and immediately bugging out if it's something you can't handle still counts as trying, you just lose the ~500 points for all the civilian casualties, which can be made up. Even if you have to retreat, every attacker you kill offsets some of this. I recently got the Spartans on a horrific map with wide open sight lines everywhere and had to retreat, but still managed to capture a few weapons and get the score to about -200. X-Piratez is pretty good about grey areas in victory and defeat.

3) Haven't built one yet, wasn't in the previous versions I played

4) If you poke around the ANAL screen (or read some of the summaries), you'll see that damage rolls are a function of weapon types now. Most projectile weapons roll 0-200, most melee weapons and explosives roll 50-150. Some weapons roll 0-100+0-100 (gives them a bell curve which means roughly half of the time they will roll their displayed power, and deviations become less likely the more extreme they are).


As for weapon accuracy, what is displayed as the shot accuracy is the chance to hit assuming the gal's sum of the relevant statistics is 100. It's the inherent accuracy (or lack thereof) of the weapon itself.

So the rotogun's 25% here means it is a hideously inaccurate weapon. So even if you gal has 100 firing, 35+65 only equals 25%. This is the sort of weapon where skill doesn't matter much. It just sprays lead, you hope it hits something. (Note also that many superheavy weapons have a kneel multiplier of 200%, requiring you to stop and brace the weapon if you really want to hit something. When something looks wonky, check the ANAL, not all of a weapon's properties are spelled out in the description.)

A shotgun with a shot accuracy of 125% or so is a very accurate weapon. It causes your firing skill to count for more than its base value, and thus you can get up to a 100% accuracy without having 100 firing. Being able to get over 100% is very helpful because it gives you room to take environmental penalties and still have a good chance to hit. I have a gal with phenomenal skills with a hunting rifle, to the point that her aimed shot is 180%. This is very significant because it means she has 90% to hit things SHE CAN'T EVEN SEE. She's that scary good at shooting when you put a stable, accurate weapon in her hands.

For the most part, the huge variety of weapons is partially just random chance as to what arsenal you have to work with, but also a matter of finding the right gun for the right gal. Some guns, like sniper rifles, DEMAND high skills or they're useless. Others like shotguns can basically be used by anyone, even a peasant can hit something. Some weapons actually scale off of bravery or other unusual stats which can make them good choices for certain gals. Some weapons sum two or three stats to get their final accuracy value, and if the multipliers on them are not equally divided (like Firing*50% + Throwing*50% + Bravery*35%) you have opportunities to break 100% even without breaking 100 in any stat.

- Fix: Security Corridor no longer counts as Casino

Wait, they were shooting craps in the corridor? Where was my cut?!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on April 30, 2019, 10:14:10 pm
Thanks for the tips. Lasers is a problem because I have too few clips. Well, poisoned dagger surprisingly good against even power armored guys. One more thing - after updating from j13 to j14 night vision isnt enabled by default when night mission started as it was before. Can it be changed somewhere, cannot find anything in settings but keys to enable it manualy in each battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 01, 2019, 01:01:56 am
1)Dog and peasants to start, then move into a mix of hellhounds, Peasants/Slave soilders, and a few gals to carry the heavy weapons. Its also good to put up 1-2 defense faculties like flak cannon/laser/plasma cannons, since they also spawn a turret for the battle. Gear wise 2nd or 3rd best rifle you can buy, grenades best explosive and incendiary you have, and some RPGs with heat ammo. Later i add in arena fireball launchers cause unlimited fire shots is lovely for crowd control.

3)Coupons redeem levels are unlocked at different tech levels, so you start with the very basic tiers when you first unlock gambling, then others later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 01, 2019, 01:49:39 am
Another way to defend is suicide bombing. I start my peasants with all their grenades armed, because they generally can't spare the time to prime anything once the fight starts. This lady started in a horrible position that she was not going to survive. She had three live frags. So she cleared out the lift turn one.


Speaking of grenades, has something (intentionally) changed in J14? I can no longer purchase frags on the black market. The research is still done, and I am currently researching HEs to see what happens.

Edit: Apparently they're locked by Contacts: Gun Emporium now...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 01, 2019, 03:48:29 am
Dogs are cheaper for the suicide tactic
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Alex_D on May 01, 2019, 07:13:10 am
Is it just me but in the new version (J14), in ironman mode, moving facilities is now not allowed, whereas in the previous version it was?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on May 01, 2019, 09:59:49 am
Is it just me but in the new version (J14), in ironman mode, moving facilities is now not allowed, whereas in the previous version it was?

Frist post in this thread: "- Teleporting facilities no longer works in Supermutant (Ironman) mode."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Alex_D on May 01, 2019, 12:11:13 pm
Frist post in this thread: "- Teleporting facilities no longer works in Supermutant (Ironman) mode."
Ok, it didn't occur to me that moving facilities was called teleporting. This definitely has consequences in the game play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14 - 29 Apr - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 01, 2019, 07:25:03 pm
Dogs are cheaper for the suicide tactic
If you set up for it, yes. Sometimes you're just choosing between losing a gal and losing a gal and taking eight attackers with her. Also one rookie peasant vs. multi-million dolero base that would take months to rebuild isn't much of a choice. :)

Ok, it didn't occur to me that moving facilities was called teleporting. This definitely has consequences in the game play.

Yeah, base design is tricky. Being able to build new structures over old is very helpful, even if you have to shuffle personnel around sometimes.


@VodkaBear: Check out Painbringer SMGs. They're a ways up the conventional research, but they're fairly accurate, decently hard hitting, and provide good autofire. I just got them, and I purchased one for all my peasants on base defense. I'm still throwing grenades into the lift turn one and/or dog blitzing, but those guns look like a good backup for the inevitable bughunt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dioxine on May 01, 2019, 11:03:20 pm
I decided to remove option to teleport buildings in Ironman because really, if you play Ironman, you're too good to be cheating.

Edit: hotfix update uploaded.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Alex_D on May 02, 2019, 07:19:54 am
I decided to remove option to teleport buildings in Ironman because really, if you play Ironman, you're too good to be cheating.

Hmm. Would you consider it still cheating if in addition to the teleporting fees ($333K, IIRC), some time (say X days) would be added on each move?

The idea is any reno takes also time. The value of X can be a % of the total amount of time that said facility takes to build from scratch, or it could be a fixed amount of days (say 3 days). Currently X is zero, so you pay the fee, and instant move. I don't know if this option is coded or not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: cc on May 02, 2019, 10:31:49 pm
Hmm. Would you consider it still cheating if in addition to the teleporting fees ($333K, IIRC), some time (say X days) would be added on each move?

The idea is any reno takes also time. The value of X can be a % of the total amount of time that said facility takes to build from scratch, or it could be a fixed amount of days (say 3 days). Currently X is zero, so you pay the fee, and instant move. I don't know if this option is coded or not.
Plan out your bases and fill required tiles with corridors as placeholders. When you play Ironman, it's assumed you know what you're doing anyway. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 02, 2019, 10:41:24 pm
I haven't updated to the hotfix version yet, but figured I'd give some report on how gambling is going since that's pretty variable.  I'm assuming the "crazy exploit" is something you intentionally have to do.

Value-wise, in v13 I got about 10-18x the value of the 1k chips back, and I'm getting somewhere in the 3-3.5x here, counting apples.  It's pretty solid returns.  So far I've spun the wheel about 500 times by april.  I've got a lot of cool random shit, like an electric lasso, 12 electroflares, 3 blunderbusses with 15 ammo, and some really nice heavy painbringer smg with 5 rounds.  But since I can't make any more ammo it's not too crazy. 

Also, you get kind of a ridiculous amount of bounty token for jack (and to a much lesser extent zaxx from valuable coins).  I'm just at April 7th and I've now got 30mm cannons because I've gotten 1500 tokens already for the confederate gear and cannons.  I guess it's not too broken since you can also get a lot from bounty challenges, but this is probably more than intended.

Edit:  Oh right, I also got combat shotguns which I could research, and that was pretty huge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Alex_D on May 03, 2019, 08:04:03 pm
Plan out your bases and fill required tiles with corridors as placeholders. When you play Ironman, it's assumed you know what you're doing anyway. ;)

The planning of an initial base is not a problem. The planning of facility upgrades is the problem. Say you want to consolidate four barracks into one large barracks (or storage). This is on the main base, usually converted to research and strike, and minor manufacturing. The other bases as purpose built, usually manufacturing dedicated, or storage dedicated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: ikaff on May 05, 2019, 02:31:56 pm
In the quick battle, there are genies who fight against everything, is it a bug or so conceived?
Genies appear on the battlefield suddenly, like a third party, and fight against everyone.
before version 14 this did not happen
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dioxine on May 05, 2019, 04:41:12 pm
Hmm. Would you consider it still cheating if in addition to the teleporting fees ($333K, IIRC), some time (say X days) would be added on each move?

If a time value was added, then no, it wouldn't be cheating. But now it's instant (and ofc, it's hardcoded to be so).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Meridian on May 05, 2019, 04:43:36 pm
If anything gets done, it's gonna be removal of the entire feature.

It's currently used completely against the spirit in which it was implemented.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 05, 2019, 05:42:21 pm
Personally, I would be happy to see it go, or maybe only available in debug mode.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dioxine on May 05, 2019, 06:11:37 pm
Well I can always make it ADD money to your bank, so it will be obvious it's a cheat ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: BBHood217 on May 06, 2019, 12:38:35 am
Would it be possible to move them only by exchanging them with existing facilities?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 08, 2019, 08:48:42 am
Damn, those firebombs brings "smell of napalm in the morning" to absolutely new level. Actually kinda miss times when there was no NV and my preferable sources of lights was INC ammo/grenades, really adds to atmosphere, but NV saves a lot of player's time of course.

One thing about Pogroms. For me they are became a lot easier because there much more factions now, comparing to older versions, and while I was struggling on 2nd or 3 Pogrom previously, because of flying GOs or even armored one, now I just steamroll with explosives/kustom handcannons against weak armored demons/deep ones. The main problem was good armor/weapons of enemies and I liked it, IMHO pogroms should be a lot more difficult than any mission forcing player to choose between clearing it/losing a lot of points forcing to clear a lot more missions to get good points at the end of month, and now this particular part of difficulty dropped to zero, playing at 3rd difficulty now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 08, 2019, 10:16:23 am
Good to read this, after all the "ratmen pogroms are impossible, how do I kill the carz lol roftlcopters" posts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 08, 2019, 05:32:33 pm
To be fair, heavy armor is more than a little shock to a new player. UFO doesn't throw anything that resilient at you for a long time, and if all you've been facing is reaper cavalry at the worst, the game probably hasn't "taught" the player the need for high explosives yet. (Although as long as you accept XPZ's can't win 'em all philosophy, the cars themselves do exactly that)

Myself, I just caught some Osiron ship on the ground, and I'm really struggling with Cyberdiscs because my heavy armor solution (and I realize they're not terribly sturdy as terror units go) was swords and maces backed up by ludicrous strength. I got one of the three down, but I'm debating bugging out with whatever I can carry since the other two have decided to just camp a wide open area. Smartest move I've ever seen the AI make.

Edit:
I was concerned that my campaign might be getting to a dangerous point if I didn't improve my tech and pressed on. That hurt. A lot. Most of my primary strike team will probably be laid up for a month, the results screen really doesn't tell the story.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 08, 2019, 06:32:37 pm
What *set world on fire* research do? Also, what meaning of "*" sign for researches?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 08, 2019, 07:04:24 pm
What *set world on fire* research do? Also, what meaning of "*" sign for researches?
Asterisks generally change the world state. Once researched, you have learned something that cannot be unlearned, or you have entered into a pact that cannot be broken. *MUTANT ALLIANCE* for instance makes you a member, and makes your participation in pogroms mandatory. Set the World on Fire is demon related, the consequences are likely to be related.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: LytaRyta on May 11, 2019, 04:13:31 pm
just 1 quick idea - what about implement "tired-ness", tireness, after each mission ?

simply, after each mission each gals participated in just -finished mission, would suffer tired and exhausting, for some time.. ( -- dropping, decrease the energy, accurancies, morale, and amybe health too, and so on.. )

..and it would be dependably on mission time, longiness of mission duration :

long mission, - lots of hours = alot decreasing of energy, morale, (health, accurancy, etc..)
quick mission, - few (tens) minutes, till 1-2hours, at most  =  almost no decrease of energy, accurancy, morale..

--- double-posting is legal now, but let's keep it sane - Solar ---

´´´.. - aech gals, each person who was on that mission..
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on May 11, 2019, 05:49:00 pm
I remember it being proposed, but the idea was scrapped because it would be yet another thing to micro.
Gals have plenty of time resting anyway. Probably all they do in the Hideout is Rest&Relaxation in, or without undies. They also don't have to shovel coal to the furnace for crafts to fly.

If you want something like that then simply don't use any gal twice in the row and problem solved.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 11, 2019, 06:15:03 pm
1. How do I load Bombard into vessel?
2. I've already researched tons of high-tech things like laser weapons making/brave whaler/advanced firearms/etc, but still not in mutant alliance( I believe there should be research for it, no?), did I missed something?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: LytaRyta on May 11, 2019, 06:41:19 pm
hah, btw. when will be ´K´ version ? ;D

"K -edition"



(..how much versions "numbers" after "J" will be there yet ? .. :D)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Rince Wind on May 11, 2019, 07:35:19 pm
1. How do I load Bombard into vessel?
2. I've already researched tons of high-tech things like laser weapons making/brave whaler/advanced firearms/etc, but still not in mutant alliance( I believe there should be research for it, no?), did I missed something?

1: You should be able to equip it from the armor screen, someone has to drive the damn thing.
2: search for it in the tech tree, have a look what you are missing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2019, 12:23:22 am
will also point out the bombard is loknarr and gnome only.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 12, 2019, 09:45:22 am
will also point out the bombard is loknarr and gnome only.
Yeah, I knew this, just missed explanations that you need equip it as armor. Well 2-turns pogrom just ended with only 2 bombard gas shots, poor civs though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 13, 2019, 02:40:30 am
2. I've already researched tons of high-tech things like laser weapons making/brave whaler/advanced firearms/etc, but still not in mutant alliance( I believe there should be research for it, no?), did I missed something?

Very likely, it's a very early research, but yeah the tech viewer will tell you exactly what you missed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 13, 2019, 07:41:17 am
Mutant alliance i tied into the bounty system. Look to researching your prizes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 14, 2019, 07:18:34 am
I think that new highway mission needs a quicker unlock.  I think I got it researched in april, and it's july now.  Haven't gotten one of those missions, and I'm about to research contacts: krazy hanna which kinda makes the whole mission pointless.  Like maybe just link it directly to "we need craft weapons" or something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 15, 2019, 12:25:40 am
I think that new highway mission needs a quicker unlock.  I think I got it researched in april, and it's july now.  Haven't gotten one of those missions, and I'm about to research contacts: krazy hanna which kinda makes the whole mission pointless.  Like maybe just link it directly to "we need craft weapons" or something.

That's RNG. You could have been flooded with those missions in May. I've had the same issue with monster hunts. The game spawns what it feels like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 15, 2019, 12:59:56 am
Well the thing is, even if I were flooded with them, the earliest I would have gotten them researching in a normal way (Mayish) is probably after I research airballs and just one month before contacting hanna.  It makes more sense to balance on the average case imo, which would probably make it after contacting hanna atm, assuming the missions would spawn every other month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 15, 2019, 02:25:41 am
Highway House is way easier to unlock then Krazy Hanna. The hardest requirement for Highway House is just a Ratman Mob Lieutenant, whereas Krazy Hanna requires Advanced Weapons Rumors which I find comes a bit later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 15, 2019, 07:41:37 am
The tech yeah, but the time to get the mission is unlocking the tech + average time to actually get the mission (2-3 months).  Airballs and crazy hanna are both instant.  Just unlocked crazy hanna, btw.  Anyways, it's a minor point, I don't want to drone on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 15, 2019, 04:16:26 pm
1. Space missions lags A LOT for me, so I unable to complete freighter intercept( or what was it) missions because of insane enemy turn time, can it be fixed somehow?
2. Where do I find synth? It seems I found 1( there was research topic for it), but It seems I cant find any but damaged on rare space stations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 15, 2019, 05:33:57 pm
1. Space missions lags A LOT for me, so I unable to complete freighter intercept( or what was it) missions because of insane enemy turn time, can it be fixed somehow?
2. Where do I find synth? It seems I found 1( there was research topic for it), but It seems I cant find any but damaged on rare space stations.

1) Probably because the AI was never meant to contemplate free movement with 26(?) z-layers and a 40 tile view distance.

2) As far as I know that's exactly how you find them. They have to be repaired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 16, 2019, 01:50:37 am
Actually the lag is mostly about the Z height of the map, the vanilla engine was locked to 3 o 4 z levels because it was a performance killer. Modern systems have much more power, so we can eat more Z levels before its really a problem. But space is very tall (30ish Z levels) and the freighter has alot of foes(100+). Your best option is to disable any filters you may be running and to kill of as much stuff as you can to reduce what being processed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 18, 2019, 12:06:14 pm
How do I check hidden researches? I mean entire research tree/topics to unlock.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 18, 2019, 03:03:35 pm
How do I check hidden researches? I mean entire research tree/topics to unlock.
Press Q on the geoscape.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 20, 2019, 11:17:06 am
Oof.  That !highway house! mission needs another look at.  Lost 4 experienced gals and a parrot beating 28 highwaymen and heavily armored ratmen, on a map with multiple high level buildings, carrying heavy shotguns and flame spouting machine guns.  And there's also a massive artillery weapon that one shots anyone with 100% accuracy if any gals go insane or end a turn in it's sight.  Doesn't go down without multiple high level explosions.

... for less craft weaponry than a typical small landed has.  Not worth researching sadly.  Not worth even doing unfortunately, so I'm going to work on getting a weapons merchant so it doesn't show up, and just skip any more that appear.  Either it should be hard and give something awesome like a 50mm cannon with tons of shells or a two dozen seagull missiles or it should be made less of a trap mission imo.  For a 25mm cannon I would've expected like 6 dudes with pistols guarding it -___-
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Eddie on May 20, 2019, 05:16:43 pm
Try fire for armored stuff. The artillery gun should go down with two incendiary grenades. The armored ratmen with one. Even molotovs have a good chance to kill these armored ratmen in one hit.

Edit: my bad, you need wp grenades, not incendiary. That fire damage is really confusing at times. Incendiary grenades just do the regular 5-10 fire damage, the stated damage of 40 is just the radius. Willi Pete on the other hand actually do the stated 50 damage.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: LytaRyta on May 20, 2019, 08:10:28 pm
what about implementing (or count with) the physical, respectively mechanical ..features of guns, in during their shooting phase ( - while shooting actions) - for example, :

1. 
(a heavier), bigger gun like "kick", at shoot,

2. 
(semi)automatic rifles (AK-74, etc..) like "arise-up", "push´ing-up, at shooting,

(..SA-57 - "vynáša, strašne dvíhajú, pri strelbe..)


3.
and small auto- guns, (like UZI, and so on), - while shooting, they (sometimes) like "spread", just such crazy, wildly and unwaitingly, -suddenly push-up, & spread, "jump",  all around, and in all-directions.. at shooting
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Martin on May 20, 2019, 08:46:51 pm
This is somehting that needs to be implemented on the engine level. Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13 has ballistic features including bullet drop and overpenetration, you might try playing that instead. Overpenetration would be cool feature, the other ballistic effects are pointless in XCOM as only limited set of weapons should actually use them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 20, 2019, 10:13:27 pm
Try fire for armored stuff. The artillery gun should go down with two incendiary grenades. The armored ratmen with one. Even molotovs have a good chance to kill these armored ratmen in one hit.

It's just the combination of the worthless reward and the difficulty of the mission, and said mission requiring being researched.  A landed small is much easier, and I get about 1 million in other loot (ship stuff, ransoms, etc) along with a craft weapon usually, while this mission gives just a craft weapon and tries to wreck you.  Also doesn't help that I already got airballs, so the cannon was just kinda nice.  There's just no reason to research the mission other than the novelty of trying a new mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on May 21, 2019, 05:08:43 am
I haven't encountered one myself, but yeah, reward balancing is important. Maybe increase the rewards to a Gauss Cannon or something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 22, 2019, 01:20:05 am
I found that it was best to throw a poison gas grenade at the field gun. It one shots it and doesn't damage the crate it sits on top of which I assume are 25mm shells. Also in early game the ratmen themselves can be the real reward: they provide Kevlar armor parts which is nice if you're aiming for guerilla or something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 22, 2019, 08:40:52 am
I agree with Greep. Not only I researched the mission too late( already had quad cannons produced by myself) but also reward is total crap. Difficulty isn't the problem for me, reward is.

By the way, have anyone found use for mag/electro bullets? I cannot remember exact order for their research, but what I remember that I had much more better weapons\ammo for other guns, while chems really were usefull above mentioned were not. I mean I understand that they can be used against specific targets but at the moment I had them it was easier to just bring heavier toys instead of micro with ammo types.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on May 22, 2019, 09:23:19 am
mag ammo is kinda meh by the time you usually get it, i will agree. But electro ammo is pretty handy for taking captives. Ranged direct fire stun is quite handy considering how ineffective other options like the harpoon guns are until you get even later in the tech tree then electro.

That said there is immense variation in tech progress, some games you might just not have the opportunity to unlock guass as early as possible, in which case Mag ammo is more attractive/useful. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Corento on May 22, 2019, 12:05:28 pm
It's just the combination of the worthless reward and the difficulty of the mission, and said mission requiring being researched.  A landed small is much easier, and I get about 1 million in other loot (ship stuff, ransoms, etc) along with a craft weapon usually, while this mission gives just a craft weapon and tries to wreck you.  Also doesn't help that I already got airballs, so the cannon was just kinda nice.  There's just no reason to research the mission other than the novelty of trying a new mission.

Hi all, my first post here, but I just got this mission last week so I have my point of view on it:

- because I looking for my first gun for Aircar, it was very important to get the gun and ammo for it, thus very important mission. I did research early. I do not agree that is wortless. If you are far away with your progress than this mission should be ease for you and of course not so important, but that´s up to you, it is not the mission concept fault. It was clearly said what will wait for you there. Piratez has so many ways to play, so you can choose what is more important for you gameplay. I for example still do not research anything about voodoo. Maybe it is a mistake, will see later. Relevant for me was to have as soon as possible some gun for the craft so I decide to take this path in research earlier.

For me the rewards are also new enemies to research, new weapons from them and of course experience for my gals.

Myabe I was lucky - the big gun was just few tiles from one building, so one gal run for box and bring it back behind that building. Then I destroy the big gun just with one gunpowder grenade or how it´s name. It wasn´t ease mission, on ironman will be not possible to acomplish for me, but I do not play  Ironman, so I just save/load and try different approaches (because I play it for first time). Next time I now what I should count with...

Dioxine (and all other moders and contributors) thank you very much for this great game. I have spent months now in it (I´m playing also Xfiles) and looking forward every new update. These two games (not saying mods, because they are much more now) have both completely different approach and both are huge and detailed. It´s funny and surprising to find out how many things function in both games differently.

Now I had first mission with nomads (very supprising, because mission description says it will be giant spider hunt mission so on place I have to reequip all gals), that was hard. There were around 20+ nomads with better weapons and armor, so all I could do was to shoot them from doors of my craft one by one every turn. Because I was completely surrounded by them and they are not shy to use flame grenades. Big fun I must say :).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 22, 2019, 03:28:25 pm
Well regarding getting a cannon for your aircar, the main thing is that there's other easier ways, which is why I was expecting either an easy mission and more cannon ammo, or a hard mission and something cool.  The 4 early game ways I know of are:

1) Down a wasp/megapol with a codex weapon or seagulls
2) Contact crazy hanna
3) Get a workshop and craft something
4) tail a runabout until it lands and hope for a cannon

None individually are very common, but together you'll likely get one of these around the time of the mission or within a month or so (missing civilian crafts for a month is really no biggie).  I guess it's okay if it's a mission designed for new players, but if it's for new players, why make it so difficult? 

Edit: Anyways, I'm beating a dead horse here xD  Don't mean to be argumentative, just wanted to make sure I was making my points clear, it's not really the difficulty/reward alone that made me feel the mission is a bit off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 22, 2019, 09:36:26 pm

By the way, have anyone found use for mag/electro bullets? I cannot remember exact order for their research, but what I remember that I had much more better weapons\ammo for other guns, while chems really were usefull above mentioned were not. I mean I understand that they can be used against specific targets but at the moment I had them it was easier to just bring heavier toys instead of micro with ammo types.

As mentioned above the electro-pulse munitions are helpful for stun but I find them also very good against zombies as all zombies have a critical weakness to electricity, and a good number of Zombies are very dangerous and hard to take down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 22, 2019, 10:01:26 pm
As mentioned above the electro-pulse munitions are helpful for stun but I find them also very good against zombies as all zombies have a critical weakness to electricity, and a good number of Zombies are very dangerous and hard to take down.
Zombies are phenomenally resistant to firearms in general, but like most creatures other than roaches are somewhat powerless without their heads. Swords are very effective, Highlander style.

That's actually true of most of the game. A Fuso sword on a gal who's spent some time "handling" people can hit so hard even damage resistance can't save the target.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 22, 2019, 10:32:46 pm
I find melee against zombies a somewhat risky affair since if the zombie doesn't die, you're in for a world of hurt. And then the troopers and sentinels can just be incredibly difficult to approach to begin with since they tend to be well armed. The mage's villa mission in particular is really hard to rely on solely on melee and electropulse ammunition can make it a bit easier to approach.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Greep on May 22, 2019, 11:09:36 pm
Zombies are phenomenally resistant to firearms in general, but like most creatures other than roaches are somewhat powerless without their heads. Swords are very effective, Highlander style.

That's actually true of most of the game. A Fuso sword on a gal who's spent some time "handling" people can hit so hard even damage resistance can't save the target.

I feel like Dioxine is secretly a ninja fan.  Ninja's gear is just so much better than piratey gear xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Devon_v on May 23, 2019, 12:00:04 am
I find melee against zombies a somewhat risky affair since if the zombie doesn't die, you're in for a world of hurt. And then the troopers and sentinels can just be incredibly difficult to approach to begin with since they tend to be well armed. The mage's villa mission in particular is really hard to rely on solely on melee and electropulse ammunition can make it a bit easier to approach.
I tend to have an entire melee squad. Nothing lives against 12 swordswomen, especially when their minimum damage rolls get into the 70s.

I feel like Dioxine is secretly a ninja fan.  Ninja's gear is just so much better than piratey gear xD
Nah, it's just the pirate gear goes into some really brutal guns, but their swords are all early one-handers. The Fuso's massive damage as a two-hander and it's scaling on melee rather than strength makes it a devastating weapon, but only in skilled hands, and only if you really commit to it due to it's massive inventory size. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Rince Wind on May 23, 2019, 12:08:57 am
You can always carry a pistol or a deathblossom and put that away when someone needs a hit on the head. Or drop it. I use techblades, shock'a'fists and other stuff now though, so the fusos have been mostly retired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Alex_D on May 23, 2019, 12:22:57 am
In my current campaign, I'm employing castaway gals and peasants exclusively. My Gals use Death Blossoms and Vibro-axes at this stage. Very little, except for the most heavily armored, can survive to this. And a HMG Car with PS ammo (or 60mm tank) to provide support. The later usually manned by a peasant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: VodkaBear on May 23, 2019, 12:32:16 pm
I had plasma swords atm of electro bullets research, but yes, I've missed zombie's vulnerability to it. As for a stun, for me its require too much hits with electro for tough targets and for soft - I can bring them down much easier, than sniping with numerous electro hit, I've decided that its useless after short battle of some medium guild ship, maybe I should recheck all electro ammo and enemies resistance then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 04, 2019, 11:10:13 am
Is there any particular reason the Colossus Siege Tank is restricted to goblins, and is there some code-fiddling possible on my end to make it available to my human soldiers? I'm not gonna let that filth into the barracks just so my glorious human corps can wield this relic of Imperial Might.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 04, 2019, 02:43:25 pm
Gnomes can drive it too, and they're even better at it.
...Probably not Aryan enough either, eh? ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 04, 2019, 03:22:36 pm
Not quite. The limitation seems incredibly arbitrary, which probably has something to do with Dioxine's artistic vision or something, which is why I'm asking if there's something I can do on my end instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 04, 2019, 05:11:22 pm
No, it has to do with physical size. Should be fairly evident from just looking at the units.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on June 04, 2019, 11:40:35 pm
I mean, the model is about the same size as all the other pilotable vehicles. Definitely bigger than the hovertank, which a human has no trouble squeezing into.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 05, 2019, 09:44:07 am
I mean, the model is about the same size as all the other pilotable vehicles. Definitely bigger than the hovertank, which a human has no trouble squeezing into.

Well, if that is so, apologies. I never got to the hovertanks. I shouldn't have spoken.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: legionof1 on June 06, 2019, 08:12:53 pm
Well for the real answer balance. the fluff answer is that only loknarrs and gnome are small nuff to work around the weapon. Which if you look at the pedia entry is about 2/3 the whole chassis.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: LytaRyta on June 06, 2019, 10:03:35 pm
..and dwarfs, too, hehe :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dreamsicle on June 07, 2019, 02:22:28 am
I mean, the model is about the same size as all the other pilotable vehicles. Definitely bigger than the hovertank, which a human has no trouble squeezing into.

The hovertanks I researched can't fit humans.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Ashghan on June 07, 2019, 06:04:42 pm
Is there any particular reason the Colossus Siege Tank is restricted to goblins, and is there some code-fiddling possible on my end to make it available to my human soldiers? I'm not gonna let that filth into the barracks just so my glorious human corps can wield this relic of Imperial Might.

You do realize that your entire question is based upon the most arbitrary decision ever? "Coz I don't wanna"? Besides, FYI, Gnomes are basically Ubers that shrunk due to Hellerium deprivation. I'd assume you glorious army excludes Ubers as well?

Also - it's a Bombard, not a Colossus.

But since I'm feeling generous, here's the solution to your problem:
1. In Piratez.rul find the line "  - type: STR_BOMBARD_ARMOR_UC" (there's only 1 such line) This is the code block for The Bombard
2. find the line a bit further down with possible units that can operate it:
    units:
      - STR_SOLDIER_LOKNAR
      - STR_SOLDIER_GNOME
3. Edit as you see fit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 07, 2019, 08:20:13 pm
It's good that there are exclusive armors and vehicles for unit types, it gives incentive to diversify. If anything I was somewhat annoyed with the introduction of Gnomes and how they kinda took over one of the Lokk'Naars' few niches in piloting bombards, but they're much more rare then Lokk's so it's not too big a deal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J14a - 1 May - Saints and Sinners
Post by: Dioxine on June 10, 2019, 02:19:06 pm
I mean, the model is about the same size as all the other pilotable vehicles. Definitely bigger than the hovertank, which a human has no trouble squeezing into.

Wrong, hovertanks are Lokk'Naar/Gnome only as well. Because of their small size, lel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dioxine on June 11, 2019, 10:50:06 pm
Ladies and gentlemen... The new J15 version is up! Enjoy new magics and thrills! :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on June 11, 2019, 11:53:42 pm
°° yay!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on June 11, 2019, 11:56:25 pm
..but bad link on mediafire, (wrong url)

..and why this "Old Earth Lab capacity 15->12" ? :( :/(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dioxine on June 12, 2019, 12:07:35 am
For the glory of Satan, of course!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Eddie on June 12, 2019, 03:00:35 pm
Ladies and gentlemen... The new J15 version is up! Enjoy new magics and thrills! :)

Thank you!

Quote
- Improved accuracy of most enemy military vessels by +5, fighters by +10 (DPM in desc. adjusted)

Airgame certainly got more thrilling now, great fix.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Devon_v on June 14, 2019, 12:24:30 am
..but bad link on mediafire, (wrong url)

..and why this "Old Earth Lab capacity 15->12" ? :( :/(

I would assume it's to push the player into joining the Mutant Alliance or doing the Doctor X storyline earlier instead of just staying out of the whole thing untill the early core techs are all discovered.

Edit:
Nevermind, it's explained on the very line you quoted. You can build lab expansions to get more brainers on the job.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on June 14, 2019, 03:23:01 am
^^ yap, but it`s absolutely ..not worthy ;


old, previous R&D:   

~21th.century old Earth Lab =: 15 smart girls,  / @ 1building,room




R-D now: 


just only 12 smautgirls, @ 1 Old EarthLab room

& another 4 girls too, but @ 1extra room,

== so 16 girls-researchers  @ 2 rooms... :o :/

:S :/(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Riph on June 17, 2019, 03:57:05 am
Ouch. Which one of our "brainers" refitted the Assault armor with Gold shields? The ones that permit bullets and explosions to pass through unhindered?

Meanwhile, the Marsec Marines wear nearly identical armor but with Red shields (stops everything except Mind and Warp).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: legionof1 on June 17, 2019, 04:42:15 am
Full shield system rework, bound to be some casualties.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Devon_v on June 17, 2019, 08:42:25 pm
^^ yap, but it`s absolutely ..not worthy ;


old, previous R&D:   

~21th.century old Earth Lab =: 15 smart girls,  / @ 1building,room

R-D now: 

== so 16 girls-researchers  @ 2 rooms... :o :/
Exactly. Research is something you have to devote resources to. I feel like if you've played Piratez this long you have to realize that Dioxine intends you to have to use ALL your bases, and ALL the space allotted to them. If the game is hardcoded to allow X bases and Y space per base, then a good game design has to come up with ways to make all of that space meaningful. You can basically get by in vanilla on one base, which begs the question of what all the others are for or what the whole concept of base building was supposed to be. Piratez always gives you more stuff than you can deal with so you have to make choices.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Meridian on June 17, 2019, 09:32:33 pm
If the game is hardcoded to allow X bases and Y space per base, then a good game design has to come up with ways to make all of that space meaningful.

No, it definitely doesn't have to.

You can basically get by in vanilla on one base, which begs the question of what all the others are for or what the whole concept of base building was supposed to be.

The game gives you the option to play one way or the other; or anything in between.
A true mark of good game design.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Devon_v on June 17, 2019, 11:14:48 pm
No, it definitely doesn't have to.

The game gives you the option to play one way or the other; or anything in between.
A true mark of good game design.

What I'm getting at is an issue I frequently see in Japanese games where the game has great depth, but is balanced for people who can't figure out how to do more than press A. If one base can provide everything you need, then two bases is twice what you need. Six is total overkill. It allows things to scale to such a point that either the game has no challenge whatsoever, or it's so hardcore that you have to use every resource possible or you fail. Final Fantasy or Dark Souls. I find that games quickly become boring when actually delving into their mechanics and developing their optional features just makes you unstoppable. I LOVE that Piratez says "nope, even three bases isn't enough, keep working on it", and that even when you have maxed stat troops there are still things that will laugh and slaughter you. Piratez EXPECTS you to use it's full mechanics and features, and that's the greatness of its design. If you want to have a high level of manufacturing and research and troop development, you need to spend a lot of space on it, and probably set up specialized bases. Those slots have a meaning beyond "maybe I'll build bases all over the globe for the heck of it" and become part of a meaningful question "I need more space, probably need to set up a new base, now where should it be and how do I specialize it?"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Sahti Waari on June 17, 2019, 11:54:05 pm
Hello everyone!
How to do gladiators fights? I have a beast den but nor in production nor in the den there is no option to do it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Meridian on June 18, 2019, 12:23:06 am
snip

If "Piratez EXPECTS you to use it's full mechanics and features"... which I personally don't think it is... then it almost means there is "only one solution" (or only a very limited number of solutions) to the game. If you couldn't win the game with just 6-7 bases, or without air superiority, or without plasma weapons, or without using a certain soldier type, or without xxx (feel free to replace with any mechanic or feature you like here)... that wouldn't be the "greatness of its design', but its biggest flaw.

I haven't played Piratez for a long time, but I hope it didn't get to that point. That would be very sad. Judging just by what I hear from other players, there is a high replayability to the game. Also many say the game is easier than many other mods (and comparing my recent twots/area51 playthroughs with the older piratez playthrough, I would definitely agree).

I think I get what you're saying, I just think you're over-exaggerating quite a bit. Yes, the game expects you to think... but it doesn't force you to blindly follow "the most optimal path" (that would be the opposite of wanting you to think, no?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dioxine on June 18, 2019, 01:10:06 am
No, it did not get to that point, Meridian. It is only the usual pet issue for those who want to "optimize", that is power-combo ALL the features instead of only using some. Which is not required to win the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: legionof1 on June 18, 2019, 03:26:42 am
Hello everyone!
How to do gladiators fights? I have a beast den but nor in production nor in the den there is no option to do it.

Look in your hands tab, in the bottom left is a clickable menu button. Intially this menu just has the memorial option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Devon_v on June 19, 2019, 01:48:38 am
Yeah, I don't mean there's a single way to play, only one way to win, that's not a game but a puzzle. I mean that you can't just cheese the game. Delving into it's mechanics doesn't reveal an unbeatable strategy or unit or item that you spam and the game is effectively over. The design expects you to understand how it all works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Eddie on June 19, 2019, 09:27:19 pm
Regarding difficulty:
I would say the mod got harder over time, but mostly because op items/tactics got balanced. The addition of heatvision fixed smoke use, sniper/spotter made night missions less unfair for the AI. No more unlimited high damage bows, no more gauss use without research. Lots of base attacks and we have hunter killer ninjas.

But we do get more money. Earlier versions were much more money limited. Now we get so many missions with loot and captures that you are rarely hard pressed for money. Also, gambling gives you a ton of stuff for cheap and before you have researched it. But those add fun to the gameplay. The stuff you get from gambling lets you try things before you research them to see if they are worth it. More money gives you more freedom to try stuff.

Compared to other mods, having ubers sure gives you an edge. More tu and energy to get into cover, high hp makes sure your uber rarely die.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on June 19, 2019, 11:01:38 pm
So, Applied Chroma(todynamics)tics, you say :p :),

i like the title, and especially lead topic for this version, too ;p ;D)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dakkdakk on June 23, 2019, 06:22:55 pm
Honestly, at this point the mod offers you so many options that its incredibly hard for the player to be pidgeonholed into using one strat only, and thats a good thing. There's a great degree of availiable in regards to soldier types, weapon options, research branching, mission options, base facility options, craft options. The fact that choosing some things push some options away while bringing some unique or semi-unique things your way also spices this up a fair bit, me thinks.

So yea, TL;DR, game is winnable through multiple different strats as long as you prepare properly, keep the research going and dont bite more than you can chew. Really, the only thing that players really need to do in every run to not be rolled over by the game is to keep research going at a decent rate, since its not exactly easy to take down mercs using only boarding guns, and even then I think a clever/determined enough player could pull through with enough patience and luck.

Came back to this only recently, gonna prob do another run, one which mostly ignores psi related stuff since that requires a whole lot of effort to be even usable and even then its only actualy useful once you have the right tech to apply it with.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: jungybrogan on June 24, 2019, 11:17:57 pm
A few questions regarding the latest version (it's been a year):

Was the function to kill unconscious units with cutting weapons disabled?  Having a body in one hand, cutting weapon in the other, no longer gives an option to execute.

Mag-lites vanish randomly when thrown--intentional?

The initial batch of werewolves I captured couldn't be tamed (only had the option to butcher them, after finishing all the research).  I butchered them thinking they'd spawn again, but sadly, I'm two years in and haven't seen another werewolf since -- blood rituals never spawn anymore :\

Finally, absolutely loving the melee combat functionality added, especially 1-tile evasion, simulating units being grappled up close.  It'd be awesome for this to be expanded further with attacks-of-opportunity when moving directly away from a unit when engaged in melee -- for example in D&D/Divinity:OS/Pathfinder/PoE, moving out of range from a unit who has a dedicated melee weapon equipped, provokes a free melee swing. However, you're able to reposition in melee without penalty, as long as you stay within range.  Perhaps here attacks-of-opportunity would also only trigger when leaving a unit's FOV, so it allows sidestepping without affecting backstabs.

Amazing work as always.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 25, 2019, 12:08:39 am


Mag-lites vanish randomly when thrown--intentional?


It's mentioned in the bootypedia entries for most light sources.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: legionof1 on June 25, 2019, 04:43:34 am

Was the function to kill unconscious units with cutting weapons disabled?  Having a body in one hand, cutting weapon in the other, no longer gives an option to execute.

Mag-lites vanish randomly when thrown--intentional?

The initial batch of werewolves I captured couldn't be tamed (only had the option to butcher them, after finishing all the research).  I butchered them thinking they'd spawn again, but sadly, I'm two years in and haven't seen another werewolf since -- blood rituals never spawn anymore :\
snip

Execute option was removed at the engine level, not the mod itself. Mostly because it was a technical loophole in some situations, since the act didn't account for defense of target in any way. Infinite damage against a target that should have been immune to the weapon in normal conditions, isn't really balanced now is it?.

Yep most lights have a chance to break on throw now, intentional, so there is some minor cost of upkeep of light spam. And honestly aside from getting killed by an explosion, previously the same dozen odd flares lasted the whole campaign. Now imagine you treated your household flashlight, even a durable expensive model like a baseball 3-4 days a week for years, then imagine your built like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: jungybrogan on June 25, 2019, 06:35:05 am
Execute option was removed at the engine level, not the mod itself. Mostly because it was a technical loophole in some situations, since the act didn't account for defense of target in any way. Infinite damage against a target that should have been immune to the weapon in normal conditions, isn't really balanced now is it?.

I see how that could be a problem with other mods, but wasn't it a toggle-able option?  Disabling it in Piratez doesn't seem to make sense, where melee builds are so prevalent; it was the only way to target KO'ed units with melee.  There are costumes/melee setups that leave little room for guns (ie. lugging around a 2-hander or anchor), moreover, having to swap to a gun or nade, wasting TU and resources to finish someone when a character is dedicated to melee, also seems like a balance issue.  If only there were a way to melee attack downed units.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on June 25, 2019, 10:51:51 am
It wasn't disabled in piratez, it was removed entirely.

I hardly ever used it, because prisoners are almost always better and my melee gals usually have a pistol or submachinegun anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dioxine on June 30, 2019, 02:05:00 pm
It wasn't disabled in piratez, it was removed entirely.

And I'm thankful the devs did that, it was horrible.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on June 30, 2019, 10:57:02 pm
..anyway, that *executable option should have been remain untouched, - or least, should let it be as toggle-able option..

..as the function of executioning, (throat-cutting) is apparently such ..wildness pirateyz thingy..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: The Think Tank on July 01, 2019, 05:09:08 am
Unfortunately, until someone works on additional code to make it do some kind of variable and consistent damage instead of insta-killing anyone, then I don't think it'll be making a return. And I tend to agree that I would like to see it again in some form, but that is really something low on the priority list, if even at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Venger on July 04, 2019, 09:26:27 pm
Can someone shed some clarity on end-of-mission score calculations? I get that killing "Civilians" reduces Infamy, but is there a way to tell who is a quote "civilian" without researching them? There's a list on the wiki but it doesn't seem complete. Also, for some reason I got negative points for enemies surrendering...how is that any different from taking them as hostages?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ashghan on July 05, 2019, 05:12:12 pm
I'll quote myself on this one.

Quote
Basically if you haven't researched (interrogated) an enemy at least once, you get a different amount of points for live capture (I think it's 2 x kill score) so a captured unresearched civilian is 'worth' even more negative points. After you researched the enemy at least once, you always get +10 points for capturing them. Everyone is the same - civvies, regular troops, even VIPs - all give the same 10 points if you captured them after researching. So research any civilians as soon as you catch them to avoid the capture penalty in the future.

Unfortunately the definition of a civilian (or rather negative score enemy, since f.ex. Govts are *not* civilians, but have negative score as well) is unclear - other than own observation (+ logic) and code diving, there is no sure way to determine who gives negative points and who gives positive.
For scoring purposes, AFAIK surrendered enemies give the same amount of points (negative or positive) as 'regular' (AKA stunned) hostages.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 08, 2019, 01:52:24 pm
Yesterdays last mission was against two APCs with machine guns. Cannons with explosive rounds and minibombs didn't hurt them, just like Crate of Violence = no observable effect.   I reloaded that mission a painful amount of times. Then I said SHT, and got out the Hydra + Mutant lasers. Also had one Autogun +1 AP ammo. Those finally ended the MOFO APC's and the GHOULS!!!! AAAAAAAARRGH GhoooUuulls -->  we resurreccccct!  AAAAAAAARGG..

Then finally I found Krazy Hannah and ordered a shipload of heavy weaponry! YEAH BABY!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 08, 2019, 04:46:52 pm
Question about the male touch path.

It looks like that selecting male touch disallow superslave costumes and squire training and feudalism. It is totally intended?

Apart for trucks, and cheap soldiers, doesn't looks like selecting that path gives you too much. I'm going to test anyways in this run with the males soldiers.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on July 08, 2019, 11:17:07 pm
Question about the male touch path.

It looks like that selecting male touch disallow superslave costumes and squire training and feudalism. It is totally intended?

Apart for trucks, and cheap soldiers, doesn't looks like selecting that path gives you too much. I'm going to test anyways in this run with the males soldiers.

Probably, as SuperSlave costium and whole research "branch" about it is just drugging Slaves and looking how horrible they die.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Dioxine on July 09, 2019, 01:22:05 am
It's intended. And the Male Touch is not supposed to be in any way equal. Think of it as a different (a bit harder) experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Venger on July 10, 2019, 06:33:31 am
It's intended. And the Male Touch is not supposed to be in any way equal. Think of it as a different (a bit harder) experience.

I would suggest hinting at that more strongly in the description. Going in blind, I assumed limiting the band to women-only would be the harder choice.


e: Thinking also of weird trap choices, I just got the option to turn Noblewomen into Courtesans. Is there any reason to do this, aside from the visceral thrill of class warfare? You're giving up a 200k ransom upfront for 20k a month and using a slot in your prison for it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on July 10, 2019, 07:36:44 pm
I would suggest hinting at that more strongly in the description. Going in blind, I assumed limiting the band to women-only would be the harder choice.


e: Thinking also of weird trap choices, I just got the option to turn Noblewomen into Courtesans. Is there any reason to do this, aside from the visceral thrill of class warfare? You're giving up a 200k ransom upfront for 20k a month and using a slot in your prison for it.

After 10 months you are at 0. Also in the mid-late game it's hard to get hoes (pretty much impossible) so you can always do this. It's nice that there is always an option, even if not the most efficient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Venger on July 10, 2019, 09:50:15 pm
After 10 months you are at 0. Also in the mid-late game it's hard to get hoes (pretty much impossible) so you can always do this. It's nice that there is always an option, even if not the most efficient.

It takes 21 months for a Noblewoman Courtesan to make more than what she's worth in ransom, and that doesn't take into account the opportunity cost. If you took your 200k ransom and bought a plantation with it, it would net you 2,520,000 dollarydoos in the same 21 months it took for your courtesan to make back the initial investment.

It would make sense if there were different types of hookers the same way there are different types of slaves. A former noblewoman ought to bring in more dolaros than some random streetwalker, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 10, 2019, 10:26:44 pm
Courtesans can get an upgrade later on.

If you get a noblewoman early the ransom is probably better, but after a couple of months when there is no immediate need for another 200k the courtesan is better.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on July 10, 2019, 11:21:21 pm
Also in the mid-late game it's hard to get hoes (pretty much impossible) so you can always do this. It's nice that there is always an option, even if not the most efficient.
I wouldn't say it's pretty much impossible, they appear in both Bandit Town missions and one of Jack's Rank C Bounty missions and neither are particularly uncommon mid-late game. There's also always plenty of Guild Hostesses who can be turned into Courtesans as well.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 12, 2019, 04:54:24 pm
Radar range question:

I built a hyper-wave decoder and an overcharged radar on the same base, but my radar range circle didn't increase. They all stay the same. How can I increase those radar ranges circles of my continental bases to overlap and so gain Full World Radar Coverage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 12, 2019, 05:03:09 pm
The circle represent the installation with the highest range. Hyper wave has the biggest range. You don't need another installation.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 12, 2019, 06:57:52 pm
The circle represent the installation with the highest range. Hyper wave has the biggest range. You don't need another installation.

So it is not possible to create bigger radar ranges than Hyperwave?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 12, 2019, 08:32:12 pm
No, it is not.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 13, 2019, 09:54:59 am
No, it is not.

After building the Hyper-wave, are short & long radars necessary on the base or can I scrap them?  Does Hyper-wave take over detection duties from both short & long range radars?

Overcharged Radar could be still useful as its description says it can jam enemy ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 13, 2019, 06:56:15 pm
You can leave only the hyperwave.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 13, 2019, 08:06:25 pm
You can leave only the hyperwave.
Thank You!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 14, 2019, 03:57:10 pm
Highest difficulty superhuman ironman:
 On the second mission,  swooping down in the dark of the night on a landed Necropirates ship that was mercilessly terrorizing the populace by the sounds of it coming from the dark, my six escaped Founding Member Übers got massacred and the game-beginning 6-seater Airbus GDX vehicle was lost.
After losing four teammates, I thought, my wounded two officers can Avenge-Massacre the Necropirates, like in the Movies,  by sneaking among the trees & generally keeping to cover Schwarzenegger Commando Style!
But the Necropirates got large caliber hand-cannons and swords:
- Slashy-slashy, BAM BAM! 

R.I.P. Founding Team!

Now I have a stuffy, smaller airvan and a "Hiring New Proud & Boastful Employees"-advertisement..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 14, 2019, 05:32:13 pm
On Jack Sparrow, necropirates are kinda hard for the beginning crew. I tend to ignore them. Even with the help of the civi castaways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 14, 2019, 05:46:51 pm
OTH. I can see that the ravenclaw Robe is not possible to get if you get the male touch path. I think there should be another way to get it with this path.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 15, 2019, 12:45:10 am
Skyranger lost too with full, albeit mediocre squad on Superman/Ironman. Shot down a medium sized Academy ship and they were many bastards skedaddling around, plus the drones sealed our fate. My last Gal was desperately picking up new minibombs in the back of the Skyranger, when she was repeatedly stun-batoned from behind.  Didn't even see, who it was..

I think from now on there is just no sense packing a ship full of mediocre junk Hands.  I need to put together a team of 70% quality and 30% expendable troops. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 15, 2019, 12:49:40 am
Skyranger is a flight coffin, even more in Xpiratez. I only use it with for training troops in easy missions in middle game when you have decent armor.

OR, with some armored that can absorb the first turn reaction fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 15, 2019, 10:14:14 am
I'm surprised Dioxine didn't include Improved Skyranger (https://openxcom.mod.io/skystriker) with the side doors as well. That was amazing, when I tried it out years ago! This old Skyranger with the 'One Exit Death-Tube' is truly a coffin, you named it right!

However: I remembered the Bootypedia having a very attractive, gritty style.  Depicting a primal, vicious world, where death awaits anybody with open arms.  Dioxine had achieved one of the best writings in the gaming industry, political caricatures alluding to our crazy world, I think. So a 'One Exit Death-Tube' Skyranger matches the cruel world of XPiratez perfectly. Danger awaits everywhere you step and if you are ignorant and don't think and use junk vehicles, you deserve your fate: The stupid idiots die in XPiratez!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 15, 2019, 05:33:34 pm
Dioxine had achieved one of the best writings in the gaming industry

The writing in mods on OXC is high quality in general, and yes, I think also that Xpiratez is outstanding in that aspect.

The stupid idiots die in XPiratez!

Yeah, I know, i die everytime  ;D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 15, 2019, 11:51:21 pm
Superman ironman:
A full implement, 13 members of Hands on Bikes was wiped out by Humanists happily engaging in a Mutant Progrom. It was a nice surprise that as the first turn started I was lazily & conveniently preparing for a massive Mini Cannon carpet bombardment, to exterminate the roaches, but to my astonishment: the Nazis decimated my people with rockets shot from launchers right in the middle of the bikes in the first turn..   :-Ooo  :D
I didn't mean it too much. Even the highest skilled biker Hand was mediocre by my new, selected-quality Freaks Standards. Also the Australia base still had primitive weapons, muskets, one shotgun, pistols.  So they were no match for the Nazis, who were expertly wielding assault rifles, nazi machineguns and launchers.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 16, 2019, 01:09:08 am
(Superhuman ironman)
With a lightly equipped convoy, two heroic named-dogs and a bitey reaper I hit the 24-turn Humanist mission, where they are fortified in that thick walled, multi-story prison complex.  The two convoy APCs started in a corner and unfortunately blocked the reaper so it couldn't get out to fight. The dogs were grenaded & shot down, but one managed to kill a Nazi. My best, picked Warriors put up a heroic fight, but alas, they were lightly equipped and were massacred by the Nazis who just kept pouring out of the buildings. My only Mini Cannoneer on top of one APC was sniper-shot by a Military Police wielding an assault rifle.
In the end, only the reaper remained. I waited a couple turns, until an idiot Nazi showed up and started clobbering the reaper in melee. He died fast. :D :D :D
It was an amazing moment, when turn 24 arrived and my only remaining bitey reaper dutifully climbed into an APC and the mission is now slowly coming back to base with the remaining equipment.  The two "Ghost Ships" these APCs will be surely haunted in the future!  :D :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Iazo on July 16, 2019, 11:50:12 am
While superhuman ironman is doable, and even doable without any losses, you have to know what you're doing.

The necropirate raid requires luck and risk management, bikes are an EXTREMELY bad ship, especially on JS, ESPECIALLY on a pogrom, and the humanist armory requires strong weapons, personal armor, good melee skils and/or lots of camping. Also convoy bad.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 17, 2019, 11:49:56 am
Dojo question:

I can set participants to YARR! or NAY. But also to the right at the end of the line there are - and signs for each fighter.   I can switch them between - and + .. What do those mean?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ridаn on July 17, 2019, 02:02:19 pm
Dojo question:

I can set participants to YARR! or NAY. But also to the right at the end of the line there are - and signs for each fighter.   I can switch them between - and + .. What do those mean?
Those are wounded. They wont train till healed.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 17, 2019, 02:38:16 pm
Those are wounded. They wont train till healed.
Thank You!
+
Holy Mother of God! In the hands of high ranking gals those laslock shotguns and UAC Rifles massacred a hooker/highwayman/though-guy  group that guarded a torture house. WOW!!

Same weapons were not so much awesome against armored opponents, like Human Goon on the next mission. :D

First Sea mission! I thought I would check it out with a Blowfish and picked, high attributes freaks, topless, oxygen tanks and harpoon rifles. Arrived, opened  the door.. and right in front of the Blowfish ..WOA! There is a beautifully animated, big Hallucinoid! Fired half of the squad's ammo into it, when it finally collapsed. Wisely we remained in the ship.. Next turn the second hallucinoid started mind-bullying the squad so morale levels went down to ~25%.  Seeing that I thought:
- Okay, see you later!
Bugged out.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 19, 2019, 03:29:05 pm
SuperFast Ships Question:

Sometimes ships appear with the speed of: '531 432 764'  or something like that, zipping here & there lightning fast for a second, then they disappear.  Was this intentional?   Or is it just the consequence of changed radar-detection rate?

There were UFOs posted on YT that zip like a beam of colorful light and they are off. Somewhat slower, but still insanely fast "black dot" UFOs also are on YT, where they are shown crossing the entire view in 5-6  video frames.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 19, 2019, 03:50:35 pm
They could be terror ships, or crackdown ones.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on July 19, 2019, 04:57:10 pm
SuperFast Ships Question:

Sometimes ships appear with the speed of: '531 432 764'  or something like that, zipping here & there lightning fast for a second than they disappear.  Was this intentional?   Or is it just the consequence of changed radar-detection rate?

There were UFOs posted on YT that zip like a beam of colorful light and they are off. Somewhat slower, but still insanely fast "black dot" UFOs also are on YT, where they are shown crossing the entire view in 5-6  video frames.

The 531 432 764 speed "ships" are actually "Comm Waves" as revealed when you get the hyperwave decoder. These aren't actually ships but signify a ground based assault by the faction they are associated with.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 19, 2019, 07:44:02 pm
The 531 432 764 speed "ships" are actually "Comm Waves" as revealed when you get the hyperwave decoder. These aren't actually ships but signify a ground based assault by the faction they are associated with.

WOW!  Thank You! I saved your message as I'll have to remember this!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ciruil on July 20, 2019, 08:51:23 am
Some outfits has "Extra XP (number)" in description. How it working?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on July 20, 2019, 06:06:18 pm
Some outfits has "Extra XP (number)" in description. How it working?

They just get more XP for actions that yield XP. Quite simple.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ciruil on July 20, 2019, 06:33:09 pm
They just get more XP for actions that yield XP. Quite simple.
Its obviously, but how more? Is (+15) = +15%?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 21, 2019, 03:27:15 am
Superman/ironman:

Mutant alliance urgently called us, because a humanist pogrom on their land and they threatened -1000 infamy loss, if we refuse to help. I went there and fired two Chinese Dragon rockets. Despite that and 4-5 humanists going berserk or crazy they came pouring out.

After we were only four, my best two fighters were shot unconscious. One of the remaining Gals picked them up and started running back to the ship, while the other tried cover-fire with her assault grenade launcher. The Gal carrying my two best fighters were shot dead in 2 turns - my super-best skilled Gal didn't make it either in her arms - and the only survivor jumped quickly to save one alive Gal from the heap of three bodies. She managed to run back to the ship, fire one last grenade into the smoke clouds and we blasted off...  Score: Infamy Disaster -1000  :D
I developed an intense hatred for humanists. They wiped out entire crews of mine before.

Shortly before this I shot down a ship, which turned out to be armored zombies with Light Cannons. They wiped my squad, - I didn't pack fire or chem weapons, arrggh - and the last survivor ran back into the ship with one zombie right behind her. She blasted off and arrived back to base: the zombie with her was nowhere to seen..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ashghan on July 21, 2019, 12:49:45 pm
Its obviously, but how more? Is (+15) = +15%?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, since each action counts as 1, neither +15 nor +15% would make sense. This bonus is most likely -15% to number of actions required for max stat increase (and appropriate rounding for steps in between). The usual brackets are 1,5,10,11, so with a - 15% they could be for example 1, 4, 8, 9+ (no idea which way rounding is handled in this case). This would result in faster training as less actions are required to get the better skill improvement rolls.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Eddie on July 21, 2019, 01:51:34 pm
Some outfits has "Extra XP (number)" in description. How it working?

From the intro in Yankes_Scripts.rul:
Quote
# Bonus Secondary Stats - Extra RNG roll to get secondary stats at end of mission:
# returnFromMissionUnit - offset: 1
#
#   If a unit gains experience during the mission, its armor is checked for the tag
#   ARMOR_GAINS_EXTRA_SECONDARY_STATS_PERCENT. If set, then for each of time units,
#   stamina, health, and strength, the difference between the unit's current stats
#   and the max for the soldier type is checked. If below the cap, then a RNG roll
#   between 0 and the difference between current and the cap, modified by the
#   percent value of the tag, capped at a minimum of 1, is made and added to the
#   unit's stats.

Stat gain is on top of regular stat gain and can be quite significant. The gain is better for lower stats.
Example: You have a rookie with 40 stamina, where the cap is 140. She wears a gymsuit which gives 10% extra xp. If she gained any xp during the mission, she will get 0 to 10 extra stamina. That is calculated from cap (140) minus current (40) = 100, modified by 10% -> 10. So RNG rolls from 0 to 10.

The extreme case: swimsuit and underwater mission (+20%xp), same 40 stamina rookie with 140 cap. Maximum possible gain - Regular stamina gain of 11, gain from extra xp 20 for a total of 31.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 21, 2019, 06:43:50 pm
Lokk'Naar Caves question:

Where only these diminutive people fit into: are there secret rooms only to be found by digging with a pickaxe?

Mushrooms?
I keep finding Ghastly Shroom, Uber Helmet, Red Cap. What are these for?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 21, 2019, 08:07:08 pm
Where only these diminutive people fit into: are there secret rooms only to be found by digging with a pickaxe?

Always have 1x pickaxe on board to punch through rocks. It saves trouble. Also invest into aye-phones to scan for enemies.

Ghastly Shroom, Uber Helmet, Red Cap are materials needed for cooking various food.

You can sell the final product for money. Usually some kind of rare meat is involved.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 22, 2019, 12:06:38 am
Where only these diminutive people fit into: are there secret rooms only to be found by digging with a pickaxe?

Always have 1x pickaxe on board to punch through rocks. It saves trouble. Also invest into aye-phones to scan for enemies.

Ghastly Shroom, Uber Helmet, Red Cap are materials needed for cooking various food.

You can sell the final product for money. Usually some kind of rare meat is involved.

ArrghH!! Aye Phone!! Gawd I'll make or order one right away!  Thank You!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 22, 2019, 01:40:58 pm
You can use pirate bloodhounds and dogs as an alternative to aye-phones as long as you can offer enough space in the squad.
Those dreaded ratman caves usually costs me 1-2 Lokk'nars just by RNG of low-rolling shotgun pellet dmg.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 23, 2019, 08:35:17 am
Hi.

What is the deal with the scorpion craft almost always spanning enemies just next to it. Ok, I know the description says that it can land just above their heads, but does not you think this is like an exaggeration? In the end... it is useful when you are way over your enemies tech, but not much else. Or it is that the scorpion is not really intended for ground assault?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 23, 2019, 09:35:05 am
Hi.

What is the deal with the scorpion craft [..]

I was surprised at the scorpion having the worst layout for ground assault. Metallo and similar layout ships are very "Meh!" a bad design job, while I found the fantastic Bat the best ground assault craft = Gals can climb on its wings, have great tactical oversight and merrily shoot away!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 23, 2019, 11:03:35 am
I understand the decisions, the mod direction is trying to discourage camping. I think the windows in the airbus/aircar/airvan was a good direction. But I get the impression that for some crafts, the push is just too much. Scorpion is maybe one example. The other are trucks. Yes, I know, it is an very early tech, medium capacity trooper transport, and it have a turret, but it has holes and lights everywhere. Is an open craft, it is not precisely the perfect camping craft.

Continuing on scorpion. Yes, it is red code. With this code, you should be thinking about killing, and having 2-3 enemies next to the craft allows you quick killing it. But offers almost no cover whatsoever,  and I was in peace with the idea of sacrificing a peasant for absorbing the reaction fire... until one of then was a explosive LC amunition that killed half my crew. And the other time, a well placed rocket in just the first step decimated all.

Well, in the bootypedia it does not say it excel as a troop transport, so I think it is right. It says "can land over their heads". Description mean it, I should not complain.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 23, 2019, 11:07:38 am
Mushroom Soup Recipes Incomplete Feature

Fried Reaper Innards, for example, requires the mushroom "Über Helmet". Anything I cook with great care should be highly nourishing and should work like a combined stimm+smokes+meat item.
+HP +Morale +Stamina +Energy heal  for these amazing cooked soups!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 23, 2019, 01:03:15 pm
Unfortunately there isn't that much we can have from meals in terms of effects, so this hasn't been developed very far.
One could make a scripted meal which boosts this or that stat, but it would just mean spending the first turn applying it to everyone. Not a good design.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 23, 2019, 04:41:19 pm
Unfortunately there isn't that much we can have from meals in terms of effects, so this hasn't been developed very far.
One could make a scripted meal which boosts this or that stat, but it would just mean spending the first turn applying it to everyone. Not a good design.

You created the amazing Stimm and Atom Beer:  when research is complete and a recipe like Fried Innards is ready, could it not give boost for healing by giving some tiny recovery bonus to the Mess Hall?  I mean to sit down there and eat such an amazingly tasting food, it surely must be healing?   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 23, 2019, 04:53:08 pm
First of all, while I contributed a bit, Dioxine is the only creator of Piratez and he is the only one to be credited for it. ;)

Secondly, doesn't Mess Hall already give a medical bonus? I think it does, but haven't really checked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 23, 2019, 04:55:33 pm
Maybe with the transformation system something can be made in that regard. But ultimately, I thought those recipes were merchandise, and intended for selling.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Meridian on July 23, 2019, 07:58:18 pm
For those who are interested, here is the latest piratez version (J15) repackaged to work under both OXCE 5.4.1 and 5.5.x:

link removed, use version J17
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 23, 2019, 09:14:46 pm
WOW!  Zombie Fatman slapped my perfectly healthy tamed reaper once and it died!!!  :-OooO  WTH?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: misterx on July 24, 2019, 12:51:38 am
Secondly, doesn't Mess Hall already give a medical bonus? I think it does, but haven't really checked.

Yes, bootypedia tells that but  personally cannot quantify the amount. Someone knows?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on July 24, 2019, 01:18:55 am
WOW!  Zombie Fatman slapped my perfectly healthy tamed reaper once and it died!!!  :-OooO  WTH?

Zombies' melee is REALLY strong, you don't want to get hit by them ever.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 24, 2019, 02:35:00 am
Superman/ironman:
Humanists again. I didn't expect that they field a large tank that can fire rockets around. My squad got wiped out again. Lost the METALLO..
 :o It had the Armored Hull component requirement and I had only one of that. I guess I won't build another METALLO anytime soon?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Venger on July 24, 2019, 04:00:51 am
First of all, while I contributed a bit, Dioxine is the only creator of Piratez and he is the only one to be credited for it. ;)

Are contributions generally welcome? I keep spotting typos and errors in the Bootypedia I'd like to fix, and it's probably faster to just edit it myself than post the list.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 24, 2019, 09:55:34 am
It had the Armored Hull component requirement and I had only one of that. I guess I won't build another METALLO anytime soon?

Unfortunately, you can only make one Menace class ship, as there are no other Menacing Hulls in the game. But kudos for not savescumming!

Are contributions generally welcome? I keep spotting typos and errors in the Bootypedia I'd like to fix, and it's probably faster to just edit it myself than post the list.

Sure, it would be appreciated.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 24, 2019, 10:22:06 pm
Superman/Ironman:
Last man standing! 11 zombies, funky, singer, etc.. were finally massacred. I fouled a rocket strike killing half of my team, then my last survivor - constantly losing morale and gaining lots of stun damage made it back to my Mighty Skyranger-2 - a plane only fools use, when their  Menace Class Rider with 16 crew spaces was lost during a Humanist large tank crew-wipe.
In the  skyranger the Gal constantly nibbled on chocolate and stimms, managed to take enough T-T rockets with her, when the Alien Hunt Mode was activated, so I could see the last remaining two zombies all the time! Wheeew..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 24, 2019, 10:24:48 pm
Interceptor repair question:
How can I speed up repair of my damaged interceptors? Station more workers or slaves at the base?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on July 24, 2019, 10:30:24 pm
Interceptor repair question:
How can I speed up repair of my damaged interceptors? Station more workers or slaves at the base?
You can't.

EDIT: Actually there is one way: get shot at less.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 25, 2019, 04:48:39 pm
Superhuman/ironman:
Finally an Academy Gunship showed up with 5000 speed! What I was waiting for to renew my old fleet. I just didn't have the heart to sell those old, trusty ships of mine. The Gunship shot down three of my Shark Jetbikes, one Hunter Killer with only two guns loaded (the rocket launchers were empty) and destroyed one Predator. But then one of my Krakens finally gutted it and shot it down over China.
At one point at least 9 ships were chasing the bastard from continent to continent, taking over when it reached their territory. We even lost the Gunship once, but shortly after it resurfaced on Hyperwave radar. WooOooHooo!! 
My biggest ship is the Skyranger, after losing METALLO, so I don't even dare to send less than a Convoy to try to clean up the crashed bastard with rockets and heavy weaponry. I think two Armored Cars equipped with rocket launchers will turn the tide of war in my favor. I don't want the Academy wiping out another company of mine!

Academy Bomber:
Shortly after my above victory a large bomber followed. I launched about 40 ships at it, Shark Jetbikes, Pachyderms, Krakens, Scarabs, a Hunter Killer and two Predators. The screen resembled a nuclear war, where all warheads slowly fly towards one target. Only 6 ships remained, out of ammo, returning to the base to rearm and repair. :D  I wanted to renew my fleet. Now is the perfect opportunity!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 26, 2019, 11:17:42 am
You have 40 hangars?  :o
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 26, 2019, 01:02:22 pm
You have 40 hangars?  :o
Currently expended about 5 billion and counting.

ACADEMY / ALIEN HOLIDAY RESORT
(superhuman/ironman)

Since shooting down that Academy Gunship, the wretched Academy bastards sent larger ships to retaliate. Among them a massive Academy Cruiser that shot down another 3 or 4 of my remaining vessels relegated to intercepting duties.  I noticed the cruiser is searching around my base in Siberia, so I had an idea. I sent everybody away, dismantled the base and rebuilt it without any Hideout Shrouds. Notice the Access Lift in the bottom-left corner. Fire & Gas Pits surround it. I thought offering a cocktail to the arriving Academy Assault Forces. They must be tired and thirsty.. :D

 ** LET THE ACADEMY ASSAULT BASTARDS COME!! **
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on July 26, 2019, 06:57:03 pm
dunno what is that room?, just above the medic room ?

i didnt see it yet (at least not in previous versions of Pirateyz, so still unknown to me)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 26, 2019, 07:15:13 pm
They also come through the hangars.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on July 26, 2019, 09:22:40 pm
dunno what is that room?, just above the medic room ?

i didnt see it yet (at least not in previous versions of Pirateyz, so still unknown to me)

That's an Onsen.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 27, 2019, 12:30:20 am
They also come through the hangars.
Really??!  AAARRHH!! Then my design is FCKD!!    Ahhhhh...  Thanks for the info.

Convoy Weapons Question:
There are three light-weapon mounts on the convoy. But its so slow! What can a slow convoy use those light weapons for?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: LytaRyta on July 27, 2019, 01:19:58 am
thx, but it wasnt too helpy ~~ "Onsen" - what is it?,
what does it mean
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 27, 2019, 02:11:19 pm
The "onsen" is like a mini-Dojo and the sickbay combined.
The building works less efficient than both combined but it saves one slot in your base.

It's also optional to include but having extra training space and extra wound recovery comes handy in a longrun.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 27, 2019, 09:37:49 pm
Really??!  AAARRHH!! Then my design is FCKD!!    Ahhhhh...  Thanks for the info.


Oh boy, it is FCKD  as hell :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 27, 2019, 09:41:09 pm
Really??!  AAARRHH!! Then my design is FCKD!!    Ahhhhh...  Thanks for the info.

Convoy Weapons Question:
There are three light-weapon mounts on the convoy. But its so slow! What can a slow convoy use those light weapons for?

Defence!


And ... Maybe it can catch Ratmen and Necropirates. If you are patient.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 28, 2019, 01:02:25 am
Defence!

And ... Maybe it can catch Ratmen and Necropirates. If you are patient.

My hand is itching to meet Necropirates again! I only saw them at game begin, when they wiped my Founding Übers party and I lost the amazing GDX Airbus!   >:( >:(


OMG!! I just encountered the most famous "monster" from Schwarzenegger's most famous movie! AAAAAAAAAARRGHH!! You guys are CRAZY!!!

What an amazing idea!!  I shot it down with a tank 60mm cannon.  ;D
Jesus!!  This was probably the best surprise in the game so far...    ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on July 28, 2019, 10:08:42 am

OMG!! I just encountered the most famous "monster" from Schwarzenegger's most famous movie! AAAAAAAAAARRGHH!! You guys are CRAZY!!!

What an amazing idea!!  I shot it down with a tank 60mm cannon.  ;D
Jesus!!  This was probably the best surprise in the game so far...    ;D ;D ;D

The
Terminator
?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 28, 2019, 05:01:52 pm
Overburden question:
Does carrying too much increase strength?  I remember decades ago in UFO DEFENSE if I made my soldiers overburdened and walk around like that their strength increased.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on July 28, 2019, 05:31:40 pm
No. The way to increase secondary stats is to do stuff, shoot, throw, melee.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 28, 2019, 06:47:01 pm
I remember decades ago in UFO DEFENSE if I made my soldiers overburdened and walk around like that their strength increased.

Sorry, it's never been the case, even in the original game.
But X-Com has many such legends... ;)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on July 28, 2019, 08:32:53 pm
Sorry, it's never been the case, even in the original game.
But X-Com has many such legends... ;)
WOW!! It may have been my cousin, who advised it or a gaming magazine.. 

I can stop overburdening my soldiers now... :D  Thank You!
No. The way to increase secondary stats is to do stuff, shoot, throw, melee.
Thank You!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rich on July 29, 2019, 03:38:00 pm
I'm having loads of fun with this mod, really enjoying the difficulty and the strategies you have to create to manage the situation, good job!
But i've noticed a couple of things, for example i couldn't find a guild stapler in the warehouse missions (only ammo and didn't use explosive), i've found it in the "govt recovery mission" with all the ballers?

Also enemies are shooting me through the windows of the airbus and blowfish while i can't fire outside, is this intended? It's kind of bs when you land right in front of 20 guys that start to gun you down like no tomorrow as soon as you approach the doors to go out.
It's the only thing that i actually hate about this mod.

Playing with latest version ofc
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Corento on July 29, 2019, 04:35:59 pm
I'm having loads of fun with this mod, really enjoying the difficulty and the strategies you have to create to manage the situation, good job!
But i've noticed a couple of things, for example i couldn't find a guild stapler in the warehouse missions (only ammo and didn't use explosive), i've found it in the "govt recovery mission" with all the ballers?

Also enemies are shooting me through the windows of the airbus and blowfish while i can't fire outside, is this intended? It's kind of bs when you land right in front of 20 guys that start to gun you down like no tomorrow as soon as you approach the doors to go out.
It's the only thing that i actually hate about this mod.

Playing with latest version ofc

Hi, just yesterday I had warehouse mission (I think 3-4 from begining) and leader has it. So it is not 100% drop here.

With shooting through the windows it could happen that you have to kneel to see the shooter. Or stay on tile far from window...

Also love this mode  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 29, 2019, 05:43:06 pm
Shooting through craft windows is intended. Try to move around a bit, you can shoot out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rich on July 29, 2019, 07:19:26 pm
Hi, just yesterday I had warehouse mission (I think 3-4 from begining) and leader has it. So it is not 100% drop here.

Ok so i have just been unlucky it seems, i've done like 5/6 warehouse without finding the stapler, needless to say i've been stuck with low tier guns for over a year!
It's hard as hell fighting marsec operatives with basic guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on July 30, 2019, 03:17:54 am
Ok so i have just been unlucky it seems, i've done like 5/6 warehouse without finding the stapler, needless to say i've been stuck with low tier guns for over a year!
It's hard as hell fighting marsec operatives with basic guns.

The randomized drop tables can be incredibly annoying. It took me until 2604 to find an Industrial Scanner. I find it funny how the Sentry is equipped with an "expensive scanning suite", and yet the Cutter is the small ship with a chance (albeit incredibly low) to drop a scanner.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ashghan on July 30, 2019, 04:15:40 pm
Well, these are (I'd assume) two different types of scanner. Sentry has the type that deals with detection - radar, infrared, EM, whatever. Cutter has something like a XXVIth century version of a 3D scanner - one that allows scanning objects for analysis and production purposes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Rince Wind on July 30, 2019, 05:03:53 pm
In the XVIth century those were usually called "eyes". :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Ashghan on July 30, 2019, 05:35:32 pm
Dang, one X too few. Corrected. :D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on August 01, 2019, 10:22:36 pm
Mumbleball question:
What the heck does this do?  I didn't notice any effect on the battlefield. It didn't even start mumbling..  ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on August 01, 2019, 11:14:36 pm
If something step over, It is going to emit a funny track and low morale of the thing steeping over
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: nicedayright on August 02, 2019, 09:29:38 pm
Mumbleball question:
What the heck does this do?  I didn't notice any effect on the battlefield. It didn't even start mumbling..  ?

Think of it like a proxy grenade filled with canned psi-panic.


Also, I've come back to the mod after quite a while, pretty amazing how much has changed. You've already produced a game I enjoy more than most AAA titles. However, I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that the comic book research tree doesn't unlock punching glove arrows.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on August 03, 2019, 12:24:48 am
Highest difficulty, ironman:
Two enemy convoys appeared. I attacked with quad cannons mounted on pachyderms and the two took down at least three of my ships before going down. They required so many rounds to crash them that I was wondering if quad-cannons are useless against enemy convoys?  Now they are down and I'm highly curious what my Convoy team will find down there at those two crash sites.  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: legionof1 on August 03, 2019, 12:58:39 am
The armored convoy "craft" have some armor, if memory serves. so low damage per shot weapons like the quad and 25mm are less effective. Armor in air combat is a flat reduction to any hull damage taken.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on August 03, 2019, 02:18:01 am
The armored convoy "craft" have some armor, if memory serves. so low damage per shot weapons like the quad and 25mm are less effective. Armor in air combat is a flat reduction to any hull damage taken.

Thank You. I can see they are composed of essentially a "pogrom party". Dogs, armored cars, tough guys, etc.. They flooded my convoy with fire grenades and various explosives. I'll have to run!!  ...
I decided to take a stand there and from my three best fighters, picked for their highest ability, only one remained. She could barely get out of that hell with 6 injured survivors from the mighty 24.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: nicedayright on August 07, 2019, 01:31:24 am
Who here gradually succumbing to madness as they try to find a guild stapler?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: MemoryTAS on August 07, 2019, 02:55:52 am
Note that you don't necessarily need a physical guild stapler, you can also get the entry off of various enemies for free if you interrogate them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: nicedayright on August 07, 2019, 03:09:42 am
Believe me, I know. Part of the madness has been the mental image of rubber-hosing engineer after engineer frantically demanding they tell me everything they know about office supplies.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: mercy on August 07, 2019, 08:52:37 pm
Believe me, I know. Part of the madness has been the mental image of rubber-hosing engineer after engineer frantically demanding they tell me everything they know about office supplies.
Here! I found your missing stapler. You couldn't find it, because the darned thing  escaped to The X-Com Files! Ha! I caught the fugitive for you:
(https://i.imgur.com/jt7nlnQ.png)
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: nicedayright on August 08, 2019, 12:00:48 am
I have to confess, I cheated the item in once I hit April of 2602. It was that or restart the campaign at this point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: wolfreal on August 08, 2019, 05:15:55 am
The RNG gods hates you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Masakhan on August 08, 2019, 06:09:38 am
I've run into an odd problem on the latest build. I need to research Tinkering to advance, but it says I need a study room, and all of the techs to get it require tinkering. I don't remember ever having this problem before, is there a change I'm not aware of?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J5 - 11 Jun - Applied Chromatics
Post by: Gunner-chan on August 08, 2019, 01:48:09 pm
The personal labs supply the "Study" keyword too. This really confused me for a while and I got real backed up on research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2019, 03:24:21 pm
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: The Martian on August 08, 2019, 03:38:53 pm
(https://openxcom.org/forum/Themes/InsidiousV1-k/images/post/thumbup.gif) Rock on! ^_^


Edit:
Could you please upload a copy to the Mod Portal?
https://openxcom.mod.io/x-piratez (https://openxcom.mod.io/x-piratez)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2019, 03:55:07 pm
The mod portal demands a .zip (way larger filesize), is slow and sometimes refuses the upload. I will do that when I have the time.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 08, 2019, 05:00:44 pm
New version up. Enjoy.

Thank You!! 

Question about how to add the new missions:
Can it be done the following way?
1. Install v.J16 08-Aug-2019
2. start a new game. ==> SAVE
3. Then go into the new save that has all the new missions and simply copy out the entire missions section from that save and
3. overwrite the entire missions section in my old campaign savegame with the new data?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Dioxine on August 08, 2019, 05:32:20 pm
You don't need to do any of that. New missions can spawn normally from the next month onwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: wolfreal on August 08, 2019, 05:48:48 pm
How was the JS difficulty increased?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 08, 2019, 05:51:48 pm
You don't need to do any of that. New missions can spawn normally from the next month onwards.

Thank You!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 08, 2019, 08:03:36 pm
How was the JS difficulty increased?

Bigger stat bonuses for enemies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Meridian on August 08, 2019, 08:56:42 pm
Version j16 compatible also with newest OXCE can be downloaded here: link removed, use version J17
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Eddie on August 10, 2019, 01:28:18 am
New iteration of the infamous "Eddie abuses the game mechanics" series. Read only if you want to learn about powerful glitches.
I was trying out spray waypoints, and noticed a spray waypoint does not target the ground like a regularly placed shot does, but instead shoots level. This can be abused for the martial arts flurry of blows.
It has a range of 1, but damage dropoff starts at 2 (so you can kick diagonally). This means you could actually kick with a range of two tiles, but you can't target two tiles distance. If the target is standing two tiles away and you target the tile in between, you will just kick the ground.
Now spray waypoints come into play. If you use spray waypoints on the tile between you and the target, you won't kick the ground but kick straight ahead and will now hit the target two tiles away. This is very powerful as you avoid the cqc check you have to pass when standing adjacent to the target.

You could also use this to get more accurate autofire at range. If the target is beyond the autofire accurate range and the line of fire is pretty obvious, say just stright foreward, place the spray waypoints not on the target but in between. Then you will avoid the accuracy dropoff if you placed the crosshair on the target. This can also be used to avoid the no LoS penalty.
An example of when this is useful: Base defence, when you shoot down corridors. Place a machinegun at the far end of a corridor, cover everything in smoke.

Where the spray waypoints suck: when trying to shoot small targets, like rats. That's how I discovered it. I way trying to spray down a group of rats with a mammoth chain shotgun at close range. Didn't work, was always shooting too high. You can only hit tall stuff with spray waypoints.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Masakhan on August 11, 2019, 06:27:03 am
Anyone know how much damage the shotgun shield reduces?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Eddie on August 11, 2019, 12:57:53 pm
From the ruleset

Shotgun shield:
Code: [Select]
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 80    <- piercing
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 80     <- laser
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 80     <- plasma
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_7: 80    <- cutting
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_7: 50

Here the riot shield for comparison:
Code: [Select]
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 85
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 90
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 90
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_6: 80   <- daze
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_6: 30
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_7: 75
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_7: 30
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_8: 90    <- chem
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_8: 50


And here is the wheeled machinegun:
Code: [Select]
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 80
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_1: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_3: 90     <- concussive
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_3: 30
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 80
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_4: 50
      ITEM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 80
      ITEM_MINIMUM_RESIST_TYPE_5: 50

I can add more explanation if you don't know what the numbers mean.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 15, 2019, 12:28:13 am
Version j16 compatible also with newest OXCE can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17G8iCziVoCOmNsGMCZwJBwXJ4vYTdyOB (https://drive.google.com/open?id=17G8iCziVoCOmNsGMCZwJBwXJ4vYTdyOB)

Its not compatible with newest OXCE. Common and standard folders differ in latest X-Piratez versus Extended-5.6.1.   Since X-Piratez was always combed together with OXCE it ran correctly from its own Common and standard folders. 
But currently the two downloadable archives are not unified and Extended-5.6.1-eb44d4df4-2019-08-11-win64  throws all kinds of PCK coordinate errors, like STR_Biodrome_Weapon Offset -2 etc...  when I overwrite the Common and standard folders in X-Piratez with the ones from latest OXCE.

* Just tried copying XPiratez into C:\users... Documents\openxcom\mods
but OXCE throws the same BIGOBS  PCK coordinate errors.

While latest XCOM-Files runs fine, because its unified with the latest OXCE.

The install video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-mhVSI9rbE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-mhVSI9rbE) (relevant part is from 00:00 to 03:20)
covers easy WH 40K, which has a different folder from OXCE that runs in the install video without problems. But X-Piratez has its own same name
Common and standard folders in the same place as the OpenXcomEx.exe.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Meridian on August 15, 2019, 01:15:28 am
Its not compatible with newest OXCE. Common and standard folders differ in latest X-Piratez versus Extended-5.6.1.   Since X-Piratez was always combed together with OXCE it ran correctly from its own Common and standard folders. 
But currently the two downloadable archives are not unified and Extended-5.6.1-eb44d4df4-2019-08-11-win64  throws all kinds of PCK coordinate errors, like STR_Biodrome_Weapon Offset -2 etc...  when I overwrite the Common and standard folders in X-Piratez with the ones from latest OXCE.

* Just tried copying XPiratez into C:\users... Documents\openxcom\mods
but OXCE throws the same BIGOBS  PCK coordinate errors.

While latest XCOM-Files runs fine, because its unified with the latest OXCE.

The install video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-mhVSI9rbE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-mhVSI9rbE) (relevant part is from 00:00 to 03:20)
covers easy WH 40K, which has a different folder from OXCE that runs in the install video without problems. But X-Piratez has its own same name
Common and standard folders in the same place as the OpenXcomEx.exe.

Dude, common and standard directory are not part of the mod, don't use them!
You need common and standard directories, which are part of the OXCE you are using.
From the piratez distribution package you need ONLY the "user" folder, nothing else.

And it is compatible, I am playing it myself without problems.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 15, 2019, 11:19:59 am
Dude, common and standard directory are not part of the mod, don't use them!
You need common and standard directories, which are part of the OXCE you are using.
From the piratez distribution package you need ONLY the "user" folder, nothing else.

And it is compatible, I am playing it myself without problems.

There is a new version called J16m??!  Check this out, I downloaded J16 couple days ago and it gave me this opening screen:
(https://i.imgur.com/lqydqIs.png)


So just to be sure, I downloaded the J16m package that is NOW under the download link and sure it works like a charm giving a different loading screen.

BUT I was right! Just to be curious, I followed your advice, and copied over just the user folder from the old J16 version.   VOILA! It gives the same errors I was talking about!

So a new version was required after all compared to couple days ago!  ;-)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Meridian on August 15, 2019, 11:23:04 am
There is a new version called J16m??!  Check this out, I downloaded J16 couple days ago and it gave me this opening screen:

J16m is the version I have uploaded.
Same as J16, just compatible with newest OXCE.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 15, 2019, 11:36:06 am
J16m is the version I have uploaded.
Same as J16, just compatible with newest OXCE.
I just noticed. The mediafire link has the same archive from days ago. You enhanced the archive and gave it a J16m designation, which works perfectly. Aha! Let's check out, what I want: the best amazing super 5.6.1-feature, since years ago.

Yes it works perfectly.  The "Cross-hair cursor targeting function" now is amazingly sensitive to not only the hotkey of "Center on Active Unit" but to a milestone achievement of  the Hotkey of "Select Next Unit" too!!  I tested it extensively in XCOM-Files and it works perfectly.   Don't  ever   touch it!!  This is the single best Quality of Life Update since forever!!

I noticed that you added extra content to the rulesets. Thank You!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Harkonnen on August 15, 2019, 10:10:56 pm
Is enemies in J16 now affected by environmental conditions? i just had a "scorching hot" mission and half of the enemies were "zzz" by the time i got to them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: MemoryTAS on August 15, 2019, 10:35:29 pm
Is enemies in J16 now affected by environmental conditions? i just had a "scorching hot" mission and half of the enemies were "zzz" by the time i got to them.
Was it the pink desert area? If you are doing a mission in a pink desert, random spots will be hit with this charm damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Harkonnen on August 15, 2019, 11:16:08 pm
Was it the pink desert area? If you are doing a mission in a pink desert, random spots will be hit with this charm damage.

Well, it was at night, but i think it was kind of pinkish...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: MemoryTAS on August 16, 2019, 12:02:21 am
It was likely the pink desert, that's been around for a good number of versions, but it's fairly rare.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 16, 2019, 05:50:16 pm
It was likely the pink desert, that's been around for a good number of versions, but it's fairly rare.

You are not safe even within vehicles: at least my gals were fainting one after the other inside a convoy.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 16, 2019, 09:55:05 pm
The Horde:
■Expeditions miniMOD■
(Highest difficulty/ironman)
A mixed mob of peasants in amazing hunter attire, Hands + Founding Übers storming an Academy Outpost.
52 soldiers.
Earlier I tried 3 Founding Übers + 24 Peasant Hunter Archers, but we were massacred and I could only kill 1 drone + ~a fifth of the enemy forces.

I tested 40-44 in XCOM-Files and it was still not too boring. I'm planning a playthrough equipping only looted weapons, bows, melee lighter chop-chop, six shooters.  Unfortunately the beginning Hunting Bow appears to be [almost] useless against giant beetles and totally useless against Academy Drones. :(  So there have to be six-shooters, because muskets and flintlocks right at the beginning suck major arse regards TU usage & reload. A lot of our better looted weapons are already out of ammo. So I equipped what is left. :) This way anything they loot or eyeballing eagerly in the hands of the enemy remains a MustHave™©℗® Epic Weapon!!  :D

It's very satisfying to start as a beggar in rags, KO an enemy, take his weapon and kill the next enemy with it!

(https://i.imgur.com/KwfyJQV.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Rince Wind on August 16, 2019, 11:52:46 pm
If you don't mind producing simple things like molotovs, then those drop drones really well.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 17, 2019, 10:20:17 am
If you don't mind producing simple things like molotovs, then those drop drones really well.
Really? I never thought machines will fall for simple fire??   But then I only have a couple Molotovs, since cannot produce them yet.

You were right!! One shot from a Molotov brought the last drone down! Excellent advice!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: krautbernd on August 17, 2019, 10:44:51 am
BLOODHOUND QUESTION

Does anybody know, from ** where ** was the bloodhound image taken from?  Which game?  It looks familiar.
Haven't played xpiratez, but if it is the same as in XCF i'd say it's probably the Hell Hound from Blood (https://www.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/blood/sheet/30647/).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 17, 2019, 01:38:33 pm
Necropirate race question:

In one of my previous runs - right near game begin - I encountered the fantastic Necropirates. They had big guns and limb chop-chop weapons equipped. Since then I was itching to encounter them, but never succeeded through multiple new games. IIRC they were wearing long coats and looked like bandits.  What is the usual Necropirate race?   I'm trying to search my previous saves for necropirates, but all I find is the race "Cannys" and they don't have long coats and don't look bandit-ey at all..  :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: wolfreal on August 17, 2019, 07:47:40 pm
Canny is the race for necropirates. Depend of the map, it spawn canny gals or necropirates.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 18, 2019, 02:32:08 pm
Kryptonite to my 52-soldier Expedition miniMOD:
(Highest difficulty/ironman)

Our weapons: spiked SMGs, grenades and crates of violence.

versus

Three Singer Zombies, Chryssalids and many simple zombies turning into Chryssalids..

During the campaign many brave and cowardly souls were lost from the original 52. What remained: I thought, arming a 27-member, able-bodied mixed mob of peasants & Hands with SMGs, grenades and crates of violence will be enough to put down those boring 3 or 4 zombies that usually came against us ** before **.. at near game begin. I was expecting a boring, short battle. I thought it usual to see a maximum of 5 enemies or so...  and then this:

(https://i.imgur.com/30QZV3R.png)


Squad-wipe.. multiple times over: badly thrown crates of violence and grenades decimating my gals, gals going berserk and killing their teammates carrying lots of live-explosives.. those exploding in one place, desintegrating half a dozen nearby teammates.  Then came the super-infectious zombies...

(https://i.imgur.com/wzNOJfN.jpg)

Because I put so many soldiers on the battlefield the zombies loved this situation! They salivated at seeing so many warm, living bodies and just walked over to us  and scratched my gals killing them and created more zombies! This was a total catastrophe. 
Soon it was a full-blown zombie invasion! I brought their army to them!

(https://i.imgur.com/ZodLWCG.png)

Not to mention Chryssalids could only be killed, when:
1. their zombie bodies are killed,
2. so they transform into themselves
3. then they must be put down by grenades - because SMG bullets just bounced off their chitin armor.
4. when they are finally put down down and "Zzz"-sleeping
5. then they must be killed with a grenade.

(https://i.imgur.com/LoFjLnQ.png)

But the zombies just were making more and more of themselves from my peasants... So I loaded back earlier saves dozens of times, just to see, if they are beatable.   
The smoke was so thick everywhere that enemies couldn't be seen from a safe distance at all! The zombies must have been grinning and were happily sneaking around in the thick smoke and biting my soldiers to death so easily.  This was a very depressing battle, a fatal response to my mob-tactics and my the last insane survivor was frequently panicking, until she was torn apart by a zombie coming from behind!

(https://i.imgur.com/zDPBUYL.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on August 18, 2019, 04:23:40 pm
My Advice: Don't use smoke-cover against zombies.
They have natural sense of 40 so they simply know where your squad is hiding/lurking around.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 19, 2019, 10:52:39 am
My Advice: Don't use smoke-cover against zombies.
They have natural sense of 40 so they simply know where your squad is hiding/lurking around.

Thank You for the advice! I see now, it will be crucial to check the analysis section for each researched monster.

CONVOY HWP GETOUT SPACE FIX:

I'm currently testing this simple Convoy fix, where often enough my Convoy's starting position were placed in the upper or lower right corner of the map and only 2 spaces were left between the back of my Convoy and the edge of the map resulting in the clusterFCK that my HWP-s, Boozesaurs couldn't get out. Now they hopefully will!
(https://i.imgur.com/kEnVUBK.png)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 21, 2019, 12:53:59 am
Raiding a landed Government Ship:

Super-tasty laser weapons they had. The Government Security guard with the glowing green visor looks amazing!! On the third try it wasn't a squad-wipe and I got the guys + lasers. But of course all that 'never before seen tech'-loot had a rather hefty price:

(https://i.imgur.com/4rMMOnf.png)


Interstellar Mercenaries:

Then a new ship landed! Because we have no craft weapons, nor ships capable of carrying weapons, just a convoy, we swooped down onto this new landing with our vehicles souped up with nitro. Found Interstellar Mercenaries!  They had Gauss Weaponry + exotic tech. Of course we couldn't win, despite the fact that my Horde consisted of 70 Gals carrying either beers only - these were the cannon-fodder and the strong girls had Anchors and succeeded to vanquish 9 mercenaries, a shock trooper and a Captain among them! But of course no matter, how many times I put back the carefully backed-up saves, it was a squad-wipe.

(https://i.imgur.com/eRA53CW.png)


So we resorted to running for our lives with some exotic technology hauled into the APCs:  from the 70 Gals, only a handful remained:

(https://i.imgur.com/SJmtWT1.png)


This was the haul: everything else the girls carried toward the APCs were lost, when the super-cool-looking Interstellar Mercenaries massacred them, like cattle.


(https://i.imgur.com/hvEd5Wp.png)



What's curious is that there is another landed ship!  Did the super-cool looking mercenaries land again? We will soon find out!
They were Interstellar Mercenaries!
Currently they are the only thing I'm running from! :D

Also I found it curious, now that I can't attack any ships, they are merrily flying around with the government and mercs doing landings. But in earlier games, as soon as I started to harass ships in the air, these super-cool landings never took place!
So this was a strange silent era of ambush in our development.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Eddie on August 27, 2019, 05:09:34 am
I discovered a pretty nice weapon combination: hammer + grav harness.
If you fly above your target and hammer down, you don't need to pass a cqc check. You then get a near 100% hit chance, even if your melee sucks. You get a melee monster without the need for actual melee skill, since the hammer only needs strength for damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Dakkdakk on August 27, 2019, 04:47:01 pm
O yea, thats pretty much the best way to deal with lobstermen during deep one pogroms and that one bounty mission. It also works with chainsaw type weapons, IIRC.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Iazo on August 27, 2019, 04:48:14 pm
The disadvantage being that you use a grav harness and a weapon which eats 35% TUs as opposed to fixed costs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Rince Wind on August 27, 2019, 06:45:39 pm
Lobstermen die to axes just fine, and Wands of Airlessness (and all other choking damage) are their nemesis.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 28, 2019, 02:50:40 pm
Armored Gnome capture?

I have completely surrounded an Armored Gnome with Cattle Prod wearing soldiers and I shocked her with multiple Gals during 3 or 4 turns, yet she seems immune to shock damage in her super-heavy armor.  She only goes down, when I successfully fry her with Fusion Torch.   Is there any way to take this girl hostage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 28, 2019, 03:40:46 pm
A number of options exist, starting with seduction.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 28, 2019, 03:42:14 pm
Poisoned daggers don't work on her, i tried.

A number of options exist, starting with seduction.
Sed.. seduc.. SEDUCTION???!!   :o ??? But-but.. nothing in this game can be resolved by force?  Aarrrggh!  I'm already seeing making Exquisite Lingerie and building a really nice gal outfit, when the Gnome Base is cleared and I have the Gnome Gal surrounded, my Queen can give the command:
- Bring in the Whore!!


So you say, a Wench outfit might have a chance to persuade the Armored Gnome?

Or maybe that even a persuadotron might work?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Iazo on August 28, 2019, 05:08:34 pm
The seduction attempt you need is "Good touch" (gigglesnort). Indeed Wench outfit has it, but you probably need 2 wenches.

I am told that a trained Seductress with Seduction might work too. Emphasis on might. If not, Seductress good touch.

There are a number of other options. Wrenching her CAREFULLY, then cattle prods. Chem shotgun ammo then Cattle Prods.

Actually, that's about it. Didn't get into really esoteric contraptions like 50 mumbleballs or weird stuff like that although it MIGHT work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Mathel on August 28, 2019, 06:06:58 pm
EMP Minibombs might work. They might also kill her.

The most reliable is probably Chem shotguns, then electric stunning, as was suggested by Iazo
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 28, 2019, 07:17:29 pm
Thank You all for the expert advice!
I went in with a squad of wenches, seductresses and persuadotron-wielding Gals and many others had poisoned daggers.  Possession didn't work, but I guessed Terror will reduce her morale and the wenches + seductresses used bad touch to drain her TU + morale + inflict stun.
Fusion torches were out and when I applied above for 2 or 3 turns, then I went in with a poison dagger trooper and knifed her: upon hearing the last stabbing sound, the Armored Goblin girl suddenly collapsed and went unconscious. Thank God that her Raider Boss just faints from gunshots, because now I have a full complement of this Goblin Lair leadership:
(https://i.imgur.com/3IID5Iu.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Iazo on August 28, 2019, 07:20:19 pm
Next time use good touch insead of bad.

Good touch is not mitigated by armor!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on August 28, 2019, 07:27:35 pm
Next time use good touch insead of bad.

Good touch is not mitigated by armor!
But the explanation says it gives the touched target energy and morale.  I didn't wanna give her more.   Dunno, the explanation should say  that this attack has a chance to charm the opponent and inflict various kinds of stun, which can cause sleep.    But instead it describes all kinds of pluses given to the target, as if the attack would liven the target up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Iazo on August 28, 2019, 08:04:32 pm
It gives the target energy, morale and stun damage. Can't use that energy and morale Zzzing on the floor.

Not even sure enemies use energy.

https://xpedia.netlify.com/xpedia.html#AUX_GOOD_TOUCH

16 stun damage. Gnome has about 40 health. Easy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: legionof1 on August 29, 2019, 04:42:54 am
yeah good touch is the best low tier solution for the gnome encounter. 4 successful applications and your done but for the babysitting while you clear the map.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: HT on September 01, 2019, 11:34:40 am
Hi, it's been a while since I played this, but the latest update made me curious: It mentions enemy bases got Hunter-Killers.
Does that mean there will be enemy ships patrolling nearby to attack your ships then? Is there a way to avoid them?
IIRC the mod author didn't want to use this kind of encounters and the lore justified it by having your ships use a cloaking system. Did you change your mind, Dioxine?
I'm curious.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: mercy on September 01, 2019, 12:40:34 pm
Kung-fu Parrots massacring a Chupacabra:

TURN 1
My three best Crane Kung-Fu Master Parrots are bravely taking on a vicious Chupacabra!  Loud screeching is coming from both sides.
Unfortunately neither the three parrots, nor the Chupie scored any hits in the first round. But my Boozesaur is rushing in to help the birds good-old WWE Wrestling style, so there is hope!  Two more rounds to go!
(https://i.imgur.com/y8yhMcx.png)


TURN 2:
The Chupacabra viciously tore one of my Hero Parrots to bloody pieces! She will be forever remembered: we will cook a wonderful chicken-soup from her remains. Then the other two Parrots masterfully launched Beak Attacks at the monster, but ALAS failed to land a successful it. The Boozesaur stepped in and gently gave one bite to the monster and we heard the hideous, thorny chupacabra's body being crushed like chicken legs!  The Boozesaur was almost grinning with satisfaction, as it resumed looking for survivor monsters.
(https://i.imgur.com/poUNIDx.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 01, 2019, 04:21:13 pm
Hi, it's been a while since I played this, but the latest update made me curious: It mentions enemy bases got Hunter-Killers.
Does that mean there will be enemy ships patrolling nearby to attack your ships then? Is there a way to avoid them?
IIRC the mod author didn't want to use this kind of encounters and the lore justified it by having your ships use a cloaking system. Did you change your mind, Dioxine?
I'm curious.

AFAIK it only concerns Ninja bases, as Ninja Gals are exempt from the "no detection" rule.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Yankes on September 01, 2019, 04:53:00 pm
Btw in near future there will be possible for cloaked crafts and ufo, and you will need have better radars/special radars to detect them.
Right now, new version of OXCE support invisible UFOs (nobody can detect them), this mean we are close to diffident tiers of viability.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: Rince Wind on September 01, 2019, 09:27:23 pm
We have Ninja bases now?

Enemy bases (I have mercs, academy and guild, so I assume all bases are the same) now have a visible radar circle, a rather small one. When you pass through you are being attacked. It seems to take some time to regenerate the fighter, after shooting it down I could pass through the radar range for at least a couple of hours, maybe even longer. So send a proper fighter, then attack the base/supply ship with your transport (ideally parked nearby).

You have to be careful, because on the way back from a tactical mission you cannot change course. (maybe you can transfer to another base? Haven't tried.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Dioxine on September 01, 2019, 10:24:40 pm
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: LytaRyta on September 02, 2019, 01:11:31 am
Yay!

Right!, let the stab them! (...)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Yirtimd2 on September 02, 2019, 05:38:20 am
Just read "Fix: Spacesuits not protecting from the coldness of space" - But coldness of space is just old sci fi trope? Or it's a real thing?

Because space is just Vacuum, it must be neutral. I guess...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: LytaRyta on September 02, 2019, 11:09:32 am
temperatures in (outer, deep, /near,..) space

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=t81sXci8PNaAk74P-u6s-A0&q=temperatures+in+outer+space&oq=&gs_l=psy-ab.1.3.35i39l10.0.0..4309...0.0..0.95.95.1......0......gws-wiz.....10.iOgkI7bKErg

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Dioxine on September 02, 2019, 02:59:04 pm
Just read "Fix: Spacesuits not protecting from the coldness of space" - But coldness of space is just old sci fi trope? Or it's a real thing?

It's a reference to cold damage inflicted upon player in space missions, nothing more. The game is not a physics simulator, but a tactical simulator. Have some distance.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Yirtimd2 on September 02, 2019, 03:34:00 pm
This made me think of a non-carbon based, maybe silicon-based body that can easily endure -300°C cold, essentially can swim around in space with a mere breathing apparatus.
... Like Alien? In Alien Isolation he felt himself very good in Space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Yankes on September 02, 2019, 10:08:52 pm
btw even if temperature of space is 2.7K you are effective in thermos, this mean you can't easy transfer heat out of your body.
Only way you can freeze is when your body fluids boils out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNTKHcVECYA

Bigger problem is sun that will fry your skin (day surface of moon have temperature up to 127C).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: LytaRyta on September 03, 2019, 03:59:17 am
This made me think of a non-carbon based, maybe silicon-based body that can easily endure -300°C (rather let´s tell it "near-deep space, / vacuum´ cold", essentially can swim around in space with a mere breathing apparatus.

..btw., yu know, that -300°C simply doesnt exist, nowhere..
just nor doesnt applicable, nor, -even!, -not as any solid hypothesis..

*Absolute Zero (as temperature..) = ~~ -273,15 °C

..but, well, amybe, such better, more exact:

absolute energetic (termodynamics) zero = ~~ lim--> -273,16 °C

yap, physics of (ranges of) very low temperatures, and (insteads of its all) very hight energies (and
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Yirtimd2 on September 03, 2019, 04:45:13 pm
... What if some dude in spacesuit, which as we know perfectly protects from deadly space coldness (-270.42 Celsius), will be in space and he will be doused with liquid nitrogen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Dakkdakk on September 03, 2019, 06:56:37 pm
Guys, this is xpiratez, not kerbal space program.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 03, 2019, 09:17:02 pm
... What if some dude in spacesuit, which as we know perfectly protects from deadly space coldness (-270.42 Celsius), will be in space and he will be doused with liquid nitrogen?

Then depending on how his suits reacts with that.

Vacuum of space is in general... Empty. Emptiness can't transfer heat that easly, because temperature is just summed up kinetic energy of matter particles in a body (be it gas, or solid object for example). Those particles by bumping with eachother (in gas and liquids, particles in solid matter vibrate) lose said energy, some in form of infrared radiation that just shoots up in every direction and this would be basically the only reason of "freezing". However it would be a very slow process.

To answer the question:
a) If your body isn't insulated from the suit, you would freeze.
b) If your body is insulated from the suit, only suit would freeze. Hypotetical advanced space suit wouldn't be affected by it.

What happens when you are exposed to the vacuum of space "naked"? Any water on the surface of your body would nearly immediately boil, gas in your lungs and digestive track would rapidly expand. That in first seconds. Loss of vision next, then loss of consciousness (either from gas exchange working in reverse, or pain from boiling eyes, or both), then death. Humans in theory should be able to survive 90 seconds in space (just survive, permanently disabled).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 05, 2019, 06:35:42 pm
Aren't they just Star Gods? They sound almost perfectly alike to me.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: LytaRyta on September 05, 2019, 10:29:24 pm
..or, amybe, Red Curtains´Rooms,   /  Black Lodge, etc..

(and all others things from "universe" :  https://twinpeaks.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Supernatural
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: LytaRyta on September 05, 2019, 10:31:28 pm
..btw., yap, all that Twin Peaks ..mythology, stuff fit also quite very well into xPirateyz ..space
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 05, 2019, 11:16:08 pm
Why "mess up" the lore by adding race simillar to Star Gods that has no purpose in existing? Star Gods conquer worlds, expanding Empire to prepare for a fight with some unknown enemy that even they fear. Why would they allow someone like those aliens to not be their direct slaves?
If we would continue the path of "X-Piratez is a Sequel of X-Com Files where you lose in Cydonia", then there is even less sense for aliens to have direct contact with US govts, exchanging tech etc.

Instead, I would propose to expand Technocracy and by extention: Robotic and Cybernetic factions/enemies.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Dioxine on September 06, 2019, 01:14:14 am
Sir...
It is not "our" game. And it will never get a Steam release. If you want to create your own game, create your own game. Piratez are Piratez and will stay that way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Dakkdakk on September 06, 2019, 02:59:59 pm
On that train of thought (piratez  are piratez and will stay that way), I kinda have to expand on a commentary I made some months ago: Piratez has a distinctive early 90s saturday morning cartoon/heavy metal vibe to it that just makes me happy, which is a very similar feeling that the original xcom game gave me.

This is why (mostly due to personal preference) I tend to be against throwing every sci fi trope at it ALA xcom files.
I don't feel that piratez is in any way similar to that mod or that it has anything to do with it. Piratez is just piratez and its great as it is, and I hope it grows in that same style and feel. Its cool that lots of people have ideas for the mod, I'm just saying that Piratez is incredibly unique as it currently stands and I hope it stays that way.

What I'm saying is, I for one welcome our mutant boob overlords. Down with the skinny butt aliens.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 06, 2019, 04:51:12 pm
Indeed, it isn't clearly stated, but we can "play" with this idea with things both mods share. It's for fun, like kind of fun people have creating and exchanging theories about lore in games. Something simillar to Team ICO games, where each game is its own thing, but they share multiple similarities that enable players to connect three games without needing a big sign, or title that Shadow of Collosus is a Prequel to Ico.

Cunning gals might be as well directly connected to "Brutes" in X-Com Files where they both got an idea that eating Zombie Flesh is smart.
Weapons that appear just the same in both mods.
"Ghost" story arc and UAC existing in X-Com Files might directly correlate with The Dark Ones and the same organisation in Piratez.

It might be, or might not be, however there is more fun when there is no clear, big and direct proof that they aren't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Flenser on September 06, 2019, 08:51:17 pm
Hi, so I'm assuming the new weirdgal transformation doesn't affect V.skill and V.Power caps (since it isn't stated)? I got confused by "Her mystical skills will grow stronger" in the flavor text.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Yirtimd2 on September 07, 2019, 12:05:15 am
Sorry, Sir.. I forgot to mention that Steam One is OUR game, that we are developing in our own company. We are doing a turn-based, party-based, tactical dark fantasy RPG, that has an Overworld map to explore, just like the SSI Gold Box Series and similar Battlescape, where you can bash in those goblin heads and hear them SCREAM!! +lots of lots of blood & gore and the dark "Diablo I.-ey" stuff.   Sorry for the misus.!
Link to "Steam One" please. Just wanna look what are you talking about, sir.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Eddie on September 07, 2019, 06:58:20 pm
Hi, so I'm assuming the new weirdgal transformation doesn't affect V.skill and V.Power caps (since it isn't stated)? I got confused by "Her mystical skills will grow stronger" in the flavor text.

Statcaps do change. You get +5 V.Power and +20 V.Skill from the transformation, and new cap for V.Skill is 50. Statcap for V.Power is 75, but you can't reach it since 66 is the highest you can get before the transformation.

Side note: Voodoo strength used for the voodoo orb (panic and mind control) is V.Power * V.Skill.
Max stat hybrid: 75 * 75 = 5625
Max stat gal in Witch armor: 81 * 70 = 5670
So a hybrid can be just as good as a weirdgal at using a voodoo orb. The hybrids inbuilt psi is ~10% weaker than a voodoo orb.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: wolfreal on September 08, 2019, 02:49:01 am
Side note: Voodoo strength used for the voodoo orb (panic and mind control) is V.Power * V.Skill.
Max stat hybrid: 75 * 75 = 5625
Max stat gal in Witch armor: 81 * 70 = 5670
So a hybrid can be just as good as a weirdgal at using a voodoo orb. The hybrids inbuilt psi is ~10% weaker than a voodoo orb.

I think that is ok, because all other stats of a gal are superior
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17 - 1 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!!
Post by: Ashghan on September 08, 2019, 09:31:26 am
Quote
Statcap for V.Power is 75, but you can't reach it since 66 is the highest you can get before the transformation.
Unless something has changed recently, that is not true. You *can* increase VPwr.
Blood Magic
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Dioxine on September 09, 2019, 12:19:31 am
Sorry, Sir.. I forgot to mention that Steam One is OUR game, that we are developing in our own company. We are doing a turn-based, party-based, tactical dark fantasy RPG, that has an Overworld map to explore, just like the SSI Gold Box Series and similar Battlescape, where you can bash in those goblin heads and hear them SCREAM!! +lots of lots of blood & gore and the dark "Diablo I.-ey" stuff.   Sorry for the misus.!

Then don't spam Piratez topic with your ads, please. I understood you were commenting on Piratez.

Meanwhile, bugfix edition released... with some new fun stuff to boot :) Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Dioxine on September 09, 2019, 01:58:22 am
Which proves what exactly? There is cybernetics in Piratez, and always been within the scope of the game.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: mercy on September 09, 2019, 12:22:11 pm
Which proves what exactly? There is cybernetics in Piratez, and always been within the scope of the game.

Okay, I Un-Spammed this thread from all posts you called spam.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Dioxine on September 09, 2019, 01:05:28 pm
I never asked you to remove any posts, but suit yourself...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: nicedayright on September 10, 2019, 01:54:31 am
I'm really bummed out that the Peasant Aqua Suit EVA doesn't work in space. I probably should have been tipped off by the fact that the recipe didn't include grav units, but in my defense, the term "EVA" is a little misleading. Still, I just wasted about a month on a peasant space program only to have them show up to the mission in survival pods. Cheap refractor suits for a mission set where enemies almost exclusively use energy weapons? Not having to painstakingly swap my main gals over to space garb every month on this shitty laptop touchpad?

I should have known it was too good to be true.

Also, boxing glove arrows when?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on September 10, 2019, 01:32:41 pm
I'm really bummed out that the Peasant Aqua Suit EVA doesn't work in space. I probably should have been tipped off by the fact that the recipe didn't include grav units, but in my defense, the term "EVA" is a little misleading. Still, I just wasted about a month on a peasant space program only to have them show up to the mission in survival pods. Cheap refractor suits for a mission set where enemies almost exclusively use energy weapons? Not having to painstakingly swap my main gals over to space garb every month on this shitty laptop touchpad?

I should have known it was too good to be true.

Also, boxing glove arrows when?

You can save gal loadouts by using "F5" on equipment menu and load it by hitting "F9". There is about 30 (I think) slots for saves, enough for 15 gals to have normal and space loadout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Eddie on September 10, 2019, 04:12:40 pm
How to quickly swab armour:
In craft screen select "armour" menu. Change armour on any unit. Now right click on any unit to apply the same armour choice, without opening the drop down menu.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: new_civilian on September 14, 2019, 12:51:56 pm
One thing I realized about X-Piratez (apart from the fact that it is really good): I need a new PC.
Base Defense missions especially are unplayable on my old single-core computer....  :o
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: LytaRyta on September 15, 2019, 02:03:34 am
btw. do (or did) you know about the "ExclCOM" ? - the remake old classic X-CONm but whole exclusively in ..

..








.. yap, MS Excel!  :o :P :D

https://exlcom.jimdo.com/about-exlcom/

https://www.idnes.cz/hry/novinky/hry-v-excelu.A190913_234545_bw-novinky_srp
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Meridian on September 15, 2019, 02:54:59 pm
One thing I realized about X-Piratez (apart from the fact that it is really good): I need a new PC.
Base Defense missions especially are unplayable on my old single-core computer....  :o

Can you provide a save pls?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: nicedayright on September 15, 2019, 05:52:57 pm
One thing I realized about X-Piratez (apart from the fact that it is really good): I need a new PC.
Base Defense missions especially are unplayable on my old single-core computer....  :o

Wait till you get to space missions.

_________________________________________________________________________


On the topic of base defense missions, holy hell was I not set up for a star god crackdown at my Eco base. I will confess to shamelessly save-scumming, as I would probably ragequit if I lost all of the loot stored in this particular base. In other news, it is totally possible to kill sectopods with heavy flamers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Meridian on September 17, 2019, 12:10:51 pm
One thing I realized about X-Piratez (apart from the fact that it is really good): I need a new PC.
Base Defense missions especially are unplayable on my old single-core computer....  :o

Other things you can try:
- decrease scaling (how much of the map is displayed on the screen at once)
- turn off fancy filters
- decrease resolution
- use official OXCE version (renders about 50-120% faster than the unofficial one shipped with piratez, at least on my PC tested yesterday/today)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: ElGrillo on September 17, 2019, 10:01:38 pm
Did supplyship missions have been changed? they don't seem to land anymore
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: legionof1 on September 19, 2019, 07:19:52 am
Not so far as i am aware. I can think of a few possible explanations, but without more info about your specific situation i can only guess.

Is there a base present? Is it a real supply ship on the battlescape?(like is it the same shape, does it explode?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: ElGrillo on September 19, 2019, 07:23:30 am
there are bases, and the hyperwave decoder identifies them as suply ships on base suply mission.
I'll try to intercept one and see what happens.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: legionof1 on September 19, 2019, 07:28:04 am
Reviewed the patch notes and there is a mention of "tweaks" to secret base supply in the J16 patch. But "Tweaks to missions: They Came From The Sea, Secret Base Supply" isn't particularly descriptive.

Go forth for Science!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: HT on September 23, 2019, 11:46:24 am
Random question: Seeing that "XCOM Files" is going to have Commendations that increase stats, are there plans for Piratez' own medals to do the same thing? Just to know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Sampistola on September 23, 2019, 04:40:52 pm
hello because you do not put an air assault mission for the agents it would be interesting that way the ship-to-ship assault in the air uff I imagine how difficult that form would be with limited shifts before its escape

Hail-Satan
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J16 - 8 Aug -Zombie Dreams
Post by: BBHood217 on September 24, 2019, 02:11:29 pm
You have to be careful, because on the way back from a tactical mission you cannot change course. (maybe you can transfer to another base? Haven't tried.)

From my experience playing with HKs in Area 51, HKs completely ignore any player craft that are returning after finishing a mission.  So you don't have to worry about losing your craft that just finished a big pogrom or base assault.

...at least I think that's how HKs work, maybe it's different here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 24, 2019, 03:03:53 pm
Random question: Seeing that "XCOM Files" is going to have Commendations that increase stats, are there plans for Piratez' own medals to do the same thing? Just to know.

Yes, in fact we did Piratez first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Alex_D on September 25, 2019, 09:10:44 pm
So about that $1B purchase...
I was bit disappointed. "The World Is Yours" was just for bragging rights  :D
I spend in-game years of fully staffed 400+ runt factories chunking out fake $100 chips to get the cash.
I was expecting some sort of unique tech, or maybe a fully size Conqueror  ;D. Instead I got only 2,000 infamy points and a trophy with a $1 resale value.
(It's not a criticism at all, BTW)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Damaskus213 on September 27, 2019, 07:27:39 pm
Hi there,

I am completely new to this forum and just registered.
First of all I love this mod you really did a good job dioxine!

Now just a short question. I played for an ingame year now and proceeding slowly trough the game.
Have captured an academic Esper a while ago and need the persuasion tech to interrogate her.
I am missing only one tech to research it, its the vodoo of the old earth tech. The techtree says I get it from old earth books.

How do i get these? I captured alot of researchers, academy medics and other guys who apparently can have them. But no luck so far.
Is it an item or do I need to interrogate my abductees until I get them?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Eddie on September 27, 2019, 11:49:46 pm
Old earth books are a prerequisite to old earth voodoo. As such, you don't need the item itself, it is enough if you get it from interrogations.
Some versions ago, altar boys could tell you about them and that was the quickest way to get it. That is changed now, which makes it a lot harder to get as all the other people that could possibly tell you about it have so many other things to tell you.

The item you can find, and it is also a possible prize from gambling (iron and titanium coupons).
I guess gambling is the fastest way to get it now, as you should be gambling all your 1000 credit chips anyway. Redeem all the coupons you can, sell the ones you can't. You get about 3x-4x the money the blue chips were worth + a ton of stuff. Side effect of that, you get more money from robbing people + gambling than by simply selling a captive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: MemoryTAS on September 28, 2019, 11:56:58 pm
There's also guaranteed old earth books in mansions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Rangerh on September 29, 2019, 04:48:42 am
- use official OXCE version (renders about 50-120% faster than the unofficial one shipped with piratez, at least on my PC tested yesterday/today)

That sounds very impressive !
Is the official OXCE playing 100% nice with the current xpiratez or is there some incompatibility to expect considering xpiratez use apparently an unofficial OXCE ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Meridian on September 29, 2019, 10:57:46 am
That sounds very impressive !
Is the official OXCE playing 100% nice with the current xpiratez or is there some incompatibility to expect considering xpiratez use apparently an unofficial OXCE ?

I don't know which base version was used to build the custom one, you'd have to ask Finnik.

But if you use the same base version (or newer), it should be fine.
If you want, try OXCE 5.6.2, which is the latest stable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: BBHood217 on October 13, 2019, 10:24:10 pm
I remember when I played the X-Prison mission for the very first time a couple of years ago, I got to the top and explored nearly the entire place before I won via routing the enemy.  But that hasn't happened again since; in subsequent playthroughs, I wouldn't even get halfway through the place before winning because all the enemies have already panicked and given up.  I don't know if it's because I know the game better now or a change made the mission easier, but it seems like a waste to design this big complex unique map and not be able to see all of it most of the time.  I'm not quite sure how to fix this, or if this is actually intentional and there's really nothing to fix.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 14, 2019, 06:46:49 am
I remember when I played the X-Prison mission for the very first time a couple of years ago, I got to the top and explored nearly the entire place before I won via routing the enemy.  But that hasn't happened again since; in subsequent playthroughs, I wouldn't even get halfway through the place before winning because all the enemies have already panicked and given up.  I don't know if it's because I know the game better now or a change made the mission easier, but it seems like a waste to design this big complex unique map and not be able to see all of it most of the time.  I'm not quite sure how to fix this, or if this is actually intentional and there's really nothing to fix.

There is one sure way to see the entire map: Stun most of the enemies, kill few for morale.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 14, 2019, 02:53:00 pm
X-Prison got worse/easier in some regards.
Maxed-out morale (100) is no longer garanteed to offer panic-resistance since the morale drop per turn increases in larger chunks if your team doesn't score kills.
Chaining kills drops the enemy morale quickly and counts even more if you slay high-rank units.

Naked with only shivs in the backpack aren't many tools to work with and I prefer to get rid of the enemies instead of risking a surprise counter-attack of an enemy punching my gals in the back.
Since the enemy can do un-armed attacks like we do, this is a risk I dont' want to take.

You can coup de grâce your k.o.ed foes. Put the unit in one hand-slot, a shiv in the other hand and use the shiv's new move to instantly kill the foe.
This trick doesn't cause moral damage to the enemy (at least not in my last playthrough).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 14, 2019, 03:35:33 pm
You can coup de grâce your k.o.ed foes. Put the unit in one hand-slot, a shiv in the other hand and use the shiv's new move to instantly kill the foe.

This option has been removed around the Pleistocene... ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: BBHood217 on October 15, 2019, 02:04:35 am
There's been a lot of changes since I last played this last year.  Coup de graces are no longer a thing, and neither is moving facilities around (but to compensate, there are more facilities that can be built over).  Strix zombies and triscenes (boomosaurs) can finally be stunned without them dying instead even if they explode afterwards (luckily, their explosions don't destroy their bodies); I don't know yet if cyberdiscs and sectopods can be similarly stunned but I probably wouldn't bet on it.  The aquaman (gillman terror unit from TFTD formerly called deep one) also amuses me a little because like its TFTD counterpart, its corpse and live specimen are needed for a couple of important research topics.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: nicedayright on October 16, 2019, 09:22:14 pm
In other news, *how* you defend your bases is pretty important. Accidentally destroying your access lift or the facility adjoining it to the rest of the base can have VERY negative consequences.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J17A - 8 Sep - I Stab At Thee!!! (reloaded)
Post by: legionof1 on October 17, 2019, 06:38:37 am
The lift is indestructible. anything else.....well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Dioxine on October 18, 2019, 03:43:30 am
New version up. Warning: saves need minor editing to carry over
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: misterx on October 18, 2019, 10:31:39 am
[...]
v.K1 17-Nov-2019

Thanks!!! But this time we travelled even in the future! Pheraphs might bau an intended and planned feature?  ;D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: seaurchinhead on October 18, 2019, 02:44:31 pm
While I'm glad for the new version, it's a bit of shame that now there's another system which forces the players to solve the battles faster. I guess I'm a bit too noob to get used to rushing my battles.... :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Eddie on October 18, 2019, 02:54:27 pm
Quote
- All grenades explode in inventory when the timer runs out

Yeehaa! I've been waiting a long time for this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 18, 2019, 04:27:56 pm
RIP preprimed grenades for grenadiers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Alex_D on October 18, 2019, 04:49:49 pm
RIP preprimed grenades for grenadiers.

Well, that's unfortunate.

On the other hand, if the engagement is going to be in close combats (say before entering a UFO). I usually make my soldiers um-prime the grenades.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Dioxine on October 18, 2019, 05:40:56 pm
Well, that's unfortunate.

On the other hand, if the engagement is going to be in close combats (say before entering a UFO). I usually make my soldiers um-prime the grenades.

That is why that option was moved to the attack menu.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Aoi on October 18, 2019, 09:31:33 pm
Quote
- New Feature: Enemy Panic & Berserk sounds; hence, enemy panic txt messages now locked OFF

Does this mean there's now no non-auditory indicator of any kind for if they panic outside of LoS? (For various reasons, my audio is almost always off.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Dioxine on October 18, 2019, 10:07:37 pm
Does this mean there's now no non-auditory indicator of any kind for if they panic outside of LoS? (For various reasons, my audio is almost always off.)

If you play mute, you can always switch that back it in piratez_globals.rul
Code: [Select]
noAlienPanicMessages
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: legionof1 on October 19, 2019, 06:04:38 am
Yeah, if you wish to ignore audio cues, which is actually more info then we had before if your ear is good, that on you. Player choice is wonderful.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Alex_D on October 19, 2019, 04:04:12 pm
That is why that option was moved to the attack menu.

My 2-cents comments on the matter.

If the mod has a large TU for throwing, I always considered the priming to be part of this action. I always saw the priming of grenades that have a timer to be not the grenade pin but an additional safety measure, such as a lock or arming button. Then when pre-priming became available all made sense to me.

In my mind, the grenades in a pocket that were accidentally dropped and later exploded, they hit the ground without the restraint of their last safety element. I imagined that to be a sleeve of sorts in the pocket or backpack holding the grenade lever or similar that lost its grip on the grenade upon impact.  A soldier would grab a pre-primed grenade from the sleeve into his/her hand for throwing. I consider the sleeve to be an invisible item that adds to the encumbrance of the grenade in the overall weight management of the game.

Are the priming or throwing costs reduced somewhat for balancing purposes?

(I haven't played K1 version yet, so I may be writing non-sense, apologies if so)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 19, 2019, 06:08:03 pm
My 2-cents comments on the matter.

If the mod has a large TU for throwing, I always considered the priming to be part of this action. I always saw the priming of grenades that have a timer to be not the grenade pin but an additional safety measure, such as a lock or arming button. Then when pre-priming became available all made sense to me.

In my mind, the grenades in a pocket that were accidentally dropped and later exploded, they hit the ground without the restraint of their last safety element. I imagined that to be a sleeve of sorts in the pocket or backpack holding the grenade lever or similar that lost its grip on the grenade upon impact.  A soldier would grab a pre-primed grenade from the sleeve into his/her hand for throwing. I consider the sleeve to be an invisible item that adds to the encumbrance of the grenade in the overall weight management of the game.

Are the priming or throwing costs reduced somewhat for balancing purposes?

(I haven't played K1 version yet, so I may be writing non-sense, apologies if so)

I'm not really sure if I understand, but throwing primed, or unprimed nade costs the same. Grenades that doesn't have prime function take longer to "shoot" (like blackpowder bomb, or molotov), but you can also throw them for the cost of throwing item with their weight.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Bracer on October 19, 2019, 08:25:56 pm
Is there a workaround to use the preprimed grenades like before ?
I liked the idea to have a always ready nade at the risk of losing a downed gal + inventory if you were unable to get to her fast.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Alex_D on October 19, 2019, 09:57:55 pm
I'm not really sure if I understand, but throwing primed, or unprimed nade costs the same.
It shouldn't be any difference on the throwing. The TUs are the same. The difference is one is armed and the other is not. And that action costs additional TUs.

Grenades that doesn't have prime function take longer to "shoot" (like blackpowder bomb, or molotov), but you can also throw them for the cost of throwing item with their weight.
These need to be lit, thus the extra time for them to be deadly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: dronnoh on October 20, 2019, 07:35:27 am
New "freshness" system is a bit confusing for me. How much freshness is maximum by default? How big stat decreases are? Is having a superhuman overleveled gal a bad thing now (because immortal and birthday essentially nullify all other potential freshness increases)?
Also, do old version gals get 0 freshness by default (without modifying the save, i didn't care to do that since i'm gonna restart anyway) and having negative 17 freshness is an expected result?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Aoi on October 20, 2019, 10:10:47 am
Is having a superhuman overleveled gal a bad thing now (because immortal and birthday essentially nullify all other potential freshness increases)?

Wouldn't Scourge of X more than counteract that, eventually? Or do those condemnations that are related to specific weapons/locations/factions only trigger their stat boosts once across the entire family of condemnations?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 20, 2019, 10:14:12 am
Quote
- Combat-oriented enemy aircraft now actively attacks you

If I didn't know better, I'd assume that enemy craft in hunter killer mode never crash and always get destroyed; I know that's not actually the case and it's still possible (but difficult) to crash such craft.  Nonetheless, I don't like this change; I've been trying to crash this dominator and it just keeps blowing up despite it being such a tough craft.  And if something as tough as a dominator always blows up, then what about early game cop cars and midgame bombers?  Looting those is now far tougher if not nigh impossible.

I think the kill threshold for hunter killer craft is way too strict.  I fear that when the time comes for me to take on a battleship, it'll just blow up because it decided to turn around and attack me.  And that's one less source of a VIP.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: dronnoh on October 20, 2019, 11:19:22 am
Wouldn't Scourge of X more than counteract that, eventually? Or do those condemnations that are related to specific weapons/locations/factions only trigger their stat boosts once across the entire family of condemnations?
Apparently, it counts only one of every level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 20, 2019, 12:19:07 pm
Okay, it seems that different craft have different kill thresholds when HKing.  The dominator is always destroyed, but science vessels seem just as easy to crash as before even though they can attack your craft now.  I've been trying to find in the rulesets where the thresholds are defined, but no luck.

I guess I'm just gonna have to accept the fact that I'll never ever see a dominator in the battlescape.  The first one never lands and is always destroyed when attacked, and the second one immediately attacks a city the instant it appears.  Might as well replace the dominator mapblock with a small scout mapblock then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 20, 2019, 11:35:32 pm
I guess I'm just gonna have to accept the fact that I'll never ever see a dominator in the battlescape.

There exist "Tractor Beam" that allows you to force every ship to land without any damage. It's late tech, but better late then never.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Eddie on October 20, 2019, 11:50:44 pm
Is having a superhuman overleveled gal a bad thing now (because immortal and birthday essentially nullify all other potential freshness increases)?

My current game has a lot of superhuman gals. My main squad of superleveled gals have freshness bonuses of ~ +6 to +12.
It's the B team that all have negative modifiers of ~ -2 to -5, mostly because of nightinggale and bullet magnet. The reason is, the B team fights mostly easy missions where their armor is better than the enemy weapons. So with these gals I mostly don't care if they get hit since it does no damage, hence they have high level bullet magnet. The easy missions I also typically do at night since the easy enemies have poor night vision.

Statcap for freshness is 70, so I would guess the bonuses and penalties from condemnations don't affect gameplay too much. I haven't played enough on the new patch to have an opinion yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BlackOnix on October 21, 2019, 12:07:30 am
November update? I'm stuck in october :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: LytaRyta on October 21, 2019, 03:38:15 am
My current game has a lot of superhuman gals. My main squad of superleveled gals have freshness bonuses of ~ +6 to +12.
It's the B team that all have negative modifiers of ~ -2 to -5, mostly because of nightinggale and bullet magnet. The reason is, the B team fights mostly easy missions where their armor is better than the enemy weapons. So with these gals I mostly don't care if they get hit since it does no damage, hence they have high level bullet magnet. The easy missions I also typically do at night since the easy enemies have poor night vision.

Statcap for freshness is 70, so I would guess the bonuses and penalties from condemnations don't affect gameplay too much. I haven't played enough on the new patch to have an opinion yet.

freshness? ?

it´s indeed new statistical ..item, for me :o :S
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: misterx on October 21, 2019, 03:38:42 pm
As of 0.99K1 the moving buildings around the base featured seems to have been removed, may i suggest to reintroduce it once the "minecraft" research topic is accomplished?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Eddie on October 21, 2019, 04:23:59 pm
Some musings on condemnations:
"Bane of x" and "Master of x" count kills and stuns, while others count only kills to the point where it doesn't make much sense. General example: I shoot someone with a rifle, he passes out bleeding. If I let him die, it counts toward "Grunt". If another gal comes and heals his wounds, the shooter gets no points towards "Grunt". Even though the gal that did the shooting did the exact same thing in both cases.

More specific examples: You can get "Primal" from using the handle and quarterstaff, but it only counts kills and not stuns. The hunting bow is also included, but again only kills. That pretty much excludes poison arrows.
"Monster Hunter" is one where I really feel a knockout should count. Killing a monster with a knive is glorious, but taking it down with your bare hands even more. Especially since a captured monster is worth more than a corpse, regarding parts extraction. You are a more successful hunter when you manage to capture it alive.

"Psycho" has Fistycuffs and Ninja Stick, as well as the the rubber bullet capable shotguns. Here the kill only makes more sense.
"Street Fighter" has the Black Adder, which is also a weapon that I use for stunning (for Sectogres, Sirens and Zombies).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rince Wind on October 21, 2019, 06:08:16 pm
As of 0.99K1 the moving buildings around the base featured seems to have been removed, may i suggest to reintroduce it once the "minecraft" research topic is accomplished?

That was already gone in the last version and it is gone from the .exe iirc, so a mod can't just reintroduce it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Alex_D on October 21, 2019, 08:35:43 pm
As of 0.99K1 the moving buildings around the base featured seems to have been removed, may i suggest to reintroduce it once the "minecraft" research topic is accomplished?

Was that feature removed only in Iron-man mode, or was it removed from the game for all difficulty levels?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 21, 2019, 09:27:50 pm
Was that feature removed only in Iron-man mode, or was it removed from the game for all difficulty levels?

It was removed from the whole game, Iron Man has zero impact on gameplay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 21, 2019, 11:26:21 pm
We'll just have to get used to it.  Start planning a little more ahead, and take note of which facilities can be built over to save time in the future.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on October 22, 2019, 03:42:25 am
Kind of hard to plan ahead without metagaming.   :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 22, 2019, 09:44:16 am
Kind of hard to plan ahead without metagaming.   :-\

If you left-click on a facility, you can dismantle it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 22, 2019, 01:36:45 pm
If you can build over a facility, do that instead as it'll shave time off constructing the new facility.

In other news, bombers always get destroyed now.  Fun.  As if implosion bomb launchers needed to be even rarer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: lancev on October 22, 2019, 05:11:32 pm
In other news, bombers always get destroyed now.

Sure?
Last time I checked, it was random, but determined at SPAWN.
If you just reload the same bomber after it has spawned, it will always explode.

It could still make sense to set huntBehavior: 0, since non-military ships always crash, unless the damage is to high. Why would military ships always explode? Perhaps self-destruct. Or hit in the ammo depot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 22, 2019, 11:45:28 pm
One of the numbered topics explains it.  Enemy craft usually crash when reduced to half their HP, just like in the original game.  This is apparently a safety features of theirs, and it can be turned off so they can fight to the death.  That's the justification for HK craft getting destroyed in exchange for being in the battle for longer than usual.

Bottom line, enjoy waiting years for an implosion bomb launcher.  Actually, you might never ever get one ever because I just realized that the viper fighters will probably also explode too and never crash.

Edit: I don't know if this is a bug or the RNG messing with me (still waiting for that demonic sacrifice and any space mission with guild spacemen instead of academy explorers), but why am I still getting highway houses?  I don't need them anymore, I've already contacted Krazy Hanna, in fact I thought contacting her would completely remove this mission.  I didn't even get my first 25mm cannon from the damn highwaymen anyway, I got Krazy Hanna before the first house mission ever showed up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: wolfreal on October 23, 2019, 02:33:14 am
Just updated and played a little... gosh, the new range system gets my finances to hell!. Playing male touch now is just getting harder. Those salaries for Slaves and Peasants adds up quickly... And I have a princess now, That gal cost a lot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: dronnoh on October 23, 2019, 06:20:16 am
One of the numbered topics explains it.  Enemy craft usually crash when reduced to half their HP, just like in the original game.  This is apparently a safety features of theirs, and it can be turned off so they can fight to the death.  That's the justification for HK craft getting destroyed in exchange for being in the battle for longer than usual.

Bottom line, enjoy waiting years for an implosion bomb launcher.  Actually, you might never ever get one ever because I just realized that the viper fighters will probably also explode too and never crash.



There's a line "HunterKillerPercentage" in the Piratez_Factions ruleset that reads 100 in almost every battlecraft. Some of them (mostly some small Bandit Vasps etc) have 50. What could this line mean and maybe reducing this number could change behaviour of ships from being SUPER AGRESSIVE to trying to retreat at certain % of HP, or make only some of them focused on murdering you?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 23, 2019, 08:43:41 am
I played a little more and actually managed to crash a dominator, so it seems kill thresholds aren't absolute.  Maybe craft are randomly set to crash or blow up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rince Wind on October 23, 2019, 11:40:06 am
When almost every military ship is a hunter killer now, how do you send more than one ship after them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 23, 2019, 01:25:50 pm
You could try having your other craft escort one craft (done by selecting that craft as a destination) so that they'll all be together by the time they reach the enemy (or the enemy reaches them).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: LuigiWhatif on October 25, 2019, 01:53:09 am
I just did a mission with black pyramids.  How am I supposed to win?  My explosives didn't seem to affect the pyramid tops, and blowing up the red things inside didn't seem to do anything either.  What do I need?  I'm still on v.J17.A if that matters.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rince Wind on October 25, 2019, 03:31:34 am
More dakka. (serious, take a look at the pyramid tops with a mind probe if you have one. dakka is the solution to your problem.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: LuigiWhatif on October 25, 2019, 04:02:22 am
Do you mean just more rocket launchers?  I couldn't even tell if the ones I fired were doing any damage thanks to its reaction fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 25, 2019, 10:27:32 am
I've come to a conclusion: There is no kill threshold.  Whether a hunter killer crashes or blows up is all RNG, and this was proven when I shot at a ninja seeker with a craft charger laser which is the weakest craft weapon ever.  Guess what?  It still blew up.  It was destined to blow up.  No matter how little damage you do, it will always blow up.  The only thing you can do is pray that the next ninja seeker you see is set to crash and not blow up.  But just keep in mind that you might be waiting for years, because I've gone through plenty of space missions already and I still have yet to see a single guild spaceman because apparently the Academy (and the occasional killer droids) has a monopoly on space.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rince Wind on October 25, 2019, 01:12:36 pm
Do you mean just more rocket launchers?  I couldn't even tell if the ones I fired were doing any damage thanks to its reaction fire.

Whatever you have, those things are HP sponges.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: legionof1 on October 26, 2019, 12:37:58 am
Middling armor (50?), 500ish hp, and resistant to many common damage types. Chem does extra i think, laser and plasma are your next best.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 26, 2019, 02:31:24 am
Lasers are the answer to everything that isn't gold shields.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: legionof1 on October 26, 2019, 10:40:58 am
only sorta of an answer with the pyramids, 500 hp take along time when your only doing 75%, but other option can be even worse.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Rince Wind on October 26, 2019, 12:57:31 pm
Something that reduces the armor helps as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 26, 2019, 07:41:30 pm
I'm not sure, but is it necessary to kill the black pyramids?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: legionof1 on October 26, 2019, 08:36:10 pm
They can certainly be in quite map dominating positions. Removal is sometimes needed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Alex_D on October 26, 2019, 08:39:13 pm
I'm not sure, but is it necessary to kill the black pyramids?
That scenario appears to me to have endless enemies.
As per the pyramids, the first time I brought a 60 mm Tank. It took several shots to destroy just one pyramid. Later, the lascannons from better tanks and such are a must. The pyramids take no more than three shots to implode.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 26, 2019, 11:07:43 pm
Vehicles are the best thing to happen to heavy weapons.  Who needs a bossar when you have an armored car with a HMG shooting PS bullets?  Portable lascannon?  Slap it on a car where it can be fired faster, more accurately, and with reliable 50-150% damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: JamTheDane on October 27, 2019, 01:06:40 am
I just got the Zombie Panic mission today  and faced the Black Pyramids. I spend around 10 turns having 2 men in each of the 3 pyramids to kill spawns, 6 going back to the ship for rocket launchers (they were armed with meelee and magic cards for throwing training), and the rest guarding various sleeping zombies.
As soon as I killed the last pyramid, i got the "bug hunt" message, so I assume that you must kill the pyramids.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Eddie on October 28, 2019, 06:24:48 pm
The Admiral de Corazon drains freshness by 8 per round at 100 moral. That's 40 after 5 turns. That doesn't seem very balanced.

Edit: My guess is this is a typo in the ruleset and the value is supposed to be -0.008 and not -0.08. Would be nice if you can comment on that Dioxine, so that I can put the right intended value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Eddie on October 29, 2019, 03:38:05 am
An interesting result of military craft hunting you: The Shadowbat gained in value as a fighter craft.
Previously it's slow speed limited it's usefulnes for aircombat. Now you just need to get somewhat close for them to be so nice and fly your way. The shadowbat is more durable than a HK and has the same two missle slots. Military craft tend to be armored, so the light weapons of the HK are not that useful in these situations anyway.

Not sure how useful this all is though, as the military craft blow up a lot of the time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 29, 2019, 10:15:25 am
Neat, cyberdiscs can actually be stunned now; they no longer just die upon getting knocked down.  But the last attack that downs the disc still needs to be a cutting melee weapon, as getting stunned by electric damage still blows up the disc (but surprisingly leaves the wreck intact).  Also important: Cutting doesn't explode, but stabbing does.

However, now it's the tank's turn to be never stunned and always die when knocked down.  I'm sure that's on purpose though, and I can probably assume that hovertanks and sectopods are similarly unstunnable now.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: LytaRyta on October 30, 2019, 06:38:45 pm
...1more generell question, (and i think such post, same polemic, was here already, not so much time ago, if i remember correctly,  but although anyways i ask - what is that "40 000" ..thing, it is Sci-fi, (as i suppose), about what? what plot, what ..topics, theme ?  *sex, Orcs, & rock´n´roll, ? or ?   robots, fighting, and swords, orcs, and dragon ?
or what
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 30, 2019, 07:59:38 pm
...1more generell question, (and i think such post was here already, not so much time ago, if i remmeber correctly,  but although anyways i ask - what is that "40 000" ..thing, it is Sci-fi, (as i suppose), about what? what plot, what ..topics, theme ?  *sex, Orcs, & rock´n´roll, ? or ?   robots, fighting, and swords, orcs, and dragon ?
or what

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=Warhammer+40k+what+is+it%3F&s=g

Perfection.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: magus1 on October 31, 2019, 01:19:58 am
You have just asked the rock n roll equivalent of "who are Guns n Roses". I hope you enjoy it...

P.S where do I get a simulacrum from? I have no artillery without my lokkies.

Love,  Mags
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: magus1 on October 31, 2019, 01:20:48 am
P.P.S what did you mean about editing saves a bit Dio?

L

M
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: legionof1 on October 31, 2019, 01:59:09 am
Updating from J to K1:
Load, then save.
Then, in savefile
Change all

Code: [Select]
mana: 0
on your soldiers to

Code: [Select]
mana: 50
or similar number.
Reload.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 31, 2019, 11:57:22 am
Simulacrums are kinda rare magic item things, possibly as rare as shadow orbs but I'm not sure on that.

Edit: I dug through the files because I badly need something that has yet to reappear, and I fear I've come to a terrible conclusion.  The technomancer is guaranteed to appear in only one mission, and that mission is one time only.  If you capture her alive and research the wrong thing out of her (you want info on her corpse which she can actually tell you about), then congratulations because you're now locked out of a certain research tech that requires her corpse.  You only get that mission once, it does not reoccur ever, and thus you only ever have a single chance from the one technomancer you'll ever fight.  Enjoy.

I looked at all the other missions to see if a technomancer could also appear in them.  The technomancer is actually part of the zombie race, so I narrowed it down to all the missions where zombies are possible.  And from the looks of things, the only mission that could possibly cough up a technomancer outside of that one-time mission is in a space freighter.  I dunno about you, but I dread having to fight through (or worse, clear out) an entire space freighter full of zombies just to get to one single technomancer.  And that's assuming I ever get a space freighter mission, much less one that rolled the 10% chance needed to get zombies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: Dioxine on October 31, 2019, 06:28:52 pm
could possibly cough up a technomancer outside of that one-time mission

It isn't one time mission. You can farm it. But you can accidentally turn it off without getting that item, I'll change it for now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: magus1 on October 31, 2019, 07:01:03 pm
TY Dio and BB; you hinted that there was another unamed mission where you can find the Technomancer, or is it just Space Freighter?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on October 31, 2019, 10:38:21 pm
Like I said, the technomancer is a member of the zombie race (a sort of VIP in fact, similar to guildmasters and coordinators).  But the only mission with zombies that could spawn a VIP-level enemy is the space freighter.  There might be other possibilities, but I don't know if zombies do crackdowns or secret base missions.

I guess for now, I'll just edit one of my upcoming missions into another Technomancer mission.  It'd be nice to one day play this mod without savescumming, file editing, and using debug mode; but I just never have the free time to do so.

Finally, is there really any point in calling the zombie race "unknown"?  If you see a craft being flown by "unknown", it's always zombies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 01, 2019, 09:22:45 am
Finally, is there really any point in calling the zombie race "unknown"?  If you see a craft being flown by "unknown", it's always zombies.

At this point sure, it's always mostly harmless zombies. But in the future it might change, other lesser factions could use this flag to trick the player a bit and also fit in the lore a bit.
It was fairly common during "Golden Pirate Age" that such ship would go under fake, or no "cockade" (flag).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: LuigiWhatif on November 01, 2019, 11:20:48 pm
It isn't one time mission. You can farm it. But you can accidentally turn it off without getting that item, I'll change it for now.

What turns it off?  I'm still on j17.A and I still need the research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K1 - 17 Nov - Bandaid needed!
Post by: BBHood217 on November 02, 2019, 12:40:00 am
I believe it's the one that makes the Red Mage move in with you so you can build the Red Tower.  I suggest not researching the Necronomicon at all until you're all done with the technomancer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 02, 2019, 10:25:22 pm
Hello everyone! Here at piratez HQ Halloween lasts longer! Despite mounting technical defficulties with our hardware, new version is out, cold and fresh! We're not dead yet!

Download in the first post as usual!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: seaurchinhead on November 03, 2019, 12:44:45 am
OHHH MY GOD!!!

Lowered TU for grenades!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really really love using grenades, and I was always somewhat disappointed by high TU in this mod...but now I'm happy!!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: magus1 on November 03, 2019, 01:06:05 am
Dear Dio-kun,

Black pyramids. Hate you. I took the last one out with my last Bombard shot. What a nasty twisted thing to do to poor players.

More please.

How is it that you you offer more Hallowe'en on the night I was going to request it? I even crimped my hair. I used to dress in white on the 31st like Patricia Morrison as everyone was being gothic.

(please can we have a frying pan only usable by witches?)

Love Mags

P.S Happy Samhain
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 03, 2019, 03:31:35 am
Thanks for the new version. I love the STC slot on the menace class.

Some thoughts on missiles:
Spike rockets seem a bad deal now compared to seagulls. At least when buying them.
Spike: 35 damage x 0.35 hit chance / 12.5 k = 0.98 bang for buck
Seagull: 60 damage x 0.85 hit chance / 50 k = 1.02 bang for buck

Seagulls have more dps and range. On the previous patch spikes at least had more dps.
I'm not sure what's the intended role for spikes. I would see them as worse than seagulls but more bang for buck. Right now they are worse with same bang for buck.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 03, 2019, 04:43:09 am
i will point out that the spike is lower tech. so overall weaker is to be expected, particularity at such low tier. Spikes are only the first advance from airballs after all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2019, 04:57:42 am
Enjoy new "meta", I guess? I can up the price of Seagulls if it offends your sensitivity, not a problem. Spikes really can't get any cheaper.

And by the way, your math is completely off. You did not factor in ship and pilot bonus, for instance. Sigh. I'll write it off as rookie's mistake on your part.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 03, 2019, 03:22:38 pm
I know pilot bonus makes spikes better. They also get better when you shoot at large targets. But then again they get worse when the target has some armor. I didn't want to make the math too complicated and the post too long tough.
My practical experience is: If you have interceptors with spikes and interceptors with seagulls, the fight is usuall over before the spikes get into range.

Are spike rockets lower tech than seagulls? Not neccessarily. I try to get contacts:smugglers early because they have important other stuff (electroflare for example). For early access to spikes you need bounty tokens, and I would rather spend them on mutant martial arts and alliance favours. I get buyable spikes a lot later than seagulls.

Anyway, the price of spike rockets is probably the least important thing regarding balance. No reason to dwell on it.


I'm always surprised which of my posts get a response and which don't...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2019, 04:09:31 pm
Are spike rockets lower tech than seagulls? Not neccessarily. I try to get contacts:smugglers early because they have important other stuff (electroflare for example). For early access to spikes you need bounty tokens, and I would rather spend them on mutant martial arts and alliance favours. I get buyable spikes a lot later than seagulls.

So the real problem is too easy availability of one vs. the other.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 03, 2019, 04:35:26 pm
So the real problem is too easy availability of one vs. the other.

Yes. I guess switching their spots in the tech tree might be a solution. Smugglers offer spikes, seagulls as a bounty prize. Feels right.

Other than that, I think spikes could use a buff in accuracy. Spikes have 35%, airballs 40%. Surely missiles hit better than airballs???
The accuracy is even more important because the early dangerous shippings (the hunterkiller ones) are police and bandits, which mostly have avoid bonus.
To keep the dps from getting too high, lower the fire rate a bit. If you want to go even further, increase the ammo count so a lone airspeeder with a spike launcher is less of a gamble in engagements.
If the regular spike launcher gets any buffs, the Little Ilya might need to be adjusted to make sure it's still better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2019, 04:43:38 pm
Yes. I guess switching their spots in the tech tree might be a solution. Smugglers offer spikes, seagulls as a bounty prize. Feels right.

Not really, but I have other ideas.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on November 03, 2019, 05:30:57 pm
I feel the condemnation system allows for some ridiculous stuff. What is the theoretical maximim bravery now? Takes some dedication, but you can make weapons that scale with bravery absurdly powerful. Also checked the El Capitan suit’s stats. A bit better but unless you can eventually manufacture it and dress up your whole officer corps in it it is not really worth picking the worst codex.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2019, 06:32:25 pm
If a single item decides codex choice, it isn't what I had in mind.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on November 03, 2019, 06:58:07 pm
The codex has little content and the content is rather mediocre, so the El Capitan outfit really shines. But any other codex has much more going for it. Gold codex in underpowered pls buff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 03, 2019, 09:13:59 pm
If you ask me whether spike rockets or seagull missiles are better, my answer is this: Meteor missiles are still the king of all missiles and there's really no reason to use anything else once you become buddies with the sectoids.

Also, that Nov. 17 typo for K1 will never be fixed will it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2019, 10:35:41 pm
Also, that Nov. 17 typo for K1 will never be fixed will it?

It has been where it counts, check readme.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Iazo on November 04, 2019, 09:37:06 am
I must protest the idea that Gold is the 'worst' codex. Sure, a buff could help me because I play Gold almost exclusively, but even without the Admiral suit (I tend to believe it is too damn harsh on freshness), it has several good things.

1) Best battery craft choice, hands down. In fact, all 3 craft are so good I would have trouble picking just 2. If I were to rate all battery Craft, only Scarab and MAYBE Snake would put up a contender fight for 3rd place.

2) The strategic flexibility of 1.4 mil in start of March. Can be a leg up on a second base or just cramming your base full of brains. In fact, only Green can hope to mach such jumpstarted development.

3) Best voodo schools.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 04, 2019, 03:45:59 pm
I 100% agree on what Iazo said.

On the last few patches Turtle got weaker due to shoot through windows, but Shadowbat got better because of the light weapon slots.

Regarding max bravery: have you looked at the requirements to get all the condemnations to lvl 10? Bomber lvl 10 for example needs 3 explosion kills in one round 200 times. That's 600 kills. By the time you have grinded them out you will have finished the game.

Personally I'm not happy about the bravery bonuses because with bravery above 100 you cannot replenish moral with the pirate flag. I might have to shoot my own gals on purpose to get the bravery penalty from friendly fire condemnation...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: magus1 on November 05, 2019, 02:10:36 am
OKay, Weird gals have I guess a min voodoo power and skill. It is just that I was silly and nerfed two gals to up Freshness and they cannot wear Sorceress anymore.

:{

pLease anypne. I have 22 new gals appearing in a week and the weak get the plank. What makes a weirdgal?


M
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 05, 2019, 07:18:54 am
Voodoo power and bravery iirc correctly
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 05, 2019, 09:23:13 am
Wow, MAG ammo just became a whole lot better.  Ignore its outdated bootypedia entry, its clip size is normal now.  Instead, it does more damage than PS ammo and it can now set things on fire.

Makes me wish that player hovertanks could use machineguns.  Oh well, early game armored cars have still became even more attractive now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 05, 2019, 01:29:44 pm
What makes a weirdgal?

Weirdgals need 50 bravery and voodoo power.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 05, 2019, 02:10:33 pm
Dear Dio-kun,

Black pyramids. Hate you. I took the last one out with my last Bombard shot. What a nasty twisted thing to do to poor players.

More please.

How is it that you you offer more Hallowe'en on the night I was going to request it? I even crimped my hair. I used to dress in white on the 31st like Patricia Morrison as everyone was being gothic.

(please can we have a frying pan only usable by witches?)

Love Mags

P.S Happy Samhain

Mags,

Thanks for nice words, but I cannot just simply forgive you how you unpersoned me on Discord.

Regards,
Dioxine
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: magus1 on November 06, 2019, 03:42:40 am
After the private personal abuse I dropped discord, so don't feel it a personal thing.

Mags
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: LytaRyta on November 06, 2019, 04:41:11 am
:o what happnd to magus
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on November 06, 2019, 11:34:23 am
Regarding gold codex:

The Hawk is good but Hunter Killer is just around the corner researchwise, also at that point of the game, HV slot is useless so you buy one Hawk with the Flame Canon and that is it.

-Turtle is slow and unarmed transport, it loses its appeal quickly.

-Shadowbat is... forgetable, it suffer form the same problem as Hawk

-Flame canon is quite nice but you aren’t gonna manufacture more anytime soon and by the time you can, you have better things to put in your HV slots

-El Fuegp has the lowest transport capacity compared to the rest of the menace class vessels and since it has no repair bonus or shields it will spend a lot of time sitting in the hangar geting fixed. A bit too heavy price to pay for its speed I say!

-The golden codex has access to both Tome of Flames special wespons it seems. They however look unimpresive at a glance. The land equipment suffers form lack of focus, gray has MC focus, green has best survivability, red has raw killing power, gold has a bt of everything, but it feels like it is a master of none.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Iazo on November 06, 2019, 04:43:36 pm
-Shadowbat is the BEST codex craft bar none. With the current 'windows everywhere' meta, Shadowbat is the best insulated craft against random ememies firing RPGs inside your house. It even got better with two light (instead of missile) slots, is fast and durable, multistory, has doors. It is essentially a mini-Kraken.

-Turtle is the biggest codex battery craft, making it an ideal transport, even for underwater and newbie training via hallu-bravery spam. It has some rather unfortunate windows, true, so it's not as camping friendly as previously, but is a great transport.

-Hawk can mount a quadcannon making it almost equivalent to a HK(not to mention that getting a HK is MUCH LATER than Hawk to boot, dunno where your 'HK is just around the corner' misconception comes from. 4-6 months is nowhere near 'around the corner')

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 07, 2019, 06:27:13 am
HK isn't that far down the tree from the STC pack, if fact all of 2 techs on the shadowmaster branch separate them. The real delay is that the HK is post workshop, and the STC pack isn't. However, if you went workshop instead of 3 extractors to unlock the space to build the drill your already there.

It's not anywhere near the super optimal required for JS difficulty to go workshop first, but it's pretty commonly done. And in that case the hawk is a pretty expensive outlay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on November 07, 2019, 09:28:24 am
UNless JS has been made much more difficult recently, I never had any issue going workshop first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 07, 2019, 04:30:24 pm
The Hawk is a lategame god tier interceptor. The damage output of a Gat Lascannon is insane with the +20% accuracy boost. If you have some shadow orbs to put in your STC slots you will get shields. If you have spacial displacers it becomes invulnerable.
The Hawk is also a decent troop transport because it has doors. No problematic windows I think, but I haven't used it much lately.

The menace class ships have one main flaw: no doors. As such, they are not the best troop transports anyway. The Fuego is the best menace class interceptor because of the speed, so I would say it is the most useful of all the menace ships.

The thing with the layout is, you have to play some missions to really get the advantages and disadvantages. Also, know how to redecorate. When using the turtle, at the start of every mission I smash the pillows (high tu colored floor tiles) with a crowbar. In the shadowbat I demolish the beds to get more space close to the ladders.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: LytaRyta on November 07, 2019, 07:26:06 pm
..so, let totaly clean the Earth, from various scum from (not only) outer space,
and let make settle the order,
and tide the garbage off
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Thatguysenpai on November 07, 2019, 11:46:45 pm
Is it possible we could get more ways to obtain an industrial scanner? In my latest campaign I am hardlocked on tech because I never found one and I haven't seen science vessels for several months. Possibly at some point we can just buy them? Thanks for the hard work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 08, 2019, 12:23:31 am
You can eventually make your own scanners, but I think that's some pretty late tech and requires knowing about the scanner in the first place.  The only thing you can do is keep bothering cutters and hope one of them has a layout with exam rooms/scanners.  The envoy (formerly abductor) has guaranteed scanners, but they're flown only by ethereals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 08, 2019, 12:26:43 am
Another for sure source is a full clear of doctor x hideout. I think the gnome lair and reticualn vats have em too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: MemoryTAS on November 08, 2019, 01:17:07 am
Bases also seem to have scanners in abundance but it's always a risky proposition to tackle one
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Cristao on November 10, 2019, 08:15:46 am
I recall being able to change the base layout in-game (i.e. aside from the custom initial base layout). Has that option being removed or is there a new way of doing it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Gremlion on November 10, 2019, 08:21:48 am
It was removed, you can manually edit building coordinates in the savegame
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Cristao on November 10, 2019, 03:29:30 pm
Any way to easily do that or add it back?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on November 10, 2019, 06:26:06 pm
It is gone from the game, not just the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Cristao on November 11, 2019, 09:11:04 am
It is gone from the game, not just the mod.

EGAD!!  :o :o :o What happened!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 11, 2019, 05:02:01 pm
EGAD!!  :o :o :o What happened!!

Justice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 13, 2019, 10:21:23 pm
Meridian added this option as quality of life (mostly with his Let's Play in mind), but seeing how people abuse it, he removed it. I never liked the option, so I fully agree with that decision.
If you want to still use that sort of cheat, you have to edit your save.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 14, 2019, 12:46:21 am
Wow, when did hallucinoids become badasses?  Now I'm really dreading the aquatoids' appearance with their sonic guns that hurt a ton underwater and terror units that can apparently psi spam now.

Also, why can't I use the lobsterman's claws while mind controlling one?  There's no special icon, and selecting an empty hand does nothing.  I can attack with a chryssalid, why not the lobsterman too?

Finally, any opinions on chorts?  There's like zero discussion about them, even searching for the word "chort" shows no posts whatsoever (except probably this one now).  Is it because of how difficult it is to create a complete simulacrum?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 14, 2019, 07:02:58 am
chorts, are still not fully implemented, sometimes dio works ahead on certain things. So the pedia page exists, but it think that mostly it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 14, 2019, 11:16:28 am
There is mention of the chort being able to shapeshift, but it seems all there is for now is the basic form that can use weapons and has a ton of energy and health (that regenerates too).  I wonder if the other forms will be like alternate chort armor or something.

I've also noticed that hunter killers have stopped exploding and mostly crash now when shot down.  Is it because they now try to flee when they're losing?  They actually stop hunter killing if they manage to get away, turning back into regular "minding their own business" craft that always crash.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on November 14, 2019, 06:42:17 pm
So this is it. On 21st May 2605, the Solar Governor took 3 shots from X-Plasma in his frontal lobe and died.

Final thoughts:
Great mod. Especially the beginning and midgame, where from a small group of fugitives, you become a force even the Stargods have to fear.

Unfortunately, there are a few things I am not all that happy with.
The bosses of big factions are quite rare. I had to buy my second Provost and Guildmaster (for Interrogation), which meant waiting for having enough money.
And the fuel for Conqueror feels too expensive. I calculated how much it would cost to buy all the capsules and it was just shy of 775M$. With only buying the elerium, the cost drops to 252.5 M$ and 1 250 000 RuntHours (52083 RuntDays, 142,7 RuntYears)(To make them in 1 year, at least 143 runts have to work on them).

Sure, it makes sense that the mightiest vessel is expensive, but it just felt too much.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 14, 2019, 06:51:33 pm
Going to mars is the ultimate goal forcing the ultimate price and also sacrificing your campaign.
You beat the game sqaure and fair in 5years 5month 20days.

Yes enemy VIP are rare but also guarded very well and hard to take down without killing them.
The option to "buy" them is extremely valuable to sidestep spawn-RNG.

You can create INFINITE money from thin-air so some million cash is disposable. Only a matter of TIME to get the required amount.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 15, 2019, 01:02:24 am
Looking at the enemy craft's analysis page, a lot of hunter killers (but not all of them) have the "flee when losing" behavior.  The ninja seeker is not one of them, so chances are still good that the few you ever fight still blow up and never crash.  Thank god for Saya at least.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Iazo on November 15, 2019, 01:46:06 pm
They are fast but not particularily fast. You can intercept them with a faster craft while they are chasing the bait and smoke them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on November 20, 2019, 09:19:46 pm
There is mention of the chort being able to shapeshift, but it seems all there is for now is the basic form that can use weapons and has a ton of energy and health (that regenerates too).  I wonder if the other forms will be like alternate chort armor or something.

They will, just I did not feel like tackling that yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 21, 2019, 01:01:28 am
It doesn't say so, but I feel I should still ask.  Are saint and chort armors exosuits, or are they just gonna get boxed on Mars?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ves on November 21, 2019, 06:02:15 pm
Playing again after quite some time. I love the changes, mostly how hunter-killer increase the immersion for me. You deal with powerful enemies who don't just let you have Air-Superiority on a planet they control and go after you if the opportunity arises. A fast bomber on a Peacekeeping mission sometimes really forces me to keep the peace.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BigDuck on November 26, 2019, 02:25:33 pm
Me: making some tea to warm up a bit in this cold day. Thinking about that i should create copy of latest piratez mod version, since a lot can happen, starting from site collapse, zombie apocalypse, nuclear war. Going to main mod page...... MOD HERE: Temporarily Down

F!  :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: ElGrillo on November 26, 2019, 06:55:54 pm
no link for the mod =(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 27, 2019, 12:49:39 am
The mod is down temporarily while some assets are removed. A certain set of assets are being removed and replaced due to an issue with the original author of those assets. The issue has been resolved, but time is need to replace the assets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: sanyaskillpro on November 27, 2019, 05:35:03 pm
Now you have to pirate xpiratez... The game has gone meta xd.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BigDuck on November 27, 2019, 08:48:27 pm
The mod is down temporarily while some assets are removed. A certain set of assets are being removed and replaced due to an issue with the original author of those assets. The issue has been resolved, but time is need to replace the assets.

Thanks for info!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: ElGrillo on November 27, 2019, 10:18:25 pm
Now you have to pirate xpiratez... The game has gone meta xd.

Lol!
my traditional pirate skills are failing me.
Guess I'll just have to wait
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on November 28, 2019, 01:53:12 am
Excuse me for my English. I accepted the fact that my ship is hit in the window, and my soldiers can 't shoot from the inside. I accepted that enemies with guns with little distance from the other end of the map get into me. BUT for what? Do grenades hit me from the same other end of the map when the enemy doesn 't even see me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on November 28, 2019, 03:00:47 am
Some enemies employ the spotter-sniper tactic where one of them spots your gals and another enemy who can't personally see them shoots at them (or throws grenades at them).  You do it all the time, so why can't they?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on November 28, 2019, 03:46:19 am
The enemy actually can do more than you.
If an enemy with the spotter tag sees you, he will have map hack on your unit for 2-3 turns. He will still know where you are next round, even if he can't see you.
If you score a ranged hit on a spotter and he survives, this counts as him seeing you. Even if the enemy had no vision of the shooter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on November 28, 2019, 10:41:46 am
Yeah, but you can formulate a tactic and plan ahead, the AI can't do that. If you see an enemy hide behind a corner you can throw a grenade as well, without some sort of hack the AI can't even do that. You can properly coordinate your units, the AI looks at each one individually and doesn't use teamwork to achive a goal. Speaking of which: the AI has no goal apart from being an obstacle to you (and kill civilians in certain missions), it will never mount a proper attack to drive you off and it won't ever defend chokepoints properly. It is also mostly bad at melee, one of the strongest forms of attack.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on November 28, 2019, 01:33:49 pm
I hope who invented the muton-like mercenaries will be a bitterness. There 's nothing to be killed. Vanshotat. I barely learned a laser weapon. And here they are already on the base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Kato on November 28, 2019, 01:37:31 pm
This is a cruel world, you know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on November 28, 2019, 02:15:07 pm
The trick to the muton expies is very simple, anything but bullets. Resistance profiles matter a ton here unlike vanilla or a number of other mods. Here the right damage type for the foe is a very significant mechanic.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 28, 2019, 06:17:44 pm
Mercenaries are one of the hardest opponents to crack.
Solid ammunition is pointless. Laser and Plasma does work. Throw explosives, plant mines, purge them with fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Gremlion on November 28, 2019, 06:55:15 pm
I hope who invented the muton-like mercenaries will be a bitterness. There 's nothing to be killed. Vanshotat. I barely learned a laser weapon. And here they are already on the base.
They don't have cutting resistance, concussive damage is fine too.

Quote
If your opponent is a far better speaker than yourself, ax him a question.
- Mun Tzu

mace is quite early tech and works fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 02, 2019, 12:05:15 am
If an enemy with the spotter tag sees you, he will have map hack on your unit for 2-3 turns. He will still know where you are next round, even if he can't see you.  If you score a ranged hit on a spotter and he survives, this counts as him seeing you. Even if the enemy had no vision of the shooter.

I'm pretty sure the spotter doesn't have to survive.  On one night time merc mission I had a gal in ghost armor beam a commando in the back on turn one.  The commando spins around and dies.  On enemy turn, gal is shot at by long range plasma which all missed and grenaded.  No other enemy unit was close enough to spot her during my turn or the enemy's turn.  Save scummed and killed commando with ghost dagger from behind.  Gal was not targeted during the enemy turn.  Still curious about this so save scummed again and killed commando with ghost dagger from in front thus being spotted.  Ghost armor gal was again shot at and grenaded on the enemy turn.

I'm positive no other enemy unit got close enough to spot the ghost gal.

I know camping is frowned upon, and this mod has introduced several changes to try to minimize camping.  But this particular mechanic really promotes camping.  Although if one's troops can't advance from solid cover without being massacred, they aren't camping; they are pinned down!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 02, 2019, 02:28:36 am
I know camping is frowned upon, and this mod has introduced several changes to try to minimize camping.  But this particular mechanic really promotes camping.  Although if one's troops can't advance from solid cover without being massacred, they aren't camping; they are pinned down!

Exactly. Also who said it is "frowned upon".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 02, 2019, 05:37:46 am
No one in those exact words.  Just the general impression I got from reading all the posts in the x-piratez subforum.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Devon_v on December 02, 2019, 04:44:25 pm
It's more a matter of working with the AI's limitations. Vanilla the best tactic is a bunch of sharpshooters hanging back and one speedy spotter finding targets for them. Frankly it's still the best tactic, but the key differences are that there are a lot more maps and scenarios where it's less optimal, and the enemy can do it too, to a degree. It's unfortunate that the AI has to cheat to accomplish it, but it was never designed to do otherwise, and strong "fair" AI is far more challenging to write and demanding to run.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 02, 2019, 04:50:33 pm
If anyone is cheating, it's the player.
Force-firing a thin wall with autoshot to hit an enemy standing behind it (which we spotted with an aye-phone) is some next level stuff the A.I. could never do.

The current state of the A.I. is absolutely fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Devon_v on December 02, 2019, 08:11:34 pm
If anyone is cheating, it's the player.
Force-firing a thin wall with autoshot to hit an enemy standing behind it (which we spotted with an aye-phone) is some next level stuff the A.I. could never do.

The current state of the A.I. is absolutely fine.

It could if it were programmed to. AI is usually handicapped because playing against an opponent that does what you can do, while also having the numerical and statistical advantage, is rarely fun.

I was referring specifically to the map hax anyway. I can do sniper/spotter, but I don't get permanent vision on the target for X turns. It's a cheat which is a workaround for how much harder is to teach an AI to pay attention and remember things in a human like way. AI almost always operate with perfect information. They know everything, but they are programmed not to act on that information.

I'm saying the AI cheats, and that's fine, because it's not smart enough to win fair.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 02, 2019, 10:05:49 pm
Force-firing a thin wall with autoshot to hit an enemy standing behind it (which we spotted with an aye-phone) is some next level stuff the A.I. could never do.

Actually the ai has fired at my gals through a thin wall on purpose on more than one occasion.  (using the spotter/sniper map hax mechanic not an aye-phone)

If an enemy with the spotter tag sees you, he will have map hack on your unit for 2-3 turns. He will still know where you are next round, even if he can't see you.

The ai doesn't just know where your gal is at; the enemy units can see you even through a wall.  If your gal is standing in the same cell as the thin wall resides, she may get fired at.  I've experienced baby nukes shot by mercs at the rear door of the airbus when my gal was standing inside right next to the door and also the 3rd floor rear wall of the snake with a gal right next to the wall.  It doesn't happen if the gal is one cell away from the wall.

In ships like the shadowbat or snake with holes in the roof, an occasional grenade may be thrown by an enemy on the ground if the spotted gal inside the ship is near the hole (lift or ladder)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 03, 2019, 06:51:03 am

The ai doesn't just know where your gal is at; the enemy units can see you even through a wall.  If your gal is standing in the same cell as the thin wall resides, she may get fired at.  I've experienced baby nukes shot by mercs at the rear door of the airbus when my gal was standing inside right next to the door...


Airbus have so many windows you should be suprised that mini-nuke wasn't fired directly inside.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 03, 2019, 04:10:14 pm
Airbus really feels like a traproom now. You'll be much saver outside the craft.
Airvan is kinda an improvement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 03, 2019, 06:55:29 pm
Yeah, sorry I should have noted I'm still playing an older version before this change:  "Cockpit windows on many ships are see-through now. Watch your heads." (from the changelog)


PS If you're wondering why, I just wanted to finish my first game on the same version as I started it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 03, 2019, 07:39:37 pm
If your gal is standing in the same cell as the thin wall resides, she may get fired at.

I think the type of wall has something to do with it. I noticed some doors don't go all the way up, there is a small gap at the top. You will only see this when you take a first person look screenshot (F10).
The map that I tested this on was the Hawk. Here the doors on the lowest level have this gap at the top. Apparently the AI then calculates a valid trajectory for arcing weapons to the unit behind the door. As we all know bugged trajectories exist, and this is one of them. So the AI thinks it can throw grenades at the unit behind the door, but actually they all land in front of the door. Result for me was that whenever I had a spotted gal stand behind that door, there would be a rain of grenades.

Not sure if intended, but if the explosive is strong enough, this is some form of hack to get the AI to blow doors open. Only works for arcing projectiles though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 04, 2019, 01:33:51 am
Ok, I'm thoroughly confused now.  I used quick battle, selected the airbus, desert, scout, mercenaries, min darkness.  I took some F10 snapshots and couldn't find any obvious hole through the back door of the airbus, but that doesn't mean its not there.  So I went in debug mode, used ctrl-w to stick the merc commando inside the airbus right next to the back door and stuck 4 gals outside near the back door.  None of the gals could see him (at least no flashing numbered red square nor green square for that matter) but all were able to fire at him without force fire with straight trajectory weapons (rifles shotguns).  No shots penetrated the door.  Moved merc one cell away from door still inside airbus.  Was unable to fire at him and the door was momentarily highlighted as blocking terrain.

Moved merc back next to door still inside airbus.  Tried throwing objects at him (hadn't bothered to arm gals with grenades, so used lightweight items like ammo).  Got the "unable to throw here" message without seeing any highlighted blocking terrain.  Kept trying (I have confirm fire on so I have to click twice) with the same gal in the same spot and after 5-6 tries the object was thrown and landed in front of the door on the outside of the airbus.  It seems to matter where the yellow mouse pointer is inside the red wireframe box when the throw occurs.  Near the left side, near middle vertically on the second click when the yellow circular targetting reticule is displayed seems to allow the throw to occur.  This seems to be a bug since it shouldn't matter where I click so long as the same cell is selected.  As before, moved the merc one cell away from the door still inside the airbus, and was not able to throw at him no matter where I clicked.  However, each time the door was momentarily highlighted as blocking terrain.

No other mods installed x-piratez version 0.99J8, extended version 5.1 (v2018-10-14) if anyone cares at this point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: amjh on December 04, 2019, 02:50:00 am
If you aim at an empty tile next to a wall, the shot is aimed at the wall rather than the ground. Maybe the game engine gets confused because the tile has a valid target?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 04, 2019, 05:11:06 am
It's the throwing part that is confusing.  When I target the tile with the rear door with a rifle or a bow(just now tried it), the only difference I see is the accuracy number displayed.  If the merc is in the same tile as the door, the accuracy number is half of what it is when the merc isn't in that tile.  The reason I can fire the rifle is that the door is thin and does not also occupy the tile outside the airbus unlike the rear wall sections on either side of the door.  So when I fire, I'm really targetting the door, not the merc despite the visual cues suggesting I'm targetting the merc.  There might be a bug concerning the accuracy number, but being in debug mode makes this uncertain since debug mode makes everything visible.

In playing around more with the throwing it seems that where in the tile I have to click to confirm the throw for it to occur depends on where the gal is in relation to the door.  In my previous post, the gal was exactly 3 tiles straight north away from the door assuming mapview has north at the top.  The confirm fire mode option ensures I didn't accidently click a different tile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on December 04, 2019, 11:53:39 am
I will point out that the holes are not actually in the doors, but the tiles beside them that look like windowish. Also the point at which a units view and a units attacks come from are different and separated by about 4 voxels.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 05, 2019, 12:08:58 am
I will point out that the holes are not actually in the doors, but the tiles beside them that look like windowish.

If I accept that as true, even though the F10 snapshot (attached) doesn't show it (the green objects are chairs), I didn't realize that it matters which pixel (can't select a voxel on a 2D projection) in the tile I select when trying to throw an object.  In the attached quick battle save, Buxom Bubblegum just threw an ammo item through the upstairs window onto the haybale which was the targetted tile.  It took me two attempts.  On the first attempt the window was highlighted as blocking terrain.  On the second attempt the throw worked.  Buxom did not move between tries and the haybale tile was targetted on both tries.  If anyone cares to, move Buxom out of the way and another gal to her former spot and attempt the throw.

Not sure if this matters, but I used x-piratez version 0.99J8, extended version 5.1 (v2018-10-14) and had the option "confirm fire mode" on.

PS  Sorry for derailing the K2 thread,  originally I had just meant to comment on the spotter/sniper mechanic some of the factions like mercs use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: new_civilian on December 05, 2019, 01:14:25 pm
One thing I have to congratulate you on, Dioxine, which is not so obvious, but very important:

You managed to adjust the overall difficulty level extremely well, so far I never encountered anything that got me completely out of the blue. When my gals got hurt, I always knew it was my fault, because I decided not to flee and kept pushing too hard. (Like the Necropirates in a dreadful night mission, where I just was way out of league and still kept on searching. After thee grave wounds I fled like I should have right at the start.)

There were even some missions that I never thought I would be able to finish, but eventually I wore the enemy down and surprisingly turned the mission into a victory.

So. Balance gets 10 of 10 points from me!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 05, 2019, 02:43:22 pm
One thing I have to congratulate you on, Dioxine, which is not so obvious, but very important:

You managed to adjust the overall difficulty level extremely well, so far I never encountered anything that got me completely out of the blue. When my gals got hurt, I always knew it was my fault, because I decided not to flee and kept pushing too hard. (Like the Necropirates in a dreadful night mission, where I just was way out of league and still kept on searching. After thee grave wounds I fled like I should have right at the start.)

There were even some missions that I never thought I would be able to finish, but eventually I wore the enemy down and surprisingly turned the mission into a victory.

So. Balance gets 10 of 10 points from me!

Wait for Mercs and first Star God Mutant Pogrom.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: misterx on December 05, 2019, 06:04:13 pm
Depends on difficulty setting. 3 on 5 is alredy enough, on 4 you get loads of troubles
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on December 08, 2019, 03:11:12 pm

Who will tell you another horror of the game? How to shoot from a jellyfish turret with a magic beam if it always hits the wall?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on December 08, 2019, 03:49:39 pm
Gatta open the firing port first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: peirceg on December 08, 2019, 11:19:02 pm
can anyone dm me a link for the latest build of the mod plz? i know its officially down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 09, 2019, 04:26:41 pm
Quote: "Downloads blocked for now on the grounds of claims by Hobbes about me stealing his work."

Guess things need to be sorted out first before further downloads may happen. Krampus / "The Grinch" strikes early this season.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BBHood217 on December 10, 2019, 09:59:10 pm
I thought Hobbes shared his work.  Was this actually never the case after all?  I'm confused.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Kruniac on December 11, 2019, 11:58:35 am
can anyone dm me a link for the latest build of the mod plz? i know its officially down.

I got you, buddy.

I'm tired of modding communities being fucked over by drama. Happens in nearly every circle of amazing mods. Not concerned with who is right or wrong, personally - just hit me up for a copy of the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: GurgleForPesos on December 11, 2019, 06:56:43 pm
If I could get that latest build DM, that would be awesome, my dude.

Been interested in booting this up!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: maxulj on December 11, 2019, 10:57:51 pm
Same for me, if you could upload on some cloude or something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AmpegV4 on December 12, 2019, 01:37:32 am
Ya found Phoenix point didn't hit the mark :D, also looking for a copy of this mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: mistress_twilight_crab on December 12, 2019, 03:04:31 am
Please DM me that link too.  Phoenix Point got me back into X-Piratez, again.  Turns out my X-Piratez version is J12... almost a year old!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: DoesnotCompute on December 12, 2019, 02:46:56 pm
+1 on the DM link please, just rediscovered this mod after getting into The XCOM Files, and was sad to see that it's temporarily down.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: mhdm on December 13, 2019, 08:48:13 am
Me too I barely managed to download the x files before this happened and I'd love to try this mod too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: jessemb on December 13, 2019, 06:31:28 pm
I would also appreciate a download link, please and thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: basura4 on December 14, 2019, 01:17:26 am
I got you, buddy.

I'm tired of modding communities being fucked over by drama. Happens in nearly every circle of amazing mods. Not concerned with who is right or wrong, personally - just hit me up for a copy of the mod.

Can you send me the mod please?

And if you happen to have a a copy of FMP you can send it to me too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: KomradeKalm on December 14, 2019, 09:22:06 am
If you could be so kind I would love a DL link as well
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: psyraptor on December 14, 2019, 10:12:49 pm
Hey, i'd love that latest mod file too plz
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on December 14, 2019, 10:47:10 pm
I'd like the link as well, if you could send it to me, I have K1, but not the current K2 version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Oof on December 14, 2019, 11:51:16 pm
Ayo chiefs could I get a download link as well
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 15, 2019, 04:21:18 am
^^ Mee too!  eh you Hobbes you :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: memmaker on December 15, 2019, 03:13:20 pm
Count me in. I'd like a link for the download, too.
Sharing is caring  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Athelflaed on December 15, 2019, 06:49:28 pm
I would also like a link please. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Qoone on December 15, 2019, 10:41:23 pm
I would also like a link to the latest version if anyone is still offering
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Xaxares on December 15, 2019, 11:05:13 pm
Same here. It would be greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: StoneAndSteel on December 15, 2019, 11:43:48 pm
Hello!
Could I also ask for a link to the latest version?
Thank you very much ;)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 16, 2019, 03:03:42 am
lôl ;D

so much "newcomers´!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: misterx on December 16, 2019, 11:49:56 am
Excuse me, but as of K2 the o'harty's gun has been removed from the mod? In the latest versions i remember it ha a shortened barrel, someone may confirm if it's still present in xpiratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ahelay on December 16, 2019, 12:41:47 pm
Please send me a download link. I will be very happy. ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BigDuck on December 16, 2019, 04:52:33 pm
Somebody save me, i need a link to latest version or... or i will cut my left ball.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ninawindia on December 17, 2019, 02:45:28 pm
Any updates on this? The new updates sound super fun~
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on December 17, 2019, 04:43:33 pm
Comment puis-je désactiver l'option de réactivité dans la dernière version ?
Forgot to rewrite the lazy...

Tell me how you can turn off the cheer option in the latest version?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: stevo64 on December 17, 2019, 11:40:44 pm
Can someone please send me the the link for the latest version.
I promise to donate  :)
Thankyou
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AnxiousAxolotl on December 18, 2019, 06:42:44 pm
Can someone send me the link too?
Latest version I have is all the way back from May 1st.
Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rinkydink on December 18, 2019, 10:15:02 pm
Would love someone to send me the link too.  The mod looks sweet!  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Cibi on December 18, 2019, 10:40:30 pm
I would also like a link lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: DLXP on December 19, 2019, 05:18:21 am
I would like a link to the latest version if anyone has it.

Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: WightPunter on December 19, 2019, 11:50:16 pm
If anyone has it can you send me a download link please
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Sahti Waari on December 20, 2019, 02:50:12 am
Quote
Downloads blocked for now on the grounds of claims by Hobbes about me stealing his work.

Could somebody tell me this story?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on December 20, 2019, 04:27:32 am
Short version: Hobbes long ago made a map asset pack and allowed it's use pretty freely. It was useful stuff and got incorporated into many major mods since. About 2-3 weeks ago he changed his position to no mod that took any compensation, even donations, could use his work going forward. So any mod that had his stuff integrated into it had to rip it out fully before they could release any new versions. So most opencom mods are suffering a purge and retool, and during that work disabling any downloads to avoid any possible additional incidents.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Lasttemplar01 on December 20, 2019, 05:54:39 am
Looking to get back into the mod and saw that it was down would greatly appreciate the latest version. Please and thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Kruniac on December 20, 2019, 01:44:42 pm
There is a 20 message limit per hour around here, so I tossed the K2 version to the first 20 folks who asked for it the other night.

Unfortunately, I didn't really pay attention to whom I stopped at, so I just tossed it to another 8 or so just now. If I missed anyone, send me a PM or post, though it may be a while before I read the thread and get back to you.

I just realized that this makes me kind of a bizarre xpirate-y Santa Claus. Alrighty then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: misterx on December 20, 2019, 02:07:09 pm
Waitin for the new relase is growing but please don't be impatient "it's ready when it's ready" (cit) :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Sleeeza on December 20, 2019, 02:51:36 pm
There is a 20 message limit per hour around here, so I tossed the K2 version to the first 20 folks who asked for it the other night.

Unfortunately, I didn't really pay attention to whom I stopped at, so I just tossed it to another 8 or so just now. If I missed anyone, send me a PM or post, though it may be a while before I read the thread and get back to you.

I just realized that this makes me kind of a bizarre xpirate-y Santa Claus. Alrighty then.

Hey, Santa, I was a good boy. Can i have my xmas present pls.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Er.Vero on December 20, 2019, 03:51:22 pm
I would appreciate a download link. thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: FourCartridge on December 20, 2019, 09:56:25 pm
I would like a link too; my old one is from an entire year ago so I was a bit sad to find out what happened to the current version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 20, 2019, 11:45:49 pm
Best we put it onto the wishlist for Xmas.
Maybe we get something fancy if we believe in boobs Santa Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on December 21, 2019, 12:16:02 am
Short version: Hobbes long ago made a map asset pack and allowed it's use pretty freely. It was useful stuff and got incorporated into many major mods since. About 2-3 weeks ago he changed his position to no mod that took any compensation, even donations, could use his work going forward.

Once free, always free. Unless Hobbes regulary releases updates that are somehow necessary to make his map asset pack work, anybody could continue to use the version form back when it was free to use, even hypothetical purely commercial mods. I doubt the map asset pack was released under any sort of licence and since he never objected his works were used for profit by third parties for many years despite onviously knowing so, he would e at difficult at court in msot countries. It’s dick move to keep using it, but he seems like the bigger dick here, unless he’s trying to cover himself in case whoever owns original X-Com decides to sue him (unlikely, both x files and x piratez use copyrighted owned music and nobody gives a damn)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: OmniscientQ on December 21, 2019, 02:06:09 am
Once free, always free. Unless Hobbes regulary releases updates that are somehow necessary to make his map asset pack work, anybody could continue to use the version form back when it was free to use, even hypothetical purely commercial mods. I doubt the map asset pack was released under any sort of licence and since he never objected his works were used for profit by third parties for many years despite onviously knowing so, he would e at difficult at court in msot countries. It’s dick move to keep using it, but he seems like the bigger dick here, unless he’s trying to cover himself in case whoever owns original X-Com decides to sue him (unlikely, both x files and x piratez use copyrighted owned music and nobody gives a damn)

I gave this some thought myself, and I'm tempted to agree but for one possibility. In open-source software (and modding by extension) the common understanding is that an author can change their license any time they want, but such changes aren't retroactive. If you released v1.6 of your awesomeapp under GPL, and then release 2.0 under some other, more restrictive license, then people can keep using and distributing v1.6 for as long as they like.

But what if the old version never had an explicit license at all? If you forgot to include one, does that somehow imply a complete release of control over that version? Reading Hobbes' comments, that seems to have been the case. He gave no thought to licensing at all back in the day, it didn't seem important. Declaring that all of his work is covered by his new license doesn't conflict with past licensing permissions because the past license is a null value.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: ceasar909 on December 21, 2019, 03:35:57 am
The mod is down temporarily while some assets are removed. A certain set of assets are being removed and replaced due to an issue with the original author of those assets. The issue has been resolved, but time is need to replace the assets.

As much as I would love to ask for a download link of a previous version (I was last here 3 years ago). That would be disrespecting the wishes of Hobbes.

Short version: Hobbes long ago made a map asset pack and allowed it's use pretty freely. It was useful stuff and got incorporated into many major mods since. About 2-3 weeks ago he changed his position to no mod that took any compensation, even donations, could use his work going forward. So any mod that had his stuff integrated into it had to rip it out fully before they could release any new versions. So most opencom mods are suffering a purge and retool, and during that work disabling any downloads to avoid any possible additional incidents.

It's annoying as hell. I really don't like the decision that Hobbes made, But I also am aware that I can't do what s/he has created, and generally as a labour of love.
I love what Dioxine has done (sorry if misspelled). I'm enjoying all the hard work that SupSuper did creating OpenXcom in the first place.

But it's a bit on the nose to enjoy what content creators have done and turn around and not respect the content creators wishes at the same time.

Finger's crossed it won't be too much longer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Kruniac on December 21, 2019, 06:18:42 am
As much as I would love to ask for a download link of a previous version (I was last here 3 years ago). That would be disrespecting the wishes of Hobbes.

It's annoying as hell. I really don't like the decision that Hobbes made, But I also am aware that I can't do what s/he has created, and generally as a labour of love.
I love what Dioxine has done (sorry if misspelled). I'm enjoying all the hard work that SupSuper did creating OpenXcom in the first place.

But it's a bit on the nose to enjoy what content creators have done and turn around and not respect the content creators wishes at the same time.

Finger's crossed it won't be too much longer.

No. Hobbes posted that current versions of mods are fine.

Quote
As posted elsewhere, as an author, I've decided that my original work/files in the Terrain Pack, Area 51 and other mods cannot be used anymore by other modders on their own mods.

This applies to any mods that publish new versions after today - you're not required to remove any previous versions that have been already published.

Any unauthorized use of my work will be properly notified and reported, if necessary.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,7617.msg119863.html#msg119863 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,7617.msg119863.html#msg119863)

So from what I understand, any existing mod can contain this content without any issue, but all further versions must have this content removed.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't care about anybody's position on any of this - I am not allowing an extraordinary mod to wither because of some drama between mortals. However, it really does seem that Hobbes is okay with current versions of mods containing his work, so I feel like the removal of the Xpiratez download link is either because of "Hmmmph"-ing, or because of going totally overboard on the response to Hobbes' request.

Anyway. Until Diox says something about why we can't download XPiratez, I can only speculate. Regardless, just hit me up if you want the K2 version (the K3 is a WIP, it seems).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 21, 2019, 03:52:28 pm
~~^^ here you go, & enjoy!

https://ulozto.cz/file/AR46N3ESiJY9/dioxine-xpiratez-k2-rar
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 21, 2019, 09:56:01 pm
Once free, always free. Unless Hobbes regulary releases updates that are somehow necessary to make his map asset pack work, anybody could continue to use the version form back when it was free to use

I used his version from 4 years ago or so, never incorporated his updates, since compatibility was off once I started fixing and improving his stuff myself (and sank countless hours into this). I pointed this out to him, to which he replied that it is "irrelevant".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Martin on December 22, 2019, 11:23:12 am
Hobbes really comes of as an asshole here. Any reason why you didn’t call his request "irrelevant" too?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 22, 2019, 03:50:36 pm
Hobbes really comes of as an asshole here. Any reason why you didn’t call his request "irrelevant" too?

General disgust. I don't want to owe anything to such a person.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashert on December 23, 2019, 02:57:06 am
The Hobbes lawyers, the nightmare of the X-Com community? ;D

(https://abload.de/img/agent-smith-matrixrejkh.jpg) (https://abload.de/image.php?img=agent-smith-matrixrejkh.jpg)

Come on, losing a foreign gum in the foundation is no reason to stop building the house. Give us XPirates again, no matter what condition, Fair Use!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashert on December 23, 2019, 11:34:49 pm
Here's another mirror:

Dioxine_XPiratez_K2.rar
https://1fichier.com/?k4vx6wqviup4zvmv7h3x (https://1fichier.com/?k4vx6wqviup4zvmv7h3x)

My tip: bring it to Github so that such artifacts can also be cleaned up faster.

There is always a third option!
(https://abload.de/img/pills7mjlr.jpg) (https://abload.de/image.php?img=pills7mjlr.jpg)(https://abload.de/img/pills28hksc.jpg) (https://abload.de/image.php?img=pills28hksc.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on December 25, 2019, 01:26:55 am
Give someone the latest version of the game without that bleak cheer. It is absolutely impossible to play. It 's the dumbest idea of all fashion. And so the perennial problem of half a bass in the treatment, the other one moans behind the lack of this nerdy paramet. It became very hard to play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on December 25, 2019, 10:30:29 am
What is cheer?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on December 25, 2019, 08:16:59 pm
Cheerfulness
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on December 25, 2019, 08:43:08 pm
How can cheerfulness be bleak?

And what do you even want to say by that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 25, 2019, 11:30:18 pm
Someone's salty about not being able to camp indefinitely, nothing to worry about.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on December 25, 2019, 11:44:25 pm
Oh, he meant freshness?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 26, 2019, 04:38:34 pm
Oh, he meant freshness?

I am not 100% sure, but I would bet money on that :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 26, 2019, 05:07:27 pm
..yap that freshness feature..

i know you intended very restrict of camping, and .. "sniper hide", sniper settle,   ( = polovnícky posed,  -   JAEGER -gestellt, jaeger -auszublenden..)


..but i got 1idea, i have 1 suggestion -



 - what about turn off the freshness just for *sniper role* ?   (for *sniper´ weapons)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 26, 2019, 05:24:28 pm
..bcos, for sniper´ing is more typical *sniper position, set,  sniper -setzen,   for quite long time,

 
(
jaeger -setzen:

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNTN9UxBBMzyaQEhxLik6Q33KZZh8Q%3A1577373518071&ei=Ts8EXr7kA5D5wAKaz6fAAg&q=posed&oq=posed&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0l10.2012.3238..8665...1.0..0.319.776.4j1j0j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......35i39j0i22i30j35i39i285i70i256j35i39i19j0i131j0i67.GZKCmhIKwx8


..sniper .."lurking, raven, JAEGERish,  (*jaegering*), HUNTing, for enought long time,  (sometimes, - often 4 very long time..) on just 1 settled place,

not quickly run & move on battle site,  as assault soldiers..

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on December 26, 2019, 05:40:53 pm
If you don't like the way it's supposed to be played, feel free to play something else.

The freshness system makes sense on a larger scale. Veteran troopers can stand far longer in battle than fresh recruits.
If you camp for 20+ turns without any progress towards the objective your crew will freak out and panic.

That happened even before the freshness update. But now 80+ bravery is no longer save from freaking out.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 26, 2019, 06:53:15 pm
..but i got 1idea, i have 1 suggestion -

I have a suggestion too: use proper grammar. Your posts look like they were made by a spambot.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 26, 2019, 07:56:49 pm
:D) ;D well, yas, my Engrish ist bed! (bet)   DD)

Oook, i´ll look et rewrite it, then
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on December 27, 2019, 03:28:33 pm
Freshness isn't that much of an issue if you just equip yourself accordingly, and it decays so slowly that most of the time it wont be an issue. Or at least for me it isn't, since I always try to finish missions as fast as possible if it doesnt immensely endangers my soldiers. I imagine it might become an issue during base invasion missions and whatnot, though, since rushing those is pretty much asking to get your people blown up.

Also, I haven't really checked yet since I'm only using gals still, but is freshness a gal-only thing? If so, you can still keep the old xcom playstyle by using other types of soldiers. That would be a nice option for players to have, after all, so if you want to use gals, you gotta handle freshness, and if you dont want to deal with that sort of stuff, you can use your slave soldiers and peasants and play like the xcom of yore.

That would imply that gals are higher in maintenance in comparison to human males... Which is actualy a very realistic take on it by a mod composed mostly of post apocalyptic alien/mutant porn!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on December 27, 2019, 03:57:37 pm
Oh, I thought he meant the new sound effects, some of them sound like cheers, iirc.

Anyway, why would sniper outfit change something? It is still the same gal, and they don't dispense drugs as far as I am aware. She's still no professional soldier, and neither are any of the other ones you employ. And some people would just put everyone in sniper outfits anyway.

Even with 0 freshness the gals don't panic all the time. I like the mechanic, always liked it in Long War as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 27, 2019, 04:58:37 pm
You will notice a low freshness mostly in energy regeneration. Most noticeable when you use the Admiral de Corazon outfit, which burns 6 freshness per round. After turn 10 energy regeneration is so low you can barely move around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 27, 2019, 05:23:29 pm

Also, I haven't really checked yet since I'm only using gals still, but is freshness a gal-only thing? If so, you can still keep the old xcom playstyle by using other types of soldiers. That would be a nice option for players to have, after all, so if you want to use gals, you gotta handle freshness, and if you dont want to deal with that sort of stuff, you can use your slave soldiers and peasants and play like the xcom of yore.

That would imply that gals are higher in maintenance in comparison to human males... Which is actualy a very realistic take on it by a mod composed mostly of post apocalyptic alien/mutant porn!

Other soldier types also have freshness, but experienced SS for example have around 90, while gals can have like 60 at best. It's really not an issue with normal types of armor on gals too. 60 Freshness means around 30 turns before it starts to be a problem. 30 Turns is achivable on Mansions and some Alien Bases. No problem.

With SS and others like that it doesn't really matter they have higher freshness, they need it since most of them can't move as far as gals can.

It would be nice however (for such missions), to have option like "lay down a bit" in a corner of a screen for each gal.soldier. What it would do is to take like 99% of TU's for one Freshness point recovery. It couldn't be used to regenerate Freshness above what was originally, but could bring gals closer to the level of SS in terms of turtling.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 27, 2019, 08:36:44 pm
Apparently you don't know that you can get freshness back from pillow books. It gives 6 freshness at the cost of 69% tu and 69 stun. The stun means you need at least 70 health to be able to use it. Each book has 5 charges and they replenish after combat.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 27, 2019, 10:05:18 pm
Apparently you don't know that you can get freshness back from pillow books. It gives 6 freshness at the cost of 69% tu and 69 stun. The stun means you need at least 70 health to be able to use it. Each book has 5 charges and they replenish after combat.

That would be a bit different. First thing, it would be accessible from the beginning and without any item. Library is pretty mid-game stuff. The point is, if you are not using 100% pure SS squad on a longer mission, your low-freshness characters will suffer and this makes SS lose half of the meaning to their high freshness cap. I was imagining something like Alien Base defence, where you keep Gals safely (and useless) above and scout with SS. When times comes, you send your Gals as main enforcers.

With Pillow book you can just use it one round and have another soldier to feed her Canteen in some sort of "farming" freshness. After the Midgame, you don't really need Freshness that much and it only matters how often can you use your soldier, not how long he can be at 100% efficiency during longer, early-game mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 28, 2019, 03:43:30 pm
The tech tree is so wide it is hard to agree on what is midgame. You can focus research to get the library within the first six month, which is still early game to me. It depends a bit on RNG spawning the right bounty hunt missions though. Prioritizing the library is a good idea anyway, since it is the first brainer facility you get that is not limited to one per base. You need it to build a research base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 29, 2019, 03:08:43 pm
The tech tree is so wide it is hard to agree on what is midgame. You can focus research to get the library within the first six month, which is still early game to me. It depends a bit on RNG spawning the right bounty hunt missions though. Prioritizing the library is a good idea anyway, since it is the first brainer facility you get that is not limited to one per base. You need it to build a research base.

Nobody talks about speedrunning the game, or focusing solely on one thing. What I proposed isn't necessary, it would be only complementary to  the "normal" gameplay, with more natural progression. We didn't really needed "We need male touch" path, because we could just speedrun Slave Soldiers pretty fast if we wanted them so much, right? Right, but what is the point? Why "We need male touch" was added? Why "Mutant Alliance" bount was added, when we can speedrun Doctor X laboratory? For fun, for variety, it all devoided of "powergaming", atleast I think that. Even if it's completly not right with Diox vision, it still fits me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 29, 2019, 05:35:04 pm
Speedrunning is a totally inappropriat word for xpiratez, because there isn't really a way you can do it. Techprogression is dependent on RNG most of the time.
Take Doctor X for example: You need an Esper to unlock the mission. In my current game I'm in octobre, first year, never seen an esper.

The point I'm trying to make is: you asked for an item to regenerate freshness during a mission, I told you it's already in the game. You complained it is late in tech, I told you that if you want it early, that is totally possible by choosing your research accordingly. That will delay other tech, but that is the essence of having a techtree. You can choose in which order you want to unlock tech. That has nothing to do with speedrunning.

The "male path" is also a techtree choice where you choose which soldier type you want to have access to first. You still get ubers later when you research "recruit: warriors", and this you can do just as fast as getting slave soldiers with the "gals are superior" path. Just another choice of which tech you want faster and which tech you want to delay. Choose according to your gameplay style.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 29, 2019, 05:52:46 pm
Speedrunning is a totally inappropriat word for xpiratez, because there isn't really a way you can do it. Techprogression is dependent on RNG most of the time.
Take Doctor X for example: You need an Esper to unlock the mission. In my current game I'm in octobre, first year, never seen an esper.

The point I'm trying to make is: you asked for an item to regenerate freshness during a mission, I told you it's already in the game. You complained it is late in tech, I told you that if you want it early, that is totally possible by choosing your research accordingly. That will delay other tech, but that is the essence of having a techtree. You can choose in which order you want to unlock tech. That has nothing to do with speedrunning.

The "male path" is also a techtree choice where you choose which soldier type you want to have access to first. You still get ubers later when you research "recruit: warriors". It was added to give you a choice of gameplay.

I asked for an item? Strange, I never knew I asked for an item.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 29, 2019, 05:54:06 pm
An item is necessary because of game mechanics, duh...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ridаn on December 29, 2019, 06:32:51 pm
An item is necessary because of game mechanics, duh...
Not really, I`m pretty sure armors might have an inbuilt action (like Theban dress Ankh, or Bugeye psionics) with cost of 99%TU and +1 Freshness.

Also, why not make use of that fancy OXCE training functionality and make an extra training routine - Pillow Book and 12 hours to recover X freshness.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 29, 2019, 10:29:41 pm
Not really, I`m pretty sure armors might have an inbuilt action (like Theban dress Ankh, or Bugeye psionics) with cost of 99%TU and +1 Freshness.

Also, why not make use of that fancy OXCE training functionality and make an extra training routine - Pillow Book and 12 hours to recover X freshness.

There is lots of options already existing - first, smokes, next, Wench outfit.
The second suggestion doesn't make much sense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ridаn on December 30, 2019, 02:07:10 am
The second suggestion doesn't make much sense.
Sorry for being vague, its just me fancying an old idea about making some items Geoscape consumables through training screen - Pillow Books for freshness recovery, Magical Cakes for stat boost, Regeneration Chambers to cut down on Wounded time, and the like.

And, just to be clear, I`m perfectly fine with current Fatigue mechanics - still, imo, an extra inbuilt "Rest" action might be a good addition to the game. Effectively youll trade all soldier`s TUs for staying Freshness-neutral, and maybe recover about 8 to 10 Stamina. Losing some morale might be a way to compensate, but you lose some to Stress anyway. Although an obvious abuse would be an impenetrable tank Gal drawing fire and providing sight, while staying full on Freshness - but even those are somewhat punished by getting maluses from Bullet Magnet and Gal of Steel.

I guess I can try to make both of those into submods, just to see if its gonna work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on December 30, 2019, 08:30:49 am
i kinda like the concept of a null turn action. Not for every armor but maybe a few here and there.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 30, 2019, 03:07:40 pm
"Null turn" is otherwise known as camping.
Not saying that anything is wrong about camping - to the contrary, it is a very good move to wait, therefore it cannot be free.
I did not add Freshness only so later give options to get rid of it. (Btw. money cost is no cost at all)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 30, 2019, 05:11:10 pm
You can do a "no freshness lost turn" by downing a bottle and two sips of Kaltes Klares. Most armors loose freshness by 0.0014 * moral, so when you are at 35 moral or under the freshness loss is rounded down to 0. Kaltes Klares takes 10 moral per sip, so with 7 sips you are at 30 moral and stop loosing freshness.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on December 30, 2019, 10:07:26 pm
You can do a "no freshness lost turn" by downing a bottle and two sips of Kaltes Klares. Most armors loose freshness by 0.0014 * moral, so when you are at 35 moral or under the freshness loss is rounded down to 0. Kaltes Klares takes 10 moral per sip, so with 7 sips you are at 30 moral and stop loosing freshness.
But unless you have high bravery, at 30 morale you could to berserk or panic. This could put you in harm's way, hurt allies, waste ammo, or just waste your next turn. Not something I would consider a null turn.

But anyway, if there was a "rest" action, why should it restore or maintain Freshness?
Even when you rest, battlefield is still stressful. Enemies could pop out from anywhere. Someone could throw a grenade at you.
I think that if a rest action is implemented, it should cost ~95% TU, restore a set amount of Stamina and reduce Stun by a set amount.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on December 31, 2019, 04:15:56 am
I'm well aware that you can panic or berserk at 30 moral :-P

By the way, the chance to panic is not related to bravery at all. When you are at 30 moral, there is a 40% chance to panic or berserk regardless of your bravery. See here: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Morale (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Morale)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on December 31, 2019, 05:53:59 am


.. the chance to panic is not related to bravery at all. When you are at 30 moral, there is a 40% chance to panic or berserk regardless of your bravery...

.. - and for what is there then bravery? ?

for what purpose, is bravery then ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: ohartenstein23 on December 31, 2019, 05:58:26 am
Bravery reduces the rate at which you get to the point of panicking from pretty much all sources - psi panic attacks, weapons that do morale damage, taking wounds, friendly units dying, the formulas for combat stress, etc. High bravery units will panic less simply by having a better chance of staying above 50 morale.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 31, 2019, 06:14:56 am
I think that if a rest action is implemented, it should cost ~95% TU, restore a set amount of Stamina and reduce Stun by a set amount.

First off, you cannot implement "action", we have to work on items.
Second, this makes no sense: you regenerate stamina by not moving, and how is ever stamina or stun connected to TUs?
Third, using all kinds of stimulants pretty much counts as "passing a turn", so you're suggesting a feature that is already implemented in a wide breadth of ways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on December 31, 2019, 06:18:43 am
for what purpose, is bravery then ?

Roland, I strongly recommend taking a look at the Ufopaedia link Eddie provided for morale.  It describes how bravery affects morale.  Also, on that web page you will also find a link for the bravery article; take a look at that page too.

PS ninja'd by ohartenstein23.  His answer is quite good, but take a look at the Ufopaedia web pages anyways.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on December 31, 2019, 03:15:32 pm
First off, you cannot implement "action", we have to work on items.
Second, this makes no sense: you regenerate stamina by not moving, and how is ever stamina or stun connected to TUs?
Third, using all kinds of stimulants pretty much counts as "passing a turn", so you're suggesting a feature that is already implemented in a wide breadth of ways.

About actions, there are armor actions, which, I suspect, is what was meant in the comment chain I answered to. Bugeyes-advisor has a medikit, pretty much non-tank armor has an unarmed attack. (Perhaps they are implemented as items, I do not know.)

The idea was, that it would sacrifice the possibility of acting or reacting for the effects. The gal (or other unit) puts away her weapon and does some breathing excersises.
With weapon put away, the gal could not react. Doing breathing excersises increases blood oxygenation, increasing stamina and reducing stun.

About it being pointless, I guess you are right.

I'm well aware that you can panic or berserk at 30 moral :-P

By the way, the chance to panic is not related to bravery at all. When you are at 30 moral, there is a 40% chance to panic or berserk regardless of your bravery. See here: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Morale (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Morale)
My mistake.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on December 31, 2019, 04:44:00 pm
Well i guess i should have fully explained my thoughts.

While consumables can be used to pass a turn without much ill effect i was thinking more about a small number of outfits having such charges/powers being built in. We have alot of items with a ton of varied effects, and some of them aren't even clearly documented in the pedia with the benefits of analysis tab. They also tend to get adjusted/balanced with some frequency with limited mention in patch notes(No foul, its alot of stuff every patch).

An inferior but built in option appeals to me cause frankly the depth/breadth of the mod gets in its own way sometimes. Like the nurse and advisor have a whole kit pointed at medical tasks the system has grown beyond that. I think a separate package pointed at energy/morale/freshness has value.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 31, 2019, 06:12:16 pm
Bugeyes-advisor has a medikit, pretty much non-tank armor has an unarmed attack. (Perhaps they are implemented as items, I do not know.)

Yes, that's exactly how it works. The medikit is a normal item, just inseparable from the armour. The melee attack options are more complicated than that, since they work with an empty box, but they're still standard items.[/quote]

The idea was, that it would sacrifice the possibility of acting or reacting for the effects. The gal (or other unit) puts away her weapon and does some breathing excersises.
With weapon put away, the gal could not react. Doing breathing excersises increases blood oxygenation, increasing stamina and reducing stun.

Maaan, this is some serious yoga shit. Sounds like a high-level voodoo outfit which has little other advantages, if any.

An inferior but built in option appeals to me cause frankly the depth/breadth of the mod gets in its own way sometimes. Like the nurse and advisor have a whole kit pointed at medical tasks the system has grown beyond that. I think a separate package pointed at energy/morale/freshness has value.

So, would it still be an action? Or an armour property (passive)?

EDIT: Dio, congrats on the 500 pages!!! (http://static.skaip.org/img/emoticons/180x180/f6fcff/party.gif)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: aduc812 on December 31, 2019, 09:53:48 pm
I think I found a segmentation fault bug in K2. Arch Linux, OXCE+ 6.1.1. 2-Nov-2019. It happened to me many times on deep ones attack map (where you need to destroy beacons), also in earlier XPiratez versions.  Previously I could not understand why it happens, but now I think it occurs when the sonic pistol shot hits the sky.
1)load save attached
2)select Masked Iria (see screenshot)
3)shoot (auto fire her autogun) into the deep one with sonic pistol (see screenshot)
4)the deep one returns fire. When his shot hits the sky - segmentation fault.
Sorry if it is a wrong place for bug report.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on December 31, 2019, 10:03:37 pm
Thanks for the report, I will check it tomorrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on December 31, 2019, 11:15:08 pm
I think a separate package pointed at energy/morale/freshness has value.

Wench. I already mentioned it.

The idea was, that it would sacrifice the possibility of acting or reacting for the effects. The gal (or other unit) puts away her weapon and does some breathing excersises.
With weapon put away, the gal could not react. Doing breathing excersises increases blood oxygenation, increasing stamina and reducing stun.

Don't be silly. Losing the opportunity to react costs nothing if you did not set an ambush in the first place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on January 01, 2020, 04:21:54 pm
Huh, Wench. That does cover morale i guess. This is what i was talking about with the breadth and depth getting in the way sometimes. I like to think i have a reasonably comprehensive knowledge about the mod but i didn't grasp what was there already. Go me.

But Freshness and energy are still left to individual consumables, unless some more changes are in the coming version.

Not that there should be many tools pertaining to freshness, but it feels like an incomplete/unexplored avenue to not have power based freshness/energy manipulators for some branches of voodoo. Seems like a communion thing.


Unrelated: wow 500 pages go community and DIoxine.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on January 01, 2020, 04:23:06 pm
I think I found a segmentation fault bug in K2. Arch Linux, OXCE+ 6.1.1. 2-Nov-2019.

Judging by your save, you are using OXCE 6.2 14-Dec-2019. Not OXCE 6.1.1.

The bug has been fixed in the meantime, you can upgrade to OXCE 6.3.1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on January 01, 2020, 11:33:01 pm
The "Good Touch" of the wench is not such a good deal. It costs 9 freshness to use, and gives 6 freshness. So you can give one gal more freshness at the cost of another gal loosing freshness, but loosing more than the other gal gains.

Pillow book is a much better deal. Get 6 freshness, without anyone loosing freshness for the use. Costs more TU, but still a better deal in my opinion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on January 02, 2020, 12:04:10 am
Comment puis-je désactiver l'option de réactivité dans la dernière version ?
Forgot to rewrite the lazy...

Tell me how you can turn off the cheer(??) option in the latest version?

eh, you surely mean the *freshnesh, (as ...feature,/function),   amybe? dont you?
..probably..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on January 02, 2020, 02:08:54 pm
Just give the worthy "Nepotism" and bang, 15 extra turns worth of freshness for 100k.
Send the rookies to easy missions to boost up the freshness.

And invest into facilities that offer 9+ freshness-recovery a day. Works wonders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashert on January 06, 2020, 08:53:01 pm
Does Dioxine have the potential to clear X-Piratez from Hobbes content in the foreseeable future, or do we have to think about an alternative? The earlier weakly represented Fair Use model does not seem to work. But that is also needed for various sounds. Alien shooter and arcade pinball music content for example.

I don't see a download on the main page, is that the time for a fork? I don't see any future with the fucking license logic like any wiki project.

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/af/34/07/af340781f88439b6b86e57ab921f67af.jpg)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on January 07, 2020, 04:31:02 am
Give it time, the clean version is coming.

The timing was rather unfortunate in regards to piratez. Hobbes did his thing basically hours before a fresh release would have happend so we suffering effectively a 2 version gap.

Also holidays and stuff, December isn't usually the most productive month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Yirtimd2 on January 07, 2020, 07:11:42 am
Guys, i missed something? What happened? Mod is dead now or what?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: GENVOKE on January 07, 2020, 10:33:23 am
No, just have patience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Lohland on January 07, 2020, 12:52:54 pm
No, just have patience.
Is the approximate time known?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on January 07, 2020, 12:53:31 pm
Is the approximate time known?

Approximately this year.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on January 07, 2020, 10:40:24 pm
..it will be cutt-ed off from map resources, tilesets, terrain tiles.. :/ :(

eh, what (bad) happn´d to this Hobbes?, left (split) him his girl, /wife, or what ?

(Has he got ..split with girl hehe  ;D >:( :D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 13, 2020, 04:59:08 pm
Extracting all assets created by Hobbes and then replacing them with an adequate substitute without breaking the mod will take time. While I disagree with hobbes' reasons (or rather, his reasoning), they're all his assets, so there isn't much room for arguing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on January 13, 2020, 07:42:54 pm
Who knows how to use the Phantom Whip that eats 50 Cheer?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Sahti Waari on January 15, 2020, 02:09:25 am
Once free, always free. Unless Hobbes regulary releases updates that are somehow necessary to make his map asset pack work, anybody could continue to use the version form back when it was free to use, even hypothetical purely commercial mods. I doubt the map asset pack was released under any sort of licence and since he never objected his works were used for profit by third parties for many years despite onviously knowing so, he would e at difficult at court in msot countries. It’s dick move to keep using it, but he seems like the bigger dick here, unless he’s trying to cover himself in case whoever owns original X-Com decides to sue him (unlikely, both x files and x piratez use copyrighted owned music and nobody gives a damn)

In Russia, this situation is resolved simply: a user who has submitted his work to the community for free and suddenly starts shouting about copyright is sent to fuck off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 15, 2020, 02:39:57 pm
Most modders are prob just purging hobbes' stuff to avoid any possible kerfuffle. I'm sure not there are any versions of his assets around apart from the one currently being used. Previous versions can totally be used, tho, unless hobbes argues that his current position was always the same and he just rephrased it to make it clearer, though that would be sneaky and not very honest.
 
My issue with it is because disagree with his reasoning that mods that receive donations can be put in the same category of "paid" mods.

Donations aren't payment, they're freely given incentives to tell the modder "hey, your stuff is cool, here's some stuff so you can spare more of your time on this cool thing you're doing". If Dioxine and other modders were demanding payment in exchange for new releases, then that would be a whole different situation and I'd totally be on Hobbes' side.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 15, 2020, 03:09:02 pm
Removal of the problematic content wasn't done out of fear or being forced, it was more of a "I don't want to have anything to do with it" decision.
I happen to share the sentiment, but my job was a bit easier, since I don't have as many items placed by hand. Piratez has hundreds, which is a HUGE problem.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: mercy on January 15, 2020, 11:36:13 pm
My issue with it is because disagree with his [Hobbes'] reasoning that mods that receive donations can be put in the same category of "paid" mods

I disagree with you as I am sure Hobbes suffered horribly while creating those amazing assets essentially bleeding his life-blood into this game and sharing it with the community, only to see someone else's profiting from the life-blood [energy] he bled out during so many years.  As you get older, you suddenly realize, you don't have that much energy anymore. You start to scrape food off from the bottom of the big storage buckets and frantically look for any money income as everything dries up.

I have been struggling for 11 years now to create products that I sell and while I'm successful as a seller, my products are sold at such low prices that I had to look for another source of income to not starve.

Look at it like this:
You suddenly awake in the hospital with traffic accident injuries and the doctor keeps telling you they aren't 100% sure they can sew you back together and you will definitely have losses of motor function in all your limbs + deteriorated vision(concussion = corneal damage) + because also there was a blood clot =>  unfortunate stroke caused by the blunt injury to your brain you basically lost precious IQ points: so you won't be as sharp in mind as you were before this unbelievable accident.  You panic, your thoughts start racing: WTH will I do now??  What will I do? ???

The above is exactly what happens when you get old.  Then you look at your life in desperation and see, where you bled your life-blood all those years of Ignorant Youth.   You see others profiting from the precious work you created, while you were young and healthy.  You suddenly start to realize how stupid you were to give everything away for free, products that could have generated you income you NOW desperately need.

I tried to explain this to Dioxine last year, but he brushed me off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on January 16, 2020, 09:53:01 am
Dude, literally everything you said is offtopic (or plain false). Not a single thing of what you said applies to this situation.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on January 16, 2020, 11:43:24 am
[...]You suddenly start to realize how stupid you were to give everything away for free, products that could have generated you income you NOW desperately need.
... so you go back to all the people you gave things for free before and demand payment from them now (or else!)? I'm really doubting your "successful salesman" pitch. "Yeah, remember that free sample I gave you 3 years ago? Gimme $10 or return it at once!" or "That free sample for teeth-whitening toothpaste allowed you to land a job as a successful news anchor? You need to turn your teeth yellow or quit that job, because you're making money off my product."

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: kevL on January 16, 2020, 12:45:53 pm
if people on tv were less plastic i might start watching again ...

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
ditto
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: mercy on January 16, 2020, 05:59:41 pm
... so you go back to all the people you gave things for free before and demand payment from them now (or else!)? ..
Exactly! Possibly with an automatic rifle you find in abundance in these MODs to emphasize your point.  Or how you see it on these excellent series:
Cant Pay? We'll Take It Away! S03E06 HD
I'm really doubting your "successful salesman" pitch. "Yeah, remember that free sample I gave you 3 years ago? Gimme $10 or return it at once!" or "That free sample for teeth-whitening toothpaste allowed you to land a job as a successful news anchor? You need to turn your teeth yellow or quit that job, because you're making money off my product."

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Sorry, buddy, I couldn't give a fig about what you are doubting. I stated facts.   Also if I decided to be in the place of Hobbes I would go after every SoB using my content with LAWYERS giving immediate takedown notices or suffer being sued to bankruptcy.   No mercy!!   :D
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RolandVasko on January 16, 2020, 06:28:57 pm
I disagree with you as I am sure Hobbes suffered horribly while creating those amazing assets essentially bleeding his life-blood into this game and sharing it with the community, only to see someone else's profiting from the life-blood [energy] he bled out during so many years.  As you get older, you suddenly realize, you don't have that much energy anymore. You start to scrape food off from the bottom of the big storage buckets and frantically look for any money income as everything dries up.

I have been struggling for 11 years now to create products that I sell and while I'm successful as a seller, my products are sold at such low prices that I had to look for another source of income to not starve.

Look at it like this:
You suddenly awake in the hospital with traffic accident injuries and the doctor keeps telling you they aren't 100% sure they can sew you back together and you will definitely have losses of motor function in all your limbs + deteriorated vision(concussion = corneal damage) + because also there was a blood clot =>  unfortunate stroke caused by the blunt injury to your brain you basically lost precious IQ points: so you won't be as sharp in mind as you were before this unbelievable accident.  You panic, your thoughts start racing: WTH will I do now??  What will I do? ???

The above is exactly what happens when you get old.  Then you look at your life in desperation and see, where you bled your life-blood all those years of Ignorant Youth.   You see others profiting from the precious work you created, while you were young and healthy.  You suddenly start to realize how stupid you were to give everything away for free, products that could have generated you income you NOW desperately need.

I tried to explain this to Dioxine last year, but he brushed me off.


..same here, at me.. :/ :(

and i partially agree!
(someghere, often, i agree almost with all.. )

Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on January 16, 2020, 07:08:43 pm
Exactly! Possibly with an automatic rifle you find in abundance in these MODs to emphasize your point.  Or how you see it on these excellent series:
I think that doing so would result in you being imprisoned. Or gunned down.

Demanding something, you gave for free, back is robbery. Giving is transferral of ownership, now they own it.

The reason Hobbes situation is somewhat different is, that his modpack is intelectual property, not a physical object. He never gave away the right to his modpack , he merely allowed others to copy it.
And even then, unless he intends to use it for gain himself, I think it was a poor move. I do not mean the licence declaration. I mean enforcing said licence on things based on previous versions of the modpack. 

Sorry, buddy, I couldn't give a fig about what you are doubting. I stated facts.   Also if I decided to be in the place of Hobbes I would go after every SoB using my content with LAWYERS giving immediate takedown notices or suffer being sued to bankruptcy.   No mercy!!   :D
How ironic.
Also, if at least one person challenged you on that, you would likely fail. The whole modding thing is a legal gray zone. Add in the fact that hobbes allowed usage of his assets before and you have a whole mess.

Basicaly, if you were in his place, you would have to prove 3 things
A) You are the author of the assets (Somewhat iffy. Many of the tiles were recolored TFTD tiles.)
B) The assets used are the same ones (Easy. Hobbes was credited.)
C) The usage was not allowed at the time it was done. (Impossible. It clearly was allowed until the declaration. Anything posted before it would not be affected by it.)

And let's not forget that winning this lawsuit would make you easy target for whoever now owns Microprose, because of point A. Microprose has an actual licence on X-COM.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 16, 2020, 10:33:19 pm
Indeed. Its kinda like those people who trace official sonic art and then claim it is their "original character" and berate anyone who for whatever reason use said character in other art. I'm not trying to belittle the contributions Hobbes' has made to openxcom and/or the xcom modding community, and I do agree with his point, on principle, its just that Xpiratez and other mods that get donations are free to download and use, just like Hobbes' stuff, the fact that people like the projects and wish to donate doesnt convert those mods into "paid content".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on January 19, 2020, 11:58:00 pm
Regardless of your opinion on what happened, what has happened is over and gone now. The purge is in progress. Please do not make more fights and drama over stuff that happened almost 2 months ago.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashert on January 22, 2020, 12:46:04 pm
In Russia, this situation is resolved simply: a user who has submitted his work to the community for free and suddenly starts shouting about copyright is sent to fuck off.

This also exists in America, called 'Fair Use' for all things that are not explicitly licensed. The self-conception of it e.g. also for all abandonware games, was however also damaged by the emergence of free licenses.

Example: Someone finds the last living dinosaur and photographs it for his blog. But one day later the dino is dead. Is the picture fair use for everyone and the schools or just the million dollar picture of the photographer?

The OpenXcom Forum itself, should make it clear that all content here for today and in the future is interpreted for fair use!

If every author here can come up with his own license and there are a hell of a lot of them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:File_copyright_tags/All), it paralyzes every development.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Zharkov on January 27, 2020, 11:48:41 pm
In Russia, this situation is resolved simply: a user who has submitted his work to the community for free and suddenly starts shouting about copyright is sent to fuck off.

In Soviet Russia content steals you!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on January 28, 2020, 03:04:21 am
X-Piratez...

The games I have played most often are Deus-Ex, Morrowind and Fallout:Tactics. The best game not on that list is Planescape: Torment.

UFO is strangely missing from that list, because it took decades before I could get it to run. I got the floppy version right at the start, but no massaging of the DOS system files made it work. And by the time I did get it to work, I was spoiled by Fallout: Tactics. Meh. Right?

So, second to F:T. Or, actually, not. Because it's Brutal. It requires a totally different way of playing. Those aliens are going to kill all of us! We have to stop them! A million dead soldiers would be a cheap price for the survival of humanity! And those aliens are really dangerous. They melt your soldiers from the far side of the map. You cannot even see them, let alone hit them. And if you do, it causes puny damage.

Wow. There is no other game like it. And all the sequels (except TFTD, but that's too hardcore) did this wrong.

Ok, X-Piratez. The first few times I played it, I was quite irritated by the prehistoric starting conditions and the demand for melee combat. Bah. It seemed a quite stupid and immature mod. In less than an hour, I uninstalled it. Low-res tits, but no gameplay.

But still, many people (like on rpgcodex.net) think this is the best mod ever. And the last time I tried, I was determined to play it for at least a few days. Which totally changed my view. It took a long time, but it turned out to be a Magnus Opus. Pixelated: yes, bad animations: yes, very restricted strategic user interface (either research or manufacture): yes. But it keeps going. There is so much stuff, so many things to do. And you always think: "That would improve my options/fire power quite a bit! Just a few more turns."

It's really, Really good.

Then again, it's also boring. I cannot stomach it for more than about four hours in a row. While I love the strategic part, the tactical part is just too repetitive. Yes, it improves after you played that same mission 25 times. Because you sometimes get a new mission. And everything is extremely balanced. In a single-player game. After playing it for a few hundred hours, I can state that the two things that kept it interesting, were the Reticulan plasma gun and the Chainmail armor. I cheated as well: I gave myself 25 million at the start, and as much Reticulan plasma clips as needed.

The interesting things about single-player games are the story (the first time) and what tactics and items give you an advantage. Min-maxing. Finding faster routes to get that game changing item or ability sooner. And, yes, you can do that in X-Piratez, but it requires a huge amount of meta. Spend as much time researching the game online as playing it. It takes a very large amount of time, and the advantage isn't that large. Unless you play at the higher difficulty levels, where doing that for all things is required. Otherwise, you simply lose. Back to researching the meta. Not playing the game, but finding out how the game works and what it wants you to do.

While I do love a seriously challenging fight occasionally, which takes hours and has me at the edge of my seat, I would want an "auto battle" button for all the trash fights in between. Or, if all fights are like that, I would lose interest soon, because I like advancing through the strategic layer. Getting better. Building bases, researching and producing better stuff. Give me my overpowered stuff. Let me fight or work hard for it, but don't make it disposable or require unobtainable ammo. It's fine if it has disadvantages as well, as long as those don't limit the usability too much.

TL;DR: It's really great, but much too balanced and repetitive. After a while it takes a long time of doing the same things again and again before you get the next toy.

Make it batshit crazy and really excessive.


Recommendations:

- Huge suicide charges / nukes with a range that is too short to survive firing them.
- Armors that give lots of speed and/or stealth but have no hand slots.
- Reactive/mirroring armor that does lots of stun damage to the user.
- Very expensive one-time use tools that destroy ship hulls.
- Low-level things like musical instruments that do massive morale damage to enemies.
- "Teleporters" that give you a random chance each turn to exchange places with any enemy.
- Small, autonomous drones that roam around and/or attack independently, bonus if there is a small chance for them to attack you.
- Base building that attracts enemies to invade.
- Illnesses that infect both your gals and enemies, unless vaccinated, with a small chance to mutate.
- Parachute-dropped armaments (like cluster bombs): destroy them before they rain down death and destruction.
- Hormones that have the local wildlife fight each other.
- Missions that pacify regions.
- Spy missions.
- Diplomacy: give them money and gifts, but allies might request attacks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on January 28, 2020, 11:15:57 am
Pretty much all of those recommendations are in the game xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Jimboman on January 28, 2020, 01:48:18 pm
SymbolicFrank:  Didn't want to quote all your post  ;)

Those ideas you recommend would put me (and probably other players) off the game.  Ok, I agree it's a grind a lot of the time, but those missions get your new gals (and guys) experience for the real tough battles ahead.   Also, if the RNG is kind you can get very good weapons early in the game.

Personaly I prefer the 'grind' of Piratez over a FPS anytime, where everything is just run, point and shoot.  Now that is boring!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 29, 2020, 04:29:57 pm
It seems like SymbolicFrank's complaints are meant to be directed more at xcom than xpiratez itself. One thing you need to understand is that, even though Piratez is such an expansive spaghetti monster of a mod, its still just a mod running on an extended version of the original openxcom, and so it cannot stray too far from the core UFO:EU gameplay. You can certainly bend it in some ways and create interesting things, like turrets, units that occupy 4 tiles and units that spawn other units, but only because there was a possibility for those things in the original game engine, IE you're still bound to the original framework provided by openxcom.

This means many (but not all) of your suggestions aren't stuff thats easily implemented or even possible to implement within the current limitations of the engine. Yes, it would be great if dio had a team of developers, the money and the skill to fully realize every crazy idea that we think would make piratez incredible, but this is a one man(woman? Mutant? Mutant with tits?) project mostly supported by Dioxine's own drive that sometimes gets aided by some donations, and thats also limited by the confines of fan created software put on top of a decades-old game.

Now, if its mission variety you're looking for, it increases greatly as you advance into the game, specially with as the different tiers of bounty hunting, undersea, underground and space missions show up. Yes, piratez has a slow start, but its absolutely worth it if you have the patience break the workshop and bounty hunting badge barriers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on January 29, 2020, 11:17:49 pm
I installed K2 just when it was released, with the intention to give it at least a few days. I start a new game, at the middle difficulty. And, almost immediately I got my first mission: "Save a sister". The airbus had landed a few tiles behind the fence at the back of the main building, and there were four enemies in sight. I couldn't exit the craft or take potshots at the enemy, without getting shredded by reaction fire. And while I couldn't hit them, they could hit my gals easily through the windows. Still, I managed to take those initial enemies down, but my last, very wounded gal succumbed to the Highwayman from the cellar.

Whelp! That didn't go very well!. It sure is X-COM, though. Part of the game. I'll just hire some new gals and buy a new ship, and I'm ready to go. Oh, wait, I can't...

It took me almost two months of researching the wrong things before I could hire peasants and buy a usable ship, by selling everything else. And those peasants had stats that were less than a sixth of the Lunatics. They couldn't hit the side of a barn, or walk 10 steps. Needless to say, that after about half a year, I was so far behind on the tech curve that I was happy if I had to abort less than half the missions. And no money whatsoever.

After almost a year, the situation was clearly unsalvageable, so I started a new game on easy, which I'm still playing. And I gave myself 25 Mil so I could buy a few brainers and a second base, just in case. It's still hard, but manageable. Gals are still hard to replace, so it's not really like X-COM. Although half the enemies are quite lethal, so that is rather like X-COM.

But it takes a long time playing the same missions over and over again, researching an endless amount of things that are mostly useless, or 1% better than my current equipment, in between the very few events and items that do make things better. Mostly Chainmail and salvaged Reticulan Plasma guns, and Church lasers. Which you can use once before you run out of ammo. So I gave myself a few hundred clips, to keep interest going.

This week, I started modding a few things, because even with about a hundred hours played and more than 25% researched, the main things that keep my gals alive are lots of experience and the stuff mentioned above. And I started to use debug mode to skip the easy and boring missions, like a ship with only a few civilians, or a Temple of Sirius, after taking out the priests.

Although I do have some nice ships. Two Predators, with a Nightmare being build. It's fun coordinating attacks on large ships.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on January 29, 2020, 11:57:42 pm
Btw:

One thing you need to understand is that, even though Piratez is such an expansive spaghetti monster of a mod, its still just a mod running on an extended version of the original openxcom, and so it cannot stray too far from the core UFO:EU gameplay. You can certainly bend it in some ways and create interesting things, like turrets, units that occupy 4 tiles and units that spawn other units, but only because there was a possibility for those things in the original game engine, IE you're still bound to the original framework provided by openxcom.

I'm a programmer. Half the idea was to see if it would be fun to add to OXCE. Like, a really good AI that doesn't cheat. A better UI. 3D scaling and mixing resolutions. Or random terrain. Or lots of other things. But all of those would go against rule #1: it has to play the base game unchanged. So I'm not sure there would be much enthusiasm for all that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: misterx on January 30, 2020, 01:35:41 pm
Really agree with Dakkdakk, a good improvement may be an AI not cheating, for the rest the game is highly moddable - though i barely can turn on a PC (!!!)

@SymbolicFrank: if you lookin for another type of game openxcom might be not your choice, but i can absolutely say for sure your help  contribuiting to the port will be enormously appreciated :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on January 30, 2020, 09:11:37 pm
AI: Most AIs treat all NPCs as puppets. NPCs should take individual decisions and communicate. Some could carry radios, others would have to shout. If they're cowardly, they try to stick together. And they hide behind terrain, peek around to scan or shoot. The commander should set the battle plan according to his stats. But all of it just simple, individual actions. That would make it very dynamic and quite a bit harder. 

Graphics: As it is, it's low-res 2D. And on the battlefield it is painted cell by cell: first the background, then the floor, the the items and lastly the object on top. The simplest way to make it more dynamic is to use OpenGL, and to paint each object, sprite or alphanumeric as a texture on a billboard (a rectangle facing the viewer). Just put them all next to and very close behind one another. That way it becomes resolution independent: the window/screen size as well as the resolution of the graphics. They all get automatically scaled. And a fixed viewing angle and no perspective prevents most artifacts. Although it might look weird if you put high-res next to low-res.

The whole battle field can be set up in one go, the shader(s) can figure out which sprite frame to use by themselves. And FreeType can render Unicode glyphs (chars) to bitmaps, for nice text dialogs in any language.

Dynamic maps: I don't know how it works at the moment, but in 3D modelling you have objects (often consisting of rectangles) and materials (a list of surfaces/textures you put on top). And that is basically how a battlefield looks like. Chop the whole viewing space into big voxels (boxes). Give each of them their own billboard. Take or generate a height map and background material (like, grass). And then you put objects, like ships or buildings on top of that, wherever there is space. That would also make it easy to build a graphical terrain/object editor. And simplify rendering, as you just have a single billboard with a material for each cell, instead of lots of both.


All of that is not very hard to do, but still, quite a lot of work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on January 30, 2020, 10:19:06 pm
Oof.  Getting used to the new ranking system.  Is there a bug or something?  I've got less than 40 gals and I've already got a pirate queen and two princesses.  I know other races have their own ranks, but are the peasants really increasing the ranks of my pirates?  It seems like they're all basically worthless except for gals then.  Or is the threshold for gal ranks just lower now?

The prepper camps also feel a little hardcore.  I've had easier times with some pogroms, and these appear in february and these are just a normal mission with what I think are normal rewards.

Edit: yeah out of curiousity, trying a peasant expedition/biking gang my maintenance shot up to ~420k in january because I got princess from just my starting ubers.  Firing all my ubers brought it down to a somewhat more manageable 162k.  Seems like you have to choose between peasants or ubers if you want to have peasants beyond just the initial week.

Actually nevermind, one battle later and my peasants are at 400,000 maintenance.  They're pretty much unusable sadly.  Mildly cheating: you can simply fire all the leaders at the end of the month which lowers it to 100;, which I think is the best workaround for the moment for anyone want to try mass peasants.  But that only works if you play without any ubers whatsoever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: greattuna on January 31, 2020, 02:35:50 pm
The ranking is based on total of all people in the roster, no matter the type, so if you have 6 gals and 30 peasants, they'd  rank as if you have 36 people in your roster (because you do). They also have same salaries for equivalent ranks.

And peasants are very much usable, but you probably don't want to hire so many in the first month. I did well with only hiring 10.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on January 31, 2020, 08:54:20 pm
Ah yeah, that was for testing.  I couldn't see any documentation anywhere so I just tried a peasant game.  Although in the current system:

1) expeditions of peasants are currently useless:  They're built on the concept of peasant armies.  They're so slow that you need a garrison of about 2x expeditions + replacements, so 70 peasants for the equivalent maybe 10 gals for an airbus.  And this just tanks your maintenance to like a million or multi-million if you have any gals.

2) The "normal" use of peasants is worthless in the long term:  long term maintenance wins out over hiring cost as salaries rise.  So in the current system, one peasant ~= one hand.  If you're just using peasant for early bus filler and base defense, like I think most people, you should fire all peasants and never hire after march.  If you want mass defense, just use hands + dogs.

3) honestly they kinda suck even in bikes, they're really meant for expeditions.  So you'd need to mix some ubers in there, and that runs into the issue ubers getting promoted because of peasants.  If you want even a reasonable 30 peasants + 6 ubers for 2 bikes w/ a bit of casualty backup, you're going to get an unreasonable maintenance.

Anyways, I normally only use them as a stepping stone to recruitment, I'm just disappointed that the alternative uses got shafted, and I think it's weird that it's best to fire all of your peasants after about march. 

-Any system which promotes uber ranks because of peasants is going to mean firing all peasants or firing all ubers. 
-For mass peasant balance, they need to take into account that peasant "vehicles" are bigger and slower, so a roster for 50 ubers should cost around the roster of about 250 peasants, which is currently not at all true.

Really just exempting peasants from the ranking system and doubling their base maintenance to 5k sounds like a sensible way to allow for peasant armies.  They simply aren't in the league of ubers/lochnars/etc so they just cannot exist in a system where they influence others' ranks.  Putting them in their own alternate ranking system, which doesn't affect other races, would also work, but I don't know how much work that is and you'd still have to lower pay if peasant expeditions are to be considered useable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on January 31, 2020, 10:08:59 pm
Honestly going for peasants or slave soldiers atm is something you do to get access to different armors and... Flavor, I guess. I agree that including them in the ranking system pretty much removed the main advantage you got for using them, which is lowered maintenance costs. Sure, the freshness system added a different variable, but its still a minor thing.

Maybe just remove peasants from the ranking system? The stat difference between them and slave soldiers is enough to justify slave soldiers having ranks and counting towards gal ranks, IMO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 01, 2020, 12:16:04 am
Playing with these numbers a bit further, seems like there's a giant spike in maintenance at 32.  So if you want to play biker gangs (without firing high rankers) you can actually kinda manage it if you stay at 31 or under.  That still doesn't change that you need to replace all of those peasants with hands and you can't really max out an expedition, but I guess that's just the new meta.  It also seems like you kinda need to go Airbus + bikes, since 2 bikes gets you a bit too close to that maintenance explosion to handle injuries.

In any case, expeditions are currently just a newbie trap, so hopefully something changes.

Edit: Regarding super slaves.  TBH Their stats aren't really that different from peasants.  Like I get some that are worse than peasants.  So I don't really get this whole ranking system as a whole.  If the issue was expeditions are too powerful when stuffed to the max, then maybe they should have just had a lowered maximum crew.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on February 01, 2020, 02:15:10 pm
Well... You don't really need armies of peasants and SS. While they do have lower stats than gals, some of those stats can be trained to the same level as gals can. Accuracy, throwing etc.

The best use of them is of course tanks. Gnomes are fairly hard to get, while tanks can be rushed in research, so they are usefull.
There is also a couple of missions that gals can't go, so this is also something to keep in mind.

Right now I will always go for the "Male Touch" route, thanks to the gameplay becoming more of a challenge without adding more enemies, or increasing their armor. It's at this point that you start to love mortar (that feeling when you bomb Church Boot Camp, killing everyone in second turn is just... Nice). Where Gals are rather generalist and can do everything good, you have to play differently with others.
Lokk'Nars are snipers, or poison dagger silent killers. SS are the main meat that just fights. Peasants start as rather support unit for healing and such.
Gals at this point become Heavy Support and Melee specialists.

And I don't think Expeditions are too powerfull. Lack of cover on the first turn increases risk and with low HP Peasants/SS/Lokk'Nars it's a significant risk. Trucks do way better.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on February 01, 2020, 04:50:40 pm
I would point out that the change of units counting for ranks was not aimed at the high capacity slow craft, but at the economic balance of the early game. Previously if you arranged things properly in regards to garrisons and how many gals you used(nd to a lesser extent how many castaways you found) you could have had 100+ soldiers with no more cost then you started the game with.

A full roster for free is pretty ridiculous right?

Expeditions and convoys just got worse as a side effect because the budget is tighter in the early game.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Cristao on February 01, 2020, 05:35:46 pm
Well... You don't really need armies of peasants and SS. While they do have lower stats than gals, some of those stats can be trained to the same level as gals can. Accuracy, throwing etc.

The best use of them is of course tanks. Gnomes are fairly hard to get, while tanks can be rushed in research, so they are usefull.
There is also a couple of missions that gals can't go, so this is also something to keep in mind.

Right now I will always go for the "Male Touch" route, thanks to the gameplay becoming more of a challenge without adding more enemies, or increasing their armor. It's at this point that you start to love mortar (that feeling when you bomb Church Boot Camp, killing everyone in second turn is just... Nice). Where Gals are rather generalist and can do everything good, you have to play differently with others.
Lokk'Nars are snipers, or poison dagger silent killers. SS are the main meat that just fights. Peasants start as rather support unit for healing and such.
Gals at this point become Heavy Support and Melee specialists.

And I don't think Expeditions are too powerfull. Lack of cover on the first turn increases risk and with low HP Peasants/SS/Lokk'Nars it's a significant risk. Trucks do way better.

Hmm - you are right I should consider replaying with male soldiers...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 01, 2020, 08:44:13 pm
I would point out that the change of units counting for ranks was not aimed at the high capacity slow craft, but at the economic balance of the early game. Previously if you arranged things properly in regards to garrisons and how many gals you used(nd to a lesser extent how many castaways you found) you could have had 100+ soldiers with no more cost then you started the game with.

A full roster for free is pretty ridiculous right?

Expeditions and convoys just got worse as a side effect because the budget is tighter in the early game.

Well it seems kinda equivalent:  what would you need 100+ soldiers for if not for high capacity vessels?  I mean there's base defense, but even the highest difficulty doesn't get attacks that plain dogs have a hard time with for 8 months (unless we're going to get dogs with ranks in the next update.  Pls don't xD).  Maintenance doesn't spike until you get a princess (32 hands), and I can't imagine needing a roster that large when playing a usual game with flying craft + gals until you get like a turtle or something when you can pretty easily handle a princess.  Trucks/bikes/expeditions are where you'd need that amount in the early game.

@JusttheDude:  Well, you said it yourself, you play male touch for the challenge.  Which I think is where non-ubers lie at the moment: just challenge races.  It sounds kinda hard to justify even using lochnars for underground missions now.  If I'm going to pay on average 150-200k for a lochnar garrison, why even have it?

Regarding expeditions and lack of cover:  Well you just move your most expendables first.  Like I played a ratmen mission with mostly peasants and bikes, and lost 7 peasants.  That's basically a successful mission.  I can see why expeditions (double that) are a bit too powerful with the old unranked peasants.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on February 01, 2020, 10:53:33 pm
The X-prison escape is really hard: starting at the third turn half your gals panic each turn because the morale of all of them dropped below 50%. Next time I only take gals with 80+ bravery, to see if that helps a bit.

And I really dislike it that on average, the enemy only has to hit one of your gals once or twice with their superior weapons to kill them, while your gals have to hit those enemies more than five times with the best weapon they can use. Half the weapons I loot are superior to what my gals are armed with, so I have to sell them because I'm not allowed to use them and cannot research them. That sucks quite a bit.

Either allow easy replacement of gals, which goes against the very slow improvement curve, or allow them to use lethal weapons. And the same goes for armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 02, 2020, 12:53:05 am
And I really dislike it that on average, the enemy only has to hit one of your gals once or twice with their superior weapons to kill them, while your gals have to hit those enemies more than five times with the best weapon they can use. Half the weapons I loot are superior to what my gals are armed with, ...

This is the very essence of "UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense" the original game!  Did you try vanilla openxcom?  Did you like it?  If you are not proficient with vanilla, you'll most likely have a hard time with X-Piratez.

Either allow easy replacement of gals, which goes against the very slow improvement curve, or allow them to use lethal weapons. And the same goes for armor.

There is easy replacement of gals, all it takes is cash.  Perhaps you have neglected some early research topics.

There are plenty of lethal weapons some of which are available from the very beginning.  Don't expect all your gals to be toting heavy plasma 3 months in like vanilla.  Just because you can't research a weapon yet, doesn't automatically mean you can't use it.  Advanced armors probably takes the longest to get your gals equipped, just like the OG.  But the early armors are useful.

Don't be afraid to skip or abort missions where the odds are heavily stacked against you.  Try to do the high scoring ones; it will take some experience to figure out which score well.

PS If anything I said is out of date, it's because I haven't played the latest version yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: MemoryTAS on February 02, 2020, 01:30:29 am

There is easy replacement of gals, all it takes is cash.  Perhaps you have neglected some early research topics.
Could also be locked out if you took the "We need male touch" research option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 02, 2020, 07:25:05 am
He might mean training wise.  It can be pretty easy missing the dojo if you don't know about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on February 02, 2020, 01:21:31 pm
X-Prison is the one where you start with 5 or six gals (depending on craft) in prison, right?
There are mostly low-level enemies there, just kill a few officers and most enemies will panic. You just need to find the esper or the last engineer usually.
I never had problems with that mission, but I am not sure if I played it after morale changes, definitivly haven't played it since freshness.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 03, 2020, 09:57:50 pm
The worst you'll prob find in Xprison missions are megapol enforcers and the huge monkey guys with shields and batons, those are pretty tanky, but can be taken out easily using tech blades and other stuff you'll likely have by that point.

And your gals do get some decently lethal weapons early on. You can take out even mercs using the humble assault cannon, though it'll prob take more than a single shot. And don't neglect melee, as you can take out enemies in power armor simply by having a gal swing an axe or a hammer to their backside a few times. You can also get the krazy hannah contact going before you get a workshop, too, meaning you get access to RPG's, mortars, light, medium and heavy machineguns, all which are pretty damn deadly against anything short of maybe the star gods themselves.

And yea, if you're careful enough, you can have nearly all your gals be castaways, greatly lowering the overall upkeep. It just that I didn't really pay attention to the spike in maintenance due to using lots of peasants, since I didn't really use them much until now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 04, 2020, 12:00:44 am
hmm, Rince Wind and Dakkdakk seem to be talking about 2 different missions.  I'm not sure which mission SymbolicFrank is talking about.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on February 04, 2020, 02:04:36 am
Lets make it clear: Mission where you are forced to go without gear and naked, then bust out of prison you are held should be known as "Doctor X Prison"
and the other where you are assaulting prison for mutant alliance should be known as "Megapol Prison". Nice and easy.

You need like 3-4 turns to find first enemies, start killing and Morale will return. It's not like everyone will be panicked on the same turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on February 04, 2020, 03:01:34 pm
Ohhh yea, my mistake, I mistook the megapol prison mission for the xprison one.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: georg7490 on February 11, 2020, 01:54:35 am
I'm terrebly sorry for interrupting your conversation, but could you please tell me - what was the last version of this mod where:
1. ALL options of the game were available to modify. As for now I can see that many options in main menu are locked (purple colour) and unavailable to change. Is that a joke or the diagnosis? :(
2. The attacking of a single enemy air unit on the globe view was available with multiple air crafts of a player. In K3 version I can see that the auther have made unavailable to minimize the air attck window jut to wait while other player's air craft will join the air battle with the same enemy's air unit.
(https://a.radikal.ru/a31/2002/06/b8726a14ebd4t.jpg) (https://radikal.ru/big/wsv44z2yk2okv)
That is... quite... i don't have decent words to describe my feelings about that gameplay "improvement".
3. I don't know what other bad surprises (like previous two) are waiting for me in K3 and further versions - so please suggest me the version of the mod that was normaly playable, just before the auther of this mod become crazy enough to made that kind of mistakes. Thank you very much for your kind attention. ^_^

p.s. about number 2 issue - when i started a new game I can see that there is no such a horror like on upper screenshot. I guess that's just a bug that happened because I was loaded in K3 a save file that was made in version 0.99C1. I guess they are not playable anymore in K3 version...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: RetroJL on February 11, 2020, 02:12:09 am
1.  I can't speak for the devs, at all, but Xpiratez is a fairly extensive total conversion mod.  One could assume most of those options are locked to prevent certain issues or exploits.   And if that doesn't work for you just go into the options file and change it yourself.  Betting some changes would mess things up royally though, Weapon self-destruction comes to mind here.

2.  AFAIK you can still attack with multiple interceptors.  Hell, it's almost required on some alien craft.

3.  Nope.  Not touching this one.  Read above.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 11, 2020, 02:26:13 am
I think he's referring to the hunter killers killing you if you minimize windows.  The current solution to this is, I believe, either:

1) having your faster ships  target follow your slowest ships , then have the slowest ship target the enemy, attacking at once, or
2) attacking with a ship faster than the hunter killer.  But you'd have to know the ship's max speed first.

I've voiced my concern with this as well, but for now you might want to just leave those guys alone unless you want to check out the little questions thread for some advice on it.

Regarding locked options, I mean, it is a total conversion mod as said above.  Some have to be locked because they will literally break the mod.

Also, isn't 0.99C like a zillion updates ago?  The mod is pretty good at keeping old save games workable with some slight updates, but that's... old.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 11, 2020, 04:34:38 am
1. ALL options of the game were available to modify. As for now I can see that many options in main menu are locked (purple colour) and unavailable to change. Is that a joke or the diagnosis? :(

In earlier versions of OXCE, the player had to read the readme file and manually set the options that were considered important by the modder for the mod to work as intended.  In later versions, it became possible for the mod to automatically set the required options as needed so the player didn't have to do it manually.  All the options that don't cause problems for the mod are still manually configurable.

2. The attacking of a single enemy air unit on the globe view was available with multiple air crafts of a player. In K3 version I can see that the auther have made unavailable to minimize the air attck window jut to wait while other player's air craft will join the air battle with the same enemy's air unit.
That is... quite... i don't have decent words to describe my feelings about that gameplay "improvement".

In more recent versions of OXCE, it became possible for the enemy to seek out and attack the player's aircraft with "Hunter Killer" ufos.  In X-Piratez, only Hunter Killer shippings will have active attack radars indicated by a large circle around the enemy craft.  If your craft get inside the Hunter Killer's radar range, it will try to attack your craft.  If it intercepts your craft, the intercept window pops up, but you don't have all the usual buttons since your craft is being attacked.  To protect your craft, you can now have escort fighters as Greep described in his point 1.  All your craft have to be together at the moment of intercept in order to defend together.  If the enemy ufo is not a Hunter Killer, then all of the normal buttons including minimize are available in the intercept window.

3. I don't know what other bad surprises (like previous two) are waiting for me in K3 and further versions - so please suggest me the version of the mod that was normaly playable, just before the auther of this mod become crazy enough to made that kind of mistakes. Thank you very much for your kind attention. ^_^

Last I checked, the mod was unavailable on the mod portal.  As for the next version, the only thing I'm pretty sure of is a lot of scenery changes.

p.s. about number 2 issue - when i started a new game I can see that there is no such a horror like on upper screenshot. I guess that's just a bug that happened because I was loaded in K3 a save file that was made in version 0.99C1. I guess they are not playable anymore in K3 version...

Nope not a bug, you will run into them again.  Just not every red blip is a hunterkiller.  If you really want to avoid these changes either stick with 0.99C1 or make a mod for K2.  But I recommend that you give K2 a chance, the air game is only a little bit harder.  There are still plenty of pink site missions.  I don't think K3 was ever officially released although I've heard rumors that some people had seen a not quite complete K3. 
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: IRBaboon on February 11, 2020, 09:35:59 am
Well... You don't really need armies of peasants and SS. While they do have lower stats than gals, some of those stats can be trained to the same level as gals can. Accuracy, throwing etc.

The best use of them is of course tanks. Gnomes are fairly hard to get, while tanks can be rushed in research, so they are usefull.
There is also a couple of missions that gals can't go, so this is also something to keep in mind.

Right now I will always go for the "Male Touch" route, thanks to the gameplay becoming more of a challenge without adding more enemies, or increasing their armor. It's at this point that you start to love mortar (that feeling when you bomb Church Boot Camp, killing everyone in second turn is just... Nice). Where Gals are rather generalist and can do everything good, you have to play differently with others.
Lokk'Nars are snipers, or poison dagger silent killers. SS are the main meat that just fights. Peasants start as rather support unit for healing and such.
Gals at this point become Heavy Support and Melee specialists.

And I don't think Expeditions are too powerful. Lack of cover on the first turn increases risk and with low HP Peasants/SS/Lokk'Nars it's a significant risk. Trucks do way better.

I quite liked the convoy, especially if by absolute luck I can nail a pogrom or some big assault. Its quite a satisfying and feeling to have everyone unload from the APCs, setup some mortars, slowly pass ammo out from my pile of gear, setup a perimeter, setup a triage station for the peasants who are bleeding out, and slowly flush everyone out. Mmm, mmm. Its not even efficient. Its just..... what's the right word? What's the word for that feeling when you have lot's of soldiers and weapons and apcs and you can unpack them slowly and this reminds you how large an organization of soldiers you have gradually created, and you have lot's of mortars and can likely deal with anything? Yeah, that feeling. Can't quite remember the exact word for it....
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on February 11, 2020, 02:25:25 pm
Satisfying
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: SymbolicFrank on February 15, 2020, 01:21:09 am
I lost interest, so it took a while:

This is the very essence of "UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense" the original game!  Did you try vanilla openxcom?  Did you like it?  If you are not proficient with vanilla, you'll most likely have a hard time with X-Piratez.

I played Vanilla and OpenXCom many times. I love them, because they're a unique genre all by themselves (UFO and TFTD). Yes, the aliens are very accurate and hit hard, so I expect to lose multiple soldiers every mission. It's part of the game, and they're easily replaceable. The main difference between a rookie and an officer is the morale gained, or lost when killed. And I always sack every soldier with less than 40-50 morale.

Quote
There is easy replacement of gals, all it takes is cash.  Perhaps you have neglected some early research topics.

In Piratez, the replacement soldiers are hard to get or useless wimps. Yes, even the extremely expensive veterans and freaks. The freaks get *ONE* stat that is on par with a Lunatic, and all the other ones will never get good.

Quote
There are plenty of lethal weapons some of which are available from the very beginning.  Don't expect all your gals to be toting heavy plasma 3 months in like vanilla.  Just because you can't research a weapon yet, doesn't automatically mean you can't use it.  Advanced armors probably takes the longest to get your gals equipped, just like the OG.  But the early armors are useful.

Don't be afraid to skip or abort missions where the odds are heavily stacked against you.  Try to do the high scoring ones; it will take some experience to figure out which score well.

Well, in the third month or so, the enemy simply nuked all but two of my gals. BOOM! Now, three years in, I still haven't got anything even half as lethal.

And while chain mail is cool for the first two years, it doesn't make much difference afterwards. Your gals still melt after a single attack, if it is more dangerous than civilians.

And, yes, I aborted more than half the missions because they were hopeless. Not in the least because I couldn't afford to lose the gals and hardware.

In Piratez, losing gals and equipment is punished harshly and improvement is extremely glacial. Which is the opposite of what made the originals the classics they are.

In the originals I research laser weapons and I can take on the aliens on equal terms. In Piratez, I research thousands of things that sound cool but require tens of requisites and are obsolete the moment they are available. My gals get comparatively weaker all the time.

It's probably fun if you spend a few years learning the optimal research route and just like to play the same few battles again, again, again and again, while you get weaker if the RNG doesn't give you one of the requisites. But who cares, if you lose, you start a new game that is going to take half a year to finish.

I like replayability and diversity, but I'm no masochist.

Then again, the Quickmind let's play shows that melee is very powerful. Throw your weapons and armor away, they will only hamper you! It's like a Japanese game, where a Katana beats a nuke, and a single, unarmed combatant slaughters battalions of soldiers armed with firearms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ves on February 15, 2020, 06:10:19 am
It isn't for everyone. If slow tech progress annoys you i'd avoid the megamods and take a look at the mods that only modify the originals to some extent. The last sentence really says a lot, since melee is a cornerstone throughout the entire campaign. It is not worth it if it frustrates you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 15, 2020, 07:02:36 am
Well, experienced gals being unreplaceable in the first year of the campaign is somewhat valid concern, male touch/peasants used to be another way of playing that played more to that angle, but not so much when they cost 10x the maintenance they used to. 

But lategame, even midgame really, that's what dojos + martial arts afterwards are for.  If the dojo is too slow, build more than one base with a dojo.  Train gals before you need them.

Melee is very very nice, but if I had to choose between ranged or melee only, I'd probably go with ranged.  Melee seems super powerful, but it's also super risky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 15, 2020, 05:42:32 pm
Well, in the third month or so, the enemy simply nuked all but two of my gals. BOOM! Now, three years in, I still haven't got anything even half as lethal.

Well if you want nukes early, you will have to take them away from those that have them.  And melee will probably play a big part in successfully taking them, but you are risking a squad wipe to do it.  Smash, grab, and flee recommended if attempting.

In the originals I research laser weapons and I can take on the aliens on equal terms. In Piratez, I research thousands of things that sound cool but require tens of requisites and are obsolete the moment they are available. My gals get comparatively weaker all the time.

It's probably fun if you spend a few years learning the optimal research route and just like to play the same few battles again, again, again and again, while you get weaker if the RNG doesn't give you one of the requisites. But who cares, if you lose, you start a new game that is going to take half a year to finish.

I don't think there is an optimum research on purpose by the mod design.  And there are various gateway researches that keep the player from going very deep in any one direction too soon.  I think the player needs to balance researching new general topics with researching captives and loot items.  Since many research topics have multiple sources due to the get one frees attached to captives and some items, the only optimization I see is choosing the quickest way in brainer days.  You will eventually research practically everything you can eventually anyways when you hit the bottlenecks.  Note, don't forget to build new facility types as some topics require them to show up.  But it doesn't make sense to repeatedly research 10 brainer day captives to get 1 brainer day topics via get one free.  There's an endless supply of most mooks anyways.  If a topic doesn't have symbols on it -=# throw 1 brainer on it even if it consumes a weapon unless you think it's a rare one and there are other sources for the research topic.  Research is very incremental, it might take 50-100 topics to have the same game impact as one topic did in vanilla.  Research pace of 20% a year is probably good enough, first year will likely be less but you will catch up the second year.  You can go faster of course but your runts may have a hard time keeping pace with producing the things your brainers unlock.

There are many mission types available, there isn't a good reason just to fixate on a mission you know has a chance of giving you a needed item.

The factions get stronger on a much slower pace than the aliens in vanilla.  Your squad really shouldn't be getting comparatively weaker.  There are some factions that are much stronger than your squad, however.  It is best not to piss them off too much early in the game.

As others have said, you might find some of the shorter mods more to your liking.  In this mod you're on a 5 (game) year mission: to explore a strange new world, to seek out and exploit new factions, to boldly go where no über gal has gone before.  (with apologies to Gene and the umlaut looks cooler)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 17, 2020, 08:12:36 am
These hunter killers are getting really annoying.  I've randomly lost an early game transport twice in the same month.  Lost over a million credits, spending most of the month rebuilding javelins, axes.  Wasting a lot of time refitting inventory to crafts instead of playing the game.

Is there any way to deal with this early game or is this just kinda lame at the moment?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 17, 2020, 08:43:43 am
If you are losing them on the return trip to base after mission where you can't avoid them, I believe a later OXCE version has remedied that.

Edit:
Otherwise, in the early game you may have to use the activity graphs as a poor man's radar.  Flying ufos score a point every 30 minutes in the region they are flying over.  Landed ufos score 2 points every 30 minutes.  Enemy bases will score points throughout the month; not sure how often they score maybe once a day.  I don't think pink sites score anything while they are active and most of them don't score anything when they disappear either.  Don't forget that there are more regions than there are room for buttons to turn their graphs on; use the mousewheel to scroll the buttons.  Also the colors are reused so be careful.  The mousepad + - keys zoom in and out on the graphs to make it easier to tell if any are changing although it is still kind of a PITA.  The graphs are updated for ufo activity every 30 minutes, so detection by graph is only behind 30 minutes.  I don't know if there are any ufos that don't score points while flying.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on February 17, 2020, 09:15:56 am
Either direction, the radar on early game transports is poor.  Really any early game ship actually, even if I wanted to do the hassle of accompanying craft every single embark (not really -_-)

Edit: regarding graph watching, there's no way I'm doing that lol.

I guess the K versions are just a bit rough on account of not many people being able to playtest it.  I have to admit I'm not seeing the point of hunter killers being added to piratez.  It seems to be made for mods where you're supposed to be able to shoot down any ship and use interceptors to accompany transports, and this is simply not the case with piratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on February 18, 2020, 05:41:28 am
The point of HKs to force the player into being competent at the air game, and reaching the tools/techs to do so. Before HKs there where a number of important research items that one could only find on flying craft, and players would totally ignore the air game and then complain the mod was unfinishable or broken.

Dioxine chose the kick player in the wallet until they get the message they need air power.

A second reason was to give faction bases a little more bite and force you to engage and destroy them. People used to ignore 5 or 6 bases in the late game. Or worse use them as free equipment farming. Now supply ships don't land and bases try to actively interfere with operations.

Granted these changes are quite fresh and still need fine tuning. But then Hobbes made his declaration and derailed fresh releases and further development.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: spazeroid on February 18, 2020, 01:39:45 pm
Hello,

I joined the forum just to say that this is in my humble estimation probably one of the finest games ever made. I grew up playing original abandonware x-com. I loved the hell out of it. Then I found this mod and the world shifted for me so to speak. I have probably put 200-300 hours into it, across several games. It just keeps getting bigger and my mind is not prepared for that. Thank you so much dioxine, for making this mod. The fact that it exists continually leaves me amazed.

I'm also here to report a possible bug. so I'm about 2/3 of the way through the game. It's march 2603. I have hellerium munitions, smart guns, civilization and nightmares. I still don't have voodoo. I got the first 2 events in what I think is the voodoo initiation event chain, but I can't get the third one. It's so bad I'm thinking of save editing just so I can get my hands on saucy magic. Am I doing something wrong?

The campaign itself is from multiple versions ago, which I keep updating as I go along. I got saves back to January of last year, so it's probably a side effect of a too old campaign. What makes me think something is messing up is that I have gotten the mad scribblings quest twice, despite managing to use the mad scribblings once. (On a related note, it is borderline painful to find any consumer goods past the mid point of the game.)

Is there any legitimate way to solve this problem? Or should I dabble in dark arts?

P.S.: I'm probably going to send you money.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on February 18, 2020, 02:10:00 pm
I'm also here to report a possible bug. so I'm about 2/3 of the way through the game. It's march 2603. I have hellerium munitions, smart guns, civilization and nightmares. I still don't have voodoo. I got the first 2 events in what I think is the voodoo initiation event chain, but I can't get the third one. It's so bad I'm thinking of save editing just so I can get my hands on saucy magic. Am I doing something wrong?

You can use the tech tree viewer in game (press Q in geoscape) to see what's missing.

Or online bootypedia: http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_LAB
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: spazeroid on February 18, 2020, 02:55:38 pm
You can use the tech tree viewer in game (press Q in geoscape) to see what's missing.

Or online bootypedia: http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_LAB

Certainly! I have voodoo schools, but I don't have voodoo initiation (http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_INITIATION). I need that to get the fun stuff. More specifically Voodoo:communion.

Looking more into the tech tree, I have "ye old magic shoppe" but not voodoo initiation. This is likely a side-effect of being from an old version. Should I just save edit myself into having voodoo initiation? Or is there a internal check that should correct itself?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on February 18, 2020, 03:14:00 pm
Certainly! I have voodoo schools, but I don't have voodoo initiation (http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_INITIATION). I need that to get the fun stuff. More specifically Voodoo:communion.

Looking more into the tech tree, I have "ye old magic shoppe" but not voodoo initiation. This is likely a side-effect of being from an old version. Should I just save edit myself into having voodoo initiation? Or is there a internal check that should correct itself?

Upload your save here so that we can have a look if it's a real issue or if you're just missing something.
Most likely you're just still missing something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on February 18, 2020, 04:45:58 pm
I still don't have voodoo. I got the first 2 events in what I think is the voodoo initiation event chain, but I can't get the third one.

The event chain for voodoo initiation is first "wasteland priestess" and then "seek out the desert witch". The "wasteland priestess" event spawns without prerequisites at 23% chance per month. "seek out the desert witch" is not actually the second event but the research you need for it to spawn (50% chance per month once researched). So you can type that into the ingame tech tree viewer to see what you are missing.

If you are missing the "wasteland priestess" event, you can edit "Piratez_events.rul" and look for "str_blessings" there to set executionOdds to 100 to reduce the waiting time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 18, 2020, 06:57:20 pm
The event leading to Voodoo is unavailable for campaigns with the lowest difficulty level. So if you play on Cap'n Kidd, you are not supposed to access this part of the tech tree.

If you want to go as far as editing the mod to get this (as per Eddie's suggestion), then you can modify the even to also happen on the lowest difficulty. But I personally think that a much cleaner and overall better (and fairer) solution would be changing your difficulty from 0 (lowest) to 1 (second lowest) - it won't be a big difference, but will enable the event. To do so:
- back up your save,
- open the save in some text editor (preferably something more reliable than Notepad),
- find a line "difficulty: 0" and replace the 0 with 1.

If you are not playing on the lowest difficulty, just disregard my post.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: spazeroid on February 18, 2020, 11:13:32 pm
Upload your save here so that we can have a look if it's a real issue or if you're just missing something.
Most likely you're just still missing something.

Will do! And yeah it's probably user error.

The event chain for voodoo initiation is first "wasteland priestess" and then "seek out the desert witch". The "wasteland priestess" event spawns without prerequisites at 23% chance per month. "seek out the desert witch" is not actually the second event but the research you need for it to spawn (50% chance per month once researched). So you can type that into the ingame tech tree viewer to see what you are missing.

If you are missing the "wasteland priestess" event, you can edit "Piratez_events.rul" and look for "str_blessings" there to set executionOdds to 100 to reduce the waiting time.


Huh, if that's how it works then yeah it might just be a run of bad RNG on my end. An ingame month takes me a long time to get through just because I'm doing most of the missions. I have the wasteland priestess and the research done. Looking back through my saves the research was done in December, and it's March now. So assuming everything works it should just be a matter of time. Thanks!

The event leading to Voodoo is unavailable for campaigns with the lowest difficulty level. So if you play on Cap'n Kidd, you are not supposed to access this part of the tech tree.

Neat feature, but nah I'm on blackbeard. My biggest take away from playing cap'n kidd was that the gals were actually just very aggressive paramedics who would shoot people so they had an excuse to practice medicine on them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on February 18, 2020, 11:42:24 pm
Will do! And yeah it's probably user error.

When I load your save and go to Ufopedia, category "Mysteries".... I see that you already have the topic "VooDoo".

So which topic exactly are you missing?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: spazeroid on February 18, 2020, 11:45:17 pm
When I load your save and go to Ufopedia, category "Mysteries".... I see that you already have the topic "VooDoo".

So which topic exactly are you missing?

Voodoo initiation. (http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_INITIATION). Without it I cannot get the more advanced forms of Voodoo or Weirdgals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on February 19, 2020, 12:00:23 am
Voodoo initiation. (http://xpiratez.wtf/xpedia_en-US.html#STR_PSI_INITIATION). Without it I cannot get the more advanced forms of Voodoo or Weirdgals.

The event is already generated and will happen on March 30th 10am.

Code: [Select]
geoscapeEvents:
  - name: STR_SUPERIOR_BEINGS
    spawnCountdown: 6840
  - name: STR_PSI_INITIATION_EVENT                 # <-------------- this one
    spawnCountdown: 18690
  - name: STR_LFS_002
    spawnCountdown: 12480
  - name: STR_KNOCK_KNOCK_HUNTER
    spawnCountdown: 11460
  - name: STR_MAD_SCRIBBLINGS
    spawnCountdown: 9660
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: spazeroid on February 19, 2020, 12:20:29 am
The event is already generated and will happen on March 30th 10am.

Code: [Select]
geoscapeEvents:
  - name: STR_SUPERIOR_BEINGS
    spawnCountdown: 6840
  - name: STR_PSI_INITIATION_EVENT                 # <-------------- this one
    spawnCountdown: 18690
  - name: STR_LFS_002
    spawnCountdown: 12480
  - name: STR_KNOCK_KNOCK_HUNTER
    spawnCountdown: 11460
  - name: STR_MAD_SCRIBBLINGS
    spawnCountdown: 9660
Yep so it does! Thanks for taking the time to solve my silly problem. Super maids here I come!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 19, 2020, 12:53:34 am
These hunter killers are getting really annoying.
<snip>
Is there any way to deal with this early game or is this just kinda lame at the moment?

Edit: regarding graph watching, there's no way I'm doing that lol.

I guess the K versions are just a bit rough on account of not many people being able to playtest it.  I have to admit I'm not seeing the point of hunter killers being added to piratez.  It seems to be made for mods where you're supposed to be able to shoot down any ship and use interceptors to accompany transports, and this is simply not the case with piratez.

Well some people will watch the graphs in the early game, while many won't.  But choosing not to use a vanilla technique even if it is tedious puts this more in line with a self imposed challenge rather than a mod balance issue.

Graph watching has been brought up before in the little questions thread and Dioxine did address it although not in the context of hunterkillers.  https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5345.msg118166.html#msg118166 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5345.msg118166.html#msg118166)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Jinderius on February 22, 2020, 11:21:31 pm
Im a greedy man, whens the next update?  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Eddie on February 23, 2020, 02:49:11 am
Next update is already out. Search the russian darkweb for K3...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6fnsg1HlQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6fnsg1HlQ)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Firestorm_01 on February 23, 2020, 12:51:51 pm
What happened with direct download link? Is there something wrong happened?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on February 23, 2020, 02:14:37 pm
Just read the last couple of pages.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: georg7490 on February 24, 2020, 02:20:17 am
Please help me to edit in CFG file some options that are become uneditable in game options menu. Pls, don't tell me how it is wrong ang unholly! I know what I want and I want INSTANT GRANADES to become TRUE.
I'm editing options.cfg, saving the file (even tryed to made it ReadOnly) but this option is always getting back to it's locked value (which is False). Please help to break the lock, i need it and i know why!

Also, when I take to the mission 1 (in any soldier's slots) or more grenades which are Activated - they are starting to blow inside the inventory slots of my soldiers right after I end the very first turn... That is so stupid! I want it as it was previously - so I can bring with me to a battleground A LOT of already Activated grenades (to instant, 0 turns explision mode), and just place it one by one into a soldier's hand to trow it one by one (without a need to activate each one of it one by one, as it is for me for now, so stupid).

Please help to unlock this options. If you like it locked - fine, i don't, i'm pretty sure in it, i got my logic, pls let me play how i like!!!

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 24, 2020, 05:11:56 am
Please help me to edit in CFG file some options that are become uneditable in game options menu. Pls, don't tell me how it is wrong ang unholly! I know what I want and I want INSTANT GRANADES to become TRUE.
I'm editing options.cfg, saving the file (even tryed to made it ReadOnly) but this option is always getting back to it's locked value (which is False). Please help to break the lock, i need it and i know why!

Also, when I take to the mission 1 (in any soldier's slots) or more grenades which are Activated - they are starting to blow inside the inventory slots of my soldiers right after I end the very first turn... That is so stupid! I want it as it was previously - so I can bring with me to a battleground A LOT of already Activated grenades (to instant, 0 turns explision mode), and just place it one by one into a soldier's hand to trow it one by one (without a need to activate each one of it one by one, as it is for me for now, so stupid).

Please help to unlock this options. If you like it locked - fine, i don't, i'm pretty sure in it, i got my logic, pls let me play how i like!!!

You sound pretty motivated.  As you discovered, playing with the options.cfg won't cut it.  You'll need to make a small mod, probably only a few lines long.  There are people here who could tell you exactly how to do it, unfortunately I'm not one of them.  However, the information you need is in the forum.  I recommend using the search functionality either here or google to find it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on February 24, 2020, 08:20:03 am
It is the file "mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez_global.rul" that sets the grayed out options.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 24, 2020, 10:34:36 am
Instant grenades are cheaty beyond any reason.

Feel free to use them, but remember you won't be playing Piratez any more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on February 24, 2020, 12:04:06 pm
The AI should get preprimed grenades as well then. If they don't use them they'll blow up the loot. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: georg7490 on February 24, 2020, 12:06:26 pm
Instant grenades are cheaty beyond any reason.

Feel free to use them, but remember you won't be playing Piratez any more.

Yeah, yeah, sure. It's so "natural" to see if you killed the target or not - only on the next turn.... You know what? You should also make the same "very Piriate style" rule not only for grenades, but for the bullets too. Yeah, that would be so "very Pirate" experience, just make this option also locked for all players, here is how it should work (just the same as very Pirate non-instant-grenades):
1. when your soldier will fire from any weapon with any type of bullets - the bullets will fly to the enemy target and freeze around with no dammage effect to the target...
(http://kosmopoisk.ks.ua/uploads/images/%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BE.png)
2. The player should not know (in the same turn) what dammage did his bullet made (just like non-instant-granades, right?). So the player could just guess - if the first bullet dammage was enough to kill the target or not. I repeat, the player should not see the effect of his shots, so he should fire and fire a random number of bullets, 10 shots for example, just to play a damage lottery.
3. then the player should end the turn, and only here he will see - that the enemy target was killed from the 2nd bullet and the other 8 bullets was just fired to the empty cell. That's exactly the same how non-instant-grenades works for now. The player need to throw 1-10 grenades just to pass the turn and see that the target was killed from the damage of 2nd grenade, and the other 8 grenades were just blowing the air, also destroing the loot and the dead body and any usefull stuff around...
Oh boy, I can't feel myself a Real Pirate while I still can't "enjoy the very realistic and logicaly based rule of non-instant-bullets damage". Please make such a very pirate rule and ruin the mod to a completly fuked up condition... Non-instant-granades are simply not enough for that. The player should suffer completly: non-instant-granades and non-instant-bullets should live together in this mod and must be locked for sure... Damn lockers... ^_^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Mathel on February 24, 2020, 01:36:33 pm
There are grenade-like objects with instant explosions.
Stick grenade and Black Powder Bomb.

If you want instant explosions, you could use these or some kind of grenade launcher, mortar or rocket launcher.

I can see why instant explosions are cheaty.
From story perspective: Most grenades are timed, so the timer should not care if it hit the ground or not, only if the time has passed. And the timer has to be long enough on minimal setting for the grenade to go any throwable distance before exploding.
From gameplay perspective, there has to be some advantage to using guns. If all grenades explode instantly, then you could have most gals hiding behind a hedge with only one peeking out and letting the others bomb any enemies with impunity. Of course, if you miss with a grenade and drop it onto your own gals, you would not have an opportunity to pick it back up before it explodes.

Making grenades explode on impact will change the balance heavily, which is why it can be considered cheating.

While searching the rul. files, I discovered that the explosion in inventory is property that explosive items can have. I guess gals can't be bothered to secure the grenade handle after they remove the pin.

The AI should get preprimed grenades as well then. If they don't use them they'll blow up the loot. :D

Most of the proper grenades have "isExplodingInHands: true". That means they would explode before the AI gets to use them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Jinderius on February 24, 2020, 03:09:25 pm
Next update is already out. Search the russian darkweb for K3...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6fnsg1HlQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6fnsg1HlQ)

Thanks man!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on February 24, 2020, 06:32:28 pm
Yeah, yeah, sure. It's so "natural" to see if you killed the target or not - only on the next turn.... You know what? You should also make the same "very Piriate style" rule not only for grenades, but for the bullets too.

And you should refrain from trolling. Since I assume you're intelligent enough to not spew such gibberish while being serious about it.

Edit:
Following answer is adressed not to the poster (since from my years of experience, trying sane dialogue in such situation never works) but to explain the issue to everyone else. A little history first: instant grenades was a later modification of the vanilla game. A modification that was hilariously OP in vanilla (esp. regarding smoke grenades), but that's not even the major point; it can still work in a mod built around it, and it was maybe interesting in pre-OXC days, where adding NEW weapons or minute-modification of existing ones was very hard.

The point is, that since from the start I had superior OXC tools to add as many weapons as I wished, I found full conversion to instant grenades as an uninteresting avenue of modifying the base game, since it's eliminating some of the tactical variety, giving nothing in return (the arcing, instant explosion effect can be produced in different ways, without the need to cut off the option of delayed effect). And last I checked, all OXC built-in mods to XCOM mechanics are voluntary, not compulsory.

Then, a (largely needless) mental experiment:
1. Assume we made all grenades instant.
2. This leads to immediate and major increase of their power, while limiting tactical options (like drop n' run).
3. The latter is a permanent loss, but the former still needs to be adressed.
4. This would be adressed with nerfs to their power and/or accuracy and/or speed.
5. Resulting in tactical options being even more curtailed, not to mean several types of grenades would be superflous to already-existing instant explosives.
6. Alternatively, if step 4) is not taken, it would boil down to classical "louder, bigger, faster, dumber".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on February 24, 2020, 07:56:53 pm
  very realistic and logicaly based rule

Have you ever even held a grenade in your hand? That's how they work in the real and logical world. You throw a grenade and the other side still has the time to 'reaction shoot' you. Or even throw it back if you forgot to cook it.

Personally, while I found the instant grenade delightfully OP, I'm ok with them as they are. Most of the time Boom Fruit do their job perfectly and if I need more bang, then primed explosives are tactically deployed (or a mortar). What I found funny is that the Stielhandgrenate (Stick Grenade) actually did have a 4.5s fuse historically. Which would make it a primed explosive, but with a set 0 delay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rince Wind on February 24, 2020, 09:29:16 pm


Most of the proper grenades have "isExplodingInHands: true". That means they would explode before the AI gets to use them.
Yeah, but the guy wants to change that as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 24, 2020, 09:53:33 pm
Maybe I just should have told him about debug mode and the "player wins" buttons available there.  ::)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dioxine on February 24, 2020, 11:11:00 pm
While searching the rul. files, I discovered that the explosion in inventory is property that explosive items can have. I guess gals can't be bothered to secure the grenade handle after they remove the pin.

Securing the handle is called unpriming :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: unarmed drifter on February 26, 2020, 03:43:37 pm
Next update is already out. Search the russian darkweb for K3...

i downloaded it, but i'm reluctant to use it. Any info on save compatibility issues?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on February 26, 2020, 04:31:57 pm
Seriously? You're asking about compatibility of an illegally obtained copy of an unreleased version of the mod in the mod's official thread? I applaud the audacity, though not the lack of common sense. ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on February 26, 2020, 04:38:27 pm
K3 is as legal/illegal as K2 or any other version was. No need to use strong words.

To answer the question.... yes, saves from K2 are compatible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on February 26, 2020, 05:43:06 pm
No need to use strong words.

That's why there's an emote at the end. Plus the whole Hobbes issue makes is slightly shady.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: unarmed drifter on February 26, 2020, 08:21:57 pm
@Meridian: thx!

@Ashghan: it's a Pirate-Mod, what do you expect? i also heard that the upcoming versions are de-hobbesfied (not sure if K3 is such a version tho)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on February 26, 2020, 08:28:01 pm
Nah, from what I've heard K3 was days from release when that fiasco hit. I still hope that K4 comes soon, it's been a while already, though re-making an entire map pack can't be easy I guess. Otherwise everyone would have their own instead of relying on the same on.

Im curious though - anyone knows if there's gong to be a new 'community' mappack, or is it 'every modder for himself' now?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on February 26, 2020, 09:24:20 pm
Im curious though - anyone knows if there's gong to be a new 'community' mappack, or is it 'every modder for himself' now?

See here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,7830.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,7830.0.html)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on March 01, 2020, 10:21:22 am
So I just had a fun but extremely grueling mission doing a mansion invasion in august.  Ended up basically just bailing almost immediately with a few money purses, an apple, and got an escaped lunatic killed.  Honestly can't complain since I managed to drag an academy esper which I stunned with a frag out which seems to be super important research, though :D.

But anyways, is there any way to deal with this kind of psi bombarding this early or did I just get unlucky rolling an academy mansion?

Edit: Thinking about it, I can just deal with it the vanilla way:  Giving everyone small shotguns is dangerous to everyone else but almost useless against myself, and just put deadly weapons in quickdraw.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on March 02, 2020, 05:02:26 am
that's only partially effective here in OXCE mods. Mind controlled units can access inventory here. Thou if you do have something equipped that will usually be used first. Grenades are the big concern.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on March 05, 2020, 01:19:06 am
Ah well shoot.  That said, I think I figured out a foolproof way of dealing with the psionics:

1) All gals in looter gear
2) Only small shotguns, poisoned daggers, and molotovs

Looter is nearly fire proof, birdshot won't kill gals, daggers can deal with enemies about as good as grenade pooping, and I don't think the A.I. is smart enough to switch to melee to kill gals.  Poison is largely stun anyways

Edit: Well I guess I won't be able to test it because my dropship got shot down from a hunter killer.  Luckily I sold el fuego or I would've lost it there :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 05, 2020, 04:13:48 am
Classic XCOM trick works too. Just find out the gal/SS/peasant with the lowest defence and use it as decoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on March 05, 2020, 04:57:55 am
Yeah you need voodoo to find that out, though.  Or lots of experimenting with wands I guess.  Actually I had voodoo unlocked from the previous mission, so I could have done that xD

I ended up getting to do it anyways by bringing some rookies instead, although it looks like I'll wipe half my squad.  Looks like some paths going up don't even lead to an exit, and I didn't bring grenades because of the possibility of psi.  So everyone going up these are just going to drop dead. 

I guess I can at least save their loot by literally throwing it over the ledge, and I can save some people by punching them and throwing them over lmao.


(https://i.ibb.co/tDZzRQF/lol.png) (https://imgbb.com/)


Desperate times call for desperate measures, for when your gals are too stupid to figure out how to jump over a rail. 

This actually did work, btw, everyone but the body tosser in that tower got out (well, and the three other dead gals anyways) :D  I guess next time I'll bring some fusion torches or whatever equivalent is infiltration.

Managed to nab a liber occultus this time around along with the other million in loot, so I guess that makes two different ways of getting psi from this mission (esper/ book)

I'm wondering if that's the best way to do this mission then:  Escape to the top first through the main stairwell, then blast the walls to those buildings and steal the magical junk.  And just forget about the stuff in the basement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 05, 2020, 10:40:58 pm
You used to be able to finish this mission by killing/KOing all enemies in the map, but I'm not entirely sure thats possible anymore. Mansions are usualy loaded with mostly irrelevant stuff though, like coins and gold bars, which you can easily get elsewhere, so unless you're strapped for cash, search for the interesting research related stuff like gems, books and magical stuff, then get out. Bring one or several gals with stuff that can break down walls, too. You lose most of your time navigating the mansion.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Greep on March 05, 2020, 11:55:44 pm
Well, that mission I found a bag of cash, a bunch of money purses, an illegally enriched uranium, wand of airlessness, and liber occultus, so the total loot after gambling was over a million + artifacts.  If it weren't for the hunter killer shooting down the first ship it might have been worth doing.  Not much can make up for spending 1M and losing irreplaceable items every time that happens.

TBH the mission is pretty fun so I'd probably do it anyways even if it didn't make money.  Kind of annoying how quite a lot of the loot is obscured behind walls, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Iazo on March 06, 2020, 10:01:53 am
All missions end when all enemies are killed. It's a hardcoded engine thing.

No accounting for enemies trapped in cupboards though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Meridian on March 06, 2020, 10:06:31 am
All missions end when all enemies are killed. It's a hardcoded engine thing.

It's not hardcoded.
Cydonia mission for example doesn't end when everybody is killed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Iazo on March 06, 2020, 10:49:26 am
Huh. Ok. Then it's probably a design decision by Dio. He said something to that effect in discord.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 06, 2020, 11:20:13 am
Still, I don't think any mission in Piratez would continue after killing all enemies.

It's the first time I'm hearing about this option - how does it work?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Dakkdakk on March 06, 2020, 09:22:55 pm
Only one way to find out: deploy the celine dion album.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: thevideogameraptorboggle on March 13, 2020, 09:52:08 pm
May we get an update on the progress of the next update? I'm assuming you need to redraw all those tilesets that you borrowed, is that close to completion?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: wolfreal on March 14, 2020, 01:37:31 am
There should be a disclaimer in every mod page that says "it will be done when it's done"

I think it will take at least some more months until we have news about new versions. And I trust it will be amazing. Taking this time will give Dio a lot of new perspective. And K2/K3 are going to be one of the most tested versions of the mod. We will surely see some very interesting changes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: BigDuck on March 19, 2020, 02:12:23 pm
Hello all.

<del>

This is a wrong thread for little questions, sorry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: assclapper420 on March 19, 2020, 11:59:58 pm
And you should refrain from trolling. Since I assume you're intelligent enough to not spew such gibberish while being serious about it.

Edit:
Following answer is adressed not to the poster (since from my years of experience, trying sane dialogue in such situation never works) but to explain the issue to everyone else. A little history first: instant grenades was a later modification of the vanilla game. A modification that was hilariously OP in vanilla (esp. regarding smoke grenades), but that's not even the major point; it can still work in a mod built around it, and it was maybe interesting in pre-OXC days, where adding NEW weapons or minute-modification of existing ones was very hard.

The point is, that since from the start I had superior OXC tools to add as many weapons as I wished, I found full conversion to instant grenades as an uninteresting avenue of modifying the base game, since it's eliminating some of the tactical variety, giving nothing in return (the arcing, instant explosion effect can be produced in different ways, without the need to cut off the option of delayed effect). And last I checked, all OXC built-in mods to XCOM mechanics are voluntary, not compulsory.

Then, a (largely needless) mental experiment:
1. Assume we made all grenades instant.
2. This leads to immediate and major increase of their power, while limiting tactical options (like drop n' run).
3. The latter is a permanent loss, but the former still needs to be adressed.
4. This would be adressed with nerfs to their power and/or accuracy and/or speed.
5. Resulting in tactical options being even more curtailed, not to mean several types of grenades would be superflous to already-existing instant explosives.
6. Alternatively, if step 4) is not taken, it would boil down to classical "louder, bigger, faster, dumber".
Thank god you aren't letting these foos convince you. I'll never understand why the XCOM community is so anal about their instant grenades.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 20, 2020, 07:01:44 pm
Thank god you aren't letting these foos convince you. I'll never understand why the XCOM community is so anal about their instant grenades.

Whats the deal anyway with having issue how mod handles it? In Piratez you have shit from both worlds. Both instant nades like molotov, or black powder bombs, or stick grenades, but you also have non-instant nades.

Where do you guys have problem? Both sides should be satisfied.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: georg7490 on March 23, 2020, 12:53:41 am
Question 1: I've got a problem with the battle mission...

I've researced the communication with ES (EuroSindicate?). ES can now sell to me some more improoved laser guns, like HeavyLaserES, ImpulseGunES and so on. ES told me that they will require my assistance, like doing some battle missions for them, they say the first mission will be available after a mounth. When the time have come - the 1st ES mission dot appeared on the map. It is written in the mission description something like I should bring my soldiers to the mission only by walk (no ships) and 'kill all enemy units there' and all types of armor are allowed, except Tanks. Well, specially for that mission I've ordered Expedition-1 unit - it's written that it's moving by foots, like walking on the ground, I assigned about 10 soldiers "on board" and send Expedition-1 to that 1st ES mission by foots. All seems to be normal, right?

I've completed it several times by several different ways (each time loaded on a map and "landed" on different\new battle location) but in the end of the mission I've constantly got MINUSes in scores for almost EVERY actions I made.
(https://d.radikal.ru/d13/2003/10/7e5d71e422fb.png) (https://radikal.ru)
1st string is about how many enemies got killed =42 and MINUS 1142 scores for doing that.
2nd string is about how many corpses were searced =7 and MINUS 105 scores for doing that.
3rd string is about how many hostages were taken =1 and MINUS 50 scores for doing that.
and it is MINUS 1330 in total.
What am I done wrong? Maybe it's a bug? Or a mistake in the mission description or translation?

Question 2: In classic UFO it is 6*6 buildins available to build on any base. In the XPirates mod appeared A LOT more types of buildings. I wander - is there any way to add some more space to the bases? Like to made it at least 7*7?
p.s. I can see no such option (expand the base space) available in the game. Please don't tell me how it's wrong and how you satisfied with 6*6 bases - I respect your opinion, but don't want to offtopic - I only ask you to share a method if you know\guess how to do it: like applying another mod compatible with XPirates (for classic UFO it's interesting to expant a base space too), or changing resources\files\cfg...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ves on March 23, 2020, 01:36:29 am
As i understand it after concluding the Eurosyndicate deal you will be asked to do some shady business which is not entirely in your interest. In those missions you are basically fighting the Mutant Alliance, meaning those people which you are usually trying to protect during pogroms and your gals are mutants as well. So there are big public relations consequences for doing these missions. The score malus is intended that way.
Approaching by foot in my understanding means that the mission layout includes no ship, but you are able land nearby using a ship.

Can't say much about your second question, though 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 23, 2020, 01:39:32 am
Read the research topics leading to Eurosyndicate deal again. I don't know if it is a translation error, but there should be clearly written that taking the deal will result in missions that will give you big ammount of negative infamy even if successfull.

Base size isn't really a mod thing. Its not new sprite, or a bit of text, its engine thing. Since to this day we don't have this, one could imagine its either impossible, or nearly impossible to the point nobody is willing to do so much work.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on March 23, 2020, 03:20:36 am
Yeah the spread of base facilities being overwhelming to available base tiles is intentional design. Use the fact that you have 7 others. This isn't vanilla where you have 1 full base and 6.5 radar stations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on March 24, 2020, 11:05:37 pm
@ georg7490

The EuroSyndicate mission is exactly designed this way to do a huge negative infamy slap into your account.
Afterall you get access to POWERFUL LASER WEAPONRY and you can buy as many as you can affort and endless numbers of clips as well.

Laser weapons are powerful and beat most modern armors thanks to 33,3% armor penetration. You bought yourself into the contract, now make good use of it.
Later in the techtree you can perform a special project to get yourself out of the deal (no longer doing the missions for them) and still maintain the access to the laser weapon shop.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: georg7490 on March 25, 2020, 10:42:32 am
So there are big public relations consequences for doing these missions. The score malus is intended that way.
Actually, I've started\completed that 1st ES mission in about 26th of the current mounts, so I just skipped all other events to reach the payday on a start of a next mounth and you know what - everybody quite happy about me... everybody, except ES... I just did a good job for ES. :o WTF? That was the main thing that troubled my understanding.
(https://a.radikal.ru/a36/2003/c5/d6d3ae59409f.jpg) (https://radikal.ru)
Ok, maybe, just maybe -  I did something bad to ES previously in that mounth? I don't really remember ALL the battles in time period from the start of that mounth till that 1st ES mission on day 26th. Sometimes I can catch a random ship landed on a ground nearby, but i still don't have a decoding waves or whatever to scan some expanded information about ships (race\union, ship type, destanation or mission info). So it is possible that I caught an ES ship or even ships on the ground previously and separated them from their lives & goods, like a good pirate, but maybe I just forgot about it or didn't even mention\knew that it was ES ship this time... That theory could expain that bad ES mounth score issue.
But what if not? If that was not happened, then what? Why ES might be angree on me EVEN if I made a good job for ES and (version) did not make them suffer from me previosly?

Approaching by foot in my understanding means that the mission layout includes no ship, but you are able land nearby using a ship.
Yes... but why it started from INSIDE the whole levels of a randome building?
Well, I was surprised while few experiments on that mission about the fact, that when once I landed there on 1 of my flying ships to that mission - it started normally - as usual for that type of mission - inside the building... But why, actually?
The soldiers respawn point was not in the ships, but after "walking by foots" from the ship to the... inside the building? Srsly? Is that somekind of secret swat tactic? Why on Earth they all landed on a ship nearby, then walked by foots to the mission town and, when they entered the town - the first thing they did is entered the randome building and ocupied all levels of it including the roof? And sometimes the enemies were respawned inside the closest building to my soldier's bulding... And they start the war of buildings, high explosives throwings in windows, simetimes I've just completly destroyed that whole building and buried enemies under ruins with a rain of big booms.
I believe it is more logical to make a respawn poing on that mission type for Player's soldiers NOT INSIDE the building, but somewhere on the streets, or even before the outpost with enemy guardians on the entrance to the perimeter, or anyrhing more logically based version - anything is better than to start from inside the building I suppose.
p.s. also - any other respawn point will allow tanks.

Oh, and 1 more thing - about naked soldiers inside a tank...
I was just wandering what will happen if I'd try to take on that mission some support units, like 4*rpg-tanks, which are actually restricted for that mission, mostly just because the desidion to make a respawn point INSIDE a bulding, tanks will not fit\move inside a living\dining rooms.
I was surprised that when the mission started - all soldiers that were WEARING the armor type like 4*rpg-tanks - are respawned absolutly naked.
Ok, I see the programming logic: if the armor is restricted - then take it off, but if there is no any armor on a soldier - than apply the default skin, the defauld skin for a soldier without any armor is a NAKED BODY.
But there is no realistic logic in that gameplay desidion. That simply means that the auther of the mod wants to say to a player that all the soldiers inside all the tanks (which needs a crew\operators) in that game - are sitting inside their tanks being completly naked. Why? I still did not mention in ufopedia not a single word about a reason why on Earth all tank pilots need to be naked inside a tank to operate it. And I hope that I will never find an article about such rubish, like a try to explain in humoristical way that bug (error) like a fiture (option).
I rly suggest to redesign that organisation of "wearing" a tank as an ordinary armor.
I think it is more natural to ADD A SECOND ARMOR CLASS - assign it on a separate button somewhere near the ordinary armor button.
Also, even if it is a deep future and single pilot tanks are quite possible, I believe that the classic idea of a tank is - a collective armor. Which means that it might need more crew to controll that single tank unit: a driver, a gun aimer, a commander, or more exotic specialisations which suits to tanks of future, like a reloader which reloads a tank gun with a power of magic spells or whatever, no need in shells, just feed the reloader sourcer and bring to him fresh virgins\victims\vegitables to restore his magical powers ^_^
That way you can keep a classical armor menu and create a new aremor menu, which will allow soldiers
1st- to wear some light armor types to fit inside
2nd - to assign a soldier or even several soldiers (which are already wearing allowed\fittable\compact armor) to a single tank unit.
Also - it will allow to disembarg the tank operator\operators from any tank not only in game eqipment menu, but even on a battlefield. That would be so cool, realistic and handy, for example - when the tank will be dammaged or out of shells\energy or even tank is ok but a player will need the tank crew to leave the tank to fit\enter the building door or other small passages.

I know, I know, a lot of hard work, nobody wants it, but I belive that when you doing something rly cool, valuable, right thing - it's not a work, it is a happiness of life, right? So go and happily do it, i don't want to hear reasons why it is impossible, all is possible when you trually want it. ^_^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 25, 2020, 11:44:38 am
ES missions are not tied to ES "country" score (I think). If big factions do something on their teritory, they are not pleased from your work.
After all, you can't "immerse" yourself into the world too much. Its still a mod that works on +20 years old engine. Most things have to work on top of what original Xcom was.

Doing work for ES gives negative score, if you do that on ES teritory, govts from that region won't be happy. I guess you can explain via bootypedia article that all govts don't work together. Thats why govts attack you despite the fact you are big secret allies. Those who give you those missions work against Mutant Alliance (another of your big allies that is also present in ES region). Govts hate big factions approved by Star Gods, while the Mutant Alliance doesn't seem to be one as its a loose organisation of... Mutants. And mutants are hated both by "pureblood" humans (however such status can be achieved by wealth and status, not really needing to be of "pure" blood) and Big Factions.

In short: Those who give you those ES missions might not be the ones who "pay your bills".

Why gals start inside a house? Well... Its the basis of urban combat. Where else they are supposed to start to not be exposed to enemy fire? Gals most likely land somewhere fairly near, hide and leave the ship and then go by foot to some building to wait for an ambush.

Regarding tanks: Gals are gals. They are not disciplined military, they do what they want. For example they also wear power armor over a naked body. They also walk naked around hideout. It is implied that both tanks and armored cars are very compact. Gals barerly fit inside armored cars and they can't fit inside a tank. Anything other than a t-shirt and panties would only restrain movement even more.
Gals skin also is as strong as light plastic armor vest for humans, so why would they need armor inside?

Why would such small vehicles require more than one person to operate? They are not full scale. 2x2 means that only 4 people could stand next to each other hugging themselfs on the same spot as tank does.

Many of the things you speak of are straight up impossible. Again, its a mod to an old game. You can't assign more than one "soldier" to one type of armor. Tanks work as armor because its the only way they can work with operator who is also a "soldier". You can't spawn friendly units on the battlefield. Game is hardcoded to only allow spawn enemy units and its done only because mod uses chryssalid zombie mechanic of dying and spawning new unit on top.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: vadracas on March 26, 2020, 01:01:37 am
Quick question for my personal gameplay as I understand that Dioxine does not like having this option enabled, where is the ruleset file that forces options to be on/off, I would like to turn the UFO landing alert option to true but can't find it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Ashghan on March 26, 2020, 10:05:47 am
Piratez_Globals.rul
Look for: fixedUserOptions:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: vadracas on March 26, 2020, 12:56:22 pm
Much thanks :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Nord on March 26, 2020, 01:34:44 pm
Fixed gilldog animation: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4595.msg125070.html#msg125070 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4595.msg125070.html#msg125070)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: MemoryTAS on March 26, 2020, 07:12:18 pm
My old computer kinda died, can someone pm me a download?

EDIT: Received
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: Pallington on March 29, 2020, 04:38:38 am
Odd question, are there any estimates for when the download for J.14 will be restored?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - K2 - 2 Nov - Ice Ice Cool
Post by: legionof1 on March 29, 2020, 05:56:34 am
Well it won't be J.14 seeing as the last version before the incident was K2. But sometime in the next 2/3 weeks is my guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Dioxine on March 31, 2020, 10:29:39 pm
Welcome to Cyberpunk Year 2020.
January: Global Nuclear War (almost)
February: Pandemics
March: Money printer goes brrrrrrr!
April: New version of X-Piratez is finally released.

Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: panzertoter on March 31, 2020, 10:31:24 pm
OMG OMG OMG. And changelog please!

Edit:

I see, there it is!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: RolandVasko on March 31, 2020, 11:09:52 pm
 :)D :P yay!
excellent, and "huge hug!" :D :DD) lůl

salut! & danke
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: GENVOKE on March 31, 2020, 11:13:52 pm
Godbless  :-*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 31, 2020, 11:31:40 pm
Maybe its time to change the date of X-Piratez from 2600 to 2060, huh? Heh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: vadracas on April 01, 2020, 12:12:48 am
L1, Great job Dioxine and cohorts!

I can't imagine how hard it was to replace all of those maps.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Dioxine on April 01, 2020, 02:27:42 am
Oh I only had to make 100 or 200 maps, and other people helped with even more :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: xcomfan on April 01, 2020, 10:43:35 am
Hello, just registered, wow! Hope it won't be an april fool's ahaha  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Jimboman on April 01, 2020, 03:21:35 pm
I played a few missions last night/early this morning, and the new maps are better than the Hobbes ones.  Like the new globe too as you can get a better idea of what terrain you'll be facing when you do a mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Challtdow on April 01, 2020, 04:17:24 pm
Does anyone have an alternate download for the latest?  I've tried about 6 different times from the mediafire link, and it keeps telling me the file can't be opened as an archive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: JamTheDane on April 01, 2020, 04:26:19 pm
Yay, thanks Dioxine.

Of course this IS april 1, it could be an aprils fool joke  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: vadracas on April 01, 2020, 05:07:04 pm
Does anyone have an alternate download for the latest?  I've tried about 6 different times from the mediafire link, and it keeps telling me the file can't be opened as an archive.

I use Winzip and it works just fine, your decompression software is probably outdated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Challtdow on April 01, 2020, 05:13:25 pm
Good call.  Apparently 7-zip doesn't check for updates so it was almost 3 years old.  Works fine now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: vadracas on April 01, 2020, 05:25:09 pm
Yeah, I had to refresh my software for these .rar files too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: ZoA on April 01, 2020, 08:58:19 pm
Thank you Dioxine and other contributors for the new upload. I imagine making all those new maps was quite back braking work.

I'm currently at 4th in game month of my K3 playthrough so i would appreciate advice if it is bug safe to upgrade to L1 and use my K3 saves, or should I start over new game in L1?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: vadracas on April 01, 2020, 09:40:57 pm
Look at the upgrading saves thread in the xpiratez mod forum, last page
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: ZoA on April 01, 2020, 11:15:15 pm
Look at the upgrading saves thread in the xpiratez mod forum, last page

Thx  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 01, 2020, 11:45:30 pm
Long story short: you can safely use your K2/K3 save, just don't update mid-battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: MCreeper on April 02, 2020, 01:02:34 am
"They came from the deep" mission consistently crashes on entering, save is migrated from "K3".
http://www.mediafire.com/file/9g2wmys9gllk66a/2.sav/file
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Patooka on April 02, 2020, 10:08:50 am
Has debug been disabled in this new version?  I've switched the options.cfg file to true and it reverts back after launching.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Meridian on April 02, 2020, 10:42:22 am
Has debug been disabled in this new version?  I've switched the options.cfg file to true and it reverts back after launching.

No, it hasn't.
You need to edit the file while the game is NOT running.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: MCreeper on April 02, 2020, 11:37:07 pm
 ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/0JFSD6J.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/GyAxxfc.png)
*clap-clap-clap*
Can't say anything about new mission itself right now, but this is hilarious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: mrbiasha on April 05, 2020, 12:07:53 am
Congrats on pulling through this map disaster and thanks for some new interesting changes too!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Pallington on April 05, 2020, 11:21:11 am
So, I got to june after editing my save to go from difficulty 0 to difficulty 1, and... that's a lotta ninjas, gotta say.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1 - 1 Apr - Aurora Nights
Post by: Roxis231 on April 07, 2020, 10:02:24 am
Hi - just seen (and got) the latest download.

I'll try and update my Alternate Amour Mod soonish - Check its thread (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4022.msg125734.html#msg125734) if you need info.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Dioxine on April 09, 2020, 05:02:04 pm
Bugfix update up. Check 1st post for changelog.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: MemoryTAS on April 09, 2020, 05:25:49 pm
Oooo, new longbow ammo! I've been waiting a while for that. Given all the different types of combat bow ammo, the longbow felt kinda neglected and potentially obsolete with aqua arrows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: RetroJL on April 10, 2020, 12:54:48 am
Edit:  wrong thread!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Sahti Waari on April 10, 2020, 01:01:03 am
Hello, everyone!
Is the feature of moving existing building in base deleted?
If I remember correctly, hold ctrl + click on the building was the way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: MemoryTAS on April 10, 2020, 01:05:47 am
Hello, everyone!
Is the feature of moving existing building in base deleted?
If I remember correctly, hold ctrl + click on the building was the way.

It was removed entirely, not just from xpiratez but also from oxce iirc.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on April 10, 2020, 01:49:31 am
Hello, everyone!
Is the feature of moving existing building in base deleted?
If I remember correctly, hold ctrl + click on the building was the way.


If you want to do that, then you'll need to edit saves :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Jimboman on April 10, 2020, 05:19:14 pm
L1A1 - That takes me back.  I fondly remember firing an L1A1 (though we just called it the SLR) in basic training.  Kicks like a f***ing mule and can break your collar bone if you haven't got it held right, but has longer range than the SA80.  Plus the mags didn't fall out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Pallington on April 12, 2020, 07:52:12 am
Are seagull missiles still locked behind contacts: smugglers tech like before? I can't seem to find them in the black market despite having contacts: smugglers researched already...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Torchwood on April 12, 2020, 03:20:04 pm
Are seagull missiles still locked behind contacts: smugglers tech like before? I can't seem to find them in the black market despite having contacts: smugglers researched already...

You need Contacts: Authorized Dealers from Goblin Zaxx favors to buy seagull missiles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on April 16, 2020, 11:35:44 am
Nor a bug report neither a request, but faction buildings (temples, warehouses) may be placed at a certain distance between other houses, some more space in between would be also a bit more "realistic", but whatever  :)

Edit: L1A1 introduced a "land deed" in bootypedia: frankly i don't see why a bunch of criminals worldwid-hated is granted with such act but again, whatever :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: MemoryTAS on April 16, 2020, 05:47:51 pm

Edit: L1A1 introduced a "land deed" in bootypedia: frankly i don't see why a bunch of criminals worldwid-hated is granted with such act but again, whatever :)
They're not hated worldwide, they're approved by the local govts
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Kojumbo on April 18, 2020, 12:06:23 pm
Long-time lurker here; great work as usual on the new version.. I especially love all the new maps!

One problem I encountered though, is the early game Academy raid never seems to trigger anymore. First 2-3 Airbuses spawn and land like always, but I've taken 3 games to 2602 without ever even seeing a single ambulance!

Is there something I'm missing? Playing on Jack Sparrow, if that changes anything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: CPLT-K2 on April 19, 2020, 09:34:12 pm
Is Shadowbat being back to missile armaments part of the rebalance of L1A1?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on April 19, 2020, 11:44:42 pm
Is Shadowbat being back to missile armaments part of the rebalance of L1A1?

Apparently.

 I started a new game for L1A1 and had gotten plenty of light weapons so I decided, hey, a shadowbat with a snake tanking will be a long term beast! I buy it, and have literally 6 missiles :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 07, 2020, 08:02:03 pm
My main base being under constant missile swarm attacks, barely survived 2 of them but they are coming and coming, how do I suppose to deal with it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 07, 2020, 08:27:04 pm
Are you playing on Jack Sparrow, otherwise they should come late enough so that you should have the capabilities to do just fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 07, 2020, 08:37:30 pm
So what should I to do with them at all? Build anti-air facilities? But they are already spamming every 3-4 days so no chance to build any, and my best interceptor is a predator which cant start airbattle( I suppose not fast enough).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 07, 2020, 08:49:29 pm
Pretty sure you get at least a month of warning before the missiles start flying on non Jack Sparrow(don't know what to say that'll help now though)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: RolandVasko on May 08, 2020, 11:11:43 am
Are you playing on Jack Sparrow, otherwise they should come late enough so that you should have the capabilities to do just fine.

..and for JackSparrow ?
how is the player supposed to deal with the missiles attacks, on such hard level ?

(im playing at the JackSparr.difficulty just now, started new game on L1A1)
btw. still i dont know to decide, if i still wait to ANOTHER version (L1A2++, or L2 - when is the release roughly estimated? ), or if i start now and immediately
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 08, 2020, 12:55:33 pm
You don't need to start a new game if an update comes out.


If you're playing on JS the recommended strat is burrow spam.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rince Wind on May 08, 2020, 02:03:56 pm
Jack Sparrow is not meant to be balanced anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 09, 2020, 02:41:33 pm
Well, I dealt with it by building predators with 2 engine upgrades and gauss cannons, but I barelly got it in time(had 1 week save before missile spam started). I wasnt prepare at all and I dont think I was THAT ignorant to any warnings, and there was 0 about I should prepare for such a rape. I think it will be better if player was warned what exactly he will await( missile speed\damage capacity) at least 2 month before it all starting. And even if I choosed "fair" way and lost my main base - old lab will go away with it too - what is really big loss at the moment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 09, 2020, 04:03:35 pm
There are some changes in the upcoming version, mostly a clearer warning at the beginning of a JS campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 11, 2020, 03:06:34 pm
I noticed that bounty missions does not seems to have the same spawing rate; seems the ones from mutant alliance are more frequente, than jack and lastly goblin zaxx. May have all an equalhance in next version or it is supposed?

Also, pruple text used in mostly bootypedia articles is kinda unfreindly on the eyes, may we have another one? Even an option to change it would be ultracool :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: legionof1 on May 12, 2020, 02:16:21 am
I noticed that bounty missions does not seems to have the same spawing rate; seems the ones from mutant alliance are more frequente, than jack and lastly goblin zaxx. May have all an equalhance in next version or it is supposed?

Also, pruple text used in mostly bootypedia articles is kinda unfreindly on the eyes, may we have another one? Even an option to change it would be ultracool :)

Bounties are approximately equal chance, same number of encounters per tier for each customer, with mostly equal chances. RNG decides what you get in practice.

Pedia entries are hand made, so if you want to go back and edit every single one of thousands of pages, feel free. That said the upcoming version has changes to some parts of the pedia, maybe it will be more to your taste.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Jinderius on May 12, 2020, 02:41:10 am
had two games that went on for 4years and then in both the game I get a star god/mercenary hideout attack that i cant repel.

Is there some tricks to avoid/counter the end game stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 12, 2020, 03:06:01 am
Be ready for it, seriously. On any diff other than JS the bad stuff comes after you'll have a prayer of dealing with it. 4 years is. plenty of time to get a few gals with spiked maces(not serious about that, you need other stuff too) lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Jinderius on May 12, 2020, 03:46:28 am
Be ready for it, seriously. On any diff other than JS the bad stuff comes after you'll have a prayer of dealing with it. 4 years is. plenty of time to get a few gals with spiked maces(not serious about that, you need other stuff too) lol.

In both cases there were hovertanks and the mercs had at least 20 soliders. I cant even outgun them with RPGS xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Jinderius on May 12, 2020, 07:38:16 am
Notice the enemy gets hover tank when they attack your hideout, are you allowed to use tanks or cars in defence as well?

And is there a transport to transport them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 12, 2020, 09:20:27 am
Bounties are approximately equal chance, same number of encounters per tier for each customer, with mostly equal chances. RNG decides what you get in practice.

oh, some rng asjustment might be needed to ensure more variety, or pheraphs i'm unlucky, dont know

Pedia entries are hand made, so if you want to go back and edit every single one of thousands of pages, feel free. That said the upcoming version has changes to some parts of the pedia, maybe it will be more to your taste.

Ok gonna live with that, thanks :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rince Wind on May 12, 2020, 12:10:02 pm
had two games that went on for 4years and then in both the game I get a star god/mercenary hideout attack that i cant repel.

Is there some tricks to avoid/counter the end game stuff.

After 4 ingame years you should be plenty ready for mercs, and even star gods. Mercs don't like getting shot by lasers, so if you use mostly piercing weapons and hope that it works against every foe you are out of luck. You have to use different weapons for different enemies.
Both fall to the usual as well: melee. I clear entire merc ships in a turn or two by using a gal in furiosa armor with a blood axe (red codex), while the rest of the gang kills the ones that are flying.

Hovertanks and Sectopods have blue shields that you need to get rid off before you can properly damage them. Try using an arena flak cannon, it can strip the shields in one auto shot. After that something like a portable lascannon (which is a bit hard to use, admittedly) can kill them, but lighter weapons like heavy lasers work as well. If all else fails use weapons that strip armor first, like deathblossoms loaded with chem ammo or chain guns. Sectopods have pretty good reactions though, and usually don't move much. They can kill a gal in annihilator armor in one shot if you are unlucky.
If you have your own hovertanks or XECs with lasers/gauss it is not even fair anymore.


If you are still using RPGs after 4 years you seriously neglected your research.

I am in 2605, but for most of the last 1 1/2 years I've been waiting for star gods with a higher pay grade than novice to capture and go on. I wish they would attack me (at least in my main base, the others might survive as well, but they'd probably have troubles capturing them).
Haven't managed to bring a silver towers down, because my Metallo is too slow. And three other craft (2 Sabres with meteor missiles and laser/gauss and a devastator with 3 meteor and an implosion launcher) were not enough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 13, 2020, 01:40:50 pm
I need a tip on how to deal with fast and high DPM ships. Previously( when ships had no radar feature) I've used 4 brave whaller\barracudas but now you cannot shadow enemy ship if it has radar. So what should I do? Wait until best weapons/ships and forget about bringing down battleships/marsecs? Also how shield regen works on global map? If I shot shields down and disengage - they 100% back immediatly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rince Wind on May 13, 2020, 02:03:14 pm
But you can escort your own ships. So just select the slowest ship, or the one that has the longest travel time if they are all fast, as target for the 3 escorts.

It is also something that has been explained here repeatedly already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 13, 2020, 02:35:26 pm
Thanks, probably should've search for it, yes. Also marsec viper always getting "blown apart" even with low damage per shot guns like ripper, is it possible to down it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 13, 2020, 02:49:34 pm
Thanks, probably should've search for it, yes. Also marsec viper always getting "blown apart" even with low damage per shot guns like ripper, is it possible to down it?
It is very possible, the problem is that some hunter-killer UFO's are set to self-destruct before crashing, which stops you from getting the crash site. Sometimes, however, you can damage the craft enough that it tries to escape, and if you let it escape for a second or two(outside of dogfight window), it stops being a hunter-killer and will crash at the normal percentage of health.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: VodkaBear on May 13, 2020, 03:53:31 pm
Yeah, downed one. It also seems you are not necessary to engage 2nd time, the main point - if they started escaping - they will be downed not destroyed even if it happens in same airbattle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 13, 2020, 04:04:57 pm
Cool, I wasn't sure if you needed to exit dogfight or not.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 13, 2020, 05:44:36 pm
In august 2602 in my run seem to spawn always the same missions, especially ratmen cave, comms tower, scientific experiment, aircar race and leved D and C bounty missions (the former are become very very rare). On "blackbeard" level,  is this normal? Please check the save here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg127259.html#msg127259).

And peasant militia armor serms to provide more protection over the fusilier, might need a switch between these since the fucilier requires scrap metal and kevlar mesh and the militia mutant meat and scrap metal instead? At least increase the fucilier one to value between 15-20?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on May 13, 2020, 05:51:09 pm
You should put into account, that fusilier gives camo (12/4) and offers 25% reduction against piercing damage.
Piercing damage is the omni-present source of damage during almost every mission.
25% reduction does alot more than 2-3 points of armor value.

Also Peasants and Slaves die to almost everything rather instantly so better use them for the intended purpose as "cannon fodder" and focus on training your ubers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on May 14, 2020, 01:44:14 am
Armors on top of protection and camo also improve stats. Fusilier is nice for Sniper Peasants as it gives camo and firing accuracy, while Militia is more of a rookie melee armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 14, 2020, 02:39:37 pm
ok guys  thanks, this game gives real headaches! Little little wish; ive cheched here (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_VENTURA) and bonaventura, fornuna, el fuego and metallo share all the sane sprite in the hangar view, only color changes; in upcoming version eventuasly each will get another shape more coherent with the bootypedia page?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on May 14, 2020, 02:59:02 pm
If you will make the sprite and rebuild it a bit to resemble bootypedia picture, then why not?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 14, 2020, 05:39:02 pm
If you will make the sprite and rebuild it a bit to resemble bootypedia picture, then why not?

Im not into rpgramming sorry, otherwise I' have done it , sorry  :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 14, 2020, 05:57:17 pm
wtf is rpgramming?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on May 14, 2020, 06:11:29 pm
wtf is rpgramming?

"Captain, damage control reports main weapon batteries are too damaged to repair!  What should we do?"

"Set course to intercept, engines at redline, and rig for collision!"

 ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on May 14, 2020, 06:32:01 pm
Im not into rpgramming sorry, otherwise I' have done it , sorry  :'(

You don't need to know "ar ye coding son?" programing to create sprites. At this point I'm not in a phase of map, or ship making, but I do make sprites of units and weapons and I have 0 IT knowledge. Just few programs and a lot of work.

Here is what helped me to self-learn the art of spriting, despite the fact that I never before made any "art" that wasn't just stick figures, or crap like that.

http://openxcommods.weebly.com/pckview.html

Who knows, maybe you will hook yourself on ships like I did on unit sprites and you will adjust, or make completly new ships that could potentialy be used in this, or other mods?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 14, 2020, 06:52:51 pm
You don't need to know "ar ye coding son?" programing to create sprites. At this point I'm not in a phase of map, or ship making, but I do make sprites of units and weapons and I have 0 IT knowledge. Just few programs and a lot of work.

Here is what helped me to self-learn the art of spriting, despite the fact that I never before made any "art" that wasn't just stick figures, or crap like that.

http://openxcommods.weebly.com/pckview.html

Who knows, maybe you will hook yourself on ships like I did on unit sprites and you will adjust, or make completly new ships that could potentialy be used in this, or other mods?


And similarly, I can't comprehend sprite making but I do know how to program, these two things are very mutually exclusive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: null_subject on May 15, 2020, 09:23:10 am

And similarly, I can't comprehend sprite making but I do know how to program, these two things are very mutually exclusive.

They are definitely not mutually exclusive (verily or otherwise).

It's just that they are also not mutually inclusive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 15, 2020, 12:44:25 pm
They are definitely not mutually exclusive (verily or otherwise).

It's just that they are also not mutually inclusive.

Thanks, I'm an idiot, you are correct.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 19, 2020, 09:05:37 pm
Please, if you check the save here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg127656.html#msg127656) i researched a lot highwaymen and the only thing i was unable to get were....!highway house! missions (!!!!!) I mean it is the last thing on their output list!!!Now please in next upcoming version may that be automatically unlocked - along the !bandit business! ones - for researchin' like happens for the bounty missions? Also, as of now do ratmen brigand automatically unlock the bandit ones?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 19, 2020, 09:13:43 pm
Please, if you check the save here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg127656.html#msg127656) i researched a lot highwaymen and the only thing i was unable to get were....!highway house! missions (!!!!!) I mean it is the last thing on their output list!!!Now please in next upcoming version may that be automatically unlocked - along the !bandit business! ones - for researchin' like happens for the bounty missions? Also, as of now do ratmen brigand automatically unlock the bandit ones?


Of course you wouldn't automatically get highway houses from just highwayman, check the tech tree viewer, you need other researches too. Same deal with Bandit business.


TLDR: Check the tech tree before posing!!! There are reasons for secondary requisites.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 19, 2020, 10:06:28 pm
Ok, just wanna point that most simple/basic/primitive mission and techs might be also simple to unlock, for the medium and anvanced stuff more requisite/prequisite may be needed, fir the sake of progression :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rince Wind on May 19, 2020, 10:37:57 pm
Oh, they ARE simple to unlock compared to the advanced stuff.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: vadracas on May 19, 2020, 10:44:09 pm
Oh, they ARE simple to unlock compared to the advanced stuff.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: xcomfan on May 20, 2020, 09:28:19 am
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

i wish more simpier and automatically. Wish don't cost a thing :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on May 20, 2020, 11:51:14 pm
Wish don't cost a thing :)

It may seem like it, but over the years I've found this not to be true.  :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Drasizard on May 20, 2020, 11:58:33 pm
Hey does anyone still have a copy of the last version before all the map changes that they can PM me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on May 21, 2020, 03:42:43 pm
Hey does anyone still have a copy of the last version before all the map changes that they can PM me?

The old links should still work. Here's the last one from Discord: http://www.mediafire.com/file/221ccwp2hzj8nof/Dioxine_XPiratez_K2.rar/file
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: RolandVasko on May 21, 2020, 04:49:42 pm
Hey does anyone still have a copy of the last version before all the map changes that they can PM me?

^^  i linked here on forum also K3'version (latest UNhobbested hehe (still untouched by this Hobbes issue) >

https://ulozto.cz/file/WSwRZcYrcWqZ/dioxine-xpiratez-k3-rar
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Dioxine on May 21, 2020, 06:29:20 pm
New version up. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on May 22, 2020, 11:07:20 am
The new 0.99L2A2 sports a new bootypedia interface, along with some new soundtracks, alleluja! Bloax is really an artist! :) it does not apply in full, like the establishment, but i think it's at the moment...

No new tools o' the trade this time, though ;)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Imeryak on May 22, 2020, 12:37:26 pm
Is there a way to scale down equipment screen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Gremlion on May 22, 2020, 12:56:00 pm
options - advanced - disable maximize info screens
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jinderius on May 22, 2020, 07:20:28 pm
Secondary bases are fun and all specialy when bravery is hard trained, so when your attacked and the two last enemy hide in the sewer and every fcking unit with a pansershrek shoots it into the wall and killing themself becuse the AI gotta hide in the sewer...................................

Just increase bravery bonus for base defence.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on May 22, 2020, 07:56:57 pm
Just increase bravery bonus for base defence.

I agree, bravery acquired from experience might be increased in soecial circumstances, eg killing 2/3 enemies in melee fight in a row, and so on
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L1A1 - 9 Apr - Aurora Nights 2
Post by: Drasizard on May 22, 2020, 11:11:34 pm
The old links should still work. Here's the last one from Discord: http://www.mediafire.com/file/221ccwp2hzj8nof/Dioxine_XPiratez_K2.rar/file

^^  i linked here on forum also K3'version (latest UNhobbested hehe (still untouched by this Hobbes issue) >

https://ulozto.cz/file/WSwRZcYrcWqZ/dioxine-xpiratez-k3-rar

Thanks for the Links! and right before the new version drops too.  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jinderius on May 23, 2020, 05:30:27 am
This is only a problem with new bases when you spend serious cash on recuits for just one idiot to use the pansershrech to kill 3 in a berserk theres a serious issue with bravery and base defense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on May 23, 2020, 01:25:33 pm
Secondary bases are fun and all specialy when bravery is hard trained, so when your attacked and the two last enemy hide in the sewer and every fcking unit with a pansershrek shoots it into the wall and killing themself becuse the AI gotta hide in the sewer...................................

Just increase bravery bonus for base defence.

- Use slave soldiers to defend secondary bases, they have stable morale and do not mind long missions(they do not lose morale with time, only from friendly losses).

- If you have a soldier whose morale is near 50 and there is a possibility they will panic, remove firearms from their hands and put them in backpack/belt/whatever. That way they won't cause any damage to others when they panic (you can leave melee weapons in their hands, they don't use them when panicking).

- Also use some dogs for base defense, they have a built-in motion detector for finding those last enemies hiding in sewers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on May 23, 2020, 08:59:12 pm
Yep, gonna  try the slave soldier as a backup defensive force, good idea. Out of curiosity: the "smart rounds"  may be renamed "magic bullets". Might fit more along the vodoo/magic stuff, plus it's kinda jfk reference alike.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 23, 2020, 09:10:52 pm
By Smart rounds you mean for the Smart pistol? I don't see why given that particular gun doesn't use any voodoo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on May 24, 2020, 03:54:45 pm
By Smart rounds you mean for the Smart pistol? I don't see why given that particular gun doesn't use any voodoo.

No i mean a simpy word change (eg magnum smart rounds--->magnum magic bullets) Just a setting change  ;)

And might we get that geoscape interface characters like the Amiga 1200 version? Also the interception theme is not that bad...have a look:


Edit: also a nice battlescape "sitzkrieg" theme?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on May 26, 2020, 05:24:27 pm
Wish using thrown smoke grenades or fire extinguishers didn't count as "hitting your own allies" for the purposes of "Best Kind of Friend". Not sure how feasible that would be to change though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: spazeroid on May 28, 2020, 08:55:00 pm
Howdy, I'm a big fan so I hope this doesn't come off as overly harsh.

The changes to the bootypedia weapons entries make them a lot harder to read. The sides and the green thing are distractingly bright, which combined with the fact the text often goes over both makes it hard to read some of the text. The fish lips in the middle don't help either.

If you make the sides a little darker it shouldn't be so bad. Or maybe changing the text color?  The ideal solution for those of us who are change resistant might be to make the new background toggle-able, but I'm sure that's technically difficult.

Anyway, really like the game and I'm looking forward to the new content.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Lohland on May 29, 2020, 05:16:56 am
The changes to the bootypedia weapons entries make them a lot harder to read. T

I join.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on May 31, 2020, 06:48:37 pm
I join.

Me too. I would prefer new bootypedia screen to be optional for now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Corento on June 01, 2020, 11:42:54 am
Me too. I would prefer new bootypedia screen to be optional for now.

Agree. I always looking forward for all the changes in game, but here I would prefer something simplified and what fit better with text and graphics.
But thank you Dioxine for all your hard work (and of course all other contributors), you doing it great
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: AhsokaTaHo on June 01, 2020, 02:07:36 pm
Tell us what at the beginning, having studied the gold code will give an opening to all others there is a bug? If so, when will it finally be corrected?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 01, 2020, 11:01:28 pm
Tell us what at the beginning, having studied the gold code will give an opening to all others there is a bug? If so, when will it finally be corrected?

In my run i picked the gold one and i think it's balanced along the others, so it's ok
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: vadracas on June 01, 2020, 11:31:11 pm
Tell us what at the beginning, having studied the gold code will give an opening to all others there is a bug? If so, when will it finally be corrected?


What bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: legionof1 on June 02, 2020, 04:38:54 am
I'm assuming a faulty translation is at work here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Dakkdakk on June 03, 2020, 05:35:46 pm
I honestly don't remember that bit from the in-game english description of the gold codex, so yea, might be an issue with the translation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 06, 2020, 06:03:04 pm
Should Combat/Survival Bow be added to stun weapons with Combat Bow Stun Arrows?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 07, 2020, 06:52:17 pm
Should Combat/Survival Bow be added to stun weapons with Combat Bow Stun Arrows?

Don't know, i'd leave it as it is know cebause of its main ammo. moreover in lots of maps there are ancient wheeled vehicles, it's just a small observation but in 2601 should be a bit more of futuristic cars part of the background, don't you think? like aircars. Some inspiration here (https://www.google.com/search?q=futuristic+cars&client=ubuntu&hs=GdL&channel=fs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiniLaph_DpAhW7ShUIHbqCAnMQ_AUoAXoECAsQAw), also a DeLorean as a scenery part would be nice (https://www.google.com/search?q=futuristic+cars+delorean&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiwtLGsh_DpAhUPcxoKHd4wCmgQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=futuristic+cars+delorean&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQEzoICAAQBRAeEBM6CAgAEAgQHhATUI6CAliGiwJg_owCaABwAHgAgAGFBIgBjQ-SAQswLjMuMy4xLjAuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1n&sclient=img&ei=3QzdXvDRFI_mad7hqMAG&client=ubuntu&hs=GdL). Just thinking :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rince Wind on June 07, 2020, 07:45:21 pm
You run around with flintlocks, so there is definitivly space for some 20th/21st century style cars. Large parts of the world are even less advanced, they probably know about petrol cars, but all they have is steam power, if they are lucky.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: amjh on June 07, 2020, 10:10:32 pm
Wouldn't advanced tech be too valuable to leave lying around? Even if it's just scrap value, it would be good money for commoners.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 08, 2020, 04:37:52 am
Don't know, i'd leave it as it is know cebause of its main ammo.

The domestic shotgun/police shotgun are also labelled as stun weapons because of the rubber bullet ammo. Their main ammo is absolutely shoot to kill. I really don't see how that is relevant.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 09, 2020, 04:10:28 pm
Just for enquiry: from version futher L2, are gonne be implemented breaking changes in the research tree?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Ashghan on June 09, 2020, 07:22:23 pm
Maybe. While Dioxine works hard to allow for backwards save compatibility, it's not always possible. See the topic "Upgrading saves between versions".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: RolandVasko on June 10, 2020, 01:29:46 am
Tell us what at the beginning, having studied the gold code will give an opening to all others there is a bug? If so, when will it finally be corrected?

 :o wůt? ? so, me, im granted by choosing the Gold Codex opening,access also to all 3 others reaming ? ?  :o

hmmmnnnn
i just must try it
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on June 12, 2020, 04:33:54 am
It is hard to discern what AhsokaTaHo is asking.  I assumed he/she was looking for a legit way to research the other color codices after researching the gold one.  Which of course there isn't one since only one choice is allowed by design.  Recent posts discussing modding XPiratez to research all 4 colors might have confused AhsokaTaHo especially if english is difficult for him/her.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 12, 2020, 03:19:20 pm
Well actually just a thougth: codex crafts should not supposed to be avaiable via black market since these are the product of arcane understandin  involving the drill and then should be only manufacturable? This might make more sense,could it even made it without revolutionize the research tree?

Moreover, documentation research should lead to craft buying, like the weapons, would be nice, what do you think? the turtle might be a nice example,as of L2 is avaiable with all codexes. Maybe some more vessels hope will be added, of course following the philosophy "reay when it's ready"!!

Megapol at least at the beginning of the game should not use rusty niners, more that often in such early stages i've seen that, it sould use mostly police revolver and shotguns. Might be added in the future also specific police issued guns (megapol pistol, mrgapol carabine), as well other marsec entitled ones, or some more xg stuff in later stages. My 2's cents :) :)

Edit: AI should be less cheaty on cover, it always knows how where and how take cover, i'd suggest only more military oriented/trained units may calculate that (spartans, marsec?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on June 12, 2020, 06:33:52 pm
For my end, megapol scrubs are armed with plasma guns.
Feels KEKW
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 12, 2020, 07:30:23 pm
Just trivia: actually ccom apocalypse featured some megapol issued hardware, check here (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Agents_Equipment_(Apocalypse)), so seeing these in xpiratez might be cool. If these are in robin's mod "from the apocalypse" might be featured also in here?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 12, 2020, 10:32:12 pm
For my end, megapol scrubs are armed with plasma guns.
Feels KEKW
Megapol tends to adopt plasma after the first year, though some might retain the earlier weapons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 12, 2020, 10:38:23 pm
Megapol tends to adopt plasma after the first year, though some might retain the earlier weapons.

Ok but please make them throw away that niner! It's second hand trash!!  :) ;D

Edit: another thing, as of L2 Light machinegun is needed to unlock krazy hanna's contact research, but you have to be lucky to stumble upon it. How about to change that?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 14, 2020, 04:50:17 am
you can also get the research from gun almanacs, and lmgs aren't uncommon in prepper boxes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 14, 2020, 06:52:25 pm
you can also get the research from gun almanacs, and lmgs aren't uncommon in prepper boxes.

Searched more that five/siz times, but once again i was unlucky  :'(

Also military and police shotgun should have switched their stat, i assume bacause te military one is supposed to be superior?

And enemy armored cars and vehicle in general may get a lil simbol that shows that have been damaged, like happens with living units who get a couple of blood drops?

And somtimes these vehicles get way too much overbearing!!

 ;D >:( :( :o

(https://i.postimg.cc/RWGHzXG6/screen001.png) (https://postimg.cc/RWGHzXG6)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 15, 2020, 12:33:48 am
The police shotgun and the military shotgun are good at different things, they really don't need their stats swapped. Police shotgun allows for better range whereas the military shotgun allows for quicker firing. Also police shotgun can't use AP rounds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 15, 2020, 03:33:23 pm
Some observations:

1) As for crazy hanna contact, i'd propose that gun emporium unlocks it, may be more fair and make more sense i guess. Probably it's an important point because without middle-heavy weapons player won't be able to engage even middle tier enemies. Other possible solution is to replace it with the assault machinegun, more common by far than the light one.

2) Austere dress should get at least a 2x1 pouch as it is now it's nearly unusable, even castaway outfit allows to carry more stuff (see example screenshot attached).

3) Turtle should not be a codex craft, but a black market one, in its bootypedia description it's told it was hidden by the thiefs, so it has to be unlocked after some research.

4) low-res radar, hi-res radar and overcharged radar should be allowed to be built one on top of another, making these upgradable facilities.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 15, 2020, 07:05:35 pm

And enemy armored cars and vehicle in general may get a lil simbol that shows that have been damaged, like happens with living units who get a couple of blood drops?


Just in case you didn't know, the blood drops do not show that the unit has been damaged, but that it is bleeding(has fatal wounds).
It is possible for a living unit to be damaged without any blood drops symbol being shown. Vehicles never show the symbol because they do not bleed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 15, 2020, 07:40:07 pm
Just in case you didn't know, the blood drops do not show that the unit has been damaged, but that it is bleeding(has fatal wounds).
It is possible for a living unit to be damaged without any blood drops symbol being shown. Vehicles never show the symbol because they do not bleed.

Thanks, i know, i'd like to see a similar thing on enemy mechanical vehicles, be these wheeled or not  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 15, 2020, 08:59:58 pm
If you want to know if you damaged an enemy, on L2, it flashes different colors upon hit depending on what is being damaged and how (note that armor damage is included). Additionally you can press ctrl + h following a hit assuming there is no reaction fire. Alternatively, use Brainer outfit/Mine Probes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 15, 2020, 09:47:49 pm
If you want to know if you damaged an enemy, on L2, it flashes different colors upon hit depending on what is being damaged and how (note that armor damage is included). Additionally you can press ctrl + h following a hit assuming there is no reaction fire. Alternatively, use Brainer outfit/Mine Probes.

I know also that, i'd prefer a more simple and straightforward approach using the middle mouse click on an enemy unit; an icon of cracked gear might be fine (https://www.google.com/search?q=cracked+gear+icon+sprite&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&source=android-browser&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih39O_vYTqAhWx-yoKHZApAAYQ_AUoAXoECAoQAQ&biw=360&bih=524#imgrc=ahjmdiYacoPZ9M)...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: khade on June 15, 2020, 10:12:54 pm
What weapons are common tends to change based on who you're fighting and luck.  We'd need far more than a single run to determine that a weapon that's used to unlock a merchant is too rare for the purpose.

That's likely why we have things like the gun almanac, incidentally.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Mathel on June 15, 2020, 10:15:46 pm
If you want to know if you damaged an enemy, on L2, it flashes different colors upon hit depending on what is being damaged and how (note that armor damage is included). Additionally you can press ctrl + h following a hit assuming there is no reaction fire. Alternatively, use Brainer outfit/Mine Probes.

Or ctrl-alt-h to list hits since start of the round.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 16, 2020, 04:43:19 pm
But in the bounty level D mission "sins of the father" pirate outfits should not be allowed, the church would alarm is seeing someone dressed like so? As of L2 it's still so  :-\

Edit: as for the turtle (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg128969.html#msg128969), it might be unlocked after some reseach involved bandits, or automatically when completed the topic !bandit business!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 16, 2020, 09:43:13 pm
But in the bounty level D mission "sins of the father" pirate outfits should not be allowed, the church would alarm is seeing someone dressed like so? As of L2 it's still so  :-\

Why? It's civilian clothing. Anyone can dress up as a pirate (as opposed to wearing military-grade armor) so the sight shouldn't be particularly alarming.
If an uber gal by herself does not cause any alarm, a bit of colourful clothing on top won't change that, IMHO.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 17, 2020, 09:15:35 am
Why? It's civilian clothing. Anyone can dress up as a pirate (as opposed to wearing military-grade armor) so the sight shouldn't be particularly alarming.
If an uber gal by herself does not cause any alarm, a bit of colourful clothing on top won't change that, IMHO.

Mhh i don't know... anyone thinks so?

Edit: while wareouses fits, i don't think neither temples of sirius maps should be set in industrial zones, the briefing says "isolate temple" so industrial are not supposed to be so? Again im not sure. The rogue field warlords cuould provide a couple of firearms instead a single smg, and expanding a bit the initial selection of black market junk - not much 3/4 pieces as alternative to the more advanced weapons - might be a nice alternative giving more chances/opportunity/playstile to the capn/player. :) (see screenshot)

Edit 2: those ferry vessels are supposed to pick up passenger in outskirt/town maps not in the middle of nowhere? in fact, the map is set in an open forest.(see screenshot)

Edit 3: now laslock pistol have 3 shots instead of 4...aarghh!! Also L2 with 6.5.3 assault machineguns have not themself loaded in battlescape like the pistol..there might be a problem with thouse assault stuff. Also boarding gun on jellyfish is always unloaded

Edit 4: bounty items shuld be not rely on luck, bounty should be meat to expand player possibilities, arsenal and missions, not being vital to game progression i think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on June 17, 2020, 05:27:01 pm
Why? It's civilian clothing. Anyone can dress up as a pirate (as opposed to wearing military-grade armor) so the sight shouldn't be particularly alarming.
If an uber gal by herself does not cause any alarm, a bit of colourful clothing on top won't change that, IMHO.

It's civilian clothing. Anyone can dress as an arab so the sight shouldn't be particularly alarming.
If middle-eastern dude himself does not cause any alarm plain white robe won't change that... oh, wait!
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/63/a3/f4/63a3f4368a39cbad826b37545dc4f067.jpg)

(And some Casper-cosplaying purebloods may never make mutants feel uneasy, never!)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 17, 2020, 07:33:31 pm
It's civilian clothing. Anyone can dress as an arab so the sight shouldn't be particularly alarming.
If middle-eastern dude himself does not cause any alarm plain white robe won't change that... oh, wait!

I see. Run for your lives because he is wearing a plain white robe. Nevermind the bomb :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on June 17, 2020, 08:16:31 pm
Pff!  That blaster bomb he is holding in the picture is useless without the launcher!   :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 17, 2020, 08:36:44 pm
Wll an arab is an arab; but pirates are criminal by nature so no chance of error, the church of sirius should have nose for that...

explicit clues (https://www.google.com/search?q=pirate+clothes&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiK1qGFsYnqAhWVP-wKHdsLD4oQ2-cCegQIABAB&oq=pirate+clothes&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzICCAAyBAgAEB4yBAgAEB4yBAgAEB4yBAgAEB46BAgeEAo6BAgAEA06BggAEA0QHlDaXlidaWCpb2gAcAB4AIABrQGIAYsKkgEDMC45mAEAoAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=B1TqXsq2ApX_sAfbl7zQCA&bih=524&biw=360&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isnv)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 17, 2020, 08:48:57 pm
Wll an arab is an arab; but pirates are criminal by nature so no chance of error, the church of sirius should have nose for that...


Pirates may be criminal by nature, but not everyone wearing a pirate costume is necessarily a pirate.
Plus, it is not at all clear whether a 23rd century sirius priest actually knows how 19th century pirates used to dress.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on June 17, 2020, 11:25:12 pm
Oh, c'mon, just a mob of 2-meters mutant pirates disguised as pirates wearing colorful pirate clothing designed and used by pirates to be distinguished as pirates in a world where pirates are real, raiding temples and wearing piratish-stile clothes, how can something go wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 18, 2020, 12:19:56 am
Oh, c'mon, just a mob of 2-meters mutant pirates disguised as pirates wearing colorful pirate clothing designed and used by pirates to be distinguished as pirates in a world where pirates are real, raiding temples and wearing piratish-stile clothes, how can something go wrong?

Clearly, a mob of 2-meter mutant pirates dressed in red shirts is much more threatening than the same mob of 2-meter mutant pirates wearing black ganger jackets.
This is because sirius priests were issued a manual which precisely describes what is, and what is not, pirate clothing.
Lets hope they won't get raided by necropirates next, or they might get all confused.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 18, 2020, 10:09:28 am
Moreover a "ganger" look is more casual and it's a way of life/social  manifest look. A pirate is more "get to the point".

ganger examples (https://www.google.com/search?q=sons+of+anarchy&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi5zoK85orqAhUaP-wKHYQ2BRkQ2-cCegQIABAB&oq=sons+of+anarchy&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIHCAAQsQMQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzICCAAyAggAOgQIABANUOxVWNpaYI9gaABwAHgAgAGwAYgB7wOSAQMwLjOYAQCgAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=RBLrXrmcKpr-sAeE7ZTIAQ&bih=524&biw=360&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on June 18, 2020, 03:46:29 pm
"Black jackets" is in-game visualisation of sturdy casual clothing worn by travelling ubers all over the world.

And I really have no idea what "bomb" was mentioned above. Bearded guy just playing with a toy ball, that is all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 18, 2020, 05:18:29 pm
Moreover a "ganger" look is more casual and it's a way of life/social  manifest look. A pirate is more "get to the point".

ganger examples (https://www.google.com/search?q=sons+of+anarchy&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi5zoK85orqAhUaP-wKHYQ2BRkQ2-cCegQIABAB&oq=sons+of+anarchy&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIHCAAQsQMQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzICCAAyAggAOgQIABANUOxVWNpaYI9gaABwAHgAgAGwAYgB7wOSAQMwLjOYAQCgAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=RBLrXrmcKpr-sAeE7ZTIAQ&bih=524&biw=360&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=isvn)

Pirates may be more "get to the point", but in the 27th century, noone wears 18th century pirate clothing before your gals escape, not even the real pirates. Everyone knows real pirates (necropirates) wear all black, yes? People are more likely to laugh at colourful clothing than be terrified by it.

So why, after the gals escape, should such clothing suddenly be universally recognized as something dangerous? It wouldn't, unless the gals themselves promote it as such, yes?

BUT.

There are six gals, and a whole planet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on June 18, 2020, 05:44:00 pm
Note that ninja gals wear pirate clothing.  You even get the outfits when robbing or enslaving ninjas.

But I don't think the pirate outfit is particularly threatening looking.  Besides the temple priest is expecting trouble; why else would he be brandishing a shotgun?  Even some of the altar boys are packing heat.  Also look at the parishioners, they aren't exactly wearing their Sunday best.   :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 18, 2020, 05:52:29 pm
Note that ninja gals wear pirate clothing.  You even get the outfits when robbing or enslaving ninjas.

But I don't think the pirate outfit is particularly threatening looking.  Besides the temple priest is expecting trouble; why else would he be brandishing a shotgun?  Even some of the altar boys are packing heat.  Also look at the parishioners, they aren't exactly wearing their Sunday best.   :P

You get the outfit when robbing them, but they are not wearing it. They are wearing their own outfits  when on missions which are 15/5 camouflaged, something standard pirate clothing does not do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on June 18, 2020, 07:48:09 pm
Maybe.  I just assumed their camo came from their innate ninja abilities instead of their clothing.  It is an engine limitation that puts so many of these characteristics as armor attributes.  If they are just carrying the pirate outfits I should get them at the end of battle like the other carried objects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 18, 2020, 08:18:32 pm
Maybe.  I just assumed their camo came from their innate ninja abilities instead of their clothing.  It is an engine limitation that puts so many of these characteristics as armor attributes.  If they are just carrying the pirate outfits I should get them at the end of battle like the other carried objects.

Fair enough. But i believe it is well-established that ninjas generally wear black/indigo uniforms, not colourful flamboyant pirate-y clothing, both in the game's bootypedia(the "Sky ninjas" entry) and general lore (what one pictures when hearing "ninja").
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on June 19, 2020, 02:02:22 am
Pirates may be more "get to the point", but in the 27th century, noone wears 18th century pirate clothing before your gals escape, not even the real pirates. Everyone knows real pirates (necropirates) wear all black, yes? People are more likely to laugh at colourful clothing than be terrified by it.
So why, after the gals escape, should such clothing suddenly be universally recognized as something dangerous? It wouldn't, unless the gals themselves promote it as such, yes? BUT. There are six gals, and a whole planet.

Likely more than just six gals raiding one temple after another and got famous for this.

Probably because pirates stile is both known and used in this world.

Said necropirates could not have centralized mass production supply of uniform and it's nothing like they do use same outfit or same color. Necropirates appears like pirates, having the same idea here as our gals. This is all what bootypedia says. I hope your understand that despite of in-game visual appearance characters are not supposed to be copies of each others.

Btw, who are these "corsair" guys? They definitely share exactly same style of clothing as our pirate team.
Are they friendly to Major Factions and The Church of Sirius in particular?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: stax77 on June 19, 2020, 07:41:05 am
Likely more than just six gals raiding one temple after another and got famous for this.

Probably because pirates stile is both known and used in this world.

Like i said, there are six gals, there's a whole planet, and they only raid in pirate clothes for a month or so, after that they use regular armor for 95%+ of their missions. Not nearly enough to make the clothing remembered planet-wide as something special.

And the style is known as "pirate" in our world, not theirs. And it is (was) used in the 18th century, not the 27th one (until the gals started using it).

Hell, even you wouldn't call the police if you saw someone in a pirate costume on the street today, despite pirates being real in our times, despite the memory of 18th century pirates being much fresher today than in the gals' time period. More like point and laugh, then call the children so they can laugh too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 19, 2020, 09:17:59 am
Hell, even you wouldn't call the police if you saw someone in a pirate costume on the street today, despite pirates being real in our times, despite the memory of 18th century pirates being much fresher today than in the gals' time period. More like point and laugh, then call the children so they can laugh too.

But the 2601 is a pretty oligarchic/anarchic world, so most individuals follow their common sense? Pirate clothes are not meant for fun i think...but whatever... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: arbee81 on June 19, 2020, 09:37:39 am
Come on, the basic pirate outfit is dark pants, a button up shirt, and sometimes a piratey hat.  The rogue variant is pants, a matching cloak and a bikini top.  Blackhat is some kind of goth porn fantasy outfit.  The closest thing to colorful and flamboyant is the swashbuckler outfit, and that's pretty much shorts and a tank top.  The boots and gloves are an odd choice, I'll admit.  I can't see any of these raising an eyebrow with all the other crazy stuff running around out there.

The Zaxx mission is already restricting you to infiltration gear and no armor outfits, why do you want it restricted even more?  And what wouldn't alarm the church?  The bikini?  Rags?  Ganger?  The pirate outfits are the closest things to normal clothes they have
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: legionof1 on June 19, 2020, 10:42:26 am
Snip
Blackhat is some kind of goth porn fantasy outfit. 
Snip

Blackhat is something that takes inspiration from Asiatic Pirates. https://images.app.goo.gl/QwpiXxKzKQAkhyed7 Take a look at the guy in right of that shot from Worlds End.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on June 19, 2020, 11:56:02 am
Which difficulty is considered "normal"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 19, 2020, 12:19:46 pm
From L2 thare is a bit prewarning giving a little clue on how the game will be hard. Technically there is not a definitioni of "normal", but xpiratez is balanced till "blackbeard" setting, and if you chose "supermutant" game will ask to save right after you pick a location for you starting base.

See screenshot attached  ;)

Edit: i'd propose also to reconsider plastasteel munitions attributes for the gun that support these, eg also ol' rifle might get these, but generally this should bring along a smaller magazine capacity, for eg the smartpistol might have 18 bullet instead of 22 (as of now PS ammo increases the magazine for such weapon), with 28/29 damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Interdictor on June 19, 2020, 04:56:33 pm
But the 2601 is a pretty oligarchic/anarchic world, so most individuals follow their common sense? Pirate clothes are not meant for fun i think...but whatever... :)

I'm not sure already. Maybe those altars boys screaming and firing at blank are just overjoyed to see hot pirate girls. Kids like pirates you know.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 19, 2020, 08:43:44 pm
I'm not sure already. Maybe those altars boys screaming and firing at blank are just overjoyed to see hot pirate girls. Kids like pirates you know.

But the church is not ruled by kids..anyways let's biw to Dioxine will!

Another kinda small incongruency: bootypedia says that gauss weapins have a fingerlock that prevents to use them right away, so as for plasma, may be made custom gauss weapons? Vecause of that lock fals are not supposed to pick a gauss arm in the battlefield because that lock is present individually on every piece.

If the idead seems to make sense, Solarious' gauss weapons (https://openxcom.mod.io/gauss-weapons) sprites might be used, i think are featured in the "Final mod pack" too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on June 20, 2020, 11:29:52 am
There are already custom gauss weapons. Rail Driver that is more of a tool, than weapon, but it works in the same principle and runts make them after researching a bit of gauss tech. There is also other, smaller and weaker gauss that you can use as soon as you get your hand on it. Not to mention Craft Gauss you can also assemble and use freely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Ashghan on June 21, 2020, 02:10:16 am
Not to mention the entire X-Gauss line of firearms. Maybe you should *at least* start a quick battle to see the entire arsenal (if you want spoilers) before you make weapon suggestions. Like someone else wrote somewhere: "Play more, post less."
Quote
Vecause of that lock fals are not supposed to pick a gauss arm in the battlefield because that lock is present individually on every piece
No, the locks don't work that way - after you research "Unlocking Gauss Weapons" you can freely use any Stellar Gauss you find in the field. It's just the added twist of the technology to use them being unlocked later than the knowledge what they are.

Lastly - instead of suggesting changing every little bit of equipment and lore to make the game more to you liking, just edit the mod yourself however you see fit. These are all text files, pretty easy to understand and tinker with. I might be mistaken, but most players like it how it is. Besides, Dioxine puts much thought into everything he adds to the mod. If something is here, it's for a reason. If something's not - most likely there's a reason as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: khade on June 21, 2020, 04:22:04 am
Though sometimes Dioxine does like a suggestion and integrate it.  And sometimes there is in fact a problem that needs to be dealt with, like the Wrench research actually being too hard to get for a while.

But too much of this very quickly gets irritating.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Shiroi Bara on June 21, 2020, 11:44:58 am
I have problems with inventory screen and also middle button enemy (or friendly unit) battle field screen too. They always shows in ugly full screen mode. I tried different settings like 1/3 or 1/2 in geoscape scale and battlescape scale but result same. How to fix it? To install mod I just unpacked this directory from archive Dioxine_XPiratez_L2.rar\Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez to separate folder in my C:\Users\***\Documents\OpenXcom\mods folder and chose mod in master game menu. Also I tried unpack all in empty folder on HDD, and run OpenXcomEx.exe from there, but same result. Any suggestions? Not using Administrator rights on PC, because folders has necessary permissions. Screens to show problem:
Normal 1/3 resolution:
(https://i.postimg.cc/G8Sb20B9/screen000.png) (https://postimg.cc/G8Sb20B9)
And ugly full screen one:
(https://i.postimg.cc/JGxPB1rT/screen001.png) (https://postimg.cc/JGxPB1rT)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Nalca on June 21, 2020, 12:20:33 pm
Look for 'Maximize info screens' in advanced options, and set it to 'Nay...'.
No need for mods.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 22, 2020, 10:56:21 am
Don't know if it's a bug but in L2 still i cannot build large vaults over four smaller adjacent ones - it tells "facility in use"  - while i can do it with large barracks. May we get also working for the bigger vaults?

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on June 22, 2020, 06:02:30 pm
I can clearly see that one of those is "Armored Vaults", not normal "Vault". This might be it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: CPLT-K2 on June 22, 2020, 06:45:22 pm
Your bug, once again, isn't one.
You can't build over armored vaults.
Besides, "Facility in use" is pretty clear indicator of what would be preventing you from doing whatever you're thinking of doing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 22, 2020, 07:43:35 pm
You also just can't build large facilities over small facilities at all I'm pretty sure.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Meridian on June 22, 2020, 07:53:06 pm
You also just can't build large facilities over small facilities at all I'm pretty sure.

you can
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: MemoryTAS on June 22, 2020, 07:56:31 pm
...The heck, last I tried, I couldn't. Maybe there's something else I was doing wrong. Dang it I feel silly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: legionof1 on June 23, 2020, 04:12:59 am
Vaults(of all sizes) provide both storage and workshop slots, both must be available to upgrade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 23, 2020, 09:16:38 am
Your bug, once again, isn't one.
You can't build over armored vaults.
Besides, "Facility in use" is pretty clear indicator of what would be preventing you from doing whatever you're thinking of doing.

Because there are three standard vaults and one armored, if all foru were non-armored i shuold have been able to build instead, right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Lohland on June 24, 2020, 07:35:24 am
if not mistaken, 4 armored is better than one large.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 25, 2020, 11:45:57 am
Another thing: rocky should have same resistance as the fartbag, or at least a bit more stronger; you see these are not armored as a chrissalid, but the bootypedia as of L2 says it's been used a jackhammer to perform brainer's analisys!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 25, 2020, 12:01:27 pm
It's a fucking rock.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 25, 2020, 08:16:40 pm
It's a fucking rock.
A biological rock...but whatever! ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rubber Cannonball on June 25, 2020, 10:33:50 pm
It's a rock from Star Trek.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Dakkdakk on June 27, 2020, 05:54:37 am
Those kind of exist IRL (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2NdNxiv_fg), mind you. While the real ones don't spit gouts of acid, you actualy do need to use power tools to open one up. Its actualy one of the more believable aliens the original xcom came up with, if you think about it, since while we don't really have big headed sexless midgets going around shooting people with plasma weaponry IRL, we do have both living rocks and critters that spit nasty things, including acid.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on June 29, 2020, 04:09:27 pm
It's a rock from Star Trek.

Ok very cool i did not know! These in xpiratez are spitting fire, not acid i think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Alex_D on June 29, 2020, 07:39:21 pm
As per building facilities over existing ones, so far I managed to build:
- Hangers, large storage, large barracks, printer, casino, etc over plantations.
- Also plantations over large storage.
- Luxury barracks over regular barracks: Note that the habitation size shrinks until the upgrade is over.
- Armored vaults over regular vaults.
- Pretty much anything over corridors and burrows.

There could be more, but these are the ones I tried in my current campaign.
Conclusion. If you know your future layout a bit, you can try using plantations for extra cash early on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jimboman on July 07, 2020, 03:17:01 pm
Is there any way to stop the missile attacks other than have really good defences?  I just had a base wiped out by being left with just the lift and two hangers, so I scrapped the base.  Luckily I could transfer my equipment, personnel and craft to other bases, but I still lost some valuable prisoners and as you can imagine I wasn't happy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: xcomfan on July 07, 2020, 03:49:40 pm
Is there any way to stop the missile attacks other than have really good defences?  I just had a base wiped out by being left with just the lift and two hangers, so I scrapped the base.  Luckily I could transfer my equipment, personnel and craft to other bases, but I still lost some valuable prisoners and as you can imagine I wasn't happy!

Yes, have to research a specific topic but don't wanna spoiler...

Hey it's been a while since last version, cannot wait for another!!  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jimboman on July 07, 2020, 04:51:54 pm
Yes, have to research a specific topic but don't wanna spoiler...

Hey it's been a while since last version, cannot wait for another!!  :P

Thanks.  At least I know I CAN stop them!  F***ing Canadians...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Iazo on July 08, 2020, 01:12:42 pm
The missiles use pieces of the crackdown specific code.

If your base is hidden, the missile strike mission will spawn a wave of HK ships in the relevant continent region to attempt to locate it. Shooting those down will stop it. The seeking wave of ships only lasts about 2 days, and if they fail to locate your base, no missile strike will happen.

Take care that if your base is revealed by anyone, its location is available for all for future crackdowns and missile strikes. (F. Ex. Ratman swarms, bogey swarms).

You can defend your base from being located, by keeping is small(facilities add to the radar signature, large facilities add more), or building hideout shrouds. Or of course, shooting down everyone who gets close.

You can further build your bases in "dead UFO zones", zones in which UFOs do not like to patrol because of how the game works. I am not an expert in those, but in general, look for edges of regions. Two come to mind, the Panama Isthmus, and just SE of Lake Victoria in Africa.

The missile strike itself follows some rules. It never hits more than 3 buildings in a wave. This means that if your base has a connectivity of minimum 4, you will not lose all your facilities due to loss of connectivity. Missiles seem to also target buildings in construction. Missiles also hit buildings according to their missile attraction stat, so radar facilities and stills will draw more heat than say a burrow. This means that buildings with high attraction go on the periphery when planning the base, and do try to not rely on them for connectivity. This also means that if you feel a missile strike is incoming(due to the obvious HK wave), you can fool them by queuing building outposts everywhere. They are cheapish and have a relatively high missile attraction, and you can cancel them once danger has passed. Missiles also seem to like large buildings as well. Each missile hits a 'per square' basis not 'per facility' basis, so a hangar or plantation can be hit multiple times, wasting their shots.

Remember that a missile wave can have multiple strikes, so check your base and decoy outposts between strikes and put up new ones as needed.

Obviously AA defenses are just one solution.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jimboman on July 09, 2020, 02:51:21 pm
At present I only have access to Flak Towers and Flak Cannons, but 1 tower and 2 cannons stopped a barrage on another base so I think I'm ok for now.  At least until it either steps-up or I find the tech to stop it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Yirtimd2 on July 14, 2020, 01:08:51 pm
Guys when next update? Cause what if I will start new campaign and then after some progress there will be new update with new cool stuff and I will be like 'FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!! I must restart again!".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Ves on July 14, 2020, 01:33:56 pm
Why do you have to restart?

Just take a look at https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4133.0.html if you have to adjust anything. Most of the time there's nothing to do. The one important thing to pay attention to is avoiding updates during tactical battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Yirtimd2 on July 14, 2020, 03:31:30 pm
OOOOOOHHH! Thank u dude! Then i will try actual version today.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jinderius on July 16, 2020, 02:22:30 am
Alright on my 6th game and First year november I got a spike in activity and a 8000 infamy bracked to beat. Obviously i got -5100 but november got back to 2000 to beat. but then Jan and feb second year both are 6000 infamy to beat and even if i had a very good and lucky run i cant get the 5300 infamy required no way at all any work around to this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: legionof1 on July 16, 2020, 05:59:04 am
Usually such instances of high negative score is long duration enemy craft activity outside your radar coverage. Expanding for global coverage is a very high priority to help counter such activities.

Alternatively you can closely examine the score graphs by region to discover where the activity is localized to a send craft to search out the culprit..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jinderius on July 16, 2020, 06:29:42 am
Its 13 months into the game I was just researching interceptor assembly and spike rockets were still out of trophy range. What decieds the activites each month?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Rince Wind on July 16, 2020, 12:57:28 pm
The almighty RNG, with some activities being behind certain milestones or only possible after a number of months have passed. Ressource excavation is not among those, though.

By November you should have a couple of hideouts though, so you should be able to cover (most of) the main regions on the globe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Iazo on July 20, 2020, 01:19:00 pm
Even if not, research accounts for a huge part of points. Running anything less than full brainers is a waste.

Back when we were doing the shared game, the start of the second year was netting us anywhere from 15k to 20k points.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: khade on July 20, 2020, 10:19:52 pm
If it's possible, Excavation shouldn't be worth score or at least not as much, but I think that's hardcoded?  Something about time flying is worth at least x amount of enemy score, and time landed is worth at least y, and that's a very long mission with frequent landings.

Edit

Don't ask me what the numbers are, this is just what I remember
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 20, 2020, 11:16:15 pm
So, what do you do when you miss things to continue after a few years, like fat zombies and ghoul scientists? I did get one zombie mission, but it was regular zombies and stingers. And while I researched organ harvesting, no ghoul missions yet. Only a regular one from a pogrom.

I started again, but modded to my liking. The main thing: brainers are just a quarter as expensive and research buildings hold twice the amount. Some minor other tweaks, mostly to increase the capacity of buildings slightly. I added some stuff to the starter base: a few early-mid game armors and guns, and some research block removers (like a stapler and two cockroaches, as those held me up a long time the previous run). I changed the light sniper rifle slightly and made it available after Jack's town. And a few rubies  to get me started. I'm playing on the medium difficulty.

But, after a year, there was nothing left to research and my equipment was still seriously lacking. So I added some more blocking items, to both the save and the starting equipment. That didn't help long. And I was waiting for the ghoul scientist and fat zombies all the time. The previous playthrough, I got loads of those missions, so I expected them "any month now", but they never turned up.

What to do? Add them all? But what would then be the point of playing the game? Restart the game, again, after playing it for two months? Is that the expected behavior? I REALLY don't like that.

The only solutions seem to be: 1. Stop playing the game. 2. Make an extensive mod that also removes those RNG roadblocks, or at least add another option to get them. Which is a lot of work, especially in testing it all out.


Oh, I forgot: I really like the new terrain and the other additions. But the amount of "mostly equal things" is still very large.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: khade on July 21, 2020, 12:31:54 am
A problem with asking us for help in your situation is that you're effectively playing a different, though similar game, so how much help can the rest of us be?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: legionof1 on July 21, 2020, 02:29:24 am
The solution to your problem with tech blocks is to attend more of every kind of mission you can get access to. Zombies are for example present on almost every mission/craft but only at a 5% chance. You need to attend alot of encounters to see all the zombie types with even a half way decent chance.

Progression and the whole is tailored to an very aggressive exploitation of every avenue your offered, sitting back and expecting the game to just hand you the means to progress and victory is not how it works. If you don't like that style of game you have already suggested the answers yourself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 21, 2020, 09:40:38 am
The solution to your problem with tech blocks is to attend more of every kind of mission you can get access to. Zombies are for example present on almost every mission/craft but only at a 5% chance. You need to attend alot of encounters to see all the zombie types with even a half way decent chance.

But I did every single mission. Sometimes aborting, sometimes Ctrl-D, Ctrl-J, but I went to each one of them. Well except a few underground and underwater ones before I was ready for those.

Quote
Progression and the whole is tailored to an very aggressive exploitation of every avenue your offered, sitting back and expecting the game to just hand you the means to progress and victory is not how it works. If you don't like that style of game you have already suggested the answers yourself.

So, play for half a year in real-time, and if you get stuck for a long time, abort and restart? Yes, that's nice if you only want to play this single game for the rest of your life. By now, I started this five times and I played it for about five months in total. And I get stuck the whole time for very long stretches. Except for the obvious ones, the enemies encountered and the stuff I find is highly random. Many of which you'll never see in a single playthrough. And then you get stuck.

It's a great game, but it needs an editor and test team. Just adding more stuff all the time and blocking large parts through RNG doesn't work if it has to be playable for others than the super-dedicated. And get rid of most of the stuff that is functional the same.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Ashghan on July 21, 2020, 10:36:17 am
This is something that modern games have been avoiding, mostly to dodge frustrated players. By deliberate design, some playthroughs in Xpiratez are unwinnable. It's up to the player's tactical and strategic skills (plus a hefty amount of determination) to set the percentage. Some players can recover from the loss of the main base, some can't. Other things too. Missile strikes. Excavation missions. Early crackdowns. Brainer deficit. You name it. These can all end your game (not in the way you'd want) if you're not prepared and careful. No point in whining - learn to deal with them.

Back to your situation. While a research stall is hardly a good thing, it's not the end of the game. While it will be much more difficult without advanced equipment, the tactical battles are still winnable, you just need to use your head and know when to fold 'em (withdraw). As legion posted above - zombies appear regularly, if rarely, an ghouls have their own mission, so wait for that. If you're doing all missions you can, it's completely possible to hold out till both of these happen.

Lastly - you modified the game to have more brainers and earlier. The mod was designed with slower pacing in mind, so by 'regular' progression standards, you'd still have stuff to research. Do not complain about broken progression if it was you who broke it in the first place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Iazo on July 21, 2020, 11:08:25 am
Do not complain about broken progression if it was you who broke it in the first place.

This is frankly enough that should be said.

The game has a test team, your mod lacks an test team.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: wolfreal on July 21, 2020, 04:54:54 pm
If you modded the game to been able to have more brainers easily, you're way ahead of the normal curve of progression. It is rare to get to a point to have nothing more to research. And normally, even if RNGjesus is not been good to you, It does not means you're stuck. Zombies blocks good stuff, but does not make the game unwinnable by any means. The things that Ghouls block, enviro armor as the most important maybe, are unlocked also by several other enemies. It should not be a particular hard to deal issue. Advanced medicine on the other hand, well, ghouls are going to appear sooner than later. And advanced medicine is kinda entering early late game. Circa starting year two maybe. Lot of time for a ghoul mission to appear. And if not, you will be able to kinda been able to handle everything the game throws at you on that point. Messy, sure, but able to.

This is not vanilla, this mod it LONG.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 21, 2020, 06:36:38 pm
Well, yes, ok, you have to spend at least a whole year in real time to have a good chance of winning. I get that. My try to speed that up to a month or three failed, because the RNG is tweaked to give you the minimum when you play for that whole year.

Yes, I also checked how the missions and events worked. For example, after 6 months in game after the prereqs were met, the VooDoo initiation event still hadn't triggered. Ok, it had 50% chance of firing, it just didn't. That's random chance for you. I added it to the list myself and it fired. And then I lost interest. I didn't want to have to make so many changes to keep progressing. And I'm not planning to spend 7 more months IRL to finally see most of it and finish it.

Ok, I gave it plenty of chances and spend lots of time on it, but it's not my game. And seen from the comments here, it's only for the really hard-core fans. I guess I'm not one of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Iazo on July 21, 2020, 08:05:42 pm
As a 'hardcore fan' I am kind of baffled. I only rarely considered modding the game, and I have not the first clue where to start. And here comes someone who has no time to play, but just casually mods stuff left and right like it's no big deal, then asks the game to be balanced around his modding.

Bro... You want to know my opinion? You're Karen-levels of entitled. I'm sure that you're sure we obviously have to agree with you, lest we be hardcore nolifer fanboys, but that makes little sense.

Mod is long. Rock-Paper-Shotgun estimates it at 300 hours. What are we supposed to tell you?  "Yeah, long mod is long. If you want to mod it shorter, don't stop halfway." Or maybe "Please Dioxine, this guy modded his game and ran out of stuff to do. Please balance it around his whims."

I am sorry you feel entitled to universal agreement. Is this better?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 21, 2020, 08:19:34 pm
I am sorry you feel entitled to universal agreement. Is this better?

No, that's totally not it. I start playing, I enjoy it, then there is little to no progress. I make a mod to speed it up, which kinda works, restart and enjoy it for the first in-game year. I am tinkering a bit with the mod, decide I'm stupid to change the game files itself (because it started very small) instead of making it a proper mod from the start. Now I have to use a comparison tool to do that. Oh, well, it's not that much work. I wonder about how the maps are build and decide the AI could use a serious check-up. I download the OCXE source and start thinking about what to do and how to do it. While still playing the game. Heck, I even watch the occasional Meridian and QuickMind playthrough.

But after a while, there is too little progress in the game and the new and sexy is at best a tiny upgrade of the current and I start changing more and more, to keep it interesting. And after a while I'm spending more time on researching and modding, so when there's a new roadblock, I lose interest.

That's it. And such a cycle takes a few months. And I did play this for 5 months. I am out of a job and so have plenty of time. I guess in total I spend more than 600 hours on it over the last 9 months.


Edit: as I said in the first post, I should either quit or make a full-fledged mod to change it all to my liking. To better integrate the progress and roadblocks into a sped-up game. I might still do that, but probably not right now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 23, 2020, 12:42:10 am
Ok. I have been thinking about this for a bit, and the reactions I got. Let's do this in a Q&A format.

Q: Do you feel entitled to tell Dioxine and company how they should develop their mod?
A: No. Why would I? It's what they want to do.

Q: So, why are you bitching about it?
A: I'm not. I'm a project manager / software developer myself, and I love feedback. Especially from people who used my product a lot and tell me why they did and didn't like things. So I give feedback myself.

Q: But, it's a superb mod! Why would anyone want to change something about it?
A: So, how many people play it, for how long, and if they stop playing it, why? Did you finish it, or are you just occasionally starting it to get your fix? How many times did you upgrade it during your current playthrough?

Q: It doesn't matter how many others play it how often! The Team and us love it to bits! It's perfect!
A: So, there is nothing more to add or change to make it even better?

Q: The base game is far too short! And all games are more or less the same. I want a much longer game and I want more of everything!
A: Welcome to X-Piratez. You'll love it.

Q: I really want to like X-Piratez, but I don't know how to start. It's overwhelming. I don't know what to do.
A: Just keep trying. After a while you'll get it. But it's quite different from the base game (a quickstart guide that highlights those differences might help). It is really long, and it will take you hundreds of hours before you even know what the important bits are.

Q: I love X-Piratez, I start it up multiple times each month to play a few battles, but then I forgot what I was trying to do. Can I safely upgrade to the last version? And what should I research? How long is it going to take to finish?
A: There is a thread on upgrading, all the other things you have to figure out for yourself. If you don't play it frequently, I strongly suggest you keep notes.

Q: I have been playing it multiple times each week for years. It is too short. I love the tactical battles in this game. They're perfect. Although a bit unpredictable and with lots of repetition.
A: You would probably like a "custom battle" option, where you can specify what enemies there are and the level of the equipment available.

Q: I have been playing this for quite a while, but it is too long and there is so little improvement. You have to collect and research a hundred things between upgrades. And there's, like, a hundred weapons that do like 30-40 damage. Which one should I choose?
A: I might make a mod for that. But don't hold your breath.

Q: Well, I like it. Although I prefer actually playing it, ie: doing battles, to all the boring housekeeping you do in the base. And I love upgrading my equipment!
A: So, you might like UI improvements, like the scroll bar staying put, that pressing X in any sell/buy/transfer screen should select/deselect all, not having to sell vehicles by hand when you press the "Sell" button at manufacturing and specifying how new prisoners should be processed. And an "undo last action, I misclicked" key during battles.

Q: Well, I like it. Although I prefer actually playing it, ie: building the bases, making money, researching, shooting down enemies and managing my teams. I use debug mode for boring battles.
A: So, you might like UI improvements, like seeing when the VooDoo training will be finished, automatically turning on martial training if available, a button that shows you the bootypedia entry instead of the research tree one, a hyperlink that does the same for components in the manufacturing menu, the amount of items you already have when producing things. And an "auto-battle" option, with high-speed movement.

Q: Although I love the battles, they're not very hard. Yes, the enemy has superior equipment, but they're pretty dumb. Except for their numbers and the really dangerous ones, like Exalts and Mercenaries, or the ones with mini-nukes, of course. But they all just hang around and take potshots if they spot an enemy. They don't actually do all that much.
A: Yes. A smart, non-cheating AI would be great. Because, the hard difficulty isn't all that hard. It mostly increases the amount of enemies. Which results in more improvements for your soldiers, more loot and more things to research. It makes it easier in the long run. It would be much better if you could tune the AI to make it easier or harder. In easy mode, they all go outside, walk around and the civilians want to surrender. On hard, they form groups, stay out of sight, hunt you down and destroy you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Meridian on July 23, 2020, 01:19:23 am
When you see your feedback isn't going anywhere, or keeps going in circles, just give up.
People who agree with it, have seen it (and mostly don't react to it).
People who don't agree with it, will just keep not agreeing with it... changing opinions on this forum is a very rare sight (maybe not only on this forum? :) ).

Dioxine has most likely seen it, or will see it in the near future... and will decide on his own.

I agree with you on many (not all) specific points.
There's a LOT of things I don't like in piratez... but there's even more I do like.
The mod is for free and it is just a single-player game... don't be afraid to cheat and don't be afraid to mod it.
I've played this mod only twice (many real-world months each)... and I cheated and modded both times.
I don't feel bad about it, quite the contrary.... it made my experience a lot more pleasurable.
And that's the only thing that counts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: LexThorn on July 23, 2020, 04:26:09 pm


SymbolicFrank, Just mod The Mod it as you like if you want to. If you can`t or don`t want to lern how - this is your personal intercranial problem. Nobody must to solve it for you. That`s it. No more and no less.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Meridian on July 23, 2020, 05:28:02 pm
Just mod The Mod it as you like if you want to. If you can`t or don`t want to lern how - this is your personal intercranial problem. Nobody must to solve it for you. That`s it. No more and no less.

are you talking to me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: LexThorn on July 24, 2020, 07:04:26 am
are you talking to me?

sorry, missquoted when was witout leanses.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: SymbolicFrank on July 24, 2020, 10:35:31 pm
When you see your feedback isn't going anywhere, or keeps going in circles, just give up.
People who agree with it, have seen it (and mostly don't react to it).
People who don't agree with it, will just keep not agreeing with it... changing opinions on this forum is a very rare sight (maybe not only on this forum? :) ).

Dioxine has most likely seen it, or will see it in the near future... and will decide on his own.

I agree with you on many (not all) specific points.
There's a LOT of things I don't like in piratez... but there's even more I do like.
The mod is for free and it is just a single-player game... don't be afraid to cheat and don't be afraid to mod it.
I've played this mod only twice (many real-world months each)... and I cheated and modded both times.
I don't feel bad about it, quite the contrary.... it made my experience a lot more pleasurable.
And that's the only thing that counts.

Thanks.

The thing is, the most interesting (although longest) project would be a new (and very deadly) AI, and I'm not sure this community would appreciate that. For starters, even if ranged enemies couldn't hit you if you were standing next to them, I would definitely program them to take a step aside before shooting your gal. So it would make melee much harder, and it seems that is the preferred way to play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: LandrewHun on July 25, 2020, 12:18:19 pm
Finally back to this great mod!
Really enjoying it with or without any rule-set edits, even edited the chance of factions showing up a bit.
Quite happy to experiment with that..  :D Kinda want to attack and take down a few Humanist ship before any Pogrom happening.
This game mod being still active was a good surprise. :)



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Greep on August 04, 2020, 02:21:43 am
Heya, checked out the manufacturing costs for big rocks, and it seems like the benefits of processing them are too small.  Checked out the ruleset and did some math, and you statistically get under 2,000 credits in the 400 workshop time.

When you check out the equivalent gains for x-grog in that time (~8000), you essentially gain -6000 by processing them.  In other words, the huge fee for selling each rock (5k each) is cheaper than processing them.

Since you eventually will end up selling them months later, it's kinda like starting the game off with -850,000 funds.  Yikes.

I'm assuming they were mainly added to stop you from selling your armored vaults in january, so I'd have hoped they would add some value rather than just be a pain in the butt.  Lowering the rock production from 775 to 100 (so 100 {}, 50 ore, 35 corpses, 10 silver, 10 gold, 1 of each gem) would at least put it in line with x-grog production.  That would yield on average ~4 gems, so this makes it a very random treasure chest with an extremely long processing time.  So they're still an annoyance, but at least you get some shinies out of it rather than just paying some dudes to ship them out of your base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: magitsu on August 09, 2020, 01:43:52 pm
I'd have hoped they would add some value rather than just be a pain in the butt.
Perhaps it's better to just adjust your expectations. In a mod which campaign takes several hundred hours this kind of thing is likely just that, for early game pacing/lore purposes. Overall they start from literal scrapheap and iron age tech.
"X-grog profitable" is an arbitrary level, other early things are very likely not meant to be as worthwhile as it. That's an useful item, wheras I'm not seeing why Xpiratez should strive to become a profitable quarry business.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Greep on August 10, 2020, 12:50:43 am
Well, main thing I was pointing out was when it comes time to clear up space, it's more viable to take the -5k hit and ship them out then it is to crush them.  Seems like a waste of a randomized manufacturing process.  Not a huge concern to me either way, just pointing out some math nerd crap.  I do think it'd be nice if they were also useful like "piles of junk" but if not, whatever xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Jinderius on August 10, 2020, 02:00:47 pm
Why not just add a small chance for gems?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 10, 2020, 04:54:34 pm
But they have a chance to yield gems already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Yglorba on August 11, 2020, 06:49:12 am
Maybe just increase it to the point where it's no longer cheaper to just sell them.

(Or, alternatively, make their negative sell price more extreme - either way.  The point is that since it takes a little effort, research, setup and workshop space to break them apart, doing so should have at least some advantage over selling them / paying to have them removed; and I'm not sure "get gems whose value is far less than what you'd get by doing anything else with your time" qualifies, especially since at that point in the game you have no use for specific gems and won't for a looooong time.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: magitsu on August 11, 2020, 07:43:28 pm
In my current game processing the rocks was slightly useful, because I managed to turn all initial Rares into sailor suits and the research bottlenecked for a bit due to me not finding any from loot. I just sell them usually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L2 - 21 May - Blood And Skulls
Post by: Greep on August 14, 2020, 04:17:10 am
It seems especially annoying on jack/davy with the earthquakes.  Each quake basically costs over 500k in damage through shoving a bunch of big rocks in your base.  I found an amusing exploit to this, though:  Just make an undefended "rock base"  that you ship big rocks to once you start accumulating thousands of them (only costs 70 credits to ship to another base).  If the enemy takes it, they just get a bunch of big rocks lmao.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Dioxine on August 23, 2020, 10:45:21 pm
New version up, finally. Enjoy, you basement neets, you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: RolandVasko on August 25, 2020, 11:50:01 am
yay! 

yap, "socky" ( = ~~neets  ;D :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: xcomfan on August 25, 2020, 12:00:37 pm
Another shot at glory! Small note: instead of havin' that o'harty's gun, might it be renamed "kustom rifle" to parin with kustum blunderbuss) and the description may say that gals are fascinated by long projectiles of some sort...always hoping for some motre metal tracks...see you in next version!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Iazo on August 25, 2020, 12:58:48 pm
But Oharty's gun is not a rifle. Even carbine is stretching it. It's a pistol(?). A pistol-carbine hybrid?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: xcomfan on August 25, 2020, 02:37:15 pm
But Oharty's gun is not a rifle. Even carbine is stretching it. It's a pistol(?). A pistol-carbine hybrid?

yes  but in game's logic it's supposed to be (generically) an handgun, but i was arguin on the name, not on the classification. Another possible solution might ve "kustom handgun" or "kustom lil'gun" 8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Iazo on August 25, 2020, 02:42:05 pm
There's already a Kustom handcannon.

Really, what is wrong with the current name?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: xcomfan on August 25, 2020, 04:29:44 pm
There's already a Kustom handcannon.

Really, what is wrong with the current name?

Just suggestions  ::)
While we are here eurosindycate smg might be supposed to be taken into infiltration mission because it's lighter and smaller than the painbringer, which shoul not be  allowed as it is now, in version L3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on August 25, 2020, 08:02:38 pm
With all the items/conditions in the game some are just going to be weird.

"Ah, I see you are dressed as batman.  There's nothing suspicious with that.  Carry on."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Dioxine on August 26, 2020, 10:00:28 am
Just suggestions  ::)
While we are here eurosindycate smg might be supposed to be taken into infiltration mission because it's lighter and smaller than the painbringer, which shoul not be  allowed as it is now, in version L3

ES SMG is marginally lighter, but definitely larger. Also the weight of painbringer is increased in-game terms to represent its recoil as one-handed weapon... Okay this is probably way too complex for you already. What am saying, comment what you want, just don't give BS information to people.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: xcomfan on August 30, 2020, 01:11:02 pm
ES SMG is marginally lighter, but definitely larger. Also the weight of painbringer is increased in-game terms to represent its recoil as one-handed weapon... Okay this is probably way too complex for you already. What am saying, comment what you want, just don't give BS information to people.

OK...sorry if i dared, just figuring by myself :)

some other food for thought: to get advanced firearms we need industrial tools and to the latter is needed longbow which in turn requires spider silk, but it's really necessary that longbow is a prequisite for industrial stuff? May it be replaced to a more related item? Just saying

Spider silk is gettable also from cave hunting and buthcering gigant spider (am i right?), but there is no mention in the research tree
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Ashghan on August 30, 2020, 03:35:15 pm
Manufucturing outputs are never listed in research sources. Ie. you can get the research Spider Silk from the item of the same name (no list of it's sources) or from other research (interrogations in this case).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 02, 2020, 04:12:05 am
I understand there were some morale changes in L3, started a new game and they seem a bit too strict.  I went to a whorehouse and slaughtered everyone within 7 turns, since I spawned right next to the house.  Usually in that situation once the highwaymen go down, that's it.  But amazingly, all 4 of the hoes left on the map were unpanicked and had pistols.  I killed some of them just to see if it would cause the others to surrender, and nope.  Making it harder to cause a surrender is cool, but I mean, I didn't even get any panics at all it seemed.

Also did a crackhouse, killed everyone, last guy standing was a b-boy, all of the final 3 were unpanicked.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2020, 05:03:36 am
From the mouth of Dioxine over on the discord:

major bug regarding enemy morale recovery in L3
try substituting in Piratez_Armors.rul the current formula with:
      morale: &SECTION_MORALE_RECOVERY_NORMAL
        flatHundred: -0.1
        manaNormalized: 13.0
        moraleCurrent: -0.07
        bravery: 0.08
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 02, 2020, 05:04:13 am
Ah, yeah something did feel off.  Gotcha

Edit:  Yeah back to normal.  Another kill run had a pretty regular panic level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2020, 05:12:29 am
yeah makes a big diffrence when you misplace a decimal point in the base regen formula. 80% vs 8%
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: amjh on September 03, 2020, 10:52:33 am
Did the OXCE update change damage RNG? I seem to get a lot more extreme values, either high or low. Weak armor blocks strong attacks more often, and weak guns get through strong armor more often.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Meridian on September 03, 2020, 11:59:47 am
Did the OXCE update change damage RNG?

no
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 06, 2020, 09:01:10 am
Tried out the combat bow stun arrows for a while, I think they're a bit too weak, wondering what other people think.  It feels like by the time you get gals good enough to use them, the few things they can actually inflict stun on (anything heavier than a highwayman is impossible), you'll have easier means (for civvies: chain mail + whips/shield or stun grenades, for monsters grav + lasso).  Even with experienced gals, they're kinda meh:  I had 3 gals in their 70s throwing fail to stun a giant spider with 6 stun arrows.

I guess if you start the game right from the start using hunting arrows they'd have a short period of usefulness, but I haven't really found hunting bow to be really effective until you get poison arrows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Dioxine on September 06, 2020, 02:12:45 pm
Dude, are you seriously comparing combat bow stun arrows with stun grenades? (I will not even comment on chain mail or lasso, since obvious irrelevance to the topic). In game terms, it's like saying "Buff PTRD rifle, Javelin ATGM does the job better!" Get a grip on reality.

Also using a really lousy case of RNG as an example (bow damage is always very RNG) is kinda manipulative.

In a way of saying thanks for this... stupidest comment of the month, I'm buffing daze resistance on the Spiders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 06, 2020, 02:28:52 pm
Feeling alright?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Dioxine on September 06, 2020, 06:22:45 pm
Feeling alright?

Dioxine is always fine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: xcomfan on September 06, 2020, 06:38:40 pm
Hey, as of L3 acqua plstic seems to be usin a bootypedia entry from the original vanilla TFTD, maybe in next version gonna be made another one more in tune with the mod?

Edit: in very late versions seems that the "help the lock'naar" mission features only the reaper cavalry as enemy, do not ninja gals appear anymore?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: khade on September 07, 2020, 09:26:33 am
That phrasing doesn't look like Vanilla, though I'd have to look for the original description of aqua plastic to be sure.

Edit

This might not show up well but:

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: ZoA on September 07, 2020, 06:53:10 pm
Edit: in very late versions seems that the "help the lock'naar" mission features only the reaper cavalry as enemy, do not ninja gals appear anymore?

I had a ninja girls in "help the lock'naar" mission after I upgraded to L3, so they still show up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: ZoA on September 07, 2020, 07:15:44 pm
Tried out the combat bow stun arrows for a while, I think they're a bit too weak, wondering what other people think.  It feels like by the time you get gals good enough to use them, the few things they can actually inflict stun on (anything heavier than a highwayman is impossible), you'll have easier means (for civvies: chain mail + whips/shield or stun grenades, for monsters grav + lasso).  Even with experienced gals, they're kinda meh:  I had 3 gals in their 70s throwing fail to stun a giant spider with 6 stun arrows.

I guess if you start the game right from the start using hunting arrows they'd have a short period of usefulness, but I haven't really found hunting bow to be really effective until you get poison arrows.

I use stun arrows quite extensively to hunt prisoners as it is by far the longest ranged stun weapon available in early game. That said it is fairly unreliable, especially against armored opponents, but i think this is deliberate design choice as capturing living enemies should be harder then just killing them because capturing them alive brings more or better manufacturing options and more often the not generates more infamy, not to mention it is required to progress in tech. 

Giant spider specifically have daze damage reduction to 80% and 9 amour,  and that will make them harder to capture  with stun arrows then your average early game human opponent that has armor of 5 and takes 100% daze damage.

https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_GIANTSPIDER_TERRORIST

Quote
Dioxine is always fine.

I thought you were sick from dioxine poisoning  ;D

I'll let myself out....

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 07, 2020, 10:19:03 pm
Yeah I just realized that about the spiders haha, but was more just a random example, they weren't that great all around early on against 5 armored civvies.  Usually I'd just give up having my 2-3 veteran throwers spend all their TUs and energy try and stun them and send my newbies to poison arrow them in 1-2 shots and hope for the best.

I have noticed they are getting useful when you get really high throwing, like 90 or so, especially due to the range like you mentioned.  Was curious to see if anyone made any early game use of it since at this point I can just enslave unarmoreds pretty easily by just wearing heavy armor and punching them in the face if I feel like and the oddball situations where there's a dangerous light armored enemy I just pile some stun grenades.  Because the way I play, I tend not to get multiple gals with 70-80 throwing until like June or so, it just doesn't seem like an easy skill to level on newbies.  Maybe I should try flame arrows, but sounds like a pain accidentally setting the whole map on fire.

Taking a closer look at the stun arrows and one of dioxine's comments, I wonder if the 50-150% roll is a mistake, since he seemed to imply from the "being manipulative" comment that it was a 0-200% roll like regular arrows, and it isn't.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: khade on September 08, 2020, 12:31:35 am
I seem to remember that long range early stun tactics include heavy use of whatever the stun ammo for shotguns is, and it's still lots of shots since ranged stuns aren't effective at that point.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Rince Wind on September 08, 2020, 01:42:04 pm
Flame arrows are amazing as a tactical device in night missions. If you know where the enemies are but can't see them just drop a flame arrow to have a small light source that usually shuts off by itself, thus not not giving the opponents an advantage when you advance through that area.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: legionof1 on September 09, 2020, 02:37:45 pm
Yeah flame arrows are the ideal light tool, medium area of effect, and the fires die out rapidly on most maps allowing you to advance in safety. Also much less chance of failure. You haven't seen frustration until you have 7 flares break in a row.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Apocca on September 10, 2020, 06:02:56 pm
Started with this mod after finishing TWoTS and I have to say: Dioxine this mod is AMAZING!

I love the challenge of a long game (I read 400+ hours somewhere), the numerous research topics and the very diverse missions. From bounty hunting, to cleaning out rats of someone cellar :D
Every time I see a new faction / enemy I'm excited. I see research topics about underwater sea missions, going undercover to infiltrate some factions and some talk about even space missions! I even managed to get a research topic about Micronoids (those aliens from XCOM Apocalypse. Are we even going to other dimensions?  :o )

Everything is still new to me, but I'm having a blast  ;D

I also love the fact that you can use weapons if you haven't researched them yet.

I'm eager to find out the plot of this game!

Some missions I don't get even after reading the briefing, but I make the most of it. (Had to stop some human mage from reaching his ship? Ending up stunning him and killing all other enemies on the map. Nothing happened so I went to the exit-tiles that were in a tower and I could 'escape' with the loot that I brought with me)

I also like that some enemies are there that are still out of your league. (Ships that shoot you out of the sky in a few hits. Osiron enemies with heavy armor. Though I was able to kill some with grenades, primitive guns didn't hurt them obviously  ;D)

I see you've been working on this mod since 2015 if I'm correct? Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Rince Wind on September 10, 2020, 10:18:42 pm
Try melee, it works very well against foes like osiron.
And in the mission with the mage you have to punch a hole into the ship on the tower, so bring some high explosives, a hammer or a pickaxe etc. Flying armor really helps, otherwise it's a long way to the top.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: stax77 on September 11, 2020, 08:46:47 pm
nvm
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
Post by: Greep on September 14, 2020, 01:40:31 am
So I tried mint->gambling, and the money is nice, but feels like the cost on jack tokens on coupons are pretty light

At the casino I blew 1100 jack tokens on tritanium coupons and got:

-3900 jack tokens worth of gems (almost 2 of each)
-a baby nuke
-2 arcane tomes
-9 hypno panels
-70 glamour
-2 statis pod (gal)s
-A bunch of prize-level autocannons
-a bunch of hellerium grenades, stasis grenades, sonic pulsers, and proxy grenades
-All the adv lasgun clips and deconstructable laser weapons I'll ever need
-3 space suits
-6 golden ankhs (300 wiz tokens)


But more importantly, I can sell the stuff I don't want to buy a few hundred jack tokens back and get even more nukes/panels/gems/tokens/etc.  Or just buy jack tokens outright.

Anyways, balance after you get a casino is probably not a big concern, just pointing this out.  Maybe nobody thought to try using tokens on the weaker one  ;D

Edit: btw, is there any chance we can have wrestling for the party dress?  Just did a gal party with 28 bogeymen, and it was pretty annoying.  I was basically knocking out the same 27 bogeymen over and over before finding the final one because all my gals were going insane.  Unless I'm mistaken, the only thing to keep guys down is a single pool cue (quarterstaff).  Bogeymen have daze:30 apparently so they basically get back up almost instantly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on September 15, 2020, 10:30:58 pm
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: LuigiWhatif on September 16, 2020, 06:17:22 am
Just did a gal party with 28 bogeymen, and it was pretty annoying.

I've had two parties spawn zombies.  I assumed
ninja gals
was the standard and I just got zombie chanced, but now I wonder how many variants there are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 16, 2020, 09:37:14 am
Probably year based.  First one was just drifters for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on September 16, 2020, 05:27:04 pm
Probably year based.  First one was just drifters for me.

To some degree. There is small chance for bogeymen or zombies from year 2 onwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: LuigiWhatif on September 17, 2020, 03:54:49 am
What would the strategy be for a zombie party?  I don't remember seeing any blades in the club.  Is there an obscure melee weapon that I can bring into the mission?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 21, 2020, 11:34:55 am
@luigi pretty sure impossible heh. 


Also, trying the melee reactions in L4:  Seems like this will basically make melee fests (party/prison/vats) impossible:  Biggest problem is enemies will flip around so you can't really attack the back, although I guess you can kind of manage if you have two people gals in every melee encounter (not really plausible in somethng like gal party though).  Also RIP chainsawing zombies, and feels easier to just shotgun most of the early game academy nurses at this point.  Or at the very least just whip them instead for the reaction disrupt

It's a nice idea but I don't think it works in practice.  Maybe if striking the back doesn't cause a reaction?  Although that's pretty much all most people do anyways.  I mostly shotgun, grenade, throwing axe, and heavy weapons everyone anyways, so it doesn't affect me much outside these areas, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: magitsu on September 21, 2020, 08:33:13 pm
Agreed, balance is a bit delicate. Melee heavy missions might have too many enemies for this melee reaction version.
It's no problem that certain enemies really hurt from the front. Like you couldn't expect not to get hit when meleeing a blood hound with TUs. But the turning around bit for some is the question.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 23, 2020, 12:30:40 pm
The new melee mode is more funny, but certainly needs more fine tuning, yes it might make impossible some missions  :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: jungybrogan on September 23, 2020, 05:13:32 pm
@luigi pretty sure impossible heh. 


Also, trying the melee reactions in L4:  Seems like this will basically make melee fests (party/prison/vats) impossible:  Biggest problem is enemies will flip around so you can't really attack the back, although I guess you can kind of manage if you have two people gals in every melee encounter (not really plausible in somethng like gal party though).  Also RIP chainsawing zombies, and feels easier to just shotgun most of the early game academy nurses at this point.  Or at the very least just whip them instead for the reaction disrupt

It's a nice idea but I don't think it works in practice.  Maybe if striking the back doesn't cause a reaction?  Although that's pretty much all most people do anyways.  I mostly shotgun, grenade, throwing axe, and heavy weapons everyone anyways, so it doesn't affect me much outside these areas, though.

Agreed.  I like the new melee reactions, but the turning around part trivializes facing and makes combat feel less fun/tactical.  Never liked it for bullets and explosive, but now it applies to melee as well.  Risk/reward just feels really off when you sneak behind units, set up ambush to get close, then they just turn around when you hit them.  It makes the game more about high stats vs stats, and equipment tiers, rather than tactics.

I love X-com's combat, but if there were one thing I'd change, it'd be to add a toggle: Hits from behind don't trigger reactions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on September 23, 2020, 08:28:49 pm
You can control your TU and type of weapon, so don't say tactics is not important with melee now. I'd say it's more important than ever; no more dumb "run from the front of someone, brush with him, position yourself behind and unload 50 attacks without any risk". Stats of course, matter a lot; else there wouldn't be any, lol.

But I expected fierce resistance to this change, so well, I'm not surprised there is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 23, 2020, 11:39:45 pm
Well, I think it's more that specific scenarios got considerably harder.  For instance, in x-prison you get 5-6 gals and shivs, there's only so much you can do with it, and the 20 back armor vs 28/32 side/front matters a lot in that oddball case.  I guess you'll have to make a lot more use out of those high explosives in the basement heh.

In regular missions, it has gotten me to try out some stuff like savage armor and dog barks to help gang on a target.  With savage, though, the triple freshness reduction is a bit menacing in early game (gal is a vegetable in a matter of turns, so building heavy maps you're kinda stuck being a chain smoker and seeing sickbay a lot or retreating that gal midfight).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: ZoA on September 23, 2020, 11:49:07 pm
I for one like the new melee reactions, not for the balance reason but for verisimilitude. It was kinda odd in old system defender would just stand there taking the beating and do nothing even when he had TU unspent.

That said balance wise it is a nerf for aggressive melee tactics, especially against other strong melee opponents that now can hit back quite effectively if they don't fall to first attack. It for sure makes the game more dangerous for those that prefer melee combat, but i guess that is the pint of the change.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: jungybrogan on September 24, 2020, 03:50:44 am
You can control your TU and type of weapon, so don't say tactics is not important with melee now. I'd say it's more important than ever; no more dumb "run from the front of someone, brush with him, position yourself behind and unload 50 attacks without any risk". Stats of course, matter a lot; else there wouldn't be any, lol.

But I expected fierce resistance to this change, so well, I'm not surprised there is.

You already fixed the "run from the front of someone, brush with him part", since melee reacts to all frontal quadrants now.  That change is awesome, since CQB is a lot cooler when units guard areas with melee now. 

I didn't say there was no tactics, just that units reacting to back-hits places much more emphasis on stats and equipment tiers, than facing/positioning.  With melee, you're already trading in TU and greatly increased risk to get behind, vs the safety of shooting from a distance and moving in/out of cover.  So chain-sawing someone from behind felt fun and fair. 

Never saw an issue with unloading TU on someone's back, because that's what would happen logically, IRL or fantasy.  IE:  An uber mutant choke holds someone from behind, while shanking their liver 50x, or braining someone in the back of the head and not stopping until it's pulp.  You could play out the fantasy of a naked berserker/silent ninja, using only their animal cunning, savagery, and something grabbed off the floor, to efficiently take-down targets with magic/alien tech who instagib gals when they so much as look at them.

By the same token, your own characters not reacting to back hits, makes the player want to cover their backs, not be over-aggressive, and make sure they never get hit from behind.

For the player, this made facing even less important.  Now you can more freely/carelessly place armored up units without caring which way they face.

Quote
Like you couldn't expect not to get hit when meleeing a blood hound with TUs. But the turning around bit for some is the question.

Always saw this as an accurate representation of:  uber mounts monster from behind.  Same reason why hitting someone in the back is illegal in the UFC, or why giving up your back is the worst possible outcome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on September 24, 2020, 03:48:45 pm
Well, the monstrosity, or lack of it, is decided by the stats. Your statement that shanking someone 50x in the back is realistic kinda falls flat due to the fact that if you use proper weapon, you kill target with 1-2 hits. 50x shanking was for bringing down far stronger opponents than yourself by the technique of 1000 cuts. Now you can still use it, but either you need to be smart about it (have backup plan), or at least have a single unit that will tank the retaliation.

Re: facing is not important. It still is, axe to the back that would kill you, if applied to the front, would only wound you or even miss altogether due to higher evasion.

Re: firearms rule. Sure, exploding the whole map and camping like crazy is always the safest tactics, but I cannot be preoccupied too much by players who use only the saftest tactics; far too much dev time was already put into making their ways a bit more punishing.

From experience so far, differences are minor; only obviously stupid melee moves get penalized, like attacking a strong melee unit from behind with a weak weapon, untrained gal and with no TU to spare nor strong armor. Usually enemy retal is still ineffective and can be even used against them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: amjh on September 25, 2020, 10:13:43 am
Would it be possible/reasonable to give melee reactions a penalty when attacked from behind?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Apocca on September 25, 2020, 11:44:13 am
It already is for Bugeyes ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Delian on September 25, 2020, 12:45:26 pm
Is it just me, or does bootypedia in L4 not work anymore?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 25, 2020, 12:51:55 pm
Yeah offline doesn't work for me either.  This still works, though, and is L4 https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 25, 2020, 04:19:41 pm
Yeah offline doesn't work for me either.  This still works, though, and is L4 https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US

I updated from L3, and everything is fine, try to reinstall from a fresh download?

Hey, in L4 the plastasteel munition for smartpistol deliver the same damage the same of the regular ones (see screenshot)? I'd humbly suggest to increase its damage to 28 - same as the niner magnum ones - while the latter might only manufacturables, other than buayble at the market, for a better balancing :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Ashghan on September 25, 2020, 04:53:51 pm
Have you looked at the ANAL and noticed the differences? If not, then do so.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 25, 2020, 04:55:48 pm
Have you looked at the ANAL and noticed the differences? If not, then do so.

No...ok but plastasteel should be much thougher than "regular" piercin magnum rounds, well whatever :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Ashghan on September 25, 2020, 06:19:53 pm
As far as regular real-life firearms are concerned, the material of the bullet affects penetration and fragmentation (here: armor penetration and 'health damage'), while the impact power (damage) is a property of the cartridge itself, for the most part. So a .44 magnum revolver round will (in almost all cases) have more raw 'damage' (due to high kinetic energy), even though it's made of soft lead, while a 5.7mm (a modern armor piercing pistol round) will rip through armor, but leave comparatively smaller wounds. I don't want to turn this topics into a lecture on firearm mechanics so if you want more detail you can read up on the internet or drop me a PM.

TL;DR - yes, it works the way it's supposed to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 27, 2020, 12:19:48 am
As far as regular real-life firearms are concerned, the material of the bullet affects penetration and fragmentation (here: armor penetration and 'health damage'), while the impact power (damage) is a property of the cartridge itself, for the most part. So a .44 magnum revolver round will (in almost all cases) have more raw 'damage' (due to high kinetic energy), even though it's made of soft lead, while a 5.7mm (a modern armor piercing pistol round) will rip through armor, but leave comparatively smaller wounds. I don't want to turn this topics into a lecture on firearm mechanics so if you want more detail you can read up on the internet or drop me a PM.

TL;DR - yes, it works the way it's supposed to.

Thanks for the explanation but at first i that thought it made worthless havin gals equipped with smartpistol, so better use confederate eagle or supet magnums, did not see any benefits
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 27, 2020, 03:46:36 am
I wouldn't worry about weapon balance after back to school, there's like a million weapons.  If you want something light to kill mostly unarmored dudes, shiny niner and blackmarch smg e-pulse kinda replaces all of the pistols/smgs/shotguns once you reach back to school (throwing knives/ninja stars are pretty good too).  If it's armored, a pistol is probably not the tool you want to use at that point in the game (except maybe tazogun :D).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Ashghan on September 27, 2020, 11:16:10 am
*cough*Kustom Handcannon*cough*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Greep on September 27, 2020, 12:00:44 pm
Oh interesting, didn't realize the kustom version lost the soft bullets.  Quite a thumper :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 27, 2020, 06:28:07 pm
A bit of a suggestion: as of L4 findin the riot shield is quite aleatory, like the wrench for the workshop used to be in past version, since it's very random getting it unless player is lucky with megapol interception; i'd advice to remove the goddamned shield from the requirements for the "industrial tools" topic, or at least replace with something more common but still related...a screwdriver...for instance?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Ashghan on September 27, 2020, 06:52:41 pm
Quote
something more common
Have you ever seen a screwdriver in-game?
IMO the access to riot shields is fine - Megapol flyovers are pretty common, so the shields are mostly guaranteed, just don't expect to get them on the first try. Sa as with any other tech. If you're that impatient, then perhaps you can mod the game to start with all the research critical items in storage.

Only thing that is a bit illogical with the shields is that they're not a tool but a product. It's like learning smithing by examining a sword - sure, you'll know what's possible, but it doesn't really tell you much about the process itself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 27, 2020, 07:02:01 pm
Have you ever seen a screwdriver in-game?
IMO the access to riot shields is fine - Megapol flyovers are pretty common, so the shields are mostly guaranteed, just don't expect to get them on the first try. Sa as with any other tech. If you're that impatient, then perhaps you can mod the game to start with all the research critical items in storage.
Well i giess im unlucky then because on 5/6 runs only on a couple i got these  :'( And a screwdriver might always be an addiction needed...;)

Only thing that is a bit illogical with the shields is that they're not a tool but a product. It's like learning smithing by examining a sword - sure, you'll know what's possible, but it doesn't really tell you much about the process itself.

Actually yes, maybe in next version something will change? Unless Dioxine gonna be inspired..:(

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on September 30, 2020, 12:24:10 am
A bit of a suggestion: as of L4 findin the riot shield is quite aleatory

Untrue, they're rather common.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: DaEMon on September 30, 2020, 07:41:18 am
Hi everyone,
I just read that the new L4 version features "Battle Tank manufacturing time x2". I humbly disagree with this because Battle tanks production is your main late game source of income and you need a lot of money to produce the conqueror ship. The darn ship requires 250 hellerium capsules (who costs 3.1M a piece if you buy them, for a grand total of 775M!) or they require 12500 units of hellerium to manufacture. Buying that amount of hellerium costs 250M plus you still need to invest 1.250.000 hours of production to manufacture them.
In my experience (I already finished one campaign in the past and I'm about to finish the second one) the last months of the game you are just building tanks to produce enough money to build/buy the capsules for the ship. Nerfing the battle tank production will only make this process unnecessary longer. I would suggest to keep unchanged battle tank manufacturing time and maybe put it later on the tech tree. 

Thanks Dioxine for this amazing mod. I had thousands of hours fun playing it. I'm just trying to add my two cents here
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Delian on September 30, 2020, 09:14:32 am
I like how challenging the melee update is, but I feel it makes it a bit too easy for enemies to retaliate (especially on Jack Sparrow difficulty, with enemies getting insane reactions boost). I think it would be a good idea to balance it, for instance, by making more (if not all) melee weapons interrupt reactions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on September 30, 2020, 12:02:03 pm
I like how challenging the melee update is, but I feel it makes it a bit too easy for enemies to retaliate (especially on Jack Sparrow difficulty, with enemies getting insane reactions boost). I think it would be a good idea to balance it, for instance, by making more (if not all) melee weapons interrupt reactions.
Agree on that, moreover the "!Socializing!" topic male useless capturing and interrogatin enemies, i think it's a "bonus" to reduce difficulty, but i still think it might also be deferred, pheraps in next versions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: legionof1 on September 30, 2020, 01:52:35 pm
Socializing doesn't wholesale replace captures.  Its function to give you topics about captives you might miss due to RNG. You still need captures to share there get one free pool. With out those topics your gonna be blocked from game progression within a few months in several branches.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: tarkalak on September 30, 2020, 04:14:25 pm
I like how challenging the melee update is, but I feel it makes it a bit too easy for enemies to retaliate (especially on Jack Sparrow difficulty, with enemies getting insane reactions boost). I think it would be a good idea to balance it, for instance, by making more (if not all) melee weapons interrupt reactions.

Or have melee weapons do damage to TUs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on October 02, 2020, 01:32:34 pm
Some observation, why megapol cannot have their own issued weapons? for instance there is a space ranger pistol & rifle which are not used by space rangers since they do not exist - or gonna be implemented don't know - but i think it's very strange that a well enstablished and founded police corp uses rusty niners...ant least the rangers one might be rebranded as megapol pistol and so on...since RCF has a dedicated carabine...

They later carry also plasma weapons, but again these are a bit too excessive for them, how to replace with laser ones? the plasma should be an exclusive or mercenaries and star gods, while gauss might be a bit more common, though in the mid-higher factions, like mercenaries and marsec, though in xcom apocalypse the latter had theri weapons too, so some dedicated firearm may be a nice contribute

By now boom gun is the only megapol exclusive, just saying... :)

Edit: Bootypedia still need a bit of rearrangment, for instance lighter is listed among explosives instead of utility equipment. Also accordin to what Greep writes (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5345.msg132443.html#msg132443) the [ i ] tag should be backed up by a [ b ] mark (buyable)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on October 02, 2020, 04:48:47 pm
I like how challenging the melee update is, but I feel it makes it a bit too easy for enemies to retaliate (especially on Jack Sparrow difficulty, with enemies getting insane reactions boost).

Jack Sparrow is not meant to be balanced in any way.

Agree on that, moreover the "!Socializing!" topic male useless capturing and interrogatin enemies, i think it's a "bonus" to reduce difficulty, but i still think it might also be deferred, pheraps in next versions?

Look into what topics can be actually gotten from Socializing and rethink your statement.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Ashghan on October 04, 2020, 11:43:18 am
Some observation, why megapol cannot have their own issued weapons? for instance there is a space ranger pistol & rifle which are not used by space rangers since they do not exist - or gonna be implemented don't know - but i think it's very strange that a well enstablished and founded police corp uses rusty niners...ant least the rangers one might be rebranded as megapol pistol and so on...since RCF has a dedicated carabine...
1. Megapol from XPiratez and Megapol from XApoc are two (vastly) different organizations. Same with Marsec. Please stop mixing the games.
2. They are a police force. Period. They're reluctantly sponsored by the Govts, but I assume the sponsors are not really interested in having a strong police force outside their control. So they get shitty equipment. The 'plasma upgrade' is most likely funded from outside (big factions) or forced on the Govts by Star Gods - to "handle these pesky pirates wannabes once and for all".
3. Space Rangers are a membership organization, not a faction per se. It's mentioned in the Bootypedia that some (most?) high ranking members of other factions are also members of the Rangers. They're an evil mix between a gentleman's club and volunteer militia. They sure as hell can afford their own line of weaponry. And they are probably not going to share it with a bunch of dirty beastmen that call themselves the police.

Quote
They later carry also plasma weapons, but again these are a bit too excessive for them, how to replace with laser ones? the plasma should be an exclusive or mercenaries and star gods, while gauss might be a bit more common, though in the mid-higher factions, like mercenaries and marsec, though in xcom apocalypse the latter had theri weapons too, so some dedicated firearm may be a nice contribute
1. Plasmas -> see point 2 above.
2. Marsec does have their own weapons. Just because you haven't met them, doesn't mean they're not there. For the n-th time - play the mod more, before making suggestions.

Lastly - asking for total conversions (like the swapping of weapon types - which would require re-balancing the entire mod) or changes that are of a 'I don't like it' category is a nice way to get permanently ignored, at best. If there is so much that is wrong with Xpiratez that you have to complain about it on and on and on, then perhaps this is not the mod for you. You can either choose some other mod or modify XPiratez on your own - it's open source and easy (technically speaking) to do so. Dioxine is open to suggestions on how to improve the mod on a objective level - not to adjust it to everyone's liking.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on October 04, 2020, 01:49:04 pm
Lastly - asking for total conversions (like the swapping of weapon types - which would require re-balancing the entire mod) or changes that are of a 'I don't like it' category is a nice way to get permanently ignored, at best. If there is so much that is wrong with Xpiratez that you have to complain about it on and on and on, then perhaps this is not the mod for you. You can either choose some other mod or modify XPiratez on your own - it's open source and easy (technically speaking) to do so. Dioxine is open to suggestions on how to improve the mod on a objective level - not to adjust it to everyone's liking.

Dear Ashghan, actually i did not write i"i don't like this" etc, just making some food for thought neither complaining not ordering obviously i cannot even conceive to force someone to do something! At least i'd propose to reconsider  these niner  - since are second hand brigand stuff - and eventually being replaced by manstoppers or even better assault pistols.  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: LexThorn on October 11, 2020, 09:48:08 am
Dear Ashghan, actually i did not write i"i don't like this" etc, just making some food for thought neither complaining not ordering obviously i cannot even conceive to force someone to do something! At least i'd propose to reconsider  these niner  - since are second hand brigand stuff - and eventually being replaced by manstoppers or even better assault pistols.  :)

If you don`t like something - you free to mod it yourself. That`s it. No need to talk. Go end create something. If I need something - i mod it in my copy of the game. This is The Way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: RSSwizard on October 11, 2020, 10:47:23 pm
As far as regular real-life firearms are concerned, the material of the bullet affects penetration and fragmentation (here: armor penetration and 'health damage'), while the impact power (damage) is a property of the cartridge itself, for the most part. So a .44 magnum revolver round will (in almost all cases) have more raw 'damage' (due to high kinetic energy)

Im VERY GLAD x-piratez is still around. I haven't been here in awhile because my computer died, though due to boredom ill be rigging up android oxce just to have something to do.

About the Damage/Penetration question I think it overly complicates things, and since you have 2 factors already the adjustments to ToHealth effects would be the exception not the rule. I believe the fine tune adjustments (eg Fatal Wounds) are usually there to bypass the hardcoded mechanics, eg the way x-com does it.

You principally have Terminal Effects on targets and Armor Penetration to account for.
It all depends on what your focus is in a game. For example in DOOM its all anout Terminal Effects, how much hurt it puts on the enemy. But in that game Armor is a sidenote, so its understandable to do that. In that game a Shotgun is 7 times deadlier than a pistol. And none of the monsters or even the player has enough armor to no-sell even a single shotgun pellet.

"Power" can represent Armor Penetration foremost and let terminal effect be a biproduct of it. Or it can represent Terminal Effect and let Penetration be a biproduct of the harm it causes. It all depends, as a designer, on where your emphasis is.

In X-Com and X-Piratez the emphasis is pretty much on Armor Penetration but ive noticed some items may only have 1 or 2 ammo types and they still get an armor multiplier. I think it would be more convenient to just make it overall stick to one or the other as a priority, but the bootypedia DOES list the factors that are applied to it.

Yeah you can do that, its all up to style, but I think it overly complicates things. If you can make one factor do the work of two thats more preferable IMO.
My way would've been to focus on Terminal Effect/Harm for what the Power of the weapon represents, and then just apply armor penetration modifiers to everything. The one thing that is universal is being naked and bleeding, Armor comes and goes.

TLDR - I agree with the numbers.


RE:  Battle Tank Prices
I agree on the balancing, it doesn't make the game easier but X-Piratez isnt supposed to be easy, and you get hit with that flyswatter right from the start of the game. It's not X-Com and making money by manufacturing is a sweat shop activity. Its an option for making money but it shouldn't be the only option. You really do need to be encouraged to get out there and rob civvies/factions.


RE:  Megapol/Marsec/Factions
I definitely agree about the dog cops being given crap, but good armor. Still I DO think they should be given their own sort of weapons that have Biometric Locks so that they use standard ammunition... but you Cannot use their guns until you crack them with research. That would make more sense realistically and it works slightly against you as a player (these items could also have a particularly low sales value, at least non-cracked models, because they aren't useful on the black market). It would be an opportunity for Dioxine to give them retro-futuristic plasticy Blue+White looking guns too.

If I understand it correctly Megapol isnt supposed to be good for you, except for experience and reputation, because you're bad guys and they're the (regular) cops.


Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2020, 02:40:46 pm
They do have several weapons pretty much unique to them - mini-SMGs, scout rifles, batons and riot shields, and to a lesser degree, police revolvers and shotguns. And you want me to make MORE? Come on man. Have mercy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L4 15-Sep-2020 Mad Melee Massacre
Post by: xcomfan on October 30, 2020, 02:58:35 pm
They do have several weapons pretty much unique to them - mini-SMGs, scout rifles, batons and riot shields, and to a lesser degree, police revolvers and shotguns. And you want me to make MORE? Come on man. Have mercy.

The point - i think - it' not more but better  8)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: Dioxine on October 30, 2020, 08:02:11 pm
New version up. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: Jimboman on October 30, 2020, 10:05:23 pm
New version up. Enjoy.

How the heck do you DL from that site though?  I hit download, it does some weird shit and locks-up instead of asking me for a DL location.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: R1dO on October 30, 2020, 10:57:36 pm
From what i've seen (firefox on linux) it first downloads to some $TEMP location. When download is complete you can choose where to store the file.

If it locks up somewhere during that process one of the most likely causes is some AntiVirus interference.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: ZoA on October 30, 2020, 11:04:37 pm
"New version up. Enjoy."


Thinks dude!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: Jimboman on October 31, 2020, 02:55:09 am
From what i've seen (firefox on linux) it first downloads to some $TEMP location. When download is complete you can choose where to store the file.

If it locks up somewhere during that process one of the most likely causes is some AntiVirus interference.

Thanks.  I'll try it with my AV turned off and see how that goes.

Edit: That did it.  Thanks again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: xcomfan on October 31, 2020, 03:47:26 pm
An offer you can't refuse! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmX2VzsB25s)

Edit: In L5 noticed - correct ne if im wrong research tine fir low end technologies have been somewhat cut down, it has more coherence since we're driving super mutant human beings alike with intelligence above average!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: Dioxine on November 01, 2020, 03:17:09 am
An offer you can't refuse! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmX2VzsB25s)

Edit: In L5 noticed - correct ne if im wrong research tine fir low end technologies have been somewhat cut down

You are wrong, research costs are generally untouched except for some stuff regarding hellerium craft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
Post by: Delian on November 01, 2020, 10:53:45 am
If a unit is unconscious, does the handcuffs breakout check still happen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Dioxine on November 01, 2020, 05:34:19 pm
Bugfix/improvements update released.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Nilex on November 03, 2020, 03:55:41 am
Some fine additions in L5. Scale Mail shield came as an urgent band-aid for my current pistol wielding crews. New Temple is pretty luxurious looking. Too bad the wall ornaments n stuff ain't part of the loot. New research sorting categories are very welcome indeed. Will help with purging the list of accumulated low-cost topics.
All mentioned I stumbled upon as welcomed surprise as I didn't bother to read the changelog much, expecting no changes in my current early progress stage. So well done!

Btw few words about the music and sounds: top quality stuff. Personally, OG Starcraft was the last perfect sounding game. XPz awoken the long dormant audiophile. Music is fitting and joyful, and SFX finally portrays weapons that pack a punch. Not just weapons but mass enemy panic is hilarious. Having fun trying to remember where I heard all them sounds before. I just thought to mention this often overlooked but hugely important audio aspect in games.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Dioxine on November 03, 2020, 03:39:34 pm
Btw few words about the music and sounds: top quality stuff. Personally, OG Starcraft was the last perfect sounding game. XPz awoken the long dormant audiophile. Music is fitting and joyful, and SFX finally portrays weapons that pack a punch. Not just weapons but mass enemy panic is hilarious. Having fun trying to remember where I heard all them sounds before. I just thought to mention this often overlooked but hugely important audio aspect in games.

Thank you very much for that. It means a lot for me, since I have elephant's ear and not a clue how to sound a game properly, so I was kind of stumbling in the dark and hoping for the best. At least the guy who did remastering of tracks is very talented at doing that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 07, 2020, 10:34:31 pm
New Temple is pretty luxurious looking. Too bad the wall ornaments n stuff ain't part of the loot.
Btw few words about the music and sounds: top quality stuff. Personally, OG Starcraft was the last perfect sounding game. XPz awoken the long dormant audiophile.
Yep I actually listen to some of these tracks on loop in audio player along with some other game tracks.

About the decorations id say those things must be like those ultra cheep plastic decor you see at yard sales alot, with the gold-style paint that flakes off when it gets old enough revealing the brittle thin plastic under it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 07, 2020, 10:55:21 pm
Bugfix/improvements update released.
Download link invalid
Mega has a problem where it will download files but when it gets finished it says "download complete" but then doesn't present you with a Save File dialog and doesn't promptly place it in Downloads.
So it goes through all of that and downloads the data but then doesn't give you the file.

The Mega App doesn't seem to have that problem but it DEFINITELY does it on Browsers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: CPLT-K2 on November 08, 2020, 11:44:31 am
That's a problem on your end, RSS.
Check few posts/a page back (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg133462.html#msg133462) when Jimboman had same thing and issue was his overly aggressive AV.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Jimboman on November 08, 2020, 03:34:32 pm
That's a problem on your end, RSS.
Check few posts/a page back (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg133462.html#msg133462) when Jimboman had same thing and issue was his overly aggressive AV.

Yea, I have both Zonealarm and Spybot S&D loaded.  I turned them off for the duration of the DL and it worked ok (twice, as I also had to DL the hotfix version).  I turned them on again afterwards of course.

It's pleasing to know my computer is safe from viruses installing themselves though!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Dioxine on November 09, 2020, 07:32:46 pm
As far as I know if it says "download complete", it does complete download, but the file might get dumped somewhere in the temp... There's no more good upload sites after what Mediafire pulled off :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RolandVasko on November 09, 2020, 07:49:17 pm
^^ hey, Did you already try even ulozto.cz (http://www.ulozto.cz) ?

also eng.version: ulozto.net (https://ulozto.net/#_ga=2.76269077.1443348814.1604935269-1100900562.1602841491)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Nilex on November 09, 2020, 10:52:53 pm
I use MF and MEGA as main cloud backup sites so I was glad to see they were your two primary choices. Never really had to use alternatives but Google Drive (15GB) and M$ OneDrive (5GB) seem like a good free long-term options. You can even use MultCloud to 1-click sync content on all mentioned cloud services if you're into that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: nicedayright on November 11, 2020, 04:50:43 pm
Small bit of pedantry here, and I'm running behind on updates, so feel free to ignore if this has been addressed.

The autofire (x6) for the ol' revolver and six-shooter is labeled as slam fire, but this is inaccurate. Slamfire is a term which only applies to certain models of pump shotgun, which allow the trigger to be held down while you work the action, resulting in the gun firing instantly upon returning to battery. (Dont try this at home. Most new models will not allow this, and it's even dangerous for some of the cheaper ones.)

More correctly, the action should be called "fan fire" or "fan the hammer", which is the term for holding down the trigger of a single action revolver and manually working the cocking lever/hammer with the palm of the off hand.

Phone posted, so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 13, 2020, 10:37:16 pm
That's a problem on your end, RSS.
Check few posts/a page back (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg133462.html#msg133462) when Jimboman had same thing and issue was his overly aggressive AV.
No AV installed.
I use Samsung Internet Browser on mobile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Dioxine on November 14, 2020, 06:47:32 pm
People come up to me with all sorts of cool content lately, so there's a little proof I'm not sleeping myself either; a sneak peek on 4 of 8 new gal avatars whom I'm adding now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on November 16, 2020, 01:25:45 pm
I especially like the fourth one, the "punk/pirate" style suits gals well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Dioxine on November 24, 2020, 02:58:26 pm
The Skullstrider armor (gfx by Erylia Starheart) is added to the game, with sea and space versions; space version is a bit gimmicky, as you will find out. Available for both Lokk'Naars and Gnomes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on November 24, 2020, 10:15:07 pm
The Skullstrider armor (gfx by Erylia Starheart) is added to the game, with sea and space versions; space version is a bit gimmicky, as you will find out. Available for both Lokk'Naars and Gnomes.

Love the new Terrain graphics. They might not be so new but its different than I remember. Also im glad theres a Mana bar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on November 28, 2020, 05:02:26 pm
The blue "mana" bar is your freshness.
New mechanic. Determines how "exhausted" your crewmate is.

Empty "mana" bar means your character is so tired they can't even move/shoot anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on December 02, 2020, 08:52:37 pm
YAY I got Piratez to work on my mobile.
For me mostly it was a concern with disk space on the device rather than ram, but they are linked. A useful tip for others, you can trim some of the music files out and then modify the .rul files to remove specific mentions of them (hey I kept the ones I like the most, they are hard to choose from!).

The problem im running into is without a tech tree viewer on mobile I cant figure out what I need to research to Recruit the castaway gals I am piling up from red panterns and highwaymen. And they are taking up prison cell space... I really need to get those Gals to replace some of my existing Hands. Ive got one lady laid down for 77 Days because she took a poison gas grenade in a pogrom.

(As for Meridian if he wants to put a mobile tech tree icon the best place to put it would be in the Research window upper right corner. This is where he might draw the line, I dunno, but it is sorta essential for many mods, even TWoTS. Thats the only location where you really scratch your head, so it doesn't need to be anywhere else).

Also, whats the "Ghost" status icon for incapacitation? I kinda figured it means the unit is permanently stunned for the remainder of the battle but theres no explanation in the Bootypedia articles. Like super-stunned or something.



Only issue ive had so far (im on L4 version) is I had a Highwaymen/Rescue Gal map where I neutralized both of the Highwaymen... but the map didn't finish. I covered all the outside ground and the house, there was no 3rd unit. One of the highwaymen was knocked out but he didn't get back up. I had to manually loot the map over 5-7 turns to leave. It hasnt happened since though.



Overall im Very pleased with the touches that have been added to the game. Especially the Windows on the Airbus, the "Cold Icy Farm" terrain set, and the other illustration work. I got caught off guard with those Airbus windows twice (a Necropirate blasted a blunderbuss through it, and a Humanist lobbed a frag grenade into it). Also... changing the Interception icons for radar blips, I was very surprised when I saw my first Medium size ship on the radar... It was a true WTF moment especially because it was coming towards my base, it was just one of the two story civvie ships though.



Also for Dioxine I got some goodies here, these are Remastered Quake 1 Sounds. And I know there are remastered Doom sound effects out there, so you might want to consider updating the equivalents. These are 44khz mostly, and 22khz from what the readme says. The Doom remastered sound effects are in a .wad package and I think they are in 32khz format but converting them up to 44khz shouldn't be a prob, it can be found easily on google (the shotgun, ssg, explosion, pistol are all very much worth it).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rALHdyZx_OzAsSOmhKnMtoeBQErbZsNW/view
 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rALHdyZx_OzAsSOmhKnMtoeBQErbZsNW/view)
The higher quality nailgun and double shotgun from Q1 I know can benefit.

Might also suggest from the Quake 1 sfx using the rocket explosion to replace the stock Xcom 1 explosion. Its meaty but not a giant kaboom, and could be tweaked. And/or used as custom explosionHitSound for many of the grenades.

Its Always been disconcerting to me that Xcom 1 grenades just sorta go "pliff" and its like, what was that, but it does damage. It works fine for smoke grenades and kitchen stoves going off, but its barely a party popper for a real explosion.

Even the Big Explosion sfx could stand for a tuneup. My suggestion would be the "Artillery Cannon Impact" from the original Command & Conquer game (tiberian dawn). It is a loud punching blast similar to the TFTD big boom. But not a big whoosh like the baby nuke blast.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: legionof1 on December 02, 2020, 11:43:55 pm
snip
The problem im running into is without a tech tree viewer on mobile I cant figure out what I need to research to Recruit the castaway gals I am piling up from red panterns and highwaymen. And they are taking up prison cell space... I really need to get those Gals to replace some of my existing Hands. Ive got one lady laid down for 77 Days because she took a poison gas grenade in a pogrom.
snip
Also, whats the "Ghost" status icon for incapacitation? I kinda figured it means the unit is permanently stunned for the remainder of the battle but theres no explanation in the Bootypedia articles. Like super-stunned or something.
snip

If on mobile i would suggest the online pedia https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US).

The ghost icon indicates overstun status which causes minor health loss while stun is 3x or more current hp. A badly damaged enemy can be killed if left in the status unattended, but if its caused by more pure stun weapons like stun baton the target will usually recover on there own without much risk.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 03, 2020, 02:16:48 am
Frankly, the mod was not designed to rely on, or indeed even use, the Tech Tree Viewer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on December 03, 2020, 10:11:56 pm
Thanks guys, actually it was next on my research list (loot distribution) and I hit it shortly after I posed the question. I tend to do that alot in my life somehow.
Im glad theres an online viewer.
I think I saw overstun happen in TWoTS but the icon for it was a Snowflake. Overstun makes alot of sense, after all you can just slip into a coma - maybe theyre not technically dead but its like getting your leg blown off, you wont be fighting again and can be written off as dead.

Edit:
There's another Sound Effect I think might be good for the game
The DD44 Dostovi from 007 Goldeneye
Its a Heavy Pistol sorta gunshot that I think would work great for the Manstopper and possibly the Handcannon and desert eagle thingy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Jimboman on December 04, 2020, 01:18:34 am
its like getting your leg blown off, you wont be fighting again and can be written off as dead.

I don't think so, never heard of Douglas Bader?  Of course he was a pilot rather than a soldier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on December 04, 2020, 10:26:29 pm
I don't think so, never heard of Douglas Bader?  Of course he was a pilot rather than a soldier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader
Yeah but thats not ground combat role as a specops soldier. Even some bad tendon stuff can sign you out of being effective. Those 70 TUs become 35 and itll take 6 months to recover not 6 weeks.

Almost complained about my MagLite disappearing like it was some kinda bug - until I read the article about it and noticed the %fail chance had been added. Because power players like me will throw the damn thing all over the map like a football. Happened in a Rat Cellar and I was like, huh what was that, thought it was a map bug.  8)

Definitely got caught off guard a couple times about the HE Grenade being isExplodingInHands now, I shouldve been tipped off about the usual primer selection not coming up. And it takes a really surprising number of TUs to actually throw it (also hadnt realized till now that picking up any item costs like Twenty TUs compared to the original 8 ). Its no complaint at all, I just wasn't expecting any of that stuff to change.

It makes combat pretty slow now.
Its practically down to D&D full round actions and standard actions.
I deal alot in strategies that involve dropping things and reloading guns off the ground. And new york reloads with pistols stacked in the backpack (why reload a dinky pistol when you can just carry more of them - hey 6 Backpack Slots is 60 Holdout Pistol shots, NO reload cost).


I do have another question:
Now that Damage Flashes on targets are installed, pretty groovy, its sorta easy to figure out what they mean.
But what does it mean when the target flashes WHITE?
Presumably if it didn't damage them at all they'd not flash a color.
Also, im just assuming here, that dark/black means Stun Damage.

Also whats the difference between flashing red,abd flashing Solid Red?
I noticed some people taking health loss without flashing happening at all too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Nilex on December 04, 2020, 11:00:02 pm
White flash is solely armor damage. Red intensity signifies level of inflicted health damage. CTRL+H also confirms this. Noticed flashless damage too, always when own troops get shoot at, so I must exercise care not to save over previous good condition.

Your grenade throwing observation explains my complete abandoning of the tactic - too TU costly ergo worthless. Can't retreat and always causes reaction fire, same reason I never used them in OG games. Enemy never spawns or moves in tight clusters. But themselves are pretty annoyingly effective however. Had a Merc Commander lob one across 4 "map squares". Longer than all weapons except Sniper aimed shoot, lol.

Prolly wouldn't use nades even if they were left in useful state. Situations where they are handy are just too circumstantial and rare. Magnums (Scoped then Super) + Cattle Prods were my main arsenal for a good year, then I added fantastic Infantry Laser for back line snipers, and almost peed myself in ecstasy after discovering EuroSyndicate Laspistol. It could cost 2M a pop and I'd still buy 20 of them! Pairing than with Shock'a'Fist, and few anti heavy armor pieces when needed make me feel fully prepped. If only the situation was that clear with mid-tier personnel armors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on December 05, 2020, 01:27:29 am
I encountered the flash issue in a pogrom with an armored car that spawned trapped in a map corner.
I brought the Cannon to deal with it and a Pickaxe but the Pick didn't really do much to it. Sometimes the Cannon did solid red damage, other times itd flash White.
So im like  :o
(Can armoured cars get stunned?)

In OG xcom grenades are actually OP and I used them just as much as the potent weapons, so ill teach you a lesson here.
It gets you a Very Strong advantage to research Alien Grenades/Sonic Pulsers early on.

In the days before preprimed grenades...
Set your Grenadiers up with one in each hand at loadout.
Id have 2 Grenadiers possibly 3.
The first combat round prime both of them, for each Grenadier (4-6 grenades are ready)
Use the Tank/Coelecanth to scout.
Use Rocket Launcher sniper or Grenadiers to kill Everything.
It may trigger reaction fire potentially but usually only if you Prime+Throw (75% TU hit)... and as an indirect weapon you can throw it over a hedge and they cant respond.

Send in Autocannon/HE dudes to be on call.

Rifle is one of the most useless weapons in the game. But the Laser Rifle is okay. And the Laser Pistol is just a sidearm for an Autocannon dudes so he doesn't get 'hoist on his own petard. I guess the L.Pistol is kinda like a shotgun for close quarters work but I wont use it past 4 Tiles unless im laser spamming.

There is also the (in)famous Great Grenade Relay that has sorta, but not totally, been shut down in x-piratez. Grenadier tosses one to fellows and they each route that grenade to the soldier who'll actually throw it. However, in Xpiratez the Instant Shot grenades (boom fruits, molotov, BP bomb) are just as convenient - 45-50ish TUs to light and throw isnt too bad.



In X-piratez ive tried the Eurosyndicate route and I find that the hit missions just complicate the game too much. Rebel Generals always seem to get obliterated or ornery about being hard to take down, so his power armor parts are hard to scavenge.

I forget what combos I normally use in past playthroughs (up to version J).
I use Kustom Handcannon alot and a helluva lot of Firebombs.
Also Boom Guns and Adv. Rocket Launcher.
For anti-armor its usually Rail Drivers and I savescum the low damage rolls. Its like, nope my Rail Driver is gonna do its 140 damage.

Lasers are good for putting someone under stun. You give them the Small Launcher pop and then pinprick them with a laser till they collapse.

Early game I figured that out with Holdout Pistols and the Dog Bark. Bonk them and then pinprick until they fall over. They usually dont die.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Nalca on December 05, 2020, 10:23:30 am
Quote
(Can armoured cars get stunned?)
I don't know for this version, but in earlier version a gal could stun a tank by hitting it with an electro-sword.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Nilex on December 05, 2020, 04:49:11 pm
@RSSwizard
Are you sure you ain't talking about Worms? :)

Appreciate the amusing lesson but we got ourselves a classic case of diametrically opposite styles of play. Since very early into the game I focused on pistols because of sensible TU cost and better accuracy than rifles. When I noticed Magnum in tech tree I knew what I want in my life. I did read a bit outdated guide which praised grenades as sure-fire cure against armored folk and vehicles so I put my faith in them for when the time comes. When it did I was very disappointing to see how the very first enemy vehicle was completely immune to then strongest Frag Grenades I had in the arsenal. After that I realized nades are only meant to clear foliage in Jungle maps.

Also, my short explosive experience yielded completely different results sorry to way. Instead kill everything it was closer to mass suicide. Last night I was in position to use Willie Pete appropriately for the first time, on a Reaper Calvary. It died instantly. But then I reloaded and just Shock'a'Fist it to sleep, saving TUs (he spent his getting closer), and more raw resources for a live specimen. Even in this ideal although rare case it was still the worse choice. Of course there are plenty more examples this is just most recent one. I'll just keep to my proven long distance surgical approach. Nothing beats seeing target rich environment once on roof of a CONVOY or FORTUNA!

You mentioning relay trick made me recall my Hammer relay to handle first Guildmaster encounter. It was so epic lol. So glad AI wielding ranged weapons gets super confused in close quarters. Think it was only once it did walk a square away just to turn around and shoot. Every other time it spends its turn walking around in confusion until TU exhaustion (usually ending where it started :D). Just don't try it on a RPG guy. They're more than willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RSSwizard on December 05, 2020, 10:55:29 pm
Yeah about the menacing hill, I still have to figure out which one of them has the Space Flight capability so ill just pick that one from now on.

In other news encountered a landed hopper last night, nice score for month 3.
And then THIS happens.
If there were Sanity Points in this game even the dog would have lost some.
I should've suspected something when the dog barks wouldn't work, and then this regular guy starts trying to zap the doggie. Im laughing thinking "He's trying the Power of Science!".
And then Doggie goes and pulls his flesh off, which was kinda tough to do.
Revealing the awful truth.

Airbus was the auxiliary team at this point so it was purely smash and grab with low end Hands in training. So they really didnt have anything to deal with a goddamned Robot imposter.  :P
And with its Mouth Gun revealed I just had to start over from scratch.

In the end I manually looted the ship and only grabbed some of the crew. While being careful to avoid our robot-in-the-flesh friend because honestly he did have a gun. Gets to be kinda a hassle making sure everyone stays knocked out too.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Jimboman on December 06, 2020, 12:40:48 am
To RSSWizard:  Grey codex gives you the Fortuna, which can go into space as well as underwater.

The first time I saw one of those disguised robots the gals only had muskets and knives, and needed a change of underwear afterwards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: legionof1 on December 06, 2020, 02:19:38 am
if you pay really close attention there is a small difference in visuals for the disguised 801s. The middle click paper doll is more obvious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Usatyi1986 on December 06, 2020, 01:11:18 pm
Hi, everyone! I have been playing in "UFO: Enemy Unknown" about 20 years and like "Piratez" mod.
Have some proposition:
1. I view an interesting the possibility to get enemy ship, repair it on a mission and return on a base or same way.
How about to do something about it? I my opinion, this is unhiding a new field of game tactics.
2. Can i ask, how to use sand bags? Didn't handle this.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on December 06, 2020, 02:17:14 pm
1. On top of being very, very hard (even impossible) to do on X-COM engine, it would be also unbalanced.
2. What "sand bags"? I can recall such item in the past, but it was deemed broken/unnecessary/something and removed, because it was just part of protective gear that gave your unit additional ressistances to few types of damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: Usatyi1986 on December 06, 2020, 03:17:24 pm
JustTheDude, i thought, that bags with sand could be use by install them on the ground, like a wall and shelter against bullet, and do not carry in permanent manner. To sitting after them and shooting. In this way, it could be usable tools for defence position.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: legionof1 on December 06, 2020, 05:38:00 pm
sadly the engine cant spawn terrain from player objects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Dioxine on December 07, 2020, 03:56:51 am
New version available! Enjoy! Happy Santa Claus' day!
And thanks for bugreports, these really help to keep the mod clean.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 07, 2020, 04:41:58 pm
Wow, that is one hell of a bag. Fantastic list of updates! Still cannot imagine how you do it.

I almost never play games on release day so missing out on joy of early collective discovery is common for me lol. With XPZ I hardly expected seeing updates adding and positively affecting stuff in the middle of my playthrough, over six years after release. You managed to bring a rare feeling back.

Interestingly a lot of updates coincide with my current progress. Just recruited my first Gnomes; researching Chem that leads into CRY ammo (dieing to test on horde of Zombies); H/K removal is very welcomed for convenience and even logical when you think about it; half of my fleet is Gaussed; Laser ignite / Chem smoke switch is a stroke of genius (just recently started playing with Lasers and thought how cool would it be if they ignite). And new OXCE gonna make life a lot easier with one desperate little tweak I nervously waited for.

Gotta hand it to you - no game has managed to keep me so intensely addicted for nearly 2 months now and with no end in sight. Not even counting couple of weeks spent researching if I'd like it before that. So many new goals to put infront of yourself to keep you going. Truly unique. Thanks also for not touching Mjölnir like I feared. And can't help myself but: you know prisoners are still living it large in luxury, having more space for themselves, compared to miserably packed sardine Gals? :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 09, 2020, 01:00:07 am
Hey so umm... I just sold the last of my Big Rocks and right after that popped the Minecraft research tech.
Which gives me the option to Break Big Rocks.
Though, I currently have 0 Big Rocks.
Will I be finding more Big Rocks in the future... Or have I made a boo-boo?

Also: Is it possible at any point to Buy new Land Deeds? Ive still got mine, just wondering if its a starter item only.


Unrelated:
Im making a HQ Sounds mod for X-Piratez, which will include some of the sounds from the xcom HQ soinds pack. Since I figured out how to make the sounds work in X-P  (... tedious, but doable) I will be going ahead with it. Since its not official it bears much less scrutiny from 'govt factions' as it were. Dunno when I will want to upload it but itd start at a low version number and build from there.

Got stuff clabbered together from Halo, Fallout, Quake 1 Remastered sound effects. And a particular magnum shotgun sfx from resident evil 2 which is perfect for loads of shotguns and hand cannons. I'm really digging the new random sound sets functionality... can get several variations of the halo battle rifle burst with that (uac rifle sfx).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on December 09, 2020, 03:42:24 am
More big rocks is possibility through events. And nothing you get from rock breaking is unique. Its slightly more profitable to break em, but its a lot of runt hour investment, at a point when you dont have much to spend.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 09, 2020, 04:21:16 am
I waited like a chump to uncover tech to crush Big Rocks. Can't say anything worthwhile came outta waiting so that it payed off. It's alright to sell if space is bothering you. Land Deed purchases are mid-game stuff, you wont have to worry about that for a loooong time. But I suggest to invest into large vaults at your primary base. It's gonna lighten the burden in the long run trust me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 09, 2020, 05:22:38 pm
Yeahhh there aint no way im making a 2x2 size facility at my main base. All the possible places are taken up with something essential, cant even build over anything. Secondary base has plantations though. Itll take a month and ill be shortstaffed on runts because ill have to nuke a barracks and burrow.

Actually im Very Happy and thankful for the Gambling option and the strongboxes, ive gotten very important stuff through it and its been worth the expense. Are the Grapes/Melons/Produce useful? I figure they might be later on for Cooking merchandise but so far only the Uber Wheat has been necessary. In any case ive saved 10 of each at auxiliary base and am selling all the rest I acquire.

I snagged a Commando Rifle and 50 Clips early on  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 09, 2020, 08:52:57 pm
Hold onto Deep One corpses if you are a completionist! Don't extract them for meat to make food. As for veggies in general you can sell off those without RMB interface use, and by the time you gather merch for any meaningful food production the underwhelming profit wont affect anything. I keep some veggies around because they DO provide satisfaction boost (and only that) when I use leftover meat to make some food. Think largest food chain chunk I ever made at once was with 34 Lobsterman meat. Feeling was great but not that great to justify existence of cooking mechanic personally. It comes too late into the play to be financially worth it. Bon apetit.

May I suggest to put following questions into designated topic (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5345.0.html). So people with similar questions could find it easier while avoiding others getting excited when they see this topic light up for not the reason they hoped for.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
Post by: RolandVasko on December 10, 2020, 08:33:07 am
Hi, everyone! I have been playing in "UFO: Enemy Unknown" about 20 years and like "Piratez" mod.
Have some proposition:
1. I view an interesting the possibility to get enemy ship, repair it on a mission and return on a base or same way.
How about to do something about it? I my opinion, this is unhiding a new field of game tactics.
2. Can i ask, how to use sand bags? Didn't handle this.

so, (do) you would like to putting the sandbags on ground, around (and at front of) your soldiers, and vehicles, and troops, (and tanks, and APC´s, and ..ehm.. another (very famous strategyc) game - yap, sure, this is not C & C hehe! :o  :D :P ä )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 11, 2020, 10:15:12 pm
Well I went and did it, I felt the urge to share. Just in time for hallow- er, christmas.
Not sure where to put this in the x-piratez subforum so I figure it goes here.

High quality x-piratez sound pack.
Its not a remaster but upgrades many of the firearms and explosives with juicy equivalents. And multiple variants in several cases.

It can be snagged from the mod portal or the filedropper link over in the released mods thread.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,8892.0.html (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,8892.0.html)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 12, 2020, 07:52:32 am
Damn, is item source category new ("Produced by:")? Coz if so that's a F'ing HUGE improvement!
Just noticed, thank you! I rank it up there together with more prison space when it comes (+5 btw).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Dioxine on December 12, 2020, 02:45:41 pm
Just noticed, thank you! I rank it up there together with more prison space when it comes (+5 btw).

What?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 13, 2020, 12:02:39 am
Umm, build a new prison?
Or build a new base full of prison cells?
All it takes is money
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 13, 2020, 01:10:14 am
374, 379 & 165. Problem solved :-X
(I got a bag of my own too, lol)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 25, 2020, 11:15:53 pm
Dioxine REALLY needs to do something about these casino coupons because im on month 18 and ZERO options for a Casino have shown up. These higher tier coupons need to have SOMETHING done with them, even if you have to marry a 20K golden chip to them to bribe someone to cash them in for you. Otherwise I really dont see how anyone is going to hold on to them long enough to cash them in, not with those crazy sales values (also manufacturing says it will cost jack tokens to cash them in too, a player might do that just to get some items and savescum the roll to get things they want... but I dont see them being used for their intended purpose).

And yeah I make an absolute fortune off dumping blue chips into the slot machine. Ive had more Zortium and Neutronium coupons come up than a statistical pirate can count. Like 10s of millions of credits worth of them.

I pretty much dump all my blue chips intothe slot machine, and I extract purses and cash bags for it too. It is a high profit.

(Not meaning to nerf people but its clearly broken, maybe the basic spin the wheel and copper/iron coupons Should Not yield anything above Iron. Shouldn't get it if you cant do anything with it. Titanium thru Neutronium should only appear when you have the actual casino)

I also got a Mystery Box with no way to research it or extract it... So I just sold it. You'd think Brainers would just "open" the mystery box. I guess the tech is broken on it. Someone told me you need to have the laboratory spare room built, but I do, so no idea whats going on with that. 777K is a good gift I guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Apocca on December 26, 2020, 09:40:55 am
Just use a mint to get the required chips to build a casino. It's not that hard. I already built 2. The gambling mechanic is fine as it is.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on December 26, 2020, 11:22:21 am
Don't report nerfs, lol. Too bad I couldn't find it on my own... could have used more cash earlier. Think it should be left as-is, let those willing to experiment reap their rewards. I glimpsed at those 0% coupon chances, spun the wheel anyway and gave up coz resulting storage maintenance (selling off unwanted junk) got the better of me. My organic distaste for gambling in general prolly didn't help either. Well I may curb my disgust temporarily now that you mentioned it, those Church Cardinals aren't going to buy themselves :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 26, 2020, 11:15:28 pm
Just use a mint to get the required chips to build a casino. It's not that hard. I already built 2. The gambling mechanic is fine as it is.
The Option to build a casino has not presented itself. So I have no idea what you're talking about. Out of curiosity I might look in the .rul file just to find out. Ive already sold off at least 3000 red chips just because of the raw space they take up.

I also used alot of my robberies/captures for the blue chips they give, since outright selling them only gives you money and i also get the personal database stuff.

Gambling in piratez is different than real life gambling. And generally speaking you're the house that wins from what ive seen come out of it. Put in 300 blue chips and get on average like 500k worth of stuff out of it or more. The key difference between real life gambling is you can get stuff you need even if its at a real premium. Like the UAC Rifle or Commando Rifle, Space Suits, crap like that. Access to things you cant get yet, research them or use them, like guns you cant buy but you're able to make ammo for.

In real life its only cash, its boring, its not buying you favors or jobs or access to some place.
In 'piratez its some dude laying down a klingon disruptor as his wager.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Apocca on December 27, 2020, 02:38:50 pm
The Bootypedia is your friend: https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_CASINO
See what research you are missing for getting the casino.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RolandVasko on December 27, 2020, 03:28:57 pm
^^ In casino gambling only the House always win

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/110415/why-does-house-always-win-look-casino-profitability.asp
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on December 27, 2020, 09:40:24 pm
The Bootypedia is your friend: https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_CASINO
See what research you are missing for getting the casino.
Seems im missing jack's favors and trader's guild. Could be a long time before I get that second one. Oh well, there's no way im building that monstrosity if its a 2x2 size hog. Industrial printer beats it hands down, because my classic pump is plastasteel + boom gun shells. Even the Mint is only 1x1 (as for how a casino could be contained in a 1x1 slot, there's 4 Floors to work with).

Otherwise, pic related, can imagine the girls saying "we're being rescued!".
LOVE the new Organ Grinder maps, I mean the old ones with the massive pipe networks were great but these fit even better. I checked out those incinerator buildings and at first couldn't tell what they were, then noticed those were ovens with smokestacks. No Gals were injured in this operation, heavy suits and chem gear did the trick. Just as I suspected blood dogs and ghouls tried to rush out the garage door, I had fisty girls waiting on either side. I brought a Satchel Charge expecting the old style maps, im so glad I DIDNT use it.

Ive noticed the Armored Car can open sliding doors but it cant knock a wooden door open, I had to have somebody blow that door up to let the armored car into the wraparound hallway on the left side of the room. I machinegunned a hole in the wall next to the door, but the armored car wasnt able to push open the door and slide through the empty tile next to it. Maybe this is a bug associated with using 2x2 wearable armours compared to simply being a 2x2 size unit (because HWPs can open a door and move through if the tile next to the door is destroyed, I use this tactic alot).
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RolandVasko on December 28, 2020, 02:09:04 pm
..Otherwise, pic related, can imagine the girls saying "we're being rescued!".
LOVE the new Organ Grinder maps, I mean the old ones with the massive pipe networks were great but these fit even better. I checked out those incinerator buildings and at first couldn't tell what they were, then noticed those were ovens with smokestacks. No Gals were injured in this operation, heavy suits and chem gear did the trick. Just as I suspected blood dogs and ghouls tried to rush out the garage door, I had fisty girls waiting on either side. I brought a Satchel Charge expecting the old style maps, im so glad I DIDNT use it.

Ive noticed  the Armored Carcan open sliding doors but it cant knock a wooden door open, I had to have somebody blow that door up to let the armored car into the wraparound hallway on the left side of the room.

 ;D lůl it seems that APC is such pure electric driven, and plus yet it must meet the EU Brussels´ "ecobio" libtards pollution´ limits  :D :P
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on December 31, 2020, 01:16:58 am

Ive noticed the Armored Car can open sliding doors but it cant knock a wooden door open, I had to have somebody blow that door up to let the armored car into the wraparound hallway on the left side of the room. I machinegunned a hole in the wall next to the door, but the armored car wasnt able to push open the door and slide through the empty tile next to it. Maybe this is a bug associated with using 2x2 wearable armours compared to simply being a 2x2 size unit (because HWPs can open a door and move through if the tile next to the door is destroyed, I use this tactic alot).

Likely there is some further terrain at fault, there are many instances of walls have multiple tile states before being fully destroyed and allowing pathing. there also could be raised floor objects(Hay bales and similar) in the tiles themselves. 2x2 units are also taller which means they cant go over such raised half blocks unless the ceiling is also higher.

Take screen shots the next time it happens so we can dissect exactly the problem. Might even just be plain old buggy map assets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 03, 2021, 12:11:14 am
Just had my first Bogeyman fight and I dont get why people fuss so bad over it. They're alot more dangerous in air combat because of the interception mechanic. You get alot of them on the map but theyre kinda slow and the only ranged attacks ive seen from them are bows. Theyre even vulnerable to Fire. Im fairly far along I guess, but my rifles, smartpistols, and arena fireball launcher wiped them out without a scratch. This was at Night, too. Even captured one, who tried melee and it couldn't hit at all.
A case of a dog's bark (or looks) worse than it's bite?

From the interception pic I thought they were devil succubus ladies, the black silhouettes have that slight feminine look to them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on January 03, 2021, 06:20:42 am
Boogyman ground combat is a bit hit or miss. Since they fly and have high camo it is very hard to keep the usual sweep and clear going. They can just fly above spotting range and then come back down behind your line of sight.

They also always have multiple weapons and well the AI has no concept about selecting the most effective one. There voodoo attack swings around 40-60 stun, ignores armor and gets stronger the longer the map lasts. But they could just pick to use claws which are exceptionally weak. Or if the have the bow shoot in melee.

They have a huge potential to be a hard battle but are very impaired by the idiot savant IF, THEN, OR, logic system. You could make the AI do really smart things but not only is it a huge number of nested lines, it makes for too ridged a set of results. You either end up with it always having the perfect answer to any tactical puzzle by brute memory of stuational sets like a chess program or its hilariously exploitable and derpy. Maybe you even end up with both outcomes depending how the code functions.

It's far less of an undertaking and a more repayable and entertaining experience if the AI is marginally compatent, and you only make the action bounds restrict only the most moronic cases. Like don't shoot at accuracy zero targets, or beyond the range where power falloff nulls the weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: gijoe on January 04, 2021, 01:09:33 am
Might TUs for the x-bow be lowered a bit more? Right know it's a snioer weapon that sacrifices mobility a bit too much i think.

Actually muskets theoretically should require more time units than the crossbow..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 04, 2021, 01:19:29 am
Might TUs for the x-bow be lowered a bit more? Right know it's a snioer weapon that sacrifices mobility a bit too much i think.

Actually muskets theoretically should require more time units than the crossbow..

You gotta git yer Wench out to Crank it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Apocca on January 08, 2021, 12:29:09 pm
Can Lynx SMG be added to Decrypted Data Disc? Now you can only get it through Spartan Lieutenant but those are so rare to show up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 11, 2021, 10:18:46 pm
Better yet add it to the Gun Almanac too.
Lynx uses skorpion clips so im not all that interested in it, but it definitely ought to have access points.
Ive reached the point in my save where gun almanacs are just sales items. Im convinced you need to fully research those before you really touch anything else, have some 1-2 brainers in a separate base slowly digesting all those low end papers and documents while main base pursues tech tree.

In other news... This happened. Well you'd think id just reload the save but I thought a device of doom could actually be useful in some way. Luckily it doesn't prevent you from Transferring it. So it went to my least used prison base that doesn't even have a hangar, and has the vaults I use for running my contraband operation. Probably not even worth 13 mil.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 13, 2021, 03:24:30 am
Also because of motorboating 4 bases into epic vaults ive gone from about 20 million to 150 million in a few months using contraband. Y'see Vaults provide more than just storage space, they also provide workshop room for runts to digest the contraband (albiet I usually ship it to a single base with the most room).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Woods on January 17, 2021, 08:34:46 pm
So I’ve been having a bug recently where the govt fighter file isn’t present so when I look at it in the bootypedia it crashes the game. There was also a time when the game crashed when I intercepted a ship, so I suspect that it was also a govt fighter. Any suggest on how I can fix this? Or is this a known bug.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on January 17, 2021, 11:48:20 pm
Something went wrong on your end of the Woods. I suggest to backup your saves and option file, then do a complete wipe followed by re-install (and finally restoring saves/options). You may even want to start with a fresh options file just to be safe.
It looks to me like either the file got corrupted (does that ever happen?) or mod update process got borked. On UFOpaedia it is suggested to always wipe everything clean and then install, instead overwriting existing install. I was guilty of doing the latter prior to L6 but luckily did not experience any bugs. Clean wipe makes sense in developing projects where file structure grows/changes and whatnot.

There are also two additional L6 hotfixes posted on discord but are unrelated to your issue as far as I'm aware.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on January 18, 2021, 05:15:15 am
File corruption is always a possibility. Most of the generic file hosting services doesn't have robust data verification, and it only takes a one character error to break things in OXCE based mods. The data input format is pretty strict. 4 spaces instead of a tab between inventory items for example.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Woods on January 18, 2021, 11:34:27 pm
Your suggestion worked, it seems that a file got randomly corrupted. I appreciate it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Hadza on January 19, 2021, 09:26:21 am
The pyromaniac condemnation debuff (increased freshness loss) seems a bit too crippling - take a gal out for a couple of missions in a flamer car and she'll be dragging her feet in 10 turns. Essentially makes flamers a weapon that can only be properly used by peasants
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on January 19, 2021, 01:01:04 pm
Gotta lean on that pyroman image, always have some cigs handy.

That said the weapons that qualify for pyromaniac are very strong, most of them still being okay in spite of repeated direct nerfs over the years. Just always have freshness consumables for the pyro gal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on January 19, 2021, 01:04:23 pm
Thats why you should use SS to be pyros. Especially in cars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Hadza on January 21, 2021, 06:49:10 pm
Not sure what happened there, but it seems the debuff isn't that bad anymore, I think I just gave the gal an armor that drains 0.014 freshness instead of 0.03  :o

Speaking of fires, what does the red codex's Set The World On Fire research do? Does it spawn more hot pursuit missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on January 22, 2021, 04:59:32 am
Yeah, assuming "Hot pursuit" is the one with a ton of imps, and golden safes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 24, 2021, 01:52:00 am
That said the weapons that qualify for pyromaniac are very strong, most of them still being okay in spite of repeated direct nerfs over the years. Just always have freshness consumables for the pyro gal.
Heavy Flamers are Not strong weapons, it can kill maybe one guy by chipping him down bit by bit. If anything it gives you the Lady Luck award because the accuracy is often crap but you hit anyway because its 10 hits arcing short range. Its great for a 2x2 but then again so is a Panzerfaust.

I Have gotten Pyro commendation a few levels and it sorta sucks, but I got it from Firebombs because drop 2 of those out of the back of the car and you can really rack up some casualties. Usually I use them on ratmen. I think I got a rank of it with the Fireball Launcher (3 shots per turn, wide effect and range) but I dont remember.


Just had my first Taberna Del Diablo mission and I Love it, is it always on nuke wasteland tileset?

Spotted the vampire guy (floating civvie, wtf) but the armored car chopped him up to bits and it was rather anticlimactic. The real tricky thing is I blew away most of the walkways, I had a barrel bomb used for the necropirates and that blew away a good part of the complex - and I had a Stormy gal floating around with a UAC Chaingun/N-Rounds (pretty much spartan MG on steroids). I made it work but it was kinda annoying.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on January 24, 2021, 03:05:11 am
Taberna Del Diablo + Baby Nukes is dream come true. Love how PC stops responding for couple of seconds as game calculates everyone who has to die. I just gotta make a nuke barrel then use a flying suit to drop it in the middle and see what happens. Would do same in bandit towns too but still addicted to slaves. Now that I think about it City Raid is also a good candidate for nukage. If only buildings fell apart like in Apoc there would be no reason to play other games anymore.
Was hoping ICBM would do the same after you launch it on target and land in a fiery crater afterwards with maybe 1-2 wounded survivors but sadly it's only a commodity item, like BATTLE TANK M.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 24, 2021, 08:01:59 pm
Taberna Del Diablo + Baby Nukes is dream come true. Love how PC stops responding for couple of seconds as game calculates everyone who has to die. I just gotta make a nuke barrel then use a flying suit to drop it in the middle and see what happens.

Sounds like a good way to die and lose a precious flying armor. And get your Craft destroyed or hit with a repair bill. Explosions go Up and Down they dont just pancake like in OG. And it seems like every floor you go up it only counts it as one tile distance even though logically every level of elevation is easily 3 meters if not 4 meters distance (this does bring up discussion that every Tile is really more like a 5 foot square from d&d than just 1 meter... many doorways clearly show a doorframe around them when the standard for a door is 3 feet width - still the vertical translation of explosive power should consider every Floor of difference at least 2 Tiles if not 3 Tiles).
 I kill Cyberdisks and Drones this way with the fireball launcher.

There was someone working on an OpenApoc but since OpenXcom was clearly made by backwards engineering xcom , not making a more organized version that reproduced its qualities - you'll not be seeing any terrain manipulation going on here. I think the destroyed but still standing street light posts are still joke worthy because its one of the First things I would have fixed in translation (external scripts to tag tile coordinates and if by logical reasons one gets destroyed, destroy all the others in the dependency chain, hacky but simple)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Ashghan on January 26, 2021, 08:16:58 pm
Corect me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what the options parameter Explosion Height determines? If I understand it's workings correctly, it still does not change the explosion to a pyramid-shape as in XAPOC, just makes it less pancake-y. So, in essence, a Mini Nuke explosion won't reach as far up as it's diameter, just the number od z-levels that the options allows. IIRC the option is fixed at 3 levels, so I assume being 4 (or more) z levels above the explosion makes you immune to it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 26, 2021, 09:57:52 pm
Corect me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what the options parameter Explosion Height determines?
I dont know and there's no clear documentation to say just how it works. I also sounds like an Extremely cheesy way to hit the easy button cuz I could have gals dropping Barrel Bombs cheaply all over the place. So logically, no way that'd be how it works in the engine, way too easy to exploit (physics also says at the very least a blast wave is reflected up by the ground). Haven't even wanted to TRY it.

Reminds me of that exploit from OG where you just shoot the floor of the next level above you and the blast happens there (that did get fixed).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Hadza on January 29, 2021, 01:55:56 am
Corect me if I'm wrong, but isn't this what the options parameter Explosion Height determines? If I understand it's workings correctly, it still does not change the explosion to a pyramid-shape as in XAPOC, just makes it less pancake-y. So, in essence, a Mini Nuke explosion won't reach as far up as it's diameter, just the number od z-levels that the options allows. IIRC the option is fixed at 3 levels, so I assume being 4 (or more) z levels above the explosion makes you immune to it.

I'm pretty sure my gal was once killed by a chinese dragon despite being at highest elevation, dunno how that works
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Mathel on January 29, 2021, 08:45:36 am
So I checked ruleset reference.
battleExplosionHeight: 0 to 3, (0)
It sets how much damage is lost between layers.
0: -∞
1: -30
2: -10
3: -5
XPiratez have hardcoded 2
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 29, 2021, 11:02:13 pm
ahh thats reasonable then
id also expect since the blast comes from Below it hits Under Armor regardless of the lateral distance from it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on January 30, 2021, 01:03:19 am
under armor counts until you are more then 3 tiles from the blast. Unless the ignore facing flag is set, then hits always from front regardless of other conditions.
 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: RSSwizard on January 30, 2021, 10:54:42 pm
Updated Piratez HQ sounds, its over at the mod portal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on February 19, 2021, 08:06:21 am
Ever heard the phrase: "When Hell freezes over"? Have you? Well... ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: username on February 22, 2021, 03:19:55 pm
I don't think I've ever seen one with quite so many demons at once, all in one place, to boot. Time to let loose with something explodey.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on February 22, 2021, 04:10:36 pm
It was some kind of unusual spawn oddity from Harbinger of Doom, but very very exciting lol. Had to take a break and return twice coz I got too excited just looking at it and fantasizing how to proceed. There were almost double more in that same little area, obscured by front line demons, as became obvious soon after. Due to impenetrable Demon bunker all attempts of capture failed (need essence) so I settled on a single proven and reliable Baby Nuke (BFG was in another castle). When they died (around 50) the death sounds formed a spiral pattern. It was sooo beautiful... I must admit OXC(E) as an engine is the most stable thing ever coded as nothing I put it through managed to crash it.

There was a lone Imp hiding in NW corner of the map, inside a derelict plane cockpit. As a finishing blow I put a Plasma Scorcher round to take him out together with whole frontal plane. As the structure collapsed so did another 8 Imps fall out of it. Reminded me of poking a mother spider with many baby spiders on its back. Pretty satisfying ordeal overall which I'm eagerly trying to reproduce.

In that case I'll be better prepared because after couple of investigative hours Kraken Cannon turned out to be the perfect area effect capture weapon for the occasion. Interestingly up to that point it held the record as the fastest dismissed weapon after being researched. Only to come back into life much later in most unexpected role.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: username on February 22, 2021, 10:55:14 pm
The Kraken Cannon? Why the Kraken Cannon?

Incidentally, my hilarious area-of-effect anti-demon weapon is actually the Blood Axe. "What", you say, "Axes aren't AOE!". That's just what people who have never tried it say. The Blood Axe is absolutely an AOE weapon that can be deployed with precision selectiveness to make dead the things you want dead and leave the things you want alive to be neutral-whipped into submission...by the same person.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on February 23, 2021, 03:36:09 am
It uses Superconductive Cannonball which ignores stun immunity 2x2 demons have (Neural Whip don't work there), blast is 7 square radius, and isn't an overkill like Ion Cannon. And I need em alive (primarily Imps and Barons, others for essence).

In following Harbinger of Doom I field tested a crew of 12 with 4 Kraken carriers (3 shots each) with other 8 having just Shock'a'Fist + Neural Whip combo and managed to capture 95% without problems. All wearing Annihilator suit ofc, with added cutting resistance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: username on February 23, 2021, 06:42:13 pm
The big ones I want alive, I just jab a few times with a stun prod before beating them unconconscious with the Blood Axe. Pinkies, though, I specifically need dead because I need their corpses for axe-making. Barons I can do either way, I can make something with both live and dead barons.

Never tried the Kraken, though, seeing as I recall it had negative effects on use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: legionof1 on February 23, 2021, 08:31:46 pm
6 stun as part of the fireing cost isn't really a down side since it only fires at most twice a turn. by the time you have it unlocked you usually have gals the regen that much just from commends.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: BBHood217 on February 23, 2021, 11:25:44 pm
Never tried the Kraken, though, seeing as I recall it had negative effects on use.

The kraken's only negative is stun damage, which should be no problem at all for a spammer of blood axes such as yourself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: dronnoh on March 01, 2021, 01:16:23 pm
Encountered this crash when researching Jugulator suit for Syns.
Managed to fix/circumvent it by opening piratez_wardrobe.rul and copying the line
Quote
typeSingle: SYN__10__HAIR_M0
    fileSingle: Resources/Armors/Syn/Hair/Hair_M0.gif
while changing 10 to 15
Quote
typeSingle: SYN__15__HAIR_M0
    fileSingle: Resources/Armors/Syn/Hair/Hair_M0.gif

Don't know if i messed the files before somehow, just felt i should report that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Patooka on March 02, 2021, 04:30:11 am
Encountered this crash when researching Jugulator suit for Syns.
Managed to fix/circumvent it by opening piratez_wardrobe.rul and copying the line while changing 10 to 15
Don't know if i messed the files before somehow, just felt i should report that.

I got the same issue, and someone else reported it in the bugs thread.  Thank you for the fix.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Bonakva on March 02, 2021, 01:14:00 pm
While defending regular base, my girl accidentally killed the camera. I immediately got the achievement betrayer.
I tried to edit the save. Deleted a line
             - commendationName: STR_MEDAL_BETRAYER_NAME
               decorationLevel: 0
But after another completed mission, my girl is rewarded with this achievement. How to remove it once and for all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Nilex on March 02, 2021, 01:52:18 pm
I would try deleting said kill from the appropriate Gal's kill list. My hunch is commendations are re-calculated from kill lists on particular occasions rather than where you deleted it from. That place might only be used for purpose of showing them on in-game list (to prevent calculations every time player brings it up). Could be wrong though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
Post by: Bonakva on March 02, 2021, 01:58:25 pm
I would try deleting said kill from the appropriate Gal's kill list. My hunch is commendations are re-calculated from kill lists on particular occasions rather than where you deleted it from. That place might only be used for purpose of showing them on in-game list (to prevent calculations every time player brings it up). Could be wrong though.
I think you're right
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Dioxine on March 05, 2021, 05:30:47 pm
New release UP. Enjoy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: JamTheDane on March 05, 2021, 08:41:45 pm
Thanks Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Nilex on March 05, 2021, 08:53:55 pm
Thank you for all the hard work. Everything works after playing around for couple of hours. New PEA & LOK armors are very welcome even in deep end-game. Lokks can finally safely stroll around in the caves which is nice. Wish you best of luck in any and all future endeavors.

Pardon the OT but title immediately reminded me of an old~ish and overlooked Bruce Willis movie "Lucky Number Slevin". Everyone should watch it. Intriguing and intelligent script, great thriller plot, lots of cameos. Even tho McLane ain't the star of the show he left his mark. It's basically the last movie in which he acts like he gives a damn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: ZoA on March 06, 2021, 03:01:30 am
New release UP. Enjoy.

Much appreciated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Mitra Lightbringer on March 06, 2021, 10:03:19 am
Pardon the OT but title immediately reminded me of an old~ish and overlooked Bruce Willis movie "Lucky Number Slevin". Everyone should watch it. Intriguing and intelligent script, great thriller plot, lots of cameos. Even tho McLane ain't the star of the show he left his mark. It's basically the last movie in which he acts like he gives a damn.
You forgot the absolute banger of a track. Kansas city shuffle is a hell of a trick.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RolandVasko on March 06, 2021, 01:27:12 pm
yay! :o :p
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RolandVasko on March 06, 2021, 01:32:03 pm
Thank you for all the hard work. Everything works after playing around for couple of hours. New PEA & LOK armors are very welcome even in deep end-game. Lokks can finally safely stroll around in the caves which is nice. Wish you best of luck in any and all future endeavors.

Pardon the OT but title immediately reminded me of an old~ish and overlooked Bruce Willis movie "Lucky Number Slevin". Everyone should watch it. Intriguing and intelligent script, great thriller plot, lots of cameos. Even tho McLane ain't the star of the show he left his mark. It's basically the last movie in which he acts like he gives a damn.[/i]

do you mean this 1 ? :

@csfd: https://www.csfd.cz/film/189562-nabit-a-zabit/prehled/
@imdb:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Nilex on March 06, 2021, 04:18:16 pm
Ye. Cool thing is no amount of evasion helps against Kansas City Shuffle. The penultimate melee move ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RSSwizard on March 07, 2021, 06:09:48 pm
Quote
Baby Boomer
:o
Oooh... whats, whats that?
Like a flaregun baby nuke?

Im glad there's a UAC Pistol now.
Used to be the code said it used rifle clips, does it use something else now like eagle mags? (doom 3 pistol was a magnum with six shots I think)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: EryliaStarheart on March 08, 2021, 01:23:09 am
Thanks for the new release, awesome work all around.

Been wondering what happened to the suit assets I submitted awhile ago, though: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5821.705.html

Certainly spent more time on it than the Skullstrider. If it's not suitable for some reason, I'm willing to adjust anything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: mercy on March 08, 2021, 06:23:24 pm
Thanks for the new release, awesome work all around.

Been wondering what happened to the suit assets I submitted awhile ago, though: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5821.705.html

Certainly spent more time on it than the Skullstrider. If it's not suitable for some reason, I'm willing to adjust anything.

You mean this one?
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5821.0;attach=52605;image)

Cons:
Too many thick black lines. Doesn't fit into the world. Very different style from XCOM or XPiratez!

Pros:
Silhouette of 2nd from left is good.

How to improve:
Observe shading of current armors, how they are done. Forget black value RGB:0:0:0. Use at least 10:10:10 RGB when you wish to define dark colors. Study the TIMELAPSE videos of great pixel artists on YT or any video sharing platform:
If you observe, pure black is anathema to most of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftlQHebOfo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft0ihUxmiqk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ-d8L3zz78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sij_L2cXdvs

If you applied to our company for a pixel graphics job, you would be rejected for lack of experience. If you wanna eat, you'll have to learn & improve.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: EryliaStarheart on March 08, 2021, 08:34:11 pm
Here's an attempt to replace black outline with grayscale gradient, which is more consistent with overall graphic style but muddier. High contrast is needed for largely monochrome objects to stand out, and of course there's the issue of indexed palette not really allowing for much finesse.

And I'm certainly not applying to any company, I'm trying to contribute to a mod that has amateur production value by definition. It's understandable how this can be a sore sight for actual commercial developer, though, so kudos for not compromising on standards.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Yankes on March 09, 2021, 12:58:53 am
It look a lot better
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Dioxine on March 12, 2021, 04:15:36 pm
Thanks for the new release, awesome work all around.

Been wondering what happened to the suit assets I submitted awhile ago, though: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5821.705.html

Certainly spent more time on it than the Skullstrider. If it's not suitable for some reason, I'm willing to adjust anything.

I didn't find it particularly interesting - it clashes with the style of other armors and doesn't provide any sort of new functionality I'm looking for. So it was stored for possible future use.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 12, 2021, 06:58:47 pm
Got a question if Car-Tank-Mech-Gyrocopter "path" could be considered (in the far future, of course) to ever be something like "We need a male touch" vs "Gals are superiour"? I quite enjoy this playstyle, yet its very limited (in numbers, but not only) to RNG where you have to pray for "Rogue Fields' Warlords" topic to pop up, or to get lucky in another way with armored columns and mutant pogroms by bandits.

Especially hard later on, with things like "robotic spiders".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: EryliaStarheart on March 12, 2021, 07:46:04 pm
Fair enough, Dioxine, it's your project. I'm open to suggestions for an armor (preferably full body) or visually distinct monster, then. Got enough scavenged assets and ability to tweak them to whip out a decent custom-animated model of just about anything, so feel free to hit me with an idea or concept.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: gijoe on March 13, 2021, 05:10:02 pm
Nice; please might i ask for the RCF carabine to get a gunbutt attack?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RSSwizard on March 13, 2021, 07:40:00 pm
Nice; please might i ask for the RCF carabine to get a gunbutt attack?
That's not very realistic. The stock is collapsible.
But you know what is realistic and never gets any attention?
A Bayonet on that RCF Carbine.

Frankly the Battle Rifle would be amazing with one too (the Infantry Rifle has a gunbutt attack). Then your melee character can use that and if they want they can Burst from 2 tiles away.

I noticed is the Combat Shotgun has a gunbutt attack but the sprite for the Trench Gun has a steel plate on the stock, which should be on the other one since its gunbutt strike is replaced with a bayonet. Also since the gun is already shortened (the action mechanism is moved back) the Trench Gun could have a proper bayonet graphic put on it like the Musket has, it doesn't need to look like the dagger itself.

Fun Fact:
IRL soldiers almost never use the Burst (Full Auto) function of their rifles, and generally speaking they perform Snap shots (rapid semi-aimed fire) ducking back and forth from cover.

This reminds me of the STG44 german rifle somehow, I dont think requests go here but that'd be great to give to Humanists/KKK to replace some of those Messers. Itd probably use Homefront Banana clips and be a more refined (higher burst accuracy) version of the Homefront Rifle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: gijoe on March 13, 2021, 08:06:08 pm
That's not very realistic. The stock is collapsible.


Since it is suppesed to be an old weapon, early m16 version were fairly heavy so it would make sense, the modern m4s instead had a collapsable butt. As for bayonet homefront rifle already has it, so for balancing it would fit as it os now.

This reminds me of the STG44 german rifle somehow, I dont think requests go here but that'd be great to give to Humanists/KKK to replace some of those Messers. Itd probably use Homefront Banana clips and be a more refined (higher burst accuracy) version of the Homefront Rifle.

Would be nice to had these in humanist instructors hands, replacing hydra laser which eventually might become a smuggler weapon instead, for the human goons.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on March 13, 2021, 09:23:01 pm
Isn't Battle Rifle kinda STG replacement? Even Humanist Instructor carry them sometimes.

And something "old" in X-Piratez isn't "old" in our times. Action takes place in 2600, so every design from around 2000 is "old".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: gijoe on March 14, 2021, 12:18:41 am
Isn't Battle Rifle kinda STG replacement? Even Humanist Instructor carry them sometimes.

And something "old" in X-Piratez isn't "old" in our times. Action takes place in 2600, so every design from around 2000 is "old".

yes true, but in game there are really ancient likke the 1950's spraygun inspired by m3 grease gun i suppose, not to mention the rusty niner and the ol'catabine, a western lever action rifle...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: legionof1 on March 14, 2021, 04:05:50 am
well to be fair as ancient designs go the m1911 hasn't much changed since 1911 and is still made today. When you get a pinnacle weapon in some aspect it tends to stick around for ages.

Things like the grease gun while not actively made any more are such a pinnacle design. Namely cheap and easy to build without being prone to failure.

The lever action winchester/henery style rifle is another, it owes its pinnacle to being a rugged design and still even after all this time one of the better guns when it comes stopping power in a single cartridge. 2300 jules of force is in spitting distance of modern rifles and the 45-70 cartridge was designed in 1873.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RSSwizard on March 15, 2021, 11:04:51 pm
id say the 1911 has legs to run tbh.
The modern upgrade for it is higher performance ammo like .45 super and .460row, which hit like a magnum in the same size cartridge.
So that be kinda like a desert eagle .44 right there for a fraction of the price, its a spring kit I believe. Add to that adv. bullets like xtreme penetrators and it does damage like a rifle.

which id say is what it looks like it has in x-p.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: gijoe on March 16, 2021, 11:46:51 am
well lets not forget still muskets and flintlock weapons are in, so havin an rcf with a butt attack provided it is ancient i think it's ok.

on the other hand handcannon and boardin gun are quite primitive, so these should be avaiable in the early game for manufacturing, might only require:

"primitive weapons"
"smithing"
"fire walk with me"
"flintlock and bombs"

i think currently are manufacturable at the extractor, right? For balancing purposesi'd lower the handcannon rounds damage to 35, and  make the  homefront rifle lighter than the rcf.

Edit: please also do consider that all the above mentioned guns are black market stuff, but most of these are meant to be junk. And mind also, since in the game are peasants, pitchforks, axes and boathooks (well it's more of a fisherman thing) how about to add a scythe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/) or even a hoe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoe_(tool))? Along with bare hands, pitchforks and billhooks, any peasant recruited will have to come by wielding one of these by RNG.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: amjh on March 16, 2021, 09:06:55 pm
Starting a new game after skipping one update, the early-mid balance feels much better than earlier. The changes and additions help fill opportunity gaps while keeping the challenge. GOTY material.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RSSwizard on March 16, 2021, 09:28:57 pm
well lets not forget still muskets and flintlock weapons are in, so havin an rcf with a butt attack provided it is ancient i think it's ok.
These clearly aren't regular muskets and would have to be breech-loaders to be usable at any sort of speed. I dont think they have 3 barrels, one of the splash graphics has a 3 barreled pistol but thats a clockwork gun.
You can combine shot and a compressed waxed pellet of propellant into effectively a rudimentary caseless round. Modern muskets have propellant cakes that go with a primer (or in some cases a peizo sparker, electric detonation). Gals could have something similar... where do you get the sparker... from a regular old budda smokes lighter.

The Reload speed should go away.
They're single shot weapons.
The reload after every shot is factored into their attack costs.
"Reloading" the musket is tantamount to having more rounds in hand to quickly stick in it. Its like the Grenade Launcher in Resident Evil... its got a unlimited capacity, you can stick all the grenades in it, etc.

Olde Shotgun with birdshot very likely Does have 4 barrels all lined up side by side just because of the weight of that thing (its like 11 pounds, my dad had a 20 gauge single barrel shotgun from Rossi that weighs 5 pounds).

Handcannons and Boarding guns are a game balance thing but its supposed to be Professional piratin tools, which you're not worthy of as pirates till later. Imagine the Handcannon (due to weight) actually does 50 damage like a shotgun shell pistol, except without the +Armor nerf that Muskets have, so it does 40 instead. You're lobbing probably an .80 or .90 caliber ball with that thing making as big a hole as a shotgun slug. The Mil. AP shotgun shells do 45 matey.

Same thing with Boarding Gun, its like a belt fed shotgun firing slugs. Factor in the +bravery and its 45 or 50 damage too. Its literally what it says, a high damage SMG for close quarters work inside ships and urban enviros, to one-shot stop anyone or threaten and put down similar ubers. Crude, heavyAF but effective.

Both are probably Rifled as opposed to smoothbore, and they're clearly firing Brass Jacketed bullets which means probably high pressure. The Boarding Gun clearly uses Wadcutters as standard too, perfect for killing an uber.

The thing I want changed?
Weight of Gauss Weapons especially the Pistol. Not that I care for it statwise but because it makes zero sense for the civilians to use it. Feeble human soldiers and operatives would immediately Nope out of it and request XG guns, or the engineers would "scale down" the size to fit human physiques.

conservation of momentum doesn't apply when you're accelerating BB or Flechette size projectiles to 40-100 kilometers per second, inside mass-inhibiting micro gravity fields. Gun doesn't need to weigh 15 pounds.
Pistol would be a PDW, and it checks none of the marks of a PDW (capacity and ammo interchangeability, light weight, range). Nobody would use it, and Power Armor goons would use a Rifle/Sniper.

I always interpreted Gauss Weapons (TFTD style) to be Beam Weapons similar to star trek Phasers (like the ones from Undiscovered Country at least). Not a projectile but a super-laser with extreme overpenetration and impossible to reflect with shiny bits.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: amjh on March 16, 2021, 10:05:08 pm
Weight of Gauss Weapons especially the Pistol. Not that I care for it statwise but because it makes zero sense for the civilians to use it. Feeble human soldiers and operatives would immediately Nope out of it and request XG guns, or the engineers would "scale down" the size to fit human physiques.

Based on my understanding of the lore, people don't have much choice on what technology is available to them and all humans have significant amount of mutant ancestry. Look at the high-ranking humanists; they're supposedly the purest "pureblooded", but can rival the ubers in toughness and speed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Dogbarian on March 17, 2021, 08:24:41 pm
Nice; please might i ask for the RCF carabine to get a gunbutt attack?
No M16 variants were heavy enough or robust enough to have a decent gunbutt attack, particularly not from an Uber gal, maybe you’re thinking of the M14. Personally, I wouldn’t want to use a bayonet for real from one, either. It looks evil enough, but wouldn’t say it’s very effective. Leave that to the AK/Homefront.

I did kind of wonder why the muskets and flintlock pistols had 3 round ammo, but I figured that was just a way to abstract the loading.

And my 20 gauge pump is a lot heavier than 5 pounds. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 17, 2021, 09:14:27 pm
I did kind of wonder why the muskets and flintlock pistols had 3 round ammo, but I figured that was just a way to abstract the loading.

Item weight is not expressed in pounds (would be a weird unit to choose anyway). It is not represented in any units - note that corpses are usually like 30. The scale is perhaps somewhat logarithmic, or just an abstract expression of how uncomfortable something is to carry.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: legionof1 on March 18, 2021, 07:45:28 am
These clearly aren't regular muskets and would have to be breech-loaders to be usable at any sort of speed. I dont think they have 3 barrels, one of the splash graphics has a 3 barreled pistol but thats a clockwork gun.
You can combine shot and a compressed waxed pellet of propellant into effectively a rudimentary caseless round. Modern muskets have propellant cakes that go with a primer (or in some cases a peizo sparker, electric detonation). Gals could have something similar... where do you get the sparker... from a regular old budda smokes lighter.

The Reload speed should go away.
They're single shot weapons.
The reload after every shot is factored into their attack costs.
"Reloading" the musket is tantamount to having more rounds in hand to quickly stick in it. Its like the Grenade Launcher in Resident Evil... its got a unlimited capacity, you can stick all the grenades in it, etc.

Olde Shotgun with birdshot very likely Does have 4 barrels all lined up side by side just because of the weight of that thing (its like 11 pounds, my dad had a 20 gauge single barrel shotgun from Rossi that weighs 5 pounds).

Handcannons and Boarding guns are a game balance thing but its supposed to be Professional piratin tools, which you're not worthy of as pirates till later. Imagine the Handcannon (due to weight) actually does 50 damage like a shotgun shell pistol, except without the +Armor nerf that Muskets have, so it does 40 instead. You're lobbing probably an .80 or .90 caliber ball with that thing making as big a hole as a shotgun slug. The Mil. AP shotgun shells do 45 matey.

Same thing with Boarding Gun, its like a belt fed shotgun firing slugs. Factor in the +bravery and its 45 or 50 damage too. Its literally what it says, a high damage SMG for close quarters work inside ships and urban enviros, to one-shot stop anyone or threaten and put down similar ubers. Crude, heavyAF but effective.

Both are probably Rifled as opposed to smoothbore, and they're clearly firing Brass Jacketed bullets which means probably high pressure. The Boarding Gun clearly uses Wadcutters as standard too, perfect for killing an uber.
snip

That's alot of interpretation based on incomplete knowledge. Most of these weapons have strange amounts of ammo per unit because of inventory problems. Dioxine chose to give weapons like the musket more shots per item not because the gun was special but because it made even less sense to have a single bullet and powder load be as cumbersome as a cannon shell. Same with some of the shotguns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: Dioxine on March 18, 2021, 02:20:14 pm
i think currently are manufacturable at the extractor, right? For balancing purposesi'd lower the handcannon rounds damage to 35, and  make the  homefront rifle lighter than the rcf.

Good thing it's not you who's making the mod.

Gauss pistol, why so heavy: read entry on "adanced weapons".
RCF carbine buttstock: the stock contains parts of the mechanism, so using it to strike someone hard would render it inoperable.
Musket rounds in packs of 3 and other shit: Legion explained it all quite clearly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L7 04-Mar-2021 Lucky Seven
Post by: RSSwizard on March 18, 2021, 03:36:09 pm
Did some softening on the edges of the Shiny Niner, the lack of aliasing made it really grating to look at so I fixed it. Its sorta an important weapon.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Dioxine on March 26, 2021, 04:08:19 pm
Sorry RSS Wizard, this improved image came too late so I had no time to get it into current release... because L8 is up!
Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: RSSwizard on March 26, 2021, 09:39:08 pm
no prob, its also there if folks just want to drop it in
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Dogbarian on April 01, 2021, 12:52:19 am
Thanks for that!  Since I've unlocked Slay ammo, been actually using it some.  ;)

Has anyone talked about cleaning up the Lynx image any?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: RSSwizard on April 02, 2021, 11:39:15 pm
I wouldn't say the Lynx needs improved but the Autogun and AMG need the same treatment the Assault Rifle got. Because they are rather common weapons and the Autogun looks clunky yet you're kinda sorta supposed to use them.
This reminds me I need to build some Linux and give them to my Hero because of his massive bravery stat.

I would request a rework of the Scorpion tileset to make it look more like its badarse bootypedia image but it can wait - since its so painful to look at I just use it as an interceptor. It looks like a transforming car thats completely come apart. Even the basebits hangar icon for the Scorpion looks unrecognizable. I never noticed these things until now because im on my first red codex playthrough.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Apocca on April 06, 2021, 03:05:53 pm
"Conqueror is now a multi-stage project"
I like this! It was a drag to get the 250 hellerium fuel cells in the end. Took way too long. Or my income was not enough in the lategame (about 20M).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: nicedayright on April 06, 2021, 11:13:20 pm
I muddled through how to fix this on my own, but it sparked some curiosity. What was the logic behind disallowing ufo landing alert? Seems like it would force you to play in 5sec timescale every time a ship was on scope if you wanted to catch it on the ground.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 07, 2021, 01:45:15 am
It is a matter of design preference. Part of the early game is balancing risk vs reward of chaseing after landings. If you have auto warning and good base radar coverage you almost ignore all the early hunter killers threat.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: nicedayright on April 08, 2021, 09:32:32 pm
Ah, well, I'll just put that down on the list of things I'd prefer to have a choice over, but I know how to fix it, so I'm not gonna complain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 09, 2021, 04:23:15 pm
With this option on, the geoscape part of the game is reduced to start-stop. There is no experience of interacting with the planet, no time to chill between battles/management, and overall a fucked up game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Meridian on April 09, 2021, 04:44:28 pm
With this option on, the geoscape part of the game is reduced to start-stop. There is no experience of interacting with the planet, no time to chill between battles/management, and overall a fucked up game.

That's a great oversimplification.

You have plenty of interaction even with this option turned on.
You must keep the time passing on slow modes:
- to avoid UFOs getting out of radar reach
- to optimize craft flight trajectories
- to determine whether the UFO is even likely to land or not
- to manage interceptions
- to manage landing times (day/night)
- etc. etc.

The impact of this option on my gameplay (can't speak for others) is almost negligible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 09, 2021, 05:02:28 pm
Well, yeah, but following the UFO until it lands is an integral part of experience. Ditching it is not only lazy, but also feels rather barbaric.

Mind that I haven't disabled this option in my mod. If someone wants to play a castrated game, let them be my guest. But I fully understand why Dioxine disabled it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Meridian on April 09, 2021, 05:25:21 pm
I'm OK with the option being disabled.
(I have it disabled in my piratez campaign too)

As I said, it doesn't affect much, so I'm not missing it.
Just saying its impact may be exaggerated a bit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 09, 2021, 06:27:16 pm
Yeah, admittedly it was a little over the top... :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: nicedayright on April 09, 2021, 09:47:47 pm
Really didn't expect anyones feelings on the matter to be *that* dramatic. I play the game and primarily enjoy the tactical part of it, but the strategic can get a little overwhelming and I like to simplify where I can. Most of the UFO's I intercept on the ground are in the very early game where my craft are too slow to shadow them anyway. By all means, leave the option off by default. I just like having the ability to play a single player game without having someone else force me to play it "the right way."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 10, 2021, 05:15:48 am
Well not like you cant edit it. But there is such a thing as the authors intended experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: RSSwizard on April 11, 2021, 10:22:48 pm
The only bit I have to chime about it is the HK behavior and that there should be exemptions for certain crafts (Zeppelin im looking at you). That's an Oops that got overlooked when HK got introduced. The Blowfish and Airbus are good examples of crafts that arent a Zeppelin which the factions wouldn't bother targeting. The Blowfish are you kidding me? Thats an expedition thats obviously investigating the deep one threat, its so far below marsec vipers to even bother with.

Its not that they cant be Seen by the HK its that they've got Social Camouflage and the fighter shouldn't be considering them because they're just harmless. However I do think, if you engage an HK that should bunkerbuster through the protection, you pick a fight and they'll finish it.

This could probably have bit switches for different kinds of behavior. Some dudes like raider barques and wasp aircars dont care if you're official, unofficial, pirate, civilian, or whatever. If your craft doesn't check that bit matrix they get chased. The zeppelin has weapons slots so it can potentially shake off a Ninja Bike or Wasp.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 11, 2021, 10:47:59 pm
Would that the engine had that much nuance.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Retroactive on April 18, 2021, 04:41:22 am
Isn't the freshness drain on revenant armor a little over the top? Its even more than the blitz and ironman superhero armors!

And it isn't even particularly strong to justify it like with the latter 2 armors.



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 18, 2021, 05:57:09 am
Revanet does eat freshness like candy but is both lower tech then blitz, and does not have blitz or superhero flat morale decay.

Tech wise atm it signficantly easier to get then blitz, since blitz is behind two separate shield type gates and those are behind school graduation. Rev is back to school tier.

Superhero is alot closer but behind the "hero suit KIA" chain assuming you on the gal path to begin with. Assuming you don't get lucky with pillow books your looking at a month or longer extra delay as you sacrifice some slaves in battle in such condtions as you can get the corpses back intact. and that's beyond the fact its 3 ranks down power armor line compared to rev just being behind tac and metal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Retroactive on April 18, 2021, 08:18:13 am
Yeah comparing it to higher tier gear was a mistake on my part  :P, but still that freshness drain is crazy high, several turns into a shot down terror ship and that gal was already at half maximum freshness.

I don't see how you can use rev on any extended operation without becoming a hardcore smoker (which cost lots of hitpoints) or spamming pillow books (high TU's and stun damage).

I just hope rev's upgrade (brute armor) doesn't have quite as much freshness drain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Nilex on April 18, 2021, 11:37:43 am
Don't get your hopes up too high. I went to Brute straight from Synthmuscle and suddenly freshness became a problem out of nowhere. Must be because of Combat Drugs component Revenant requires, and consequently its two derivative armors. You'll just have to adapt or use another armor. Later on Assault Marine is a great alternative with 40% less drain than Revenant+. You can also 'Nep' someone (Hands menu) for extra 15 freshness (100k per and requires at least rank Mistress). Cigs? Those are for weak minds, better use extra TU to finish in less turns and no HP toll. Plus a freed slot for Shock'a'Fist.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Greep on April 19, 2021, 10:19:30 pm
Regarding freshness:  You can actually kind of ignore freshness for any armor that has 4x appendage slots of 2 width.  Just equip 4 drug dispensors and boom, even though you're at 0 freshness almost instantly, all of the negative effects will cancel out except some very very minor TU damage which you won't even experience unless you use up almost all of your TUs.  Super hardcore gals with lots of condemnations get more TU loss, though, since the drug dispensors give a flat increase to TU recovery but freshness deals with TUs using percentages.

2x drug dispensors still has a lot of TU damage, but at least you'll be in happy land and won't berserk constantly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 19, 2021, 11:29:37 pm
An interesting idea, 4x dispensers gives you 50%+24 TUs, 30%+24 energy, and negates morale drain for most armor. I guess it would keep you effective for a slow gun-line crawl across the map. You have issues with what modes and % time costs you can still afford to use since you will only have about 74% or less TUs available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Greep on April 20, 2021, 02:35:08 am
Well IIRC, the TU recovery loss from freshness doesn't cap your TUs, it's just how much you recover.  So if you have 50% of your TUs on a given turn for example, next turn you'll have 100%.  So you can have brief bursts of high activity for emergencies if you're careful.

There's also the possibility of just stuffing them in your backpacks until freshness hits a critical low point (or part 2 of cydonia to cheese the governors aura as well).  Beats the alternatives in any case.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 20, 2021, 03:01:24 am
sure dosen't cap you off but it does make slow to fire guns like snipers and aimed rockets an every other turn thing which was my main point
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Nilex on April 20, 2021, 03:14:07 am
It's an epically useful tip on rare occasions where freshness will likely get depleted anyway. For example: Mansion, Cruiser, Space Freighter, late stages of Winter Palace/Cydonia. In case the player is super-careful and plays slowly the usefulness becomes even greater. Of course it should be avoided with magic weapons but chances are wielders wear armor where drain isn't such an obstacle.
Well thanks for the tip Greep, I'll employ your tactic in Cydonia because it came too late for everywhere else :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 21, 2021, 04:39:08 am
I dont think cydonia is really the best use case either, at least being the very last battle, i break out the hoard of nukes/blaster bombs/whatever else i have been saveing up. I don't think ive had anything but my zubrin trip last longer then 15 turns between both stages.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Nilex on April 22, 2021, 12:41:33 am
Anyone figured out what the "Secret (x1)" L8 changelog weapon is - Stick Bomb, Warhammer, something else?
Implementation of previously unobtainable weapon as loot perhaps (Compact Carbine, Homing RPG)?

UPDATE
The Black Falcon
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: legionof1 on April 22, 2021, 01:08:52 am
Took me all of 2 mins. If your interested it's part of the extension of the Dr.X arc and the mission to her former home.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L8 26-Mar-2021 One Way Ticket To Argentina
Post by: Yirtimd2 on April 24, 2021, 10:54:26 pm
Oh yeah about that new Dr. X's mission! I Just finished that mission and have some fresh memories and emotions about it.

It was kinda funny to run through that corridor of death where humanists just sit in those armored bunkers and shoot in you. And they have Heavy weapons. Very Heavy. First time I used my B-team consisted of peasants and slave soldiers and all they could do was just dying in some horrible ways like in Vietnam  :)

Then I restarted it with my A-team consisted of Gals in power armor... and it was kinda easier (our heavy lasers are op vs stupid stationary heavy weapons) but then in the second part of this mission they used some Warp guns and I found that this is kinda funny that some dirty soldier with warp shotgun can oneshot heavy armored uber gal...

And then I got after that mission new cool sword and married my new Waifu Dr. X. After marriage ceremony I wanted to spend some night time with my waifu but she looked at me with grin face and said most horrible words in this situation:

"TO BE CONTINUED..."

And I was like: "Nyoooooooooo!!!!! My Waifu!!!"


P.S. : Mr. Dioxine and his team made great job as they always do! Can't wait to see continuation of Dr. X's stories as
Waifu and Knight. I think in knight's root we will make humanists good guys as they should be, maybe they will become something like, I don't know, Brotherhood of Steel or Enclave but good. Or not, who knows.

P.P.S. :
Idea of marrying your own mother as uber gal is kinda... Wicked? But anyway I just want to see continuation of that cool crazy story about Pirate Queen married her own mother and how they gonna own the whole world! 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Dioxine on April 30, 2021, 10:21:00 pm
New version up! Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: GENVOKE on May 01, 2021, 03:20:56 am
Hells yes  :-*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 01, 2021, 10:48:21 am
Nice timing! I just wanted to start new campaign on 3rd level of difficulty after I played it on 2nd!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on May 01, 2021, 06:23:19 pm
Y'all better make use of Personal Attention before it gets fixed ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Dogbarian on May 01, 2021, 09:22:17 pm
Nice new sound on the 30mm craft cannon.  :)

And new condemnation for Tank Killer!

Thanks Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on May 09, 2021, 04:08:54 pm
Gnome 9000 mentions grav module, but does not enable gnome to fly? What is the purpose of the grav module, then? It doesn't reduce weight nor enable flying...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on May 15, 2021, 04:08:36 am
Jesus H. Christ, just noticed this. Thank fuk for fixing this mtf!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on May 15, 2021, 03:26:48 pm
I remember that particular thing from OG X-Com, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 16, 2021, 12:25:28 pm
Jesus H. Christ, just noticed this. Thank fuk for fixing this mtf!

What was there? Some bug?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Delian on May 16, 2021, 02:48:33 pm
Enemy units are now gaining stun every turn for no reason?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Earthquake on May 16, 2021, 04:54:17 pm
I reaaaaaaly love this mod.
But i registered specially to say one thing.
The new one music for Interception is AWFUL! It so horrible, that I trying to do all the missions and ignore any flying object!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on May 16, 2021, 06:58:43 pm
What was there? Some bug?
Was worse than a mere bug. Traversing the intersection was a major PITA and the room itself one of the worst historical design to exist. I practically teared up when I saw the de-Golloped version.

The new one music for Interception is AWFUL!
Have to agree.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on May 16, 2021, 07:05:15 pm
Enemy units are now gaining stun every turn for no reason?

context please? There are a ton of factors that could do this, like environmental effects, loss of freshness, ect. We need to know more if you want an answer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Delian on May 16, 2021, 07:59:54 pm
The stun recovery for most enemy units (SECTION_STUN_RECOVERY_NORMAL) is now:
Health current : 0.06
Health : -0.09
Stun current : 0.036

For instance, if a unit has 100 health, 100 current health, 0 current stun, they would get: 6 - 9 + 0 = -3 stun recovery per turn. Therefore, they will accumulate stun until the "Stun current" offsets 2.5 stun; 2.5 / 0.036 = 69.4 so until their current stun is over 69. This value is of course higher if they're damaged in any way.
If a unit has 50 health, they will gain stun until their stun is... over 27. I should note that, if a unit with 50/50 health has 50 stun, they will never recover it and will stay stunned forever.

In L8 there was also Freshness normalized: 4.0 there, but in L9 it's currently missing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on May 16, 2021, 08:49:35 pm
Noted and passed along.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: The Martian on June 06, 2021, 12:21:57 pm
While diving around in XPiratez's art folders I noticed that "MPO_1.png" had odd red/orange sections on some but not all of its leg & arm frames.

I'm guessing that this is a graphical glitch and not intentional.
(If it is by design, please disregard this post as the ramblings of someone who has been looking way to close at too many sprite sheets.)

Example:
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54182)


I've attached a version without these red/orange patches to this post:
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54085)

Here are the originals with the red/orange patches for comparison:
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54087)


And, just for fun...

Boarman sailors!  ::)
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54089)(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54090)
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54091)
(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=54092)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 11, 2021, 08:01:32 pm
nice meme made itself there
(that sinking feeling when you see part of it, but you know the whole thing is there)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Usatyi1986 on June 13, 2021, 07:29:54 pm
Make bonus for malee attack with blades in both hands.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 15, 2021, 02:44:01 am
Oh that makes me wonder
is that script still active for being able to execute opponents if you're standing over them with a knife?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on June 15, 2021, 06:26:32 am
No it was removed, the idea had merit but the execution was awful. It just applied an arbitrarily large amount of damage without regards for armor or resistance. Given just how many tools could already force fire on bodies and have armor/resist still work it just wasn't working as desired.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on June 16, 2021, 01:26:35 am
To be fair, unless someone is completely immune to being stabbed, executing downed opponents with a knife, through heavy armor, is actually historical. The knife would not have otherwise been effective in a live combat against said opponent, but once downed and you can target any opening or weakness at leisure, you could thus execute them in this way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 16, 2021, 10:32:26 pm
This is how Crysallids and Tentaculats are supposed to kill power armored soldiers anyway. Because they just poke your neck seal or the face shield and away you go.

I can see why itd be removed. Though it means needing a pistol or such on hand not just melee if you want to be sure things be dead. Having noticed this ive started carrying arpund Small Revolvers/MAG for melee characters just in case. A boom fruit can blow away other loot on them.

The main thing being like if you dont want marsec bodyguards to survive so you get the PBA parts x1, verses being stuck at a Prison Full screen and forced to sell them for 70k and not get the parts (yeah but the other base prison is full too  :-\ )

Also the whole Deep Ones prize thing since they're notorious for getting wounded but not dying right off. And as it so happens you often shoot them down rather than go toe to toe. There's no Extraction option (execution) to transmute a live Deep One into simply a dead one, it just butchers them for meat instead.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on June 17, 2021, 06:05:38 am
To be fair, unless someone is completely immune to being stabbed, executing downed opponents with a knife, through heavy armor, is actually historical. The knife would not have otherwise been effective in a live combat against said opponent, but once downed and you can target any opening or weakness at leisure, you could thus execute them in this way.
You made the point for exactly why it was removed. The execution made no provision for a unit that should be immune based on physiology, when multiple mods had robots, various cybernetics, or extra dimensional life. It was just click to deal infinite arbitrary damage for flat cost. It also ignored alot of other rules like self destruct, or overkill.

the concept was sound, but was so crudely executed that it was not fit for purpose. Kinda like a lock that would open for any key.   
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 17, 2021, 11:02:50 pm
I like some of the changes that have been made. The new Shipping Crate is a nice touch. And I agree with the switch to Plasma Rockets for Supply Ships, since the baby nukes are illegal and not even the traders should be fielding them (a baby nuke is also sorta hard to use).

I do wonder why it was given a Game-Fail ending if you exceed the time limit though. Just put the 20 turn invisible nuke back in it and turn it up to 3000 damage or something. You dont lose the game if your ship and crew are zorched, thats supposed to be a Mars Final Assault thing.

Checked out where baby nukes are at now. Gonna be a whole lot rarer (raider gunships like never happen almost ever). Well if they're needed I guess they can be built. But if you really need to do 300 damage to someone a tank lascannon does 275. So they're basically not a thing anymore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on June 18, 2021, 02:46:27 am
snip
I do wonder why it was given a Game-Fail ending if you exceed the time limit though. Just put the 20 turn invisible nuke back in it and turn it up to 3000 damage or something. You dont lose the game if your ship and crew are zorched, thats supposed to be a Mars Final Assault thing.
snip
Well that's almost certainly a bug. ill pass it along.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on June 18, 2021, 05:28:11 pm
I like some of the changes that have been made. The new Shipping Crate is a nice touch. And I agree with the switch to Plasma Rockets for Supply Ships, since the baby nukes are illegal and not even the traders should be fielding them (a baby nuke is also sorta hard to use).
Honestly, enemies equipped with nukes are more of a danger to themselves than you, as they recklessly discharge these weapons without regards for how many of their own guys will be caught in the blast. The result being that they will discharge these things into the side of your dropship, killing half of their entire team but failing to actually harm any of yours.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 18, 2021, 08:08:42 pm
Well that's almost certainly a bug. ill pass it along.
Yeah Supply Ships are set to Mission Fail rather than Mission Abort.
Turn Limit is set to 10
And there's even a background image explosion and language text that says "see you around next time... somewhere..." or such.

Seems quite intentional.
I hacked my .rul file to set it to 20 turns just because I finish them off quick enough.

If Dioxine doesn't want people harvesting supply ships and just wants people to pay the ~350 monthly infamy for not killing the base... put an SDD strength invisible nuke and set its countdown to 4 turns or something like that. So its still possible but very dicey. Or you could kill a few guys, pry items off of them, then hustle out.


Honestly, enemies equipped with nukes are more of a danger to themselves than you, as they recklessly discharge these weapons without regards for how many of their own guys will be caught in the blast.

This Most Certainly needs to be changed with the Siberia mission because they're almost always underground, and even the dude at the bunker entrance is so easy to kill - if he fires his baby nuke usually it just stays contained (and vertical) to that bunker entrance.

I often see a dude down in the lower level with a baby nuke and it makes him do nothing since he cant seem to calculate any angle where he can safely use it (for his own sake). So he just dies and is a baby-nuke-giver.

I mean I dont know what those stormtroopers could be given to make them as much of an intended hassle to (more than 1 gal at a time).

Maybe a Plasma Scorcher?
It is a one off big mission after all.
Plasma Scorchers break your heart and they're totally deployable.
And its a long time before you can use them, maybe well after Siberia.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on June 18, 2021, 09:46:40 pm
You made the point for exactly why it was removed. The execution made no provision for a unit that should be immune based on physiology, when multiple mods had robots, various cybernetics, or extra dimensional life. It was just click to deal infinite arbitrary damage for flat cost. It also ignored alot of other rules like self destruct, or overkill.
Well, if that damage had a type, then having huge amounts of a damage type would still mean a thing immune to that damage type wouldn't be affected. Otherwise, you could absolutely destroy a robot or a cyborg that lacks the ability to resist you with a knife that you wouldn't otherwise be able to kill in combat. Take an HK. An HK, you'd think, would largely be invulnerable to knifing in combat, and for the most part, it mostly is, having enough resist that all but the luckiest and strongest knife attacks simply bounce off. But if the thing is DOWNED, you could now stab it in the wires. Because now you have plenty of time to precision-target cracks to reach components you couldn't otherwise have hit under combat conditions.

Something like a ghost, on the other hand, might just be straight up immune to being stabbed, period, so whether you're doing 20 stab damage or 20000 stab damage, 100% immunity gives you zero damage.

As for overkill, overkill results in this game are already weird. I can, apparently, disintegrate a Sectopod with a MAG Rocket, which is basically a kinetic strike and thus should not really have the capability to vaporize an opponent.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 18, 2021, 10:20:41 pm
Well, if that damage had a type, then having huge amounts of a damage type would still mean a thing immune to that damage type wouldn't be affected.
Overkill is similar to items on the ground disappearing when struck.
They have become gibbified. The sectopod struck with a MAG rocket flying apart so violently you cant salvage it. Smithereens man.
Or in the case of items, an explosion kicks the item down the road both destroying it and also rendering it lost in some way (many modern fps games will scatter ground objects like spare guns when hit with an explosion, in Halo Combat Evolved this was the case and there was a chance they were rendered inert even if you tracked them down. Sorry no extra 12 Shotgun Shells for you).

Glad you replied so I dont gotta doublepost.
I have a formal request/idea for Siberia which includes bringing back having your landing craft there (to protect the loot pile). Im putting it in the request bin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on June 19, 2021, 12:16:47 am
Yeah Supply Ships are set to Mission Fail rather than Mission Abort.
Turn Limit is set to 10
And there's even a background image explosion and language text that says "see you around next time... somewhere..." or such.
snip

Well i guess a custom game over screen is pretty definitive, shows me for not loseing i guess  ::)
Guess that puts in balance  rather then bug land.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on June 19, 2021, 12:54:35 am
Wait, you instantly lose the entire game if you run out of turns on a Supply Ship Raid?

That seems weird and doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would you lose the entire game? I never ran out of turns before, but I figured that it was just the timer for when enemy reinforcements would start showing up or something. There doesn't seem to be any logical reason for why there would be such disastrous consequences for failing to clear out a supply ship within only a few turns. Even in a scenario where the entire ship will explode, that doesn't seem like a game-ending disaster (nor is there any logical reason why a supply ship would explode when far more important targets don't).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 19, 2021, 03:44:53 am
I never ran out of turns before, but I figured that it was just the timer for when enemy reinforcements would start showing up or something.
originally there was an invisible baby nuke in the bowels of the ship that'd blow after a number of turns, I forget if it was 10 or 16 or 20. It would take out most of the map and erase most of the ship, leaving a few dangling pieces hanging in midair near the cockpit.
And oddly the one time that it got me, the Marsec Bodyguard up in the cockpit was still barely alive after it went off.

Well i guess a custom game over screen is pretty definitive, shows me for not loseing i guess  ::)
Guess that puts in balance  rather then bug land.

 
Code: [Select]
type: STR_SUPPLY_SHIP
 width: 60
 length: 60
 height: 7
 turnLimit: 10
 chronoTrigger: 0 #(0-lose, 1-abort, 2-win)
 loseCutscene: SupplyShipExplodes
it has a Lose Cutscene
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: username on June 19, 2021, 03:12:00 pm
This still doesn't explain WHY, though. It's like watching a car drive off a cliff and then explode in midair.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 21, 2021, 02:25:04 am
Would like to say...
my updated (aliased) Shiny Niner didn't get put in even though there's been a couple updates since then.

And with the new Truncated fast hit anims it might be a good idea to just use different hit gfx for them specifically designed for being 2, or 3, or 4 frames long. Personally I like the idea of Goldeneye 007 style with that where it shows a golden impact sprite that doesn't evolve. Dare I say that the Doom puff animation (3 frames) is also applicable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Brittanicus on June 26, 2021, 03:49:47 pm
Been watching Meridians playthrough on YT and i saw that he was able to move facilities around the base, is there a way to re enable this? If its okay for him to do on a video series then i don't see a problem with a private game, i get serious OCD about these locations too so i am deleting buildings only to place them somewhere else and its frankly tedious. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on June 28, 2021, 07:35:22 pm
It was done by using CTRL to move facilities around but the feature was removed permanently because I guess it posed no gameplay challenge. I wasn't around back then to fully understand this decision but as a devoted OCD gamer I suffered greatly in its absence. To me there is little challenge in unnecessary delaying the inevitable which ends being optimally placed facilities. But like I said I don't fully understand and some grief is crucial to good gameplay I just don't like the source of it.

Besides functionality my hideouts simply must conform to some aesthetical design (research and leisure close to living which is clumped together, manufacture complex far away bcoz noise, radar in the centre, medical close to living/hangar/prison, storage close to manufacture, and so on lol...). With game constantly throwing new facilitates at you it was impossible to cope in satisfactory way. Just when you thought you placed everything perfectly another one messes up the order. Only in the very end game was I able to finally rest happily when the unknown became known. Couldn't stand to watch YT-ers gameplay videos where they place stuff on first available space, such hideous hideouts.

You aren't the first nor will be the last person to ask but the author is pretty adamant in the feature never again seeing the light of day. What you can do instead is change individual facility coordinates by editing save file. Coords are stored not long after individual hideout names and are relatively straight forward to edit. You gotta weight between immersion break or suffering hehe. I wasn't of the suffering type :)

I could also showcase you my endgame hideout types with screenshots (or savegame), to help you plan ahead if you wish. 2 research, 4 generic all-in-one, 2 factory/heavy production/income types. Pretty much min/max'd to perfection if I do say so myself. Spoils the living shit out of everything, including your own snese of accomplishment, but that's the price you gotta be willing to pay.

* * *

My suggestion would be to bring back the feature but locked behind mid-game techs. Some shadowrealm ability that lets you teleport matter through their dimension or something, for a price of course (hypno panels? millions? both?. Since the number of facilities only increased since then while hideouts dimensions remain forever fixed some kind of bone thrown in our direction defo wouldn't hurt.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 28, 2021, 10:36:14 pm
Anyone heard from Dioxine?
profile says he hasn't been here since early May...
(did he get covid?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Brittanicus on June 28, 2021, 11:09:50 pm
You aren't the first nor will be the last person to ask but the author is pretty adamant in the feature never again seeing the light of day. What you can do instead is change individual facility coordinates by editing save file. Coords are stored not long after individual hideout names and are relatively straight forward to edit. You gotta weight between immersion break or suffering hehe. I wasn't of the suffering type :)

I could also showcase you my endgame hideout types with screenshots (or savegame), to help you plan ahead if you wish. 2 research, 4 generic all-in-one, 2 factory/heavy production/income types. Pretty much min/max'd to perfection if I do say so myself. Spoils the living shit out of everything, including your own snese of accomplishment, but that's the price you gotta be willing to pay.

By author do you mean Meridian? Forgive my ignorance i don't really know of anybody else on the OXC team. In the process of my search for the existence of this feature i actually came across posts from him where he justified its continued inclusion in the face of accusations about it being unrealistic, talking about how other things in XCom are unrealistic too and he also doesn't have the patience to deal with base layout. Safe to say i completely agree with both you and him, so i am curious what changed.

Honestly i was mainly looking for a way to re enable like you would any other gameplay tweak in the options, its ultimately a subjective thing, but if the code has completely been stripped out then yeah please i would be interested in the save game editing for sure if you have the patience to explain, it has to be easier than the absolute waste of time i am going through right now in the fight for aesthetics in the face of an insurmountable number of facilities haha. Will have to graciously decline the screenshots of bases however, never reached the end game so wouldn't have a clue what they were and would like to avoid spoilers where possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on June 29, 2021, 12:16:29 am
@RSSwizard
Check Discord, he came back from vacation recently and teases us with upcoming stuff. I gotta wrap up before new patch hits or I'll never leave this place...

@Brittanicus
I mean Dioxine. As far I gathered the code is present in OXCE but disabled for use in XPZ. Cannot be enabled by a simple user option. But it could go even further, meaning removed mechanically from XPZ so even if re-enabled it wouldn't be of any use. Best to make peace with the fact it's gone forever.

I'll send you detailed save edit instructions in PM as I don't wanna pollute the topic with that. It basically boils down to: open file, change few logical numbers, save changes, reload and continue. Gimme a few mins.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 29, 2021, 03:05:35 pm
No, the facility tetris was removed from OXCE entirely by Meridian. It has nothing to do with what mod authors decide.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on June 29, 2021, 08:10:52 pm
that's acceptable and I always try to plan well on facilities
but due to various screwups or not wanting to spend 2+ months ingame remodeling a base I will sometimes go in the save and alter the coordinates on a building or two. But it is very rare.
My solution is I make alot of use of security corridors. I dont really want anything in the basement sludge anyway during a raid. And when starting a new base I always put the Access Lift in the corner, usually a Hangar and Flak Cannon next to it. It'll be awhile before ill do anything with that base - but its more efficient on placement in the end.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: AlexKrinov on June 30, 2021, 04:23:00 pm
Hello.

Please help ma a little, where I can get "quiver tarnian" in xpiratez? I researched longbow and all, what is needed to this type of arrors, but they are not added to reserch list... Or I need to find them in ground combat?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on June 30, 2021, 10:35:24 pm
Had this short but beautiful epic moment last night: my first and only Pink Desert farm map, with added bonus of equally epic old-skool Tristram music notes undertone. Pretty cool to stumble upon such a nice looking/sounding combo, when I long since thought I had already seen everything.
Like with the flying Tomatoes cluster months prior I was again taken aback and had to finish the playing session for the day. Let it finish on a high note!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: ZoA on June 30, 2021, 11:04:04 pm
Never seen that purple map before. Is that some kind of night vision effect or special very rare map?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on June 30, 2021, 11:24:40 pm
It's a regular day-time Bandit Town mission that happened to mix with Pink Desert environment (like Radiation but much rarer). No filters or anything. I'd guess Pink Desert has only 1% chance of occurring and to me only happened in jungle maps, and one time in that high Demon Tower, until now. Still haven't moved since yesterday coz I don't wanna ruin it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on July 01, 2021, 03:43:41 am
Had this short but beautiful epic moment last night: my first and only Pink Desert farm map

This is a Psychedelic mapset
its not pink desert
it imposes a psychadelic penalty that hits low bravery the hardest, its just like the Awesome Party map where you beat up like 20 mobs wearing a party dress.

One benefit, if any, is you get lots of Sectoweed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on July 01, 2021, 04:50:28 am
Yeah you are right, I even got Sectoweed. I just call everything psychedelic a Pink Desert coz that's where I first learned about it. I meant the same thing tho. Also, now that you've mentioned it, I've been getting it on Parties far more often than anywhere else.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on July 01, 2021, 03:38:18 pm
Hello.

Please help ma a little, where I can get "quiver tarnian" in xpiratez? I researched longbow and all, what is needed to this type of arrors, but they are not added to reserch list... Or I need to find them in ground combat?

It is a researched item, the usual culprits for missing prerequisites are zombies and necropirates. To find out exactly what your missing press Q on geoscape to open the tech viewer and from the search the arrows and work the links back until you find you problem.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on July 02, 2021, 04:14:47 am
Yeah you are right, I even got Sectoweed. I just call everything psychedelic a Pink Desert coz that's where I first learned about it.
Actually the Pink Desert is a completely different thing, and just has timed invisible explosives that go off doing (charm?) damage that knocks you out. And the NPCs too!!!!!
Psychedelic is a completely different thing, it imposes a Condition.
Whats really nasty are those dark forests with red and purple vines that fill with smoke, and some of them attack you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Nilex on July 03, 2021, 03:04:06 am
Finally finished ;D

Final two stages took some 4-5 hours together. Expected an easy massacre but both stages proved challenging enough. 2 Chorts /Dispersed were decisive on the surface while 4 Sorcerers made a huge difference underground. Glad I made the switch from Ghosts. Gray Codex FTW!

Only the second real mod I ever played (after "Doom the Way id Did" which sucked) and already hit the longest largest game I ever played. Of what I know only Gary Grigsby wargames surpass XPZ in size and complexity but are far less user friendly. XPZ showed me a mod can be better than the base game it sprouted from. Immeasurably better. Last night I sorted moddb mods by top order for the first time and saw it's a dangerous place one could lose his whole life on. As an old TIE Fighter fanatic TFTC is eye watering :'(

Only thing left to do is to post a summary of my thoughts/review/feedback/rant hybrid and pack my bags. Tomorrow though, in own topic. Need to recharge my freshness now. Just wonder how close was I to getting side-tracked with yet another update I know I wouldn't be able to resist.
Thank you for everything Dio, I hope glory and riches find you. Huge thanks to infinitely patient legionof1 as well for his extensive, quick and accurate help throughout.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Earthquake on July 06, 2021, 02:59:48 pm
When next update?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on July 07, 2021, 03:29:32 am
Soon "TM"   But honestly i don't think it will be more then a week or 2. Dioxine has been putting up alot of recent teasers on the discord, which usually means a release is nigh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Earthquake on July 07, 2021, 11:45:48 am
Great.
I don't use discord, so thank for inspiring news :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: RSSwizard on July 12, 2021, 08:25:12 pm
A little thing I noticed... the 85mm Battlecannon actually has a rather huge blast radius considering NPC tanks do nearly the same damage and have a fraction of the size. Also like the same size or even bigger than the Rocket Launcher/DP even though the rockets are alot bigger. The hellerium rounds just bring it to a whole nother level and practically outpace Bombard while carrying 14 rounds of it. While being able to deliver (3?) shots of it every turn.

This would be a case for nerfing the blast radius of the 85mm Battlecannon. Maybe by 25-33% (falloff 13 to 15). I can see reasons for keeping it large as a counterbalance, but maybe it ought to be called a 105mm Howitzer to match it.

As for "too big to use" counterbalance generally its easy enough to chew through most targets with the machinegun if there's only one or a couple. Its not like it stops you from using the unit if there's civvies or loot nearby.
Full round bursting of PS or MAG can usually tear down power armour
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on July 13, 2021, 07:28:12 am
Well the intended use case for the bombard is indirect fire so it's not exactly the same role. But yeah 85mm is huge cause it uses normal radius calcs(power/10), rather then the npc version which has a hard limit. Mostly so it wont blow itself up too frequently. The ai has a poor grasp on aoe safety so its best to give them constrained versions lest they look stupider then they really are.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Earthquake on July 13, 2021, 11:23:22 am
Why don't give to AI two types of ammo, like in players tanks?
One standard HE shell, another - armor penetration shell (in higher difficulty, maybe with devastating effect to armor)?


And I have important question...
I gained in the end of battle mind controlled Sectopod. Why I must kill him to finish the mission? Why I cant take it as pet? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on July 13, 2021, 04:44:13 pm
Why don't give to AI two types of ammo, like in players tanks?
One standard HE shell, another - armor penetration shell (in higher difficulty, maybe with devastating effect to armor)?
snip

Cause the AI has no code to grasp multiple load options. It's i haz gun i shootz gun basic. if it must reload it grabs the fastest reload available. if it has multiple guns in hand use the fastest option that exceeds a lower accuracy bound(which is default 10%), this also extends to auto/burst/ect.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: Earthquake on July 14, 2021, 12:50:14 am
Cause the AI has no code to grasp multiple load options. It's i haz gun i shootz gun basic. if it must reload it grabs the fastest reload available. if it has multiple guns in hand use the fastest option that exceeds a lower accuracy bound(which is default 10%), this also extends to auto/burst/ect.

Add just Tank mk.2 with different ammo? And set a randomizer to each battle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L9 30-Apr-2021 Personal Attention
Post by: legionof1 on July 15, 2021, 06:43:14 am
More effort then its worth, to alter the unit composition you need to mess around with the deploy table. There are a fixed number of rank slots in a deployment, and what fills a rank is also fixed. Stack that with the fixed weapons nature of NPC HWP and you have a pretty inflexible composition.

Any single change in the composition, while keeping the old one means you need to clone the whole deployment system up to the faction level, and mission table.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Dioxine on July 18, 2021, 08:43:19 pm
New version up! Enjoy.
Please be sure to check the thread about updating saves this time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Nilex on July 18, 2021, 11:23:50 pm
New kill criteria reqs look very tasty indeed.
Too bad the plebians will never understand :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Yirtimd2 on July 19, 2021, 12:11:56 am
Damn! Right about time!

P. S.: I guess it is a reference to post-apoclyptic mod for another great game? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Earthquake on July 19, 2021, 01:17:10 pm
Oh, good update.
Especially about "discount" on hardest skill.
For now, you must pay only 600 millions to get rid of Demon Invasion, instead of 999 millions xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: hitthat on July 20, 2021, 11:37:13 am
I see there are western themed map...dont't know whether gonna be planned such outfits for gals and slave soldiers...and at least a map with a train/train station? no western that worth the name should miss one!!  :P anyway let's jump into a blaze of glory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylvuRp2IG-g)!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: RSSwizard on July 20, 2021, 03:53:48 pm
Re: Spin The Wheel costs tokens now

Muton merc hammers down "NO FUN ALLOWED" sign, with hovertanks flying in the background.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Dogbarian on July 20, 2021, 09:14:16 pm
Dang, too bad I redeemed the last of my expensive coupons recently (which cost me most of my saved Jack tokens). Oh well, next run through maybe (who am I kidding about when that will ever happen?).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Barleyman on July 21, 2021, 12:32:01 am
Recruiting Freak Gals needs 2k prize from Jack now? Kind of weird as I actually have one as a guest (in prison) and the recruiting shows as a valid manufacturing option but there's no start project button
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Earthquake on July 21, 2021, 01:02:43 am
Recruiting Freak Gals needs 2k prize from Jack now? Kind of weird as I actually have one as a guest (in prison) and the recruiting shows as a valid manufacturing option but there's no start project button

Check free space for crew.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Dioxine on July 21, 2021, 01:31:04 am
Important: the L10 version contained some nasty game-crashing bugs. They have been fixed by now. Please redownload.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Barleyman on July 21, 2021, 02:31:54 pm
Check free space for crew.

Right you are, my bad. I guess the 2k prize is for being able to recruit freaks directly on black market.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: RSSwizard on July 25, 2021, 06:41:18 pm
I took the Bounty Hunting Challenge for uncle jack and found my Tiger Tank remarkably easy to kill. The thing is I didn't expect all those other mobs to be around and got caught a little off guard since most of my hands had Adv. Rocket Launcher and had to pull pistols to deal with them.

Based on descriptions this is probably the easiest of the 3 bounty hunting challenges since the other two seem to vividly emasculate you in some way. Then again I think this BH challenge has been around for a long time before the introduction of Anti-Tank Rockets for the standard high gauge RL. I think it took 2 shots and I was like "Hmmm" since 2 gals with Assassin jumped out and spiked it then started taking reaction fire from the mobs.

(ohhh what are you doing to our poor tank! blam blam we'll get you for that!)

I was expecting the tank to actually return fire (?) but I guess its reactions are low enough that the first shot didnt trigger it. I can only imagine how much damage it could've done, but it just sat there.

Also I apparently got 2 Battle Tokens instead of 1.
The explosion on the tank looks absolutely spectacular too but ironically is rather limited.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: mercy on July 26, 2021, 12:36:09 am
"Article Item"-screen recolor.
+ Subdued bright background graphics, so it doesn't strain the eyes.
+ Reformatted parts: moved borders out of the way of text and ammo, items, etc..
+ Easier to read text color  selected
Install:
Back up first this file:
..\XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Resources\Backgrounds\EQP_Brown2X4.gif
Then replace it with the attached GIF.

New colors for the button and text:
In this file:
..\XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez.rul
look for the bolded text  to find this section
Only the underlined numbers need to be changed.

Quote
  - type: articleItem
    elements:
      - id: button
        color: 133  # aye, prev, next, anal,
      - id: text
        color: 135  # 135

(https://i.ibb.co/s62B9fY/screen039.png)

New palette cannot be activated:

Unfortunately the engine doesn't react to / detects new palette definition:  (probably some kind of palette limit reached / buffer full etc..)

I took care to only try to select palettes, which are defined in Recolr.rul. But it doesn't work. :(

Quote
  - type: articleItem
    palette: PAL_MAGMA
    elements:
      - id: button

This text color and its palette for example would be excellent for the article item screen:
(https://i.ibb.co/NLYtnT2/screen036.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Meridian on July 26, 2021, 10:27:44 am
Unfortunately the engine doesn't react to / detects new palette definition:  (probably some kind of palette limit reached / buffer full etc..)

Custom palettes are not supported for this type of article.
It must be PAL_BATTLEPEDIA, otherwise the weapons/ammo/items would not be rendered correctly.

More info here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4957.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: mercy on July 26, 2021, 11:48:36 am
Custom palettes are not supported for this type of article.
It must be PAL_BATTLEPEDIA, otherwise the weapons/ammo/items would not be rendered correctly.

More info here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4957.0.html
Thank You for the info.
Since this screen contains lots of key tactical data on weapons & tools - frequently re-read -, it would make sense to display it as excellently as on crafts screens.  For example this problem could be solved with still using the same pallette but coding in an extra feature allowing to select the main font color and its outline separately by putting in just an extra color_outline parameter into the article item section. I would instantly chose a brighter main font color and a darker outline color from the same palette, to make the text pop beautifully. There are enough colors for this on PAL_BATTLEPEDIA.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Meridian on July 26, 2021, 12:36:39 pm
That's not how text color works in OpenXcom though.
Text color attribute defines a range of 5 colors, all 5 of which are used. 1 main + 4 outline colors.

For example color attribute 239 means a color range of 240-244 (242 is the main color and the other 4 colors are light and dark outlines... or something like that).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: mercy on July 27, 2021, 11:55:54 am
That's not how text color works in OpenXcom though.
Text color attribute defines a range of 5 colors, all 5 of which are used. 1 main + 4 outline colors.

For example color attribute 239 means a color range of 240-244 (242 is the main color and the other 4 colors are light and dark outlines... or something like that).
This post of yours solved the problem. Now fonts are super sharp and the article-item screen is easier to read. Thank You!
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=1713.msg76884#msg76884

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: mercy on August 01, 2021, 05:13:13 pm
XPiratez Factions:
If this would be a campaign-based or career-based game, where you could select different factions to play with.. I would try out to play as Bandits and go against the authorities, traders guild, church and because they can attack us as well, against the Über Gals too. :D  This would be just an exotic curiosity, a grind-down campaign, to see how long you can last - as Bandits - against the world. :)

XPiratez 2: Fortress City Wars
Bootypedia talks about supermax safe cities that cannot be stormed. Well.. after killing the Star Governor, The Gals get the weird idea into their cute heads, that with all the hi-tech equipment and R&D Know-How acquired so far, they can indeed lay siege to any of those large & mysterious cities.  Cities act as persistent fortresses: any damage done to them remains, carries through the campaign, as previously discussed.  Basically a city siege consists a chain of maps: like Sea Oddities--Ghost Girls. Just longer chain and way deadlier city defenders with Big Mechs, Fortress Tanks, large caliber artillery, Tesla Towers, DemonGates, in this case.
Encountering any very beefy and mysterious demonic force / host - like the one that can make an entire city population disappear overnight  - is an added big surprise during such sieges.
The ultimate goal of the game is to free all mutants & enslaved unfortunates and establish sane  governments free of the Star Gods rule on Earth.

- - -

XPiratez 3: Interstellar Mercenaries
With the death of the Star Governor on Mars and the Liberation of Earth, the game expands into space and continues with acquiring more powerful star-tech and space ships. Ultimately you go against the Shadow Lords / Star Gods.
After acquiring Dimension Portal tech, you have the opportunity - as side-quests / go against Mini-Bosses - to massacre a couple of Lokk'Naar Deities and other, similar power-level Supreme Beings who love to mess with the minds of planetary inhabitants (like on Earth). Submit these lesser gods to enslave them to you, so you harness their energy/power or erase them from all existence.
At the end You become a Star God / Shadowlord yourself and establish any rule you want: Sane = Order  or  Evil = Chaotic.

[saved as reference for later]
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: RSSwizard on August 02, 2021, 11:58:51 pm
Posted a mod.io for reverting the Gambling dynamics back to the original. Hey its up to you if you want to use it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: Earthquake on August 22, 2021, 07:30:59 pm
When the next update? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L10 18-Jul-2021 Old Earth Blues
Post by: ontherun on August 27, 2021, 10:36:56 am
"Article Item"-screen recolor.
+ Subdued bright background graphics, so it doesn't strain the eyes.
+ Reformatted parts: moved borders out of the way of text and ammo, items, etc..
+ Easier to read text color  selected
Install:
Back up first this file:
..\XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Resources\Backgrounds\EQP_Brown2X4.gif
Then replace it with the attached GIF.

New colors for the button and text:
In this file:
..\XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez.rul
look for the bolded text  to find this section
Only the underlined numbers need to be changed.

(https://i.ibb.co/s62B9fY/screen039.png)

New palette cannot be activated:

Unfortunately the engine doesn't react to / detects new palette definition:  (probably some kind of palette limit reached / buffer full etc..)

I took care to only try to select palettes, which are defined in Recolr.rul. But it doesn't work. :(

This text color and its palette for example would be excellent for the article item screen:
(https://i.ibb.co/NLYtnT2/screen036.png)

Yes please, consider another palette for eye relief? As of now we are at the 0.99L10 verison i think it might be safe to say that the game is half way complete? I mean the L letter is in the middle of the latin alphabet...

Sidenote: Matrons, Church warmaiden and other faction trrops shoul not carry a illhook, it's more an "amateur" thing, pheraphs i wish only bandits and minor characters will wield it...how about to replace it with a military knife rambo alike? Google about it...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Dioxine on August 29, 2021, 11:51:57 am
New version up! Enjoy the double size of the update! 4 completely new terrains, and easily over TWENTY new missions! And of course gradual improvements added to much of old content.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Aoi on August 30, 2021, 06:16:55 am
Quote
- Difficulty coefficients changed (removed armor&aim buff on JS, more stats and sell prices impact to compensate)

Not too aware of what the difficulty settings impacted beforehand, but... is that John Silver or Jack Sparrow?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 30, 2021, 10:54:07 am
Not too aware of what the difficulty settings impacted beforehand, but... is that John Silver or Jack Sparrow?

Jack Sparrow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: aku on August 30, 2021, 08:31:53 pm
Aw sweet! Was getting rng blocked for cydonia codes in last version. Gonna start a new game then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: JamTheDane on August 31, 2021, 01:00:01 am
Damn, my 4th restart now, and I have still not managed to get further than early mid-game. I'll never finish a game this way  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on August 31, 2021, 02:00:53 am
Started new game. Ninja outpost spawned near to my first base so close, their defenses attack ANY vessel, coming from my base.
Deal with them by walking to it, but it was reaaally tough battle - I just invented chainmail and M-lasers. Yep, the hardest difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Iazo on August 31, 2021, 02:20:25 pm
That is a hell lot of other bases around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on August 31, 2021, 11:30:35 pm
There is no way to capture the Sky Ninjas Fortress? After shooting it to bits couple times, I figured I would wait for a landing with keeping one of my crafts near it. But unfortunately it just disappears from radar just over the city of Thebes.
All other ships give a nice landing warning and go green on the ground.  I have sent my Spy Zeppelin above the site, where they pulled off their 'Sky Ninja Disappear Act' to maybe discover their base later somehow? Is this the intended way to go after them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Ultimoos on September 01, 2021, 02:29:33 pm
I can't deal with negative score. I'm playing at difficulty 3. In April Sky ninjas make an airfield and suck all the points I make. How do you deal with this? The only way to attack them at this point is hunting party with 8 gals, absolute crap weapons and warrior armor at best. What is the intended way of dealing with this?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2021, 12:11:55 am
There is no way to capture the Sky Ninjas Fortress? After shooting it to bits couple times, I figured I would wait for a landing with keeping one of my crafts near it. But unfortunately it just disappears from radar just over the city of Thebes.
All other ships give a nice landing warning and go green on the ground.  I have sent my Spy Zeppelin above the site, where they pulled off their 'Sky Ninja Disappear Act' to maybe discover their base later somehow? Is this the intended way to go after them?
The craft vanishes when it completes it's wave timer, and the base will appear somewhere in the same world region, like North Africa for example. It's not possible in code to get it to go poof exactly where the base spawns, since this bit of stage magic is using separate mechanisms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on September 02, 2021, 05:02:15 am
The craft vanishes when it completes it's wave timer, and the base will appear somewhere in the same world region, like North Africa for example. It's not possible in code to get it to go poof exactly where the base spawns, since this bit of stage magic is using separate mechanisms.
Exactly this happened. Out of nowhere, couple hundred miles away, in the same region, ninja craft started attacking my planes. Then after couple such skirmishes I re-directed my spy Zeppelin to same area. Not so long after their base was spotted right beside my Zeppelin. It just shot down a Ninja Seeking Craft.  Okay, tomorrow I'm going to pay their base a visit with a large 55+ party on my favorite, modded Thunderhorse.
I like waging large-scale wars on superhuman, but no ironman to prevent stress: We get that way too much IRL via global situ lately..

New patches out? WTH? I was cleaning my email account and noticed a message from the creator via Disqus that there are bugfix updates? Never ever knew about these.. :D  v.M1.5 already...   vs. the forum first page v.M1 indication. Have to re-insert all my edits again..:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Ultimoos on September 02, 2021, 12:25:13 pm
New patches out? WTH? I was cleaning my email account and noticed a message from the creator via Disqus that there are bugfix updates? Never ever knew about these.. :D  v.M1.5 already...   vs. the forum first page v.M1 indication. Have to re-insert all my edits again..:)

Can this be applied to existing M1 game?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 02, 2021, 08:05:01 pm
these fixes do not break existing saves, aside from the usual caveat of not patching on a battle scape save.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on September 02, 2021, 11:02:30 pm
these fixes do not break existing saves, aside from the usual caveat of not patching on a battle scape save.

Only I found the ninja base and it got named differently in M1.  v.M1.5.1 has the new naming. I had to go into my save and do a search for
STR_ALIEN_BASE_
& replace it with
STR_ALIEN_BASE
Then the game loaded the M1 save on Geoscape.
Since there is no version indicator, I just checked the crowbar, it now only occupies 1x3 space in the inventory, as stated in v.M1.3.

That Ninja Base fight is amazing! Truly feels like storming a fortress with my 55 soldier army: 1 Sentry Gun Rocket station (which the ninjas quickly trash with rockets as the battle begins in the open), 2 Vulcan Mechs, 1 Machine gun Mech with grenade launcher, two sorcerers in Theban outfits with Cobra staffs, some heroes, and the gals in loader suits and juggernaut armors with advanced miniguns and rockets, two babes in hover suits,  baby nukes, firebombs, rocket launchers, high explosives. Blood Axe wielding girls in El Admiral de Corazon outfits, shredder thrower admirals with SWAT shields. Those ninjas still make mincemeat of the latter easily. :D   

We just spotted a shielded, hi-tech Assault Ninja.

I love these large scale massacres on superhuman.
I cannot think of any other game that makes such turn-based warfare possible allowing this amazing detail of interaction. +Dioxine's outstanding game design is easily on par with Fallout 1-2 and similar highly successful cult-classic titles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 04, 2021, 05:26:53 pm
Destroyed the last ninja base on map. And THIS ONE was too tough. I can't count how many times I reloaded, how many times this freaking ninjas destroy my tanks with SINGLE emp-grenade.

But I did it. One big base, two different in-mission maps, 177 corpses and 20 prisoners (they will help to build my pirate empire anyway)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: ontherun on September 07, 2021, 10:56:10 am
Ive seen that M1 introduce a new divergin path, rejecting or accepting codex power, i supose this will cut out codex crafts only or even the vodoo power too? And codex armor wuld be still reachable? If not anymore some ninja armor style will be added in future versioni?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 07, 2021, 11:22:20 am
The rejection path locks out anything dependent on the codex pick so most voodoo is out as well as the codex STC craft, drill project rewards and endgame codex armor. In exchange you get a special transport craft to compensate for the missing STC/menace at least partly, a decent amount of gnomes and eventually some fancy ninja guns.

Right now it's for sure a challenge mode, even right off your giving up the bonuses from the drill project and crowning. The lack of the STC battery craft means your options are much more limited to getting into the air game, thou the new Faust craft and the changes to the little bird somewhat compensate.

What the future of the path holds, who knows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Apocca on September 07, 2021, 04:22:28 pm
Ah, I see a new version!  ;D

"changed early and mid game campaign dynamics" anyone know what this in more detail?

"Slight expansions of Doctor X, Red-Eyes and Red Mage stories"
Nice! Last time I got only till the 3 'challenge' missions and never got anything after that. Hoping for some shadowrealm missions because I only got these very rarely and it was always the same mission.

"A new way to get to Cydonia"
Interesting, I feel like starting a new game again.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Delian on September 07, 2021, 04:44:04 pm
Kustom SMG feels too overpowered for a weapon that doesn't need any tech. Also, it seems to have wrong categories set.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 07, 2021, 05:22:50 pm
Can't speak to the categories issue, but it does kinda need to be as powerful as it is, cause it weighs several times most rifles, and is slower to fire and less accurate in both % and falloff range then other smgs.

Even a gal can be inconvenienced by 26 weight of gun+single clip
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: aku on September 07, 2021, 10:58:11 pm
No idea why but crackdowns are happening twice now. I've had two crackdowns now, one by rats and second by ninjas, and after winning the first one I have to fight the exact same battle the second time (minus my losses). That intended or is rng playing tricks on me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: ontherun on September 07, 2021, 11:12:26 pm
Maybe some balancing is needed, ninja gals crackdiwn niw hapoen out if the blue like the dark ones! Anyway the ninjas have too much air power too, especially in the early game, bit might be a gameplay choiche to slower player's air supremacy?  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 07, 2021, 11:30:06 pm
No idea why but crackdowns are happening twice now. I've had two crackdowns now, one by rats and second by ninjas, and after winning the first one I have to fight the exact same battle the second time (minus my losses). That intended or is rng playing tricks on me?

It's very rare but posible to get multiple crackdowns to spawn in the same window when the base is vulnerable. Just very bad RNG.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Delian on September 08, 2021, 03:33:09 pm
I really like the change to the Parrots. Before, I wouldn't bring them to missions because the utility they bring does not outweight the loss in firepower. Or the vessel simply didn't have auxilia slots. Altho, they're still a bit clunky to use since you can't use this scout unit to scout on the first turn.
I also like the early Ninja Bases. It adds a lot of mysticism to the game and makes early game a lot more bustling with activity (even if you can't do anything about it).

I don't like the changes to the gambling much. That's because in the early game you need Jack's tokens to get Jack's prizes so I don't think anyone would waste them on gambling. And by the time you're done getting the important prizes, most of the gambling rewards aren't useful anymore. Another big problem imo is that it makes the whole "robbing captives" part of the game partially obsolete because if you're constrained by tokens, you don't need the 1k chips anymore, and it makes more sense to simply sell the captives instead of robbing them for half the value in 1k credit chips. Lastly, if you do gamble, and happen to get lucky, you can get way too overpowered weapons for the early game, so it enables savescumming.

A bit complicated calculation but... 666x Spin The Wheel! gives 461339 credits + coupons = 461339 + 193504 + 152639 + 168146 + 274033 + 216997 + 305264 = 1771922 (recursion included) or 2660 credit income per spin. But remember, if you simply sold the captives instead of robbing them for the 1k chips, you'd get twice the credits, so each spin effectively costs 2k credits. This translates to 660 credit profit for each Jack's token used. Selling Jacks for 660 each is better than nothing, sure, but for most of the game, until you got all prizes, it's just not worth it.

So yeah, for me at least, robbing and gambling game mechanics are now mostly obsolete. If the problem was with people gambling too much, then maybe it would've been better to restrict ways in which 1k credit chips are obtained, or remove token prizes from the coupons / reduce rewards / increase redeem cost. I dunno. I'd be ok with gambling not being profitable at all, just to get some nice items, but for most of the game, Jacks have more important uses than gambling.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Solarius Scorch on September 09, 2021, 11:51:12 am
"changed early and mid game campaign dynamics" anyone know what this in more detail?

Without spoiling too much, ninjas.

"Slight expansions of Doctor X, Red-Eyes and Red Mage stories"
Nice! Last time I got only till the 3 'challenge' missions and never got anything after that. Hoping for some shadowrealm missions because I only got these very rarely and it was always the same mission.

Yes, the Shadowrealms are getting way more attention now!

As for gambling, maintaining it is the hardest part of the mod. Dioxine absolutely hates it, as it's extremely difficult to balance, and any decision is followed by literally many hours (if not days) of setting the values. So Dio wouldn't introduce any changes he wasn't 100% sure about.
It's okay if it's inefficient. Casinos always are. It's way more problematic if they are economically viable, because it means endless income, and some players are extremely good at squeezing a profit from it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: aku on September 09, 2021, 07:30:14 pm
There are way more jack tokens now since you will be fighting a LOT of ninjas, and every single one drop a badge. After 2 ninja bases I had like over 100 of them - over 1500 tokens right there. So gambling is viable, just not early game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Gremlion on September 13, 2021, 04:39:37 pm
second difficulty,
august - something like -4k score from all the ufo spawns.
october of the first year:
sky ninja crackdown + sky ninja terror mission with 2500 despawn penalty.
80 very tanky units, with shields, invulnerable in melee(casually evading 6 attacks with 100% to hit weapon).
November - 4th alien base spawn.

Plz, send help.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on September 14, 2021, 04:14:11 pm
Lower difficulty and restart.
Just use the experience made during your (first) playthrough and metagame the mod.

Or just save-scum. It's X-Com at it's core.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 14, 2021, 04:57:54 pm
Or pick the Red Codex ASAP.
Aggressor armor cuts many problems on first time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Gremlion on September 14, 2021, 06:16:03 pm
I didn't lose, but the total experience after saving the day at the pogrom was like https://youtu.be/FYvbJT_WY9U?t=87

Arguably, first difficulty is more difficult due to the lack of voodoo and the least amount of high ranking enemies to advance research on rare topics.

armor-wise chitin armor is easier to get than aggressor for the same 30 armor, though by the time I faced ninjas I had proper chainmail developed and produced . Still, I was facing more enemies than my whole entourage was, and they were better in one on one situation than my gals. Without even counting suicide bombs, rip a wagon of peasants.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 16, 2021, 11:02:06 am
Well, maybe, chitin armor easier to get.
Anyway, I always force my way to chainmail at all cost, then - to Plate mail or Tactical Armor, whichever I can use first.

And the most important moment in the battle with ninjas was getting Reaper Rifle.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on September 17, 2021, 02:14:42 pm
Stone Age Arena
Can only wear neanderthal-wear, scraps, rags.
Weapons: stone age only. Bows, javelins, etc.. allowed.

Medieval Arena
Can only wear medieval armor and clothing, chainmails, splintmails, platemail, etc.. Weapons: only fantasy / medieval weapons allowed.

Pirate Arena
Caribbean age pirate wear and weapons only.

I had so much fun on the Doctor.X prison! No weapons allowed, shivs only. Nude or rags, or chains.
Walls: The rich mansion robbery was fantastic, as the thin walls could be easily punched out and my girls just went through everything, moving stuff down, like harvesters.
Harder to do in the X-Prison, with reinforced walls. But my freak gals with 170+ STR could punch through those hardened walls and they let the nudist masses roam the base!
I optimized the Airbus capacity a little bit, so 65 nude gals shoved up at Dr.X's prison (on Superhuman). Imagine that many girls in their birthday suits! :D Screaming and stampeding through everything, smashing furniture and mowing down poor guard nurses and Academy Medics with their fists and boobs! :D :D Viva La Nude Avalanche! :D

No game has this much fun on dozens of different levels of technology. So, how about such "historic time-locked" bases or arenas for all distinct ages that are represented in X-Piratez?  :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 17, 2021, 04:09:34 pm
I must ask already now...

WHEN THE NEXT UPDATE???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Meridian on September 17, 2021, 04:20:14 pm
Each time you ask, one month is added to the release date :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on September 18, 2021, 06:36:22 pm
Super Mega Music Pack for OpenXcom

177 new music tracks for X-Piratez, The X-Com Files and similar mods. Hand picked epic music tracks included only from the best composers. Dramatically increased number of musics for UFO dogfights, Battlescape, Geoscape, mission briefings, etc..

You can find INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS below, on the

DOWNLOAD LINK: 1GB
https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack (https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack)

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 18, 2021, 07:09:17 pm
Each time you ask, one month is added to the release date :P
I asked only one time.
So, how long it's now be?)

BTW, you're doing great job. Cheers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Meridian on September 18, 2021, 07:16:26 pm
You've just asked the second time :)
So, at least 2 months from today.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: kos on September 19, 2021, 10:36:38 am
In current version Alenium Chamber can be build in a few base with unique building (old lab, red tower, dr x lab)
Is it a bug, or planed change?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 19, 2021, 07:37:08 pm
You've just asked the second time :)
So, at least 2 months from today.

You know, I can ask it again. And again. AND AGAIN.
Just to get update after Apocalypse or something like that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Mathel on September 20, 2021, 11:51:48 am
-666 points for playing on max difficulty. Not what I expected, but I guess it's par for the course.

Let's see, if I can win regardless.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Delian on September 21, 2021, 06:07:22 pm
I tried using Blowpipe Poison Darts today but I found out that they're useless. It's a cool idea to have damage based on Energy, but the damage reduction with the distance was too extreme so all the darts I shot did 0 damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Earthquake on September 21, 2021, 10:57:26 pm
I tried using Blowpipe Poison Darts today but I found out that they're useless. It's a cool idea to have damage based on Energy, but the damage reduction with the distance was too extreme so all the darts I shot did 0 damage.

I once gave it to one on the most battle hardened Syn. With Stamina over 600, she could take in one shot any non-armored enemy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Delian on September 23, 2021, 06:12:43 pm
I just got 2x 50mm Cannon Parts from a secret door event. Cool, a nice early game weapon to help me out, just need to assemble them, right? Nope, one of the parts was destroyed by the research...
Sometimes I wonder if Dioxine is just trolling me.

I once gave it to one on the most battle hardened Syn. With Stamina over 600, she could take in one shot any non-armored enemy.

Not in this version.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Ultimoos on September 23, 2021, 07:14:11 pm
I just got 2x 50mm Cannon Parts from a secret door event. Cool, a nice early game weapon to help me out, just need to assemble them, right? Nope, one of the parts was destroyed by the research...
Sometimes I wonder if Dioxine is just trolling me.

Not in this version.

Poison dart damage is capped. I do not know exact value but damage starts decreasing above around 200 stamina.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: legionof1 on September 23, 2021, 07:53:27 pm
Blowpipes are really strong, but for whatever reason can still target and shoot well past the range where there power falloff means zero output. Which imo is a significant flaw, but it's alot of fiddly math to figure out the max effective range the best user could have, and that would still leave sub par users with the same issue.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: nox2veJe on September 24, 2021, 09:00:54 pm
Hey people.

What do you think about adding new aircraft that does not require hangars and is called STORAGE UNIT where you can put items reserved for base attacks or any other cases to not to be accidentally sold and generally to not clutter up FENCE YER STUFF screen?

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: magitsu on September 24, 2021, 10:34:44 pm
What do you think about adding new aircraft that does not require hangars and is called STORAGE UNIT where you can put items reserved for base attacks or any other cases to not to be accidentally sold and generally to not clutter up FENCE YER STUFF screen?
If such a thing is needed, it probably would be more elegant to just extend the hiding feature from the Black Market (buy tab). You can try it there, right mouse click hides after which those rows are only seen if you select the hidden category from the draw down box.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: Venger on September 25, 2021, 10:16:19 pm
Super Mega Music Pack for OpenXcom

177 new music tracks for X-Piratez, The X-Com Files and similar mods. Hand picked epic music tracks included only from the best composers. Dramatically increased number of musics for UFO dogfights, Battlescape, Geoscape, mission briefings, etc..

You can find INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS below, on the

DOWNLOAD LINK: 1GB
https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack (https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack)

Maybe I'm a noob, but the "Immersive" install seems broken. I get a "End of map not found" error on load, which makes me think the formatting for the music list is busted? And I don't know what the proper formatting should be in order to fix it. Could you take a look?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M1 29-Aug-2021 Violent Laser Battle (...)
Post by: mercy on September 28, 2021, 04:02:00 pm
Maybe I'm a noob, but the "Immersive" install seems broken. I get a "End of map not found" error on load, which makes me think the formatting for the music list is busted? And I don't know what the proper formatting should be in order to fix it. Could you take a look?
Fixed. Since Mod.io clears text formatting in its description, I just uploaded my two actual RUL files which retain the correct formatting. Any long music lists in those files (look for GMTACTIC in Piratez_Factions.rul) can be copied over to your latest version of the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2021, 06:19:46 pm
Fixed. Since Mod.io clears text formatting in its description, I just uploaded my two actual RUL files which retain the correct formatting. Any long music lists in those files (look for GMTACTIC in Piratez_Factions.rul) can be copied over to your latest version of the mod.

Mercy, make this a proper OXC mod instead of this travesty... You're embarassing yourself. Ask someone for help if you don't know how to do it.

Here's an example of a music mod for X-Pirates: https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/vdbombers-music-pack-for-xpiratez
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Dioxine on September 28, 2021, 06:20:54 pm
New X-Piratez version is up (M2). Enjoy yourselves!
(download link in first post and in dowload thread like usual)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Earthquake on September 28, 2021, 07:23:25 pm
New X-Piratez version is up (M2). Enjoy yourselves!
(download link in first post and in dowload thread like usual)

Could you be so kind to write a few words about what's new?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: magitsu on September 28, 2021, 11:01:36 pm
Could you be so kind to write a few words about what's new?
Moddb description seems to have the changelog:
Quote
v.M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
- OXCE upgrade to 7.1 29-Sep-2021
- Fix: Condemnations applied more properly (due to new OXCE)
- Fix: Ninja Jetfighter's shield removed
- New Mission: Halls of Fear
- New Enemy Units: Wraith Guard, Female Wraith versions (x2), Demon Warden
- New Craft: Big Bird
- New Soldiers: Destroid (paperdoll by Brain, postproduction by me, based on XOPS work), Xenforcer (gfx by Brain)
- New Armors: Minx (Gray only), Hermit (Green only), Crystalsinger (Bugeye; 3 ver.: normal, sea, shadowrealms; based on gfx by The Martian); Nightgown (SHA version), Hyena Rider (2x2)
- New Weapons: Shadowrealms Weapons (x2), 14mm Antitank Rifle, Accursed Swill, Gray Spellbook (11 spells), Plasma Tommy
- New Features: Lost Souls/Offerings to Demon Gods; Gifts of Golden Prince/Harems/Brides; Zombification/Zombie Revival; Handling Slime/SDD/Poltergeist (codex-dependant)
- New Condemnations: Traditional, Shellshocked, Atomic, Radical, Executioner, Thorny, Stabber, Femme Fatale, Hammerer
- New misc mapblocks (x3)
- Ninja bases activity reduced by 20%, Outposts by 33%; Ninja bases grow a bit slower
- Red-Eyed Brat's patience +1 month
- Accuracy on light craft cannons of all types up to +15%. Damage per shot reduced to compensate.
- Big craft guns rebalanced. Some got extra damage for lower acc. Laser nerf. Railgun & Plasma buff
- Jellyfish cannot be detected by enemies now
- Piranha can mount 2 weapons, but no armor, crew cap 2 -> 1, map updated
- Little Bird +missile slot
- Underwater non-scuba outfits fixed/updated suffocation-wise
- During Hideout Defenses, 15% for each Gal to be out of her uniform (other races unaffected)
- YET ANOTHER FLAG/PIPES/GUITAR REWORK
- More lore & events
- Tweaks
- Minor fixes, lots of them
https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/dioxine-xpiratez-m2-shadow-robots-and-immortal-amazons#downloadsform
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Dioxine on September 29, 2021, 02:20:54 pm
Oops. Forgot to add changelog to first post. Fixed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: mercy on September 30, 2021, 04:36:11 pm
Syberia base continues to be found after I found the first one and the savegame contains:
  - STR_RUSSIAN_FILES_STAGED
  - STR_RUSSIAN_FILES

and this:
  STR_RUSSIAN_FILES: 1
  STR_RUSSIAN_FILES_STAGED: 1

Is this intended?

I'm finding my second mysterious Syberia base.. :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Gremlion on September 30, 2021, 06:34:23 pm
It will continue to appear until you research russian files, an item which spawns there. It's an important tech and due to baby nukes enemies this item might be deleted, it's a failsafe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Zharkov on October 01, 2021, 03:00:41 pm

- During Hideout Defenses, 15% for each Gal to be out of her uniform (other races unaffected)


Hate you, too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: MemoryTAS on October 03, 2021, 05:44:04 pm
Quote
- During Hideout Defenses, 15% for each Gal to be out of her uniform (other races unaffected)

15% what exactly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: legionof1 on October 03, 2021, 11:02:27 pm
to not be in there assigned armor. The ole caught in bed/bathroom when the alarm sounds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Delian on October 03, 2021, 11:48:56 pm
I think that the chance of gals not wearing their armors should depend on the type of attack. Because if you spot an enemy craft before it attacks your base, you should, in theory, have plenty of time to sound the alarm and for everyone to get ready. In other words, if the enemy craft takes 2h to reach your base, it doesn't make logical sense that you would be caught by surprise and your gals not be fully equipped.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: termidor on October 04, 2021, 02:06:22 am
I'm goingo to rant a little but the sky ninjas mechanics are a complete bummer... got a game in the previous version where despite getting crap ton score from missions plus research I still got -1500 socre at the end of the month... with seven ninja outposts (I hope the number is a bug)  continously spamming ships in my area. Honestly this is plain and simple bad game desing, as the player can do nothing against it early on and it 's just pure RNG. If the player do bad or you have a month with low activity, then yes you should get negative score, but it is frankly absurd that a good month get ruined due to forces completly outside of player control, that is simply bad game desing. I really don't think that having the bases pop up early on add anything meaningful to the game except exta frustation, and considering the amount of hours that needs to be invested on just one campaing, it is really frustating to have it that way.

I've attached the  7 bases positions ( there are two more in the philipines + an alien base in South Africa ) as well as the relevant charts. In october I had -500 score which was perfectly fine: I had few missions, and I could only intercept some civilians ships november and december however, despite having very similar scores (and in december I did more research so I imagine it was bigger) the score differrence was of 4000 to -1500 due to the activity in asia that was completly under radar coverage. ANd just to be clear, I was intercepting everything that I could intercept and in general I have  been very succesfull in the campaing, specially as it has been my first campaing with no battle save-scumming. It is just so frustating that  after so many missions I just got hit with such a big negative score.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: mercy on October 04, 2021, 03:51:53 pm
Assemble Your Own Aircraft!

Modular interceptor idea.

+ Crafts have a "soldier-inventory".  The main Ufopaedia craft art may be the background / in place of the "paperdoll".

+ The "hands" slot here means  weapon ports. We can put guns there and fill them with various ammo if needed or we can put a pack of rockets there 

+ "backpack" / "legs" / "belt" areas are replaced with
Tech Expansion Ports: there we can put shields, extra armor plating, stealth coating / radar absorbing-diffusing paints and various Laser Booster Packs, which are extra one-shot / two-shot energy batteries allowing stronger laser fire (just like when a race car receives a nitro boost)

+ STC slots are shown as well, where by hand we can put various tech from a selection, which is displayed via the "armor-selection" window.  Or we can drag & drop everything into the slots from the bottom item window showing airplane parts sprites.

Aircraft Rotary Guns / Swarm rockets could receive various  ammo upgrades, where the bullets are laced with Hellerium / Molecular Acid / Depleted Uranium / Warp Energy [laced ammo] acting as Anti-Matter when it hits enemy ships

Mind-EMP Ammo / Brainwave-Neutralizer: There could be a new aircraft weapon, which randomly or by a % bypasses armor / shields and doesn't damage enemy ship hulls or shields, but completely disables enemy pilots by freezing their brainwaves / flattens their nerve-signal activity. As a result of using such a weapon, the enemy ship crashes, but largely remains intact (no weapon damage received). But the crew will be in a mental state of having been severely dazed / stunned / zapped / brainwave-nullified (placed into Temporary Coma). One or two survivor barely conscious if the game needs a live alien to keep the Battlescape going. So they'll need couple turns to become somewhat fight capable.   Droids / Guard Robots / Terminators are immune to such Brainwave Nullifying guns.
(Weapon type: disabling enemy pilots)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Gremlion on October 04, 2021, 05:38:07 pm
Termidor, these outposts aren't full fledged alien bases (as Dioxine pointed out, every faction gets a custom base layout), Hunting party (8 gals, immune to detection) is enough to take the smallest ones out. At the start you need to blow up a small turret or two, then use a hammer to break the outer wall, and then simply shoot inhabitants since most of them are melee. The only trouble is high caliber turrets, but ninjas drop EM grenades which oneshot them.

If you aren't sure that you can, with them being so close together you could build a base inside their range with 2 hangars, trigger interceptors with a random craft and land, wait until they return home, and send a proper invasion party during interception cooldown. Since every base gives millions in loot, it will be worth it to build a base just to abandon it later.

alternatively-alternatively, your codex craft most likely would be able to reach the base before being spotted, and returning from mission crafts are damage immune.

For t2 and t3 outposts you could bring a bunch of mortars from crazy Hannah and burn them down from afar.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: termidor on October 04, 2021, 07:36:07 pm
Termidor, these outposts aren't full fledged alien bases (as Dioxine pointed out, every faction gets a custom base layout), Hunting party (8 gals, immune to detection) is enough to take the smallest ones out. At the start you need to blow up a small turret or two, then use a hammer to break the outer wall, and then simply shoot inhabitants since most of them are melee. The only trouble is high caliber turrets, but ninjas drop EM grenades which oneshot them.

If you aren't sure that you can, with them being so close together you could build a base inside their range with 2 hangars, trigger interceptors with a random craft and land, wait until they return home, and send a proper invasion party during interception cooldown. Since every base gives millions in loot, it will be worth it to build a base just to abandon it later.

alternatively-alternatively, your codex craft most likely would be able to reach the base before being spotted, and returning from mission crafts are damage immune.

For t2 and t3 outposts you could bring a bunch of mortars from crazy Hannah and burn them down from afar.
Hahaha codex craft that's a good one considering my tech level. And yes, I could just force my way by save-scumming like crazy because getting spammned in front of the turrets is a dead sentence. Would give it a try regardless, but still I think the ninja outpost design isn't good for gameplay.

Edit:Just tried, get spawned in front of the two 14mm turrets  :-X Honestly at the very least the bases should be tied with game progrression..is absurd to try to take then down with tac vests and RPG .
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Gremlion on October 04, 2021, 11:31:47 pm
Well, I'm judging by my own experience with the same version, and one year in I had codex craft, chainmails with shields, and gear from ninja hideout assaults. I survived 4 by the end of the first year, and it gave me tons of Kustom SMGs (44 damage + 0.1 bravery), synthmuscle suits (rob the ninja medic) and EMP grenades. You can preprime multiple EMP during mission loadout, so you can throw them without moving.
I had 4 alien bases in april, merc, 2 ninjas, guild, and ninja base spawned with the radar covering my base. It was painful :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: termidor on October 05, 2021, 02:34:08 am
Yes I have had chainmail for some months but Codex craft requires some Rng  with drops and research as pretty  much everything  in game...if you don't  have Emp grenades and get impossible spawns you will be force to leave and take extra negative score. I don't  dislike difficult  missions, and I think some like mansion assult should be made harder to clear,  but I believe that a game to be fun needs to have a struggle  but give a reward for it... but I honestly  think the sky ninjas are on the frustrating end of the scale.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Dioxine on October 05, 2021, 04:13:36 pm
I think that the chance of gals not wearing their armors should depend on the type of attack.

And you know it cannot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: mercy on October 08, 2021, 01:03:16 am
Super Mega Music Pack
Thanks to Dioxine and Meridian I made this into a proper mod.

Fully compatible with:
- VDBomber's Music Pack for XPiratez (https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/vdbombers-music-pack-for-xpiratez)

Description:
Quote
170 new named music tracks for X-Piratez, The X-Com Files and similar mods. Hand picked epic score from the best composers. Jukebox shows unique names for all Battlescape and Geoscape soundtracks.

Download links:

1. https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/super-mega-music-pack1

2. https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Earthquake on October 08, 2021, 01:05:32 pm
When the next update?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on October 11, 2021, 05:14:09 pm
When the next update?)

Everytime someone asks, 1 extra month will be added to the release-date.

Just enjoy this great mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: mercy on October 12, 2021, 01:35:08 am
Possessed Lobsterman has empty inventory. Should have natural weapons: CLAW ATTACK.
Currently I can only walk with it..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: legionof1 on October 12, 2021, 02:26:11 am
Possessed Lobsterman has empty inventory. Should have natural weapons: CLAW ATTACK.
Currently I can only walk with it..

This is expected behavior since the claw attack is a "special" slot weapon. Works the same for all units, ally or enemy, anything in the special powers slot is not accessible under MC.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Dioxine on October 12, 2021, 05:43:10 am
Super Mega Music Pack
Thanks to Dioxine and Meridian I made this into a proper mod.

Fully compatible with:
- VDBomber's Music Pack for XPiratez (https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/vdbombers-music-pack-for-xpiratez)

Description:
Download links:

1. https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/super-mega-music-pack1

2. https://openxcom.mod.io/super-mega-music-pack

Please stop posting it on the main X-Piratez site on ModDB without my consent. I deleted it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: mercy on October 12, 2021, 01:21:00 pm
Please stop posting it on the main X-Piratez site on ModDB without my consent. I deleted it.
I was under the impression I'm enhancing the game experience by slaving away hours on this mod to name the soundtracks and uploading. You showed me VDBombers mod, how to do it on moddb, even saying "Don't embarrass yourself." 
So I tried. :D :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: legionof1 on October 13, 2021, 12:55:47 am
Posting the mod you worked on is fine in the general sense. The problem here is that you posted it to the official thread on ModDB, which implies that it is an endorsed/officially supported sub project, which it is not.

Good Effort, Wrong Venue.

Submods like this properly belong either here on the forum as there own topic or on the discord's submod channel.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: RSSwizard on October 14, 2021, 12:47:08 am
Possessed Lobsterman has empty inventory. Should have natural weapons: CLAW ATTACK.
Currently I can only walk with it..
...and you can walk it right out in the open so it can have a poison gas or knockout grenade tossed at it away from civilians. Or walk him right over to your axe lady.

Do you know how to use a lobster "claw"?
I dont know how to use a lobster "claw"...

Does his regular blank melee attack hit with a claw or punch? does clicking on blank empty hands not do anything like it does for your gals?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: legionof1 on October 14, 2021, 08:38:41 am
snip
Does his regular blank melee attack hit with a claw or punch? does clicking on blank empty hands not do anything like it does for your gals?

The lobster doesn't have a right click melee. The lobsters are a bit of a relic in this regard being designed before right click melee was a thing in OXCE.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Earthquake on October 28, 2021, 02:04:24 pm
Update? :)
I know, +1 month.
But there are too many annoying bugs.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Saad on October 28, 2021, 05:49:35 pm
For some reason my computer can't download the latest version of the mod.

Can someone help me by sending the files by Email, I would greatly appreciate it.
Just PM me and I'll  give you my Email. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: dronnoh on November 08, 2021, 02:01:17 am
Hi. I have a bit of a stupid question.
I have been playing Xpiratez for quite a while now and i know the most of it. Or at least i know where to look it up. I should mention that i don't really like to choose the color of my codex, so i modified the ruleset a bit so that each codex doesn't disable others. And there seemed to be no major problem before.
But on my New playthrough on Blackbeard/gritty i got a bit stuck.
I need scented messages and bloodied messages, but i cannot remember what triggers their appearance in random events. Usually i just received them and didn't really have a problem with it. But now I kinda want to have a Berserker outfit for thematic reasons and i'm not sure what to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: nicedayright on November 09, 2021, 09:56:39 pm
Brothers, pray for me. The Mercenaries have established a base close enough to my starter that the base interceptor targets anything I launch. It is July 2601.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: GENVOKE on November 10, 2021, 01:57:14 am
Let them intercept/blow up your airbus and scream "That's xcom baby!", buy a new one and repeat.

Sometimes you just have to bend over to the rng gods and take it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: nicedayright on November 11, 2021, 02:28:38 am
I finally found a use for the convoy... cover one with 30mm cannons and it can, just barely, take down an interceptor.

Now I'm left with the conundrum... these mercenaries been talkin an awful lot of shit for someone in convoyin range.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Earthquake on November 11, 2021, 10:47:30 am
It you want continue your suffering tour from RNG, so be it.
But if not - you can just cheat to destroy that base. Manage somehow to assault it, use Artmoney to set TU/Sta of one Gal to 50000. Kill anything alive in base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Iazo on November 11, 2021, 03:20:52 pm
That sounds like a reallly convoluted way to avoid using the dedicated debug commands.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: Earthquake on November 11, 2021, 08:35:02 pm
Easy ways in for pussies!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: nicedayright on November 12, 2021, 01:19:31 am
Eh, I'm already cheating enough on this run. I wanted to explore the new version without too much of a hassle or pressure to pick the optimum choices, so I started myself out with extra cash.

Assaulting the base with a convoy full of gals with melee weapons didn't work out well, so I'm going to have to leave them there for now. Not too much of a problem since I have a reliable way of shooting down that damn interceptor every time it shows up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M2 28-Sep-2021 Shadow Robots and Immortal Amazons
Post by: nicedayright on November 27, 2021, 12:40:43 am
In other news, Hyena mounted gals don't seem to make CQC checks. Giving one a hammer, whose fixed cost attacks take advantage of the extra TUs (to say nothing of the strength bonus), results in a mercenary mulching machine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Dioxine on November 28, 2021, 03:58:51 pm
New version is UP. As usual, check the first post for DL link. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: nicedayright on November 28, 2021, 05:15:48 pm
- New Feature: Starting bonuses depending on geographical region and contry

Yet again you conspire to make me start a new campaign with every update.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: GENVOKE on November 28, 2021, 08:13:26 pm
New update new run  :-*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: ontherun on November 30, 2021, 01:46:20 pm
Wow, M3 (1.3) i like the new bootypedia images, pheraps the yellow text might be a bit more brighter, for the reader sake? I also like the new starting bonuses, and now cold seems really unforgivable, i took some few step in a very feezy map, but i canno go onboard again on the airbus so basically im stuck, ha! It's the same for other wheater conditions?

(https://i.postimg.cc/18MzCyY4/screen000.png) (https://postimg.cc/18MzCyY4) (https://i.postimg.cc/LqX8GGrD/screen001.png) (https://postimg.cc/LqX8GGrD) (https://i.postimg.cc/PLR5H2Hj/screen002.png) (https://postimg.cc/PLR5H2Hj) (https://i.postimg.cc/jwndSPqJ/screen003.png) (https://postimg.cc/jwndSPqJ)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 30, 2021, 03:29:58 pm
Nothing has changed with how cold environments work, it's been the same for a long time.

But yeah, not dressing appropriately for the cold can give you a squad wipe, especially with ubers.

EDIT: kek, I was wrong. There is extreme cold now, a separate condition. Please throw rotten tomatoes at me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Corento on December 01, 2021, 03:07:55 pm
Wow, M3 (1.3) i like the new bootypedia images, pheraps the yellow text might be a bit more brighter, for the reader sake? I also like the new starting bonuses, and now cold seems really unforgivable, i took some few step in a very feezy map, but i canno go onboard again on the airbus so basically im stuck, ha! It's the same for other wheater conditions?

Furs and frozen Atom beer in backpack is a must :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Yirtimd2 on December 01, 2021, 03:57:18 pm
Guys so what about catgirls? Are they here in this new update?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Iazo on December 02, 2021, 02:09:42 pm
Not for player yet, but the enemy kotgrils now have updated sprites and corpses.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 03, 2021, 11:25:43 pm
- More Music

I beg you to delete the previous interception music. The one sounds like freaking circus. IT IS SO ANNOYING.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Interdictor on December 04, 2021, 02:51:13 am
I'm not sure what are you talking about but can't you just replace the file if it annoys you so much?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: nicedayright on December 04, 2021, 04:32:54 am
... I just got the 1000 soylent gambling reward.

Pain.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 04, 2021, 05:56:57 pm
I'm not sure what are you talking about but can't you just replace the file if it annoys you so much?
>_< I don't know, where it is located...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Interdictor on December 04, 2021, 07:06:41 pm
>_< I don't know, where it is located...
Check this folder:
Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\SOUND
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Scamps on December 05, 2021, 11:29:26 am
Tiny bug report.
Reinforcements in "They came from the sea" attacked other enemies, and counted as civilians in mission score.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 06, 2021, 01:12:27 pm
Tiny bug report.
Reinforcements in "They came from the sea" attacked other enemies, and counted as civilians in mission score.

What? There are reinforcements? O_o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: teddybbeer on December 06, 2021, 02:07:00 pm
Uhh.. 2nd month and skies are already red? and ninjas flying fortress hovering around my base? did every mission i could but still suffered infamy hit and had to pay extra 600k to break even.. am i extremly unlucky or is this new reality? 2nd difficulty level.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 06, 2021, 04:44:25 pm
Uhh.. 2nd month and skies are already red? and ninjas flying fortress hovering around my base? did every mission i could but still suffered infamy hit and had to pay extra 600k to break even.. am i extremly unlucky or is this new reality? 2nd difficulty level.

On the 2nd level it shouldn't be a huge problem, just be mindful of ninja bases - don't ever fly inside their detection circles, unless you know what you are doing and can take on their fighters.
Unless maybe ninjas decided to build a base right next to yours (so you can't launch any craft), in which case it's pretty much game over, but the chances of that are minuscule, unless both of you decided to settle on the Pacific Ocean (meaning Hawaii).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: nicedayright on December 08, 2021, 09:23:39 pm
I've never bothered with workers before, so I only just found out they spawn in at your base as civilians during crackdowns. Probably a great way to farm those Cavalier commendations.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 09, 2021, 08:00:15 pm
When I use Demonic rituals (13 glamour and skulls) - one of possible results is Demonic Invasion.
What is this thing?
It only take some space in storage. Or am I missing something?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Gremlion on December 09, 2021, 08:28:48 pm
Dioxine added many objects which activate during hideout assault missions.
Some are helpful for you, some are deadly (literally a nuke which would explode if you don't win in XX amount of turns)
Demonic assault, probably, spawns some enemies from the hell faction.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 10, 2021, 12:01:15 am
Oh, I see...
In most games I have no more than few hideout assaults, most in firth year.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: unarmed drifter on December 12, 2021, 09:45:18 pm
i decided to come back to XPiratez after i got a bit bored by grinding allyums in XFiles. My first run with the new sky ninja version lastet till october where i lost my six best gals and racked a negative score for the second time in a row.
Any tips on how to survive (maybe even win) the ninja girl assault on the government general (the one with the nerve wracking industrial metal soundtrack)?

yeah, don't get hit. easier said than done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Iazo on December 13, 2021, 12:44:36 pm
It's a bit vague. We don't know what you did wrong, but I assume the lack of tonks did you in.

If you want a super detailed play-by play, join Discord, and ask Grub since he does those missions for fun.

If you don't want to do them, don't do them and eat the infamy cost. It is obviously possible to survive on points via research, but this seems like a structural problem with your game, since in Oct you should be able to reach many infamy points over 10k.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Mathel on December 13, 2021, 04:16:29 pm
The -2500 infamy "Govt official under attack" can be won with great usage of mortars. Shell the hostile craft from behind cover and let the allies take most of the punishment. Once you take out the cannons and the flying ninjas, then you can go in for cleanup.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Gremlion on December 13, 2021, 04:37:16 pm
Soundtrack is from Red Alert, if you liked it.
For the ninja attack on general you need:
1. Blow up turrets. Big ones are susceptible to EMP grenades that ninjas carry a lot. Might be even oneshot. Small ones have like 40 armor, kustom shooty guns from the ninjas work well. You want to blow up big ones on turn 1, start with primed to 0 turns emp bombs in hand. If you are close to throwing distance - run and throw. If you are not, disable.
2. Be careful of invisible suicide bombers. Black ninjas drop a backpack-sized bomb when downed, which can evaporate chainmail gals. So, when you see your allies being dropped in melee by invisible enemies, you need to send a shooter and  a melee tank. Shooter should down the ninja, tank should pick up the bomb (can't place into inventory). There are usually 3 suicide bombers on the second difficulty.
3. Ninja medic can be superannoying, it has 50+ armor. Some armor damage goes a long way.
The rest is just... having more dakka to break shields and down them. Usually removing turrets alone results in government win.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: unarmed drifter on December 14, 2021, 11:56:43 am
thanks for the replies

@Iazo: i don't know what tonks are, but they were definetily lacking. but i guess you're right with the structural problems...
-fastest ship: airbus
-most dakka ship: little bird
-best armour: the eight pieces of agressor suits from red codex
-best weapons: 1 boarding gun, 2 spitfires, 1 autogun (from a spartan progrom)
i decided to go all in for brainers, but their salaries ate up my funds. i postponed the codex stuff for too long and had the workshop only in september.. OTH i don't believe that researching nurses, silver bars and bandit smg's will make up for -2500 points, but maybe i'm wrong. (having chosen the male path, i wanted to get the big pink "pigeonturtle" ship for my SS army, but i don't even know if it's still in the game)

@Mathel: sounds good, but what if you don't have a mortar? also, there's not really cover apart from the gov bunker, because all the other buildings are only one tile high so the ninja turrets will happily shred you
>Once you take out the cannons and the flying ninjas
yeah :DDD (i took out two turrets with incendiary nades)

@Gremlion
>Red Alert
oh fff thx a lot :3. i was so stressed by the constant screen flicker/level shifting when the turrets kick in...
>EMP grenades, kustom shooty gun
didn't have either :(
>invisible suicide bombers with melee
okay that explains at least two deaths. i'm playing on diff 4, so there might be more than three. what to do with the bomb if you pick it up - hopefully it can be disarmed?

anyway, i restarted, if it goes south again i will lower the difficulty

 

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Gremlion on December 14, 2021, 04:23:48 pm
Better play on the second difficulty. If you can't get chainmails by october in 4th difficulty, which throws free money in a form of many-many easily capturable enemies you will be wiped out by hideout building destroying rockets in the second year. You should've had interceptors in the august.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Xolvix on December 15, 2021, 08:02:39 am
I'm just jumping in here, but in my case trying to go through the campaign on the easiest skill level just so I can understand the mechanics better... I'm not really sure what I'm doing. People say you should have this or that by such and such month, yet there's so much research to do and a fair bit of randomization in what missions you'll get and what's in them (which then determines future research options) that it becomes a bit of a mess.

Unlike the classic X-COM campaign, there's no clear indication as to how I'm progressing in the campaign. I know the fun is in the journey (and it's quite a journey), but after quite a bit of hours of play I end up spinning my wheels almost, running out of research (apart from eternally Socializing), wondering how to make tangible progress towards an end state.

Sometimes I'd cheat, adjust the funds in the savegames or mod the Ubers to be unfairly powerful, just so I could progress. But then I'd get my first alien base mission equivalent and I'm like, WTF my guns are doing NOTHING to certain enemies because I have zero understanding of how to take down shields despite all my shameful cheating. I feel like I'm blundering through the game blind without knowing whether I'm playing it "right" or putting myself in a situation where I'll never properly progress. But my understanding is that this is intentional - it should be a learning experience. But on the wikis and posts I mostly just read gameplay tips on how to handle situations (which is useful), but not much about how to actually progress towards an end state.

I can't do a Meridian and spend nearly a year on a single playthrough. And that was an earlier version of the game, with less stuff! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: teddybbeer on December 15, 2021, 12:12:38 pm
Seems that you need to rush certain things or theres game over and infamy from ninjas will overwhelm you.

Last game in second difficulty:

By april ninjas had atleast four bases (spotted the 4th).
june was first raid, fifty-five (!!!) enemies in small open desert map, won it by turn 40something.. i pity the fool who trys this mission in ironman :)
in august were two more raids.. missed the first one because troops were shot up and second one spawned right to ninja base. suffered massive infamy hit and was 1.5m short of funds, plans for workshop went out of the window from that .. and that was it, sept was slow month with shitty mission spawns (thee small bandit camps for example), another 600k short, still not enough for workshop.
oct had best score ever according to charts and higgest infamy ever according to charts, so overall score was couple hundred in + .. and 900k short in funds. still no money for workshop.

my base is in blackmarch (lucky break as blackmarch sells panzerfausts, otherwise would be surrendered earlier, theres really nothing against turrets in first six months) and ninjas are somewhere northeastern africa, so i cant do missions in s-america (or can you divert crafts that are returning from mission?).  15ish gals, 14 brainers, got personal labs, but just before workshop SHF (while i got stapler rather early something else was missing from that researchchain). no funds! (and no apples.. coconuts, oranges, bananas by hundreds but no apples...)

was the second time when i hitted the wall in M3 in first year.. gotta say that difficulty curve has certanly gone up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Iazo on December 15, 2021, 01:22:26 pm
Tonks are cute tanks.

(They're cute because they're yours, although for military purists among us, the player tanks are actually  more akin to tank destroyers due to fixed turret.)

Anyway, metagaming right now involves knowing event, optimal research paths, sources of rng item blocks and how to avoid it...none of this is necessary, but can help a lot knowing where you're headed and what you are missing.

I have helped some people with savegames. In the end, many, many issues people have is by being strategically passive. Saving money instead of reinvesting it, not hiring brainers, not building more bases and radars, not shooting down targets, not researching new missions, not attempting easy lucrative missions but charging headlong into pointless difficult ones with questionable rewards.

I can't promise wonders, but I've often been handed 'hopeless' games which only nedded nudging towards the right track to flow again.

I am on discord, and if anyone wants some help, find me there, hand me a save file, and we can fix it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 15, 2021, 02:58:36 pm
@ teddybear
I believe crafts should be immune to hunter killers on return trip, makes up for not being able to take control of them.

@ newbies
I do have a general guide on the forums here if you search "the newbie guide" although it is quite out of date and has some dubious advice.  That said, this update definitely is much harder, so yeah :/



Anyways, having fun with the new update, really loving Romanica's DEUS VULT style starting bonus. Mowing down dozens of ratman and dogs with pistol wielding crusaders is very amusing.  Although it's more like creep slowly forward and get shot at while my gals do the real killing. The Big Bird craft also makes the males run quite a bit less painful, since it flies more than twice as fast as those godawful tanks.

I got lucky and found a hero in february who is seriously badass with this armor, nothing like 150 melee in nearly chainmail right off the bat.  Hopefully I'll make these armor sets last until I get my hands on some durathread for mass pyroman, since I don't think you can repair them without the tech, unfortunately.

Also. nuns with shotguns :)  Seriously, Romanica is the best start.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Alex_D on December 17, 2021, 02:00:35 pm
I believe crafts should be immune to hunter killers on return trip, makes up for not being able to take control of them.
I believe they are ignored by HK if returning from a mission. I have the latest Piratez (Dioxine_XPiratez_M3.2.1.rar (https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/dioxine-xpiratez-m3-the-planet-of-rust)), and latest OXCE nightly (here (https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/#/Extended), sort by date) running.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: teddybbeer on December 17, 2021, 06:58:55 pm
well... doh  :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: pilkington on December 17, 2021, 10:42:23 pm
Hi guys, long time lurker here.

I'm giving another go to xpiratez and playing a new game, and after reaching the codex choice, I went if red, but didn't received any itens after completing the workshop project, did I do anything wrong?

I just saw that in the research hree there's a project called Tiny Drill dep.2, but it shows as unavailable now. How can i get my itens?

Thanks

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 18, 2021, 04:26:58 am
So you did Use Drill (RED) in the workshop, and didn't receive any AGGRESSOR or Gothic rayguns, etc?  And you checked the right base? Just trying to narrow things down here.  I just did the gold drill project and everything checked out, and I don't think red is randomly bugged in this version.  Most people seem to like red so a bug probably would've been found.



Edit: Also, I'm having the general experience as teddybbeer as well on jack sparrow.  Just a slow lurching along until inevitable doom. 

The impacts of a bunch of new difficulties all add up.

-Heavy general economy nerfs (-40%)
-Vastly decreased grog profitability (~-70%)
-Lost income from score (~1 million every month from score, relative to what you would've gotten)
-Reduced gambling
-Inability to sell glamour due to the C badge costing 200

Basically it amounts to mostly just breaking even supporting 6 brainers despite choosing gold codex and selling literally all of it (hull and flame cannon included), with basically no ability to make your own income.  Usually by end of april I have ~13 brainers, two bases or 1 and missile defense, 90 runts, and a few million of random junk that I don't want to sell, and ~3-5k score a month.  Now it's 6 brainers, 70 runts, one extra base that I can barely afford plantations on, and a score of -400.

If you can break through this you probably survive, but one of the larger missile strikes OR a single hunter killer strike, and it's over, and there's honestly not much you can do about it really.

It's a little much really.  I've since just downgraded to a new save with davy jones and will see how that goes.  Could use a break from giant swarms of enemies anyways :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 18, 2021, 09:24:46 pm
I finally finished game on hardest.
The graveyard of my crew in three time larger than any of the hideouts.
The team was sorted and improved though thousands of battles.
Final crew of 8 gals, 8 Syns, 3 loks (flying in hovers), 8 Destroids (as meat shield and detectors) and 4 Chorts (Sense detectors)
Cydonia base was taken less than 10 turns in total.

And I loaded last save, just to think - what I can do else? I remembered one thing - Silver towers. Previously it was enough just one attempt to attack it. My ships didn't even scratch it.
But now! I got SUPERTEAM!
It took 7 bases with 14 (!) Crafts, which can at least catch up Silver Towers.
I shot it down, I start a mission, and what i see?
Levitating piece of metal.
It even has no inner components - just walls and 12 Star gods in white mantles.

Loot? Oh yeah. 200 hellerium and few corpses.
It was heavy disappointment ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: legionof1 on December 19, 2021, 05:08:52 am
The towers is quite the suck its intended as the final fallback option for the stargod code key as it always has the VIP unlike other craft, so much like other fallback of last resort in the mod it sucks noodle.

In the air game it's a matter of bringing first a nuff tesla cannons to outpace and break the very fast regenerating shield, then another flight for the hull once it is down. Virtually nothing else works that your likely to have. the other option is mass Gatling lascannons but since you can't build those from scratch you rarely have the 6+ you need.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: pilkington on December 21, 2021, 02:34:51 am
So you did Use Drill (RED) in the workshop, and didn't receive any AGGRESSOR or Gothic rayguns, etc?  And you checked the right base? Just trying to narrow things down here.  I just did the gold drill project and everything checked out, and I don't think red is randomly bugged in this version.  Most people seem to like red so a bug probably would've been found.





Yep, exactly. I managed to fix it though. I reloaded a save from a previous month, finished the project again on the workshop, and this time all the items showed up, so i guess it was a bug all along.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Interdictor on December 21, 2021, 11:04:24 pm
I must admit I don't like how laser shots looks with new effects. Things like flaming drops from thrown Molotov is just amazing but laser shots now looks like.. fireworks maybe. Lasers supposed to be sharp and thin, like a beam, that's what I'm used to see in X-com since my childhood  :'(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 22, 2021, 11:31:50 pm
Playing on davy jones, this feels very doable, but I tried one final time on jack sparrow out of curiosity, and it just gets silly very quick. 

This is april after I just gave up midway and wanted to see how much score loss happens if I just let the game run.  So I think I'm losing ~6000 a month, or 2 million credits from score.  In march, I had 8 brainers, too :O

Edit:  For comparison, this is july on an L2 save if I let it run (~-1500, months later)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Iazo on December 23, 2021, 10:31:06 pm
It's doable, but JS is not about lollygagging.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 23, 2021, 11:32:26 pm
I'm sure it's technically possible.  But I don't see how to really make enough money personally: got nowhere near enough doing missions, selling everything from gold codex and getting a farm base and two extractors for chateau in february. 

The only way I can think of is if there's some way of shooting down a crapton of ships and I'm just not seeing how it's possible without some weird gimmick like a piranha with green codex's charger laser straddling max range, and savescumming like no tomorrow.  But most of the ninja ships have armor anyways.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Maybe I'll try green codex sometime after I fool round a bit on davy jones.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 24, 2021, 12:00:47 pm
On hardest, the way I get enough money (even with last update and getting my 12 clones from Cleopatra) is simple, but boring:
1. Something non-hunter flying.
1.1 SAVE!
2. Set airbus to follow.
3. If it lands - PROFIT.
3.1 If airbus run out fuel, load, go to 1.1

First three month my gals was out of freshness almost 100% of time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 25, 2021, 09:30:36 pm
Yeah that's definitely one way of doing it :D Xcom's been more of a roll with the punches game for me, though.

Anyways, green codex for sure is great now.  I found out the bandit zeppelins were one of the major sources of this huge score tanking since they stay in the air so long, so having a way of shooting them down in march is great.  Thunderbolts can be shot down in an aircar with the charger laser pretty risk free too.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: unarmed drifter on December 27, 2021, 12:43:20 pm
so i survived my first year, but didn't have any luck in getting the shadowmasters tech.
Solution: build a buckaroo
Problem: the game won't let me strap 25mm guns on it despite having light weapon slots
am i misreading sth?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 27, 2021, 01:14:00 pm
Yeah, light weapons got split into light and "ground", of which the buckaroo uses ground instead.  Early game this is just 14mm chainguns, gotten from necroparts recycling.  So you'll need an aircar for now or something.  Or use airballs (DV) I guess.

Regarding shadowmasters:  Apparently you can get it fairly quickly from repeated mohawk interrogations now.  Still expensive as heck, though.

Edit:  Also earthquake, dang those assault clones are nice.  They're expensive but I've found they make up for it with more captures.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: unarmed drifter on December 27, 2021, 08:43:23 pm
Yeah, light weapons got split into light and "ground", of which the buckaroo uses ground instead.  Early game this is just 14mm chainguns, gotten from necroparts recycling.  So you'll need an aircar for now or something.  Or use airballs (DV) I guess.

alright, that's what the [GR] stands for, thx Greep. I mounted some airballs on it, never used them before.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 29, 2021, 01:49:48 am
Sure thing :D  And yeah, going green codex definitely seems to be the way to go on jack sparrow, kind of amazing how much difference it makes on score being able to shoot down all these bandits :O

The assault clones might be a little too badass, though, due to the golden shields and hardcore bio resistance.  It's a little silly being able to just grab some knives and go melee a whole bunch of megascorpions and giant spiders.  I could probably knock them all out even for uber bucks although it'd be a bit tedious.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Earthquake on December 29, 2021, 04:10:41 pm
We need new update.
Just wanna more lore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Xolvix on December 30, 2021, 04:32:51 am
I've done a couple of EuroSyndicate Elimination missions now, but they've always ended up with a Disaster raiting. The mission text clearly states to "eliminate all targets", yet once the mission ends the "Enemies Killed" score is always in the high negatives (as well as for Dead Men Looted). People tend to surrender before this happens though, ending the mission early. Is that what's causing the mission to be considered a failure despite being a bloodbath? What am I doing wrong?

I did a quick search and someone also asked about the same issue a couple of years ago, but the only response I saw was a quip about how it's a bad idea to do deals with an evil corporation mega-state without reading the fine print. Which I mean... yeah, but it's research. You do whatever research you come across, especially if your brainers aren't fully utilized. Since I get an infamy disadvantage regardless of whether I partake in the missions or not (at least until I work out how to do them properly) and I can't seem to tell them to piss off permanently, I feel like I will have to resort to savegame editing to keep going eventually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: legionof1 on December 30, 2021, 04:54:08 am
The euro syndicate eliminations are intentionally designed to be bad scoring. Almost all the targets are units that give negative score on kill, and only modest positive if captured while researched. Given that there government/MDF units you rather rarely have many already researched. The big wads of cash on the ground just barely break even on the average composition. Attending is still marginally better then the de-spawn penalty. This is all as designed and intended.

It is after all the euro-syndicate getting you to do there wetwork against other governments, in exchange for access to more of there tech. Help one nominal ally stab other nominal ally in the back is generally not a good thing for ones reputation. Hence the shitty score.

The meta thing to do is delay starting the deal till you have the other unlocks to do the renegotiation as quickly as possible and avoid the task entierly or at least only need to do it for a single month.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Xolvix on December 30, 2021, 05:28:46 am
Aha, OK then. Something to remember I guess for the next eventual replay. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 30, 2021, 01:58:12 pm
I never got that far, but you can cancel the deal eventually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: Greep on December 30, 2021, 06:43:16 pm
So, I ended up fighting one of those early game jeeps, the ones that come before the armored patrols,  and rolled spartans.  Stuck it out anyways I ended up going against some unexpected weapons.

Among the loot was a wyvern plasma gun and a gauss pistol O.O  I think they might have the wrong tech level lol.  This is may '01 fighting an undefended ground patrol.

Anyways, turned out to be a win since even though a few died I got some light machineguns :D  And some kevlar for the sausage fest.

Edit: Arg, am I going to get a spartan retaliation? Blugh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M3 28-Nov-2021 The Planet of Rust
Post by: adix on January 02, 2022, 12:48:30 pm
quick question:
 i have started a run with M.2.2 and upgraded to M3.2.1
 I have researched Lost Souls short prior the upgrade.
 With M3 .. there is now a option to offer lost souls - however i cant capture them within any shadowrealms mission. (this is similar to ghosts)
 Its a bit strange that i cant build any Dream Walker tappings for peasants as well.
 What is the requirement to capture them?
Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Dioxine on January 06, 2022, 05:14:31 pm
M4 version released. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: SteamStalker on January 06, 2022, 08:07:16 pm
A little question: I've found no mentions of the Data Patch (which is on openxcom.org, the forum just doesn't allows me to post a link) in the XPiratez subforum, but I recall that on some other site, while XPiratez mod was discussed, somebody mentioned that Data Patch is necessary to install. Should I apply it? If so, how? Should I just copy my X-Com files (say, from Steam copy of a game) to "XPiratez\UFO" folder, and then copy the Data Patch files into the same folder, overwriting every file it prompts? How important Data Patch is while playin XPiratez anyway?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 07, 2022, 12:54:37 am
M4 version released. Enjoy!

Thank you, our messiah!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 07, 2022, 01:59:39 am
@steamwalker

Never heard of the data patch, works just fine with just the base xcom files.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: The Martian on January 07, 2022, 04:10:52 am
A little question: I've found no mentions of the Data Patch (which is on openxcom.org, the forum just doesn't allows me to post a link) in the XPiratez subforum, but I recall that on some other site, while XPiratez mod was discussed, somebody mentioned that Data Patch is necessary to install. Should I apply it? If so, how? Should I just copy my X-Com files (say, from Steam copy of a game) to "XPiratez\UFO" folder, and then copy the Data Patch files into the same folder, overwriting every file it prompts? How important Data Patch is while playin XPiratez anyway?

@steamwalker

Never heard of the data patch, works just fine with just the base xcom files.

If you are talking about what I think you are, you can find the 'data patch' files on the offical OpenXcom site (https://openxcom.org/), here:
https://openxcom.org/downloads-extras/

Specifically this one for X-COM: UFO Defense:
https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-ufo.zip

And this one for X-COM: Terror From the Deep:
https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-tftd.zip

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=55579)

As many mods are going to rely on the original game's files using these patches to fix a few of the remaining glitches is worth the install and the setup is very easy.

If you installed the windows version of OpenXcom via the .exe release (Not the standalone .zip) it should already have the 'Data Patch' included... I think.


To install the patch manually for X-COM: UFO Defense: (Information from patch.txt included in universal-patch-ufo.zip (https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-ufo.zip))
Quote
"To install, extract to your OpenXcom\UFO folder, overwriting every file."

To install the patch manually for X-COM: Terror From the Deep: (Information from patch.txt included in universal-patch-tftd.zip (https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-tftd.zip))
Quote
To install, extract to your OpenXcom\TFTD folder, overwriting every file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Jimboman on January 07, 2022, 08:46:50 pm
Surely Meridian's Openxcom extended has taken care of this, so there would no need of the patch for Piratez or Openxcomfiles.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Meridian on January 07, 2022, 09:04:22 pm
Surely Meridian's Openxcom extended has taken care of this, so there would no need of the patch for Piratez or Openxcomfiles.

Of course not.
OpenXcom Extended doesn't come with any original data, same as OpenXcom.

The patch is recommended also when using OpenXcom Extended.

If you're using the Windows installer, there is an option to download and apply the patch automatically.
Otherwise you can apply it manually.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: SteamStalker on January 07, 2022, 09:36:17 pm
If you are talking about what I think you are,

Yes, I am talking about exactly that data patch.

As many mods are going to rely on the original game's files using these patches to fix a few of the remaining glitches is worth the install and the setup is very easy.

If you installed the windows version of OpenXcom via the .exe release (Not the standalone .zip) it should already have the 'Data Patch' included... I think.

Thing is that XPiratez comes prepackaged with OpenXcom, and I, following the instructions in the readme, copy the files from my Steam X-Com installation to "XPiratez\UFO" which, if I remember correctly, has only a text file saying which files to copy over into the directory. As far as I understand, the Data Patch files should go into that directory. Does it means that XPiratez doesn't comes prepackaged with the Data Patch? I guess it's up to Dioxine - he knows for sure if the data patch is needed or not.

Never heard of the data patch, works just fine with just the base xcom files.
That's the point - I'm playing since J15, if not earlier and I've learned about Data Patch only recently, which made me wondering what is it and what it does.
Does it fixes a certain bug where some tiles of a certain terrain sets turned into tree stumps? There's more on that on UFOpaedia - against, I can't post links just yet, but you can look up on UFOpaedia Known_Bugs>Mountain_Map and Explosions>Mile-High_Madness.
Of course not.
OpenXcom Extended doesn't come with any original data, same as OpenXcom.

The patch is recommended also when using OpenXcom Extended.

If you're using the Windows installer, there is an option to download and apply the patch automatically.
Otherwise you can apply it manually.

Thank you for an answer! I'll guess I'll apply Data Patch the next time I'll install the fresh version of XPiratez and see for myself.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 08, 2022, 09:08:56 pm
Lmao the peasant army is now a diverging path   :o.  I've got to try this out.  Peasants vs ninjas is just asking for a massacre, though.

Hah, this is perfect, the harvester is the big civilian ship xD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Yirtimd2 on January 09, 2022, 12:05:51 am
Yeah! Big Thanks to our great leader Dioxin! Now I have something to play!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 09, 2022, 07:36:27 pm
Hi
So i tried new Harvester, it is nice lil fortress endeed but is it supposed to generate 8 bills no matter what? It just eats chunk of my score from any mission.
Not sure if bug, so i just leave it here.
Also it have 3 light slots and i have 2 25mm cannons but cant fit any.
Also i think upper left elevator is broken, cant get through.
Btw i wonder if its connected to my first question, i will be not surprised if bills charged because lift becomes destroyed at the beginning of each mission. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 09, 2022, 09:44:57 pm
Not being able to mount 3 lights is normal, it uses ground/divebombs.  So 14mm chaingun or airballs (dv) is what you get starting out.  Not sure about the rest, although I wonder if maybe the craft is too tall for the map or something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 09, 2022, 10:00:34 pm
Greep,
Oh, little bit wierd that airvan can fit 25mm but this big boy dont, but ok.

Bills for damaging the craft charged on any mission no matter wich.

Anyway want to say thanks to Dioxine for the update. I am doing reject the power/revolution run now after a year break, having fun so far. :) Will try to fit into that monster as many peasants with ak's and molotovs as possible. :) But only if i will manage these new score punches(ended with score -485 twice, not sure how that even was possible).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Dioxine on January 10, 2022, 10:25:08 am
If you are talking about what I think you are, you can find the 'data patch' files on the offical OpenXcom site (https://openxcom.org/), here:
https://openxcom.org/downloads-extras/

Specifically this one for X-COM: UFO Defense:
https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-ufo.zip

And this one for X-COM: Terror From the Deep:
https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-tftd.zip

(https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3626.0;attach=55579)

As many mods are going to rely on the original game's files using these patches to fix a few of the remaining glitches is worth the install and the setup is very easy.

If you installed the windows version of OpenXcom via the .exe release (Not the standalone .zip) it should already have the 'Data Patch' included... I think.


To install the patch manually for X-COM: UFO Defense: (Information from patch.txt included in universal-patch-ufo.zip (https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-ufo.zip))
To install the patch manually for X-COM: Terror From the Deep: (Information from patch.txt included in universal-patch-tftd.zip (https://openxcom.org/download/extras/universal-patch-tftd.zip))

XPiratez includes this patch (in the form of repaired vanilla map files) since 2014 or early 2015...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 10, 2022, 04:03:38 pm
In m4 the old mystique background for the tools is back, but i preferred the wooden one....oh nice the one for the buildings
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on January 10, 2022, 10:30:05 pm
Truly, with peasant path, one can only look into the future and wish for 2x2 vehicle path.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 10, 2022, 10:56:26 pm
Well, peasants aren't too bad with camo paint.  But yeah, they really don't get any other benefit from tech xD   Definitely harkens back to vanilla's "rookies [and dogs] leave the door first" gameplay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 10, 2022, 11:40:56 pm
Greep,
Thats debatable, i actually like this path. It gives cool scavenger armor for free and allows to promote them with booze. Harvester is op for the stage when you unlock it(3 floors, lots of places for sniping). Dont know whats about this new tank tho, requierment of only gray codex seems wierd.

ontherun,
looks like update with old saves issue. I can remember that i had something similar when updated between old versions after really long break.
Mine looks like this on 4.1:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 11, 2022, 12:06:07 am
Oh yeah, I'm going the peasant path too, I'm just saying they really don't "tech up" the way gals do.  Gals can hard counter most mission types with certain armors (scale, refractor, chain, etc) in a way peasants can't.  At least with the theban start you get a decent garrison of leveled soldiers, though.

I think mud/camo is better than scavenger, though.  Like, you're gonna die in one hit anyways, may as well take the extra reactions and
camouflage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 11, 2022, 12:19:58 am
ontherun,
looks like update with old saves issue. I can remember that i had something similar when updated between old versions after really long break.
Mine looks like this on 4.1:

That is not possibile because i did a fresh install (brand new download no update) and started a brand new game. The culprit might be the cities lore patch i activated from the beginning, cannot see other clues  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 11, 2022, 12:24:10 am
Greep,
Its not about survivability, scav armor just gives more TU, Str, Energy and 3x3 backpack. All these stats were a main problem with usual peasants in the begining. Promotion also reshuffles attributes and this can lead to interesting results. Also it gives me vibes of harley queen outfit. Looks really nice. :)

ontherun,
No, i have cities lore too and everything is fine. Cant really remember what was the deal sorry. It was like arround J17 for me. (really long ago)
Try to check if there is old oxce folders in my documents/user/, piratez have saves in the game folder, so this can be issue if they overwrite each other somehow.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 11, 2022, 08:01:12 pm
ontherun,
No, i have cities lore too and everything is fine. Cant really remember what was the deal sorry. It was like arround J17 for me. (really long ago)
Try to check if there is old oxce folders in my documents/user/, piratez have saves in the game folder, so this can be issue if they overwrite each other somehow.

no, there is nothing but still get the old picture, even with 4.1. Whatever, thanks a lot :)

One more thing: i noti ed that gands:warriors/castaway gals havevstrenght 9, 11, 14 and so on: so since they are ubers and are supoosed to have strong mutant pysiques - and also they salary Iis quite expensive - i'd humbly suggest to set a minimun of 20, and 30 for warriors: as of now ubers often have same strenght as peasants!   :D 8) slave soldiers of course should be a bit more sreongers than peasants...



Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 11, 2022, 09:14:07 pm
Well those things have been like that for half a decade, I think it's intentional.  That said, the bootypedia is outdated: all soldiers have the same salary shown on "loot distribution" page, with some minor exceptions.  In practice the 50k for gals is a bargain (except for base defense garrisons).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 12, 2022, 03:10:37 pm
Personally i'd also remove the experience bonus from the sailor armor, it is kinda cheat like the moving building feature though it required money so i think it was not like that..., the outfit might be  be unlocked after researched "guild air sailor"? In fact it seems a more "civilized" outfit :o

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: legionof1 on January 12, 2022, 05:24:03 pm
no, there is nothing but still get the old picture, even with 4.1. Whatever, thanks a lot :)

One more thing: i noti ed that gands:warriors/castaway gals havevstrenght 9, 11, 14 and so on: so since they are ubers and are supoosed to have strong mutant pysiques - and also they salary Iis quite expensive - i'd humbly suggest to set a minimun of 20, and 30 for warriors: as of now ubers often have same strenght as peasants!   :D 8) slave soldiers of course should be a bit more sreongers than peasants...
The way it works is that all hires of any class have a set range of starting values, gals are on average better then any of the more near humans. But not always. Just like some humans are 200+ meatheads and some are 90 pounds soaking wet noodles.

 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 13, 2022, 07:44:00 pm
Is there any options to set number of enemies in mission?

Ed: Found it.
Ed2: Added over9000 enemies to almost all missions. It's hell from start, but now there no troubles with lack of rating. (+900 rating from first Academy ship)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: legionof1 on January 14, 2022, 03:37:15 am
good lucj with your dozens of tanks and Z forms.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 14, 2022, 10:59:07 am
No problem, actually.
Nevertheless, I added 100-150% to all missions, except base defense, base assault, interceptors, gov ship and ES missions, and any ninja (bc fuck ninjas)
If someone want - here is file (don't forget make a reserve copy). Additional meat to EVERY difficulty, not only hardest.
For example, humanist mansion: now there is 2-6 mobiles and about 80 soldiers.

The main problem: I do not know, how many spawn point exist on maps. When I added 90 soldiers to Bandit town, game crashed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: massacrah on January 20, 2022, 01:54:25 pm
What exactly are you changing? im on john silver and the ammount of ninjas on each mission is just absurd over 40, and i need a day of savescumming to clear a ninja mission, ninjas are just beyond OP-not-fun-horrible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 21, 2022, 01:57:07 am
Errr...
I didn't change ANY ninja mission.
Only ships (all standard ships for any fraction, except interceptors, ninja and MarSec) and land mission like Bandit town or Academy Outpost.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: massacrah on January 22, 2022, 09:52:13 am
Errr...
I didn't change ANY ninja mission.
Only ships (all standard ships for any fraction, except interceptors, ninja and MarSec) and land mission like Bandit town or Academy Outpost.

Sorry i did not write clearly what i indended, i want to edit those files to reduce the ammount of ninjas in the missions its just way too many for the second difficulty. Even if i left only the turrets it would still be a toxic not fun experience for me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 22, 2022, 10:22:59 am
Sorry i did not write clearly what i indended, i want to edit those files to reduce the amount of ninjas in the missions its just way too many for the second difficulty. Even if i left only the turrets it would still be a toxic not fun experience for me.
Oh, I get it.
You need to find file Piratez_Factions.rul 
Then find "alienDeployments" - this is mission list.
Then, there is "type" - this is the name of mission. You gotta find all ninja missions manually, cause name not every time represent what kind of mission it is.

Each enemy there present by "alienRank" and only it's number, so you gonna change it blindly. The only sure thing - if this enemy has nothing in his "item sets" section - it is turret, doggo, crysalid or something like that. 
lowQty - amount of enemies on 1-4 difficulty
highQty - amount of enemies on hardest
dQty - random (start from 0 to current number) amount of enemies, added to any difficulty.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: massacrah on January 22, 2022, 11:11:37 am
Oh, I get it.
You need to find file Piratez_Factions.rul 
Then find "alienDeployments" - this is mission list.
Then, there is "type" - this is the name of mission. You gotta find all ninja missions manually, cause name not every time represent what kind of mission it is.

Each enemy there present by "alienRank" and only it's number, so you gonna change it blindly. The only sure thing - if this enemy has nothing in his "item sets" section - it is turret, doggo, crysalid or something like that. 
lowQty - amount of enemies on 1-4 difficulty
highQty - amount of enemies on hardest
dQty - random (start from 0 to current number) amount of enemies, added to any difficulty.

Tank you for the guidelines! i'll try poking them files!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 22, 2022, 09:09:11 pm
Tank you for the guidelines! i'll try poking them files!
You're welcome.
I highly recommend to NOT change anything else, if you can't predict the effect. I once broke the whole game like that, I had to reinstall it :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Scamps on January 23, 2022, 09:53:18 pm
Looking at tech tree, Peasant revolution blocks both Recruit veterans and Diplomacy? Leaving freaks as only purchasable option? Hope I'm wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 23, 2022, 10:17:22 pm
Looks researchable to me, what are you seeing that's the bottleneck?  Although tbh, I would probably prefer freaks anyways since they're so much cheaper.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 23, 2022, 11:20:55 pm
Scamps,
Diplomacy was bugged in 4.0 for peasant path, but after 4.1 everything is fine. You can purchase only peasants but all other races available through recruitment.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 26, 2022, 01:01:19 pm
Just noted: why "o'harty's gun" has such name? Ok i read the description in the bootypedia here (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_ZIPGUN), but since it's a thing conceived and created by the gals, would another name fit better? how about to rename it? Would you guys have some other name to suggest? Maybe  "kustim carabine"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Meridian on January 26, 2022, 01:20:20 pm
Just noted: why "o'harty's gun" has such name? Ok i read the description in the bootypedia here (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_ZIPGUN), but since it's a thing conceived and created by the gals, would another name fit better? how about to rename it? Would you guys have some other name to suggest? Maybe  "kustim carabine"?

It's named after a contributor. Renaming it would be rude.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 26, 2022, 02:44:12 pm
ok, at least let's hope we might find some more pointers/reference in other bootypedia articles in the future...(??)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on January 26, 2022, 09:33:50 pm
ok, at least let's hope we might find some more pointers/reference in other bootypedia articles in the future...(??)

"Named after a gunsmith who was famous for similar ideas (and amazingly, did not get killed by any of his contraptions)."

Isn't that enough of a hint, why it is called the way it is called?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on January 26, 2022, 10:23:11 pm
"Named after a gunsmith who was famous for similar ideas (and amazingly, did not get killed by any of his contraptions)."

Isn't that enough of a hint, why it is called the way it is called?

i meant in other bootypefia stuff/lore, that would be eventually added  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 27, 2022, 07:25:52 am
Some thoughts on the new gambling system:  I'm not sure it's a good idea allowing zorts and trits to be reclaimable so early.  That or maybe a slight tweaking of some of the more extreme outcomes.

Things like the oddball doom ss, crusader ss, and high explosives are nice.  But it's june and I've got a UAC rocket launcher with 10 rockets and human defender armor (the rocket launcher I got in march lol).  I think I'm not even going to use the armor for a bit, it's just too ridiculous for this stage of the game.  At least with the rockets, they run out, though.

Also because of the random SS armors I've been getting from gambling I've mostly been switching to SS even in the peasant route.  It would be cool if peasant specific armors were found in gambling, even if they're kinda weak like fusilier, aqua suits, or gladiatrix
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Iazo on January 27, 2022, 12:57:36 pm
The UAC rocket launcher is shit though. It's only good against lightly armored 2x2s, which are a handful of. Plenty good for blowing up your loot though.

Also, 1 human defender armor is not gonna break your game. Trust me, there are many things around that will quite handily fuck your defender up, especially if you grow complacent.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: sanyaskillpro on January 27, 2022, 01:39:10 pm
Love the new peasant path. But is it time we need some extra brainers at start? Every patch there's more new early game stuff everyone wants to try, but we start with 3 brainers(+1 if you sell hellerium and a corridor) like it used to be years ago.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 27, 2022, 07:12:16 pm
The UAC rocket launcher is shit though. It's only good against lightly armored 2x2s, which are a handful of. Plenty good for blowing up your loot though.

Also, 1 human defender armor is not gonna break your game. Trust me, there are many things around that will quite handily fuck your defender up, especially if you grow complacent.

Eh, even still the rockets are quite the power jump against those specifically, and it's mostly the accuracy and range that makes it really nice.  A panzerfaust or high explosive will handily wreck an armored car near you, but I want it dead the moment I see it.  Since you never know when it's going to use up all of it's TUs and blast the insides of your craft from halfway across the map.

If you're soaking reaction fire, you really only need a single piece of strong armor, too, and with the assault clones or a hero, you can put it on on quite a wrecking ball to boot.

Anyways, it's not a huge concern, but these things can make most of the hard missions of the first half of the year super easy.  I guess it also kind of depends on how early you get your first Jack C bounty, since half a dozen zorts/trits may not give you anything useful.

@sanya, hah, yeah I've actually found the reject path nice just so I can start with 5 brainers and get 13 by early march.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 29, 2022, 11:36:57 pm
I just wanna to know how someone could came to the conclusion that one ninja siege is not enough and 3 in a row requiered.  >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 30, 2022, 11:49:47 am
You're lucky. I had 4 in a row ))
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 30, 2022, 01:24:26 pm
Mega lucky actually. Builded my first tank*85mm and it arrived on the base exactly before first attack.
Now i remembered why i abandoned previus run, it was because of such bs, but it was academy/church i think. Like 4-5 sieges per month again and again and there was nothing i could do about this..
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Ultimoos on January 30, 2022, 07:17:59 pm
I started a new game on Blackbeard. First month perfect, over 2000 points. In February something was sucking my points. I suspect early bandit ships. Those slow with short radars. March was very nice, a bit too peaceful, typical silence before the storm. April as in every time I attempt to play on Blackbeard after sky ninjas patch, it's a fortress month. Somehow I managed to close with 300 points on positive side thanks to research finishing on last day. May was horrible. UFO after UFO. 6 different small ships landed in my radar range. My raiding party detected a cluster of mediums with 2 large ones over Europe. All with radars. With much pain I closed May with 800 points. I did not even had a chance to build little bird, nor do I have a use for it anymore. Before I could even make a third hangar I already had access to Aircar and landed small UFO's gave me 25mm guns and a lot of ammo for them.

So I have a question.
Can I somehow delay this situation? What can I do to prolong early game to make the little bird and other slow interceptors useful?
Can Ninja fortress be delayed? Is this my bad luck or is it fixed to spawn in April on Blackbeard difficulty?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on January 30, 2022, 09:34:30 pm
Cheat. Change your Airbus to something with guns from start.
We are here for fun, not for suffering.

But you had unlucky start. On Jack Sparrow first ninja base in my latest run was set in June. And yes, after that - huge cluster of outposts was too.
At this difficulty first year is thick. Anything non-hunter flies - you charge your Airbus to follow. If it landed - proceed to loot. If not - load and repeat.
If God of Random make a smile to you - first 25mm gun can be acquired from 2nd month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Greep on January 30, 2022, 10:06:58 pm
I started a new game on Blackbeard. First month perfect, over 2000 points. In February something was sucking my points. I suspect early bandit ships. Those slow with short radars. March was very nice, a bit too peaceful, typical silence before the storm. April as in every time I attempt to play on Blackbeard after sky ninjas patch, it's a fortress month. Somehow I managed to close with 300 points on positive side thanks to research finishing on last day. May was horrible. UFO after UFO. 6 different small ships landed in my radar range. My raiding party detected a cluster of mediums with 2 large ones over Europe. All with radars. With much pain I closed May with 800 points. I did not even had a chance to build little bird, nor do I have a use for it anymore. Before I could even make a third hangar I already had access to Aircar and landed small UFO's gave me 25mm guns and a lot of ammo for them.

So I have a question.
Can I somehow delay this situation? What can I do to prolong early game to make the little bird and other slow interceptors useful?
Can Ninja fortress be delayed? Is this my bad luck or is it fixed to spawn in April on Blackbeard difficulty?


-Ninja airfields are fixed spawns.  The outposts that they spawn are not though.  Do you mean delayed as in fight them later or delayed as in change the .ruls?  You don't need to fight them immediately at all.  I attempted my first jack sparrow outpost raid in august and had to retreat after killing 50+ ninjas using chainmail, legion, and an armored car.  Kinda sucks just barely losing xD

If you want to remove the bases to give yourself more time or something, just go to the faction.rul, find "ninjabase1script" (and other ninjabase scripts) under "ninjastuff" and change the firstmonth variable.  January is month 0.  Captain kidd is difficulty 0.

-Biggest way by a longshot I've found to combat low infamy and general money woes is getting bounty hunt C ASAP.  I was able to get the glamour for it recently by end of april by doing a few missions with a v8, wearing any bikinis and party dresses I found, and playing fast.  Nothing says infamy like a successfully raided humanist villa.  Ended up maintaining 7-9k/month from May onwards.  Sell mutanist files liberally and gamble like there's no tomorrow.

-Most early interceptors are unfortunately quite useless.  Even if they catch a HK they'll run away before the chainguns kills them.  I do not build the little bird, buckaroos, or incinerator at all, e.g.  I have found the harvester useful for downing zepellins, armored patrols, and military convoys, but only when fully decked out.  But yeah, it's mostly either going to be cars/pirhannas/jetbikes/shadowcraft.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 31, 2022, 02:16:21 am
Ultimoos,
In 4.0 first ninja airfield appear is scripted on 3+ difficulty, not sure  wich research topics can do this. Im on 3. difficulty too and for me airfield become fortress only at the middle of the second year or so. They builded 2 more airfields at the beggining of the 3 year.
Quote
- Ninja Balancing: No longer extra 3 Ninja bases appear due to tech progression. Last scripted base appears later on Blackbeard+ now. However, bases can appear endlessly with a small chance from 2603 onwards.

If first ninja base appeared right next to your base in early game it's better to start a new game. They will strangle you with sieges sooner or later.
Otherwise i would say just relax and play, ninja bases can generate several "govt defense" missions wich can bring you to -6000 or so. Anyway you will not loose a game until you get -500 score or -1kk money twice in a row.
Save items with short research time like data disks for tough monthes in early game, i think each topic with # gives you 250 of score and you can shoot'em several times to fix your rating fast.
Unlock all missions asap. Its possible to do ~4-6k of score per month just by doing missions and ignoring pogroms even in bad monthes.
In mid game score problems mostly become errelevant.

Also if you plan to build any passive defenses take in account that for example each Ninja Landcruiser have 2850hp, so you need arround 12 vulcan batteries to be able to defend from them. I will recommend to build just 2 hideout shrouds and 2 vulcans for your outposts to defend them from hobos until you unlock something like SAM sites or Laser Defenses. If you plan to shoot down incoming ships with craft then you need something beefy to tank damage like swordfish/kraken. As for Bykes and Seekers - Seagull missiles can bring them down quickly.

Greep,
Quote
I have found the harvester useful for downing zepellins, armored patrols, and military convoys, but only when fully decked out.  But yeah, it's mostly either going to be cars/pirhannas/jetbikes/shadowcraft.
Yeah, it should be packed with 14mm x3 and a good pilot, but after this its basicly mini Convoy with 4 HWP. You can shove into it stuff like 4 Hyenas early.  My harvester are able to crawl in to the airfield and shoot down all 3 interceptors and then proceed to siege. On the usual battlescape its just op fortress. Harvesters = <3

Really curius about early game stuff like buckaroos/bombers. Anyone used them? Like outpost with wing of 3 buckaroos or something.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Ultimoos on January 31, 2022, 09:40:47 am
Thanks for the tips. I decided to push first base spawn to June.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on January 31, 2022, 10:31:53 am
April of the first year is always like this, it's fine. Factions build their hideouts(this claster of ships you saw), ninjas spawn etc. Score will be less jumpy in next monthes.
Things wil start to heating up if you join alliance blindly or after 2 years of doing nothing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on February 12, 2022, 03:30:03 pm
Update, please?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: legionof1 on February 12, 2022, 03:41:27 pm
Soon, and not in the corporate sense. Private channels have had quite a few teasers this week which usually means an update is nigh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Rallehop on February 12, 2022, 11:52:41 pm
Soon, and not in the corporate sense. Private channels have had quite a few teasers this week which usually means an update is nigh.

Hah. What is "soon" outside of the corporate sense then ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Earthquake on February 13, 2022, 12:06:42 am
Soon, and not in the corporate sense. Private channels have had quite a few teasers this week which usually means an update is nigh.
Yay, thanks!
You're all great!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Marza on February 13, 2022, 06:20:06 am
Maybe two or three weeks soon. Second hand information direct from the source.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Rallehop on February 13, 2022, 12:01:18 pm
Very exciting!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on February 15, 2022, 12:51:13 am
uhh yessss!!  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Meza on February 18, 2022, 11:47:37 am
Need tips how to take down 14-mm ninja turrets. It's not a problem right after laser sniper rifle and it's a bit probs in easly game. Thxnks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Iazo on February 18, 2022, 01:00:21 pm
Not a whole lot of 'easy' ways. Your choices are a bunch if nonstandard explosives, as well as some anti-armor measures.

Chem grenades, but you will need a lot.

Crates of Violence, but difficult to throw, and also need a lot.

Scavenged EMP grenades from dead ninjas.

SC balls for the Assault Cannon.

Recoiless Rifle Armored Cars.

Possibly even standard recoilless rifles.

Armor Stripping piercing weapons like the Golden Guns.

Hard hitters like AP sniper rifles.

None of them are really ideal, but these are the choices.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Mathel on February 18, 2022, 04:17:48 pm
Adding to that:

Mortar explosive rounds
RPG Cumulative Rounds

Both deal some amount of damage, it adds up.

Superselfcharger

Fails to breach armor at first, but over time burns through it.

Willie Pete

Lights it up, also deals damage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: ontherun on February 18, 2022, 04:37:23 pm
Did anyone try with ballistas? I never gave a shot (emh) in battle, these require lots of TUs but should have a fairly long range, at least i hope...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: legionof1 on February 18, 2022, 09:04:08 pm
Too slow to really be any more practical then the plentiful EMP nades.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Requiem on February 19, 2022, 10:27:34 am
Did anyone try with ballistas? I never gave a shot (emh) in battle, these require lots of TUs but should have a fairly long range, at least i hope...
I only tried them in underwater missions to destroy beacons. At the airfield, this is a single shot and on the next turn your toon will be without cover, this is not what you need.

Each ninja bunker have a blind spots and you need to put your troops into them, HWP's must kill as many turrets as possible on turn 1. After that, it's just a matter of time. If you want to purge ninjas for sure then you need tanks+platemail(with bra/corset/stockings), cars with 25/14mm cannons works too. 
Also i really like to use a car with flamethrower just for lulz, usualy there spawns big bunker on the front without windows and i think flame on the top can cause really good chain reaction(not sure whats inside lol). This can provide more smoke or cover for you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Scamps on February 25, 2022, 10:01:02 am
Tried ballistas + mini nuke (on ninja terror mission). Destroyed a couple floors of a landcruiser, turrets still alive. Was not direct hit though, maybe 3-4 sqares off.
Two hits from acid mortar (or one hit to destroy under armor + finish with rocket launcher or other explosives).
Once got ninja outpost with a shed next to turrets. Destroyed with a chem blunderbuss in 6 (IIRC) bursts (turns).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Fugazza on March 01, 2022, 05:37:21 am
Can't complain about anything of this mob. It's literally the only game I have installed in a notebook. A "Old as Balls" HP Pavillion dv4000, circa 2000. I mean, mono core Celeron M, 1GB RAM, old old. But man, display is top notch and sound is really good too

I have to compile from source (old note, running a 32bits Linux - AntiX) and it's a time consuming process, so I only update OXCE when XPirateZ updates.

So, what I'm asking? Could you post the "commit" hash in the OXCE version date? Just that.

Also, another question. When you say "OXCE updated to 7.3.3" and you try to run (i.e) M4 Piratez in a higher OXCE version... hwta could happen?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Scamps on March 01, 2022, 12:05:16 pm
1) Probably better to ask in OpenxcomExtended subforum. Good idea, I also missed release branches/hashes once when tried debugging.
2) Likely no problems except new validation rules, but validation can be turned off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: R1dO on March 01, 2022, 12:18:53 pm
Although OXCE does not use tags, any new version is marked pretty obvious as a separate commit message.
For instance: 7.5.6 -> https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/commit/1f1385f27c3e993da7b9033b7e7b439d2349dd7e

Since you compile from source i assume you either have access to the complete git history or use a commit specific tarbal from git.

In either case, if you search for "OXCE" inside git(hub) it should be pretty straightforward to pinpoint the exact commit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2022, 01:05:48 pm
The exact commit is also part of the download package.

For example OXCE 7.5.3 download is called "Extended-7.5.3-f94c8c56f-2022-02-07-win64.7z"

The "f94c8c56f" is the beginning of the commit hash, which is enough to check it out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Fugazza on March 01, 2022, 01:23:51 pm
The exact commit is also part of the download package.

For example OXCE 7.5.3 download is called "Extended-7.5.3-f94c8c56f-2022-02-07-win64.7z"

The "f94c8c56f" is the beginning of the commit hash, which is enough to check it out.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, ok! I was checking by date and version, i.e.: M4 "runs" with OXCE upgrade to 7.3.3 04-Jan-2022, so I check the OXCE github by date, then clone and use that github "checkout" command with the commit identificator, and then proceed as the "Compiling and cross-compiling" thread says

Actually I was just asking if the commit identificator could be added in the first post next to the recommended OXCE version, that's all.

Still, thanks all for answering
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Meridian on March 01, 2022, 02:16:50 pm
Actually I was just asking if the commit identificator could be added in the first post next to the recommended OXCE version, that's all.

The mod author doesn't use git/github, and probably doesn't know what a commit hash is... asking him to maintain it here does not seem fair.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Fugazza on March 01, 2022, 03:25:28 pm
The mod author doesn't use git/github, and probably doesn't know what a commit hash is... asking him to maintain it here does not seem fair.

Didn't think about it in that way. And no, doesn't seem fair... The author already does a lot and it wasn't my intention to add work. Thanks for the answers
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Psyentific on March 01, 2022, 09:32:24 pm
The mod author doesn't use git/github, and probably doesn't know what a commit hash is... asking him to maintain it here does not seem fair.

taking one look at an entire mod's worth of content in piratez.rul was enough to convince me that, no, dioxine has never even heard of sensible coding practices. of course he doesn't use github, he barely even organizes his own stuff!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: legionof1 on March 02, 2022, 05:39:09 am
Dioxine is not a coder by trade, but a writer type. He's crafting a world and experiences first, and the code best he knows how with at times archaic engine architecture, cause oxce still has to run vanilla.

There have been plenty of frankly janky hack solutions just to get the front end decent. The backend cleanup can wait until the  full layout is done. And that's somewhere about 30% right now by my personal estimate.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Alex the KatanaCutlass on March 02, 2022, 09:02:24 pm
Oh, Boy, this is gonna b the 3 rt time that I'm starting it all over, but Hell & Hades YEEEEEA, it's worth every damn minute!:)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Athelflaed on March 06, 2022, 10:09:51 pm
Is it intended that some of the newer ships (like the harvester and buckaroo) can't use light craft weapons (like the 25mm cannon) in spite of the fact the bootypedia says they can?  Because after a bit of digging, I noticed the weapon slots that are localized as light weapons are type 5 rather than type 0.  If this is intended, what are the type 5 weapons?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Ultimoos on March 06, 2022, 10:39:53 pm
5 is GR/Ground weapons. 14mm cannon and maybe carronade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Athelflaed on March 06, 2022, 11:35:21 pm
5 is GR/Ground weapons. 14mm cannon and maybe carronade.
Oh, thank you.  So it's just for, like, convoys and ratmen then?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M4 6-Jan-2022 Peasant Revolution
Post by: Ultimoos on March 07, 2022, 05:35:37 am
You can shoot at anything, flying or not. I do not think there is a code that could limit what a weapon can or can not shoot at. Only what can be mounted on a slot on craft. And those are your weapon categories. If your craft can get in to combat it can shoot with whatever it has on board.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Dioxine on March 24, 2022, 08:00:52 pm
If you believed news about my death, they were somewhat exaggerated. Delay in releases was caused by massiveness of the update, not all this drama which happened. So... from my exile to the depths of Dark Web, the Butcher's Bay prison in the Matrix, I present you the new version:
M5: The Five Captains!

https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/x-piratez-m5-the-five-captains#downloadsform

Have fun and don't tarnish your gamer's pride while doing so, Player One!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: 2much on March 24, 2022, 08:22:19 pm
Thank you Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Interdictor on March 25, 2022, 12:06:32 am
If you believed news about my death, they were somewhat exaggerated.

Happy to see you and also happy to see my efforts being implemented. Thank you, Dioxine!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Psyentific on March 25, 2022, 02:20:23 am
LET'S
FUCKING
GOOOOOOOO
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on March 25, 2022, 02:49:10 pm
I like most of the new missions, armors, maps, captain personality choice, etc. Nice work!

The OnlyRunts production seems quite profitable (if you sell the glamour). $125.5 per work hour is more than twice of the $61 per work hour for apples. Paired with Dumbass Captain's "Scamming & Spoofing", which is also quite profitable in itself, you can have a practically unlimited supply of Mutant Porn to produce Pillow Books for OnlyRunts production.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Xolvix on March 26, 2022, 01:52:56 pm
I swear I'm never gonna complete this damn mod.

Fine, starting fresh campaign, again...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Dioxine on March 27, 2022, 09:04:48 pm
M5.1 bugfixed/improved version uploaded.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: JamTheDane on March 27, 2022, 09:05:44 pm
I swear I'm never gonna complete this damn mod.

Fine, starting fresh campaign, again...

Join the club, 4th restart so far, and still havent made it past early midgame :). I dont know how you guys manage to do it, :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: aku on March 27, 2022, 09:37:55 pm
Join the club, 4th restart so far, and still havent made it past early midgame :). I dont know how you guys manage to do it, :)
Way too much time. Simple as.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Earthquake on March 27, 2022, 11:02:41 pm
Join the club, 4th restart so far, and still havent made it past early midgame :). I dont know how you guys manage to do it, :)
Finished twice.
Restarts - beyond count
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Sahti Waari on March 29, 2022, 12:18:14 am
Hello, anyone knows how to repair damaged building in your base after bombardment?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Iazo on March 29, 2022, 05:44:56 am
you click on them. Or maybe rightclick.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Buck on March 29, 2022, 09:22:57 am
I'm really digging this mod!

I'm still pretty early into the campaign, but I have a couple of questions I can't seem to find answers to elsewhere.

1) What should I tech to in order to obtain craft that can shoot down shipping targets? The Air Bus is limited in terms of fuel and doesn't have the ability to equip craft weapons, which means I have to hope they land within my radar's range.

2) What's the point of expeditions? Are they viable if, say, I lose the Air Bus in the early game? Or is losing the Air Bus pretty much game-over?

3) What's a good way of making money in the early game? I have a plantation and all of my runts dedicated to manufacturing X-Grog, but I'm still operating at a net loss each month (I think I'm in March or April now and am still down to the initial three Brainers I started my campaign with).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on March 29, 2022, 11:29:50 am
Earliest craft that can shoot down shippings: LITTLE BIRD (Assembling the Bird), on average takes 30 research, which is pretty expensive for an early game topic. The upside is that the craft comes with a built-in weapon, so you don't need to research any. Also, every mission with this craft rewards you up to 12 additional glamour, which is the most of any craft.
Theoretically, if you get lucky with interrogations and hit Shadowmasters, then getting codex craft is faster than getting Little Bird, but don't bet on it. Still, researching a codex can net you a useful craft weapon.
Researching "Contacts: Car Thieves" will allow you to purchase several other craft, some of which can carry weapons, but to actually get weapons is difficult. You would have to get lucky with events or armed crafts landing. Researching weapons, even simple Airballs, is so far down the tech tree that it's best to avoid if you can.
Oh and, if you chose Peasant Revolution!, then obviously HARVESTER, tho again, getting the weapons is the troublesome part.

Expedition craft is too slow, so not really viable unless the mission is right next to your base. Do buy some recon expeditions tho, those are a good investment.

Making money, invest into constructing additional Extractors and fill them with runts. Research Chateau de la Mort ASAP, so that you can craft it from Apples and sell it. Capture most enemies instead of killing them and sell/rob them. Plantation is actually less profitable than building a Hangar, since Hangar gives 10 workspace, and the 10 workspace with 10 runts will (producing wine) make more money per month. Brainers also make money, since researching stuff gives you infamy (each point is worth $333 at the end of the month), they typically pay for themselves. If in March and you still only have 3, it means you fucked up. You get plenty of Castaway Gals through missions, and each of those can be manufactured into a free brainer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Buck on March 29, 2022, 06:16:40 pm
Do castaways-turned-brainers still require the $100k/month upkeep?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Iazo on March 29, 2022, 06:50:08 pm
Yes, of course.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Buck on March 29, 2022, 07:21:24 pm
Thank you!  ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: ontherun on March 30, 2022, 11:54:28 pm
[...]
Researching "Contacts: Car Thieves" will allow you to purchase several other craft, some of which can carry weapons, but to actually get weapons is difficult. You would have to get lucky with events or armed crafts landing. Researching weapons, even simple Airballs, is so far down the tech tree that it's best to avoid if you can.
Oh and, if you chose Peasant Revolution!, then obviously HARVESTER, tho again, getting the weapons is the troublesome part.
[...]

So let's hope in the next update gettin aircraft weapons might be some more easy, at least for the light and less powerful, but only for avoiding frustrations >:( ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: legionof1 on March 31, 2022, 12:19:48 am
I'm really digging this mod!

I'm still pretty early into the campaign, but I have a couple of questions I can't seem to find answers to elsewhere.

1) What should I tech to in order to obtain craft that can shoot down shipping targets? The Air Bus is limited in terms of fuel and doesn't have the ability to equip craft weapons, which means I have to hope they land within my radar's range.

2) What's the point of expeditions? Are they viable if, say, I lose the Air Bus in the early game? Or is losing the Air Bus pretty much game-over?

3) What's a good way of making money in the early game? I have a plantation and all of my runts dedicated to manufacturing X-Grog, but I'm still operating at a net loss each month (I think I'm in March or April now and am still down to the initial three Brainers I started my campaign with).

1) first thing to head for is "contact: car thieves". After that shadowmasters and codex choice is the next tier, assuming your not doing a reject the power run. There are other routes but there more complicated.

2) "Craft" expeditions are mostly for putting alot of bodies on a mission with minimal tech. Losing the bus very early is a bump in the road but not a game over.

3)your doing the right things and yes you will tend to spend i daresay most of the first year with a net negative, before infamy(score) bonus. iirc: 1 Score=10 cash. But the bookeeping on the balance sheet is almost purely vanilla, with the bonus tacked onto the end in the monthly sheet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Psyentific on March 31, 2022, 12:27:32 am
what i usually do is check the base Logs to see how much its maintenance is, then keep enough Runts cycling grog or whatever on auto-sell to cover that. use the spare Runts for other manufacture projects.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Protagonista on March 31, 2022, 04:21:47 am
Hey everyone. Last time I played this massive mod was on 2019, and now Im so lost on how are you suppose to deal with the ninja bases on year 1. How much infamy do they take away every month? by end of november im takin -2000 infamy on easy mode, and negative -600 on 2 months in a row is a instant loss. Are this bases suppose to be a time-limit feature?

"Captain, the Sky Ninjas continue to make progress on Moar Bases Project. If we're going to slow them down we'll need to move fast."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Iazo on March 31, 2022, 10:04:36 am
The short answer is that you need to do better. I am not sure what you are doing wrong, because by Nov you ahould be firmly out of the danger zone, and established enough to be able to shoot down plenty of their score sucking ships. But even if not, enemy activity rarely exceeds -5000, so for you to land on -2000, you are earning just 3000 points per month at best which is very little for April, let alone Nov.

Tell you what, drop a savegame here, and we'll look into what you did wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Protagonista on April 01, 2022, 01:55:44 am
Hey, thanks for the help! Heres my terrible save file, right before my failed attemp at the ninja base assalt. No acess to good weapons or aircraft that can fight. Cant even build a hangar. The 8 brainers will bankrupt me, but the research tree of this mod is the true early game boss.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Iazo on April 01, 2022, 08:53:43 am
Hey, I will lokk at your save sometime today, but it is a bad omen if you say you only have 8 brainers in Nov.

I'll be honest, this sounds line a chronic mismanagement problem, rather than the fault of ninjas. But never worry, such problems are usually fixable, unfortunately though, not instantly.

Regardless of that, I can start with one specific piece of advice you are not likely regret ever. Full brainers, all the time. I  read your save game
, And it seems the previous month you had a research score of 2300. If you have 8 brainers, that score will just about cover their own maintenance, so you should not be so negative about thir monthly costs, they will almost certainly cover their salaries in infamy bonus!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Protagonista on April 01, 2022, 06:33:31 pm
I never considered that the brainers would be cost-neutral. its 200k upfront and 100k montly for each, so I though 8 was already too many too soon! Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: legionof1 on April 02, 2022, 12:49:51 am
Aye all the brains you can buy in the early game. Much of the early topics are pretty quick, 2 for 1s(like first of any prisoner), or otherwise worth more then you would initially assume scores wise. A brain is expensive but only really a drain if they complete no topics in a month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on April 02, 2022, 01:09:43 am
There's one small annoyance with OnlyRunts and that is, it requires too much micromanagement. If you have 100 pillow books and 100 workers, then producing 100x OnlyRunts will complete in 12 hours. So you gotta keep replacing the project over and over, several times per day, and the less pillow books you have, the worse it gets. Compared to Chateau de la Mort, you put in a production for a 100 and you're good for half a month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: EleriumWard on April 02, 2022, 11:21:24 am
So, I would just like to ask a question that just popped into my head recently. Lore-wise, who is responsible for the names of the Ubers? I've wondered why their names are more nonsensical compared to the other soldier classes.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 03, 2022, 11:54:03 pm
So, I would just like to ask a question that just popped into my head recently. Lore-wise, who is responsible for the names of the Ubers? I've wondered why their names are more nonsensical compared to the other soldier classes.

Well, they're enhanced humans (at least by dome standards), so the term "uber" is rather straightforward.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: EleriumWard on April 04, 2022, 05:33:44 am
Well, they're enhanced humans (at least by dome standards), so the term "uber" is rather straightforward.

No, I meant their actual names, not the term Uber. For example, in my playthrough, I have Ubers with names like Laser Hamster, Incredible Ears, Timely Cat, Dastardly Pig, and the like. Who exactly came up with that kind of naming convention in the Piratez/XPiratez lore?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: DeeplyCasul on April 04, 2022, 05:53:58 am
So I've found raiders flying those attack planes with 420 speed in the early game. What I don't understand is why theres 9+ raiders aboard what looks like a small one man plane?

Further, the little bird has not been a very enjoyable research in any of my playthroughs. Is the sole point of it to rush it as fast as possible to take down those early convoys that stop spawning after a while? Because anything else is either too fast or depletes all your ammo...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Mathel on April 04, 2022, 07:43:59 am
No, I meant their actual names, not the term Uber. For example, in my playthrough, I have Ubers with names like Laser Hamster, Incredible Ears, Timely Cat, Dastardly Pig, and the like. Who exactly came up with that kind of naming convention in the Piratez/XPiratez lore?
They named themselves? Or possibly each other.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Psyentific on April 05, 2022, 01:13:48 pm
when you become a pirate, you have to choose a new pirate name. nobody uses their real name, that's how you get arrested!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: ivandogovich on April 05, 2022, 06:23:14 pm
I never considered that the brainers would be cost-neutral. its 200k upfront and 100k montly for each, so I though 8 was already too many too soon! Thanks!

Just wanted to pass on this nice guide that Iazo put together too.  Well done tips for the first 6 mo - 1 year.

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10299.0.html
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: EleriumWard on April 06, 2022, 04:45:17 am
when you become a pirate, you have to choose a new pirate name. nobody uses their real name, that's how you get arrested!

Tell that to the peasants, damsels, slave soldiers, heroes, bugeyes, and lokk'narrs, who have far more believable names than the ubers. Or perhaps those names are pseudonyms as well?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: unarmed drifter on April 06, 2022, 12:37:19 pm
Tell that to the peasants, damsels, slave soldiers, heroes, bugeyes, and lokk'narrs, who have far more believable names than the ubers. Or perhaps those names are pseudonyms as well?

you ever heard of the concept of "nicknames"? it's a thing in wild west and mafia flicks, as well as in pirate stories of old :3
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Psyentific on April 06, 2022, 01:07:19 pm
Tell that to the peasants, damsels, slave soldiers, heroes, bugeyes, and lokk'narrs, who have far more believable names than the ubers. Or perhaps those names are pseudonyms as well?
the lok'narrs have their own chuunibyou thing going on
the peasants, damsels, slaves etc. are not real pirates, and so, do not get pirate names unless you give them one
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ruberto on April 12, 2022, 08:25:44 pm
I copied new version m5 and it gives me the error about armour (in attached log file).
What should i do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Earthquake on April 12, 2022, 09:39:45 pm
I copied new version m5 and it gives me the error about armour (in attached log file).
What should i do?
Download again. Dioxine patched it few times since release.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ruberto on April 12, 2022, 09:51:57 pm
Download again. Dioxine patched it few times since release.
I downloaded it like today.
Perhaps there was new openxcom on which the nem M5 is dependent? Cuz I copied into my old folder, created for M4.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Solarius Scorch on April 13, 2022, 02:17:47 pm
I downloaded it like today.
Perhaps there was new openxcom on which the nem M5 is dependent? Cuz I copied into my old folder, created for M4.

So are you using the OXCE version bundled with the mod or not?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ruberto on April 13, 2022, 02:57:02 pm
So are you using the OXCE version bundled with the mod or not?
I'm not sure... I tried to overwrite the new M5 xpiratez on top of the  M4 version; the openxcom I had worked with the M4.
Where do I find the "OXCE version bundled with the mod"?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Iazo on April 13, 2022, 03:51:41 pm
Why don't you install it the way that it is advised to be installed?

NEVER copy over files over old instalations. Extract separately, copy UFO directory, and your config and save file in the new version and you're good to go. You do not need any separate OXCE installation, or anything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ruberto on April 13, 2022, 04:38:28 pm
Why don't you install it the way that it is advised to be installed?

NEVER copy over files over old instalations. Extract separately, copy UFO directory, and your config and save file in the new version and you're good to go. You do not need any separate OXCE installation, or anything.
Thanks mate!
It worked!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on April 13, 2022, 07:12:58 pm
I feel like Cleopatra's Challenge event comes way too late. By the time it shows up (October or later) and the missions chain is finished, most of the rewards aren't relevant anymore, at least for expert players who, by then, are already in the space age.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ashghan on April 19, 2022, 05:35:57 pm
There's one small annoyance with OnlyRunts and that is, it requires too much micromanagement. If you have 100 pillow books and 100 workers, then producing 100x OnlyRunts will complete in 12 hours. So you gotta keep replacing the project over and over, several times per day, and the less pillow books you have, the worse it gets. Compared to Chateau de la Mort, you put in a production for a 100 and you're good for half a month.

If you set the order to more than the amount of books you have it will automatically use the books you get back and keep on working forever. Or at least until you run out of books (there's a 5 or 10% chance to not get the book back).

I feel like Cleopatra's Challenge event comes way too late. By the time it shows up (October or later) and the missions chain is finished, most of the rewards aren't relevant anymore, at least for expert players who, by then, are already in the space age.
I agree with that sentiment. But early on you'd most likely not have a crew good enough to attempt some of them (Shamblers and Werewolves are pretty hard). And the rewards are pretty mediocre. Since this is a short despawn time mission done with a very slow 'craft', you can't really choose the time of day (unless you use #43 trickery) which also adds to the 'fun' factor.


=============

And to jump on the whole Ubre naming bandwagon. If you're willing to accept Black Beard as a pirate name, then what issue do you have with Erotic Vag*na or Nice Tits (both actual Gal names that I rolled and ROTFL'ed). The naming is basically a throwback to the ancient times (for example Nordic cultures), where you got names from defining characteristics. Knot-beard, Bluetooth, Longshanks, Bloodaxe and heck, even Ragnar Lothbrok which basicaly translates to "Raven Hairy (or leather) Pants". And I think Hairy Pants is one of the actually possible combinations for a Gal's name.
As for the lore explanation, I'd assume they were only known as Subject #5323 or similar to the Academy, so they had to think of new names to call themselves. Without professions (like Smith, Fisher etc.), parents (so no Eriksdottir or somesuch) and no accessible lineage for a proper naming convention (so no Anna, Monica, Yoko etc.) they were left with names dependent on defining characteristics and/or associations. Seems pretty logical when you give it some thought. It does imply that they might have been taken by the Academy at a toddler age, so they never learned what their biological parrents actually called them. It is never explained at what age the Academy harvests its specimens, but it does make sense to have the least outside 'taint' not to skewer any results (which would imply very erly age).

...See? Anything can be explained with a combination logic and imagination. :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on April 19, 2022, 10:57:37 pm
If you set the order to more than the amount of books you have

Well, I suppose you're right... tho that only works if the amount of books you have is high enough to occupy the workspace (more than runts/12). Nevermind then.

But early on you'd most likely not have a crew good enough to attempt some of them

The event itself does requires a certain tech level and Wastelend Sorceress (June+) to trigger, so even if the firstMonth: 9 requirement was removed, the earliest time you could do any of those missions would be July, which I wouldn't call early. Personally, I'm not in favor of events that are month-based, and believe that it's better game design if events are primarily based on the pace at which the player progresses through the game (tech tree).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Earthquake on April 23, 2022, 04:20:45 pm
Is there any update in far, far future?)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Ashghan on April 23, 2022, 05:51:06 pm
Uuuh? The update is not even a full month old and you're asking for the next one? The answer would be - yes, there is an update planned. In the fututre. Somewhere.


Well, I suppose you're right... tho that only works if the amount of books you have is high enough to occupy the workspace (more than runts/12). Nevermind then.
Well, you can have less runts working on this project to match a low number of books. With the rest doing something else - like for example making more books :)

Personally, I'm not in favor of events that are month-based, and believe that it's better game design if events are primarily based on the pace at which the player progresses through the game (tech tree).
I'd disagree. With the tech tree complicated as it is now, you'd probably miss a lot of things due to how RNGesus works. And besides - the world is evolving around you regardless of what your Brainers are working on. Having the entire world stuck at "Tech level 1", just because you havent researched the "Tech 2 Unlock" is preposterous, while at the same time universally present in modern games. Becasue balance reasons
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Delian on April 24, 2022, 04:55:20 am
And besides - the world is evolving around you regardless of what your Brainers are working on. Having the entire world stuck at "Tech level 1", just because you havent researched the "Tech 2 Unlock" is preposterous

I said "primarily", not unconditionally. Obviously the difficulty will gradually ramp up over time, even if you don't research anything, but there's a limit to everything. Actually, it's ironic that you mention this, because the event in question does in fact require you to unlock certain research to trigger, so I guess the brainers do matter? Anyway, if you play well, then the game should get more difficult faster (but not in a punishing way), and if you play badly, then it should get difficult a bit slower (but not to make it super easy), that's all there is to it. Events/missions that are purely month-based, such as the missile strikes or ninja bases, can serve the base difficulty curve, but most other events should adapt to how well the player is doing so that the game stays challenging and non-linear.

Hmm, I guess one annoying problem that's worth mentioning is that, modders currently can't easily (ignoring the workarounds) define event trigger conditions to utilize the OR logic, that is, for events to be tiggered either by unlocking research or at a certain month.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: ontherun on April 26, 2022, 01:55:52 pm
M.5.2.1 has new firing sounds for homefront and ramshakel rifle, thanks! I llke the new "tenka tenkoid" battlescape track, while "syntetic dreams" has been renamed as "rise"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2022, 06:46:12 pm
New version up!
v.N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday:
 Enjoy the fruit of labour of the Nekomimi team - completely new race of soldiers, the catgirls, with their own armor, weapons, tech, trainings and so on!
Another major change is a much needed Ninja earlygame rebalance which should finally restore the pre-M1 slowburn, no-rush feel of the game.

Have fun!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2022, 07:04:48 pm
I feel like Cleopatra's Challenge event comes way too late. By the time it shows up (October or later) and the missions chain is finished, most of the rewards aren't relevant anymore, at least for expert players who, by then, are already in the space age.

I actually hope for it to crop up by second part of y2 on average, october y1 minimum is only to set to make sure it doesn't happen way TOO early - so you can have some fun combat in the "I'm curbstomping everything and it's boring" age.
As for monetary/resource rewards, I never give much thought to these. This one could possibly unlock clone buying or something, or a completely new reward will appear looking for a mission to get tied to as it is often the case, but that's a story for another time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Interdictor on April 29, 2022, 10:36:10 pm
- Gfx improvements to paperdolls: Academy Nurse, Researcher, Medic, Engineer, Esper, Osiron Yeoman, Church Neophyte, Mutant Half-Uber, Brute, Lamia (by Interdictor w/ some slight modifications)

I've just quickly checked updated paper-dolls and has not found anything closely resemble to my past contribution. Please check maybe somebody else nickname should be mentioned in this update changenotes instead of mine. Latter one is misspelled too but anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on April 29, 2022, 11:57:17 pm
Miscredited. These all are by Mikkoi.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: DarthTheIII on April 30, 2022, 08:17:34 pm
Will the new ninja HQ still do ninja attacks on government?  Those were the only part of early ninja aggression that felt really punishing. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Torchwood on May 01, 2022, 12:46:34 am
Only in its final stage, which you'll only get to in late 2602 at the earliest. The ninja HQ starts off less agressive than an airfield, but upgrades twice. Unlike the airfield, it can never upgrade early and needs at least 10/20 months of age to upgrade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: DarthTheIII on May 01, 2022, 08:36:07 am
Cool, that seems a lot better.  Does the first tier of hq have any 14mm turrets?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 01, 2022, 12:57:03 pm
Nice! Big thanks to Dioxin and Co. for their hard work! Great job as always!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Torchwood on May 01, 2022, 09:28:22 pm
Cool, that seems a lot better.  Does the first tier of hq have any 14mm turrets?

Without going too much into detail, the HQ is heavily guarded and assaulting it is a challenge best done with some advanced technology and an elite crew to match. Although the HQ isn't very aggressive initially, it is well-guarded in every phase. The assault is a three-parter, and there's something nastier than 14mm turrets greeting you. I would not attempt it with anything less than with some advanced school graduation tier tech.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on May 02, 2022, 04:36:37 am
(https://i.imgur.com/SAYtxjU.png) (https://i.imgur.com/4S0QSpL.png)
CUTE! CUTE!!
CATGIRLS ARE CUTE!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: WxD on May 03, 2022, 10:59:38 am
@Dioxine: Some fixes (not related to the latest update).

P.S. Due to:
"Sorry, you are not allowed to post external links."
please, look at attached txt file.

Edit by Meridian, pasted txt file directly, see below:

Dioxine_XPiratez_N1.0.1.rar
MD5 Hash: e9527c4de72a0ae548b3fd45aa99a256 CRC64: 25FD0BDF6BC57391
*Extended-7.5.3-f94c8c56f-2022-02-07-win32



Content:
https://mega.nz/#!pBlRXQDC!nVlPYI5BIHjArwBuZ6V0LgGJlYpoASOxuzp3Z4QNqLk

Name: X-Piratez Bugfixes.rar
Size: 46634662 байтов (44 MiB)
CRC64: 3261397041063054



1. Detected bugs by Game:
  Note. These errors were not detected by default. Only after the GIF->PNG conversion, but the files are not GIFs.

  [ERROR] OpenXcom supports only 8bit images: *Note: all have no palette
    Resources/Howl.png
    Resources/Tank_Heavy_Gauss.png
    Resources/Tank_Particle.png
    Resources/Tank_RPG_Ammo_AT.png
    Resources/HANDOB/SlaversCane_H.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/Floor_Polymakh.png

  [WARN] (from lodepng) has incorrect transparent color index 1 (instead of 0).
    Resources/Planes/HyperjetBase.png

  *INF* Dubliceted (GIF should be deleted):
    Resources/CraftWpnPed/MedGunAAPed.gif
    Resources/CraftWpnPed/MedGunAAPed.png



2.1 Modify. GIF->PNG conversion:
  All 4303 GIF's files were converted to PNG format.
  Dat and Rulesets were modified.


2.2 Corrections. Silent bugs:
  [BUG] Wrong size:
    Resources/Backgrounds/Background_Mountains.png

  [BUG] "Cristmas tree" Palettes:

    Resources/Background/BACKGROUND_COMET.png
    Resources/Background/Back_05.png
    Resources/Background/Back_09.png
    Resources/Background/Back_Snake_Cat.png
    Resources/Background/Back_Snake_Doge.png
    Resources/Background/Back_Snake_Werewolf.png
    Resources/Background/Back_Waterfalls.png
    Resources/Background/Ilya_1_Back.png
    Resources/Background/Pirate_Maps_BCK.png
    Resources/Background/Ritsuko_Bck_3.png
    Resources/Background/Strange_Lights.png
    Resources/Background/WARTECH.png

    Resources/Basebits/IP_2.png
    Resources/Basebits/IP_2_UP.png
    Resources/Basebits/IP_3.png
    Resources/Basebits/IP_3_UP.png
    Resources/Basebits/IP_4.png
    Resources/Basebits/IP_4_UP.png
    Resources/Basebits/JAIL.png

    Resources/Blanks/Belt_B_2x1.png
    Resources/Blanks/Generator_4x3.png
    Resources/Blanks/Jetpack_F_3x3.png

    Resources/Cutscenes/DEATHSCENE_1_CPAL.png
    Resources/Cutscenes/Glowing_Pyramid.png
    Resources/Cutscenes/Intro_03a.png

    Resources/FLOOROB/FloorCoolant.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/FloorESHeavy.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/FloorESHeavyClip.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/FloorESSniper.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/FloorRevolver.png
    Resources/FLOOROB/Floor_UAC_RL.png

    Resources/Flags/Flag_HYB_0.png
    Resources/Flags/Flag_UBR_0.png
    Resources/Flags/Flag_WG_0.png

    Resources/HANDOB/Bosak_H.png
    Resources/HANDOB/SmallRevolver.png
    Resources/HANDOB/SniperAdv.png
    Resources/HANDOB/XGPistol.png

    Resources/Pedia/CA_6.png
    Resources/Pedia/Demonic_Bondage.png
    Resources/Pedia/Golden_Apple.png
    Resources/Pedia/UPed_Trader_Bodyguard.png
    Resources/Pedia/X09_Ped.png
    Resources/Pedia/X83_Ped.png

    Resources/Planes/HyperjetDogfight.png
    Resources/Planes/HyperjetMinimised.png
    Resources/Planes/Mi8Base.png

    Resources/UnitUI/Decorations.png

2.3 Slightly better compression.
  11388 resource files: ~51.7MB vs ~71.4MB



3. [YML] (not included, just message here)
  Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez\Language\
    en-US.yml 2710  STR_MEDAL_VOIDKILL_DESCRIPTION::
    ru.yml    2681 'STR_MEDAL_VOIDKILL_DESCRIPTION:':
    cs.yml    2584 'STR_MEDAL_VOIDKILL_DESCRIPTION:':
    pl.yml    2602 'STR_MEDAL_VOIDKILL_DESCRIPTION:':
    ko.yml    2672 'STR_MEDAL_VOIDKILL_DESCRIPTION:':
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 04, 2022, 11:59:29 am
Guys how and when I can defeat those big bad enemy bases? I even tried to launch my airbus there and they just annihilated it with interceptors! I am playing 4th month in game and these bases are kinda... troublesome.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on May 04, 2022, 01:18:34 pm
You don't, not in April, not in an Airbus and certainly not before getting amor, weapons and, ideally, tanks (or mechs).

You will have to learn to deal with those bases for a while by avoiding that continent.

And you're talking about bases? You are not, by any chance, playong on the highest difficulty? All other difficulties should have a single base by then.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on May 04, 2022, 06:14:43 pm
a Ninja Airfield is essentially assaulting a series of bunkers full of enemies that reaction fire you, over open terrain. don't do this without at least armored cars and a Menace's worth of gals, probably more (CONVOY w/ escort or bait HUNTER-KILLER). wear tac armor or better, bring many rocket launchers.

in the meantime, you're just going to have to farm points hard enough to make up the score, and avoid flying into its radar coverage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 04, 2022, 08:42:26 pm
I did not play XPiratez 1 year+ and the fact that ninjas now can build bases was a big surprise to me.)

Nah I am on third difficulty level... but for some reason trade guild guys built their base near that first ninja base in Siberia on 3rd month and ninjas built their 2nd base too and all I could do is sitting there and watching my monitor with open mouth.

Ok I will try that tactic with convoy and I am gonna avoid that place till I get some resources and technologies.

I hope old style with bunch of slave soldiers in demolisher armor + mortars and rpgs will give me upper hand in these new battles and I will overgun ninjas and traders... because heavy artillery is the best solution in the early game, right? Right?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ultimoos on May 04, 2022, 10:30:43 pm
Avoid them until you have laser weapons and heavy suit/sniper gear armors. Also get chemical coats if you can. Your biggest enemy and I mean it, are ninja warriors with custom SMG's. Those things are way op in my opinion. Use weapons that disrupt reactions. I assault those guys with with gals equipped with heavy suit + shotgun/riot shield and spears. Once you clear those front bunkers you can use your sniper gear gals to safely clear the field. Use smoke grenades to cover your initial spawns. Be very cautious and methodical ones you get to the habitation zone. Be sure to capture skyforge engineers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Yirtimd2 on May 05, 2022, 07:49:46 am
Well then I guess I just gonna play as usual till I get some technologies. Thanks for advices guys, now I kinda understand what type of challenge these ninjas are and in early game it is almost impossible to defeat them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on May 05, 2022, 05:36:27 pm
the ninja bases are too difficult for early game, but there's general activity (missions, ninja raids, ground vehicles etc.) that's good for points. remember, every ninja you bag is another 15 Jack tokens, and the normal Ninja Gals are only as tough as your Pirate Gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: WxD on May 10, 2022, 03:06:31 am
@Dioxine: another one but with sounds. Please, take a look* if you wish ofc
*attached readme

71 Oggs in 'SOUND' folder were converted (for uni&opt.)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Athelflaed on May 10, 2022, 05:23:08 am
So, if you play on the easiest difficulty, the game gives you a notice about restrictions based on that selection. What are these restriction?  Because I can't find any documentation on them. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Gremlion on May 10, 2022, 09:15:42 am
Endgame psionics gets disabled. It's not fatal, but if you want to test the game to the fullest, you can edit difficulty with a notepad in your savegame from 0 to 1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: BMANH on May 18, 2022, 06:24:34 pm
Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the namelist for humans has the hard n-word in the list of surnames? Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Interdictor on May 18, 2022, 09:46:33 pm
Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the namelist for humans has the hard n-word in the list of surnames? Thanks

Outrageous. If this true I demand at least latinos and jews represented correspondingly. Maintaining equality and diversity does matter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: tarkalak on May 19, 2022, 01:50:30 pm
Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the namelist for humans has the hard n-word in the list of surnames? Thanks

Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the list of countries on the real earth has the hard n-word in at least three countries? Thanks

It is the French/Italian/Spanish, etc word for black. Is the surname of actor Jack Black racist too?

Here is a link to the Niger (surname) family history. https://www.houseofnames.com/niger-family-crest (https://www.houseofnames.com/niger-family-crest)
This is older than the black slave trade.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2022, 02:39:43 pm
Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the namelist for humans has the hard n-word in the list of surnames? Thanks

Every surname from this list is real. Such name did/does exist, there were people carrying it - well, there is even a country with this name.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: BMANH on May 19, 2022, 05:45:37 pm
Outrageous. If this true I demand at least latinos and jews represented correspondingly. Maintaining equality and diversity does matter.

Hey quick question, is there like an artistic or otherwise explanation for why the list of countries on the real earth has the hard n-word in at least three countries? Thanks

It is the French/Italian/Spanish, etc word for black. Is the surname of actor Jack Black racist too?

Here is a link to the Niger (surname) family history. https://www.houseofnames.com/niger-family-crest (https://www.houseofnames.com/niger-family-crest)
This is older than the black slave trade.

Every surname from this list is real. Such name did/does exist, there were people carrying it - well, there is even a country with this name.

Yeah, so, you just casually threw in the extra 'g'? No biggie, right? It's the far future in-universe, language gets muddled, right?

Is the surname 'faggot' in there too for historical accuracy?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: tarkalak on May 19, 2022, 06:02:40 pm
Yeah, so, you just casually threw in the extra 'g'? No biggie, right? It's the far future in-universe, language gets muddled, right?

Is the surname 'faggot' in there too for historical accuracy?

That surname is a real one too, but I will leave googling to you.

Pff, should I complain that the completely normal Chinese and Korean surname Hui means penis in my language, too?
I will not even bother to explain what South African Putko Mafani's name means.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on May 19, 2022, 08:21:24 pm
Hey it's just a cool name, that's the whole real reason. As for the correct or wrong number of "g's" English isn't my native language, also it is itself loose in such matters, there's at least 2-3 different pronounciations for most of the "English" (often taken from other languages) names. Besides I hardly find myself caring that much about what some oversensitive American thinks considering my country can get bombed and/or invaded by Russia before this year is over, and I'll be in the trenches.

@Interdictor:
Hey, Jewish names and surnames are widely represented. Latino-less so, agreed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: BMANH on May 19, 2022, 09:13:55 pm
Hey it's just a cool name, that's the whole real reason. As for the correct or wrong number of "g's" English isn't my native language, also it is itself loose in such matters, there's at least 2-3 different pronounciations for most of the "English" (often taken from other languages) names. Besides I hardly find myself caring that much about what some oversensitive American thinks considering my country can get bombed and/or invaded by Russia before this year is over, and I'll be in the trenches.

@Interdictor:
Hey, Jewish names and surnames are widely represented. Latino-less so, agreed.

Ah, my mistake, I guess I'm the uncultured one. I'm sure they're very cool for everyone involved and I hope they keep you warm in those trenches you mentioned.

Loved the mod otherwise, keep up the great work!  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: TheFluffy on May 22, 2022, 07:56:03 am
is it a scripted thing to lose a nation to star gods forcing zero tolerance before end of first year or did I cause it to happen by cheekily shooting one dead then running away on a ship that had them as crew? it's amazingly frustrating to lose a nation when I never had that happen pre ninja revamp and it happened twice between two playthoughs now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on May 22, 2022, 04:50:06 pm
It is npt scripted, It's random.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: TheFluffy on May 22, 2022, 05:13:34 pm
It is npt scripted, It's random.

ah I thought it was like the april ninja base spawn since again, last time I played this far on a slightly older version I lost hidden expanse in the same way (stargod sway gov mission)

anyway, is it preventable in any possible way or is it just unavoidable? I want to know if it's a result of bad play or if it's truly random and thus there is a hidden timer to get zero tolerance to zero tolerance before it's too late.  I blame firaxiscom for teaching me that a nation leaving is totally avoidable and thus the player's fault. :/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warzameg on May 23, 2022, 12:08:53 pm
There is a chance to stop the mission if you shoot down the early craft, but once the final wave appears, it's too late.  At that point, the best you can do is assault them while they're landed and carry off their loot.  Just one of the large or very large ships will earn you more than the swayed coutnry would have paid you all game, and you get it up front...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: TheFluffy on May 23, 2022, 05:53:48 pm
There is a chance to stop the mission if you shoot down the early craft, but once the final wave appears, it's too late.  At that point, the best you can do is assault them while they're landed and carry off their loot.  Just one of the large or very large ships will earn you more than the swayed coutnry would have paid you all game, and you get it up front...

fair enough, just it IS the first year so fighting stargods or rather the sectopods is a bit much to ask for even if save scumming to a grindy degree. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on May 24, 2022, 03:00:38 pm
Also don't overly worry about it. While in the first few months funding is a decent chunk of your budget (33% or so), by the end of Y1, it should be less than 10% of your monthly income, and a single country might well be a rounding error.

It hurts the ego, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on May 24, 2022, 10:32:25 pm
if you crack open piratez.rul and start modding the game files you can change the SMALL_RADAR_SYSTEM in the starting base to a HYPER_WAVE_DECODER. having a Hyperwave from gamestart allows you to see that, while usually the first few months have civilian traffic or academy airbus/ambulance or the occasional harvester or scout passenger hopper...sometimes it's a Heavy Funship full of Mercenaries
that early on, there is literally nothing you have access to that can even break their shields/armor, nevermind damage them enough to stun/kill. only thing you can do at that point is let them fly around unmolested, let them land and do their merc stuff. can't stop them, will only get killed if you try.

this, too, is xcom xpiratez
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: TheFluffy on May 25, 2022, 08:38:52 am
...and then I got both of the puma sisters joining me and free suit of peacekeeper armor, leading me to think game is bipolar or like trying to balance out the insane good luck of getting two hero catgirls and a ridiculous rocket spam armor by slapping me ahead of time with a early loss of nation and building of stargod base. ??? not that I am complaining mind you  :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Earthquake on May 25, 2022, 06:46:04 pm
if you crack open piratez.rul and start modding the game files you can change the SMALL_RADAR_SYSTEM in the starting base to a HYPER_WAVE_DECODER. having a Hyperwave from gamestart allows you to see that, while usually the first few months have civilian traffic or academy airbus/ambulance or the occasional harvester or scout passenger hopper...sometimes it's a Heavy Funship full of Mercenaries
that early on, there is literally nothing you have access to that can even break their shields/armor, nevermind damage them enough to stun/kill. only thing you can do at that point is let them fly around unmolested, let them land and do their merc stuff. can't stop them, will only get killed if you try.

this, too, is xcom xpiratez

And don't forget to cheat some money, because you will get terrifying bills in first month))
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on May 26, 2022, 11:02:50 am
Just for one HWD? Not really.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on May 27, 2022, 09:17:11 pm
And don't forget to cheat some money, because you will get terrifying bills in first month))
no, never cheat money. that makes the game less fun.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: doctor medic on May 29, 2022, 12:26:56 pm
Money should not be an issue until you start selling X-grog and latter on chatteus from apples and sectoweeds,unless you are having a lot of losses or have to build a lot in hideouts.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: TheFluffy on May 30, 2022, 11:15:32 pm
Money should not be an issue until you start selling X-grog and latter on chatteus from apples and sectoweeds,unless you are having a lot of losses or have to build a lot in hideouts.

I've only ever lost one base and that's because I found out the hard way about the new zombie army attacks :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Earthquake on June 01, 2022, 09:43:11 pm
Is it time to update? :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: zhorov on June 08, 2022, 04:23:52 pm
Hail.

Hello, I played your mod a year ago, now I'm thinking of starting again. Is it possible to somehow add a Zephyr serum to the x-files mod that gives an TU? Can I somehow add it here? Maybe some kind of sub mod? I really liked it, I would like to wear it in your mod.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: zhorov on June 08, 2022, 04:46:08 pm
I also want power armor like in fallout.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on June 17, 2022, 11:29:25 am
Played the L3 version and finished the game. Came back and now going to play the N1 version.
Here we go again, I'm excited to see all the new updates! :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on June 24, 2022, 08:09:30 am
While obsessively optimizing my early game I discovered an interaction I'd never noticed before.

When counting mission participation for xp gain, just making a reaction check is enough to flag a gal for advancement, even if the action did not resolve. For example: an enemy unit walks into melee range of multiple gals with tu's left for reaction. Even if the first gal to swing downs the target, all the other gals also gained xp despite spending no TU's and landing no attacks.

Been taking advantage of that when I'm trying to make sure every gal on the mission gets to improve even if there's not enough enemies to go around. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Earthquake on June 24, 2022, 05:49:04 pm
While obsessively optimizing my early game I discovered an interaction I'd never noticed before.

When counting mission participation for xp gain, just making a reaction check is enough to flag a gal for advancement, even if the action did not resolve. For example: an enemy unit walks into melee range of multiple gals with tu's left for reaction. Even if the first gal to swing downs the target, all the other gals also gained xp despite spending no TU's and landing no attacks.

Been taking advantage of that when I'm trying to make sure every gal on the mission gets to improve even if there's not enough enemies to go around.

Yep, I noticed it too, similar bug(?) with primitive bows.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on June 26, 2022, 12:14:30 am
Doesn't seem like a bug so much as a feature of the engine. I'm guessing successfully all reaction checks for a given movement are resolved *before* any of the attacks from those reaction checks are assigned. So all the gals that would have swung get credit for reactions training even if they never got the chance.

There was a successful reactions check there, so it seems legit for the purpose of training.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on June 30, 2022, 02:43:53 pm
It's too easy to abuse the HYENA RIDER armor to recover freshness. You put a gal with 0 freshness in the armor, use smokes through the mission until your freshness is full. At the end of the mission only a small amount of freshness would be consumed to recover the lost hp.

How to prevent this abuse? I suggest to modify the recovery script. If freshness at the end of the mission is higher than at the start, then freshness should be set to what it was at the start.
For instance, I start a mission with 10 freshness and end mission with 70 freshness (because I smoked 20 times). Normally, to recover 20 lost hp, the script would consume 5 freshness, and you would end with 65 freshness. But with the change, the script would check if 65 is greater than 10. And since it's greater, the script would set freshness to 10 instead of 65, because 10 is what you started with.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on June 30, 2022, 05:09:03 pm
That breaks other methods of regaining freshness that are intended, such as pillow books.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on June 30, 2022, 06:22:15 pm
That breaks other methods of regaining freshness that are intended, such as pillow books.

No, because the script would only apply to hyena rider (armors with MISSION_END_FULL_REGENERATION).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 01, 2022, 09:27:25 am
So how does hp damage work after battle?
Let's say 1 hand gets hit by 10 HP damage, but gets healed for 5 HP. After the mission does it get a hit for 10 HP damage or 5 HP damage?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on July 01, 2022, 11:06:33 am
5 hp.

If you fully heal back during a mission, you get no recovery time.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 01, 2022, 04:19:48 pm
Interesting. At the end of the mission I always click yes for "there are still x injured, do you want to finish the mission?". So it's better to manually heal and then use the "lift off / exit" button?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ultimoos on July 01, 2022, 05:11:46 pm
Yes. The more you bleed, the easier it is to reduce recovery time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 01, 2022, 10:58:51 pm
Also using any kind of medkit is passive bravery training. Bandages, kits, basically anything with an HP heal (not vodka, for instance). You really ought to be carrying bandages on all your gals and using them whenever you can, even on downed enemies you weren't planning to capture.

In other news, I just beat my first Ninja Raid and Hideout of this update and I've learned some things. Seems like a lot of people have been having trouble with the 14mm turrets on the ninja crawlers and the walls of their hideout. Which is understandable. They've got really good armor for the point at the game at which they show up, and a tendency to waste a gal instantly on reaction fire if you so much as accidentally hit them. Dedicated anti-armor weapons tend to be TU hungry to fire accurately, and since almost nothing you have will kill the turret in one shot, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose a gal to reaction fire unless you can break line of sight with smoke or use an indirect fire weapon like a mortar.

I've heard a lot of people swearing by mortars, but I got my first ninja raid pretty early and didn't have a reliable source for mortar rounds. I spent the five rounds I'd gotten from gambling to no noticeable effect. Well, I can't help but notice that Dioxine has a habit of putting the tools you need to solve a problem on the mission itself. Once you clear the ninjas using standard peekaboo tactics and grenades, you can get inside the crawler itself. The skyforge laborers have a habit of carrying fusion torches, which you can use to melt through the floor directly under the turret. Now, I really do mean directly under, if you melt an adjacent tile, it will still be able to shoot you. From there, it's just a matter of rustling up a few more clips for the torch or just getting a gal with a hammer to beat the shit out of it from underneath. There's almost nothing in this mod that a sufficiently buff gal with a hammer can't kill.

However, that method was a little convoluted, and basically forced me to kill everything on the map before cleaning up the turret. The real solution has been staring us in the face the whole time.

AoE damage to take advantage of the 2x2 profile, the ability to always deal at least some damage through armor, relatively cheap autofire and reaction disrupt to keep you from getting wasted in retaliation.

Gentlemen, I am talking about flamethrowers.

A gal with a flamethrower can kill a 14mm turret in less than a single tank. Two turns. Plus the arcing shots mean you can do some really janky trickshots. Ctrl-click midair and the shot is bound to come down somewhere. The best part about it is that skyforge laborers also tend to carry flamethrowers. The tools to solve a problem are almost always present on the mission itself.

We were so preoccupied with high-tech solutions that we forgot a fundamental truth:

Ninjas cannot get you if they are on fire.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on July 02, 2022, 04:35:23 am
What's more, Flamethrower accuracy scales with Bravery. You only want the ballsychestiest gals for taking on Ninja Turrets with a flammenwerfer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on July 02, 2022, 09:07:39 am
Also using any kind of medkit is passive bravery training. Bandages, kits, basically anything with an HP heal (not vodka, for instance). You really ought to be carrying bandages on all your gals and using them whenever you can, even on downed enemies you weren't planning to capture.

In other news, I just beat my first Ninja Raid and Hideout of this update and I've learned some things. Seems like a lot of people have been having trouble with the 14mm turrets on the ninja crawlers and the walls of their hideout. Which is understandable. They've got really good armor for the point at the game at which they show up, and a tendency to waste a gal instantly on reaction fire if you so much as accidentally hit them. Dedicated anti-armor weapons tend to be TU hungry to fire accurately, and since almost nothing you have will kill the turret in one shot, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose a gal to reaction fire unless you can break line of sight with smoke or use an indirect fire weapon like a mortar.

I've heard a lot of people swearing by mortars, but I got my first ninja raid pretty early and didn't have a reliable source for mortar rounds. I spent the five rounds I'd gotten from gambling to no noticeable effect. Well, I can't help but notice that Dioxine has a habit of putting the tools you need to solve a problem on the mission itself. Once you clear the ninjas using standard peekaboo tactics and grenades, you can get inside the crawler itself. The skyforge laborers have a habit of carrying fusion torches, which you can use to melt through the floor directly under the turret. Now, I really do mean directly under, if you melt an adjacent tile, it will still be able to shoot you. From there, it's just a matter of rustling up a few more clips for the torch or just getting a gal with a hammer to beat the shit out of it from underneath. There's almost nothing in this mod that a sufficiently buff gal with a hammer can't kill.

However, that method was a little convoluted, and basically forced me to kill everything on the map before cleaning up the turret. The real solution has been staring us in the face the whole time.

AoE damage to take advantage of the 2x2 profile, the ability to always deal at least some damage through armor, relatively cheap autofire and reaction disrupt to keep you from getting wasted in retaliation.

Gentlemen, I am talking about flamethrowers.

A gal with a flamethrower can kill a 14mm turret in less than a single tank. Two turns. Plus the arcing shots mean you can do some really janky trickshots. Ctrl-click midair and the shot is bound to come down somewhere. The best part about it is that skyforge laborers also tend to carry flamethrowers. The tools to solve a problem are almost always present on the mission itself.

We were so preoccupied with high-tech solutions that we forgot a fundamental truth:

Ninjas cannot get you if they are on fire.

Tried the melt the floor under tactic. Tried the left corner of the turret. didn't work, the turret reacted and killed my gal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 02, 2022, 07:51:12 pm
The turret sits on a 2x2 square pillar. Stand adjacent to that pillar and aim up at the turret. The autofire from a fusion torch will cut the wall of the pillar and then the ceiling on top of it. Don't stand directly under the hole, but next to it.

Like this:

 G_=
   ==

The turret can shoot straight down through that hole, but not at an adjacent tile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 04, 2022, 10:20:53 am
I just throw satchel charges at the 14mm guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 06, 2022, 10:11:11 am
That cannonball o'acid is also nice if you have a spot out of sight of the 14mm guns.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 13, 2022, 11:23:31 pm
By the way, I'd just like to point out that I predicted catgirl soldiers literally years ago and ya'll laughed at me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 14, 2022, 12:10:18 pm
By the way, I'd just like to point out that I predicted catgirl soldiers literally years ago and ya'll laughed at me.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, and then a madlad squad cranks out dozens of armours, weapons and lore.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on July 15, 2022, 07:57:36 pm
i for one welcome our catgirl overlords
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 16, 2022, 06:07:00 pm
Something which may or may not be an exploit, I'll leave it up to individuals whether they want to use this. Ever get frustrated about ending a mission with a lot of prisoners you want and not enough prison space to imprison them? Surely you don't need space to hold them long term if you're just going to rob, enslave or recruit them, right?

Well, the geoscape autosave that triggers at the end of a mission actually triggers *before* the screen telling you that your prison is full. So, while you might be forced to ransom some of them just to get back to the geoscape, you can reload the <auto geoscape> save and have them still in your prison, but your prison will be over capacity. Quickly go into your hideout manufacturing tab and start work bills to process them. Each time you start a manufacturing bill, the materials for the first item (in this case, people) are consumed, meaning they no longer take up space. In this way you can put people in holding patterns in your workshop to free up space to shuffle prisoners around.

Remember that each bill only frees up enough materials for the first batch, so one person. However, since most bills involving prisoners are refundable, you can set up Rob, Recruit or Work bills to hold prisoners that you might intend to enslave. You'll free up one prison slot for each bill you queue.

Is this an exploit? Immersion breaking? Well, at the end of the day, this is a single player game we all play for fun (hopefully), so what matters is how you feel about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 18, 2022, 01:50:51 am
February 2601 RNG on my side campaign. Got four old world weapons crates from a random event and opened them to find this.

I am in awe.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 19, 2022, 12:04:22 am
Assuming I was doing fine all month, why would I suddenly drop to -2000 Infamy? It was around +2000 on the previous month. Something "hidden" is hitting me for around THREE TO FOUR THOUSAND INFAMY IN A MONTH. This has happened three times now, twice on the previous playthrough. It's May. If I have to cheat to make it stop happening, I will. This kind of arbitrary punishment feels game breaking. What do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on July 19, 2022, 01:22:16 am
isn't that just the ninja base?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 19, 2022, 02:26:23 am
isn't that just the ninja base?

If it only happens once, I can deal with it, I guess. Still sucks to lose 600k in an unavoidable way. Probably too early to take them on with sprayguns and smoke grenades. Oh well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on July 19, 2022, 10:52:30 am
No, personally I would not go there with less than hovertanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 19, 2022, 11:35:31 am
Had the same in the beginning. Probably the ninja base. It stops after a few months.
Though after that the ninja base tends to spawn other bases that you want to clear as soon as possible. Though make sure you have stuff do deal with those 14mm turrets.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on July 19, 2022, 03:48:36 pm
The ninja hideouts themselves are practically farmable, which can offset the score negatives of ninja activity from the main base. A convoy with three HMGs can take care of the jetbike interceptors as long as it's not close enough to the main base to be covered by proper fighters. Though they are very dodgy, so remember to pay attention to who you have in the pilot slot. High accuracy gals manning those guns is a must. Bump those up to 2x25s and you can take care of ninja fighters pretty easily.

Once you're on the ground, scum it up. Smoke the hell out of your landing site and snipe from your little armored APC fortress (there are some flaws with this, a bad landing site can fuck you). The top hatches let you poptart. Pop up through the hatch, shoot a ninja, pop back down. Kill all the little minigun turrets with indirect fire weapons like a grenade launcher (you should have at least one from survivalist camps), javelins or hand grenades.

Once you've mostly cleared the map, you can focus on those 14mm turrets. Many schools of thought on how do deal with them. A ton of mortar shells with eventually do it. Acid Cannonballs can eventually wear down the armor. My personal strategy is flamethrowers, since fire bypasses armor and they reaction disrupt. I've even killed one with a hammer before, though you need a plan to deal with the reaction fire first. RPG's and Recoilless Rifles are not great options. Since they're direct fire and very slow, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose a gal to reactions every shot. You could probably kill one with enough molotovs if you were willing to take all day.

Remember to bring a hammer or pickaxe to crack the hideout gates and you're golden. Easily a thousand points in score and a bit less than a million bucks in loot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 20, 2022, 04:27:09 pm
The ninja hideouts themselves are practically farmable, which can offset the score negatives of ninja activity from the main base. A convoy with three HMGs can take care of the jetbike interceptors as long as it's not close enough to the main base to be covered by proper fighters. Though they are very dodgy, so remember to pay attention to who you have in the pilot slot. High accuracy gals manning those guns is a must. Bump those up to 2x25s and you can take care of ninja fighters pretty easily.

Once you're on the ground, scum it up. Smoke the hell out of your landing site and snipe from your little armored APC fortress (there are some flaws with this, a bad landing site can fuck you). The top hatches let you poptart. Pop up through the hatch, shoot a ninja, pop back down. Kill all the little minigun turrets with indirect fire weapons like a grenade launcher (you should have at least one from survivalist camps), javelins or hand grenades.

Once you've mostly cleared the map, you can focus on those 14mm turrets. Many schools of thought on how do deal with them. A ton of mortar shells with eventually do it. Acid Cannonballs can eventually wear down the armor. My personal strategy is flamethrowers, since fire bypasses armor and they reaction disrupt. I've even killed one with a hammer before, though you need a plan to deal with the reaction fire first. RPG's and Recoilless Rifles are not great options. Since they're direct fire and very slow, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose a gal to reactions every shot. You could probably kill one with enough molotovs if you were willing to take all day.

Remember to bring a hammer or pickaxe to crack the hideout gates and you're golden. Easily a thousand points in score and a bit less than a million bucks in loot.

Yeah that ain't happening for another 6 months. No HMGs, no mortar, no acid balls, no grenade launchers. Six gals with Tommys (or more with the convoy; they'll still die) just aren't going to pull this off. The sheer volume of all the necessary research makes it so that I (a) don't have enough air power to shoot down much of anything, (b) can't get the battlescape weapons researched fast enough while also trying to research air power, (c) get jacked at random for 3k or more infamy in a month and thus can't make enough money to do shit for shit. I'm in the 7th month on this attempt and my cash just got chopped in half AGAIN because Dioxine sky ninjas. I am clearing, killing, kidnapping, and completing EVERYTHING ELSE. 1 million a month on brainers researching non-stop just doesn't pay for itself, when everything else I do that month is ass-fucked all the way into the negative no matter how well i did in the battlescape.

I'm a Superhuman Ironman X-Com "veteran." I played Piratez a few years ago and this problem didn't exist. I'm attempting this on John Silver and I still think it shouldn't. I had annihilator armor, Marsec laser rifles, and the huge spacecraft (forget the name). Yes, I want it all back.

This isn't just a case of being off to a slow start or a steep learning curve. It's unnecessarily prohibitive. I've restarted four times and the results are the same. Around May I start hemorrhaging infamy just because the mod maker seems to think that new players should be hamstrung arbitrarily before even being close to having the ability to fight back. "Barely playable" would be my assessment of the completeness of this monolithic mod.

All I want to do is stop the stupidly massive infamy hits (the ones that consistently penalize more than the available monthly missions can possibly provide). So before I go through and bork the whole game trying to fix this one glaring blister on the ass of this otherwise fantastic mod, does anyone know how to stop the stupidly high infamy hits caused by the sky ninjas? In the files I mean. I've lost interest in trying to counter this. Otherwise the mod is great, but this aspect really spoils the fun. Might disable missile strikes too, depending on how likely they are to completely ruin an otherwise well played game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on July 21, 2022, 03:40:58 pm
On below JS, there is ONE instant infamy hit in Apr, and it actually serves the purpose to show you clearly on the graphs which continent is gonna be ninja HQ. You know, before you run your airbus over it, and cry because it got splatted.

Other than that, ninjas deducting points is due to normal enemy mission activity, not any sneaky events that Dioxine put in there to futz with you.

And man, if 3k infamy is a problem for a superhuman ironman vanilla veteran or whatever, then you should REALLY read up on my guide what to do if points are not enough.

The advice is: Max brainers, max missions. If a month is unusually mean, stop advancing research and start documentations, girl guides, and interrogations.

If that STILL is not enough, I would advise you to pick green codex and put the bioplasma to good use. (Or red, but Ilya requires some extra logistics to keep it running).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 21, 2022, 04:53:46 pm
WADR the bulk of your article is what you've just said, and what I do, which is literally how this game is played (vanilla or otherwise): Do every mission possible and research as fast as possible. What's happening here is that there is apparently exactly ONE golden path to merely survive. One MUST unlock every mission type immediately or sooner while more or less disregarding all other research. One must also immediately (or sooner) accrue well over $1.7 million in monthly bills that are most certain to go unpaid in that first few months. One must ALSO research the requisites for Chateau before any of this or else you'll go broke (see above). By "immediately" I mean in the first month. The punishment for not immediately taking that exact path is basically being rectally violated by the game from the 4th month on.

I've been hiring brainers as soon as I can afford them, and doing at least 90% missions (couldn't do the first haunted forest, for example, and didn't have peasants for the valley, but those missions are rare). On each attempt I'm up to 10 brainers before the Infamy tanks. The first month, it's anywhere from -1500 to -2400. On the following months it's potluck but so far anywhere from 1400 to -1400. I've estimated the former to be 4000 or more lost, and subsequent months to be up to 4000 with wild variability.

I think a lot of players here have played the mod through its evolution and thus were introduced to these changes gradually. When I played Piratez back in 2018 or whenever, there was no (specific, competing) sky ninja base; there wasn't a huge imperative on, for example, unlocking lokk'naar and undersea missions; one's major goals -- direct goals, not a byproduct of a meta-plan to front-load certain techs -- were to research weapons, armor, craft, and people. That's what I've been doing, and if that's the problem, it isn't one that any X-Com player is prepared for.

One little caveat is that I've saved about 1.5 mil in chips that I haven't cashed in. That will get me one extra month. I otherwise know how to play the game and have little to no problem in the battlescape. It's just the addition of this base that renders all of the other mechanics cumbersome and prohibitive. I love the sheer volume of content, but it should follow from that sheer volume that there ought not to be a perfect (or required!!) golden path to survive the beginning of the game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: greattuna on July 21, 2022, 10:42:00 pm
After its creation, HQ only drains 450 score per month. It's only slightly more than a vanilla base, and if you can't handle it... well, I'm not sure what to tell you. Maybe you got unlucky and angered some excavators.

WADR the bulk of your article is what you've just said, and what I do, which is literally how this game is played (vanilla or otherwise): Do every mission possible and research as fast as possible. What's happening here is that there is apparently exactly ONE golden path to merely survive. One MUST unlock every mission type immediately or sooner while more or less disregarding all other research. One must also immediately (or sooner) accrue well over $1.7 million in monthly bills that are most certain to go unpaid in that first few months. One must ALSO research the requisites for Chateau before any of this or else you'll go broke (see above). By "immediately" I mean in the first month. The punishment for not immediately taking that exact path is basically being rectally violated by the game from the 4th month on.

Well, no, outside of max difficulty the game is fairly relaxed about straying from the "golden path" (and you don't need chateau on first month because 10 runts won't make much either way). Again, you get one big hit in April as ninja mobile fortress goes around and picks the spot for HQ, and then there's not much pressure after that (unless you get unlucky and a pacification or excavation mission is happening somewhere).
Even on JS you can make quite a few mistakes and still pull through.

I'm curious on what exactly you're doing to get such a low score. Do you like, lose 10 gals on every mission you do? Do you ignore bounty hunting? It's pretty important. Maybe you could even post a save so we could see what's going on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 21, 2022, 11:31:02 pm
After its creation, HQ only drains 450 score per month. It's only slightly more than a vanilla base, and if you can't handle it... well, I'm not sure what to tell you. Maybe you got unlucky and angered some excavators.

Well, no, outside of max difficulty the game is fairly relaxed about straying from the "golden path" (and you don't need chateau on first month because 10 runts won't make much either way). Again, you get one big hit in April as ninja mobile fortress goes around and picks the spot for HQ, and then there's not much pressure after that (unless you get unlucky and a pacification or excavation mission is happening somewhere).
Even on JS you can make quite a few mistakes and still pull through.

I'm curious on what exactly you're doing to get such a low score. Do you like, lose 10 gals on every mission you do? Do you ignore bounty hunting? It's pretty important. Maybe you could even post a save so we could see what's going on.

I'm not losing gals; I've been save scumming ever since I started playing again. I'm basically playing with training wheels. I just started a few days ago. Last month (June) I did everything except shoot down what I couldn't plus a hidden valley and a haunted forest. Score was -300something I think. I've switched to random seeds to see what if any difference that might make.

I'm giving it another couple of months to see how it plays out. Maybe I'm griping about nothing. Here's my current game:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: greattuna on July 22, 2022, 01:42:36 am
Yeah, I'm checking the graphs and there's a second spike of enemy activity in june. In Arctic and North Africa... That's very unlucky, I'm sorry. On the bright side, you've weathered it out and probably on your way to recover from it. The next few months should be a lot less harsh on the score.

Still, don't take too long. Ninjas don't sleep, and shipping will become more frequent in second year. You'll even get an event warning you about it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 22, 2022, 02:08:53 am
It happened as well in a previous save (2nd month following the base appearance) but I'm going to go with the consensus of the community and hope that rng straightens out or whatever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 22, 2022, 04:58:42 am
August
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 22, 2022, 01:24:45 pm
Playing the new version. No problem so far on Jack Sparrow. Got 1 big hit in the first few months, after that it was fine. I cleared out the first few ninja outposts with Satchel charges and assault rifles. Pretty low tech. After that I got M-lasgun and Satchel charge / acid cannonball.

I do find that you need to capture a new type of enemy immediately otherwise you won't get another chance for a whole year (certain zombies, reticulans, bogeyman, etc)
And sometimes an item is a pain to get (currently looking for 3 eggplants  :-\ )
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 23, 2022, 07:53:31 pm
Totally forgot you can get eggplant by gambling
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on July 24, 2022, 08:33:16 am
My last save from April 2020, pulled out of my old tablet. Davy Jones, no cheating (edit: I did rearrange some facilities)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: EleriumWard on July 25, 2022, 03:22:15 pm
So, I would just like to ask a few questions.

1. Does the Lizard Hide item serve any kind of purpose in the game? If not, will it serve a purpose later on?

2. How tall exactly are the Uber Gals? Around Space Marine size?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Iazo on July 25, 2022, 03:47:20 pm
1) It does not serve a purpose now. As for future releases, who knows?

2) There has been a discussion in the past about this, I think the consensus was they would be about 2 m tall.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 25, 2022, 03:51:15 pm
1. Does the Lizard Hide item serve any kind of purpose in the game? If not, will it serve a purpose later on?

I tried searching, but there is no such item in the mod. I couldn't find anything similar, either.

2. How tall exactly are the Uber Gals? Around Space Marine size?

There is no official data; but I highly doubt they are anywhere near Space Marine height, even the tallest ones. I'd personally place their average height at around 190 cm; but note that their body plan is a little heavier, so their weight is higher than the height would suggest (at the hypothetical 190 cm, I'd eyeball it as around 130 kg).
All these numbers may be off, of course; this is simply my best attempt at evaluation. Also, ubers are pretty diverse, so their physical parameters will vary.

EDIT: ninja'd by Iazo. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on July 25, 2022, 07:02:20 pm
Lizard Hide (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_LIZARD_HIDE) isn't used for anything. Reaper Hide is, however.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: EleriumWard on July 26, 2022, 02:50:01 am
So, I would just like to share a thought. Is there anyone else here who is reminded of the Space Marines and the Thunder Warriors from 40k when looking at the Centurion and Guardian armors, respectively?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on July 26, 2022, 11:21:03 am
I'd say bigger than 2m tall because it states that they are too big to wear peasant clothing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 26, 2022, 12:54:42 pm
Lizard Hide (https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_LIZARD_HIDE) isn't used for anything. Reaper Hide is, however.

The search didn't show this, WTF? >:(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on July 27, 2022, 03:59:17 pm
update when?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ethereal_Medic on July 28, 2022, 08:07:12 pm
update when?

Everytime someone asks, it adds 1 month to the release date.
It's done when it's done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Mechanique on July 29, 2022, 12:16:56 am
Well, it has been 3 months now and previous updates much more consistent. Is Dioxine okay?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: eldt on July 30, 2022, 04:51:17 pm
Well, it has been 3 months now and previous updates much more consistent. Is Dioxine okay?

I don't want to add to the rumormill and keep in mind I'm just a random observer/lurker here so I have as much information as you do, but a few pages ago on this topic Dioxine did mention that he's living in a certain area where war has broken out. I'm just guessing but I think that might be the reason why he's not posted here at least. Hopefully they're completely fine but given recent events I fully expect a long delay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Interdictor on August 02, 2022, 12:34:58 am
I don't want to add to the rumormill and keep in mind I'm just a random observer/lurker here so I have as much information as you do, but a few pages ago on this topic Dioxine did mention that he's living in a certain area where war has broken out. I'm just guessing but I think that might be the reason why he's not posted here at least.

It's confirmed that living in waring country does not require to abandon usual habits until your city district assault.
Dioxine's country was not invaded nor bombed same as will not be in foreseen feature due to longstanding political reasons. It even was mentioned in complete different context so war factor itself should not be overestimated.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: eldt on August 02, 2022, 03:55:08 am
It's confirmed that living in waring country does not require to abandon usual habits until your city district assault.
Dioxine's country was not invaded nor bombed same as will not be in foreseen feature due to longstanding political reasons. It even was mentioned in complete different context so war factor itself should not be overestimated.

That might be a fair point. I genuinely don't know much about what living near an armed conflict is like.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ultimoos on August 03, 2022, 11:04:38 am
In what country does Dioxine live?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 04, 2022, 12:11:56 am
Hello. Today I would like to complain about how overpowered HARVESTER is.
Firstly, 20 crew would be fine if they were all peasants, but peasants aren't what people put on that craft. They put ubers, armored cars, lokk'naars, everything except peasants lol. Other than some late game transports, nothing comes close. Well, there's CONVOY, but that one's way slower and more dangerous to do missions in.
Secondly, camping in this craft is too easy because no windows.
And lastly, you can block lifts so melee enemies can never reach you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on August 04, 2022, 08:25:39 pm
@Delian: Harvester is only available as a part of Peasant Revolution path, and Peasant Revolution is not mandatory.
And yes, you can easily cheat on peasant path by not using peasants, but this is your choice. I only give much better opportunity to make peasants the primary fighting force on this path - for someone who WANTS it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 04, 2022, 09:04:11 pm
you can easily cheat on peasant path by not using peasants

First time I hear that that would be considered cheating. For all players know, it's intended behavior that they can put whatever they want on that craft.
Besides, even if we ignore the HARVESTER, Peasant Revolution is already the best path because Revolution HQ is also OP~

You know, if you wanted to, you could easily request a feature that would prevent players from adding non-peasants to the HARVESTER. Where was it... ah, here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10678.0.html). Basically, add a "allowedSoldierTypes" property to crafts that would allow you to specify such limitations. But you could also simply prevent players from recruiting any ubers and other OP soldiers when on that path.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 04, 2022, 09:11:02 pm
First time I hear that that would be considered cheating.

Pretty sure it was sarcasm.

You know, if you wanted to, you could easily request a feature that would prevent players from adding non-peasants to the HARVESTER. Where was it... ah, here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10678.0.html). Basically, add a "allowedSoldierTypes" property to crafts that would allow you to specify such limitations. But you could also simply prevent players from recruiting any ubers and other OP soldiers when on that path.

But why would ubers not be able to use the Harvester? On what ground? It would only make sense if it was powered by Chryssalid gas, with bad isolation. :)

While I'm not Dioxine, I have discussed a very similar issue with him recently and he agreed with my point that the only way something can be OP in a single player game is if it makes some other thing redundant (assuming that it was not supposed to be redundant in the first place). This does not apply here, as the Harvester is only available to peasant enjoyers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 04, 2022, 09:24:15 pm
if it makes some other thing redundant
My opinion is that, as things stand, "Gals Are Superior" and "We Need Male Touch" are redundant because Peasant Revolution perks are too strong, while its downsides are easily mitigated (ubers and slave soldiers are easy to come by). I'll pick this path even when I'm not peasant enjoyer, because it provides for the strongest early and mid-game bonuses.

But why would ubers not be able to use the Harvester? On what ground?
I'm sure you can think of some sort of lore that would make it possible. For instance, "This craft is a flagship of revolution, so it goes against our principles for other races to use it." or simply "The engineering design of this craft prevents non-peasants from operating it."
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on August 04, 2022, 09:28:09 pm
Quote
My opinion is that, as things stand, "Gals Are Superior" and "We Need Male Touch" are redundant because Peasant Revolution perks are too strong, while its downsides are easily mitigated (ubers and slave soldiers are easy to come by). I'll pick this path even when I'm not peasant enjoyer, because it provides for the strongest early and mid-game bonuses.
I've noticed this as well. Even playing PR, it's still fairly easy to come by Uber Gals and Castaways and other such recruits. PR seems like it's best played with a small cadre of Gals acting as shock troops within a large mass of peasants. Operative word 'small', if you're smart about not getting shot you can wind up with a majority-gals away team anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on August 05, 2022, 01:39:12 am
snip

Then simply restrict yourself from putting too much non-peasants on it. Sure, you can min-max the hell out of it, but the branches are more or less your own choice in playstyle and a bit of roleplay. Might as well say that "Reject the Power" is redundant, because picking any codex is better from powergaming perspectivie.
In my opinion if something is OP, but one could easly either not use it, or restrict himself to use it fairly, then it isn't a problem.

And there really doesn't exist a half-decent reason why gals (or any other race, or just males) couldn't use Harvester. Civilian Agrocultural machine shouldn't be much different in operating than aircar, airbus, or airvan, which gals operate with no problem.
The "principles of revolution" argument also doesn't hold, because of a quote from "Peasant Revolution!" after research sreen:

" ...Whatever number of Gals or assorted adventurers you can raise for your cause, it's not big. Big picture is the peasants. They're everywhere, they're the backbone of Earth's society. After all, they provide food. If only they weren't so passive...! ...But with their bravest girls as the vanguard, and your Gals as the tip of the spear, they can be roused from this slumber... and the world will never be the same! You have communicated your grand ideas to a council of village elders. Most of them said you're insane, but you did manage to rouse a small cadre of idealists. It is enough for now; in time, you believe truly, it'll snowball into an avalanche!..."

Uber Gals are considered a part of this revolution. One could make argument against Lokk'Naars, but what those little goblin girls are any different than your common peasants in terms of joining the revolution? Especially when taking gameplay into consideration, where they are surely weaker on average than gals. And what is the problem with armored cars being transported there?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on August 05, 2022, 02:53:37 am
if you're concerned about the lore just say that the harvester has low ceilings on account of being a converted grain hauler, and so the gals won't fit comfortably
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 05, 2022, 11:45:11 am
My opinion is that, as things stand, "Gals Are Superior" and "We Need Male Touch" are redundant because Peasant Revolution perks are too strong

It also feels like pulling teeth, thank you very much.
Even if it is, so what? It's like saying that "Embrace the power" is OP when compared to "Reject the power". You want to play it easier? Be my guest. Who is stopping you?

I'm sure you can think of some sort of lore that would make it possible. For instance, "This craft is a flagship of revolution, so it goes against our principles for other races to use it." or simply "The engineering design of this craft prevents non-peasants from operating it."

What kind of people's revolution would be so racist? :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on August 05, 2022, 12:03:47 pm
if you're concerned about the lore just say that the harvester has low ceilings on account of being a converted grain hauler, and so the gals won't fit comfortably

Yet they can fit comfortably in non-converted grain haulers found around the world when they raid those.
Harvester is just too low-tech and gals just enough don't give a damn about stuff for any kind of rule to keep them away.
If this was some high-tech shuttle with some kind of AI that scans the occupants and doesn't allow the lift-off if it detects any non-human, or males onboard. Or if it was only rented to gals by some kind of racist/fanatical "true" pureblood organisation that allows usage only to fellow "true" pureblood females.

All the conversion does is stripping harvesting equipment, adding a bit of hellerium, adding a bit of armor plating and a gun mounts.

The only half-decent reason would be the infamous gal supersitions that say that they simply refuse to board it because its bad omen, or something like that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: greattuna on August 05, 2022, 07:02:45 pm
You'd still have 20 guns in your harvester regardless. Possibly more trained than your gals, too, with all these benefits Peasant Revolution provides. You'd also still be able to drive cars and tanks, so I don't really see how cancelling the gals would change much.

Also, where do you find enough gals to fill out harvester? I can do that in second year, but by then I hardly need so many at one place, plus I have a menace or can outfit my convoy enough to feel safe about sending it somewhere.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warzameg on August 05, 2022, 11:28:56 pm
I use the harvester.  I think I'm good at keeping gals alive, but I don't find it easy to get 20 uninjured ubers together to fill out a harvester for some time, and if I could, I wouldn't bother.

I run mixed crews.  Gals and clones and girl guides, mostly, sometimes with gnomes and lokk'naars.  For me, the cool and unique thing on the peasant path is that composite teams like this can work.  On the other paths, gals leave them all behind (except for syns and gnome vehicle drivers).

I like that with the harvester, I feel able to send gnomes to missions in something other than a car or tank or loader suit.  I'd be nervous doing that in trucks or the Fortuna.

I agree the peasant path is extremely powerful, if you know the game well enough to keep your gals alive.  I think the gal route is still better for a new player.  But before the peasant path came out, I played male touch without bothering to hire any SS, just because I preferred gal scarcity.  I don't play the peasant path because it's powerful: I play it because it's the coolest and most fun.  It's a single-player game: if people want a challenge, they can up the difficulty.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 07, 2022, 12:29:43 am
Is there a reason to keep a "Catgirl Captive" after I've researched one? Perhaps for a future update?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 07, 2022, 02:00:41 am
You produce "Recruit: Outlaw Catgirl" to turn the captive into an Outlaw Catgirl
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 07, 2022, 02:07:33 am
Now I see that I was just missing the canteens to recruit her.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 08, 2022, 02:35:07 pm
Yup, I love the catgirls in the latest version. Great scouts, especially at night.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Vengos on August 08, 2022, 08:02:22 pm
Yup, I love the catgirls in the latest version. Great scouts, especially at night.
From what i saw, catgirls are pretty much better than ubers in everything except health and strength
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 09, 2022, 10:03:52 am
And energy, catgirls always lack energy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: ivandogovich on August 09, 2022, 07:13:57 pm
Chiming in late to the "The Harvester is OP" chain of discussion.

One other point to make here:  Yes, you can load 20 Uber Gals onto this craft and have overwhelming battlefield dominance.  But running 20 gals has the same built-in governance that Save Scumming does... it gets tedious really fast.  Personally, I find controlling 8-10 units about right, and more than a dozen too much.  Low initial Peasant abilities beg for more numbers to be effective, and in this the Harvester is on target. However, for me, pushing 20 troops around each turn requires a level of patience that I don't want.
I use my Harvester not to run 20 Ubers, but to get early 2x2 units to the battle.  This is the true strength of the Harvester imo.  Turian with early Hyenas and Harvester?  Sure, super strong.  Later, I run with 3-4 armored cars.  This also trims the troop count down significantly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Interdictor on August 10, 2022, 12:04:33 am
Hello. Today I would like to complain about how overpowered HARVESTER is.
(...)
Secondly, camping in this craft is too easy because no windows.
And lastly, you can block lifts so melee enemies can never reach you.

Since HARVESTER is not military craft originally it may have fair amount of windows, stairs and ramps I presume.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ttaogaming on August 12, 2022, 04:02:57 am
I have been trying to get XPiratez to work on android for a few weeks now and I just can't seem to do it.
Downloaded the OXCE android current build (v2022-07-15), downloaded n1.1 and moved mods folder over into the android openxcom mods folder but now luck. Downloaded (v2022-02-07) which I read "OXCE Upgrade to 7.5.3 7-Feb-2022" in the patch notes for v.M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains. and I was able to select xPiratez in the mods dropdown but then when starting the game I sent to the initial setup screen where I would choose where ufo defense files and tftd files are and then I would click save&restart but it wouldn't launch the game and keep me on the that initial setup screen.
Tried clicking on all the boxes to save stuff to cache and I have gotten the the following error screen.
OpenXcom Extended Error VFS::map_common(): failed to map 'common'

I have gotten xcom files and other mods to work and I really enjoy it on Android, and I have played a little bit of XPiratez on PC but can't seem to get it to work on Android. Any help is appreciated. Running Android version 11, on Oneplus 6T. The reason I don't play on PC more is that I have to travel and only have my phone with me for stretches of time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Garr on August 12, 2022, 11:09:53 am
Downloaded the OXCE android current build (v2022-07-15), downloaded n1.1 and moved mods folder over into the android openxcom mods folder but now luck. Downloaded (v2022-02-07) which I read "OXCE Upgrade to 7.5.3 7-Feb-2022" in the patch notes for v.M5 24-Mar-2022 The Five Captains.

I think you did too much work here. You installed "OXCE Upgrade" from 7th of February on the version from 15th of July. I personally used my old updated OXCE from before the v2022-07-15 (should probably work on that version as well) and moved the mod folder from the archive to the mods folder in the OXCE location. That made it work for me perfectly.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: firebrandtoluc on August 13, 2022, 07:03:06 am
For at least five years now, every time I come back to pick up Xcom again, I check in here and always find a whole new experience waiting for me. Outstanding effort. So, until next year... Thank you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: doctor medic on August 16, 2022, 04:06:01 pm
What is in the works currently,im interested to see what is up next.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: howareyou32ny on August 16, 2022, 06:01:46 pm
For at least five years now, every time I come back to pick up Xcom again, I check in here and always find a whole new experience waiting for me. Outstanding effort. So, until next year... Thank you.
Agreed- I remember spending weeks to play XPZ fun and time eater lol
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 20, 2022, 11:49:50 am
Is there any point to developing this base? That's a Star God base right next to it. It looks like I won't even be able to launch a craft without being gang banged by fighters I can't possibly fight for many months. I already have those ninja bases to farm deal with. I know, I know, just let it sit until I'm ready to take it on. Nope, can't even launch a craft. So now I have to move the whole base?

First thought upon entering the base: Are you fucking serious?  >:( Should there really be Star Gods this early? A base? You know, with Sectopods? There's nothing even close to being able to fight them for several more months. My best battlescape weapons are hand cannons, boarding guns, RPGs, etc. CAWS, LC maybe. I guess trying to get M-Lasers before Mutant Alliance was a bad idea? Are 18 brainers too few? How soon should I have started my second base? It sure does take a long time to figure out you're screwing yourself.

For reference, there are at least 8 other bases on the map. That's #5. I checked #8 and it's Mercs, which are also beyond my firepower. My biggest catch so far was a freighter, and that was accomplished with a lot of RPGs. For further reference, I've only seen one church matron so far, and I kill everything that can't shoot me down. Davy Jones.

Let me be clear: If this wasn't a fantastic mod, I wouldn't have this much to say about it because I wouldn't have played it thus far. There are some things that just seem over the top, usually as a confluence of factors including RNG. I'm doing well overall, I think, but that base seems to be boned. I'm sorry that I've only logged on during these moments of dissonance. I'd love to see a more current playthrough similar to Starving Poet's that includes interceptors and missile strikes (I've disabled missile strikes for now because reasons).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 20, 2022, 01:05:03 pm
You're not in radar range of that base - you can launch the craft. Just gotta move around it.

Star Gods this early? You're 18 months into the game, that's already time for end-game, time to go to Mars~ Btw, the earliest Star Gods base can be 8 months into the game.

Alliance Favors is the most important prize you can get for alliance tokens, yes. Because Library allows you to tech up.
18 brainers is normal for early game until you get more bases.
Your second base should be started once your first base has 3x Extractor. If you play well, that should be about 2 months into the game. Yes, in march.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 20, 2022, 01:26:38 pm
Star Gods this early? You're 18 months into the game, that's already time for end-game, time to go to Mars~ Btw, the earliest Star Gods base can be 8 months into the game.

I really need to point out that being 18 months in the game is not "time to go to Mars". It's barely midgame.

Still, this base doesn't seem like an actual problem, just make sure to not rattle the cage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 20, 2022, 10:45:28 pm
Star Gods this early? You're 18 months into the game, that's already time for end-game, time to go to Mars~

This isn't even close to true. It's absolutely false.

Quote
Your second base should be started once your first base has 3x Extractor. If you play well, that should be about 2 months into the game. Yes, in march.

This isn't physically possible. The game doesn't even produce enough cash or traffic by March. You start with ~100000. You're telling me I should have a few million by March? Show me a playthrough.

Quote
Still, this base doesn't seem like an actual problem, just make sure to not rattle the cage.

Am I correct to assume that I won't be attacked when returning from missions? I don't have much control over whether I "rattle the cage."

Also, does this make crackdowns more likely?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on August 21, 2022, 12:10:41 am
Craft returning from a missing don't get intercepted, thank God.

Also, "You should have your second base by march" was hilarious.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 21, 2022, 12:15:11 am
This isn't even close to true.

Which part isn't true?

Earning money is hard in the early game, but there are ways. Each Castaway Gal recovered is a $200k brainer in disguise. So, get lucky with some distress calls and necropirate hunts and you got plenty of free brainers.
It's a bit obvious to say this but, stun enemies instead of killing them. Each Academy Nurse is 15k, Osion Yeoman 25k, Researcher 35k... did you perhaps kill them all?
There are some missions that pay pretty well. For instance, you can research !Monster Hunt! and with little luck get the Giant Spider Hunt mission. The hunt spawns 30-40 spiders. Each living spider is worth $52k. That's over $1M in cash. But even if you don't go that way, you can easily do over 20 missions in the first two months and roll in plenty of cash.

Code: [Select]
  - { id: 0, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 1, time: { second: 40, minute: 8, hour: 16, weekday: 6, day: 2, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 205, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 1, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 57, hour: 16, weekday: 4, day: 7, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 160, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 2, markerName: STR_MARKER_DISTRESS_BUNKER, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 12, hour: 23, weekday: 5, day: 8, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_NIGERIA, type: STR_LOC_DISTRESS_BUNKER_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 120, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_BANDIT, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 3, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 12, hour: 16, weekday: 7, day: 10, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_INDIA, type: STR_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 68, rating: STR_MS_RATING_0, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 4, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 3, time: { second: 45, minute: 18, hour: 10, weekday: 4, day: 14, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_RUSSIA, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 190, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 5, markerName: STR_MARKER_GOVT_CAR, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 33, hour: 13, weekday: 1, day: 18, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_LOC_GOVT_CAR, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 128, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 6, markerName: STR_MARKER_RATLING_VILLAGE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 15, minute: 38, hour: 3, weekday: 3, day: 20, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_CHINA, type: STR_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 424, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_RATMEN, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 7, markerName: STR_MARKER_CHURCH_OUTPOST, markerId: 1, time: { second: 10, minute: 33, hour: 22, weekday: 5, day: 22, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_CHURCH_OUTPOST_TEMPERATE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 95, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_CHURCH_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 8, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 4, time: { second: 5, minute: 4, hour: 20, weekday: 7, day: 31, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTHERN_AFRICA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_FOOT_PATROL_NECRO, success: true, score: 345, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_CANNYS, daylight: 15, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -200 }

  - { id: 9, markerName: STR_MARKER_ISOLATED_VALLEY, markerId: 1, time: { second: 55, minute: 10, hour: 7, weekday: 3, day: 3, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_NIGERIA, type: STR_LOC_ISOLATED_VALLEY, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 631, rating: STR_MS_RATING_500, alienRace: STR_ZOMBIE, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 10, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_CRACKHOUSE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 55, minute: 56, hour: 18, weekday: 2, day: 9, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_EGYPT, type: STR_LOC_CRACKHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 298, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 13, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 11, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 5, time: { second: 25, minute: 7, hour: 0, weekday: 4, day: 11, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_AUSTRALASIA, country: STR_AUSTRALIA, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_CI_HARVESTER, success: true, score: -30, rating: STR_MS_RATING_0, alienRace: STR_CIVILIANZ_1, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 12, markerName: STR_TERROR_SITE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 1, hour: 5, weekday: 6, day: 13, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_TERROR_MISSION_NO_PENALTY, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 1058, rating: STR_MS_RATING_1000, alienRace: STR_MIXED_KKK, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 13, markerName: STR_MARKER_CHURCH_OUTPOST, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 42, hour: 17, weekday: 7, day: 14, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_CHURCH_OUTPOST_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 282, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_CHURCH_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 14, markerName: STR_MARKER_ACADEMY_OUTPOST, markerId: 1, time: { second: 20, minute: 7, hour: 0, weekday: 2, day: 16, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTHERN_AFRICA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_ACADEMY_OUTPOST_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 428, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 15, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_BARN_GROX, markerId: 1, time: { second: 15, minute: 29, hour: 3, weekday: 5, day: 19, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_LOC_BARN_GROX, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 358, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_LOKNAR, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 16, markerName: STR_MARKER_TAVERN_CELLAR, markerId: 1, time: { second: 45, minute: 57, hour: 22, weekday: 6, day: 20, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_EUROPE, country: STR_RUSSIA, type: STR_LOC_TAVERN_CELLAR, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 305, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_MONSTER_RACE_NIGHT, daylight: 11, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 17, markerName: STR_MARKER_RATLING_VILLAGE, markerId: 2, time: { second: 35, minute: 11, hour: 23, weekday: 7, day: 21, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 356, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_RATMEN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 18, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, markerId: 2, time: { second: 10, minute: 43, hour: 11, weekday: 2, day: 23, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 224, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 19, markerName: STR_MARKER_DISTRESS_BUNKER, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 56, hour: 17, weekday: 4, day: 25, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_EGYPT, type: STR_LOC_DISTRESS_BUNKER_DESERT, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 150, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT, daylight: 12, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 20, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOKNAR_VILLAGE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 25, minute: 57, hour: 19, weekday: 7, day: 28, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_CHINA, type: STR_LOC_LOKNAR_VILLAGE_DEFENSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 675, rating: STR_MS_RATING_500, alienRace: STR_NINJA, daylight: 15, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -5 }

1st month income: 2305730
2nd month income: 4896914
Altho I gotta admit, those two were before the 40% sales price penalty was added on Jack Sparrow.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.

It would be pretty boring, because a lot of it involves training unit stats in missions, so each mission can take hours lol
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 21, 2022, 02:54:37 am
Which part isn't true?

The part I quoted, obviously. We're calling BS on having Conqueror etc. and finishing in 18 months. If you're doing it, you're using some kind of "golden path" which has already been established in this thread to be unnecessary given the sheer number of research topics.

Also, you're essentially saying that every enemy needs to be stunned and I should have 15 castaway gals (for my 18 brainers) or else Star Gods will be up my ass by month 18.

I have seen about 5 castaway gals in all of these 18 months. All other gal recruits have been young ubers.

What are you using for the first two months? Nothing but handles? Or did your version of the game come with free stun harpoons in month 1 as well as the extra cash you got from sales (before the 40% nerf)?

edit:

Quote
1st month income: 2305730
2nd month income: 4896914
Altho I gotta admit, those two were before the 40% sales price penalty was added on Jack Sparrow.

so these actual values should be
1st month income: 1383438
2nd month income: 2938138

Now subtract maintenance & expenses, more runts, etc.

What version of the game did you do all this on? Because virtually nothing you are saying checks out in the version I'm playing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Meridian on August 21, 2022, 12:57:51 pm
He's just a tryhard (I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't know a better word) and a minmaxer.

It's possible, but it's definitely not designed to be this way.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 21, 2022, 02:11:23 pm
[...] some kind of "golden path"

[...] I have seen about 5 castaway gals in all of these 18 months.

[...] every enemy needs to be stunned

[...] What are you using for the first two months? Nothing but handles?

[...] so these actual values should be 1st month income: 1383438, 2nd month income: 2938138

[...] What version of the game did you do all this on?

Well, no, it's not a golden path or anything. Just maximizing your production. Production -> Money -> Bases -> Research

Bro, you get (on average) 4.3 castaways in the first month (not including events).
3 from Roving Bands (100% mission spawn in the 1st month, 30% chance next 7 months).
Shipwrecked Gal (76% for mission * 61% for gal = 46%)
Red Lantern Villa (84%)

Only stun the enemies that are worth bringing back alive. For that reason most bandits and necropirates can be killed.

Handle is one of the worst stun weapons, even worse than Bare Hands. Don't ever use it. You should get a couple of Stun Batons from the first three Academy Airbuses. But even if you don't, you have a 50% chance to spawn Academy Outpost where there's plenty of stun weapons. Right, what are some good early game stun weapons?
For melee, for untrained units I'd recommend Shepherd's Staff because of high accuracy and guaranteed damage. Cattle Prod against armored targets. Once your skills are trained, Stun Baton becomes better. Leather Whip is also a safe choice if you're good at throwing.
For ranged, there's not much choice. Domestic Shotgun Rubber Slugs. Harpoon Gun once your accuracy is high. Again, obvious to say this but, do night missions so it's easy to get in melee range. Use Fire Extinguisher for smoke in day missions. Melee enemies from behind...

Doing the math... 1384k jan - 942k maintenance + 335k countries + 967k score bonus + 2157k feb - 1969k maintenance + 375k countries + 3354k from 10072 score (5550 from research) = 5661k. So in total, $5.6M spendable money was generated, which was enough to build up the 1st base and start a new base.

That was in L4. I've upgraded the version along the way, added the missing ninja bases, etc, but I can't say that the early game changed much.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 21, 2022, 05:04:07 pm
Can we get another research path for Canny Gal? I'm in August 2603 and have never had any mission which had a Canny Gal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 21, 2022, 05:29:52 pm
Blood Rituals, 15% (30% in first 15 months) chance per month, 30% chance it's Canny Gals.
Cannibal Camp, 18% chance per month (needs Customer: Wiz Biz and BH Silver Badge (B)), 100% Canny Gals
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: magitsu on August 21, 2022, 07:49:55 pm
Bro, you get (on average) 4.3 castaways in the first month (not including events).
Variance can be really high. For example I took a look at my new campaign: 1 castaway gal (though +1 hero too) in the first two months. Turan start.
Though I can attest that 3-4 within 2 months feels far more common result (previous start in Ghost Gates produced 3 or 4). I've had a three 2-3 month game starts with the current version trying to see how differently the early game could be played. Currently I'm of the opinion that I won't be gunning for set date 2 base in the next starts. Getting harvester or some other 1st major goals feels similarly interesting (or personal labs, 12+1 initial brainers is trivial already so getting it can be minmaxed without much effort).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 21, 2022, 09:12:13 pm
Quote
That was in L4.

Start a new game.

Quote
[everything else]

Thing is, I do pretty much everything you say, but the results are different.

I get fine results from handles before upgrading (frankly I don't really need any of this battlescape advice). My point was that you can't get the stun on every enemy. You don't have to tell me to stun them at night from behind. FFS.

Your scores are ludicrous. I've restarted 4 times and it's simply a fact that your score is not going to be that high with what is available.

The whole point of my op was a reaction to the star god base right next to mine; everything else in that post was for context. This is bizarrely off topic and not helpful.

Your roving bands actually stop for you? They eat up my battery every time. Or did you start with something besides the airbus?

Everything you are saying is gonzo. Start a new game with N1. For accuracy, play Davy Jones (for the appropriate amount of content since you have been playing on JS) and play the first 6 months a few times. I want to know exactly how you manage to get 10000 score in Feb because that's fucking silly.

I have replayed the first six months four times.

Start a new game in N1 because your advice is dated.

Here's my old game that I stopped playing years ago. I recently re-researched a lot of things because the tree has changed. Many things have more dependencies and are gated behind RNG that weren't before. Start a new game bro.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: magitsu on August 21, 2022, 09:26:21 pm
Yeah, the roving bands are certainly unreachable. I think getting even to 5k probably requires going to that first Mutant Pogrom and taking few hundred positive from that. 2.5-3k is probably more reasonable good result.

Most common mission in the first 2nd months seems to be tthe Nurse bus of 4-5. That can feature 3-4 times. Likely just 1 temple raid, 1 shambler hunt, 1 academy outpost (the one with the first medic sighting), maybe mining ship if lucky. Then the 3rd month can have just about anything, even multiple reticulan landings.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 21, 2022, 09:37:21 pm
Yeah, the roving bands are certainly unreachable. I think getting even to 5k probably requires going to that first Mutant Pogrom and taking few hundred positive from that. 2.5-3k is probably more reasonable good result.

Most common mission in the first 2nd months seems to be tthe Nurse bus of 4-5. That can feature 3-4 times. Likely just 1 temple raid, 1 shambler hunt, 1 academy outpost (the one with the first medic sighting), maybe mining ship if lucky. Then the 3rd month can have just about anything, even multiple reticulan landings.

This has been my experience.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Mechanique on August 21, 2022, 09:41:40 pm
Craft returning from a missing don't get intercepted, thank God.

Also, "You should have your second base by march" was hilarious.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.
I had shrine ship spam for a whole month just a few months in. Caught around 5 of them landed, just selling the gold bars and extra engines got me 5-ish millions. Might be some RNG luck involved, but still it is possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 21, 2022, 10:08:05 pm
I should probably add that that save file is a bit broken due to having started with an older version. It allowed me to research Peasant Revolution even though I already had Gals are Superior, for example.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Delian on August 22, 2022, 12:58:28 am
Scores are higher because on Jack Sparrow more enemies spawn... also, score bonus per recovered Glamour was increased it seems, when did that happen?

Roving Bands definitely land. Their trajectory has a landing point defined, at which they stay for 50 minutes. In the sav you provided, you do land there:
Code: [Select]
  - { id: 1, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 3, time: {second: 0, minute: 43, hour: 20, weekday: 2, day: 6, month: 1, year: 2601}, ... ufo: STR_VESSEL_FOOT_PATROL_NECRO, success: true, score: 175, ... valiantCrux: true }You did the mission, and you got all 3 gals, so why the are you saying that they don't land? Oh... I think I know why. Roving Bands and Rogue Courier have the same marker on the map, so you might be confusing the two. Rogue Courier moves at 265 speed, while Roving Bands move at 90. Well, Roving Bands don't always appear in the same region as your starting base (it's a 80% chance), so I suppose you need to get a bit lucky.

Start a new game bro.
I started a new game. Roving Bands appeared. I waited while they moved around (they change direction 3 times, then land). Did the mission, got 325 score. You got only 175 tho? Are you sure you played on Davy Jones? It's impossible to spawn only 4 necropirates (25 points each) on that difficulty.

Your scores are ludicrous. I've restarted 4 times and it's simply a fact that your score is not going to be that high with what is available.
I want to know exactly how you manage to get 10000 score in Feb because that's fucking silly.
I already posted a list of missions with scores. I don't have a precise list of research done, but I think 1k points was from codex. You'll simply have to accept the fact that getting good scores in the early game is possible and that it's it's not ludicrous to start a new base two months into the game (36 Gold Bars from Golden Codex definitely help hehe). Also, you should enable missile strikes in your game :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on August 22, 2022, 03:10:48 am
The save I provided is not the one I'm playing. That save has multiple aircraft that can hover over a target for hours. It's also a little broken because I already had Gals are Superior before upgrading versions and it allowed me to research Peasant Revolution anyway.

Yes, I am aware that JS has higher scores, and that is explicitly why I said do it on DJ. Yes, I'm def playing on DJ (on both of those saves). I haven't touched the diff since I started either of them.

Also, you need to "just accept" that you did those things according to a particular set of choices. Don't say "you should have x by x." Say, "I did certain things that enabled it, e.g. Golden Codex (turn on your sense of irony for this one if it isn't already going off like an alarm). I shouldn't have to pick a specific Codex ("Golden path" anyone?). That's a whole million bucks dude. You have spent all this time basically describing a golden path while claiming it isn't one. There is only a narrow set of decisions that can be made to produce the results you claim. It's pretty damn specific. That's a golden path. Not something that everyone "should have" done by March or whatever.

And until I'm able to launch one of my ICBMs down an enemy's base-hole I'm not enthusiastic about suddenly losing craft, storage space, etc. just for the lulz. I enjoyed the game 2-3 years ago before the missiles were ever introduced, and that's how I'm going to enjoy it now. There are a couple of changes between versions that I've considered changing, like having 600 capitatory tax (120 space) dumped on you, or giant boulders (100ish), forcing out your inventory before you even get a chance to pay it off. If I want to change them I will. They won't affect my battlescape game at all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 23, 2022, 04:05:48 pm
Blood Rituals, 15% (30% in first 15 months) chance per month, 30% chance it's Canny Gals.
Cannibal Camp, 18% chance per month (needs Customer: Wiz Biz and BH Silver Badge (B)), 100% Canny Gals

Ah, that must be it. Don't have Customer: Wiz Biz yet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 23, 2022, 04:08:05 pm
I had shrine ship spam for a whole month just a few months in. Caught around 5 of them landed, just selling the gold bars and extra engines got me 5-ish millions. Might be some RNG luck involved, but still it is possible.
I had the same thing. 1 month got me allot of money from all that gold.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 23, 2022, 04:12:27 pm
Not sure why, but somehow I always experience missiles until mid or late game. Maybe because I always skip Disruptive Transmissions in the beginning?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Mathel on August 27, 2022, 02:20:06 pm
There are a couple of changes between versions that I've considered changing, like having 600 capitatory tax (120 space) dumped on you, or giant boulders (100ish), forcing out your inventory before you even get a chance to pay it off. If I want to change them I will. They won't affect my battlescape game at all.

These events forcing bunch of huge stuff into your first base are quite ridiculous. Personally, I think there should be an option after an event to immediatelly sell stuff gained in it, like there is after a mission.

Also note, that if the base it is going to (first base in the base row) doesn't have enough space, but could, the event items are not included in the sell options.
If, however the base can't have enough space, you can instantly sell the stuff from the event along with other stuff in that base. So what I did against such event is placing a base with ridiculously low storage space as first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: howareyou32ny on August 28, 2022, 05:09:01 pm
Love your mod D. Please create a patreon so some of us can pay you our respect.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on August 29, 2022, 06:04:38 pm
giant boulders, just crunch em into smaller rocks with your runts in the beginning.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: howareyou32ny on August 31, 2022, 05:13:07 pm
Guys. OXCE 77 break the info for pw++ and accu display. Any fix?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Meridian on August 31, 2022, 05:40:46 pm
Guys. OXCE 77 break the info for pw++ and accu display. Any fix?

Fix here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10738.msg148571.html#msg148571
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: howareyou32ny on September 01, 2022, 04:48:14 am
Fix here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10738.msg148571.html#msg148571
It works. Thanks. Now I can mess up my mind even more with all those numbers lol.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Slow on September 04, 2022, 08:00:47 pm
In original xcom there was a race with time, if you don't research and storm Mars, ayys would eventually win. Is there a similar thing in this mod?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Meridian on September 04, 2022, 08:02:29 pm
In original xcom there was a race with time, if you don't research and storm Mars, ayys would eventually win. Is there a similar thing in this mod?

There was no such thing in the original xcom, you could play forever.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Slow on September 04, 2022, 08:30:32 pm
There was no such thing in the original xcom, you could play forever.

All countries will sign treaties with aliens if you play long enough, it's only a matter of time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Meridian on September 04, 2022, 08:32:44 pm
All countries will sign treaties with aliens if you play long enough, it's only a matter of time.

1/ Russia will never sign a pact.

2/ Even if all countries signed a pact, it's not game over. You can continue playing.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: nicedayright on September 07, 2022, 02:04:55 am
So I'm doing my first male touch run. Having trouble ranking up my boys. I'd like to be able to finally use my Sargeant and officer trainings but I've got boys with upwards of 70 kills still at free soldier rank.

Do Slave Soldiers just never rank beyond that? Do I have to buy new boys?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Scamps on September 07, 2022, 02:59:08 pm
They definitely do. Recruit more soldiers (any type will do, peasants are the cheapest)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: RSSwizard on September 10, 2022, 03:06:59 am
1/ Russia will never sign a pact.

2/ Even if all countries signed a pact, it's not game over. You can continue playing.

thanks, I always wondered about that
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Hadza on September 13, 2022, 01:32:23 pm

And until I'm able to launch one of my ICBMs down an enemy's base-hole I'm not enthusiastic about suddenly losing craft, storage space, etc. just for the lulz. I enjoyed the game 2-3 years ago before the missiles were ever introduced, and that's how I'm going to enjoy it now.

You can launch ICBMs???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: RSSwizard on September 16, 2022, 03:15:46 am
And until I'm able to launch one of my ICBMs down an enemy's base-hole I'm not enthusiastic about suddenly losing craft, storage space, etc. just for the lulz. I enjoyed the game 2-3 years ago before the missiles were ever introduced, and that's how I'm going to enjoy it now.
search the .rul files for the technocracy craft that searches for your bases and change its sight range to something very small like 50 kilometers. They wont be able to target you with missiles anymore.

Alternatively you can search for the mission generator for a missile strike and set its event weight to 0 so those missions are never spawned. Folks may not condone hacking but if it's affecting his game experience that badly id say take an eraser to that little part.

You should still shoot down and harvest those TEC ships though if you can, tons of terminator bots, you get nuclear batteries from them which will allow you to build Testudo suits later on for slave soldiers (does 150 armor feel good?). Just have people carrying Lasguns, Hunting Lasers or Infantry Lasers to shoot em with.

IMO trading nuclear batteries for bootleg laser discs is a terrible deal, only useful if the tech tree viewer says you got like 4 topics left that the disc can provide. Pretty much only useful for the nuclear materials topic and some other thing.

For base attacks have at least 2 spare Armored Cars or Tanks equipped by personnel, armored cars are the easy option. Id suggest HMG and Heavy Flamer. Imagine being able to wield Armored Car firepower against base invaders. Its Murder. Only trick then is having your dogs sniff out the ones in the ventilation ducts.

I also tend to fill up my Armored Car and Tank inventories with active Stun Mines, to just drop it out the porthole as i pass right by somebody. Boom 90 daze damage, maybe 2x of it too for two mines). Also tend to stack explosives in them such as Firebombs or Satchel Charges, always set for 3 Turns after mission start (counter "4" I believe) so I don't get them mixed up... and on that 3rd turn I STRIKE. Also usually at least 1 active Knockout Grenade so I can Puff on somebody the first turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Ultimoos on September 16, 2022, 11:49:01 am
Only trick then is having your dogs sniff out the ones in the ventilation ducts.

Why I've never thought of that. I'm so bad at using the tools game provide.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Apocca on September 16, 2022, 08:15:26 pm
What is this?  ???
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: RSSwizard on September 16, 2022, 09:35:16 pm
What is this?  ???
Apparently it is a vampire incursion, sounds like a leadup to creating an alien base (for vampires) or a series of nasty missions. Kinda like a comm wave for a ground based pogrom.

Why I've never thought of that. I'm so bad at using the tools game provide.

Dogs move like 100tu or some such. They have a built in aye-phone which costs them morale, they can only use it a few times. But you have several dogs going different places and when you've eliminated all the enemies you know of, have them all scan on the following turn. Any blip and you know where remaining enemies are. Another tip is if you have Large General Stores the ducts there are a great place to start and spread out from - also Plantation ducts are pretty easy to rule out (just hard to get immediate access to). Plantations are dangerous to have Imps in the ducts during a dark one attack, if they kill a dog its no biggie though.

For these base defenses sometimes ill give a doggie some primed Dynamite (like 2 turns) and turn him into a drone strike. If they wrestle with him he still blows up.

Note also about game tools.......

Early game you can get Grav Packs by capturing Raider Buzzards. Each one is a Grav Harness already built for you. As for capturing them, repeated shots with pistols to flash them red will give them wounds, if they dont present themselves to whop over the head they will eventually fall from grace. I find Molotovs to be tricky because they may just burn to death, and Fire Extinguishers take a LONG time to use.

(sidenote:  I find Fire Extinguishers pretty dam useless and hardly ever equip them. They take like 70 Tus to use or something insane like that. Smoke grenades too are virtually useless and hurt you more than the enemy. Since anyone worth their salt has like 40% ThV anyway and they see through it and you dont. For long range over open terrain Grenades are far more useful than guns, just as they were in original X-Com where id have 2 Grenadiers loaded with 6 grenades each, one primed in hand waiting, to kill any aliens the HWP spotted. As for putting out fires... why put them out? Don't get set on fire, watch your dam cover... don't set fire to any enemies you dont honestly want to kill. You shouldn't be killing mobs anyways you should be capturing them.)

Your fastest Gal with a Grav Harness is probably pushing 120-130 TUs.

She can carry a Hammer or Barbarian Sword (or Chainsaw, or Auto Axe...) and because Range=1 also means Above or Below you can strike somebody not on your current floor to completely ignore melee defenses. That also means being able to strike vertically at an angle 1 floor above or below too, you don't have to be directly on top or below them.

Also the whirlwind attack on a Barbarian Sword (overhanded WHOP) will hit 3 frigging times for HIGH damage and has RANGE 2. You can stab somebody 2 floors up through the elevator with that thing for like 120 x 3 damage. I believe cutting damage like this also eats many types of shields too.

You can destroy Armored Cars and Cyberdiscs this way without them blowing up. It will one-shot any power armored bodyguard dude. The raw damage number on a Hammer on a gal with good melee and top strength is probably something close to 140 and its reliable damage too (50-150%).

And you can do that pretty much right after capturing a couple Raider Buzzards (one to research, another to rob).

This was reminded to me because of the need for high TUs to chase down base defense lurkers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on September 18, 2022, 03:16:56 pm
search the .rul files for the technocracy craft that searches for your bases and change its sight range to something very small like 50 kilometers. They wont be able to target you with missiles anymore.

Alternatively you can search for the mission generator for a missile strike and set its event weight to 0 so those missions are never spawned. Folks may not condone hacking but if it's affecting his game experience that badly id say take an eraser to that little part.

You should still shoot down and harvest those TEC ships though if you can, tons of terminator bots, you get nuclear batteries from them which will allow you to build Testudo suits later on for slave soldiers (does 150 armor feel good?). Just have people carrying Lasguns, Hunting Lasers or Infantry Lasers to shoot em with.

IMO trading nuclear batteries for bootleg laser discs is a terrible deal, only useful if the tech tree viewer says you got like 4 topics left that the disc can provide. Pretty much only useful for the nuclear materials topic and some other thing.

For base attacks have at least 2 spare Armored Cars or Tanks equipped by personnel, armored cars are the easy option. Id suggest HMG and Heavy Flamer. Imagine being able to wield Armored Car firepower against base invaders. Its Murder. Only trick then is having your dogs sniff out the ones in the ventilation ducts.

I also tend to fill up my Armored Car and Tank inventories with active Stun Mines, to just drop it out the porthole as i pass right by somebody. Boom 90 daze damage, maybe 2x of it too for two mines). Also tend to stack explosives in them such as Firebombs or Satchel Charges, always set for 3 Turns after mission start (counter "4" I believe) so I don't get them mixed up... and on that 3rd turn I STRIKE. Also usually at least 1 active Knockout Grenade so I can Puff on somebody the first turn.

I have the mission disabled. Might consider your option A, at least for the ships. Idk.

As for the rest, my battlescape game is pretty tight, and I recently got adv. lasgun clips online. Haven't had a base defense I couldn't handle yet -- except the Star Gods one that forced me to reload the whole month.

You can launch ICBMs???
You can make them, but not launch them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: RSSwizard on September 19, 2022, 01:09:52 am
Other (simple) changes if you want to nerf or soft hack the game, for the sake of fun. Insert these at the very end of each file. Just copypasta, pretty low recoil.

globals file
Code: [Select]
costHireScientist: 100000
costScientist: 50000
initialFunding: 2648   # relevant if you are starting a new game
chanceToStopRetaliation: 100
escortRange: 200
kneelBonusGlobal: 125
noLOSAccuracyPenaltyGlobal: 67
bughuntMinTurn: 15
ai:
  destroyBaseFacilities: false
fixedUserOptions:
  battleExplosionHeight: 1  # -30 damage per floor height
recommendedUserOptions:
  customInitialBase: true
constants:
  - damageRange: 77
  - explosiveDamageRange: 60
  # causes at least some damage, effectively 10-80 for 45 points, its like 1d8s
  # makes bombs able to damage some hwps, slightly more random


piratez file
Code: [Select]
ufos:
  - type: STR_VESSEL_TEC_01
    hunterKillerPercentage: 1
    sightRange: 50
  - type: STR_VESSEL_ESCORT
    hunterKillerPercentage: 18
  - type: STR_VESSEL_SENTRY
    sightRange: 250
    speedMax: 3200
  - type: STR_VESSEL_FIGHTER
    hunterKillerPercentage: 18
  - type: STR_VESSEL_FIGHTER_HUNT
    radarRange: 125
items:
  - type: STR_ELERIUM_115
    armor: 188
  - type: STR_BOMB_LAUNCHER_PARTS
    armor: 999
  - type: STR_PLASMA_SPITTER_PARTS
    armor: 999
  - type: STR_GAUSS_CANNON_PARTS
    armor: 999
  - type: STR_GAT_LASCANNON_PARTS
    armor: 999
facilities:
  - type: STR_ACCESS_LIFT
    sickBayAbsoluteBonus: 1.0
  - type: STR_WORKSHOP
    workshops: 50
startingBase:
  scientists: 5
  engineers: 15
  items:
    STR_BIG_BONE: 1
    STR_LOKNAR_SCRIPTURES: 4
    STR_PARROT: 1
    STR_RAYGUN: 1
    STR_RAYGUN_CLIP: 3
    STR_SHIV: 5
    STR_NOOSE: 3
    STR_FLINTLOCK_BALLS: 10
    STR_SHOTGUN_G_SHELLS: 5
    STR_SILVER_BAR: 2
    STR_STAPLER_CLIP: 14
    STR_SUPER_STAPLER: 1
    STR_PIR_CANNONBALL: 3
    STR_MOLOTOV: 50
    STR_ANARCHY_BOMB: 13
    STR_TINY_DRILL: 1
    STR_ELERIUM_115: 58
    STR_JUNK_PILE: 35
    STR_BIG_ROCK: 169
    STR_SCRAP_METAL: 100
    STR_MENACING_HULL: 1
    STR_RAIDER_CORPSE: 16
    STR_MUTANT_MEAT: 32
    STR_WRENCH: 1
    STR_LAND_DEED: 1
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Warface on September 22, 2022, 07:13:40 pm
I'd like to avoid nerfs in general; I just have no interest in the "challenge" of keeping my inventory from randomly being dumped by losing a facility. That and the 600x "capitatory tax" & 99x "big rocks" that force you to dump inventory before they arrive. Aside from that, my only difficulty lies in the research jungle; however with laser weapons (by scumming research RNG) I now feel less behind.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Vakrug on October 03, 2022, 09:54:29 pm
I have finally “finished” XPiratez. Oh, boy, that was unprecedented experience. I can't say that I absolutely love this mod. Or maybe this mod is too good for me. One thing is certain: I wasn't morally prepared for what was coming. This mod is at least 5 times more lengthier then XCOM Files is! This is not necessarily bad, but definitely something I wish to know earlier.

When progress tree showed around 40% completion, due to various reasons I decided “Enough!”. I want to see an ending and I will see it now! Most of my thoughts right are not about the current game, but about my future campaign, that I will definitely do someday. Luckily editing the save file was not particularly hard... I can't say that I had to restart the game because of some kind failed strategic decisions. No, but I would definitely do some stuff differently during next playthrough, that is for sure. The main problem is that I wasn't paying enough attention to incredible amount of weapons, equipment, armors, ship weapons, different components and so on. Partially because I wasn't sure if this mod is worth so much time spent. Now I know – it is worth it, but trying to catch up now is too daunting task, so I would better restart. After cheating an ending first...

I have not much experience with OpenXCOM mods. Earlier I played only XCOM Files. It was very surprising to discover that XCOM Files is actually a prequel to XPiratez (Solarius confirmed that). I just want to say that I may not be particularly objective in assessing quality of the XPiratez, but still I want to tell about different strong and week sided of this mod.

Let's start with strong sides. Almost immediately after I starting playing I noticed how useful BootyPedia articles are. When an item have important properties, item description says about them. No need to go to “additional info” section and patiently investigate the presence of abnormal values. Notable example is “Poison Gas Grenade”. It's real damage is not 50 despite main article says. When someone told about the same issue in XCOM Files forum, the response was something like “this is a limitation of an engine, nothing can be done about that”. I am happy to see that in XPiratez this complicated obstacle was heroically overcomed by writing an appropriate text in item's description!

Those “Piratin' Tips” from #001 to #155 were very useful (most of them). I wish they were available from the start. Most of this stuff corresponds to vanilla mechanics but this does not make them less important. First, official openXCom wiki sucks in many aspects (most notably lack of data structure and navigation), so I was happy to see important rules in game. Second, even if you know all vanilla mechanics, you can't know if and how they are altered in a mod.

As you probably already noticed, my native tongue is not English. It is Russian. Many games nowadays has localizations, but it is very often bad. Not completed or straight away a machine translation. But translation in XPiratez is amazing! Even memes that only Russians knows about are there. I even started to think that in the reality Russian language is the original one.

And now downsides. None of them are critical, but somewhat undermines strategic decisions. Some of them are related to vanilla mechanics. Some of them probably are unavoidable. I will list them from the most important to the least.

It is very easy to miss important research because of facility requirements. Most easy to miss stuff are those that require both Old Earth Lab and Workshop. Luckily I anticipated that and built a workshop in my main base despite knowing that I should not develop manufacturing in the main base because of limited space. I wish there was some kind of notification for a player like “Hey, you can't research an available topic because none of your bases possesses required facility combination.” Or “Hey, an item in your base #2 is waiting to be researched, but you should transfer it to another base with appropriate research facility”. Seriously, in XPiratez there is so much stuff to worry about and manage. Adding the additional burden I just describes is too much.

There are lot of stuff in a warehouse that require monthly cost or generate monthly profit. And yet only expenses summary is available in each base. This is not enough. Player need a proper summary. Situation is even worse because many stuff that do have monthly cost/revenue does not mention them in their corresponding articles in BootyPedia, slaves, for example. I also wish the same breakdown for the monthly score.

I don't know about others, but I really hate when after scrupulous preparation I am getting a notice that you can't use that vehicle! Some mission infos do mention that they require special craft, but not all of them. Is it too hard to add some kind of asterisk (*) to a mission info that will signalize a player about the necessity to check vehicle requirements first?

Some mission descriptions are vague. For example this mission with red barn. Do I really need to inflict as much damage to it or I just need to evade an angry peasant for 5 turns? I am not sure if it is even possible for a game to assess damage to tiles and walls done by a player and calculate a reward during debriefing accordingly. (Probably it is possible -- base defense.) Also I want to mention a mission with zombies coming out of black pyramids. Only by pure accident I discovered that portals inside those pyramids can be destroyed and their destruction is crucial for plot. This makes me rise a question: how many other similar stuff I missed?

It was very unexpected that those 3 bases (academia, Sirius and guild) never respawned after I cleared them. If I knew that earlier, I would not clear them until I kidnapped enough VIPs from them.

Despite what article about “Loot Distribution” says, non Gal/Ubers do contribute to higher rank generation. I recruited a bunch of peasants to guard my secondary bases in hopes to minimize wages, but main base uber habitants still got their promotions! This setback was not critical, but considerably undermined my trust towards this mod.

Nepped pirates does not acknowledge having already been Nepped. Just like the article said. This was not a joke. They just eat 100000$. Seriously, how did the author of this mod come up with this bullshit idea??? Do I have to comment more about this issue?

I lost 50 000 000$ due to an event. Partially I cannot complain about that, because game explicitly said that something like that could happen. But there is one important nuance: I had to click like crazy to earn that money! Printing money from air is not as simple as it sounds, especially if this involves medicine production. And this is not some kind of exploit, game itself told me that it is right thing to do: produce and sell medicine to save lives... Of course I just edited the save file and gave this 50M back. And why stop there? I decided to just give myself money using save file I would gain by producing and selling medicine instead of actually doing so. The end result is the same, but with far less clicking micromanagement and distractions. I think this stuff with printing money and stealing should be greatly reconsidered.

What does “HUGE Target” means? I don't remember this stuff was described in BootyPedia.

Few words about the storyline. Well, it was very interesting, I impatiently waited for each next piece of information form different sources like Decrypted Data Disc. But some parts were not satisfying enough. May be I didn't gathered all the pieces. (Though I am certain I cheated and researched all stuff like Grrrl Guide.) None of witches admitted that it was she who staged initial girl's escape. Origins of player's first base is not clarified. Also the conclusion with Doctor X was not very climactic. You see, escaped girls didn't really have questions that only Doctor X could answer. Why they even put so many effort to find her in the first place?

And lastly few words about balancing. The thing that bothered me greatly during whole campaign was 40% TU cost for throwing stuff, instead of vanilla's 25%. It became so much harder to use grenades and even throwable light sources. Landmines were almost useless in XCOM Files. But in XPiratez with even more restrictions (2 hands to prime, 40% TU to throw, accuracy penalty while throwing) it is completely useless! Chemical weapons are very weak. They suppose to counter armor, but do so very slowly. I observed this both while tried to use chemical weapons and while was shot using them. Also it feels like Voodoo magic is severely nerfed. I only managed to use it reliably on Megapol animals. I know, Voodoo can be much stronger, but I haven't really touched that path.

As I said earlier, I will definitely play this mod again. But this time I will not worry so much about strategic decisions, but will pay more attention to weapons and other equipment. And I will be morally ready that this game will take at least 1 real life year of moderately intense play.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 04, 2022, 11:46:50 am
I don't know about others, but I really hate when after scrupulous preparation I am getting a notice that you can't use that vehicle! Some mission infos do mention that they require special craft, but not all of them. Is it too hard to add some kind of asterisk (*) to a mission info that will signalize a player about the necessity to check vehicle requirements first?

Basically all missions have a clear mention that only specific crafts can be used and it is rather intuitive. Underwater missions take only those that are capable of going there, space missions only take spaceworthy crafts and infiltration missions take only inconspicuous crafts.

Some mission descriptions are vague. For example this mission with red barn. Do I really need to inflict as much damage to it or I just need to evade an angry peasant for 5 turns? I am not sure if it is even possible for a game to assess damage to tiles and walls done by a player and calculate a reward during debriefing accordingly. (Probably it is possible -- base defense.) Also I want to mention a mission with zombies coming out of black pyramids. Only by pure accident I discovered that portals inside those pyramids can be destroyed and their destruction is crucial for plot. This makes me rise a question: how many other similar stuff I missed?

Yes, the game somehow counts how much damage you dealt to the barn. And I see nothing vague about that mission description, don't kill barn owner/s, destroy the barn.
You probably didn't missed much, but maybe the language barier is a bit of a problem. The satellite mission that disrupts your laboratory can be "completed" by just showing up and aborting ASAP, no need to deal with whatever lurks in space and such. It is also written clearly in mission description.

Despite what article about “Loot Distribution” says, non Gal/Ubers do contribute to higher rank generation. I recruited a bunch of peasants to guard my secondary bases in hopes to minimize wages, but main base uber habitants still got their promotions! This setback was not critical, but considerably undermined my trust towards this mod.

https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_LOOT_DISTRIBUTION

Where it is written in there that non Gal/Ubers don't contribute to rank?

Nepped pirates does not acknowledge having already been Nepped. Just like the article said. This was not a joke. They just eat 100000$. Seriously, how did the author of this mod come up with this bullshit idea??? Do I have to comment more about this issue?

Either an engine limit, or a little trolling for people who don't acknowledge what is written.

I lost 50 000 000$ due to an event. Partially I cannot complain about that, because game explicitly said that something like that could happen. But there is one important nuance: I had to click like crazy to earn that money! Printing money from air is not as simple as it sounds, especially if this involves medicine production. And this is not some kind of exploit, game itself told me that it is right thing to do: produce and sell medicine to save lives... Of course I just edited the save file and gave this 50M back. And why stop there? I decided to just give myself money using save file I would gain by producing and selling medicine instead of actually doing so. The end result is the same, but with far less clicking micromanagement and distractions. I think this stuff with printing money and stealing should be greatly reconsidered.

Just buy gold bars to keep your cash safely stored in base. Do that once a month at its end. Shouldn't take more than few clicks and a good mouse wheel scroll.

What does “HUGE Target” means? I don't remember this stuff was described in BootyPedia.

"Hitbox" of each unit is represented by a cylinder in-engine. "HUGE Target" most likely means that this cylinder is bigger, thus a bit easier to hit.

Few words about the storyline. Well, it was very interesting, I impatiently waited for each next piece of information form different sources like Decrypted Data Disc. But some parts were not satisfying enough. May be I didn't gathered all the pieces. (Though I am certain I cheated and researched all stuff like Grrrl Guide.) None of witches admitted that it was she who staged initial girl's escape. Origins of player's first base is not clarified. Also the conclusion with Doctor X was not very climactic. You see, escaped girls didn't really have questions that only Doctor X could answer. Why they even put so many effort to find her in the first place?

Some stuff is supposed to be vague, or shrouded in mistery, otherwise it would be lame. All of the best stories and lores have things that don't have clear answers and aren't obvious to guess.

One could assume that original Hideout was old X-Com base, but the game and story allows for a quite a big bit of a roleplay. You want to think that this base belonged to Men In Black division, who at the very end went rogue and scrapped its existance from their records? You can.

And lastly few words about balancing. The thing that bothered me greatly during whole campaign was 40% TU cost for throwing stuff, instead of vanilla's 25%. It became so much harder to use grenades and even throwable light sources. Landmines were almost useless in XCOM Files. But in XPiratez with even more restrictions (2 hands to prime, 40% TU to throw, accuracy penalty while throwing) it is completely useless! Chemical weapons are very weak. They suppose to counter armor, but do so very slowly. I observed this both while tried to use chemical weapons and while was shot using them. Also it feels like Voodoo magic is severely nerfed. I only managed to use it reliably on Megapol animals. I know, Voodoo can be much stronger, but I haven't really touched that path.

Player grenade spam is well known trick, also nade passing, where one soldier primes the nade, drops it and other picks it up.
So stuff was implemented to counter the biggest of player cheese to make stuff interesting. Yet another campaing in yet another mod where you basically ignore aiming mechanics, because RNG of bullets have to roll that one, or specific line to the target, while explosives just have to land in range.
Yet there is always a solution. Instead of using nades, use dedicated grenade launchers. Instead of throwable light sources, use bow with flaming arrows. There is a balance between one tile grenade, or light and dedicated weapon to serve the same purpose.

Landmines are supposed to be used like landmines, not proxy nades. While I do have to admit that the game is rather always pro-active where you are attacking something, so land mines aren't that usefull, outside of few specific encounters. But they sure served their purpose in my favourite part of the game, when fighting deep ones and zombies.

Many enemies have chem protection on top of their armor, not everyone is vulnerable to chem, don't take any kind of weapon and any kind of damage of be all end all solution.

Yes, mind control was nerfed, because in vanilla it is super busted to the point of allowing people to reliably beat Cydonia with one psy soldier. You could still get close to that level, it just takes a lot of resources, training and research.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Vakrug on October 04, 2022, 02:06:37 pm
... and infiltration missions take only inconspicuous crafts.
I wish all was so simple...

don't kill barn owner/s, destroy the barn.
Only damage to walls counts? Haybales destroyed counts? Putting stuff on fire counts? So many questions. I know, it is not very important, but still...

The satellite mission that disrupts your laboratory can be "completed" by just showing up and aborting ASAP, no need to deal with whatever lurks in space and such.
Do you mean I will receive 0 points for this mission and not receive -500 for skipping? Do you mean there are no specific requirements to actually win this mission to go forward in plot?

It is also written clearly in mission description.
Just go there and immediately retreat? I don't remember that.

https://www.xpiratez.wtf/en-US##STR_LOOT_DISTRIBUTION
Where it is written in there that non Gal/Ubers don't contribute to rank?
Non Gal/Ubers receives DIFFERENT ranks! And why would slave population increase officers count?

All of the best stories and lores have things that don't have clear answers and aren't obvious to guess.
Not receiving an answer is not the same as nobody really cares. And most such "best stories" are just an example of lazy writing or even worse -- marketing driven plots.

Player grenade spam is well known trick, also nade passing, where one soldier primes the nade, drops it and other picks it up.
This does not stopped me from using "nade passing". I you want to prevent that, grenade priming time should be less than time needed to pick a grenade from the floor. This has nothing to do with throwing time. And also this 40% TU to throw is on ALL items, not just grenades. This makes no sense to me.

Thanks for answers.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: JustTheDude/CABSHEP on October 04, 2022, 10:24:27 pm
I wish all was so simple...

It really is. Mission always says it is an infiltration and those always require inscopicious crafts, space missions always require spaceworthy crafts and underwater missions require those who can go there.

Only damage to walls counts? Haybales destroyed counts? Putting stuff on fire counts? So many questions. I know, it is not very important, but still...

Not 100% sure, but probably just destroyed tiles count, which would be roof, 1st floor, hay bales, stairs, walls, doors and windows. Those on fire that aren't destryed at the end of 5th turn most likely don't count.

Do you mean I will receive 0 points for this mission and not receive -500 for skipping? Do you mean there are no specific requirements to actually win this mission to go forward in plot?

There might be some fluff item inside, but nothing you have to get for sure.

Just go there and immediately retreat? I don't remember that.

Yes, it is written in mission description, that your gals deal with the satellite by just showing up, since you get no infamy loss from retreating from this mission, your overall infamy is higher, because you didn't lose the ammount you would if you didn't show up there at all. To be fair, all of missions that give you infamy penalty if not responded to work this way, but they usually have civilians so just showing up and leaving will hit your infamy (mutant pogrom after joining mutant alliance, its overall better to show up and retreat than not to show up at all).

There is no need to actually do that mission, especially since it is so dangerous. Mainly in midgame, where you still have access only to basic space suit and stepping out of your craft is like a duck hunt for the opposite team.

Non Gal/Ubers receives DIFFERENT ranks! And why would slave population increase officers count?

Probably engine limitation, still, "slave" soldiers you recruit aren't just normal slaves anymore, but part of your pirate band, even slaves need their master, someone has to govern them.

Not receiving an answer is not the same as nobody really cares. And most such "best stories" are just an example of lazy writing or even worse -- marketing driven plots.

Examples like movie "Alien", or "Star Wars" old trilogy show that it truly isn't just an example of lazy writing, or "marketing driven plots". Prequels of those that explain stuff are just super bad. Sometimes it is better to not reveal something, because no matter what is the answer, it won't be better than just wondering what the answer is.
I'm not talking about "cliffhangers" as they are truly "marketing driven plots" and as such, doesn't exist in Piratez.

This does not stopped me from using "nade passing". I you want to prevent that, grenade priming time should be less than time needed to pick a grenade from the floor. This has nothing to do with throwing time. And also this 40% TU to throw is on ALL items, not just grenades. This makes no sense to me.

It is not supposed to stop you from doing that, but to slighty discourage cheese. That 50 000 000$ penalty event was designed to discourage you from hoarding money, not to outright stop you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Vakrug on October 04, 2022, 11:57:30 pm
Probably engine limitation, still, "slave" soldiers you recruit aren't just normal slaves anymore, but part of your pirate band, even slaves need their master, someone has to govern them.
Text from BootyPedia:  Yes, the more GALS we have, the more and higher ranking officers we'll need. Officers will get a monthly cash bonus: Boss Gal $20k, Mistress $50k, Princess $100k, and Queen $250k. One Boss per 4 Gals, one Mistress per 3 Bosses, one Princess per 2 Mistresses. One Queen per 69 total crew and never more than one.
I checked translation: gal = girl. And again, specific ranks are mentioned, not "level 1", "level 2" and so on.
Unrelated question: how does a player can become a Queen if you already might have 1 or even more already?

Examples like movie "Alien", or "Star Wars" old trilogy show that it truly isn't just an example of lazy writing, or "marketing driven plots".

And what exactly questions there were left unanswered? I remind that in XPiratez someone freed girls, brought them to super-duper hideout, called them by phone, and after that nothing was heard about his/her! Looks like an autor himself forgot this part of the story.

It is not supposed to stop you from doing that, but to slighty discourage cheese.
Cheese to throw 3 light sources per turn? I repeat: 40% TU to throw is on every object, not just explosive ones.

That 50 000 000$ penalty event was designed to discourage you from hoarding money, not to outright stop you.
Is hoarding money is also some kind of cheese? And how does hoarding gold is not a cheese?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: RSSwizard on October 05, 2022, 05:01:39 am
Quote
Likewise the Space Freighter says your transport needs to fly at least 4000 speed... but its restricting by type not by actual speed. What if my transport has an Ethyr Drive + and a Thruster and technically goes 4100 huh. Generally the Space Freighter mission is buggy anyway, it doesn't even have an exit grid.

Actually to be specific I wanted to say the DRAKKAR which goes 3250 speed but has 3 missile slots. And since Thrusters add 300 each you can load up 3 of them for a combined speed of 4150...

And that SHOULD make it eligible to get to the Space Freighter.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: alexander steel wolf on October 05, 2022, 04:12:49 pm
Regards, Dioxine and x piratez team

I just finished x-piratez (although I have a lot left to complete), and I would like to share my impressions:

I'm going to be frank: When I saw the aesthetics and dynamics that the mod apparently had, I thought that this was going to be a "pastiche" of some frustrated amateur geek. It seemed that I was going to find a "feminist" x-com, with "otaku" elements out of the question and that it would be an insult to the legacy of x-com.

Fortunately, for me, I decided to continue seeing that it was a cult mod and... I loved it!

To define x piratez in its full dimension would be to define the affection, dedication and talent of a unique vision of the x-com universe itself. It's a combination of a variety of influences so motley and seemingly incompatible that, in a way I can barely comprehend, they fit together seamlessly to the point of practically being a new game (and not a mod, as it actually is).

It is not simply the idealized x com that is part of the collective imagination of the average player, it is the vision of someone who has been able to capture a unique work of its kind, where solemnity, irreverence and absurdity form a single narrative and playable entity. So different and so respectful of the original. X piratez is, in short, x piratez and nothing more (or nothing less).

In conclusion: I can say, without fear of being wrong, that it is currently the best mod for open xcom (yes, it is a dense and very long experience).

Right now I don't feel capable of breaking down things to improve point by point (I'm still recovering). But I would like to repeat and observe the details more thoroughly.

However, there are things that I would like to see in the future (hopefully this will not be the last version):

1º I have nothing against ninjas (I like them to be a challenge), but I wish they didn't raise their bases like rabbits. Maybe some of those bases could be invaded by zombies, or other factions could also do them instead (there is a variety, of course)

2º I have read the post about future plans and I agree that the early game should be a bit longer and that there should also be an arena event.Moreover, there could be a, shall we say, "barbarian" arena, where only primitive weapons could be used. And then another arena that allowed for arena-specific gear (like when you're facing doctor x)

3ºAnd above all, hopefully one day there will be the possibility of taking a path where you are really the bad guy. Ok, you have slaves and all that, but deep down you're an antihero. In this mod you must first of all be a pirate, and although the default path of being an antihero seems fine to me, I would love for you to be a true motherfu...

Being able to do something like in fallout 2, when you did the quests for the slavers and even had to capture children. I would love to see that kind of rawness!

And that's it, I'll keep an eye out for possible future updates. Thanks for everything!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Jinderius on October 08, 2022, 12:32:01 am
Any idea when next version is gonna drop? :D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Scamps on October 08, 2022, 01:28:12 am
Encountered "surprise" room in UAC vaults. Devs, I love you! (even more than before)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 08, 2022, 03:40:27 pm
Any idea when next version is gonna drop? :D

According to the Piratez server on Matrix, hopefully within a week!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Jinderius on October 09, 2022, 03:05:57 pm
Sweet! Any links to the matrix forum?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 09, 2022, 04:06:53 pm
Sweet! Any links to the matrix forum?

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10381.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: alexander steel wolf on October 09, 2022, 09:17:51 pm
I've tried to use Matrix, but I haven't been able to figure it out (I'm a computer buff), because the messages are encrypted or something. Could someone explain to me how to use it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: ElGrillo on October 09, 2022, 11:38:01 pm
you won't see older messages if that's what's throwing you off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Dioxine on October 12, 2022, 11:55:25 pm
Some sneak peek into national armies' units that I'm working on now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: ROFLChicken on October 13, 2022, 05:30:20 am
Please. The patch. I need it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Jimboman on October 13, 2022, 04:46:29 pm
Some sneak peek into national armies' units that I'm working on now.

I'm busy with an Xcomfiles campaign at the the moment, but I can see it getting sidelined for a new X-Piratez game in the near future!

Question, are these enemies or allies?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Jinderius on October 13, 2022, 11:52:13 pm
Nice Stuff keep up the good work dixoine, will it require a new game for missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Psyentific on October 14, 2022, 02:40:38 am
perhaps recruitable units (auxiliaries?) available in Male Touch route?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N1 29-Apr-2022 Every Day Is Caturday
Post by: Scamps on October 14, 2022, 08:09:33 am
My guess is they will gradually replace generic govt ships with generic govt agents. They currently seem somewhat out of place lorewize, considering vast diversity of local governments.
Psyentific, do you not have enough recruitables?  ;D
As for allies option, seems unlikely in generic missions, feels like a ton of work to add them in, say, terror missions. Maaybe friends in government ninja mission can be given some variation relatively easy. In new missions - options are endless  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Dioxine on October 22, 2022, 02:34:57 pm
New version up! (See first post for dl link & changelog, as usual).
Enjoy! Hopefully it will take your mind off the impeding nuclear apocalypse :3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: tr0phygh0ul on October 22, 2022, 04:46:55 pm
Quote
OXCE 7.7.5
I don't see it in the thread for it
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Emru on October 22, 2022, 04:50:49 pm
Thanks,
Now compiling OXCE, I am really curious about this apoc equip
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Xolvix on October 23, 2022, 08:23:28 am
I don't see it in the thread for it

According to https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/tree/oxce-plus 7.7.5 was committed about 9 days ago. The XPiratez package on moddb has this version already built for Windows so it's all good to go; anyone running anything else would need to build from source until official releases are put on the OXCE download thread.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Jimboman on October 23, 2022, 03:40:46 pm
According to https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/tree/oxce-plus 7.7.5 was committed about 9 days ago. The XPiratez package on moddb has this version already built for Windows so it's all good to go; anyone running anything else would need to build from source until official releases are put on the OXCE download thread.

Or just go here:

https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/#/Extended

for the nightly - an already compiled 7.7.5 is at the bottom of the page.

I always have to download OXCE separately because the one that comes with Piratze is 64-bit and I'm using a 32-bit computer.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Rangerh on October 23, 2022, 11:36:28 pm
question : while i know you can kill one with a ranged weapon, how do you kill an unconscious enemy with a melee weapon ?
The game refuse to allow any attack "none there"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Mathel on October 24, 2022, 12:04:50 am
You can't. There used to be an "execute" option when holding them in one hand and a melee weapon in the other, but it was was ridiculous* and thus removed.


*You could execute any fallen unit with any melee weapon regardless of what fallen unit it was and what weapon it was.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Rangerh on October 24, 2022, 12:39:38 am
Sad, i guess good old molotov will have to do as usual then :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Solarius Scorch on October 24, 2022, 12:45:54 am
Sad, i guess good old molotov will have to do as usual then :)

One word: spears. :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Rangerh on October 24, 2022, 12:55:36 am
That's a weapon i always overlooked (as i progressively usually moved to axes for melee and shotgun for range in the course of a run), interesting to know it has some additional use
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: RSSwizard on October 24, 2022, 02:06:49 am
That's a weapon i always overlooked (
There's also that green bamboo stick thingy.
But usually I just pull out a pistol and finish them that way.
Spears... Pikes really are great to have. That range allows striking up elevators and down from above. Ever get in the elevator, see a guy, but you cant melee them because they're on the floor above. There's your ticket.
Can also throw stun grenades up the elevator.

Also knockout grenades, if you have them, can stun dudes easy... but if they're in a bloody heap on the ground it tends to nix them. If you're running a heavy stun brigade and cant get close enough to pistol them.

edit:
early game cure for chryssalids in the pest control mission is
grav harness lady (they cant strike upward) equipped with a hammer, or pike
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: DarthTheIII on October 24, 2022, 07:19:08 am
Man I always forget about grav harnesses until they're obsolete.  Regardless I haven't had too much trouble just using javelins for chrysallids early on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: JamTheDane on October 24, 2022, 09:07:13 pm
Hmm, i get the following error after the new upgrade:
[24-10-2022_19-55-40]   [ERROR]   During linking rulesets of research:
Error processing 'STR_DARK_TROOPER' in research: Unknown research 'STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO'

I can find several references to STR_DARK_TROOPER in the piratez.rul file, but no clue how to fix this, anyone else see this error?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Progger on October 24, 2022, 09:55:17 pm
I can find several references to STR_DARK_TROOPER in the piratez.rul file, but no clue how to fix this, anyone else see this error?
You can remove line with STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO in user/mod/Piratez Cities Lore/Ruleset/research.rul
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: JamTheDane on October 25, 2022, 12:15:08 am
Hmm, tested a bit.
If i run the game without the Piratez Cities Lore, it start fine, so the error is in that mod
I tried to remove first just the "      - STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO" from the entry below, no luck. Removing the entire entry there also do not sove the issue


  - name: STR_DARK_TROOPER
    cost: 10
    points: 25
    needItem: true
#    destroyItem: true
    getOneFree: !add
      - STR_BRAZIL
      - STR_BUENOS_AIRES
      - STR_BRASILIA
      - STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO


Do you know if the mod has been discontinued? If so, I'll just drop using that extra mod, since that remove the problem :=)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: shinr on October 25, 2022, 02:54:40 pm
Hmm, i get the following error after the new upgrade:
[24-10-2022_19-55-40]   [ERROR]   During linking rulesets of research:
Error processing 'STR_DARK_TROOPER' in research: Unknown research 'STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO'

I can find several references to STR_DARK_TROOPER in the piratez.rul file, but no clue how to fix this, anyone else see this error?

Not a dev, but can you elaborate a bit?

Does the crash occurs when you try to start the game, or does the game crashes during the run when you research the Dark Trooper and the game fails to give you a freebie Rio?

If the former, my own fresh-install works fine, if the latter I might have to abandon my current run and turn off the City Lore mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Iazo on October 25, 2022, 03:20:59 pm
It is due to cities lore submod. There has bern a posted fix on Matrix but not here.

Hope it helps.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: JamTheDane on October 25, 2022, 11:20:12 pm
Quote
Not a dev, but can you elaborate a bit?

Does the crash occurs when you try to start the game, or does the game crashes during the run when you research the Dark Trooper and the game fails to give you a freebie Rio?

If the former, my own fresh-install works fine, if the latter I might have to abandon my current run and turn off the City Lore mod.

Game crashes on startup, cant even get to the menu screen without disabling the Cities Lore submod in the config file.
Give the error
[25-10-2022_22-15-50]   [ERROR]   During linking rulesets of research:
Error processing 'STR_DARK_TROOPER' in research: Unknown research 'STR_RIO_DE_JANEIRO'


Code: [Select]
It is due to cities lore submod. There has bern a posted fix on Matrix but not here.
Hope it helps.

Thanks, I'll try to look into it. You have a link to it?
Sadly, the attached ruleset file did not fix the crash. I tried the same myself, but neither that, or removing the "STR_DARK_TROOPER" entry entirely fixes it :(
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: AuEllai on October 26, 2022, 11:26:34 am
I had the same problem and then use the attached file from Iazo and it worked fine.

You have to replace the Research.rul in the city lore mod, not the main Piratez Research.rul
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Drago888 on October 26, 2022, 11:48:18 am
Did anyone encounter the attached error when activating the mod

Piratez cities lore

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: shinr on October 26, 2022, 01:12:07 pm
I had the same problem and then use the attached file from Iazo and it worked fine.

You have to replace the Research.rul in the city lore mod, not the main Piratez Research.rul

I don't think Piratez even has a separate Research.rul, it seemed to be baked into Piratez.rul.

Did anyone encounter the attached error when activating the mod

Piratez cities lore

Download the research.rul file posted at the top of this page and replace/overwrite the one in Cities lore mod with it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Drago888 on October 26, 2022, 02:07:12 pm
I don't think Piratez even has a separate Research.rul, it seemed to be baked into Piratez.rul.

Download the research.rul file posted at the top of this page and replace/overwrite the one in Cities lore mod with it.

Thanks Shinr, it's working now after replacing the cities lore research.rul
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: JamTheDane on October 26, 2022, 10:30:45 pm
Ok, finally fixed it.
Turns out that if you have tried to run the game with the error filled research.rul, it imports something and keep messing up.

A new fresh copy of the game, copying over the mods, savegames configs, and research.rul BEFORE starting the game for the first time fixed it.

Thanks for the help all.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: ldath on October 29, 2022, 08:56:34 pm
Hi,

I have strange problem with a mele combat. Just started a new game after many years to see how it was improved and mele is from my perspective bugged. By example I'm trying to attack enemy with the hammer, I'm looking at the enemy choosing attack action and targetting enemy. My unit is during attack action changing where is looking and attack or the air or even my other own unit. Is this normal??? With this from my perspective any mele weapon is just no go or I'll need save load each action what is even more crazy.

Also enemy was called white shambler and was at a size of a tank. When attacking enemy of the size of person other mele weapons than hammer looks like working normal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: unarmed drifter on October 29, 2022, 09:52:14 pm
@ldath

the hammer is kind of "ranged" weapon, it's attack is a snap shot. Therefore hammer attacks follow the CQC rules (which you can disable somewhere)
if you attack the shambler with a knife or an axe, this won't happen. The hammer is mostly useful for bashing walls
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: RSSwizard on October 30, 2022, 12:22:02 am
the hammer is kind of "ranged" weapon, it's attack is a snap shot.

The Sledgehammer was my favorite melee weapon in Fallout 1. Even though it was slower it would often knock enemies back and it did 4-12 damage plus strength bonus. It would even knock back large size molerat critters on a critical hit.

edit - I just did my first death dungeon and destroyed the carnodemon with 2 hits from the Hammer you're given, no other slashing or punching. Managed to get both of them off without missing. But her melee skill was over 130.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Ashghan on November 10, 2022, 11:01:56 pm
Can someone explain to me what exactly does:

"- OXCE feature: XCOM Apocalypse-style soldier equipping option (on by default)"

mean? I vaguely recall Xapoc having a drag-and-drop equipping (instead of the UFO/XCOM "click to pick, click to place" approach). But I don't think that's what the point above refers to.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Ultimoos on November 11, 2022, 12:14:01 am
If you are copying your settings to new version, than this option will be "off".
Go to advanced settings and look for it.
With this you will be able to equip soldiers from "hands" menu. All equipment assigned to that soldier will be automatically loaded to a craft when you assign that soldier to it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Ashghan on November 11, 2022, 10:53:50 am
Thanks, that's an insanely cool option! :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Gremlion on December 01, 2022, 10:33:13 pm
This feels like a happy start of a new run, spartan landing in February. So pumped about the new armor, I feel like it needs a shrine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Iazo on December 03, 2022, 10:48:02 am
Congratulinations, that's one of the most impactful landings you can get.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: RSSwizard on December 08, 2022, 01:05:48 am
This feels like a happy start of a new run, spartan landing in February. So pumped about the new armor, I feel like it needs a shrine.
Yeah that Heavy Armor is going to be a major boon, just dont get cocky, because lazors, and because desert heat. The Defender armor would be good for a Hero if you manage to get one early. Then again it could let some Peasants survive long enough to actually get skilled.
Only way this would be better is if it was Raiders and you captured Buzzards because then Grav Harnesses too.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Jazztree13 on December 10, 2022, 02:24:46 am
is the wtf site bootypedia down?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 10, 2022, 11:29:06 am
is the wtf site bootypedia down?

Yes. But there is another: https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N2 Apocalyptic Edition 22-Oct-2022
Post by: Jazztree13 on December 11, 2022, 02:37:32 am
Yes. But there is another: https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/

Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Dioxine on December 20, 2022, 06:00:58 pm
New version N3 up! (see first post).
Enjoy your Christmas - with your loved ones, and if you're alone, with X-Piratez :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: GENVOKE on December 21, 2022, 03:40:29 am
Hell yeah, couldn't ask for a better Christmas present. Happy holidays  :-*
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Berggen on December 21, 2022, 07:39:07 pm
Hell yeah, couldn't ask for a better Christmas present. Happy holidays  :-*

+1

Thaks and Happy Xmas
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Ultimoos on December 22, 2022, 12:34:12 am
Dear Santa.

Thank you!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Torchwood on December 30, 2022, 12:25:38 am
Would highly recommend for everyone to update to the new version since it looks like we have the option to make ninja escalation optional. Except on Jack Sparrow of course, because if you want an impossible challenge, you'll get it.

Other neat features: New alien bandit faction with sweet loot, if you can win; Catgirls are slightly less godly but much more commonly available. Protip: If you are a cat person try building your starting hideout in Cali Republic.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Psyentific on December 30, 2022, 03:50:10 pm
CALIFORNIA CATGIRL HAREM
CALIFORNIA CATGIRL HAREM

CATGIRLS ARE SUPERIOR
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Nalca on December 30, 2022, 04:17:08 pm
CALIFORNIA CATGIRL HAREM
CALIFORNIA CATGIRL HAREM

CATGIRLS ARE SUPERIOR
More like a bunch of sick catgirls taking place in your prison while you try to find medical supplies to recruit those catgirls AND build a Sickbay.

But they are really nice for that underground mission with spiders !
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Torchwood on December 30, 2022, 07:01:10 pm
More like a bunch of sick catgirls taking place in your prison while you try to find medical supplies to recruit those catgirls AND build a Sickbay.

But they are really nice for that underground mission with spiders !

About that, the requirements are a little different now. Meds, or apples, are no longer needed. Just an old fashioned Russian bribe of vodka, cigarettes and fish.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: nicedayright on January 01, 2023, 11:14:37 pm
When does captain's log #2 normally pop? I'm looking at the end of 2602 rn and getting a little nervous.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: magitsu on January 02, 2023, 02:14:36 am
When does captain's log #2 normally pop? I'm looking at the end of 2602 rn and getting a little nervous.
Do you meet the requirements? These probably still apply.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5345.msg143792.html#msg143792
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: nicedayright on January 03, 2023, 03:28:09 am
Thanks, it was the damn onsen that I'd been de-prioritizing forever. Forgot that was even important tbh.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: balam on January 05, 2023, 04:32:41 pm
It's almost end of second year and I've yet to find "any spaceman" in this run. I've done about 10 space missions and nothing but academy, robots and zombies. Is there any way to get it from files/discs/interrogations or whatever? I'm running out of things to research :-\
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 05, 2023, 07:31:01 pm
It's almost end of second year and I've yet to find "any spaceman" in this run. I've done about 10 space missions and nothing but academy, robots and zombies. Is there any way to get it from files/discs/interrogations or whatever? I'm running out of things to research :-\

It's not so easy to get. Without spoiling too much, you probably need to start doing battles in the outer space; and not just with zombies or killer robots, but against humans.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: balam on January 05, 2023, 10:58:12 pm
It's not so easy to get. Without spoiling too much, you probably need to start doing battles in the outer space; and not just with zombies or killer robots, but against humans.

Are you talking about raid space freighters? Cuz u need spaceman for that as well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: magitsu on January 06, 2023, 09:53:54 pm
Are you talking about raid space freighters? Cuz u need spaceman for that as well.
If I've understood right, Any Spaceman requirement would fulfill with any of these:
Guild Spaceman · Guild Space Technician · Belter · Guild Ship Officer · Guild Navigator
https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/##STR_SPACEMAN_PLUS
So maybe you'll meet Guild Nav or Guild SO easier?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: zombieguy223 on January 07, 2023, 09:51:46 am
If I've understood right, Any Spaceman requirement would fulfill with any of these:
Guild Spaceman · Guild Space Technician · Belter · Guild Ship Officer · Guild Navigator
https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/##STR_SPACEMAN_PLUS
So maybe you'll meet Guild Nav or Guild SO easier?
To my knowledge and experience, Belters, Ship Officers and Navigators only appear on the space freighter mission. There are a few Space Technicians on the Terminal Terror mission in the Shadowtech Haters chain, but that's quite a ways into the game.
Your best bet is the Guild Spacemen. They can show up on the orbital station missions, since it's a random pick between them, Academy and zombies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: balam on January 07, 2023, 05:12:37 pm
I ended up grabbing the space tech on Terminal Terror. Always managed to grab one in space missions but in this current run the orbital missions range screwed me hard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: nicedayright on January 15, 2023, 04:07:16 am
How long have cabbages been explosive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 15, 2023, 06:02:54 pm
How long have cabbages been explosive.

If this is a bug report, then more info is needed... :q
(and maybe in the proper thread)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: nicedayright on January 15, 2023, 08:07:39 pm
I was honestly half certain it was a feature I'd just never noticed. I'll dig up the save and drop it in the thread later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Iazo on January 16, 2023, 05:23:59 pm
The cabbages on the psychidelic weed farm are explosive....or maybe the gals imagine them to be.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 16, 2023, 06:46:21 pm
Right, you didn't mention it was the special rare farm cabbages... Didn't occur to me XD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: nicedayright on January 16, 2023, 07:26:27 pm
Man, when it first happened I thought *I* was hallucinating.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Mathel on January 17, 2023, 05:00:15 pm
Not technically a bug, so I'll put it here.

I'd like to ask for removal of the feature that turns all slaves and workers to spawning items in base defense missions with random timers between 0 and 100 halfturns (Except Yeomen with 0 to 8 and gladiatrices with 0 to 30 halfturns), which then spawn "civilian" slaves.

It is impressive, it is logical, but it is a pain in the ass.
Specifically I am talking about cases when you have around 1000 slaves in a base and you are getting around 10 civvies spawned in every halfturn.

Alternatively, you could just raise the minimum timer (10 halfturns, perhaps?), so that there is a chance to complete a base defense mission before civilian turns get extremely long.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: EleriumWard on January 18, 2023, 01:42:38 am
So, I would like to ask a couple of questions:

- How do I get Guildmaster's Secrets? I managed to research a Guildmaster but it apparently does not unlock Guildmaster's Secrets.
- How do I get Voodoo Initiation?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: TheFluffy on January 19, 2023, 07:25:45 pm
I have failed to capture a narlock noble in the two early "help the lokknars" missions that appeared, do they ever show up again or did I screw myself over and need to start over or save edit cheat? because it don't seem like you can get them from any other research and all I get are the ninja squads now.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Iazo on January 20, 2023, 03:34:00 pm
So, I would like to ask a couple of questions:

- How do I get Guildmaster's Secrets? I managed to research a Guildmaster but it apparently does not unlock Guildmaster's Secrets.
- How do I get Voodoo Initiation?

The first is bugged right now, I think the solution is in the Bugs reports thread.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Lone Wolf on February 08, 2023, 04:14:54 am
Hello everyone, I am a new player looking to start my first game of XPiratez and I had a few questions to ask if anyone is willing?

1. Is there an wiki website anywhere?  I've read the one on UFOpedia, but I get the feeling that's not what people mean when they say 'go read the Bootypedia'.  Can anyone provide a link if so?  I'm hoping for a wiki equivalent with as much detail as there is for the xfiles one.   

2. Is there any real benefit to choosing Male touch over Gals are superior?  I know everyone says the Gals are better by far, but I like the idea of having a mix of both regular humans and mutants as well as boys and gals.  Should I just stick with Gals are superior for my first run?  Also, if you choose Gals can you not recruit men, or if you choose Male touch can you not recruit women?  I'm not too clear on how it works. 

3. Are there any Submods that I should install or are heavily recommended by you guys? 

3a.  I also saw on the UFOpedia version that there's a 'naughty' submod?  The heck is that about and why should I install?  Does it even add any meaningful content?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: zombieguy223 on February 08, 2023, 05:30:06 am
Hello everyone, I am a new player looking to start my first game of XPiratez and I had a few questions to ask if anyone is willing?

1. Is there an wiki website anywhere?  I've read the one on UFOpedia, but I get the feeling that's not what people mean when they say 'go read the Bootypedia'.  Can anyone provide a link if so?  I'm hoping for a wiki equivalent with as much detail as there is for the xfiles one.
For the wiki, there's been a few over the years. The current most updated/functional is this one: https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/
Or you can use the local version included in the most current downloads of XPiratez, which is found in the xpedia2 folder in the install directory. That one can be useful if the online version hasn't been updated to the most recent patches. Read through the README.md file in that folder to know how to use it.  I believe the online version is currently on N3.0, if that's important.

Also, posting this here for awareness/answer to a previous question:
The first is bugged right now, I think the solution is in the Bugs reports thread.

If you are deep enough into the lategame for VIP interrogations and don't want to wait for a patch, here's how to fix it.

Get your favorite text editor and open up (starting from your OpenXCOM folder) user\mods\Piratez\Ruleset\Piratez.rul

To fix the academy provost, look for an entry that looks like this:
  - name: STR_SECTOID_COMMANDER
    cost: 35
    points: 100
    needItem: true
    destroyItem: true

To the getOneFreeProtected section, add the following lines:
      STR_INTERROGATION:
        - STR_ACADEMY_COM_KNOWHOW

For the guldmaster:

Look for this:

  - name: STR_GUILD_COMMANDER
    cost: 35
    points: 100
    needItem: true
    destroyItem: true

This one doesn't have a getOneFreeProtected section, so you need to add one yourself. Just below
    getOneFree:
      - STR_FISTY
Add this:
    getOneFreeProtected:
      STR_INTERROGATION:
        - STR_TRADERS_COM_KNOWHOW

Careful with editing that file, make a backup first, don't use any tab-indentations, only spaces. If you tamper with it improperly, OpenXCOM will give you an error message if you start it.

And in case you're wondering why the academy provost is called Sectoid Commander in code, let's just say this mod used to be a palette swap that just replaced X-Com weapons with pirate-y counterparts. It's come a long way since, but some of internal references still call academicians sectoids, traders floaters and church snakemen.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Vakrug on February 08, 2023, 10:16:28 am
1. Is there an wiki website anywhere?
As zombieguy223 said, the best option you have right now is https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/ (https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/), but this is by no mean a wiki. It is fully unlocked in-game Xpedia on steroids with searching. As far as I know there is no such thing as wiki for XPiratez and there is no need for that because game itself is (mostly) very good at self explaining. As long as you adhere to the main rule: READ OR DIE!

2. Is there any real benefit to choosing Male touch over Gals are superior?
Don't think about that too much. There will be no shortages in gals to recruit and men to enslave in any case.


3. Are there any Submods that I should install or are heavily recommended by you guys?
No. I only heard about XPiratez Extended, but once you realize how huge XPiratez mod is you would definitely not want to extend it any further...

3a.  I also saw on the UFOpedia version that there's a 'naughty' submod?  The heck is that about and why should I install?  Does it even add any meaningful content?
Also have no idea. And don't trust too much UFOpedia at all. There are lot of outdate stuff or outright misleading. Looks like there is not enough enthusiasm to support that place any more.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Gremlion on February 08, 2023, 01:35:19 pm
2. Is there any real benefit to choosing Male touch over Gals are superior?  I know everyone says the Gals are better by far, but I like the idea of having a mix of both regular humans and mutants as well as boys and gals.  Should I just stick with Gals are superior for my first run?  Also, if you choose Gals can you not recruit men, or if you choose Male touch can you not recruit women?  I'm not too clear on how it works. 
tl&dr: stick with gals.
long version:
there are 3 paths now, gals, males, peasant revolution.
You are able to recruit every soldier type on every path, but:
-on gal path:
    You will not have early spacious transport options to throw cannon fodder at the enemy. Recruiting males would take some time into the game (I think you need mess hall for the prerequisite research, so at least 2+ months into the game)
- on male&peasant path:
    You get big and slow transport for cannon fodder. Recruiting gals would take a while (and they would be more expensive, you will be able to recruit veterans from the shop)
    these paths get some transformations to make chosen path units better, but not beyond their cap, which is still worse than gals.
Every path would be able to get
ubergals from recruiting castaway gal prisoner and young uber (common reward on missions with civilian mutants). I think in my latest completed game I've got around a hundred of them combined.
veteran gals from glamour recruitment (rather expensive, tbh)
catgirls,
freaks, ubergal subtype (tied to bounty hunting reward from jack)
bugeyes from mutant alliance
peasants
lokknars
males
ogres
syn
gnomes
I think I'm missing some obscure things, like Destructoid (red codex exclusive unit) and voodoo related units( resurrected shadows, Chorts)
So, yeah, don't worry, your roster would be very diverse

speaking of codex, there are two more big choices:
1. Codex. 5 types, reject power (challenging)/ accept power (4 colors). I would recommend red (gives good early armor, and the best lategame melee weapon) or gray (gives lategame psi) for the first playthrough
2. Captain's character. I would recommend to not choose jackass (generates additional base assaults, which are pain in the ass). I'd say, soreass would be decent for the first try.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Lone Wolf on February 09, 2023, 06:42:16 am
Thank you all for the advice and a special thanks to Gremlion for your detailed explanation on question 2!  I didn't know about the peasant revolution option...sounds interesting.  How is this different from male touch though?  Is it just cheaper cannon fodder?   Also I didn't know about the fifth option for Codex...I take it that 'rejecting power' is not choosing any codex?  Is it even possible to beat the game this way?

It's also good to know about the UFOpedia thing since I had found it to be pretty reliable in the past for the later XCOM games that came out like 1 and 2.  Their wiki sections on those games for the Long War mods were also very good.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised though since not that many people play UFO Defense/Openxcom and any of its megamods when compared to the more recent games.  I'll check out the baturinsky link, and of course, I will read the in game version.  I would prefer not to die... ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Iazo on February 09, 2023, 08:27:32 am
The game is designed to be beat without a codex, including an alternate craft to get to Cydonia.

HOWEVER, as far as I am aware, no one has yet done it.

Peasant revolution is probably the easiest path, though not the most straightforward. Compared to male touch, Peasant path gets a larger, more defensible unique craft, as well as a HQ with a very unique radar function (has global range with 5% detection chance), which changes how the game is played.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Lone Wolf on February 10, 2023, 07:25:07 am
Quote
Peasant revolution is probably the easiest path

Interesting.  I will probably play Peasant revolution on my second or third run. 

Quote
The game is designed to be beat without a codex, including an alternate craft to get to Cydonia.

Well...maybe I will try a run without it in the (most likely far, far) future. 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Azoth on February 11, 2023, 05:59:14 pm
Hi, I have upgraded to latest version while already fighting ninjas, and start getting missions with Lokk'Naars and Reaper Cavalry instead of ninjas. Will ninjas reappear eventually or I need edit savefiles somehow?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Dioxine on February 17, 2023, 01:24:13 pm
New version is up!

Enjoy:
The major rework of Cydonia (by Kato & frens) which took 2 years to make!
The actual official outro!
The final battle with Humanists (in Dr. X arc), and some ancient mysteries unraveled!
Other than that, of course, many upgrades and additions, most noticeably increased map variety. Saves compatible, but be sure to get rid of all Looted Cyberdiscs before updating, and prepare for the inevitable research rollercoaster :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Mathel on February 17, 2023, 04:51:47 pm
Hooray! :)

Gonna test it.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: _Brain322 on February 17, 2023, 09:57:07 pm
This ending outro was really cool ! Especially the train cutscenee
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Dioxine on February 22, 2023, 01:35:34 pm
Uploaded patch for N4.

v.N4.0.2
- New Training: Pariah (No Codex only)
- New Gfx: Update of Snow/Dead Mountains and Plains by Mikkoi
- Drakkar upgraded to be compatible with all space missions & gal party
- Scavenger armor now unlockable also via Wasteland Girl (ie. no longer Revolution exclusive)
- minor fixes

v.N4.0.1
- Fix: included new Cydonia music and RUS patches
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Vengos on February 24, 2023, 01:26:21 am
Is there up to date Bootypedia? the one i found are running version N3.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Iazo on February 24, 2023, 11:47:20 pm
The une packed with the game is uptodate
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Lone Wolf on February 28, 2023, 02:17:23 am
Hey everyone, really enjoying the mod so far, but I got a question...how to research hangers? 

Hangers are usually a regular staple of bases and you start with two, but I can't seem to build any additional ones?  Is this intentional or is my game bugged? 
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Marza on February 28, 2023, 05:53:55 am
That's intentional. The technology to build more hangars is a short trek down the tech tree, don't panic!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Lone Wolf on February 28, 2023, 07:18:09 am
Good to know.  Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Ultimoos on March 02, 2023, 12:29:36 am
Minecraft research gives you hangars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Canas on March 02, 2023, 08:01:52 am
Recently redownloaded this game, and now my pirates don't default to the loadout from their previous battle like they used to, and I'm not seeing any options to change that. Is that feature gone now, or am i doing something wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Gremlion on March 02, 2023, 10:31:44 am
It's a change to a new way loadouts save between battles (so equipment is less tied to the craft and is more to the soldier), which makes it easier to change crafts. You can change their gear on the globe, ship ->equipment->inventory.
If you dislike this, I think the option is in options - advanced - on the bottom alternate craft equipment management, tho give it a try first.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Apocca on March 08, 2023, 03:49:44 pm
For the wiki, there's been a few over the years. The current most updated/functional is this one: https://baturinsky.com/xpedia/
Or you can use the local version included in the most current downloads of XPiratez, which is found in the xpedia2 folder in the install directory. That one can be useful if the online version hasn't been updated to the most recent patches. Read through the README.md file in that folder to know how to use it.  I believe the online version is currently on N3.0, if that's important.

Also, posting this here for awareness/answer to a previous question:

What happened to xpiratez.wtf ? It was such a good site.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Xolvix on March 09, 2023, 04:26:38 am
I think I need to add to a question asked before - what is the specific trigger now for Ninjas to build bases? I've dealt with them via helping the Lokk'Naars and got a research entry or two (ninja interception I think it was called, or something like that), but so far I haven't found any bases and the savegames don't seem to show any either.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 09, 2023, 04:49:27 pm
What happened to xpiratez.wtf ? It was such a good site.

Reportedly, it was disconnected by the provider for reasons unknown. (It was not maintained by Dioxine.)

But there's a replacement: https://xpedia.netlify.app/
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - v.N3 20-Dec-2022 Clear Skies
Post by: Vengos on April 12, 2023, 02:46:00 pm
Reportedly, it was disconnected by the provider for reasons unknown. (It was not maintained by Dioxine.)

But there's a replacement: https://xpedia.netlify.app/
Its outdated. I compiled new version in attachments.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: termidor on April 13, 2023, 01:15:22 am
I don't know if the guns of the patriots mission is from this update or before, but reinforcement comes too fast and in substancial numbers (5 that I could count on round 7). Considering the amount of nazis in the mission, I think it would be more fitting of the description  to have then arrive a bit latter. Also a countdown would be nice, as that clearly inform the player how much time is on the clock.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ciqasty on April 14, 2023, 12:12:18 pm
I don't know if the guns of the patriots mission is from this update or before, but reinforcement comes too fast and in substancial numbers (5 that I could count on round 7). Considering the amount of nazis in the mission, I think it would be more fitting of the description  to have then arrive a bit latter. Also a countdown would be nice, as that clearly inform the player how much time is on the clock.

To be fair description states you have to hurry, though finishing this in 5 turns seems impossible. I have to say that reinforcements on this mission are quite strong and make it a challenge compared to humanists alone.

I second the reinforcement timer though (even a 1 turn alert will be fine), once I had reinforcements spawn just behind my soldiers (though not on this mission - on bandit town, so they didn't do much damage) - since they act immediately it was surprising and I think unpreventable.

Also I had like 5 missions of this type and 4 times humanists just blew whole warehouse during panic or misplaced shot(s) resulting in at least half of them dying - is this intended? Maybe it should blow when an explosive is used? Otherwise I would not place people with firearms near that stuff :P

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: OXCEForumLurker on April 18, 2023, 06:25:18 am
Seconded on guns of the patriots.  I'd worked hard to sensibly take territory, and I had the whole left side of the screen, however it was separated by a wide road with no cover on either side of it for some ways.  Even though the Humanists were in a panic spiral, it took me as long to kill the reinforcements as it did for reinforcements to spawn.
So, there was basically no way to approach the other side.  Even with everyone panicking there's a good chance one or two humanists would get a shot off, meaning I'd need to send big numbers across at once.  Except, there was a 30-60% chance a bunch of enemies were going to spawn above and below them, and with 1st turn initiative shred them with their better firepower.

Honestly I ctrl-D ctrl-J'ed it.  If it weren't for freshness, I could camp and pull weaponry off the reinforcement corpses until I got a good roll and send folks across and kill the 2 dogs.  As it was, case of "life's too short"

Do reinforcements ever peter out, is there a set number of waves?  But I agree, an explicit timer like the supply ship missiions, that is longer than 5 or so turns, would be a good fix
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on May 07, 2023, 02:17:58 am
Agree me too in that mission. Plus, i'd like to make some simply suggestioni (i hope) :

* humanist soldiers equipment is fine as it is exept for assault machineguns and auto rifles; their primary weapins  should be mainly ol rifle  and messer - since they are basic foottropers - while the instructors are fine as of now. Humanists are kinda minor faction so better leave more good stuff to bigger ones...

* guild security should carry usually medium type weapons  like auto rifles and assault smg leavin assault rifles, caws and assault machineguns  to bigger factions, like Church of syrus, smugglers and osiron security...

* military police should be renamed "govt police" while the actual one might change its name to "humanist gendarme" or "vigilante"

* a bit more coherence regarding individual enemy armamenti, eg givt pilot usually carry six shooters while i think they should have at least assault pistols; hell govt units are supposed  always to have the best!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: DarthTheIII on May 10, 2023, 07:55:06 am
Not sure if this should be in here, but is there a list of the requirements for each captain rank?  On my first playthrough of the newest version and have had some trouble figuring them out.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: zombieguy223 on May 10, 2023, 11:13:14 am
Not sure if this should be in here, but is there a list of the requirements for each captain rank?  On my first playthrough of the newest version and have had some trouble figuring them out.
All the ranks have two types of requirements. You need to have researched certain items or people as a prerequisite, and once that's done you need to have a minimum amount of score at the end of the month to rank up. You can only go up one rank per month, even if you have all the prerequisite research and score for multiple higher ranks. You can search the in-game tech tree by pressing the Q key on the geoscape map to bring up the search screen and pressing Q again to get the search function, then typing in a specific term for further clarity (especially for the faction person researches). That's also a good way of checking if you've completed that topic yet, completed ones are purple text, incomplete are orange text. I won't be typing out all of the minutiae of getting each topic as some of them are quite lengthy.
This should be a list of all of them as of N4.0.2:
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: DarthTheIII on May 11, 2023, 12:18:20 am
Thanks, since the ranks are tied to events you can't directly see what leads to each one in the tech tree viewer.  I was just a bit slow on Who is Who.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Vakrug on May 11, 2023, 12:38:57 pm
I have managed to get to the Cidonia Mission without save scuming. That was a serious test of my sanity! And then... I knew that the final mission was reworked, but nothing prepared me for what was coming!

Let's start with turn 1 enemy reinforcement in your starting zone. That is definitely a new word in level design...
Then a floor tiles that kills instantly. And surprise! There are many different color floors that do exactly that and you don't know which floor will kill you. Some of these floors are masquerading as an exit tiles!
Oh! And what about doors, that takes 200 TU to open? Well, they can be destroyed with Vibro-Ax, but not with something less then that...
Inaccessible enemies sealed in walls are not a big deal actually. You are not supposed to kill every enemy after all...

Seriously, even after I Ctrl+D my way to the credits and saw all the maps and now I know where to go, I still don't think I will ever be able to beat the final mission. Have anyone get to that? There is surprisingly low comments here after the new version was released.

-------------------------

BTW, what do you think about Bank Robbery mission? This is another example of a very strange mission where a player is basically doomed to loose everyone unless he knows exactly what to do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Mathel on May 11, 2023, 01:10:26 pm
For bank robbery, you  need to tunnel your way into the vault beneath the bank. There is gold and a foe sealed in there.

This can either be done with explosions, or by going into the bank with some strong terrain destroyer, such as Plasma Torch.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Vakrug on May 11, 2023, 01:41:43 pm
And no words about indestructible gas mines? With plasma torch you can break steel doors, but not mine tunnels. And most explosives can "mine" only few tiles per boom (and you need to avoid booming the miner somehow). It is way too slow for 20 turns you have.

The best approach I figure out is just give a pickaxe to every uber and tear down this stupid bank to the last brick. (Another discussion topic: why Mining Laser is so crappy even in comparison to the Pickaxe?)

Don't you think that Bank Robbery mission is much more challenging then any other "B" missions?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: zombieguy223 on May 11, 2023, 02:08:32 pm
And no words about indestructible gas mines? With plasma torch you can break steel doors, but not mine tunnels. And most explosives can "mine" only few tiles per boom (and you need to avoid booming the miner somehow). It is way too slow for 20 turns you have.

The best approach I figure out is just give a pickaxe to every uber and tear down this stupid bank to the last brick. (Another discussion topic: why Mining Laser is so crappy even in comparison to the Pickaxe?)

Don't you think that Bank Robbery mission is much more challenging then any other "B" missions?
My method is using a few troops with good Voodoo abilities equipped with TK Projectors. With good stats behind them they can mulch through the walls of the vault. It also has the benefits of not destroying the items you're there to loot and stunning any enemies that get caught in the area of effect. For the gas mines, you should have some exosuit armor by that stage, so bring at least one person who's in armor immune to choking damage and have them go in as a mineclearer.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Vakrug on May 11, 2023, 02:33:53 pm
All of this does not counter the fact that you are doomed if you don't know exactly how to beat this mission beforehand. (And other missions are not like that, thankfully.) Also the main problem with "doing it the right way" that is "go through tunnels" is that so many things should be done with just one man (because tunnels prevents navigating with 2 people): mining through tunnels (pickaxe or explosives), breaking steal doors (plasma torch), killing armed guards, not to suffocate to gas mines. And if you have encountered this mission for the first time, you have to find the entrance first. 20 turns seems way to little.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: DarthTheIII on May 12, 2023, 03:55:43 am
I don't feel like banks are that bad, I normally just use a pickaxe to tunnel in, the mines are only an issue if you use the existing tunnel.  On my first one ever it took me a while to figure out what was going onm but then I just drilled my way in with a tank.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Mathel on May 12, 2023, 10:01:53 pm
And no words about indestructible gas mines? With plasma torch you can break steel doors, but not mine tunnels. And most explosives can "mine" only few tiles per boom (and you need to avoid booming the miner somehow). It is way too slow for 20 turns you have.

The best approach I figure out is just give a pickaxe to every uber and tear down this stupid bank to the last brick. (Another discussion topic: why Mining Laser is so crappy even in comparison to the Pickaxe?)

Don't you think that Bank Robbery mission is much more challenging then any other "B" missions?

You can mine with (regular) 85mm Cannon shells. Those are the explosives I used. Sure, they blow apart 1.5 tile deep in dirt, but you can shoot a few every turn. They aren't good against metal walls and doors though.
This is also how I tend to break into the prison to rescue Reynerd.

I did not remember there were mines.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on May 16, 2023, 10:51:54 am
Just food fot thiugh: "guns of the patriots" misison should be renamed "humanist arsenal" because in there you are effectively supposed to retrive an arsenal, while the current "humanist arsenal" should be renamed to something else because is a rather simple building that is being assaulted. I'd propose alternative names as follows:

* "humanist outpost"
* "humanist safehouse"
* "humanist barracks"

Edit: sorry already exists...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Alex_D on May 16, 2023, 11:23:39 pm
You can mine with (regular) 85mm Cannon shells. Those are the explosives I used. Sure, they blow apart 1.5 tile deep in dirt, but you can shoot a few every turn. They aren't good against metal walls and doors though.
This is also how I tend to break into the prison to rescue Reynerd.

Based on my experience of previous campaigns. I haven't reached the Raynerd mission on my current campaign. So you start shooting with your 85-Tank at the embankments of the Prison building until access the bottom level is possible? I'd try that this time.
Myself, by the time that mission appears, I already have flying armors. I just break in via the Guard tower fences. If I do have a tank available, it's usually my heaviest (Heavy Laser) and that one can open the front door like a hot knife on butter. Else, I drop in via the roof with some hovertanks just to draw fire from the defenders.

As per the Bank mission, I usually designate a couple or so of diggers with the sole purpose of dig thru the Bank basement level (ground level, or level 0). The rest rush to the bank front and upper levels, and/or provide support by clearing the one or two nearby houses that host some defenders.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Vakrug on May 17, 2023, 12:40:22 am
Oh! I forgot about another thing... Are ninjas optional now? I am very happy that their main base not spawning during first year any more, but now you have to do a research in order to "declare war" on them. Or not do research, if you choose.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on May 17, 2023, 10:35:41 am
Sorry, forgot again, another couple of point:

1) pirate and swashbuckle should get a 3x1 belt, more convenient fo fitting a sword, as indicated in the attached screenshot

2) billhook and kitchen knife shold get a bounus when stricking animals, from cockroackes to lobstermen (yummy)  ;D

Edit: 3) don't know if that may shake up the entire research tree but havin a topic named "UAC weaponry" to unlock all UAC weapons might have more sense, instead as of now where the items are unlocked by different research
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Psyentific on May 23, 2023, 09:28:54 pm
2x2 belt is plenty, consider some 2x2 weapons like Cutlass, Sudoku Blade, Custom Carbine and Painbringer SMG. if you want to bring a full-size melee weapon on your Pirate etc. then you should use the 1x3 back holster. conveniently this can also hold a rifle or a LASS etc. so i think those inventorys are pretty well balanced
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on May 24, 2023, 11:30:21 am
2x2 belt is plenty, consider some 2x2 weapons like Cutlass, Sudoku Blade, Custom Carbine and Painbringer SMG. if you want to bring a full-size melee weapon on your Pirate etc. then you should use the 1x3 back holster. conveniently this can also hold a rifle or a LASS etc. so i think those inventorys are pretty well balanced

Well while in the pirate outfit there is a 1x3 backpack - but still it would make sense in the belt - same is not for the swashbuckler one, so at least in the latter might be added
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: Iazo on May 29, 2023, 06:50:38 pm
I do not think the UAC weaponry idea would work like you want to.

The  UAC weaponry list is large and heterogenous.

UAC carbine is ubiquitous and pretty good, but clearly an early weapon.

UAC Rifle is a bit later, rare, but not quite having a good niche.

UAC Pistol is even more rare, but is actually plenty useful compressing the rifle use case in a portable sidearm format.

UAC Nailgun is gnarly but is a NPC weapon, and you are unlikely to even see it until year 2.

UAC plasmagun is very useful but really rare, and sourcing ammo for it is difficult.

BFG 9000 is a monster of a gun, even rarer than plasmagun, with it being a plasma Rocket Launcher.

UAC Rocket Launcher is a fast firing rl that can be taken to space, so it cas quite an use case.

All these weapons are VASTLY different, operate differently, ammo is sourced in different fashion, and you rely on them at different part of the game.

Just because you know about the common as fuc UAC carbine does not entitle you to knowledge about BFG operation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on June 01, 2023, 02:29:31 am
I do not think the UAC weaponry idea would work like you want to.

The  UAC weaponry list is large and heterogenous.

UAC carbine is ubiquitous and pretty good, but clearly an early weapon.

UAC Rifle is a bit later, rare, but not quite having a good niche.

UAC Pistol is even more rare, but is actually plenty useful compressing the rifle use case in a portable sidearm format.

UAC Nailgun is gnarly but is a NPC weapon, and you are unlikely to even see it until year 2.

UAC plasmagun is very useful but really rare, and sourcing ammo for it is difficult.

BFG 9000 is a monster of a gun, even rarer than plasmagun, with it being a plasma Rocket Launcher.

UAC Rocket Launcher is a fast firing rl that can be taken to space, so it cas quite an use case.

All these weapons are VASTLY different, operate differently, ammo is sourced in different fashion, and you rely on them at different part of the game.

Just because you know about the common as fuc UAC carbine does not entitle you to knowledge about BFG operation.

mhh I don't know I've always wondered why the uac arsenal has always been so scattered in the research tree. Perhaps the logical and underlying answer in the game is that less powerful uac weapons are more common to find, even on the black market? And because the researchers - who are civilians - are sometimes armed with uac carbines, shouldn't it be the prerogative of military units or bandits? Maybe there are links between uac and academy? If yes, I believe that this should emerge from research, throughout history, perhaps with a couple of topics

In any case, I noticed that zombiermen are sometimes armed with domestic shotguns and pitchforks, but in reality they should always have the basic weapons of the uac, i.e. pistol, rifle, and perhaps the aforementioned carbines, wouldn't it make more sense? Maybe the more advanced uac weapons unlocked with research to be purchased should be unlocked with a dedicated research topic? What do you think?

To make game less frustrating i'd lower the rank for hunter-killer manufacturin, as of N4.0.2 is "boss", and a 14mm cannon or At least its ammo should be easily unlockable in early phases of the game in the black market, so we might replenish ammo stockpike for crappy craft (buckaroo and such).

In closing, reading this post here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6414.msg155477.html#msg155477) i was thinking: wouldn't be nice if every contry in the world would give access to an unique craft, after unlocking it with research? Aside the buckaroos and more sh***y vessels (the birds family) that can manufacture everywhere? Might be used the existing ones or even some more might be added so we should get one vessel unique per country. Deal?  :D ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: LexThorn on June 01, 2023, 09:59:34 am
In closing, reading this post here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6414.msg155477.html#msg155477) i was thinking: wouldn't be nice if every contry in the world would give access to an unique craft, after unlocking it with research? Aside the buckaroos and more sh***y vessels (the birds family) that can manufacture everywhere? Might be used the existing ones or even some more might be added so we should get one vessel unique per country. Deal?  :D ;D

if you personnaly balance, tileset and paint that crafts - why not? Not to mention that anyone can make their own submod  ;)  it's not forbidden or something
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on June 06, 2023, 08:41:02 am
Don't know whether might be fine, but i'd remove "prize:scoped magnum" as a perquisire for "bigger guns", "guns 4 us" to manufacture boarding guns and hancannons.

And in the briefing screen (the one appears once a new mission is spawned in geoscape) besides info on wheather, might we get some poniters in the terrain? (eg, urban, woods and so on)

A little help for us players, please?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: DarthTheIII on June 07, 2023, 02:33:40 am
I see that the sky ninjas timetable has been pushed back, and is now triggered by player action.  What triggers the first round of ninja retalitation missions?  I just had my secondary base get absolutely wrecked by a full ninja team + assassin.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: ontherun on June 07, 2023, 10:40:08 am
Mr. handy has a bonus for demolish, but hammer not. And seems the shovrl cannot be used to dig as the pickaxe, right? So why cannot it be? Maybe in next versions thinghs gonna change?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Dioxine on June 07, 2023, 04:19:50 pm
New version is up. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: JDS on June 07, 2023, 07:34:02 pm
Awesome, thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: ontherun on June 07, 2023, 09:31:11 pm
Super! Just thinking: messer is an ancient weapon, so would make more sense to make avaiable in black market after "contact:merchants" i researched, like the ol' rifle, while as of now is required "contact: gun emporoium".

In general there is shortage of early assault rifle in the beginning of the game. Aside the ramshackle rifle, RCF carabine and homefront rifle, maybe something else could make its way into the market? Of course, weapons of old...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Alex_D on June 07, 2023, 11:04:19 pm
New version is up. Enjoy!

Nice update! I'll resume my current campaign as soon as I can.

By the way, non named dogs and bloodhounds need to be sold prior to the update. I suppose you won't tell so not to spoil the surprise. The sell applies to only those two auxilia. Werewolves, cats and other critters remain unchanged, right?

In general there is shortage of early assault rifle in the beginning of the game. Aside the ramshackle rifle, RCF carabine and homefront rifle, maybe something else could make its way into the market? Of course, weapons of old...

In my current campaign, I found myself issuing the homefront rifle (with a bayonette) as the first standard issued weapon. Said weapon should be available to produce or to buy, has decent stats (specially on long range fire), have autofire, not be heavy, and have large magazines. It was later replaced by the Omega Rifle. Stocks of Homefront rifles and ammo were sent to the main storage base along with all the surplus of everything.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 08, 2023, 12:28:17 am
By the way, non named dogs and bloodhounds need to be sold prior to the update. I suppose you won't tell so not to spoil the surprise. The sell applies to only those two auxilia. Werewolves, cats and other critters remain unchanged, right?

Yes, only unnamed dogs and bloodhounds.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Dioxine on June 08, 2023, 03:30:50 am
And ye I told 'sell them' but you can name them, too. The named ones stay.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Ragshak on June 08, 2023, 03:55:49 pm
Is there any working wiki for xpiratez?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Berggen on June 08, 2023, 06:58:18 pm
Is there any working wiki for xpiratez?

I know these two -> https://xpedia.netlify.app/
https://web.archive.org/web/20191203094146/https://xpiratez.wtf/#MAIN
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Mathel on June 09, 2023, 12:18:45 pm
I am still using the old xpedia.bat last packaged with N2, it still works even with newer versions of the mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: ontherun on June 27, 2023, 01:17:21 pm
The 0.99N5.1.1 introduced a new weapon: the homefort rifle! (see screenshoit attached) it's an improvement of the homefront, maybe we gonna see a new RCF weapon improvement? I hoe so...

Another thought: actually if the player takes the path "embrace the power" it enables - after some research - the possibility to buy at the black market the craft corresponding to the picked codex, but actually since these vessel are unique shouldn't be manufactured only?

And if the path "reject the power" is taken, selling the drill and the hull might have different consequences in the story, eg other factions/criminals might be able to use the craft by a random codex randomly picked by RNG. Would make more sense or might take a lot of work to make such modifications? Whatever, it's just food for thought. :)

Anyway, playing with RSSWizard's high quality sound mod  (https://mod.io/g/openxcom/m/x-piratez-high-quality-sounds-unofficial)and it isspectacular! Hope Dioxine might want to merge itinto xpiratez!

Lastly, masochist tought: to buold the workshop research:
wrench
stapler
hammer (throwing ones are in game already so ok)
screwdriver (to be addded..)

and to build a bunch of the aforementiond items are needed... but these should be more common in general in the maps, especially the stapler that as of now seems to be a guild-exclusive
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Iazo on June 28, 2023, 11:49:00 am
The shadowtech craft are nost certainly not unique
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Ruberto on June 29, 2023, 05:31:04 pm
Hello all
I try to upgrade to new version, but when i overwrite the files and try to run the game, it crashes.
in the log file, after many suoppressed errors, it says:
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [INFO]   Loading language...
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [FATAL]   Error loading file 'D:/piratez+/x - clear sky - Copy/user/mods/Piratez/Language/ru.yml'
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [ERROR]   yaml-cpp: error at line 11463, column 94: illegal EOF in scalar
What should I do?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 29, 2023, 09:45:29 pm
Hello all
I try to upgrade to new version, but when i overwrite the files and try to run the game, it crashes.
in the log file, after many suoppressed errors, it says:
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [INFO]   Loading language...
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [FATAL]   Error loading file 'D:/piratez+/x - clear sky - Copy/user/mods/Piratez/Language/ru.yml'
[29-06-2023_17-24-13]   [ERROR]   yaml-cpp: error at line 11463, column 94: illegal EOF in scalar
What should I do?

Transifex messed up the file. Try the one attached.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Psyentific on June 29, 2023, 10:42:10 pm
neither Old Magnum nor Govt Magnum can use Old Magnum Slayer ammo
e: fixed the next day, based
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on June 30, 2023, 01:56:15 am
neither Old Magnum nor Govt Magnum can use Old Magnum Slayer ammo

Thanks, reported to Dioxine.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Nalca on July 01, 2023, 01:14:21 am
I'm raiding a science vessel on a "Academy propaganda" mission, and it's full of academy provosts. Like 10 of them, and not a single nurse.
Bug ? Hidden surprise ? Update I've missed ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on July 01, 2023, 10:52:28 am
I'm raiding a science vessel on a "Academy propaganda" mission, and it's full of academy provosts. Like 10 of them, and not a single nurse.
Bug ? Hidden surprise ? Update I've missed ?

Already fixed before, but thanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 04, 2023, 02:37:20 am
Anyone know why the Govts are launching crackdowns on me? I'd be fine with it since I can kill them all just fine, but it tanks my monthly score into the ground and leads to an inevitable Game Over.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: zombieguy223 on July 04, 2023, 05:12:26 am
Anyone know why the Govts are launching crackdowns on me? I'd be fine with it since I can kill them all just fine, but it tanks my monthly score into the ground and leads to an inevitable Game Over.
That would probably be the Govt Enmity missions added in N5.
To my understanding, there are two things that cause them to spawn:
1) When you get to Boss Rank (stops when *Family Ties* is researched);
2) When your starting base is in the Theban Hive (you'll get an event notification It Was Your Choice and start getting attacked from the next month onward, this one is three separate mission generators stopped by Contacts: Thebes, Big Boss Rank and Public Enemy Rank respectively).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Disposable Guardsman on July 04, 2023, 12:08:13 pm
2) When your starting base is in the Theban Hive (you'll get an event notification It Was Your Choice and start getting attacked from the next month onward, this one is three separate mission generators stopped by Contacts: Thebes, Big Boss Rank and Public Enemy Rank respectively).

Really? That's 5 in-game months down the drain, I guess.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: dronnoh on July 09, 2023, 04:50:07 am
Returned into the game after some pretty long absence. I'm reallly intrigued by new Aurora's theme. I tried to write down the lyrics, but couldn't find the original. Does anyone have the source of the song? It's just called ROBOT_DAY in the game files
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: zombieguy223 on July 09, 2023, 10:28:31 am
Returned into the game after some pretty long absence. I'm reallly intrigued by new Aurora's theme. I tried to write down the lyrics, but couldn't find the original. Does anyone have the source of the song? It's just called ROBOT_DAY in the game files
The song is "Hear You Scream" by Hania Zdunek/Lee
Here's a Youtube link if you want it: https://youtu.be/9EU3kUXC0_I
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: ontherun on July 12, 2023, 03:09:54 pm
i'm usin 0.99N5.2.1 and i cannot build large vaults over small ones - bacausa game says "facility in use" - though i built the formers one next to another because one of these is an armored one, see picture attached.

in next upcoming versions will be possibile eventually build large ones over the smallers, regardless the type, as happens for the living quarters/barracks?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: teddybbeer on July 12, 2023, 05:07:53 pm
i'm usin 0.99N5.2.1 and i cannot build large vaults over small ones - bacausa game says "facility in use" - though i built the formers one next to another because one of these is an armored one, see picture attached.

in next upcoming versions will be possibile eventually build large ones over the smallers, regardless the type, as happens for the living quarters/barracks?

Are the small vaults empty?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: zombieguy223 on July 12, 2023, 05:37:39 pm
i'm usin 0.99N5.2.1 and i cannot build large vaults over small ones - bacausa game says "facility in use" - though i built the formers one next to another because one of these is an armored one, see picture attached.

in next upcoming versions will be possibile eventually build large ones over the smallers, regardless the type, as happens for the living quarters/barracks?
I believe this is because regular vaults can be built over with different buildings, but armored vaults cannot. If they were all basic vaults in a 2x2 grid it would work, but having that one armored vault prevents it.

Edit: The "Facility in use" message here likely means that you have too much stuff in storage at that base, and there wouldn't be enough space to hold it while the large vault is building. Building over existing vaults, even with bigger ones, effectively counts as removing the current building and having the new one in construction. You won't get the benefits of more space until the new one has finished construction. So you'll need to clear out your stuff from Pervert Shelter by selling or transferring to make room.

Edit2: It can also mean that the workshop space provided by the current vaults is being used by manufacturing projects at that base, so that's another thing to check.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: ontherun on July 12, 2023, 09:12:06 pm
I believe this is because regular vaults can be built over with different buildings, but armored vaults cannot. If they were all basic vaults in a 2x2 grid it would work, but having that one armored vault prevents it.

Edit: The "Facility in use" message here likely means that you have too much stuff in storage at that base, and there wouldn't be enough space to hold it while the large vault is building. Building over existing vaults, even with bigger ones, effectively counts as removing the current building and having the new one in construction. You won't get the benefits of more space until the new one has finished construction. So you'll need to clear out your stuff from Pervert Shelter by selling or transferring to make room.

Edit2: It can also mean that the workshop space provided by the current vaults is being used by manufacturing projects at that base, so that's another thing to check.

oh.. would be nice if when dismantling one of these stuff is redistribuire in the remaining ones... it should be like an upgrade not a new construction (without losing the function) but maybe that is an engine limitaton?

And yes workshop is beign used by 50 runts, so shopping the project might save space allowing me to dismantle the armored one?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: iwantbax on August 07, 2023, 07:27:53 am
I've just realized I can't get to Cydonia with the Conqueror.
Is it supposed to be or you're trying to ruin lives for ones who walk through your xpz's hell trying not to go mad at the same time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Dioxine on August 07, 2023, 02:40:53 pm
OXCE 7.9.8 bug. Upgrade to 7.9.10 or later.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Nalca on August 13, 2023, 12:48:39 pm
I just got an outrageous event : (See Attachment)
And I must say : How dare they make me pay taxes ?

How can we call ourselves pirates if we pay taxes ?
How can I call myself a captain if I let such an affront unpunished ?
Especially when I'm short on money.
What the point of all those explosives sitting in the cave ?


Anyways, there is something wrong with this event. It's clearly the government stealing you, putting you in deep shit (I never have enough money, even after 45 months), and you can't do anything except suck it ? Why I can't make a 'friendly visit' to the taxman, and explain to him and his office why being too zealous at work is a bad idea for your health ?
Even if the price for such an action is a -5k points mission and a big stash of govt fine for every wall I destroyed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Mathel on August 13, 2023, 01:39:34 pm
Land deeds are good though.

I am currently 170 turns into a base defence mission. I just can't find the last few church people, especially with my gals panicking/berserking every other turn.

And on that, I also find it weird that:
If you attack someone else's base, the gals will eventually go insane and keep panicking (though this is unlikely to happen, since the enemies will go and face you.)
But if someone else attacks your base, your gals will eventually go insane and keep panicking, while the enemies hide in your own base, not even trying to kill you.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Cristao on August 13, 2023, 01:56:31 pm
What is the trigger for the below two items?

- Getting Scented Message 2
- Going to the next phase of the Ninja vs Pirates arc - I am only seeing Ninja APCs and I have fully researched them apart from 4 researches that are gated by 'Ninja Hideouts'

Also, I now have 2 Padlocks of Fear - how can one open the gate?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Nalca on August 13, 2023, 10:04:54 pm
Quote
Getting Scented Message 2
A lot of search topics:
https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_LFS_002
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 14, 2023, 11:35:08 am
Why I can't make a 'friendly visit' to the taxman, and explain to him and his office why being too zealous at work is a bad idea for your health ?

Because you are effectively working for them, and the whole piracy thing is more like your gang's motif than historical accuracy. :) If anything, you're more like privateers.
That's my take on this, anyway.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Iazo on August 14, 2023, 01:03:35 pm
Also, you should have 3m if you did so well on infamy last month. Try not to tap out your cash on the 1st of month.

Also 45 months in and you have still trouble with 3M? Come on now.  That is just not believable.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 14, 2023, 01:07:17 pm
Also 45 months in and you have still trouble with 3M? Come on now.  That is just not believable.

Yeah, this gave me a pause as well. I didn't want to criticise, I don't know the situation, but I've never seen anything like this before. Must be some weird campaign.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Nalca on August 14, 2023, 02:10:59 pm
I don't have upkeep problems. It just I have never enough money.
Between the plasma defenses, the high-level armors, the high-tech buildings, money disappears really fast.

Save is linked if you want to have a look.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Yugian on August 15, 2023, 01:16:18 am
I mean, that's just the nature of the business. There's a reason a Campaign can take 5-6+ years in game.

Sell off components you don't need- have a Mint constantly printing out 100$ chips; You don't need to get everything in a single month. Just work towards it as the game plan. The Hellerium Fuel Capsule grind really does give you the time you need to get your pieces all in a row.

Usually a reason that I personally focus on *One* of those things at a time, and maybe supplement my needs as they come along. Retrotech still kills plenty fine, and Defender/Assault Armor still holds up late game- despite having power armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Alex_D on August 15, 2023, 05:18:48 am
And get cash cow bases asap.
I have two bases with a token defense. It started as a plantation base. Now it's full of power plants and prisons for the courtesans/dancers, plus a casino.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Cristao on August 15, 2023, 07:04:13 pm
A lot of search topics:
https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_LFS_002

Thank you. Interestingly it seems i had never manufactured offerings to purple bloom. That seems to be the only one missing from my research. I will give it a shot.

Thanks for the link - I have used to discover I need to research all Lokk Narr scriptures for Ninja war to kick off.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: alexander steel wolf on August 23, 2023, 12:27:04 am
I just built the conqueror, and the bug in version 7.9.8 of oxce also happened to me. The thing is, I don't know how to download version 7.9.10 or later. I have gone to the github page, but I have no idea. Somebody could help me?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Solarius Scorch on August 23, 2023, 10:52:58 am
You can get WIP versions from here: https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/#/Extended
Of course they're WIP, so no guarantees they will work properly. But they generally do.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: alexander steel wolf on August 23, 2023, 08:42:15 pm
You can get WIP versions from here: https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/#/Extended
Of course they're WIP, so no guarantees they will work properly. But they generally do.

Thanks for sharing and warning!, Solarius.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N5 07-Jun-2023 Shadow Descent
Post by: Yarrr on September 27, 2023, 04:34:24 am
Hi, just wanted to say this mod is great. I never have time to finish the whole campaign, but what I've played is really fun.

Thanks to Dioxine and Meridian for making this mod.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Dioxine on October 04, 2023, 04:36:02 pm
New version is up. I'm sorry for it being a little smaller than usual. On the plus side, it contains countless small bugfixes and lots of polishing. Enjoy!
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Psyentific on October 04, 2023, 05:55:30 pm
Quote
- 'Mutant Porn' changed to 'Zany Zines' to better fit what kind of resource it's supposed to be
Worst patch in the history of video games, revert immediately.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on October 04, 2023, 10:01:37 pm
Quote
- New features: Slave Soldiers and Peasants have distinct names and flags based on the place of recruitment (based on expansion by OAK group, implementation made in cooperation with Solarius Scorch).
New feature? I bet this feature was around for some time.
The question is: how to disable this feature? I once have a base in Mongolia. Not only there is not many Mongolian names in the pool (so duplicates are common) but also these names looks like the same gibberish to me...

If you are using save file from the previous version, you probably want to add this lines to the save:
Code: [Select]
poppedResearch:
  - STR_CAT_PATH_PREQ
researchRuleStatus:
  STR_CAT_PATH: 2
  STR_CAT_PATH_PREQ: 2
May be... I hope...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vengos on October 05, 2023, 01:25:04 am
Here is new Xpedia in attachments.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Interdictor on October 06, 2023, 12:40:06 am
Each update we hail! Though imaging the world without mutant porn is troubling indeed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on October 06, 2023, 06:18:42 pm
Quote
- New city: Marrakesh
Sadly no lore for said city.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Improbeble Widow on October 07, 2023, 06:46:53 pm
Already Fixed
Thanks
Saved my current campaign

I noticed that going ?Cats4Life? locks you out of Persuasion and Diplomacy and any Tech that needs them
They don't have a Ceremony (Dep.) or Recruitment (Dep.) like the other paths
Going ?Cats4Life? only unlocks Party (Dep.) and not Ceremony (Dep.) or Recruitment (Dep.)
Is there supposed to be an Event that gives you this or are you just locked out of the Persuasion/Diplomacy part of the Tech Tree completely?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Iazo on October 08, 2023, 11:24:04 pm
New version on ModDB fixing this and other important stuff!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: themeless on October 09, 2023, 11:12:06 pm
research STR_TURRET_BLUE_ARMOR  not found crash after choosing red codex
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on October 11, 2023, 04:46:58 pm
Worst patch in the history of video games, revert immediately.
.
I actually like the new name and the new 'zine, it's more coherent and fitting to the game plot, a niche change. Also the bootypedia article is really nice! see screenie :P

research STR_TURRET_BLUE_ARMOR  not found crash after choosing red codex

might be posted in the bugs section, thanks  ;)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Dioxine on October 14, 2023, 06:10:46 pm
v.N6.0.5 patch is up, hopefully this time all new bugs are squashed.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ronin1313 on October 15, 2023, 08:06:16 pm
There's a bug after the first Ninja event for me.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ciqasty on October 21, 2023, 11:51:56 pm
There's a bug after the first Ninja event for me.

I have got same crash issue but hard to tell what is triggering it.
To reproduce:
- load save
- skip time on geoscape (ignore prepper camp mission, I have skipped time by 30 minutes)

This is clean installation and game started from beginning.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Xolvix on October 22, 2023, 06:10:22 am
I encountered that bug as well, but I deleted the save and restarted before thinking to submit it. Clean installation as well.

Bit of a shame particularly since we've currently got screenshots of the error happening on a Windows 7 machine (FFS it's out of support, stop using it!) and a Windows 11 system, so with my Windows 10 install it would complete the trifecta. :)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ciqasty on October 22, 2023, 09:10:49 am
I encountered that bug as well, but I deleted the save and restarted before thinking to submit it. Clean installation as well.

Bit of a shame particularly since we've currently got screenshots of the error happening on a Windows 7 machine (FFS it's out of support, stop using it!) and a Windows 11 system, so with my Windows 10 install it would complete the trifecta. :)

There are possible fixes in Bugs & Crashes thread.
Nice that you recognize Windows version by, well, windows xD
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Xolvix on October 22, 2023, 09:36:36 am
There are possible fixes in Bugs & Crashes thread.
Nice that you recognize Windows version by, well, windows xD

OK thanks, I've tried the option of removing MEGASCORPION_ARMOR from Piratez_Events.rul, we shall see if it works. I know this problem definitely didn't exist in 6.0.2 so I wonder what happened, but it's just skipping some research so no matter.

Also I guess I could be wrong about it being Windows 7 - I mean it could be Vista, they share mostly the same appearance. But that would be worse.  8)
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ciqasty on October 22, 2023, 10:20:18 am
OK thanks, I've tried the option of removing MEGASCORPION_ARMOR from Piratez_Events.rul, we shall see if it works. I know this problem definitely didn't exist in 6.0.2 so I wonder what happened, but it's just skipping some research so no matter.

Also I guess I could be wrong about it being Windows 7 - I mean it could be Vista, they share mostly the same appearance. But that would be worse.  8)

If I understand the files properly:
There's a new event which gives pedia entry about random enemy armor and the megascorpion option was missing from research.
Removing megascorpion armor from event will allow it to fire properly but never give you the scorpion entry (small loss), but now there is also mod posted which should fix the missing research option.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on October 25, 2023, 09:39:04 am
Lil thought: s of 0.99N6.07 i'd swap the bootyopedia pics for "rank: boss" and "rank: big boss" botypedia articles since the former is more of a "macho" type and seems to suggest a more powerful reputation.

Also, a couple of lines more about the recruitment limit for ogres in the article explaining why might be also nice touch. (maybe ther're solitary, or what)  8)

Edit: i also have nearly completed the smart weapon family (smartgun, smartpistol, smartshotgun) but missing the smartrifle because it needs "advanced rifle". Since it seems might be unlocked only by some specific research, could be another more esay way to get it?  :'(

Edit 2: as for ogres the only clue provided Is that they are rare, a bit some more specific info would be better i think
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Belcanzor on October 28, 2023, 04:25:17 am
Found your mod thanks to some drama posted in other places.
Thanks for your work.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Dioxine on October 28, 2023, 10:53:27 pm
OK thanks, I've tried the option of removing MEGASCORPION_ARMOR from Piratez_Events.rul, we shall see if it works. I know this problem definitely didn't exist in 6.0.2 so I wonder what happened, but it's just skipping some research so no matter.

It did not exist because the event causing it did not exist yet, it was added in 6.0.3. It was I think definitely fixed in 6.0.7.

Lil thought: s of 0.99N6.07 i'd swap the bootyopedia pics for "rank: boss" and "rank: big boss" botypedia articles since the former is more of a "macho" type and seems to suggest a more powerful reputation.

I wouldn't. Big Boss moves beyond 'just a bigger gal with more complete clothing' and shifts the rank picture gradation towards flashiness, wealth and technology. Badass captain outfit, for one, and a laser gun. As for any 'machismo' it's only your interpretation. Ofc the anime style is debatable, but there are sevaral ranks above that still.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Psyentific on October 30, 2023, 11:02:05 pm
You should use the larger character for Big Boss to reflect the fact that Boss has gotten Bigger.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vengos on October 30, 2023, 11:46:47 pm
You should use the larger character for Big Boss to reflect the fact that Boss has gotten Bigger.
When Naked Snake became Big Boss he didnt get bigger.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Juku121 on October 31, 2023, 01:00:41 am
Never played Metal Gear, but wasn't Naked Snake already Bigger than the Boss from the beginning? So he just got his rightful rank. :P
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on November 02, 2023, 01:46:44 am
Another thing, expeditions should be manufacturable at hideouts like hunt parties, right now these are buyable instead..i think only recon expeditions should avaiable via black market, what do you think about?
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Psyentific on November 02, 2023, 02:36:26 am
Definitely better to be buyable rather than manufactured imo, but ideally both because why not. I think it's better for craft like Expedition to be available without having to bother with workshop space and runts and so on.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on November 08, 2023, 03:13:09 pm
Definitely better to be buyable rather than manufactured imo, but ideally both because why not. I think it's better for craft like Expedition to be available without having to bother with workshop space and runts and so on.


Sry forgot to tell: as of now actually the party is manufacturable even without and extractor, so would be nice to have expeditions that way. Also an option to disable th hyperwave decoder, as happens for the hideout shroud would be nice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on November 09, 2023, 10:27:28 pm
Are there any plans for expanding the "Cultural Wealth" usage? Right now the only "Cultural Wealth" usage are "Land Deeds", but "Land Deeds" becomes available far later then you contact Museum and are able to mass produce "Cultural Wealth". And you can't really stash it for later use. 0.1 size is pretty noticable.
I think resource with such promising name should have many interesting implications.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on November 15, 2023, 10:38:36 pm
and would like to add, since the game has an atrocious difficulty, maybe some little changes would welcome to mitigate the player's suffering, especially for casual gamers like me: for instance having experienced  in a run of mine, here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4102.msg158788.html#msg158788) some weapons clips might be more lighter, and some might have some rounds more eg the standard laser clips should have 14 shots instead of 7. iìIt's very frustrating running out of ammo in mission were reinforcement might come like "bandit town". :(

Sidenote: there was also a mission in siberia about an abandoned base that i do not see since varius relases ago  :o might be done something about it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on November 16, 2023, 11:45:53 am
since the game has an atrocious difficulty
Never understood what people mean by saying "XPiratez is difficult". After ninjas were nerfed this mod became very easy. At least after you get bikes. Most missions even do not get more difficult with time. XPiratez is difficult to actually finish, but this is different story.
Sidenote: there was also a mission in siberia about an abandoned base that i do not see since varius relases ago  :o might be done something about it?
You need "Guild Rep". Several times until you get "GUILD REP'S SECRETS".
I've engaged some vessels in combat but in dogfight screen are displayed as "jammed", there Is some craft device that allows to see these?
As far as I know, no. This is just a picture.
I need also some hypno panels, where i can get those?
Most of them are found on "Heavy Freighters".
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Iazo on November 16, 2023, 12:03:29 pm
Xpiratez is difficult to play like a modern CRPG, without an insane anount of metaknowledge.

If you go into it and expect casualties to be rare, or that there will be no disastrously punishing happenings, yeh, it is hard. If you go into it and attempt to YOLO it, it also gets hard because it is so long, so lucky streaks will run out.

Playing it in a slow but deliberate manner, treating units as expendable, and going on even after serious setbacks is easy.

That said, OXCE itself is a very complex engine that also adds complexity to the mod's complexity.

There's really no argument to be made that the game is easy. It is not easy to learn (especially if one never played 1993 xcom), it is not easy to swallow psychological defeats like losing a favourite gal, or a base holding all your treasure to crackdowns, and it is not easy to unlearn modern games streamlining.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: LexThorn on November 17, 2023, 09:48:59 am
Xpiratez is difficult to play like a modern CRPG, without an insane anount of metaknowledge.

If you go into it and expect casualties to be rare, or that there will be no disastrously punishing happenings, yeh, it is hard. If you go into it and attempt to YOLO it, it also gets hard because it is so long, so lucky streaks will run out.

Playing it in a slow but deliberate manner, treating units as expendable, and going on even after serious setbacks is easy.

That said, OXCE itself is a very complex engine that also adds complexity to the mod's complexity.

There's really no argument to be made that the game is easy. It is not easy to learn (especially if one never played 1993 xcom), it is not easy to swallow psychological defeats like losing a favourite gal, or a base holding all your treasure to crackdowns, and it is not easy to unlearn modern games streamlining.

In one word - there will be no easy park walk. Тhere will be no mercy.  And that`s awesome expirience.
We saying NO to crying vanilla soya eaters!
Only true hardcore!
Only sweat, tears and hard rock!
For our glory, for our fun, in our name!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Iazo on November 17, 2023, 11:10:32 am
I would not put it quite like that.

I LOVE knowledge, and I love Xpz, and gatekeeping difficulty in this way is unproductive, that is why I love helping people and discussing game mechanics to learn more about it.

Case in point: dogfights. I could not wrap my head around dogfights or whether or not I stood a chance in the airgame, and the knowledge about it in the community had gaps. I had to actually read the game's fucking source code to understand wtf was going on. (Did you know enemy craft size affects only gun accuracy but not pilot or hull accuracy? Bet you didn't. Did you know that, as opposed to your 50-100% dmg roll, the enemy does 0-100% dmg roll? Bet you didn't.)

Reading a game's source code is not something that should be expected, lest you be a vanilla soyboy, wtf.

I don't like self-congratz kinds of pats on one's backs gatekeeping modern game sensibilities. Have some perspective.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on November 17, 2023, 12:42:08 pm
Feels like we are playing different games. Without comparisons arguments are dubious. May be XPiratez is hard, but to me it is the easiest mod I have tried yet. (Again, easy to play, not easy to finish!) Which mods do you think are easier?
My main argument why I think XPiratez is easy is that at some point you just stop loosing units (at least ubers) because in most missions there are simply no enemies that can penetrate your armor. And this state of the game is quite long.
The most horrible things in this mod are probably base bombardments, but is that enough to call the mod hard?
Xpiratez is difficult to play like a modern CRPG, without an insane anount of metaknowledge.
Xpiratez is deep, indeed, but I don't think that it is absolutely required to know all of that stuff. You can go pretty far with basic shotguns available from almost start of the game.
If you go into it and attempt to YOLO it, it also gets hard because it is so long, so lucky streaks will run out.
Again, question above: which mods allows yoloing? Or may be the original game?
In one word - there will be no easy park walk. Тhere will be no mercy.
We saying NO to crying vanilla soya eaters!
Only true hardcore!
Only sweat, tears and hard rock!
Looks like a review on "The World of Terrifying Silence" I tried to play recently. And not on XPiratez where many (if not most) missions are doable with 1 uber with decent armor and bare fists.
Did you know enemy craft size affects only gun accuracy but not pilot or hull accuracy?
Ooops! Just realized I am not taking into account the size of UFO at all in my calculations... Actually 053 (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_PINUP_053) tells about that.
Did you know that, as opposed to your 50-100% dmg roll, the enemy does 0-100% dmg roll?
Pretty common knowledge: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Craft_Combat_Mechanics#UFO_Damage_Mechanics (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Craft_Combat_Mechanics#UFO_Damage_Mechanics)

What is truly the mystery is how Cautious attack mode affect evasion. Nothing can be found about that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Iazo on November 17, 2023, 12:58:09 pm
Please list the number of midgame missions you do with an uber with bare fists who wears armor that is immune to everything.

This is ridiculous.

You are not only incorrect, you are confidently lying, just to prove a point. So. List them.

Quote
What is truly the mystery is how Cautious attack mode affect evasion. Nothing can be found about that.

It does not. Evasive maneouvers that you only get vs HK type ships doubles your effective dodge.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Vakrug on November 17, 2023, 04:35:46 pm
Please list the number of midgame missions you do with an uber with bare fists who wears armor that is immune to everything.
::) Pretty much every mission that is available from day one (Scientific Experiments, Temple Raid, ...).
All Bounty Hunt Lvl D missions.
Some Bounty Hunt Lvl C missions (Humanist Arsenal, Reservoir Dog).
Some other early day missions (most notably Warehouse Wars).
An armor I am talking about is mostly "HEAVY SUIT".
You are not only incorrect, you are confidently lying, just to prove a point. So. List them.
Let's just agree that we are playing different games.
It does not. Evasive maneouvers that you only get vs HK type ships doubles your effective dodge.
Are you saying that 1 of 2 available buttons is for evasive maneuvers? I'll check that next time...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Iazo on November 18, 2023, 12:45:30 pm
Most of the ones you listed are early-game missions. You are taking a heavy suit (armor of early Y2) and are farming Jan Y1 missions, therefore XPZ is easy. Ok.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Dead Nettle on November 19, 2023, 05:35:48 am
::) Pretty much every mission that is available from day one (Scientific Experiments, Temple Raid, ...).
All Bounty Hunt Lvl D missions.
Some Bounty Hunt Lvl C missions (Humanist Arsenal, Reservoir Dog).
Some other early day missions (most notably Warehouse Wars).
An armor I am talking about is mostly "HEAVY SUIT".
You're saying that midgame tech makes early game missions too easy. You know you can send your less trained and less equipped to do those missions right? It's kinda how you build your roster.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: dftruf on November 19, 2023, 01:01:20 pm
I think that x-piratez could attract over 1000000x more players (new and old as replayable game) if it could be played in more open world style of playing, without rigid (scripted) time pressure. Then any spoilers (small or big) are not required to know.
Time pressure should be put on tactical aspect, not on strategical aspect - this is golden rule for any good game: quick to learn long to master (without using spoilers from author's secret gardens).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: ontherun on November 21, 2023, 09:18:48 am
Thanks guys for your "enthusiasm" but I think the main enemy of xpiratez is frustration :(

In fact, balancing difficulty and challenge is one of the most difficult things to do when it comes to video games, there are people at software houses who are paid good money and sometimes with results that are unfortunately not always satisfactory.

What I think can be done is to accommodate the player with very small adjustments, for instance, as I wrote in the previous post here (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3626.msg158806.html#msg158806), maybe having a little more ammunition in your pocket I don't think is too compromising

I think that x-piratez could attract over 1000000x more players (new and old as replayable game) if it could be played in more open world style of playing, without rigid (scripted) time pressure. Then any spoilers (small or big) are not required to know.
Time pressure should be put on tactical aspect, not on strategical aspect - this is golden rule for any good game: quick to learn long to master (without using spoilers from author's secret gardens).

Absolutely, agreed!!

In one word - there will be no easy park walk. Тhere will be no mercy.  And that`s awesome expirience.
We saying NO to crying vanilla soya eaters!
Only true hardcore!
Only sweat, tears and hard rock!
For our glory, for our fun, in our name!

 :o :o :o
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: dftruf on November 21, 2023, 10:54:28 am
Agreed.
But x-piratez is a donationware project. And massively more players, which are not frustrated by chasing spoilers (buried somewhere in the deep internet) , means more money for the author.  :)


...
In fact, balancing difficulty and challenge is one of the most difficult things to do when it comes to video games, there are people at software houses who are paid good money and sometimes with results that are unfortunately not always satisfactory.
...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Interdictor on November 22, 2023, 03:58:14 am
I think that x-piratez could attract over 1000000x more players (new and old as replayable game) if it could be played in more open world style of playing, without rigid (scripted) time pressure. Then any spoilers (small or big) are not required to know.
Time pressure should be put on tactical aspect, not on strategical aspect - this is golden rule for any good game: quick to learn long to master (without using spoilers from author's secret gardens).

I see around a lot of games which trying to ease my game experience and spare from frustration. When such attempts finally reach its destination another game becomes another casual pressure-free munch.

XPiratez will never attract 1000000x more players this is niche product by nature. The best way of further development for XPiratez is being XPirates and follow XPirates' developer vision. If you want to attract 1000000 new players you need to invest $1000000 into promo campaign and release game in Eastern Asia region, China I mean.

At the moment I don't see why the story of native insurgent group on backwater planet should be freed from the time pressure. The response to protagonists' activity determined by factors far beyond player's control which makes course of events mostly predefined until the major bifurcation point which is victory game end.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: dftruf on November 22, 2023, 11:46:36 am
This is just my opinion:

1. Games which requires spoilers (small or big) are badly designed.

2. Frustration from chasing game spoilers is something very different than frustration from advancing in game skills.

3. Good games distinguish between tactical and strategical aspects with regard to time pressure.

4. Good games give possibility to dynamically change time pressure, by player's choices and skills, not by rigid scripts.

5. Good games don't need advertisements.


I see around a lot of games which trying to ease my game experience and spare from frustration. When such attempts finally reach its destination another game becomes another casual pressure-free munch.

XPiratez will never attract 1000000x more players this is niche product by nature. The best way of further development for XPiratez is being XPirates and follow XPirates' developer vision. If you want to attract 1000000 new players you need to invest $1000000 into promo campaign and release game in Eastern Asia region, China I mean.

At the moment I don't see why the story of native insurgent group on backwater planet should be freed from the time pressure. The response to protagonists' activity determined by factors far beyond player's control which makes course of events mostly predefined until the major bifurcation point which is victory game end.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Interdictor on November 22, 2023, 09:39:00 pm
I must admit I'm not fully aware about mentioned spoilers topic likely I'm just not experienced player enough. But from my personal game experience difficulty progression seems both challenging and not too pressing, giving player some space for mistakes, experiments and roleplay. In early stage you even receive some tips like "you need more brainers" for example. From this point I consider difficulty balance satisfactory and I also see its further improvement by updates. The game also have difficulty levels, I personally play on medium one.

Make another game which entirely rolls around player.. what for? For this case and this lore scripting concept itself is fair enough. Even if it consists some time limitations if any. I personally consider certain parts of current scenario unrealistically soft and giving ungrounded advantages but anyway. Sort of sandbox could be adequate for trivial mutant group but not for "chosen ones" contesting world evil powers. By the plot your free life comes to end when govs arrive to your hideout and then the story begins.

The point 5 is fundamentally wrong as independently from product qualities potential consumer should be firstly informed about product's existence and advantages. XPiratez is not a casual game and fitting it to generic or casual gamers' tastes will not give anything. Just in theory the playerbase might be increased by involving more players who might like the game but remained uninvolved while the target group itself is naturally narrow.

And I'm not speaking here about how increasing project popularity might harm development process or endanger the project existence itself. If the freeware project is popular enough to keep developer motivated it is going well.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: dftruf on November 23, 2023, 01:21:27 am
Thanks for wide reply.
I see now more clearly that x-piratez developers prefer anti-sandbox style.
Do You know any x-com mod which is in sandbox style?


... For this case and this lore scripting concept itself is fair enough. ...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Interdictor on November 23, 2023, 04:07:47 am
I'm not even close authorized to speak from the name of mod development. All above is my own consideration regarding my vision and impression. For example if mod developer adds more sandbox element in update I would support this too. The most I care is primate of author vision as it is vital for project's success and uniquity.

UPD: I don't play other x-com mods actually. But I presume that initial design of X-Com influence story-like approach to development.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Jimboman on November 23, 2023, 04:08:02 pm
I'm no expert by a long-shot, but I've been playing XCOM & TFTD style games since the original Laser Squad back in the late 1980's, on an Amstrad 464 with a 4-track cassette drive that took ages to load a level!

To me Piratez, and Solarius's Xcom-files, are worthy additions to the original game, unlike the modern XCOM with is just another run & shoot game without a lot of the strategic Geosphere elements that make the game worth playing.  Admittedly I like the house-keeping aspects of making ammo, building ships etc. so I might in a minority!

Modern games are made for the attention-deficit kids of today who don't want to spend the time to build-up their character's stats by slogging through 'bug-hunt' (or Humanist safe-house type) missions or interrogating prisoners to find the clues to move the game on to the next level.  Even then a lot of games nowadays are 'released' in a barely beta state just to make money.  Then there's the 'loot-boxes' that can only be obtained by paying cash.

It would be a shame if Piratez was 'toned-down' to please the modern game-players as it would lose a lot of the core players, and I'm sure Dioxine isn't that kind of developer anyway judging by the way the game has become more involved and complex as it's evolved over the years.

So, yes, it could get 1000s of players by toning down the strategic elements and making it more action-orientated, but it would lose what makes the game worth playing in the first place.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Xylon666Darkstar on December 07, 2023, 09:48:05 pm
Do not change X-Piratez to please anyone of current age, who don't get the core concept of the dev's design of gameplay.

Same for X-Files.

It wouldn't be the same game for the dev going outside of their original vision for the sake of pleasing a current crowd that cannot change their own habits/routines/mindset to play x/y/z games.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: DarthTheIII on December 08, 2023, 04:55:09 pm
I will say I have not enjoyed the expansion of base attacks that has been going on as the game has updated.  This isn't a difficulty complaint, I just find base defences to be the most annoying type of missions, and once you get to boss rank and start getting spammed with government base attacks it really put me off my last campaign.  The sky ninjas update was the first example of this, but they are not a problem anymore due to all the changes they went through.

With that said, generally added features that make the gamplay loop "worse" are almost always adjusted as future updates go through and the game is playtested by us.  Which is completly fair in this kind of mod, I'm not expecting someone to playtest a whole xpiratez campaign for every update.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Nalca on December 08, 2023, 11:31:24 pm
Quote
I just find base defences to be the most annoying type of missions

I agree, and that's why you need to build defenses in you base. A few flak cannon, and hop, free fireworks above your base.
And if they manage to survive the first phase, you still have big turrets inside your base ! Blowing up your ennemies, theirs dogs, your turrets and sometimes yours gals !

Seriously, build defenses in every base, it's really help with those tedious missions. The fastest base mission is one that don't need to be done.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Mathel on December 09, 2023, 09:51:58 am
What I really hate about base defence are the slaves. In my main bases, I have thousands of slaves.

Each turn, about 1% of all slaves wake up to fight alongside you. That means that with 2000 slaves, by turn 3 when the proper engagement starts, there are 60 civilian side units going around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 11, 2023, 02:57:26 pm
What I really hate about base defence are the slaves. In my main bases, I have thousands of slaves.

How on Earth???

None of my saves has more than 100 slaves, and I am trying to make as many as possible.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Zesty on December 11, 2023, 09:16:54 pm
Personally my only grave annoyance with Xpiratez is how often new bases seem to get attacked before I can reasonably set up to defend them. Like I start building on March 1st and then Apr 2nd an attack comes. If you didn't build living quarters immediately you're screwed, if you didn't send over soldiers/weapons immediately you're screwed, if you tried to hire new soldiers on Apr 1st then they haven't arrived yet and you're screwed, and fighting off base assaults early game when the map is only 2 or 3 rooms with 30+ enemies in it is a special kind of hell. Maybe I'm unlucky but it feels like an asshole RNG move that kills 1/3rd to 1/2 of my bases. If attacks on new/small bases could be toned down against it'd be nice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: Mathel on December 12, 2023, 07:31:36 pm
How on Earth???

None of my saves has more than 100 slaves, and I am trying to make as many as possible.

Lots and lots of captures, over a long time. Enemies surrendering really helps.
When I say slave, I mean any slave type, not just basic slaves.

My current save, on 6th March 2607 has in my first base:
101 Squires
448 Slaves
13 Slave Maids
98 Slave Lashers
50 Slave Gladiatrices
121 Slave Specialists
49 Slave Taskmasters
1 Slave Witch
94 Slave Halfwits
50 Uber Maids

Which, as it turns out is not thousands, just 1025. But it still is a lot.
In total, between all bases, I have 1766 slaves, perhaps 80% in the two assault bases.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: DarthTheIII on December 13, 2023, 12:26:39 pm
Personally my only grave annoyance with Xpiratez is how often new bases seem to get attacked before I can reasonably set up to defend them. Like I start building on March 1st and then Apr 2nd an attack comes. If you didn't build living quarters immediately you're screwed, if you didn't send over soldiers/weapons immediately you're screwed, if you tried to hire new soldiers on Apr 1st then they haven't arrived yet and you're screwed, and fighting off base assaults early game when the map is only 2 or 3 rooms with 30+ enemies in it is a special kind of hell. Maybe I'm unlucky but it feels like an asshole RNG move that kills 1/3rd to 1/2 of my bases. If attacks on new/small bases could be toned down against it'd be nice.

I've been playing piratez for like 5 years or so, and most of my grief comes from trying to play "new" piratez like it was before sky ninjas got overhauled.  My old strategy was to throw up plantation bases asap, because a bunch of peaseants with shotguns was enough to defend against prety much any base defence for the first year or so.  Now that there's more "midgame" base defences I've swapped to maxing runts for early profit, and only get plantation bases rolling once I've got plenty of explosives.  For my next campagin I'm going to delay getting to Boss rank until flak cannons are up and see how it feels.  I do wish there was some sort of warning about not getting to boss rank before you are ready, something similar to the warning about messing with the narlocks.  That or making family ties a bit easier to get to would mostly fix my problem with the current government crackdown at boss rank thing.  In my last campaign I managed to reach boss rank like 8 months in, getting raided by governemnt elites with boom guns ended badly
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: DarthTheIII on December 13, 2023, 12:28:54 pm
Also what ship type do government crackdowns come in, is it ordinators?  And do base crackdown ships follow the crashing at half health rule?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N6 03-Oct-2023 Zany Cats
Post by: zombieguy223 on December 13, 2023, 04:23:47 pm
Also what ship type do government crackdowns come in, is it ordinators?  And do base crackdown ships follow the crashing at half health rule?
Govt crackdowns (Govt Enmity) use Ordinators for the base assault, yes.

My understanding of the mechanics is that when the ship is in final approach and engaged by the base defences, it must be fully destroyed (100% health depletion). Base defences cannot cause a ship to crashland, either they destroy it completely, or not at all. You can cause a crackdown ship to crashland if you shoot it down with interceptor craft before it reaches the base, then it will follow the 50% health crash rule.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on December 16, 2023, 03:28:22 pm
New version uploaded for Christmas gaming. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Improbeble Widow on December 16, 2023, 06:22:05 pm
Thank you for the early gift
Merry Christmas!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Vengos on December 16, 2023, 06:40:50 pm
And new xpedia in attachments till online one updates. For pictures put it into XPiratez folder (the one where .exe is)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: 2much on December 17, 2023, 03:47:58 am
Whoa! Hanger background is NICE!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on December 17, 2023, 10:43:04 am
Thanks
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on December 18, 2023, 02:08:16 am
Whoa! Hanger background is NICE!

Thanks! I made it in Bing image generator before I was banned from there XD
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: DarthTheIII on December 18, 2023, 06:58:26 am
Where is the music from the main menu from.  Been trying to find it for forever and never thought to ask here.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: DarthTheIII on December 18, 2023, 07:35:13 am
Thanks! I made it in Bing image generator before I was banned from there XD

did the new hidden movement/ended turn images come from bing image generator to?

And is there a way to change how quickly the new "hidden movement" backgrounds change?  I'd rather have a random different background per missions, rather than flipping through them every half-turn.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 18, 2023, 07:36:54 pm
And is there a way to change how quickly the new "hidden movement" backgrounds change?  I'd rather have a random different background per missions, rather than flipping through them every half-turn.

(https://i.imgflip.com/433z6b.png)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Meridian on December 18, 2023, 09:40:46 pm
Can be done.
Open a suggestion please.

Original request for reference: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,11329.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on December 18, 2023, 10:00:49 pm
OK, I have opened a request: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,11669.0.html

Thanks!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on December 19, 2023, 02:25:49 am
actually i prefer the current one, but that's my 2 cents  :)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Earthquake on December 19, 2023, 11:12:28 pm
Some time ago I saw some lore about cities, but can't find it it tech tree or bootypedia.
Or it was deleted for some reason?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: John___Doe on December 20, 2023, 01:59:57 am
Some time ago I saw some lore about cities, but can't find it it tech tree or bootypedia.
Or it was deleted for some reason?

Sounds like the Cities Lore submod. Enable it in Mods after switching from vanilla to piratez.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Earthquake on December 20, 2023, 08:29:07 pm
Sounds like the Cities Lore submod. Enable it in Mods after switching from vanilla to piratez.
Thanks, it worked!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: kelltozet on December 23, 2023, 01:01:04 am
Isn't it too early to get a ground raid by Spartans armed with plasma on May 22, 2601?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: The Think Tank on December 23, 2023, 04:45:57 am
New version uploaded for Christmas gaming. Enjoy!

Cheers! Looking forward to a new update and some cozy Piratez gaming...hopefully with plenty of Grog n' Nog.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: jussimarsu on December 25, 2023, 03:10:45 pm
So how do i donate? i feel like a sky ninja for playing this so much over years without contributing.

EDIT ok i also stupid ill just use the gmail
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: GENVOKE on December 27, 2023, 10:52:05 am
Ooh new update! Gon be gud to dig into. A bit late, but happy holidays <3
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on December 30, 2023, 03:29:31 pm
Isn't it too early to get a ground raid by Spartans armed with plasma on May 22, 2601?

If you make a takedown of a military vessel, you always risk retaliation of this nature. This is not a scripted event.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on December 30, 2023, 03:30:05 pm
https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/x-piratez-vn7-flying-tiger-hidden-tentacle-16-dec-2023

New update is on.

v.N7.0.2
- Fix: crafts: auxiliaries capacity bug caused by being not up to date with OXCE changes
- Fix: Kraken, Swordfish and Crab can now carry auxiliaries as intended
- Fix: Sivalinga Resurrection event
- Fix: bandit car crashes
- Small update of Freighter maps
- Merged reskin of Warbird by Dakkon
- Minor fixes/updates (thx to Flyte, Osobist)
- Languages update
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 02, 2024, 02:29:38 pm
Isn't it too early to get a ground raid by Spartans armed with plasma on May 22, 2601?

If you make a takedown of a military vessel, you always risk retaliation of this nature. This is not a scripted event.

Yes but actually minor factions are not supposed to be armed with very advanced weaponry such plasma and gauss, right? But as of 0.99N7.0.2 seems i cannot climb on triton's roof anymore...dafaq?! seems the game is getting more and more evilier...🤣​ see attachment..

anyway, small question... as for junkmaster:
https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_POWER_SUIT_WRECKED_UC
care to add as manufacturing requirement n. 1 warrior armor? And please remove the stun damage, since that trapping is already somewhat penalizing? Peraphs energy recovery might be cut to 50%? Please, have mercy!!  :)

whatever, happy new year!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: kelltozet on January 02, 2024, 09:14:08 pm
Yes but actually minor factions are not supposed to be armed with very advanced weaponry such plasma and gauss, right?

Some raiders have accsess to advansed technology.
https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_RAIDER_SUBCONTRACTING

But it's hard to say how Spartans got advanced alien weapons.

Spartans
Status: LESSER POWER These mercenaries /scavengers /bandits live out in the wild, in hidden fortresses, forming a highly hierarchical and xenophobic society of 'survivors', or 'preppers', as they call themselves. They're taught to follow their holy book, 'The Rules of Engagement'. They pride themselves for things like personal liberty and the right to bear arms, but bear no disobedience towards superiors, namely old (oftentimes geriatric), accomplished warriors. Add to that an ideology of human racial purity and the subservient role of women in their ranks is not surprising. Facing a negative population growth, they replenish their ranks with insecure, young city dwellers. Most of these die rather quickly.

And I'm pretty sure I've seen a cruiser with Spartans on board once. Seeing guys in forest camouflage on an alien cruiser is pretty surreal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 04, 2024, 12:36:47 am
Seeing guys in forest camouflage on an alien cruiser is pretty surreal.

yes, hope that gonna change in next updates..some other observations:

1) with the latest version academy git a logo, i presume also ther factions will get it? Or at least the major ones?

2) recently oxec got a feature to show ammo count in bootypedia, will xpiratez have that? as of now we are with the vanilla mode, but only for a few weapons  there is ammo quantity specified in the description.

3) nubians (the vanilla floaters) appear only as bootypedia  reference,  are we gonna see them in game action? They are some kind dof star god police force, so it seems possible in the future..

4) advanced rifle is a prequisite for the smartrifle and get immediately researchale and manufacturable once the advanced one has been researched but the latter is better than the former,more acccurate and with a 40 shot magazine, probably the best rifle in the game with traditional ammo, i'd advice to move the smart one away at least 3/4 topics more, or change its research requirements, as of now nobody would use the advanced rifle because of that, or maybe i am wrong?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Dioxine on January 04, 2024, 01:00:27 am
1. if someone cares to design them or paint in useable format (Church of Sirius always had one).

2. No idea about this feature,  didn't hear about it.

3. Things take work to make, can't be conjured from thin air. And making stuff means you cannot make some other stuff which can be more important.

4. Yes, you are wrong.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 04, 2024, 01:03:39 am
2. No idea about this feature,  didn't hear about it.

discussed here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,11593.0.html
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: minimen on January 04, 2024, 08:38:35 pm
I want to install the mod on android. I've downloaded the mod from a first post of this thread. I see it also includes OXCE. If I just install OXCE.apk and copy folder context:
from
Dioxine_XPiratez_N7.0.3.4.rar\Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez
to
\realme Pad mini\Internal memory\OXCE\user\mods\Piratez
will every this works perfectly?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Berestow on January 04, 2024, 09:29:43 pm
I want to install the mod on android. I've downloaded the mod from a first post of this thread. I see it also includes OXCE. If I just install OXCE.apk and copy folder context:
from
Dioxine_XPiratez_N7.0.3.4.rar\Dioxine_XPiratez\user\mods\Piratez
to
\realme Pad mini\Internal memory\OXCE\user\mods\Piratez
will every this works perfectly?

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=10263.0
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: minimen on January 06, 2024, 06:35:38 pm
Great mod guys. I would like to ask:

Do slave maids need a place to live? I turned Academy Nurse into Slave maid and noticed:
1) I don't have burrows still she lives somewhere.
2) She doesn't provide storage space capacity (it's still 500 on my main base) despite Bootypedia Slavery entry says so.

I've got UAC Carbine from raiding Academy Safe house. It's a good weapon. I noticed when I take it on mission it always fully loaded with 42 bullets despite that I don't have any spare ammo in store. Is it by design? It changes everything and significantly alters balance since once a good weapon was found It can be taken to every mission
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on January 06, 2024, 06:47:18 pm
Slaves don't actually increase your capacity. Instead, they have negative volume. And they live in storage.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: minimen on January 06, 2024, 06:58:34 pm
Slaves don't actually increase your capacity. Instead, they have negative volume. And they live in storage.
Just did some testing. It seems every 2 slave maids decrease vault's used spaced  by -0,75. Pirates surely train their slaves well
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: John___Doe on January 06, 2024, 11:14:51 pm
I've got UAC Carbine from raiding Academy Safe house. It's a good weapon. I noticed when I take it on mission it always fully loaded with 42 bullets despite that I don't have any spare ammo in store. Is it by design? It changes everything and significantly alters balance since once a good weapon was found It can be taken to every mission

You probably have just one magazine for it, which  you always see as loaded in the gun.

If you use part of a magazine but not all of it, piratez randomly determines if the magazine is lost at the end of the mission, with the odds depending on how much ammo is left. So if you're lucky one load can last a long time.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 07, 2024, 01:23:22 pm
WTF?
1) Too many encounters. Most of the time I clear the map of shitty cars and shitty gangs, 0 fun, 0 loot. Why so much?
2) AI throws grenades too often now. Literally 5-7 grenades in the first turn. The cards are small and grenades fly across half the map. Why do this? Or do you think it’s fun for me to lose 8 people per turn?
3) Where are the bases!!!!! Assault ninja outposts was fun, assault academy bases was even more fun. I played for 35 hours. I scouted a lot, but didn’t find anything. 0 bases I corrected rule to radar so that the bases would be displayed and again 0. I have no bases for 35 hours? What should I do? Clean out gangs of bandits in cars? After 35 hours? Or should I rewind another 35 hours so that at least 1 base appears? When will I have power armor? I used to assault outposts in PC first armor and it was fun. Losing 15-20 people per assault at the beginning but getting a reward was fun. There was a feeling of war. What now? Mad Max feeling. Why spoil the game?
I'm playing on the Jack Sparrow. But what is the difficulty? Is it because the map is covered with shit on the machines? The fact that 99 grenades are flying at you? What is it? Oh, sorry, there are no bases.  I switched to a new one this year and what did I get? Disappointment. Last time I played on 7.5.3 and had almost no problems. Why did the game go like this? There was a feeling of race, as if you were constantly late, you could ruin the game if you didn’t have time and it was fun! What now? Just +50 hours of globe shaking? To get to something? Now just intercept the cars?
What should I edit in the files so that:
1) Fewer encounters
2) Less grenades to ai as in 7.5.3
3) More bases!!!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N4 17-Feb-2023 First Ending
Post by: zhorov on January 07, 2024, 04:52:34 pm
Sorry, forgot again, another couple of point:

1) pirate and swashbuckle should get a 3x1 belt, more convenient fo fitting a sword, as indicated in the attached screenshot

2) billhook and kitchen knife shold get a bounus when stricking animals, from cockroackes to lobstermen (yummy)  ;D

Edit: 3) don't know if that may shake up the entire research tree but havin a topic named "UAC weaponry" to unlock all UAC weapons might have more sense, instead as of now where the items are unlocked by different research
Why are you happy? You have no one to fight with now. There is simply no threat. There is no opponent. The game has turned into chilling and eliminating homeless people and rats in cars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 07, 2024, 09:37:56 pm
https://www.moddb.com/mods/x-piratez/downloads/x-piratez-vn7-flying-tiger-hidden-tentacle-16-dec-2023

New update is on.

v.N7.0.2
- Fix: crafts: auxiliaries capacity bug caused by being not up to date with OXCE changes
- Fix: Kraken, Swordfish and Crab can now carry auxiliaries as intended
- Fix: Sivalinga Resurrection event
- Fix: bandit car crashes
- Small update of Freighter maps
- Merged reskin of Warbird by Dakkon
- Minor fixes/updates (thx to Flyte, Osobist)
- Languages update
Did you reduce ninjas and other bases to add cars? What's the point? Previously, there was a war with ninjas, which hardened me and gave me the feeling of war and constant rivalry. There was something very similar in x files. There is a year there and an alien invasion awaits you, but for now there are 3 factions with which you need to fight. In addition to preparing for a large-scale war, you also need to have time to destroy at least 1-2 factions now so that it would be easier later. It is necessary to create an additional base on which soldiers will only be trained in training rooms. So that we could then take the place of the fallen. What do we have now? Eliminate cars with machine guns in Mad Max style for 50 hours before any base appears? Complete shitty missions that are constantly repeated. For more than 35 hours exactly? Both in the first hour and at 35? With the difference that now you can also intercept others? Where is the war? She was there half a year ago. Now she has completely disappeared. Or do I need to wait another 35 hours? So that every unit I have would be in power armor? And at the same time there were 5 bases with 10 interceptors each? What is this? Dumb routine. The world is not mine to begin with. Ninjas developed quickly, the academy, then mercenaries and later aliens. Now... Nothing. At all. At least for the first 35 hours. But what is the point of such 35 hours? There was pleasure while I thought that I was at war, and not shooting homeless people in a chill. Bring back the war. Bring back the bases, bring back the rivalry and feelings of war for peace. For planet redistribution. Shove your shitty missions regarding food piracy at hour 35 and the Nazis deeper into yourself. This is really unnecessary shit.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on January 07, 2024, 10:04:57 pm
Dude, that's three complaint posts in a row.

The game does have a slow start, but it is still difficult. Just today, I had to fight off 3 SG cruisers attacking the same base on the same in-game day.
The Ninja War is still there, it just has to be unlocked by defeating their ground missions, so that the Ninjas don't go and stomp you flat in the first month, for example by building a base on top of yours.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 07, 2024, 10:13:39 pm
another thing on hideout defences, currently there is some chances that some gals would battle naked, but i'd limit that event not to  feet assaults if possible, in fact a ship/vehicle might be detected on time giving gals time to prepare themselves...

edit: cattle prod, laspistol, ladgun, assault laser, autolaser and heavy laser cannot be bought but big factions use these, will  it mentioned somewhere in the bootyoedia or will be some other changes that will become unlockable or what?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Vakrug on January 08, 2024, 10:07:55 am
The situation with faction bases bothers me too. It looks like there is 50% chance that at some point in time 3 faction bases will spawn and 50% chance that no faction bases will spawn at all in the current campaign. That is really strange and in many ways inconvenient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 08, 2024, 03:46:18 pm
The situation with faction bases bothers me too. It looks like there is 50% chance that at some point in time 3 faction bases will spawn and 50% chance that no faction bases will spawn at all in the current campaign. That is really strange and in many ways inconvenient.
I don't have any bases at all. It probably worked for me. Why so bad? Why is it done this way? What should I fix so that everything is fine?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: minimen on January 08, 2024, 04:35:12 pm
You probably have just one magazine for it, which  you always see as loaded in the gun.

If you use part of a magazine but not all of it, piratez randomly determines if the magazine is lost at the end of the mission, with the odds depending on how much ammo is left. So if you're lucky one load can last a long time.
Thank you for explaining this. I didn't expect for actual game mechanic to be so odd
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on January 08, 2024, 05:02:39 pm
Thank you for explaining this. I didn't expect for actual game mechanic to be so odd

This is the best solution. Game does not track magazine content outside of battlescape. You either have a full mag, or nothing. It would be very punishing if game was discarding entire magazines when you fire a single bullet. Hence we have a chance based system. It might be odd, but it works.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 08, 2024, 06:51:38 pm
Something is rrally odd.

You say you play on Jack Sparrow and you have no ninja war?

Really fucking big doubt. Could I see your save file?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on January 08, 2024, 10:29:24 pm
the earlygame is in a really good spot right now. the new bandit cars/trucks/etc added in N7 really add a lot of population and 'life' to the gameworld especially in the first half of year 1. The new earlygame crafts like Angry Bird/Huey are the other half of it to pull it all together; plenty of shitty enemies to shoot down and plenty of shitty crafts to do it. Despite being added literally in this version it already feels like Iconic Piratez Gameplay to fit a Huey with literal cannons and roll up on a bandit wartrukk guns ablaze.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on January 09, 2024, 01:34:38 pm
When I was reading about brutal AI I stumbled upon interesting thing. Last year they had implemented a mechanic allowing to create hangars dedicated to different kinds of crafts. The feature was eventually rejected, which baffles me a lot. I think it would work perfectly with XPiratez, especially with all recent additions. If there was a smaller version of hangar that can only house low tech 1x1 grid crafts like Gunwagon and small electric crafts.
1. Anything that would be 1x1 grid on battlescape.
2. Is not Hellerium powered.
3. Has less than 10-11 transport capacity.

A starting base would have for example 3 small hangars and 1 normal one.
This would allow player to have that 1 more Gunwagon, or something else before you research Minecraft. Benefits early game and has no impact on late game, because all high tech crafts need normal hangar anyway.
However developers of OXCE would have to be convinced to implement this feature.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 09, 2024, 01:44:26 pm
When I was reading about brutal AI I stumbled upon interesting thing. Last year they had implemented a mechanic allowing to create hangars dedicated to different kinds of crafts. The feature was eventually rejected, which baffles me a lot. I think it would work perfectly with XPiratez, especially with all recent additions. If there was a smaller version of hangar that can only house low tech 1x1 grid crafts like Gunwagon and small electric crafts.
1. Anything that would be 1x1 grid on battlescape.
2. Is not Hellerium powered.
3. Has less than 10-11 transport capacity.

A starting base would have for example 3 small hangars and 1 normal one.
This would allow player to have that 1 more Gunwagon, or something else before you research Minecraft. Benefits early game and has no impact on late game, because all high tech crafts need normal hangar anyway.
However developers of OXCE would have to be convinced to implement this feature.
The bases are too small to build anything new. The number of buildings is increasing but the size of the base is not. We have to build additional bases. If there are a lot of them it is not convenient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 09, 2024, 01:50:40 pm
the earlygame is in a really good spot right now. the new bandit cars/trucks/etc added in N7 really add a lot of population and 'life' to the gameworld especially in the first half of year 1. The new earlygame crafts like Angry Bird/Huey are the other half of it to pull it all together; plenty of shitty enemies to shoot down and plenty of shitty crafts to do it. Despite being added literally in this version it already feels like Iconic Piratez Gameplay to fit a Huey with literal cannons and roll up on a bandit wartrukk guns ablaze.
Bandits and rats should disappear at +5-10 hours of the game. Why am I still killing bandits and rats at 35 hours into the game? This is moronicly tiring. I want development, to resist from rats and bandits to aliens, it seems like this is intended, but now I only have endless rats, a couple of mercenaries that fly around the map, a couple of ninja patrols but they don’t have bases, thanks for the stupid fix where their power was reduced so there are no more databases at all. And go fly for 50+ hours so that at least one base appears. The mod needs to be renamed to mad max.
In truth, we need to strengthen the factions, make more bases so that I can assault them instead of my base being assault 2 times a month, this is fucking shit. Add a stop to the appearance of bandits on the car at 5-7 hours of the game and add more appearances of factions. Otherwise my map is full of rats like the one above.
I never received an answer to my question:
"1) Too many encounters. Most of the time I clear the map of shitty cars and shitty gangs, 0 fun, 0 loot. Why so much?
2) AI throws grenades too often now. Literally 5-7 grenades in the first turn. The cards are small and grenades fly across half the map. Why do this? Or do you think it’s fun for me to lose 8 people per turn?
3) Where are the bases!!!!! Assault ninja outposts was fun, assault academy bases was even more fun. I played for 35 hours. I scouted a lot, but didn’t find anything. 0 bases I corrected rule to radar so that the bases would be displayed and again 0. I have no bases for 35 hours? What should I do? Clean out gangs of bandits in cars? After 35 hours? Or should I rewind another 35 hours so that at least 1 base appears? When will I have power armor? I used to assault outposts in PC first armor and it was fun. Losing 15-20 people per assault at the beginning but getting a reward was fun. There was a feeling of war. What now? Mad Max feeling. Why spoil the game?"
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 09, 2024, 02:48:57 pm
..actually i really like the new addictions n N7, seems the game has a more progressive pace, so even most of low tech stuff finally is handy
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on January 09, 2024, 04:27:26 pm
..actually i really like the new addictions n N7, seems the game has a more progressive pace, so even most of low tech stuff finally is handy
Agree. I enjoy early game much more now. Gaps in tech are being filled. However at the same time, we get much more things to research which slows progression considerably. I still find some things to be too time consuming or just too slow to get. Of course it's part of experience, but it's hard to invest in to some things, when you know you are very likely to get a lucky find that let's you skip a lot of early content. Just one 9 meter UFO landing in your radar range with 25mm cannon, let's you skip all low tech crafts and go straight to Aircar. I like building up power from zero. I think all high speed weaponry should also be locked behind a research requiring all low tech things first.
If you are going codex route, any kind, for  the cost of building one extractor in your base you get a high speed weapon. Now you just need car thieves to use it. You use it to take down police cars and those small fighters. Now you have a solid supply of 25mm cannons and ammo. You just skipped everything up to pirate air force. That is why I think high speed weapons should be locked behind some research to be used.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 09, 2024, 05:54:49 pm
Like I said: on Jack Sparrow there should be (A LOT) of ninja bases. If you do not have any, you either met a very serious bug, or you fucked up your game by modding random shit in it.

Please provide a save game, I want to see this 35 hour JS game without ninjas, for myself. Maybe we can debug it.

The rest is just opinion. You do not have to fight bandits, and I believe the grenade issue is not actually true.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 09, 2024, 08:38:11 pm
..actually i really like the new addictions n N7, seems the game has a more progressive pace, so even most of low tech stuff finally is handy
The game turned into chill. There was a war before. And yes, constant base protection. Instead of assalt bases.
Does anyone know what needs to be fixed so that AI can build more bases?
Does anyone know how to make fewer counters?
Where is all this written down?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 09, 2024, 08:39:18 pm
Like I said: on Jack Sparrow there should be (A LOT) of ninja bases. If you do not have any, you either met a very serious bug, or you fucked up your game by modding random shit in it.

Please provide a save game, I want to see this 35 hour JS game without ninjas, for myself. Maybe we can debug it.

The rest is just opinion. You do not have to fight bandits, and I believe the grenade issue is not actually true.
The saves have already been overwritten to x files. I decided to freshen up and play there until I solved the problem with the pirates. Of course I plan to start a new game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 09, 2024, 08:50:10 pm
All in all it might be a bug because that is not intended, but without a save game, can't check what is wrong. It's not my experience, I had my game full of ninja bases though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Earthquake on January 10, 2024, 07:11:06 pm
Bandits and rats should disappear at +5-10 hours of the game
Should they? it is only source for loot sometimes, especially on highest difficulty
The mod needs to be renamed to mad max
You can always do some mods yourself. This mod is functioning as it must be.
we need to strengthen the factions, make more bases so that I can assault them instead of my base being assault 2 times a month, this is fucking shit
Nope. It you are looking some hardcore - you picked wrong game
Too many encounters
You don't need to fight them all. One of tips in Bootypedia says it clear: "There are more important thing rather than win every battle"
AI throws grenades too often now. Literally 5-7 grenades in the first turn. The cards are small and grenades fly across half the map. Why do this? Or do you think it’s fun for me to lose 8 people per turn?
That's very noobish to lose 8 people in one turn. Try to spread your team, and use some advantages as explosive resistant armor or camouflage
Where are the bases!!!!! Assault ninja outposts was fun, assault academy bases was even more fun. I played for 35 hours.
Total playtime is around 400 hours, increasing with every patch. Bases will appear in time, they will appear more often after your certain actions.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 10, 2024, 09:11:26 pm
All in all it might be a bug because that is not intended, but without a save game, can't check what is wrong. It's not my experience, I had my game full of ninja bases though.
In my game, too, from the version half a year ago. Now they have cut them down but have not replaced them with anyone.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zhorov on January 10, 2024, 09:15:54 pm
Should they? it is only source for loot sometimes, especially on highest difficultyYou can always do some mods yourself. This mod is functioning as it must be.Nope. It you are looking some hardcore - you picked wrong gameYou don't need to fight them all. One of tips in Bootypedia says it clear: "There are more important thing rather than win every battle"That's very noobish to lose 8 people in one turn. Try to spread your team, and use some advantages as explosive resistant armor or camouflageTotal playtime is around 400 hours, increasing with every patch. Bases will appear in time, they will appear more often after your certain actions.
1) The maps are small, do the same as half a year ago, then there will be no such problems.
2) What prevents you from doing, by analogy with civil courts, so that they are not displayed? I scroll and what do I see? +7 enk at a time!!!! Just like a screamer jumps out all the time! Skip 7 times each time. Enough! Why is this shit?
Write what I should fix in the files so that
1) Reduce the priority of using grenades
2) Make fewer enks or even remove rats and homeless people from cars after 3 hours of play.
3) Make factions more aggressive towards creating bases
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 10, 2024, 09:58:32 pm
In my game, too, from the version half a year ago. Now they have cut them down but have not replaced them with anyone.

Again, no. I mean recent, last month version.

N6.07: https://imgur.com/a/rsZ5dbX (https://imgur.com/a/rsZ5dbX) There were 14(!!!) bases many of which I assaulted by Nov.

I am really tired of your insinuations. Either provide a save game, or don't, but be prepared for me to accuse you of lying.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Xylon666Darkstar on January 10, 2024, 11:11:18 pm
I get plenty of ninja activity and bases than I know what to do with.
Maybe 1-2 each of Traders and Mercenaries bases out of the bunch (found so far).
My air game came really late in the first year, but it's been hella fun as a result of the Ninja takeoever. It's funny to see the areas they consolidated into mainly where I have no real coverage opposite of my bases.

Mod is fine. Please don't change anything. I seldom still get rats and bandits, but only as base attacks (which are fine to me for more xp/commendations farm, among all the other factions constantly attacking my bases).

Keep doing what you've been doing, Dio.

Edit: Yes, there are still upper 40s of bases on the globe.

Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Earthquake on January 12, 2024, 01:55:40 am
1) The maps are small, do the same as half a year ago, then there will be no such problems.
2) What prevents you from doing, by analogy with civil courts, so that they are not displayed? I scroll and what do I see? +7 enk at a time!!!! Just like a screamer jumps out all the time! Skip 7 times each time. Enough! Why is this shit?
Write what I should fix in the files so that
1) Reduce the priority of using grenades
2) Make fewer enks or even remove rats and homeless people from cars after 3 hours of play.
3) Make factions more aggressive towards creating bases

1) You can always ignore something you don't like
2) Just press Ctrl when clicking "nope" to that ship, current ship will be ignored until disappear. Little thing like patrolling rats are good for team training ACC and REA
3) Nope. Enemies are not stupid and will use any opportunity. Learn how to spread your team and learn how use covers.
4) There is special research for it.
5) You can do it manually somewhere in game files.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 23, 2024, 08:42:31 pm
Ok, so...sorry for bothering you, but I am a new player of this mod and I feel kind of like I am doing something wrong.

Even though I play on easy, I feel as though I am one step away from losing through "infamy". In march I had a large score of ~3k, but then in april I suddenly had -200. I have read that that is (apparently) intentional, and if that's the case then that's ok. But now, in may, even though I did every mission but the terror one (so I "only" have -100 instead of -500 to 600), and researched a whole lot, but still only managed to get barely 600 points.
I also read that ships flying around your airspace deduces points, but I can't do anything to them without weapons.


I am just curious if that's normal, and what I could do (aside from just looking up the exact research path for craft weapons).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 24, 2024, 01:58:27 pm
Without seeing your save game, it is difficult to say what is wrong. Put up a save game, and maybe there will be some advice given.


I do not think it is air traffic that drains that much, but without looking at the graphs it is difficult to know if it is preventable or not.

My bet is a combination of low researcher numbers, lack of researched missions, or a really unlucky enemy excavator mission.

Also, it is obviously commendable you want to navigate the tech tree blind, but I think that Dioxine gave up on trying to coax people into running the tech tree blind, so now it is probably expected to an extent to know which tech is important.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 24, 2024, 04:51:07 pm
Well then, here is my save game.

Thanks anyway for the help and advice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: SufferNot on January 24, 2024, 10:27:43 pm
Well then, here is my save game.

Thanks anyway for the help and advice.

Do you remember when you unlocked Bounty Hunting? I noticed you had the missions unlocked, but had not unlocked any of the prizes, found any of the trophies associated with doing bounties, and that the pages in the ufopedia were marked unread. This leads me to think you only just recently got the tech for it. Bounties are a huge boon, not only are the missions they unlock great for your score, but their prizes are incredibly useful especially when you don't know where everything is on the tech tree. Simply accrue enough tokens and unlock the thing you need at any given moment, no need to worry about tracking down a rare item or interrogation. I think once those start popping up, you should be good to go.

Anyway, you're not in any sort of unrecoverable phase. Your hands are looking great and you've got good armor and weapons for this stage for them. Your economy is doing quite well, enough that you could set up a radar base on one of the other continents to catch whatever landed ufos are cranking their score up. My guess is its excavators buzzing around, but I'm not as adept at reading the charts as others.

The other piece of advice I would give is to make sure you research any boxes or crates you pick up from missions. They tend to be quick studies and can often have very useful items inside of them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 25, 2024, 07:45:15 am
Do you remember when you unlocked Bounty Hunting? I noticed you had the missions unlocked, but had not unlocked any of the prizes, found any of the trophies associated with doing bounties, and that the pages in the ufopedia were marked unread. This leads me to think you only just recently got the tech for it. Bounties are a huge boon, not only are the missions they unlock great for your score, but their prizes are incredibly useful especially when you don't know where everything is on the tech tree. Simply accrue enough tokens and unlock the thing you need at any given moment, no need to worry about tracking down a rare item or interrogation. I think once those start popping up, you should be good to go.

Anyway, you're not in any sort of unrecoverable phase. Your hands are looking great and you've got good armor and weapons for this stage for them. Your economy is doing quite well, enough that you could set up a radar base on one of the other continents to catch whatever landed ufos are cranking their score up. My guess is its excavators buzzing around, but I'm not as adept at reading the charts as others.

The other piece of advice I would give is to make sure you research any boxes or crates you pick up from missions. They tend to be quick studies and can often have very useful items inside of them.

Thanks for the advice!

Bounty Hunting is pretty new, and wow, I didn't think you could do all that with Bounty Hunts (not that I know how to do those things, but I guess the game's gonna tell me).

I think I need a few more hands (and weapons to buy) before I can make a second base.

The fact that my fighting force is in good shape actually makes me more worried. I already did every mission that popped up (aside from the pogrom) and got 100-200 points on all of them, yet still only got so little points in the end. But I guess I can only play on and hope not to lose (I really don't want to start over). Though after playing a bit more, I found something dumb I did that doesn't help with the points, namely, choosing the "Dumbass Captain" research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: SufferNot on January 25, 2024, 08:51:22 am
With regards to making a second base, everyone's got their own strategy to it and I agree with the idea that having a steady supply of weapons and troops will be useful if you're going to defend them. But some of the unique structures in this mod allow for other approaches. For example, a base with just an access, lift, radar station, and then a bunch of plantations will provide you with radar coverage and passively generate wealth even if there isn't anyone or anything stationed there. Enemies still have a chance of locating and attacking your base, but as long as the plantation was active for more than 2 months you made money overall. You can write if off as an expense and set up another base without having lost anything. And if you have some of these in strategic locations already, then when its time to start expanding to a true secondary base, you can repurpose one of your radar bases and already have some infrastructure setup. Plantations (and a few other facilities) can be directly built on top of, reducing the amount of time it takes the new facility to be built (though you don't get a refund for the original facility).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 25, 2024, 10:49:03 am
So my laptop blew up, so I cannot check for meself, but here is part if the conversation that happened on Matrix about your game.


Sorry man, I will take a look after I get my laptop from the workshop. But you can trust tgese people, they kbow what's what
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 25, 2024, 11:48:31 pm
Ok, June went alot better (5400 score). Thanks everyone for your tips! I just hope it stays that way for a while.

So, now that I did Bounty missions, how exactly do I use those to get research? I am kinda confused with that tip.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: SufferNot on January 26, 2024, 12:39:55 am
Ok, June went alot better (5400 score). Thanks everyone for your tips! I just hope it stays that way for a while.

So, now that I did Bounty missions, how exactly do I use those to get research? I am kinda confused with that tip.

After completing a bounty mission, you'll usually get some sort of trophy item that can be worked by your runts to make tokens. Jack usually gives stuff like execution trophies, the Mutant Alliance is sometimes gives trophies but also sometimes has people you rescue to get their tokens, and the Goblin Bank has old coins, old treasure, money with the word old in front of it. First you have to research the trophy and then use your runts to make tokens. Your runts trade those tokens in for whichever prize you're interested in. The prize then needs to be researched, at which point you'll be able to purchase the item in question on the black market. Prizes follow an order as well. If you want Jack's 30mm cannon (B2), you need to first get and research the B1 prize Confederate Gear.

Also of note is that you can gain access to later bounties, as detailed in the Bounty hunt Lvl D article. Once you have met the requirements, you can move on to rank C missions, which is more pink missions with a higher token return.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 26, 2024, 12:46:01 am
And never, ever make more than one item of the same prize. ;D
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 26, 2024, 06:12:48 pm
Ok, it didn't stay that strong the next month. While I am far away from failing, I am also far away from the next rank up, but I guess I gotta see.


Anyway, what color would you recommend for a newbie? I wanted to go with GREEN, but saw that that gives me a craft weapon that, while nice, also can't be used by any of my craft.

Edit: While I have fun with the game, I kinda dislike how it feels like I can't just research what I want (most weapons and armor, etc.), because I need to stay above the curve, so to say.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on January 26, 2024, 11:42:03 pm
Anyway, what color would you recommend for a newbie? I wanted to go with GREEN, but saw that that gives me a craft weapon that, while nice, also can't be used by any of my craft.

There is no simple answer to that. There are many discussions concerning the topic, for example: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5805.0.html

What kind of style do you prefer?
Warrior: Red.
Mage: Grey.
Rogue: Gold.
Cleric: Green.


Edit: While I have fun with the game, I kinda dislike how it feels like I can't just research what I want (most weapons and armor, etc.), because I need to stay above the curve, so to say.

Normally I'd tell you not to worry, but your campaign appears to be unusually screwed by RNG, from what I heard. Things will get better, can't stay unlucky all the time!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on January 26, 2024, 11:52:11 pm
Anyway, what color would you recommend for a newbie?
Red Codex provides the most immediately-useful benefits. If you're going Red then it's worth picking up as early as Month 2 due to the armor it provides. Red Codex is the most straightforward and the most killy.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 27, 2024, 12:00:42 am
I would actually advise green instead of red.

The red-specific crafts SUCK. Yes, those are fighting words, but they suck, and they suck bigtime as battle-deployment platforms. (Yes, Scorpion lovers, come at me.)

Unless you go peasants or cats, you will have trouble fielding a decent battle taxi.

Green's shadowcraft lineup is much more rounded up.

Gray and gold are very powerful, but rely on incredibly specialized tools to get stuff done.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on January 27, 2024, 02:35:01 pm
(Yes, Scorpion lovers, come at me.)
Fuck you, the Scorpion is great. Starting with 2-4 enemy spawns right next to the craft means you can get into melee on turn 1, and the very open nature of the craft forces you to disembark and scramble for cover on turn 1. I agree that the rest of Red's craft lineup is hit-or-miss though. Scarab is basically a heavily-armed Aircar and Snake is awkward and inconvenient.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 27, 2024, 03:42:16 pm
I know I am annoying, but finding answers to specific questions can be quite hard, I apologise.

So, how many hangars do you normaly build in your starting base? I ran across the problem that I can't do underwater missions with just 2 hangars, and worry I might need a 3rd anyway, but I f'ed up my baselayout a bit, and don't exactly want to destory my workshop and rebuild it.

Also not sure if I can finance (and defend) a true second base.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: balam on January 27, 2024, 08:01:32 pm
Snake carries my airgame hard and its battlescape game ain't that bad. Scorpion sucks when the enemy can dmg you but it's great when they can't.

I know I am annoying, but finding answers to specific questions can be quite hard, I apologise.

So, how many hangars do you normaly build in your starting base? I ran across the problem that I can't do underwater missions with just 2 hangars, and worry I might need a 3rd anyway, but I f'ed up my baselayout a bit, and don't exactly want to destory my workshop and rebuild it.

Also not sure if I can finance (and defend) a true second base.

2 early on, 1 later. I turn my starting base into science base while my second base becomes my "main base" and it gets 2 to 3 hangars. Base space is the most valuable thing in this game and 2 hangars are more than enough to cover your early game. You should get pirate airforce ASAP to get the codex craft (all of 'em can do underwater missions and the gray ship, Fortuna, can even go to the space!).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on January 27, 2024, 08:06:40 pm
You are given 6-8 base slots for a reason. Use them ASAP.
The more radar coverage you have, the more money you get.
In the main base I run a single hangar with a speedy car for an aircar race mission. Reason is that late game researches require so many prerequisite buildings that there's not enough place to do everything from your main.
Usually I have specialized interception base (you can use up to 4 ships in one interception, and using them together saves time on repair and reloading), Crew base (with 4-5 different ships for different missions) & training facilities, one plantation base for sectoweed, research base (a lot of prisons), and the rest are manufacturing bases.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 27, 2024, 08:11:55 pm
Fuck you, the Scorpion is great. Starting with 2-4 enemy spawns right next to the craft means you can get into melee on turn 1, and the very open nature of the craft forces you to disembark and scramble for cover on turn 1. I agree that the rest of Red's craft lineup is hit-or-miss though. Scarab is basically a heavily-armed Aircar and Snake is awkward and inconvenient.

Wow, what an advantage! I, too, very much enjoy braving reaction fire to get into the cover that most other craft provide on turn 1!

Quote
So, how many hangars do you normaly build in your starting base? I ran across the problem that I can't do underwater missions with just 2 hangars, and worry I might need a 3rd anyway, but I f'ed up my baselayout a bit, and don't exactly want to destory my workshop and rebuild it.

Everyone's favourite answer: It depends! Usually it is anywhere from 2 to 3, but I have, on ocasion, even went up to 4. Some craft can pull double duty. Some cannot. Depends on tech level, depends on what craft you have available. Sometimes even depends on whether you are rich enough to just sell/buy craft on demand.

As to second bases, you do not need to worry about it overmuch. I play JS, and due to JS things I cannot justify secondary bases until way late in first year or early second year. A quick meta play from the JS playbook is AA facilities that also provide ground turrets. The earliest of them being Flak Cannons (NOT flak towers).

The easiest difficuly is extremely lenient with strategic timetables.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on January 28, 2024, 03:40:22 am
I know I am annoying, but finding answers to specific questions can be quite hard, I apologise.

So, how many hangars do you normaly build in your starting base? I ran across the problem that I can't do underwater missions with just 2 hangars, and worry I might need a 3rd anyway, but I f'ed up my baselayout a bit, and don't exactly want to destory my workshop and rebuild it.

Also not sure if I can finance (and defend) a true second base.
I usually build a third hangar in my starting base, and I always build at least one hangar (usually 2) in every expansion base. One hangar for a fighter, one hangar for a shuttle, one hangar for either building more craft or using Lil'Bird/Bikes/etc. to farm glamour. You want at least one hangar in every base for providing interceptors, and some bases should have two hangars for additional mission teams. Once you unlock better aircraft like the Hunter-Killer or Predator interceptors it's also viable to make a base at either pole with up to four hangars to provide fighter coverage to an entire hemisphere.

As other people have mentioned, expanding early and often is important for expanding your radar/intercept coverage, scaling up your economy, and providing more special mission craft. With that said, I often don't find myself building more bases until at least the middle of year 1, sometimes as late as year 2. I like the comfy feel of a small pirate krew and the main bottleneck is being able to provide garrison troops that can handle Stormrats. Once you unlock Dojos you should build one in every base to train your Hands/Peasants/etc. but otherwise it's mostly about rotating mid-tier and high-tier troops out of mission duty and into garrison roles.

Wow, what an advantage! I, too, very much enjoy braving reaction fire to get into the cover that most other craft provide on turn 1!
Taking reaction fire is a feature, not a bug; use a shield and/or rookie. Scrambling for cover forces you to appreciate the map and prevents you from camping the craft.
You lack fighting spirit, and you do not understand the way of the Red Codex. Khorne is displeased.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Iazo on January 28, 2024, 02:07:31 pm
I can appreciate the map from inside my Shadowbat, thank you very much. If Khorne is displeased, he can go whine to the Pope.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: John___Doe on January 28, 2024, 08:27:24 pm
A very basic plantation base with two burrows and an outpost can hold 45 troops. 30-40 Dogs with landmines can comfortably if bloodily defend against stormrats on DJ.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 29, 2024, 01:15:50 pm
Ok, is there another big spike in Oct. of the 1st year? Or is my game really cursed? Just had -1.7k result. With enemy shipping of over 10k.

Edit: Basically, I am back to worrying about losing. If I didn't have fun playing, I would wonder if this stress is really worth it.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on January 29, 2024, 02:17:11 pm
big spikes in activity can correspond to enemy Build Base missions happening, especially if there's a consistent baseline of activity in the region/country afterwards. see if you can narrow the spike down to a specific region or country and then send a craft to patrol overhead for a few hours.
consider using outfits like Bikini and craft like Lil'Bird, V8 and Bikes which spawn glamour (ie score) when you use them in missions.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 29, 2024, 02:28:37 pm
big spikes in activity can correspond to enemy Build Base missions happening, especially if there's a consistent baseline of activity in the region/country afterwards. see if you can narrow the spike down to a specific region or country and then send a craft to patrol overhead for a few hours.
consider using outfits like Bikini and craft like Lil'Bird, V8 and Bikes which spawn glamour (ie score) when you use them in missions.

The Glamour item gives extra score? Anyway, I am really just frustrated, since I think I know the problem (to much airtraffic and can't shoot shit down), but I can't do anything about it, since DAREDEVIL and LITTLE BIRD are slow as hell and still the only craft I can both arm and supply with ammo (since Jack won't give me missions for some reason, and spike rockets can't be put on a Piranha).

Edit: ....Is the wiki halfway up to date? I looked 'Matrix Powered Flight' up and now I notice that I should be able to get 'Contact: Ship Junkyard', but I don't have it in Research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on January 30, 2024, 12:11:52 am
Finish researching Gunwagon and than Angrybird and you'll be able to get junkyard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on January 30, 2024, 12:27:47 am
Also, use "q" key to open search function. Use middle mouse button on technology to get detailed information and again use "q" key to search from all technologies.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on January 30, 2024, 01:52:02 am
According to (not updated) online bootypedia turtle's crew capacity is 12 (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_SAKURABUS), but since it is supposed to be the larger and wider craft in the game, might i suggest to increase its capacity to 18 or even 20?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on January 30, 2024, 09:46:28 pm
Now that I have finally gotten the 30mm cannon, things have been going better.

Anyway, since I saw someone mention that they turned their starting base into a science base, and me noticing that, with runts and brainers, I am at nearly my (current) max of 155 people:

Do some/most of you also make a dedicated 'production' base?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on January 30, 2024, 10:31:20 pm
On the second difficulty I have 4-5 production bases. You can't win without making a spaceship which takes years of workhours (160 years give or take).
Late game industry requires you to have at least 3*3 and 2*2 buildings, then enough living space to fill 500+ runts...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Xylon666Darkstar on January 31, 2024, 11:41:17 pm
By mid-late game I try to make 1 of my last 5 hideouts a dedicated factory base. Ideally have 3 total super late game, with at least one of them having a hangar for craft production. The first of these may be a plantation base and/slaves/exotic dancers holding base.

And not before I have my first 3 'standard bases',
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: SufferNot on February 01, 2024, 01:53:36 am
Now that I have finally gotten the 30mm cannon, things have been going better.

Anyway, since I saw someone mention that they turned their starting base into a science base, and me noticing that, with runts and brainers, I am at nearly my (current) max of 155 people:

Do some/most of you also make a dedicated 'production' base?

I certainly do. Dunno if that's the standard thing to do or not though. There's a lot of dependency buildings in this game, which seems to lend itself towards specialization. And besides that's what I would do in base Xcom, so its second nature. You start to get better crafting recipes, to the point that dedicated engineering bases easily pay for themselves. I also tend to have an interception hangar and a troop carrier/support vehicle hangar in each base, since some missions require specific kinds of craft to participate in.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: balam on February 01, 2024, 08:39:06 am
Now that I have finally gotten the 30mm cannon, things have been going better.

Anyway, since I saw someone mention that they turned their starting base into a science base, and me noticing that, with runts and brainers, I am at nearly my (current) max of 155 people:

Do some/most of you also make a dedicated 'production' base?

I turn the start base into science base cuz it already has mainframe. My second base eventually becomes my "troops base", my third base becomes hotel/prison base and all the remaining are production bases (only one with factory though). All bases get at least one hangar with a strike craft and most of 'em get casinos.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 01, 2024, 09:11:06 pm
Edit: I deleted my previous comment because it was garbage.


Now for some real questions:
1. Is there some armor, transformation or training I am missing for making the Lokk'Narr not suck? I had 2 'Old Earth Metro' missions and could do neither, because those goblin gals can't deal with the sort of enemy you are facing there.

2. As far as Bounty Hunt Challenges go, I thought it'd go with Zaxx, because that seems to be a requirement for getting gnomes, which in turn is a requirement for tentacle pets. But I also could really find out what the other options offer, so any tips?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on February 02, 2024, 07:26:01 pm
Edit: I deleted my previous comment because it was garbage.


Now for some real questions:
1. Is there some armor, transformation or training I am missing for making the Lokk'Narr not suck? I had 2 'Old Earth Metro' missions and could do neither, because those goblin gals can't deal with the sort of enemy you are facing there.

There are transformations and training, but none of them are a quick fix.
With armor, there are some nice armors for them. I assume you want them in small person mission, so I'll ommit tanks.

I usually use Avenger armor for Lokk'Nars, but that has to be looted from Demon God temples. Otherwise, there is Synthmetal /Lok, Spacesuit/Lok, and Slayer/Lok.
Slayer is the easiest to get, and in terms of suvivability just about brings a Lok'Nar on par with an unarmored Gal.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 05, 2024, 12:23:34 am
There are transformations and training, but none of them are a quick fix.
With armor, there are some nice armors for them. I assume you want them in small person mission, so I'll ommit tanks.

I usually use Avenger armor for Lokk'Nars, but that has to be looted from Demon God temples. Otherwise, there is Synthmetal /Lok, Spacesuit/Lok, and Slayer/Lok.
Slayer is the easiest to get, and in terms of suvivability just about brings a Lok'Nar on par with an unarmored Gal.

I mean, it doesn't have to be a quick fix. I just tried one of those "Old Earth Metro" missions again with my trained Lokk'Narr and the Tentacle Hives not only either make them go insane or mind control them at the end of the first turn, they also have shields that seem immune to most I can throw at them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: SufferNot on February 05, 2024, 08:20:22 am
I mean, it doesn't have to be a quick fix. I just tried one of those "Old Earth Metro" missions again with my trained Lokk'Narr and the Tentacle Hives not only either make them go insane or mind control them at the end of the first turn, they also have shields that seem immune to most I can throw at them.

I didn't know hives showed up in those missions. Anyway, their shields have a specific weakness to daze, and their attacks only deal charm damage. If you have a unit with high charm resistance that can deal a lot of daze damage, they're pretty trivial to take down. Gnomes have a bunch of armor options with great charm resistance, so a single gnome with a baseball bat or even bare fists and some melee skills can handle a hive. Having a canteen of stun refreshment can let them take multiple as long as you aren't eating all the counter attacks at the same time. Not sure how I'd handle that without a gnome. Probably keeping the lokks near cover and hitting the hives with tranq darts?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ruberto on February 05, 2024, 01:21:28 pm
I'm starting new run, what difficulty should I pick for a challenging, but not overwhelming experience?
played several runs (without finishing) previously, so kinda know general gist of the mod.
Afraid of some hiddent gotchas though, like endless base attacks by military that get your ratings down no matter what and bs like that.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 05, 2024, 03:37:55 pm
I didn't know hives showed up in those missions. Anyway, their shields have a specific weakness to daze, and their attacks only deal charm damage. If you have a unit with high charm resistance that can deal a lot of daze damage, they're pretty trivial to take down. Gnomes have a bunch of armor options with great charm resistance, so a single gnome with a baseball bat or even bare fists and some melee skills can handle a hive. Having a canteen of stun refreshment can let them take multiple as long as you aren't eating all the counter attacks at the same time. Not sure how I'd handle that without a gnome. Probably keeping the lokks near cover and hitting the hives with tranq darts?

Oh? I have a wild gnome, but I can't take her on those missions.
Also, it's not the stun damage. Just, at the end of my turn (or the beginning of theirs), all my Lokk are hit with moral damage that makes them immediatly go insane, beserk or just has them switch sides.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on February 05, 2024, 04:30:11 pm
Mind Control is harder to defend against.

The only real defense against that is (in order of importance) VooDoo Power, Bravery and Voodoo Skill. Current Morale is technically more important than Voodoo skill, but is much more volatile. The best training is Simpleton, which increases VooDoo Power by 8 but reduces VooDoo Skill by 7. Due to difference in importance, this is a net 5.1 gain in Psi resistance.

There is also a number of condemnations that give VooDoo Power. The most powerful for this is Angel of Death, but this requires the deckhand to get lots of kills.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Delian on February 06, 2024, 02:08:15 am
The best training is Simpleton

Which logically doesn't make any sense because simple minds were supposed to be easier to mind control.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: abyssDragoon on February 07, 2024, 07:26:25 pm
I have two suggestions:

1) Lawyer condemntation. It's very punishing for those who have low hp (e.g. catgirls) and can be achieved unintentionally, as ghouls are also bandits for some reason and even damn dogs and blood hounds! Dogs?! Dogs are bandits?! Sometimes you shoot the enemy and he just collapses still alive and it's treated as +1 knock down, even if you finish enemy off afterwards. Moreover, sometimes the same bandit can score +2 knockdowns if he stands up on the next turn and then you knock him out again! As the result all my gals are Lawyers, even if they finish enemies off. -HP and -STR per rank of this condemnation is a lot when it accumulates. Catgirls are already weak and fragile, so for them it's very crippling. Please nerf the penalty of this weird condemnation or remove it altogether. Or change the way game checks for "captured" enemies, because you can easily get Idol and Lawyer in the end of the mission even if ALL enemies were killed, but some of them were knocked out before dying.

2) Allow finishing off knocked out enemies with melee weapons the same way you can heal them with bandages/medikits. If there's no one in front of you, then let the game check if there's someone below and perform an attack vs them. Or add 0-range "ranged" attack to melee weapons called "finishing blow" which can only target the same tile as the user and thus only attack below. It's especially vital for Monster Hunter condemnation, which is great to offset -HP from the Lawyer. As you need to kill the beast with melee weapon and blood hounds are apparently bandits (lol), it sometimes have the reverse effect and adds to the Lawyer instead of Monster Hunter, if blood hound survives and collapses. As the result you need to carry ranged weapon to finish off blood hound or wait for it to bleed out just to avoid really bad punishing condemnation.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 07, 2024, 08:45:11 pm
I am not sure if I have asked this before, but: Is there some sort of 'hard' or 'soft' timelimit? Like the game says "if you don't have xyz tech researched at this point, you pretty much have already lost"? I am not in any danger to lose because of points or getting invaded, but I also feel like I am not really progressing much in terms of techs (especially with all the interogations; probably shift those over to a different base).


Second thing: I chose to challenge Zaxx. But, now, what am I supposed to do? Just wait until a quest pops up?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: balam on February 08, 2024, 12:14:57 am
I am not sure if I have asked this before, but: Is there some sort of 'hard' or 'soft' timelimit? Like the game says "if you don't have xyz tech researched at this point, you pretty much have already lost"? I am not in any danger to lose because of points or getting invaded, but I also feel like I am not really progressing much in terms of techs (especially with all the interogations; probably shift those over to a different base).


Second thing: I chose to challenge Zaxx. But, now, what am I supposed to do? Just wait until a quest pops up?

Nah, JS got it's missiles but you can survive bombardments. As long as you can keep the score and your bases you should be fine. However, if you fall too hard behind the curve you will not have a fun time. Like all other missions, it will get added to the pool in the next month after you finish research.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on February 08, 2024, 04:52:55 pm
2) Allow finishing off knocked out enemies with melee weapons the same way you can heal them with bandages/medikits. If there's no one in front of you, then let the game check if there's someone below and perform an attack vs them. Or add 0-range "ranged" attack to melee weapons called "finishing blow" which can only target the same tile as the user and thus only attack below. It's especially vital for Monster Hunter condemnation, which is great to offset -HP from the Lawyer. As you need to kill the beast with melee weapon and blood hounds are apparently bandits (lol), it sometimes have the reverse effect and adds to the Lawyer instead of Monster Hunter, if blood hound survives and collapses. As the result you need to carry ranged weapon to finish off blood hound or wait for it to bleed out just to avoid really bad punishing condemnation.

This would sadly interfere with a different OXCE mechanic. If you are standing in front of a barrier, you can attack it in melee. If you could also melee units lying under your feet, it could get unclear whether you want to attack a wall in front of you, or a Blood Hound under your feet.
There used to be a Coup-de-Grace mechanic, but it was removed because it allowed any melee weapon to finish off any fallen unit. (even such as a charm dealing weapon to a robot)

But mostly, I'd suggest just doing a fix to condemnation triggers.
What I mean is, for knockdown and kill condemnations, only final state of the unit should count, and only the final tool that affected them.

By doing that, if you slash a Blood Hound with a sword, it falls over and dies a few turns later, it should count as kill with sword, but not a knockdown with sword.
If you slash a Blood Hound, then heal it's critical wounds with a Bandage, it should count as knockdown with bandage.

This would also prevent players from farming an absurd amount of knockdowns on a single enemy by repeatedly knocking them down with a guaranteed non-lethal weapon (such as a cattle prod), then reviving them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Delian on February 08, 2024, 07:58:50 pm
But mostly, I'd suggest just doing a fix to condemnation triggers.

I disagree. Condemnation triggers work just fine and I like the current way they work (I also like getting Lawyer condemnation for the Voodoo gals). It makes no sense to change the whole game just because there's one condemnation you personally don't like getting.
There are plenty of other condemnations that are good to avoid and how do you avoid them? By not doing the thing that triggers them with the soldiers you don't want getting them. For instance, about half of all BURN type weapons/ammo do 0 stun damage, which guarantees killing enemies without knocking them out (Ghouls burn well btw). Alternatively, overkill them with weapons that have guaranteed high minimum damage. Another option is panic and mind control, since those neutralize enemies but don't count as making an enemy unconscious.

This would also prevent players from farming an absurd amount of knockdowns on a single enemy by repeatedly knocking them down with a guaranteed non-lethal weapon (such as a cattle prod), then reviving them.

Cattle Prod isn't a guaranteed non-lethal weapon lol. But you know, knocking out an enemy only counts the first time. If the same unit tries reviving and knocking out the same enemy again, it won't count.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on February 09, 2024, 01:35:04 am
There used to be a Coup-de-Grace mechanic, but it was removed because it allowed any melee weapon to finish off any fallen unit. (even such as a charm dealing weapon to a robot)
Well, would be possible to have it again but only with cold weapons and not blunt ones? Maybe puttin such weapon in one hand and an enemy into the other in inventory screen, and then in battlescape clickin on the weapon pops up the option?


But mostly, I'd suggest just doing a fix to condembnation triggers.
What I mean is, for knockdown and kill condemnations, only final state of the unit should count, and only the final tool that affected them.

By doing that, if you slash a Blood Hound with a sword, it falls over and dies a few turns later, it should count as kill with sword, but not a knockdown with sword.
If you slash a Blood Hound, then heal it's critical wounds with a Bandage, it should count as knockdown with bandage.

This would also prevent players from farming an absurd amount of knockdowns on a single enemy by repeatedly knocking them down with a guaranteed non-lethal weapon (such as a cattle prod), then reviving them.

Agree on that
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 10, 2024, 01:14:30 am
Ok, I just found out/realised that I am locked out of the actual interesting codex stuff because I am playing on easy.

This kind of gate-keeping is really disappointing and probably the first bad thing I can say about the mod.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Xylon666Darkstar on February 10, 2024, 03:26:29 am
Should be incentivizing to play more/get better to handle the higher difficulties to receive and enjoy the unplayed content. I don't believe that should be deemed a bad design choice.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 10, 2024, 12:25:17 pm
At least the game informs you directly about it (via the "Enjoying The Dream?" event featuring the Night Witch).
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 10, 2024, 12:32:19 pm
At least the game informs you directly about it (via the "Enjoying The Dream?" event featuring the Night Witch).

Not sure how that makes it better. Also, if it wasn't intended to be an insult to people who decide to take it easy, they could have mentioned it somewhere before you start a game.

And before someone says "But...there are forum posts about it!" or something like that: My first reaction to playing a game is not searching every forum on the internet.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 10, 2024, 07:05:23 pm
You get one thing wrong. X-Piratez is not game. It's a mod to existing game. Because of that you should have a different approach and different expectations. Reading about a mod on forums is the expected approach.
John Silver is the easy difficulty. What you are playing now is supposed to be a tutorial. You can change difficulty any time by editing your save file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 10, 2024, 08:38:56 pm
Not sure how that makes it better. Also, if it wasn't intended to be an insult to people who decide to take it easy, they could have mentioned it somewhere before you start a game.

And before someone says "But...there are forum posts about it!" or something like that: My first reaction to playing a game is not searching every forum on the internet.

Well, I'm just saying that this information was given directly within the game, not some external source. It literally tells you that this is not the full game experience.

You can always change your difficulty manually in the save, it's just one digit near the top of the file.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on February 10, 2024, 11:19:10 pm
In fact he stated there are planned for xpiratez only two types, large and small (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,11493.msg157916.html#msg157916), hope that gonna make in the next version..

Seems an 1x1 new type of hangar is planned in a future version; but the hunt party will use it? While expedition is likely to use the vanilla hangar i was wonderin about the party...
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 11, 2024, 12:00:44 am
I would totally make Hunting party use small hangars.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: ontherun on February 11, 2024, 01:16:03 am
I would totally make Hunting party use small hangars.

Well actually all the ground vehicles should do that, maybe with the exception of convoy and expedition? Maybe yes maybe not...?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Xylon666Darkstar on February 11, 2024, 01:16:37 am
Man I cannot wait for the small 1x1 hangars. x.x
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 12, 2024, 09:24:51 am
Well, I'm just saying that this information was given directly within the game, not some external source. It literally tells you that this is not the full game experience.

You can always change your difficulty manually in the save, it's just one digit near the top of the file.

Will that even do anything, after the event (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_THREAD_OF_PROPHECY) happened?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 12, 2024, 10:33:01 am
I didn't even knew such event exists. It tells you you are being hand walked through park and you have to wake up ;) The tutorial is complete. Now you have a basic understanding to start a real campaign. Second difficulty has no limitations and still low enemy count. First academy airbuses will have just 4 nurses. If you are not seeking to challenge yourself and just want to finish this mod go with John Silver.
On Blackbeard you'll have about 50% more enemies and things you sell will give you 10% less money. Starting academy Airbus will have 7 nurses on board. This is the highest difficulty I play on.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 12, 2024, 11:38:37 am
Will that even do anything, after the event (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_THREAD_OF_PROPHECY) happened?

You are correct, it looks like you also need to remove STR_THREAD_OF_PROPHECY from the save, else STR_WASTELAND_PRIESTESS won't be available.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 12, 2024, 09:40:10 pm
Already regretting my choice to change difficulty.

I can deal with the government invading 2 of my bases and then slapping me with a big point malus for defending myself, but Mercenaries? I struggle against those guys with my main team, no way I can beat them back at any of my secondary bases.

Any tips on how to deal with them?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 13, 2024, 12:34:15 am
Ok. Mercenaries attacking your base is absolute overkill. Bio is the best way, but it's hard to deliver bio damage from distance. Blow pipe is great because poison darts will disrupt reaction fire. You'll need 2-3 darts per mercenary. Going in to melee with poisoned dagger also works. Dart pistol will deal bio damage at medium range. If you've been doing sea adventure missions and killed some hallucinoids than you have poison tentacle which will absolutely destroy mercenaries.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 16, 2024, 08:46:41 pm
Ok, so 2 (somewhat weird questions):

1. Can factions just...disappear? I still need Guild Engineering, but for 3 months straight now I haven't seen any mission with guild people.

2. Does the "Wasteland Priestess" event "chain" need a voodoo school in your first base? Or something else really? I had her visit me a few times, but in the ingame techviewer the "Wasteland Priestess" needed for "Seek out the Desert Witch" is still red.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on February 17, 2024, 03:51:41 pm
1. Can factions just...disappear? I still need Guild Engineering, but for 3 months straight now I haven't seen any mission with guild people.
Random being random, different playthroughs get wastly different faction appearances for me. I've had a game where I've got so many reticulans that I didn't care about weapon for a while due to unlimited laser supply. I've had a game which stuck for almost a year without the academy.  Another was "oops, it's all raiders". 3 months isn't much.
If you want a guild engineer, try to get Comms tower mission. And expand radar coverage for extractors.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 18, 2024, 05:39:20 pm
2. Does the "Wasteland Priestess" event "chain" need a voodoo school in your first base? Or something else really? I had her visit me a few times, but in the ingame techviewer the "Wasteland Priestess" needed for "Seek out the Desert Witch" is still red.

I think I wasn't quite clear with what exactly my question/problem is: I had both the "Wasteland Priestess" and "Wasteland Sorceress" events happen multiple times, but never got anything further, or any new research. So do I need to put a voodoo school in my first base, or is it maybe because I changed difficulty midgame?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on February 19, 2024, 10:16:10 pm
You didn't delete "prophecy" string, which blocks further advancement. This save should work
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 20, 2024, 12:37:06 am
You didn't delete "prophecy" string, which blocks further advancement. This save should work

Thanks. Weird, I know I deleted the "Thread of Prophecy severed" string when I changed difficulty. And now I just gotta wait for the event again?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gnelf88 on February 21, 2024, 10:44:29 pm
Apologies if this has already been shown somewhere. Is there a way (through save files or otherwise) to see what you need to promote a soldier? I feel like some of my gals have done hundreds of missions, hundreds of kills and are still Boss level while others can become mistress.

I remember there being a thing where you need 1 x rank for 4 y rank, but what about male soldiers? Not one has a promotion higher than free soldier.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 22, 2024, 02:22:54 am
Apologies if this has already been shown somewhere. Is there a way (through save files or otherwise) to see what you need to promote a soldier? I feel like some of my gals have done hundreds of missions, hundreds of kills and are still Boss level while others can become mistress.

I remember there being a thing where you need 1 x rank for 4 y rank, but what about male soldiers? Not one has a promotion higher than free soldier.

This is what I found on xpedia: https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_PINUP_099

Though it doesn't say how MUCH you need for each rank.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: kelltozet on February 22, 2024, 03:18:28 am
Is there a way (through save files or otherwise) to see what you need to promote a soldier?
https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_LOOT_DISTRIBUTION
One Boss per 4 Gals, one Mistress per 3 Bosses, one Princess per 2 Mistresses. One Queen per 69 total crew and never more than one. So say we, the crew.
For other units, the ranks are distributed the same way, just the names are different.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 24, 2024, 12:46:22 am
Ok, I give up. Even with the help and deleting the "Thread of Destiny is severed" string again, both 'Wasteland Priestess' and 'Wasteland Sorceress' stay red in the ingame techviewer (as if they were blocked) and I don't get the research when the visit.

Is it possible to manually add that research to my save? And if, how do I do it?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: zombieguy223 on February 24, 2024, 04:56:37 am
Ok, I give up. Even with the help and deleting the "Thread of Destiny is severed" string again, both 'Wasteland Priestess' and 'Wasteland Sorceress' stay red in the ingame techviewer (as if they were blocked) and I don't get the research when the visit.

Is it possible to manually add that research to my save? And if, how do I do it?
You likely missed changing the researchRuleStatus in the save. When a research topic is disabled, it's marked in that section of the save as STR_X: 2.

So you should be able to fix it by searching for the following in that section of the save:
Code: [Select]
  STR_WASTELAND_PRIESTESS: 2
  STR_WASTELAND_SORCERESS: 2
And changing the 2's into 1's. That will re-enable the topics and allow you to actually unlock them.

There's a few ways to manually add research to a save.
The method I would recommend is to add two new research projects (any which don't require/destroy an inventory item) at one of your bases, preferably one that has no other active projects, then saving the game.
Then you can go the that base's entry in the savegame, scroll down to the research: section (underneath the items) and edit the project name of those two new entries to STR_WASTELAND_PRIESTESS and STR_WASTELAND_SORCERESS, and set the cost to 0. Then at the next new day in game, the projects will complete and those subjects should be unlocked and active in-game.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: shinr on February 24, 2024, 11:04:05 am
It is for reasons like this I simply just don't bother with mid-game upgrading and just start over.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on February 24, 2024, 01:22:28 pm
You likely missed changing the researchRuleStatus in the save. When a research topic is disabled, it's marked in that section of the save as STR_X: 2.

So you should be able to fix it by searching for the following in that section of the save:
Code: [Select]
  STR_WASTELAND_PRIESTESS: 2
  STR_WASTELAND_SORCERESS: 2
And changing the 2's into 1's. That will re-enable the topics and allow you to actually unlock them.

There's a few ways to manually add research to a save.
The method I would recommend is to add two new research projects (any which don't require/destroy an inventory item) at one of your bases, preferably one that has no other active projects, then saving the game.
Then you can go the that base's entry in the savegame, scroll down to the research: section (underneath the items) and edit the project name of those two new entries to STR_WASTELAND_PRIESTESS and STR_WASTELAND_SORCERESS, and set the cost to 0. Then at the next new day in game, the projects will complete and those subjects should be unlocked and active in-game.

Thank you!! Finally someone able to tell me what the problem was!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Benjamen86 on February 27, 2024, 06:38:49 pm
I love the mod but the infamy system has always confused me. I've been playing off and on for 3 or so years now and have never made it past November because keeping my infamy positive seemed almost random. I feel like I'd have a mediocre month only to be in the 2000 range, and then I'd feel like I had a great month to be at like 200 at best. What am I generally supposed to be doing to keep my infamy up? I make capture a big priority and only kill enemies if my hands are in danger or I'm going for shock and awe.

Also side question: The temple raids always seem to screw me, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing them wrong. I either get a near-wipe or negative infamy from them.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 27, 2024, 08:34:58 pm
I love the mod but the infamy system has always confused me. I've been playing off and on for 3 or so years now and have never made it past November because keeping my infamy positive seemed almost random. I feel like I'd have a mediocre month only to be in the 2000 range, and then I'd feel like I had a great month to be at like 200 at best. What am I generally supposed to be doing to keep my infamy up? I make capture a big priority and only kill enemies if my hands are in danger or I'm going for shock and awe.

This topic comes back quite often. It is also very broad, so I won't try to really cover it here fully. Just two remarks:
1) Unlock as many missions as you can. This means unlocking them by research, but to a small degree also covering the planet with radars (for more shipping opportunities). Missions give you most of your money and score, so it's really important to participate, especially in easy ones. Bounty Hunting is crucial here.
2) Difficulty level matters a lot. Struggling on Jack Sparrow is not the same as struggling on a Blackbeard. Not knowing which level you play at makes it harder to answer.

Also side question: The temple raids always seem to screw me, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing them wrong. I either get a near-wipe or negative infamy from them.

Hard to speak without any concrete data, but my guess is either too little or too much aggression. Maybe you camp and the priest gets to you (he and the zealots are very hard to break by morale), or maybe you just overextend yourself and allow your gals to become isolated and defenseless.
It's not the easiest mission, but it's not difficult either, and definitely not a place where you should lose people on a daily basis.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Benjamen86 on February 27, 2024, 09:00:18 pm
This topic comes back quite often. It is also very broad, so I won't try to really cover it here fully. Just two remarks:
1) Unlock as many missions as you can. This means unlocking them by research, but to a small degree also covering the planet with radars (for more shipping opportunities). Missions give you most of your money and score, so it's really important to participate, especially in easy ones. Bounty Hunting is crucial here.
2) Difficulty level matters a lot. Struggling on Jack Sparrow is not the same as struggling on a Blackbeard. Not knowing which level you play at makes it harder to answer.

Hard to speak without any concrete data, but my guess is either too little or too much aggression. Maybe you camp and the priest gets to you (he and the zealots are very hard to break by morale), or maybe you just overextend yourself and allow your gals to become isolated and defenseless.
It's not the easiest mission, but it's not difficult either, and definitely not a place where you should lose people on a daily basis.

Thanks for the reply! I play on Blackbeard. Yeah I noticed that bounty hunting always gave me quite a bit of infamy. The only bounty hunting mission that I don't understand is the one where you have to destroy the red barn. I always just land and blow up/ shoot up the red barn and leave without hurting the guy but my score is 0. I have started just skipping this mission when it comes up.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 27, 2024, 11:01:32 pm
Thanks for the reply! I play on Blackbeard. Yeah I noticed that bounty hunting always gave me quite a bit of infamy. The only bounty hunting mission that I don't understand is the one where you have to destroy the red barn. I always just land and blow up/ shoot up the red barn and leave without hurting the guy but my score is 0. I have started just skipping this mission when it comes up.

You aren't supposed to leave. If you leave, you still abandon the mission, no matter how much damage you do before that. Just wait for the mission to end itself (after 5 turns).

And well, Blackbeard is the middle difficulty, so shouldn't have any extreme impact on your score. Good.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 28, 2024, 03:03:12 am
I play on Blackbeard and can give you some tips that work for me very well.
1. Rush little bird. It wasn't important pre N7, but now in my opinion getting to Little bird as fast as possible is more important than anything else. If you sell security corridors day one and buy 4th brainer you can get both bounty hunting before February and Little bird.
2. Use Little bird to take down mainly bandit cars and most important, couriers. Courier crush sites drop 14mm ammo. Arrive to any mission you possibly can on Little bird for massive infamy boost from glamour. Do it for as long as you have 14mm ammo.
3. Any missions against humans you should be doing at night. Gals have superior night vision to normal humans and on pair with guild security. Getting lock'nars will help you greatly to ambush enemies.
Peasants wearing mud have good night camouflage and with shotguns can easily fill empty spots in craft.
4. Your 14mm ammo will most likely run out in March or April. So, in meanwhile you can work your way toward Improvised aerial explosives. Those can take down both bandit cars and trucks. But to use then you either need Angry bird or electric car from Car thieves. At this point it's possible you'll have a landed 9m ufo in your radar range and get 25mm cannon from it. If so, you can drop everything and go straight for car thieves to use it. Hunt police cars and wasp fighters for more ammo.
5. It's super important to plan well your initial base. Have a plan on what you will have in it and how are you going to restructure it later.
6. You have to strongly consider if you are going to be doing undersea missions. A lucky find of alien submarine can get you sonic oscylator parts. If you get 2 parts you are golden. Do not fear hallucynoids. Gals with high bravery can take them on on Blackbeard. Use anchors and barbarian swords to quickly kill them. Poisonous tentacles will destroy nearly all enemies you'll face.
7. When doing bounty missions save Jack tokens until you have 500 and get confederate gear. You'll now be able to buy electric lassos. Another amazing weapon that can deal with anything bellow Power armor.
8. Keep buying brainers when you can afford them.

That would be top of my head right now.
Below is my current score history. So, I do not really know what could cause a massive downward score spice on Blackbeard.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Benjamen86 on February 28, 2024, 04:17:10 am
I play on Blackbeard and can give you some tips that work for me very well.
1. Rush little bird. It wasn't important pre N7, but now in my opinion getting to Little bird as fast as possible is more important than anything else. If you sell security corridors day one and buy 4th brainer you can get both bounty hunting before February and Little bird.
2. Use Little bird to take down mainly bandit cars and most important, couriers. Courier crush sites drop 14mm ammo. Arrive to any mission you possibly can on Little bird for massive infamy boost from glamour. Do it for as long as you have 14mm ammo.
3. Any missions against humans you should be doing at night. Gals have superior night vision to normal humans and on pair with guild security. Getting lock'nars will help you greatly to ambush enemies.
Peasants wearing mud have good night camouflage and with shotguns can easily fill empty spots in craft.
4. Your 14mm ammo will most likely run out in March or April. So, in meanwhile you can work your way toward Improvised aerial explosives. Those can take down both bandit cars and trucks. But to use then you either need Angry bird or electric car from Car thieves. At this point it's possible you'll have a landed 9m ufo in your radar range and get 25mm cannon from it. If so, you can drop everything and go straight for car thieves to use it. Hunt police cars and wasp fighters for more ammo.
5. It's super important to plan well your initial base. Have a plan on what you will have in it and how are you going to restructure it later.
6. You have to strongly consider if you are going to be doing undersea missions. A lucky find of alien submarine can get you sonic oscylator parts. If you get 2 parts you are golden. Do not fear hallucynoids. Gals with high bravery can take them on on Blackbeard. Use anchors and barbarian swords to quickly kill them. Poisonous tentacles will destroy nearly all enemies you'll face.
7. When doing bounty missions save Jack tokens until you have 500 and get confederate gear. You'll now be able to buy electric lassos. Another amazing weapon that can deal with anything bellow Power armor.
8. Keep buying brainers when you can afford them.

Awesome, thanks for the advice! Yeah I always sell the security corridors and buy a 4th brainer day 1. I  tend to overlook the Little Bird because I read that it wasn't useful a while back, but that being outdated makes sense.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on February 28, 2024, 04:24:21 am
I love the mod but the infamy system has always confused me. I've been playing off and on for 3 or so years now and have never made it past November because keeping my infamy positive seemed almost random. I feel like I'd have a mediocre month only to be in the 2000 range, and then I'd feel like I had a great month to be at like 200 at best. What am I generally supposed to be doing to keep my infamy up? I make capture a big priority and only kill enemies if my hands are in danger or I'm going for shock and awe.

Also side question: The temple raids always seem to screw me, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing them wrong. I either get a near-wipe or negative infamy from them.
One of the biggest score losses is enemy ships flying around. Excavators that drill ore can easily tank infamy by thousands, and to counter them you need global radar coverage.
Very decent infamy gain is provided by brainers. Every new research is the infamy. They are +- self-sufficient.
So, building bases around the world is the way to go. Usually in the first year every new base for me was going for mess hall + surgery room (each gives 1 brainer space).

Temples:
Normal one.
Issue  - 1-3 units with a shotgun. Shotgun will murder a gal without armor due to doing multiple pellets of damage. To do it safe you need to have at least units with Barbarian + Shield armor, but ideally you need to rush warrior armor to feel safe. I usually surround every exit, then play "whack a mole" - open door, stun closest (I like domestic shotgun + rubber bullets), end turn, and then finish with a cleanup.

goblin zaxx bounty - requires infiltration gear. Which means no armor. It has the same shotgun problem, but you can't armor up until the endgame, pretty much. This mission has less enemies, so it may be finished faster.

Other than that, you should look at these missions as money generators, there is loot for ~1+ million.  So, scoring low infamy or even losing a gal or two is still totally worth it. Still, if you don't have  decent gals that may enter a building without risking reaction fire, it's totally fine to skip these missions.

Thanks for the reply! I play on Blackbeard. Yeah I noticed that bounty hunting always gave me quite a bit of infamy. The only bounty hunting mission that I don't understand is the one where you have to destroy the red barn. I always just land and blow up/ shoot up the red barn and leave without hurting the guy but my score is 0. I have started just skipping this mission when it comes up.

this mission is not about the score. every destroyed barn cell gives you a token after the mission ends. each token worth 10k$ of zaxx bounty (you need to spend 100k to get 10 tokens), and fully destroyed barn gives ~170 tokens.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Ultimoos on February 28, 2024, 11:48:55 am
Awesome, thanks for the advice! Yeah I always sell the security corridors and buy a 4th brainer day 1. I  tend to overlook the Little Bird because I read that it wasn't useful a while back, but that being outdated makes sense.

That might have been me. Just before this patch dropped I was complaining I can't find a use for Little bird that would be worth the hassle, and than Dioxine hit me with Uno reverse card.

Temples:
Normal one.
Issue  - 1-3 units with a shotgun. Shotgun will murder a gal without armor due to doing multiple pellets of damage. To do it safe you need to have at least units with Barbarian + Shield armor, but ideally you need to rush warrior armor to feel safe. I usually surround every exit, then play "whack a mole" - open door, stun closest (I like domestic shotgun + rubber bullets), end turn, and then finish with a cleanup.

Other than that, you should look at these missions as money generators, there is loot for ~1+ million.  So, scoring low infamy or even losing a gal or two is still totally worth it. Still, if you don't have  decent gals that may enter a building without risking reaction fire, it's totally fine to skip these missions.
I have an opposite opinion on this. Do what you can to do Temple missions. Even if you have to send 5 peasants and 1 Gal. Gal scouts and stays mostly out of danger, peasants take the front. It's OK if they die after all. If you feel overwhelmed you can kill people. I know that is heresy, because most enemies here are money piñatas, but you got to do it.
Be careful of double doors. Do not stand outside of them until you are sure there are no enemies near them. A guy with shotgun on enemy turn will kill one of your units camping those doors 90% of the time. A single doors you can camp safely.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Gremlion on February 28, 2024, 06:03:22 pm
I have an opposite opinion on this. Do what you can to do Temple missions. Even if you have to send 5 peasants and 1 Gal. Gal scouts and stays mostly out of danger, peasants take the front. It's OK if they die after all. If you feel overwhelmed you can kill people. I know that is heresy, because most enemies here are money piñatas, but you got to do it.
Be careful of double doors. Do not stand outside of them until you are sure there are no enemies near them. A guy with shotgun on enemy turn will kill one of your units camping those doors 90% of the time. A single doors you can camp safely.
There are better goals in life than trying to win every battle. (c)

If a mission frustrates you it's fine to save your IRL time and mental health. Like, I'm not going to play every mansion robbery that appears...
As for camping, I'm yet to lose CQC to temple units, so someone exiting the door usually results in either being stunned or shooting stars then being stunned.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: balam on February 29, 2024, 01:33:33 pm
I've eaten a few molotov cocktails camping those doors  ::)
I do camp those doors, but it's not 100% safe, specially very early game with low stats and no armor.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on February 29, 2024, 03:00:22 pm
Why camp this door, though? It doesn't seem like a good tactic.

Normally I do it like this:
- gather a few people near the door;
- next turn, shoot whoever can be seen inside;
- next turn, storm the building and cut down anyone who opposes within (usually takes 2 turns).

It works pretty much every time and I don't lose people, unless something goes really wrong. Camping sounds to me like giving away the initiative for no tangible benefit.

I admit it's not my favourite mission, though.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: balam on February 29, 2024, 05:45:51 pm
To further elaborate, I camp the door when there is no risk of dyeing (after I get decent armor). Also, camp as in place few units near the door until I'm ready to storm the temple.

Early game it goes like this (preferably night time):
- Sit on the spawning spot with 6 clones using the pillars to break los.
- Stun everyone that comes near and make a nice pile of bodies near the spawning spot.
- After I've stunned most (if not all) of the roaming enemies, the temple itself is no big deal - there will be only a handful of altar boys and rarely a neophyte camping inside.

This takes a lot of time (20+ turns) and it's pretty boring but the ransom money makes it worthwhile.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Vengos on February 29, 2024, 06:51:59 pm
I hate temple mission for different reason. If its some dense urban area usually 1 person hides anywhere but in temple and i have to spend 3-5 turns looking around.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on March 01, 2024, 08:13:58 pm
I hate temple mission for different reason. If its some dense urban area usually 1 person hides anywhere but in temple and i have to spend 3-5 turns looking around.

Honestly, that happens every other mission for me. The "funniest" one so far was playing hide-and-seek with 2 Gauss hovertanks.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: John___Doe on March 02, 2024, 09:36:12 pm
The sirius temples have multiple enemies with shotguns and molotovs, plus the priest most always carries short ranged weaponry. Relying on cqc to camp the doors is not safe; to the contrary you are putting your gals right where the enemy is most able to hit them.

Regarding the Little Bird: dont forget it can equip a second weapon in addition to the 14mm, several of which can be recovered from the early bandit craft. It is not wholly reliant on 14mm ammo.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: shinr on March 02, 2024, 09:55:53 pm
Regarding the Little Bird: dont forget it can equip a second weapon in addition to the 14mm, several of which can be recovered from the early bandit craft. It is not wholly reliant on 14mm ammo.

You can also a put a light machine gun on it as a ghetto 14mm.

I got it by being save-scummingly stubborn with my first Pogrom, though.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on March 04, 2024, 03:45:21 am
Don't camp doors for more than one turn, and if you do it should only be to farm reaction fire XP. If you have the safety, the cleared map space to camp for a turn then you should be breaching the craft/building and finding more enemies to kill. Since reaction fire uses the leftover TUs from your turn, that means the TUs you're reserving for reaction shots could instead be spent taking the shot on your turn or positioning yourself out of LOS. General tactics you want to remove as many enemies from the map as fast as possible. You want to avoid situations where the enemies can encounter you on their turn. Your own reaction fire is a mitigation against this, not a desired outcome, because it inherently means you're in a situation where you might get shot.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: nicedayright on March 04, 2024, 05:54:02 pm
Just a note on door camping. Enemies don't open doors so much as try to walk through them. If you're standing directly in front of the door, they'll try to path through, freeze after the door opens and they can't path through you and then take their actions. Usually this means getting reaction bonked, but that leaves your gal standing in front of an open door and vulnerable to fire from the rest of the goons in the room.

Stand to either side of the door and enemies trying to path through will not halt inside the room. Instead, they'll make it one tile past the door before they halt. This usually means they get reaction bonked, but now your gals are not (as) exposed to fire from the rest of their friends.

It can be useful to park a few gals like this to hold a door while the rest of your team maneuvers to sweep the map and secure the other entrances. Setup is important for a proper breach and clear. If you open the door and someone is facing the door with a gun, consider waiting a turn or sending in another gal from a different angle. Avoid the temptation to use up all TU's on one gal at a time, instead, take one action at a time before switching gals so it's like they're all acting simultaneously rather than one after another. Because of the way reaction checks work, you'll take less fire this way. If you can get a gal within CQC range of every (armed) target in the room, you should do that before you actually start with the bonking. It's really hard for them to shoot accurately with a nine foot tall muscle mommy parked over their shoulder.

If a target has a gun *and* a melee weapon, consider that the AI is a lot better at choosing weapons in reaction mode. If you try to bonk them in melee and miss, their reaction will prioritize their knife, which is bad. If you park your gal in melee range and end turn, they have a pretty good chance of trying to use the gun in CQC and wasting their shots, after which your gal will bonk them. Sometimes they actually just walk away when you do this, which is odd. Consider whether your target has access to grenades. The AI will prioritize using a grenade if two or more of your units are close together, even if the guy throwing it is in CQC. Trying to double team one of these guys for a capture can often have the embarrassing result of them dropping a grenade at their feet, injuring two of your gals and depriving you of a captive.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: nicedayright on March 07, 2024, 03:52:48 pm
On an unrelated note, I keep getting the "Idiot" condemnation for my over reliance on the spikey SMG and I'm feeling a little attacked. It's a great weapon, I swear!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Solarius Scorch on March 07, 2024, 05:54:37 pm
On an unrelated note, I keep getting the "Idiot" condemnation for my over reliance on the spikey SMG and I'm feeling a little attacked. It's a great weapon, I swear!

I also think it is great! So I'm an idiot, too.
Idiot pride!
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: nicedayright on March 07, 2024, 06:18:00 pm
>idiot pride

Finally, a gender identity that fits me.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on March 08, 2024, 08:12:46 pm
On an unrelated note, I keep getting the "Idiot" condemnation for my over reliance on the spikey SMG and I'm feeling a little attacked. It's a great weapon, I swear!
do you use it for the shooting, the melee stun, or both?
is the chem ammo any good?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on March 08, 2024, 10:43:19 pm
So, when do you guys usually get rid of your Menace-class? I have just unlocked the Thunderhorse, the first transport with more crew then my Bonaventura. And now I am a little undecided since the latter is a unique ship.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Fugazza on March 08, 2024, 11:05:06 pm
So, when do you guys usually get rid of your Menace-class? I have just unlocked the Thunderhorse, the first transport with more crew then my Bonaventura. And now I am a little undecided since the latter is a unique ship.

I usually don't get rid of it. Just make a "Shipyard" base (some hangar, some detection and storage) and send it there. I do that for "unique" ship that I don't use as much as I should. Just in case. I do sell ships that can be bought straight from the Contacts. like the Snake, or the AirSpeeders

Hell, I still have the starting AirBus stored
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: nicedayright on March 09, 2024, 02:25:33 am
do you use it for the shooting, the melee stun, or both?
is the chem ammo any good?

Shooting primarily. It's a surprisingly good reaction weapon, and the high numbered autofire can usually guarantee a kill on most soft targets without drawing reaction fire, which makes it good for clearing your landing area. The bash isn't great, as by the time it starts reliably hitting, your gal will be strong enough to kill people with it, the chief advantage being the higher accuracy over the normal SMG. I usually just use it for knocking down fences tbh.

Chem ammo is niche enough that I usually ignore it. The incendiary ammo is a lot better.

Hell, I still have the starting AirBus stored

In fairness, you actually do need the airbus for a later mission.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: BT000 on March 09, 2024, 04:30:24 am
I chose gray codex and finally got my first weird gal.
So I'm trying many different wands and cane.
But all of these spend a lot of Freshness.
Could you tell me how to refresh quickly? I have luxury spa already.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on March 09, 2024, 02:58:11 pm
I chose gray codex and finally got my first weird gal.
So I'm trying many different wands and cane.
But all of these spend a lot of Freshness.
Could you tell me how to refresh quickly? I have luxury spa already.
There's a few Freshness-restoring consumables like the Buddha-X Smokes and Cigar El Commandante, but for the most part what you've got is what you've got. Managing your freshness is a big challenge for voodoo-heavy gals.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on March 13, 2024, 02:34:00 pm
So, is there a way (research, manifacturing, etc.) to find the Ninja HQ?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Maur on March 13, 2024, 05:36:22 pm
Oh my... Cats! I need to start another run, so cute!

On a more serious note, i was browsing old posts here, and noticed longish elaboration by @Dioxine about Spartan lore (would link but lost it, it was years ago post)

I know most people would probably skip over it, but if you find it fun, Dioxine, i would be gladly read more lore. Could be like LOTR appendices, or Opisanie Wiedzmaka (Wiedzmak chutliwy jest i lasy na dziewki bardzo, hehe) style, accurate or not (i understand some things need to be left unanswered), and likely late in research tree.

Oh a last question. I don't want to spoil myself, but need to ask one thing: What do Cats for Life gate? Wondering whether i should do Peasant Revolution i wanted before and just recruit Cats or there is interesting stuff gated behind the choice.

Oh, and very last question, i was wondering, how would you translate Commander? Przywodca, Dowódca, Komandor or Komodor? :D ;)

EDIT/ Btw, shouldn't it be XBuccaneers? I mean, we are being paid...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Psyentific on March 13, 2024, 06:49:02 pm
Cats 4 Life gets recruitable catgirls off the market (same as buying Hands for Gals Are Superior) as well as a unique craft based on xcomfiles' Kitsune. There's also access to the Golden Pistol and the other nekomimi golden weapons. One of the big bottlenecks for Cat Path is that both the unique craft and unique weapon consume Neko Nuclear Batterys which are quite expensive. Catgirls are pretty decent as rare recruits and have a good niche as auxiliaries (and cute mascots) but they struggle as mainline troops due to their low health and low armor. They've got all the speed and killy-ness of a melee gal but all the fragility of a peasant. If you haven't done Peasant Revolution yet, I would recommend doing so. It's especially flavorful if you start in Red Revolution (Venezuela) for the extra revolutionary recruits from that country's starting event.

If you're interested in Cats 4 Life, check out the Everyday Is Caturday thread; Yugian is doing a let's play with this gimmick.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on March 13, 2024, 06:57:22 pm
Man, nightgown is powerful in shadowrealms, particularly on highly fresh gals powerful in voodoo.

A gal that, thanks to long life and condemnations, has 200 TUs, 200 Freshness, and 100 VooDoo strength can just run around and beat tens of foes to death on turn 1.
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: shinr on March 14, 2024, 09:12:07 am
EDIT/ Btw, shouldn't it be XBuccaneers? I mean, we are being paid...

Privateers is a more accurate overarching term for a government-paid Pirate, though Buccaneers, Corsairs and the like are both regional variants with some cultural and/or religious quirks, and the simple synonym for Pirate.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Shaddara on March 14, 2024, 11:25:26 am
Hi everyone. Please answer the question. Is it normal that test flight technology has become repetitive? Sorry for my bad english.
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Maur on March 14, 2024, 10:01:17 pm
Cats 4 Life gets recruitable catgirls off the market (same as buying Hands for Gals Are Superior) as well as a unique craft based on xcomfiles' Kitsune. There's also access to the Golden Pistol and the other nekomimi golden weapons. One of the big bottlenecks for Cat Path is that both the unique craft and unique weapon consume Neko Nuclear Batterys which are quite expensive. Catgirls are pretty decent as rare recruits and have a good niche as auxiliaries (and cute mascots) but they struggle as mainline troops due to their low health and low armor. They've got all the speed and killy-ness of a melee gal but all the fragility of a peasant. If you haven't done Peasant Revolution yet, I would recommend doing so. It's especially flavorful if you start in Red Revolution (Venezuela) for the extra revolutionary recruits from that country's starting event.

If you're interested in Cats 4 Life, check out the Everyday Is Caturday thread; Yugian is doing a let's play with this gimmick.
Thanks!

I saw the Caturday thread, yes. I think i'll do Peadant, i did it before (not to the end ofc, year or two) and i like the theme very much. And i actually used kind of houserules  to only recruit lokknars and peasants from the market (intrtedting unlimited hiring is gone now), so i dont actually want to have recruitable Cats, though i'd like to have more of them than Synths/Gnomes. Damsels-scale, probably.

I wondet if there are any events, especially special Cat recruits there, though. Maybe i'll check their ctaft and exchange it for Harvester (though Harvester is soo powerful and generally nice)
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Maur on March 14, 2024, 10:08:13 pm
Sorry for double post, but this is completely different topic:

I had an idea of mission kind of slave pen. You would use pickaxe or something to make a hole in the ground without ramps, and then throw bodies of the unconscious there.

1) I think they could not get out, so they would not have to be guarded.

2) Even more importantly, if the pit was only one tile, would the unconscious even get up after first one? What happens in such case?

If they don't, it could be even used to capture large number of, say, spiders (for poison etc), or werewolves, etc.

3) Maybe i am evil, but just imagined largeish pit filled woth awake captives, cheering gals on the embankment, and then one of them throws a firebomb in...
Title: Re: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: nicedayright on March 18, 2024, 05:47:13 am
Hi everyone. Please answer the question. Is it normal that test flight technology has become repetitive? Sorry for my bad english.

Yes, though it's mainly for a bit of score and various 'pedia articles. I'm not sure it gates anything useful
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: yuriski on March 18, 2024, 02:03:52 pm
Ok, I'd like to ask two question that I couldn't find a good answer to:

1. Is there anything you can do with JIM (other then paying him to fuck off)?


2. Is it necessary to put a spa next to the red mage's tower for the story line to continue?
Title: Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle
Post by: Mathel on March 18, 2024, 07:14:57 pm
1. I don't think so.
2. You just need to have it in the same base, does not need to actually touch.